More trickle down economics from the G-O-P. How's that working out for us so far?
To get the state economy moving, (Hoekstra) said the Michigan Business Tax "must go. ... I'm amazed at the barriers like this we've put up against people who want to invest in Michigan." He sees business capital to invest here waiting on the sidelines or finding other places.
If that is true, why did Michigan come in third in the nation for the most new or expanded capital projects in 2008? Must be Pete forgot to tell those business folks how horrible it is here. Looks like he needs to drop a note to the conservative Tax Foundation as well, which ranked us at 17th in the nation on the 2010 Business Tax Climate index - up from 26th in 2006. Guess those things don't matter when you are trying to perpetuate the myth that we are a high tax state, simply to wrangle more tax cuts for your rich friends. Quality of life has nothing to do with it - it always comes down to the tax fetish for the Republicans.
As long as you ignore the realities of the Great Recession in the Fall of 2008 and how that sent us (and every state in the nation) spiraling downward, we can continue to blame taxes for all our problems! Easy enough. Just for fun though, let's take Pete up on his idea and eliminate all business taxes. Gone. How do we fund all those prisons that the GOP loves so dearly? That's where Hoekstra's plan falls right on its face - as it did for DeVos, as it does for Snyder... and Cox... and Bouchard...
He said money from new investments would increase the Michigan tax base while lowering taxes.
The tricky part, he admits, is creating the interim step to replace lost taxes before more money starts flowing from investment.
"That's the challenge," he said.
Yes, it always is. Tried and failed economic policy presents quite the challenge for the Republicans, so they just continue to push falsehoods to the public, like any good carnival huckster or snake-oil salesman will do. And after your money is in their pocket, it will be the Democrats fault that you were swindled and we can't pay for the schools.
Bush Economics 101. Let's try it again at the state level, shall we?
Oh, and thanks to fear-mongerers like Hoekstra and the rest of the Michigan GOP crybabies, the state of Michigan just lost 3,800 jobs to Illinois. They are thrilled in Thomson. Perhaps the people in Illinois should send Hoekstra a lovely Xmas card and gift basket for all his great work on this issue; after all, they can afford it now.
The town of Standish, not so much. |
