  Zulu_warrior Member Username: Zulu_warrior Post Number: 3229 Registered: 10-2003 |
MIRS BREAKING NEWS: Sales Tax Hike Vote Falls Short -- 1:49 PM http://www.mirsnews.com/alert. php?alert_id=119 ----------------------- In essentially a symbolic vote, the House failed to gain the 74 votes needed to put on the Jan. 15 presidential primary ballot a proposal to raise the sales tax one cent to seven cents on the dollar as a way to generate money to balance next year's budget, which is an estimated $1.75 billion in deficit. Fifty Democrats voted in favor of the HJR X while 45 Republicans voted against. Three House members were not present on the House vote. Five Republicans were present and didn't vote and seven politically vulnerable Democrats were present and didn't vote. Because the motion was 24 votes short of passage (two-thirds vote is required for passage), Democratic leadership opted to clear the board before the final tally could be officially recorded. House Speaker Andy DILLON (D-Redford Twp.) said he was disappointed that Republicans declined to support a concept that originated from Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike BISHOP. House Minority Leader Craig DeROCHE (R-Novi) said his caucus was united in not supporting an option for balancing the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 that depended on money that may or may not come until the middle of the fiscal year. | ||
Paulmcall Member Username: Paulmcall Post Number: 401 Registered: 05-2004 |
Everyone is trying to cover their behinds. The old "me first" rule applies with these guys. | ||
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13 Post Number: 2280 Registered: 10-2003 |
"Michigan is heading for a smashup of titanic proportions that will have a huge and devastating effect on your quality of life... We will become a place from which people of brains and quality flee. This will be a state with little chance of drawing serious high-tech or new-economy jobs. That's what we are headed for — unless the Legislature comes to its senses... And you can largely blame one man for this: Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester), who represents perhaps Michigan's richest district." http://www.metrotimes.com/edit orial/story.asp?id=11769 | ||
Ccbatson Member Username: Ccbatson Post Number: 3709 Registered: 11-2006 |
Force the bloated state government to cut spending...a good move. | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 2765 Registered: 06-2004 |
been over this before, Batty - pay attention even Bishop's plan depends on increased revenue to balance | ||
Futurecity Member Username: Futurecity Post Number: 618 Registered: 05-2005 |
Grandstand's Sacred Cow is the outrageous benefits package that state bureaucrats get each year - $27,000 per worker in benefits per year(!) - a truly criminal sum to the rest of the hard working people of Michigan. Grandstand's Ultimate Hustle is that not one penny of a tax hike will go to roads, schools, infrastructure, ect., but ONLY to enable full funding all state bureaucrat's benefits package for the rest of her term. State bureaucrats overwhelmingly voted for Grandstand. This is her paying them back with your money. Wake the fuck up, idiots. (Message edited by Futurecity on September 13, 2007) | ||
Novine Member Username: Novine Post Number: 129 Registered: 07-2007 |
What's criminal is thinking that providing decent health care and retirement to people is criminal. I'll say it again, it's a sad commentary that we as a country have fallen that far and we're now reduced to trying to pull everyone down to the lowest common denominator. As far as your numbers, did you make those up? Not even the Mackinac Center throws around those kinds of numbers. | ||
Futurecity Member Username: Futurecity Post Number: 619 Registered: 05-2005 |
It's a sad commentary that instead of leader, Michigan has a hustler for a governor. I think that there can be "decent health care and retirement" for state workers without raping the hard-working people of this state. The average state worker makes $75k a year in salary and benefits (not including the bloated compensation packages of workers in the executive and legislative branches). The average private sector employee in this state makes $58k a year in salary and benefits for equivalent work. By lowering state worker compensation to what the rest of make, the state would save $900 million per year. But that would take a leader that actually represents the people of this state. Instead we have a hustler trying to jack the people for more of their take-home pay so that bureaucrats can continue to be rewarded. (Message edited by Futurecity on September 13, 2007) | ||
Dnvn522 Member Username: Dnvn522 Post Number: 282 Registered: 11-2004 |
Lay 'em all off!!! (I thought I'd throw that in, before LY got a chance to!)  | ||
Umcs Member Username: Umcs Post Number: 30 Registered: 06-2007 |
