Rumors, Race Horses, Revenues, Robos…and Recalls
Today is the day that Michigan House Speaker Andy Dillon presented his proposed ‘deal’ addressing the 2008 state budget to Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop.
The proposed deal has not been made public, but since I am at one with the Lansing rumor mill, here is what the deal supposedly is:
1. Bishop would agree with Democrats to allow a temporary hike in the state income tax and…
2. Both the House and Senate would place a proposal on the 2008 presidential ballot that would allow horse racing tracks to become more like full casinos (called racinos) and…
3. If voters approve of the racinos then…
4. The income tax hike will go away.
There would supposedly be significant cost-saving reforms to teacher health care and/or pensions included as part of the deal.
Good deal? First, there is absolutely no such thing as a temporary tax! A temporary tax is less likely to exist than Bigfoot. The U.S. income tax was supposed to be temporary when it was created to help pay for the Civil War. Michigan voters today are paying for a Detroit Metro Airport parking tax enacted to build an airport building that was paid for decades ago!
Oh, wait. Congress did actually eliminate a temporary tax just last year. It was a phone tax enacted in 1898 to help pay for the Spanish American War! It only took Congress 108 years to live up to their promise of the tax being “temporary”.
So, why can’t the state legislature just go ahead and allow racinos and skip the income tax hike altogether? They can’t. In 2004 voters amended the State Constitution to prohibit expansion of gambling in Michigan. So it would take a two-thirds vote of the legislature to place a constitutional amendment before voters.
Why do we need gimmicks like racinos to pass a balanced budget? Why not pass a 2008 budget that only spends money that the state legislature expects to have? I think Senator Mike Bishop wants to do exactly that. Problem is that too many members of his own Republican caucus are acting like RINOs right now (Republicans In Name Only), and prefer caving to taxspenders than sticking up for taxpayers.
Senator Bishop needs your help and the help of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance. Contact your state senator by using the ‘find your representative’ feature on the MTA website at www.mitaxpayers.org.
The MTA is helping generate calls to senators starting tomorrow by sending thousands of automated phone calls (robo calls) out to taxpayers alerting them of the tax talk in Lansing. People receiving these calls have the option to “press one now” and they are automatically connected to their state senator’s office where they can leave a message or talk to their senator’s staff about tax increases.
Stay tuned. More news is coming tomorrow about the potential recall campaigns against tax-raising politicians.
The proposed deal has not been made public, but since I am at one with the Lansing rumor mill, here is what the deal supposedly is:
1. Bishop would agree with Democrats to allow a temporary hike in the state income tax and…
2. Both the House and Senate would place a proposal on the 2008 presidential ballot that would allow horse racing tracks to become more like full casinos (called racinos) and…
3. If voters approve of the racinos then…
4. The income tax hike will go away.
There would supposedly be significant cost-saving reforms to teacher health care and/or pensions included as part of the deal.
Good deal? First, there is absolutely no such thing as a temporary tax! A temporary tax is less likely to exist than Bigfoot. The U.S. income tax was supposed to be temporary when it was created to help pay for the Civil War. Michigan voters today are paying for a Detroit Metro Airport parking tax enacted to build an airport building that was paid for decades ago!
Oh, wait. Congress did actually eliminate a temporary tax just last year. It was a phone tax enacted in 1898 to help pay for the Spanish American War! It only took Congress 108 years to live up to their promise of the tax being “temporary”.
So, why can’t the state legislature just go ahead and allow racinos and skip the income tax hike altogether? They can’t. In 2004 voters amended the State Constitution to prohibit expansion of gambling in Michigan. So it would take a two-thirds vote of the legislature to place a constitutional amendment before voters.
Why do we need gimmicks like racinos to pass a balanced budget? Why not pass a 2008 budget that only spends money that the state legislature expects to have? I think Senator Mike Bishop wants to do exactly that. Problem is that too many members of his own Republican caucus are acting like RINOs right now (Republicans In Name Only), and prefer caving to taxspenders than sticking up for taxpayers.
Senator Bishop needs your help and the help of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance. Contact your state senator by using the ‘find your representative’ feature on the MTA website at www.mitaxpayers.org.
The MTA is helping generate calls to senators starting tomorrow by sending thousands of automated phone calls (robo calls) out to taxpayers alerting them of the tax talk in Lansing. People receiving these calls have the option to “press one now” and they are automatically connected to their state senator’s office where they can leave a message or talk to their senator’s staff about tax increases.
Stay tuned. More news is coming tomorrow about the potential recall campaigns against tax-raising politicians.
posted by Leon Drolet at
2:00 PM
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