How to Skin a Wolverine

WSJ ^ | July 7, 2005 | RICK BAXTER and GARY WOLFRAM

[Brilliant]

LANSING, Mich. -- While the national economy has robustly recovered from the recession, Michigan's economy has staggered, resulting in the Wolverine state being tied for the highest unemployment rate in the nation. This should be no surprise considering the Tax Foundation ranks Michigan's business tax the worst in the nation and overall business climate as 36th out of the 50 states.

In response to Michigan's economic woes, Gov. Jennifer Granholm has proposed a "revenue neutral" tax shift, borrowing $2 billion to invest directly into companies, and a budget that increases spending and raises taxes. The governor's tax shift reduces rates and provides personal property tax relief to manufacturers, but more than doubles taxes on insurance, triples taxes on profits, and removes $400 million in credits and deductions against Michigan's onerous Single Business Tax. This tax shift does nothing to reduce the excessive overall tax burden on job providers. The governor's $2 billion bond proposal places taxpayer dollars under the control of "independent job creation experts" (the administration's term; in the real world, we call them entrepreneurs) and instructs them to invest directly into the perceived industries of tomorrow.

This additional debt does nothing to improve Michigan's attractiveness to investors, but instead hopes the administration's handpicked experts will invest "other peoples' money" effectively. And the governor's $40.5 billion budget increases spending $1.6 billion above last year's level and includes $300 million in tax increases. History and basic economics teaches us that Gov. Granholm's attempt to tax-spend-and-borrow Michigan to prosperity will fail.

The answer to increasing economic growth, creating jobs and raising incomes in Michigan is simple and works whenever tried: Reduce taxes...

[Brilliant]

"borrowing $2 billion to invest directly into companies..."

We have a word for that. It's called "socialism."

It was just a year ago that Democrats were telling us that the Constitution should be changed so that Granholm, a Canadian immigrant, could run for President. It shows how detached from reality the minority party is.

[kjo]

I live in Michigan. The local media loves her. She can do no wrong. Surprised?

[bert]

Help me if you can, didn't they already try a similar scheme called the Renaissance Project in Detroit?

[pfony1]

Doesn't this mean that Governor Granholm, if trapped in a leaky boat, would drill holes in the bottom of the boat "...to let the water out..."

[OESY]

SUPPORTING QUOTE:

When Presidents Kennedy, Reagan and Bush reduced taxes, our nation prospered. When Govs. John Engler in Michigan, Christine Whitman in New Jersey and Jeb Bush in Florida reduced taxes, their states prospered.

A Cato Institute study compared 10 tax-cutting states to 10 tax-raising states between 1990 and 1996, and found tax-cutting states generated 1.84 million more new jobs, family incomes grew by $1,600 more, economies grew 20% faster, and state governments averaged four times the budget reserves.

In the early 1990s, Gov. Engler turned a $2 billion budget deficit and 11.5% unemployment rate into a $1 billion surplus and 4.5% unemployment rate partly by reducing spending and cutting taxes. Michigan simply needs to follow that lead by controlling government spending and reducing taxes across the board again.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Actually, isn't that fascism?

[Ax]

How To Skin a Wolverine? Very, VERY carefully.

[FateAmenableToChange]

I live in Michigan. The local media loves her. She can do no wrong. Surprised?

And yet she's done nothing right. I'm kind of glad that Engler left the state in such a mess since it means that she has little room to enact a socialist agenda.