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By saul anuzis Posted in Democrats | jennifer granholm | Michigan Republicans | Republicans | tax hike — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

239 Days until Election Day

MORNING UPDATE:

Michigan House Democrats push a $42 million tax increase…didn’t we say we told you so? When Democrats control Michigan, your taxes go up. It happens every time.

The Political, Candidate & Party Assistance team were on the road again last night on the "Unity Road Show" in Oakland county Michigan. I met with Oakland County GOP Chair Dennis Cowan before the meeting to discuss plans and strategy.

We had a very successful meeting in Oakland County. About 30 people showed up for the presentation and discussion last night. We had a large number of the County Commissioners in attendance along with Sheriff Mike Bouchard. Special thanks to Dennis Cowan for helping put this event together.

Newt Gingrich helps us celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Two Speeches that Changed the World…see the rest of the story below.

The Democrats are talking about holding a “do-over” election for their presidential selection process. One of our readers suggested the Democrats use TicketMaster to run their elections. More about the “mail-in” option below.

THE REST OF THE STORY:

- Today I called out House Speaker Andy Dillon and the Democrat-controlled state House of Representatives for supporting a $42 million tax hike on homeowners and refusing to take up a Republican-sponsored initiative that would help keep families in their homes without raising taxes.

News reports out just the other day show that for the first time since World War II, people owe more on their mortgage than what their home is actually worth. Speaker Dillon’s plan to raise taxes would further reduce home equity and make selling a house more difficult than it already is.

I am referring to HB 4441, Dillon's plan to increase the Real Estate Transfer Tax. The Real Estate Transfer Tax is similar to sales tax, except that the seller is the one who pays instead of the buyer. Under Dillon’s plan, homeowners in Michigan would pay an extra dollar in taxes per $1,000 of the sale price of their home. This means a homeowner selling a $150,000 house would owe the government an extra $1,500 dollars in taxes.

The Democrats held press conferences across the state Monday to talk about how they want to help homeowners, but in reality they are trying to slide another tax hike in under the radar. Meanwhile, Speaker Dillon is blocking legislation to prevent property taxes from going up if property value falls.

Michigan House Republicans have introduced legislation that would prevent property taxes from going up if property value falls, a situation homeowners are facing across the state as the Granholm-Democrat single-state recession continues.

Michigan, which is suffering through a prolonged housing slump, currently has the third highest rate of home foreclosures in the nation.

The comprehensive GOP package lowers property taxes for all homeowners without raising taxes on home sellers and helps keep families at risk of foreclosure in their home, but Speaker Dillon and other Democrats in control of the House refuse to allow this legislation a vote, or even a hearing in committee.

Again, Democrats have a plan to raise taxes without a plan to reform state government. When Democrats control Michigan, our taxes go up. It happens every time.”

- Newt Gingrich points out that in two powerful speeches that took place 25 years ago this month, President Ronald Reagan dealt what would ultimately prove to be lethal blows to the moral and material foundations of the Soviet Union.

On March 8, 1983, Reagan described the Soviet Union as an “evil empire” and as “the focus of evil in the modern world,” and 15 days later, on March 23, Reagan unveiled his vision for the research, development, and ultimate deployment of a missile defense shield that would one day end the vulnerability of America and her allies to Soviet nuclear attack.

While both speeches were widely ridiculed at the time, they are today rightly hailed as having made decisive contributions to bringing about the eventual dissolution of the Soviet Union a little less than nine years later.

For more and to hear the speeches go to:

http://newt.org/TwoSpeechesthatChangedHistory/tabid/248/Default.aspx

- MIRS reports: By-Mail Re-Do Gets Boost

The subscription-only MIRS Newsletter reports Michigan Democrats have moved a step closer to re-ordering another Democrat primary, noting that all options are on the table including a complex plan in which ballots are submitted through the mail.

National Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean called it a "very good process."

U.S Sen. Carl Levin said last Friday that basically said there would be no deal, but over the weekend he softened his rhetoric, adding: "The one possibility would be some kind of a mail-in caucus, but there's some real problems with that, too. Not just cost, but the security issue." In Monday’s Detroit News, Levin was reported saying that a blue ribbon panel may soon reach a compromise on a mail-in voting.

Democrat political list vender Mark Grebner, who wrote the first mail-in option in 2004, said safeguards could be built into the process using bar codes.

Another challenge would be weeding out Republicans, who voted in the January 15 primary from the new mail-in procedure.

For complete post go to: http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2008/03/articles-of--10.html

Saulius "Saul" Anuzis
Chairman
Michigan Republican Party