Granholm:With the state back on solid financial footing, we can turn our focus to the critical task of jump-starting our economy and creating new jobs.”
As John Miller said, “Hail to the Losers”. Michigan decided that the way out of the state’s horrible economic mess is to raise taxes by more than $1 billion.
Granholm is delusional if she thinks that this will jump start our economy. The UAW agreement would allow GM to close a plant each in Michigan and Indiana and possibly shut down several other facilities, according to a detailed copy of the agreement. Michigan has the nation’s highest unemployment rate, 7.4 percent, up 0.4 percent over last year, versus the national rate of 4.6 percent. Job’s are leaving in the 1000’s, yet she brings 80 here, 150 there….they aren’t balancing out.
I am blown away!
memeorandum has more as does Captain Ed
An interesting yet ignorant take on this situation can be seen over at the Populist Blog. Chuck seems to think that Granholm is doing the best she can, but it isn’t her fault that Michigan is/was too dependant on the auto industry….Gee Chuck, is that why she went out and courted more automotive business, and in fact made that one of her platforms in the last election? She continues to lose more jobs than she brings in. As I said before, I am blown away! She is a complete failure for Michigan. I reside in southwestern Michigan.
October 1, 2007 - 07:18 AM on October 1st, 2007
Pam,
The basic tenet of US Liberals is that the GOVERNMENT is the economy. Therefore raising taxes $1Billion is improving the economy.
Will the last person in Michigan please turn off the lights?
October 1, 2007 - 07:27 AM on October 1st, 2007
Oh how true is that!
October 1, 2007 - 07:43 AM on October 1st, 2007
2, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois, all with Democrap governors, are having a tax war on cigarettes. I’m seeing billboards announcing that Iowa has the lowest tax and to get your coffin nails in Iowa. I won’t be surprised if our idiot raises taxes again although Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, North and South Dakota are getting huge cross border traffic for smokes.
Democraps don’t get it until people start shooting at them.
October 1, 2007 - 07:49 AM on October 1st, 2007
As much as I tell you guys I go to Chicago to see my Sis, wouldn’t you think I’d be smart enough to stock up on my way through Indiana? I always forget!
October 1, 2007 - 08:00 AM on October 1st, 2007
4, I don’t smoke, but I don’t think taxing smokes to the hilt is a healthy idea.
If your sis in Chi-town ever needs to go to a Midas for work, how about sending her to my daughter? She’s a service writer for now while she attends UTI.
October 1, 2007 - 08:17 AM on October 1st, 2007
5- If the theory is that you are taxing them in order to get them quit, it’s a winner, I agree…BUT, when you are depending on the revenue for a budget, and you are seeing huge drops in the number of smokers, it makes one wonder if the lawmakers aren’t smoking that wacky tobacky!
I’ll tell sis about that PCD.
October 1, 2007 - 08:27 AM on October 1st, 2007
6, They are just high on abusing their power to tax.
Pam, and thanks.
October 1, 2007 - 09:31 AM on October 1st, 2007
If only the state republicans had not given michigan businesses a pass on paying taxes, the dems would not of been forced to go raise taxes to balance the budget. And yes it is the dems fault that the whole state is based on an auto economy
And don’t forget lead rethug Mikre Bishop paid back his BCBS donors by forcing the state and teachers to pay more for their health insurance…that is rethug finance for you!
October 1, 2007 - 09:51 AM on October 1st, 2007
Given them a pass? Our businesses were over taxed to begin with. What incentive was there to come to this state, let alone continue to run a business here? You don’t prosper by penalizing those that keep your economy solvent.
Why are we not cutting spending on welfare? Why are illegals getting benefits if the state can’t even take care of its’ own?
Why shouldn’t the state and teachers pay more for their insurance? They get full coverage until the day they die.
October 1, 2007 - 10:08 AM on October 1st, 2007
It is amazing to me how both sides of the isle no longer have a grasp on what are sound economical policies.
October 1, 2007 - 10:47 AM on October 1st, 2007
[...] But to hear some of the Right Wing Water Carriers, Like Captain’s Quarters, Sister Toldjah, Right Voices talk, like their experts of what goes on here in Michigan! Guys, Please, If you’re not from [...]
