[ElayneJ]

“Jenny Granholm said we had a “breathtaking” tobacco and lottery revenue decline several months ago.”

She said this? Well, looks like the more we demonize smokers the less cigarette revenuw we get. Who would have guessed that?
I’m sick of seeing GH trotted out like a democrat hero - in case no one has noticed, we’re not doing all that well over here!!

[cripplecreek]

This was from back in March before the new tobacco taxes were imposed and the crap really hit the fan.

Michigan Lottery sales, taxes on cigarettes and casino gambling plummet; Gov. Jennifer Granholm says revenue decline is 'breathtaking'

"The big reason revenues are tanking is that consumers are negative and they're saving their money," Senate Fiscal Agency economist David Zin said Wednesday. "We thought consumers would ratchet up the savings and they've done so even more than we thought."

Also down were tax receipts on specific forms of discretionary spending, according to the agency's new revenue report. Tobacco tax receipts were down 6.7 percent and casino wagering taxes were down 7 percent. Michigan Lottery ticket sales dropped nearly 19 percent. One factor that explains some of the decline from a year ago was that February 2008 provided a 29th day of sales.