Posted on 05/28/2008 5:45:35 AM PDT by shrinkermd
...Officials in Lansing reported this month that the state faces a revenue shortfall between $350 million and $550 million next budget year. This is a major embarrassment for Governor Jennifer Granholm, the second-term Democrat who shut down the state government last year until the Legislature approved Michigan's biggest tax hike in a generation. Her tax plan raised the state income tax rate to 4.35% from 3.9%, and increased the state's tax on gross business receipts by 22%. Ms. Granholm argued that these new taxes would raise some $1.3 billion in new revenue that could be "invested" in social spending and new businesses and lead to a Michigan renaissance.
Not quite. Six months later one-third of the expected revenues have vanished as the state's economy continues to struggle. Income tax collections are falling behind estimates, as are property tax receipts and those from the state's transaction tax on home sales.
Michigan is now in the 18th month of a state-wide recession, and the unemployment rate of 6.9% remains far above the national rate of 5%.
Leon Drolet, the head of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance, complains that "we are witnessing the Detroit-ification of Michigan."
The tax hikes have done nothing but accelerate the departures of families and businesses. Michigan ranks fourth of the 50 states in declining home values, and these days about two families leave for every family that moves in. ..property taxes are continuing to rise by the rate of overall inflation, while home values fall. Michigan natives grumble that the only reason more people aren't blazing a path out of the state is they can't sell their homes. Research by former Comerica economist David Littmann finds that about the only industry still growing in Michigan is government. Ms. Granholm's $44.8 billion budget this year further fattened agency payrolls.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Socialists never learn.
bump for later
It is counter-intuitive for most liberals, but tax hikes DROP revenue while tax cuts RAISE revenue. Almost everybody shops - why is it so hard to understand that when the prices go up people buy less and when items go on sale, people buy more.
The logical lieberal solution is to raise taxes more to compensate for the loss of revenue. There are still some rich people in Michigan to soak, aren't there?
Hail, to the taxers valiant!
Hail, to our socialist heroes.
Hail, hail to Michigan
The leaders of the rats! Rah! Rah! Rah!
Hail, to the taxers valiant!
Hail, to our communist heroes
Hail, hail to Michigan,
The Destroyers of the West!
You mean like the dumbasses that elect these people?
Harvard dean Henry Rosovsky? “Never underestimate the difficulty,” he said, “of changing false beliefs by facts.”
Proof positive that some find beating their heads against a wall makes sense.
Governor Jennifer Granholm apparently has never heard of the Laffer Curve.
They don’t allow that in Canada.
“Governor Jennifer Granholm apparently has never heard of the Laffer Curve.”
But she is proving Atlas Shrugged
Translation, buy more votes.
To think, “conservative” luminaries such as George Will wanted to change the Constitution to permit her to run for POTUS. She was born in Canada and without a Constitutional amendment she cannot be POTUS.
(.....which may be the real reason phony and inconsequential token conservatives like George Will want to change the Constitution. Yet again, little Georgie may have a crush on big Ahnold).
Leni
Luv those ads on TV telling all to “Move their businesses TO Michigan”....cuz they have great folks there to help you make good.....LOL....
Remove the T and the U and she can run for that.
Seriously, I believe this puts Michigan ripe for the picking for the GOP come November. IF, and that’s a big if, the voters in Michigan can get their heads out of their collective ass.
Detroit has a lot of voters who like people paying their bills. People on welfare who don’t want things to change.
No amount of logic can disturb the genetic code of the average liberal. It’s in the genes, and there it shall remain. The only good thing is the majority are locked into living in MI because they can’t sell their homes.
We better hope they don’t succeed in moving because where ever they choose to go, “its in the genes”, and as soon as they arrive they will begin the rust belt renovation of your state.
I’m sure some one somewhere must be able to invent the procedure needed to transform, leftists, liberals, socialists, environmentalists, activists, vegetarians, communists, and marxists into normal human beings.
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