October 1, 2007 - 11:03 AM on October 1st, 2007
10, Ted, as soon as Madmike said, “Rethug”, I knew he was a dingbat that has NO grasp of economics.
Liberals just don’t accept that companies do not pay taxes. They either pass them through on the price of their goods and services or the same companies MOVE AWAY FROM THE TAXATION.
October 1, 2007 - 11:50 AM on October 1st, 2007
if you can’t get a job make a job or go back to mexico/third world and fight for your freedom
October 1, 2007 - 04:06 PM on October 1st, 2007
[...] to this idiotic tripe: An interesting yet ignorant take on this situation can be seen over at the Populist Blog. Chuck [...]
October 1, 2007 - 04:08 PM on October 1st, 2007
I got your ignorant swingin’ bitch.
October 1, 2007 - 05:08 PM on October 1st, 2007
Wow.
I honestly wasn’t expecting the Democrats to win on this one.
I left Michigan four years ago and I’ll never, ever move back.
And not because of “high” taxes, but because it doesn’t even come close to the beauty and diversity of California.
October 1, 2007 - 06:14 PM on October 1st, 2007
So GM closing down these plants, is the UAW’s fault? It’s not even partly GM’s decision, to shaft the state that historically brought GM into dominance?
And the fact that this leaves a hole in the tax base which needs to be filled somehow, is liberals’ fault again? If you have another way to pay the bills, go for it. But the bills need to be paid. And running a budget with a deficit is just handing the bills to the next generation – which is about as far from morally *or* fiscally sound government as you can get.
October 1, 2007 - 06:54 PM on October 1st, 2007
jim, where did you get that I blamed the UAW entirely for the plant shutdown? It is an important part of the discussion about the state of Michigans economy.
rainy day fund? That is called over taxation.
October 1, 2007 - 07:02 PM on October 1st, 2007
This is a common result of GOP conservative martyr syndrome, or as we learned in the 3rd grade, not getting your way all the time. It’s usually acompanied by embarassing physical ailments, not unlike goat polio, as well as pointedly stupid debates about nothing (see Ann Coulter) and a ludicrous absence of common sense.
Unlike Goat Polio, spillage and pissing is more common in adult conservatives than in kids. It is entirely possible to introduce this silly behavior into a previously uninfected herd by feeding silage, sudden changes in kind of feed, parasitism, dramatic weather changes, and advanced stages of pregnancy, or shit-kicking defenseless dead people by pinhead pundits.
Symptoms include depression of common sense, decreased appetite for obvious onion dips, beaver fever, leaning or stumbling or moving in one direction only while lollygagging, head pulled to flank with rigid neck during oral sex, facial paralysis on one side due to oral sex, slack jaw mouth breathing, and drooling during Republican primaries. Diarrhea is present when conservative principles or so-called “family values”are instigated while lacking any discernable point or value. Embracing GOP talking points can be mistaken for rabies. Immediate treatment is critical – Recovery is more “iffy”than with Goat Polio.
The exact manner in which both republican ideology and Goat Polio affect the average pinhead is not well understood at this time. Treatment involves administration of high doses of boot leather to the dumb ass of the victim every six minutes for three to five days, then daily for an additional seven days. Forty-thousand IU per kg of body weight of common sense is needed to cross the blood brain barrier and put sufficient amounts of grey matter into the tissue of the dope’s central nervous system. Remember that one kilogram (kg) equals 2.2 pounds.
October 1, 2007 - 07:20 PM on October 1st, 2007
19- I am guessing that 3rd grade is as far as you’ve gotten so far?
