Redstate

By saul anuzis Posted in CAFE | Michigan Republican Party | Republicans | Saul Anuzis | Service Tax | Spending — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

340 Days until Election Day

MORNING UPDATE:

Sales tax on services is repealed….surcharge on the MBT replaces revenues. The Democrats left us with the best of two bad choices. Hopefully some in the business community have learned some lessons.

Senate and House Republicans stood together to get the best they could…see release below.

How about a bipartisan approach to dealing with the issues that affect our state? See more below.

As we contemplate our budget situation consider this: controlling spending is the ONLY solution…taxes will never catch up with politician’s propensity to spend!

The cause of Freedom and our cause for conservative values is a marathon…we need to get up every morning and do our part…whatever it is!

Give a Gift this Holiday Season that Will Last a Lifetime!

The Michigan Republicans moved their headquarters to the Secchia-Weiser Republican Center in 2006 and plan to install a legacy site to honor those who have served the party and the citizens of Michigan. The legacy site will create a well-deserved tribute to honor Michigan’s past, present, and future Republican leaders! Buy a brick to celebrate, to inspire, or to commemorate friends, family, or yourself this holiday season! They are a great way to honor others in memoriam, birthdays, anniversaries, or any special occasion. Your honoree will receive a certificate commemorating their personalized brick. Choose from our four different options and be a part of the Michigan Republican Party Legacy!

To order your personalized Legacy Brick please visit www.migop.org/legacy, or contact Erin Meteer, Major Donor Program Manager at emeteer@migop.org.

THE REST OF THE STORY:

- House Republican Leader Craig DeRoche today issued the following statement regarding the House Democrat-created tax increase placed on the Michigan economy:

“Michigan is suffering with the worst economy in the United States. No reasonable person believes that a major tax increase like this will help create a single job or stop another home foreclosure. Yet, given a second chance to fix their mistake, the Democrat leadership chose to replace a tax with another tax.

“To say the business community supports this plan is like saying that a death row inmate chooses the firing squad over the electric chair. Either way, leaving Michigan job providers on the hook for millions of dollars in preparation and implementation costs, compounded by Speaker Dillon’s decision to leave town Wednesday without a fix, has left thousands of jobs hanging in the balance.

“As a direct result of this ‘incompetence tax,’ Michigan’s job providers were forced to waste nearly $14 million a day getting ready – money which business owners can’t use to keep current employees, let alone hire new workers.

“Michigan is going to head into the holiday season with even more layoff notices. The Democrats must turn their philosophy around – the Legislature must try to encourage job growth, not stifle it. That’s why House Republicans will fight to provide tax credits to eliminate the ‘incompetence tax.’

“None of this had to happen. House Republicans offered a plan immediately after the implementation of the service tax, a plan which put more money into priorities such as education and public safety. Our plan offered $670 million in reforms and government streamlining, making tax increases unnecessary.

“Unfortunately, the House Democrats chose higher taxes over reform and job growth.

“We are very thankful for the Michigan Senate Republicans and governor, who were successful in bringing House Democrats back into the negotiating room and reduced their tax increase by more than 40 percent. House Republicans stand united with the Senate in attempting to eliminate the remainder of the surcharge tax. House Republicans do not believe voters intended to hand their wallets over to Lansing when they voted in a Democrat majority, and they will continue to fight for job providers and taxpayers.”

- We have now tried the Democrat’s approach and have thrown more and more money (tax revenues) into state government under Governor Granholm and the Democrats. It’s still not working.

The non-partisan Michigan Research Council has identified a number of structural issues that it says must be addressed. Let’s take them one at a time and come up with some kind of solution.

We have a state government that is over-bloated, gives out contracts that constantly have huge cost over-runs, duplicates services provided by other agencies…can we find a bipartisan solution to address some of these issues?

We have a prison system that puts too many people behind bars, that costs more than it should, that doesn’t provide many with a way to get back into society and needs major reform. It would be cheaper and smarter to put many of these folks into a community college and rehab than behind bars.

Our educational system is failing to educate many of our children. We are overpaying new growing bureaucracies for non-educational services. We have a system that focuses more on the teacher rather than the students, more on the administrator and district than on the student. Over 500 school districts?

We are one of only a few states that provides lifetime welfare benefits making it a way a life rather than a support system for those in need of temporary help. We are expanding Medicaid coverage and socializing healthcare in a systematic, inefficient and costly manner where the bill falls on the back of the taxpayers.

We have a tax and regulatory climate that continues to punish entrepreneurship, chase away new investment and force our greatest asset, our children, to leave our state to find jobs and futures elsewhere.

These are all issues we can and should address in a bipartisan fashion. The Governor is “our leader”. You got your tax increases, however messy they maybe. Let us now take one issue at a time, get a bipartisan working group together in each of the areas in need of policy changes and find common ground.

The Democrats got their tax increase - the largest in Michigan’s history…you won that one on a partisan basis. But now let’s try and approach some of the remaining problems from a reform perspective.

How about a little “common sense” – a different approach to dealing with the issue affecting our state. We deserve better. Let’s make an effort to work together, but that means now that we have raises close to $2 billion in new taxes…let’s look at the “structural” side of the equation and redefine and reform the way we provide government services in Michigan. Let’s create a system we can sustain and afford that will attract job providers, encourage our families to stay here and take advantage of the wonders that we have in this great state.

Taxes will never catch up with politician’s propensity to spend!

For complete post go to: http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/12/articles-of-i-1.html

Saulius "Saul" Anuzis
Chairman
Michigan Republican Party