Futurecity, I would hesitate to agree with you that compensation in the private sector should correspond to government employee salaries. You quote a $75K number for public employees to a $58K number for private employees without support. That's not a direct comparison. Compare jobs to jobs. How much does a state AG make in comparison to the median private attorney? Doctors? Engineers? Heck, technically Jenny from the Block should be evaluated in comparison to a CEO of a mid-size market company. Taxpayers are generally getting quite a bang for the buck here. I will agree that your average state worker without a college degree gets substantially better benefits in comparison to a guy flipping burgers or a non-union shop worker but I think the reverse is true when you factor in the state's college-educated employees. This area probably could use some comparative pricing. I think before you compare apples to oranges, be very careful what you wish for. | ||
Novine Member Username: Novine Post Number: 130 Registered: 07-2007 |
So are you correcting your previous statement? You claimed that state workers get "$27,000 per worker in benefits per year(!)" You still haven't sourced that claim. | ||
Yvette248 Member Username: Yvette248 Post Number: 933 Registered: 10-2006 |
We still need to fix the budget. It seems the legislature is more interested in getting reelected than they are in DOING THEIR JOBS!!! | ||
Mcp001 Member Username: Mcp001 Post Number: 3001 Registered: 11-2003 |
The budget can be easily fixed, just reduce spending to match revenue. It's simple really (and the Michigan Senate has already compiled a list of cuts to boot). Unfortunately the House is still hellbent on jacking the taxpayers. Stay tuned to see what happens Friday... | ||
Trainman Member Username: Trainman Post Number: 526 Registered: 04-2006 |
If taxes are raised then there will be no incentives for our leaders to listen to the public. The biggest tax increase supporters have no interest in cutting costs or serving the taxpayers trying to support a family. We need to vote them out fast before Michigan loses even more jobs. One of them was in Livonia at our city hall and supported the SMART bus reductions. He was in the paper and said that tax increases are the only answer. I plan on running for city council because I care about the handicapped people and will fight to protect federal and state transit funds, if the people vote for me. | ||
Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 531 Registered: 11-2006 |
Wages remain stagnant. Who has money for health care or taxes. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 6516 Registered: 02-2004 |
And Now! Let the political war begin. GENERAL GRANHOLM will lead the first attack on the Legislative Republican Army. The Michigan Revolutionary War will start soon. Together we Michigan Democrats will be victorious! | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 124 Registered: 07-2007 |
this is hard to believe - "seven politically vulnerable Democrats were present and didn't vote." Darn I sure wished it passed, I wanted so badly to give more money to overspending. | ||
Ccbatson Member Username: Ccbatson Post Number: 3863 Registered: 11-2006 |
Danny, Danny...what will you win? More taxes=less of your hard earned money? Anticlimactic, isn't it? | ||
Novine Member Username: Novine Post Number: 133 Registered: 07-2007 |
"The budget can be easily fixed, just reduce spending to match revenue. It's simple really (and the Michigan Senate has already compiled a list of cuts to boot). " This includes a $200 million cut in state revenue sharing for Detroit. Does anyone expect the city to be able to absorb that? If the Senate cuts pass, Detroit's going to fall into a fiscal emergency. | ||
Ccbatson Member Username: Ccbatson Post Number: 3872 Registered: 11-2006 |
Maybe so, I would like to see what happens. If it happens and the city can manage absent tax increases, then the taxes were too high. | ||
Futurecity Member Username: Futurecity Post Number: 620 Registered: 05-2005 |
"This includes a $200 million cut in state revenue sharing for Detroit. Does anyone expect the city to be able to absorb that? If the Senate cuts pass, Detroit's going to fall into a fiscal emergency." Novine must be on Grandstand's payroll, as he/she is actively promoting Grandstand's Ultimate Hustle: Threaten unnecessary cuts to scare people, while doing everything to protect Grandstand's Sacred Cow (state bureaucrats and their golden-parachute benefits). No need to cut anywhere except: 1. All State Bureaucrats Benefit Packages 2. The number of State Bureaucrats 3. Executive Branch staff and budget 4. Legislative Branch staff and budget All this before lies and lies and lies designed to steal more money from the hard-working people of this state. | ||
Mcp001 Member Username: Mcp001 Post Number: 3002 Registered: 11-2003 |
Even with that Futurecity, there will still need to be a little more cut from the budget. Myself personally, with all of their spending on country club memberships, higher than inflation wage increases and presidential mansions, university spending can be pared back even more to compel them to live within a realistic budget. And Danny, since the democrats are so powerful as you claim them to be, why didn't they raise taxes like Dillon, Granholm, et al wanted to do months ago? Is that Mr. Perks I see in the distance? | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1171 Registered: 12-2005 |
Last I heard, the governor's spouse still has his staff of state employees. I don't think there has ever been a paid staff for the spouse of a Michigan governor until the Granholm administration came along. Sure, in the grand scheme of things, the cost of two or three staffers gets lost in the State Budget's round-off error, but this spending example it is highly symbolic of the governor's skewed spending priorities and non-existent leadership style. | ||