October 1, 2007 - 07:21 PM on October 1st, 2007
When you gather together the pundits, GOP knob-gobblers, sinners and other violators of the conservative cardinal rules regarding mortal and venial sins against howeveris currently on the T.V., you’re bound to spill, in this case, on soil, in water, accompanied by plant litter of a green skunk smelling variety, silage of both serious and silly types, and even in a goat’s digestive tract. This neo-con practice is known to multiply well in cold temperatures, especially when considering the amount of coordination necessary for the average republican male to both balance his respective alcoholic drink of choice and the sophisticated and precise movements required when taking out his rather shriveled apparatus in order to allow free flowage of urine. Both complex movements and the necessary un-impaired status of the brain in order to pull these functions off without embarrassment or ridicule are seldom seen simultaneously in the same herd. However, once they open their mouths, the crap can be shed in the host’s garden, restroom facilities, or in the case of certain individuals prone to not sufficiently weeding out potential bad apples, in a bedroom closet or swimming pool, and Ms. Coulter’s bed if you get a chance to. Like Goat Polio, unprovoked urinating is most often seen in intensive management situations and repressed sexual feelings circa the 2nd grade.
October 1, 2007 - 07:58 PM on October 1st, 2007
Hey Carl, why don’t you take a history lesson? JFK ( A REAL DEMOCRAT) LOWERED tax rates to stimulate the economy. Lower TAX RATES allow businesses more money to EXPAND and produce MORE which is then taxable.
Can any liberal please explain how a company is supposed to pay employees and for capital improvements with money that has been taken by force in the form of taxation? GM is closing plants because they’re costing more to operate than they are earning. You can’t pay bills with money you don’t have. Why does that concept seem to fail to sink in to liberals unless it’s related to a governmental deficit? Why is the concept that the more productive a company is, the more money it can afford to pay in tax revenues so hard for liberals to comprehend? John Paul Getty once wrote that he’d rather have 1% of the output from the efforts of 100 men than 100% of the output from any 1 man. The theory works wherever it’s applied. Poor people don’t hire employees. Rich people and companies do. Is it better to collect taxes from 200 people working in a factory or 100 people working in a factory and paying welfare to 100 who are no longer working in a factory? What’s the difference? About a 10% increase in the corporate income tax rate. That’s why lower tax rates lead to higher productivity and therefore higher tax REVENUES. If you want a true assessment of a company’s profits, look at their NET PROFIT MARGINS or at their RETURN on INVESTMENT. Those are true indicators as to whether a company is overcharging for its goods and services. I’ve had Profit and Loss responsibility for a retail store and you’d be surprised at how fast a 50% gross profit margin becomes a net loss when you take into account overhead like utilities, rent, payroll, and banking expenses.
October 1, 2007 - 08:00 PM on October 1st, 2007
Here’s another quick history lesson for the liberals. What was the largest contributing factor in the Colonies revolting against the British Government in 1776? ….
HIGH TAXES!!!
October 1, 2007 - 08:17 PM on October 1st, 2007
22- FAO is at the top of his game right now
October 1, 2007 - 11:29 PM on October 1st, 2007
I have heard it pointed out that the Colonists revolted because of a far smaller tax burden than we have now.
Maybe it’s time to revolt against the Liberals?
October 2, 2007 - 06:05 AM on October 2nd, 2007
Ann Coulter is right, IF Democrats had any brains…
SFL and the rest of the left are really soiling themselves in this thread.
October 2, 2007 - 08:03 AM on October 2nd, 2007
“Here’s another quick history lesson for the liberals. What was the largest contributing factor in the Colonies revolting against the British Government in 1776? :.
HIGH TAXES!!!”
I’ll contend that point.
We revolted against the British governememt because of taxation without representation. We were being taxed without officials representing us in the governemet.
That said, I would contend we have come full circle. We have taxation, but our “elected officials” do not represent us, but they represent a political party and special interests.
October 2, 2007 - 10:12 AM on October 2nd, 2007
Right on Ted.
It wasn’t the high taxes that upset the colonialists so much, but the taxation without representation.
October 2, 2007 - 02:08 PM on October 2nd, 2007
It was the high taxes. What do you think even got them thinking. got the whole thing strated? It was the taxes that finally reached their boiling point, then they focused on the without representation.
October 2, 2007 - 03:09 PM on October 2nd, 2007
“What do you think even got them thinking.”
The fact that they had no representation in the British Govenement.
