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Sunday, May 15, 2011

My, My... How the TeaPublicans Revel Over Revenue Deficits

Response to a piece by Dr. Gary L. Wolfram (Hillsdale / Mackinac Center) in "Leadership is the difference" on the Michigan View on May 13, 2011.

The smacks of high 5's and the thumping of chest bumping echoed from the bowels of the People's House as diehard teapartians took to celebration over their take-downs accomplished in Nerd Snyder's budget proposal victory last Thursday. It all fits the "drown the baby in the bathtub" MO of these harsh anti-public service creatures.

Snide Gollum of all the trolls, at Mackinac Center, is Professor G. L. Wolfram. From his fertile Rolodex brain, trained and muddled deep in extremist ideology and "gottcha politics" comes this wonderful insight:

"As a certain Presidential chief of staff once said, YOU SHOULDN'T LET A CRISIS GO TO WASTE. We have a chance to introduce structural reforms on our educational system, our business tax, our corrections system, and our Medicaid system because THE BUDGET PROBLEMS HAVE FORCED AN EXAMINATION THAT WOULD NOT OTHERWISE HAVE TAKEN PLACE. THE BUDGET CUTS CAN BEST BE ACCOMPLISHED BY ADDRESSING HOW SERVICES ARE DELIVERED AND WHICH SERVICES ARE PROPERLY THE ROLE OF STATE GOVERNMENT. It will be interesting to see how this ends up."
Prof. Gary follows the path set by Milton Friedman and others. These cuts benefit corporatists the Koch Brothers et. al. and are designed to enhance the bottomlines of business at the hard hits expense of many others, including the middle class of Michigan.

Class warfare is on the rise in Michigan and its results are not yet fully known, but are predictable and tragic.


The "bums rush" to ramrod the Snyder Budget and agendas (assembled and implemented by the Mackinac Center, Koch Bros. Americans for Prosperity, special interests e.g. Michigan's Chambers of Commerce, The American Legislative Exchange Council "model" legislation with its "fill in the blanks and file" format, and the remnants of the crusty old Englerites (given cushy, high-salary positions in the Nerd's brain trust) had to be put in place quickly, before the people of Michigan come to fully understand its impact and implications on their economic and social well-being.

Even now newspapers across the state are fleshing out the harsh details how the new taxes and service cuts will impinge on the lives of the poor, the elderly, and school children. It's not a happy or pretty scenario.
The rush to pass Snyder's budget proposal legislation and unprecedented TAX HIKES had to fall in place before the public learns that the upward trends coming out of the work of the Granholm Era and the early signs of national economic recovery under President Obama are set to yield increased state revenues. Increased revenues are a problem for Snyder's team.

Now the Nerd's Nixon wants to play "piggy bank with the potential increases and keep them from plugging the humongous holes Nixon and the Nerd created in public education, public service everywhere, corrections, and the like across our state.

These are desperate times we were told over and over. Now, rather than act in targeted ways to sustain such programs as public education Snyder's team will demand a "rainy day" piggy bank. Rainy day, we have one now! But if the love is of deficits that produce crisis and allow for radical cuts and attacks on programs and groups viewed as arch-foes (in the manner of the Mackinac Center and such lower lights as Professor Gary), then let the deficits and the shortfalls pile up!

Don't the TeaPublicans just love the opportunities this crisis has developed. 

Out-state influences are also in the game. Never rule out the Heritage Foundation, Koch's CATO, and the word weasels at Heartland, whose spokesman made this searing cynical comment about our Nerd:
"No one could have anticipated such bold budget moves after hearing Snyder's embarrassingly awful state of the state speech, which sounded more like a middle school nerd asking out the best-looking girl in class than One Tough Nerd our state was promised. Sometime between then and now, THE GOVERNOR PULLED ON HIS BIG-BOY PANTS and offered real long-term solutions to Michigan's heretofore insurmountable problems."

Enter now further evidence of misguided "rush to pass" a huge tax-increasing budget, Snyderism on steroids: The Detroit News headline reads, "Business tax cut will wipe out rising Michigan revenue, House agency says." The story outlines the following: "An improving economy means the state could realize up to $700 million more in revenue this year, according to financial estimates by the House and Senate fiscal agencies.
"But the growth in this year's revenue won't make up for the loss of $1.8 billion in 2012 as the result of the elimination of the Michigan Business Tax."

One Michigan daily right up front with this analysis: "It's a big bet that tax cuts will promote job creation and economic growth in Michigan. Critics are right: There is no way to predict or quantify how many jobs the business tax cut will create, and Snyder hasn't attempted to do so."

Other Outcomes? Reports an expert business news: "You can bet, for instance, that if an improved Michigan economy results in a surplus of tax revenues, there will be intense pressure by Republicans to cut taxes again, rather than increase spending on higher education or cities."

Prof. Wolfram holds forth: "Governor Snyder, Speaker Bolger, and Majority Leader Richardville will face political pushback from plenty of special interests as they put state government back on a path to providing basic services and make Michigan a place where entrepreneurs are welcome. It's up to us to let them know that we believe in a government limited to the protection of life, liberty and property, individual responsibility.

"With determination, Michigan will lead the nation in liberty and prosperity."

This above is Wolfarm's professorial clap trap, pure ivy-choked arcane academic conjecture, Libertarian pipe-dreaming and back steps prattle. With this kind of hectoring, Wolfram encourages the TeaPublicans to remain harsh and uncaring, injurious to our state.

Michiganders have lives to lead and real work to do of the type Prof. Gary knows nothing of. Move aside and let us get on with our lives.
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