Umcs Member Username: Umcs Post Number: 32 Registered: 06-2007 |
I honestly hope they shut the government down. Then we will honestly see whether or not the no-tax crowd are truly visionary... or a bunch of mental midgets. | ||
Futurecity Member Username: Futurecity Post Number: 621 Registered: 05-2005 |
It's not the no-tax crowd you mental midget, it's the no-new-tax-for-expanded-gover nment-bloat-crowd. (Message edited by Futurecity on September 14, 2007) | ||
Umcs Member Username: Umcs Post Number: 33 Registered: 06-2007 |
FC, You might want to "think" or dream its a no-new-tax-for-expanded government, but anyone who has paid attention to the actual tax rates over the last few years knows that the Income Tax was originally at 4.6% and was reduced to 4.4% around the whole Prop A thing. Following Prop A and the national economic boom in the mid to late 90's, the Income Tax rate was reduced to its current 3.9% prior to Engler leaving office. Politicians of both stripes have been subsidizing government for some time now on reduced revenues. Even with cuts (which I agree are necessary in some areas), your attitude and figures don't balance the checkbook at the end of the day. You still have yet to point to the source of your inflated figures for public employee salary+benies versus private employee salary+benies or provide a breakdown by job classification. What is your position and education level? Then tell me your salaries+benies. It's an easy comparison to the public sector since their salaries+benies are posted publicly. I freely admit that if you have nothing beyond a high school diploma, you're comparatively underpaid in relation to a public sector employee. Why don't we test that with you being the first volunteer? | ||
Futurecity Member Username: Futurecity Post Number: 622 Registered: 05-2005 |
How about you pay the benefit increases for your fat-cat bureaucrat friends? According to Grandstand's own budget: http://www.michigan.gov/budget /0,1607,7-157--134602--,00.htm l $147 MILLION is needed in 2008 just to cover the INCREASE in state bureaucrat benefit packages! TOTALLY INSANE! All state bureaucrats should be paying their OWN benefit increases, long before WE are asked to give MORE money out of our own pockets. This is just one insane item in Grandstand's Ultimate Hustle Budget for 2008. I can't understand why you would defend such irresponsible leadership. I would personally be for more taxes, IF we actually got something - a real transit system, older roads that were actually kept up rather than new roads constructed, center cities that were properly funded, ect.. But this would take an actual LEADER to accomplish such things. However, this Michigan budget is all about political paybacks. Grandstand's Ultimate Hustle Budget for 2008 and the proposed tax increase is soley designed to make the tax-paying residents in Michigan suffer, while rewarding the political voting block (state bureaucrats) that overwhelmingly supported Grandstand. | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1172 Registered: 12-2005 |
Despite what Umcs would have us believe, anyone who has paid attention knows that the Michigan personal income tax was originally 2.6%. The income tax rate stayed at 2.6% until 1971, when a "temporary" increase took it up to 3.9%. Four years later, another "temporary" rate increase took it up to 4.6%. The rate peaked at 6.35% in 1983 and three years later, it was down to 4.6%. It was not reduced to the 3.9% rate until 1/1/2004, long after Engler had left office. [source, see pgs. 8-9] | ||
Umcs Member Username: Umcs Post Number: 34 Registered: 06-2007 |
Mikeg, You're completely right on the timeline of rate increases and decreases with one exception. Our original income tax rate under the first state constitution was 0%. Aside from being a smart&*s about that, in all seriousness, what I am saying is that the Income Tax rate varies over time. Do you disagree with that fact? FC, Why is it that when I point out the flaws in your argument regarding compensation you say that I am defending the governor? I'm talking about your comparison of private sector employees to public sector employees and I'm calling you on it. Do I think they should be getting raises? No. Do I think that they are overpaid as a block? No. That does not equate me with a supporter of the governor. I, like you, prefer mass transit, safer streets, better education opportunities, more business development programs, infrastructure improvements, etc. Laying it on the backs of a bunch of public employees as being overpaid in all aspects is rather narrow-minded though. | ||
Novine Member Username: Novine Post Number: 134 Registered: 07-2007 |
"Novine must be on Grandstand's payroll, as he/she is actively promoting Grandstand's Ultimate Hustle:" FutureCity, why don't you pay attention to what your hacks in Lansing are promoting. Bishop is pushing a $400 million dollar cut in State Revenue Sharing to balance the budget. Detroit would get hit the hardest but you can be guaranteed that it wouldn't be the only one to go into a financial emergency. |
