Sunday, December 02, 2007

One ominous sentence of warning

As you know, or don't know, or don't even care at this point, the House passed the replacement for the services tax yesterday. The usual suspects then made the usual statements, and they all went home for a long winter's nap, but not before Gongwer told us this-

And both Democrats and Republicans promised to get right back to fixing what they see wrong with the new tax provisions.


Uh oh. That can't be good. Especially when you consider that the Senate Republicans got some of what they wanted, and Mike Bishop still found a way to be a complete and total jerk about it. First he takes a shot at the House-

"After the Michigan House ducked out of work early this week, the Senate rolled up its sleeves and worked until the job got done.


Senate Repulicans have been ducking out of work all year, but Bishop hopes you have sudden amnesia on that point. Also, rumor has it that Granholm is the one who brokered this compromise, so Mike decided to take a shot at her, too. What a swell guy.

"Signing this repeal will represent the first real, positive step for our state that the governor has made this year and will hopefully start Michigan down a path towards the prosperity we once knew."


And people wonder why there is so much rancor and distrust in Lansing. You bargain with the Republicans, and they still are nasty to you.

Dillon has had enough. From the House Democrats, Andy points out the House was ready long before the deadline.

Working with Michigan's business community, on Nov. 8th, House Democrats voted to repeal the service tax and replace the lost revenues through a surcharge on the Michigan Business Tax (MBT). It is unfortunate that Senate Republicans waited until Nov. 29th to meet with the Dept. of Treasury to develop their alternative plan. House Democrats also regret that in the Senate's zeal to lower the rate of the surcharge to the MBT, which they paid for by lowering the value of the credits that reward Michigan businesses for hiring and investment in the state, they actually increased the tax burden for in-state businesses.


You can catch these two on To The Point today, available on the web at around 10:30 or so. Should be interesting.

Ten House Republicans stepped up to the plate this time around, but as usual the House Republicans as a whole never put their money where their mouth is. Find out how DeRoche tries to play both sides of the fence, over the flip...

Again from Gongwer-

House Minority Leader Craig DeRoche (R-Novi) said Republicans would still pursue repeal of the surcharge, to get the state's priorities back on track with reforms to government.

"Thank God we have a Senate in the state of Michigan," he said, adding while several House Republicans didn't vote for the bill, they are unified with the improvements the Senate made to the legislation. He argued it's not fair to say the bill has support from the business community because those people really think that given the state's economy, businesses shouldn't be paying more in taxes.


Remember kids, it's all about what business wants, not your needs, and once again the House Republicans were absent from the whole process - but they sure will be there to take credit for what the Senate does if they feel they can somehow benefit from it. No wonder Andy gets irritated.

But Rep. Paul Condino (D-Southfield), one of the lead Democratic negotiators on the bill, said Republicans can make that type of claim, but when it came down to crafting a solution, they weren't there from the get-go.


So, this all means we can expect more of the tax cut mantra from the Republicans. It's all they have. Quick, name one other idea, besides these nebulous "reforms", that Republicans have for moving our economy forward.

You can't, and here is why. Peter Luke summed it up best last week-

The Michigan Republican ''brand,'' however, is now built on tax cuts. The ''why'' is sketchy, though. It's not about economics. Despite $7 billion in cumulative tax cuts from 2001 through 2006, Michigan lost hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Could it involve a basic dislike for government? Like what, specifically? Local schools that receive most of their funding from Lansing? Medicaid, in which 70 percent of the cost funds care for the elderly and disabled? Prisons and public safety? The Ferris State University Bulldogs? That's not it, either.

The Republican position on taxes appears driven by the fear that accepting even the partial repeal of a tax cut -- which the 2008 budget does -- means they aren't Republicans anymore. Barred from consideration is a better solution to replacing the use tax, a higher personal income tax rate.


And some would argue that since our economy is moving towards more service sector growth, that is still the way we should go.

Doesn't matter. As long as Republicans in Michigan are beholden to this anti-tax extremism, they will not be available to find solutions to our problems. Instead, they will simply obstruct progress and continue to widen the partisan divide.

The statements from Bishop and DeRoche on what seems to be a pretty fair compromise are all the warning you need on that front.