“”No taxation without representation” was a slogan in the period 1763-1775 that summarized a primary grievance of the American colonists in the Thirteen colonies. The colonists complained that taxes were imposed by Parliament without the consent of the colonists, which violated the traditional rights of Englishmen dating back from the Magna Carta. The point was that the colonies had no representation in Parliament; the British responded that they were “virtually” represented. The Americans said these “virtual representatives” knew nothing about America. The Americans rejected the Stamp Act 1765 (which was repealed), and in 1773 violently rejected the tax on imports at the Boston Tea Party. When Great Britain began to crack down on the illegal activities performed by the colonists, the colonists formed militias and seized control of each colony, ousting the royal governors. The complaint was never officially over the amount of taxation (although it was somewhat high), but always on the decision-making process by which taxes were decided in London, without representation for the colonists in British Parliament.
The phrase “No Taxation Without Representation!” was coined by Reverend Jonathan Mayhew in a sermon in Boston in 1750. By 1765 the term “no taxation without representation” was in use in Boston, but no one is sure who first used it. Boston politician James Otis was most famously associated with the term, “taxation without representation is tyranny.” [1]
By the 1760s the Americans came to believe they were being deprived of a historic right.[2]”
Link here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_taxation_without_representation
October 2, 2007 - 05:59 PM on October 2nd, 2007
Well sure, but they put up with taxation without representation until the taxes hit a level that exceeded their tolerance threshhold. So I’d say it was the taxes that sparked the revolt.
October 2, 2007 - 08:45 PM on October 2nd, 2007
How do we get Granholm and all the other losers who cowardly passed a tax hike in the late hours of the night recalled. Also, why does Michigan have a full time house and senate? States like Indiana only have a part time house….not a full time house and senate. We don’t need a full time house and senate. We are wasting tax dollars on these losers salaries, benefits and pensions.
October 2, 2007 - 09:27 PM on October 2nd, 2007
32- There are recall petitions floating around as we speak. I would rather try to get a ballot measure passed in which we do drop our legislature down to part-time status….Indiana has a successful part-time legislature, not to mention smooth roads! My tires love traveling their highways
October 2, 2007 - 10:58 PM on October 2nd, 2007
Arizona only has a part time legislature. They get paid $24k a year plus a small daily per diem. That way they remain public servants, instead of self serving life time politicians.
If Michigan wants all of the new businesses to come there like their multimillion dollar ad campaign says, they sure have a funny way of proving it. Invite them in and then tax them out of business.
I still stand by my comment that high taxes lead to the Revolutionary War. I doubt that anyone would’ve revolted against taxes that were minimal. It was when the taxation rate became onerous that the lack of representation became an issue. Had the colonists been paying the same tax rates as those in Britain, the lack of representation would’ve been a non issue.
October 6, 2007 - 05:33 PM on October 6th, 2007
Hey Robert, do you realize that there has been at least one armed revolt against the US government because of taxes that the people be expected to pay them were too high. Look up the “Whiskey Rebellion”. It’s the primary reason why alcohol is now sold in “Fifths”. The taxes at the time were only leveed on alcohol sold in quantities exceeding one quart or 1/4 of a gallon. A 750 ml bottle approximates 1/5 of a gallon and therefore was exempt from the tax at that time.
Yes, an armed tax rebellion may occur in the near future. What the liberals fail to realize is that now, unlike during the post WWI veterans protests, to activate the army against the civilian population would be much harder and would meet with quite a bit of resistance in and out of uniform. Hillary should be aware of this. According to sources on active duty at the time, the Clinton administration polled US Special Operations and Marine units concerning their willingness to fire on US citizens on US soil. Only 35% agreed that they would obey the order to do so. The rest said that they would refuse. That may be why the Clinton gun ban wasn’t more stringent. She has already said that she intends to TRY and take away the means that the people have to restore this country to its Constitutional roots if elected.
October 6, 2007 - 11:04 PM on October 6th, 2007
I’ve heard of the Whiskey Rebellion, but had forgotten about it.
I repeat my statement that the colonists rebelled for taxes that were far lower than what we have today.
October 6, 2007 - 11:05 PM on October 6th, 2007
I firmly believe that Hitlery would seek to destroy the 2nd Amendment should she be elected.