In a state facing massive infrastructure problems from roads that have gone unrepaired for years to a city poisoned by lead that needs tens of thousands of lead water service lines replaced, one Republican Senator has a plan: pass a law ending our state income tax, a move that will blow a $9 BILLION hole in our state budget: Senate […]

Cluck, cluck… When Michigan Republicans took control of our legislature in 2010, they, along with our new Republican CEO Governor Rick Snyder, proceeded to enact a sweeping tax cut for corporations. It was all to bring new employers into the state which, in time, would lead to a more robust economy and a rising tide that would lift all boats. […]

It’s well known that American corporations use off-shore tax havens to shield their profits from taxation. However, a recent report by U.S. Public Interest Group (USPIRG) gives us new details on just how widespread the tactic is and, more importantly, the impact it is having on the funding of education across the country. According to their analysis, this practice reduces […]

“Only the Michigan GOP could look at crumbling roads, underfunded schools and struggling communities and think, ‘You know what? We need LESS revenue’.” That quote from Progress Michigan executive director Lonnie Scott sums up what happened last night in the state legislature perfectly. After more than two and a half years of wrangling to find $1.2 billion annually that experts […]

Yesterday, the Michigan Board of Canvassers met to decide on a variety proposals destined for the 2016 ballot. One of them is being submitted by Citizens for Fair Taxes that would restore corporate taxes for the largest corporations to 11%. The move would raise roughly $900 million for road repairs in our state. After the meeting, Michigan Chamber of Commerce […]

As the group Citizens for Fair Taxes is rolling out its effort to put a proposal on the ballot to compel Michigan corporations to pay their fair share in taxes in order to get our roads fixed, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce is in panic mode. And well they should be. Internal polling by the group shows that 69% of […]

Michigan legislators met for two days this week (without taking attendance or casting any votes) then folded up shop and went home for a one-month recess. They did this as our state’s roads continue to crumble and without passing any legislation to deal with the ongoing road and bridge repair crisis. UPDATE: @EmptyWheel reminds me that they did actually take […]

Not just predictable. Predicted.. Republicans in the Michigan Senate have a plan to fix the roads and they are going to raise $1.4 billion to git ‘er done. It’s going to happen by raising the gas tax, something I am 100% unequivocally totally completely entirely supportive of. That’ll raise about $700,000,000 by their reckoning. So, where does the other $700,000,000 […]

Thirty-four states along with Washington, D.C. have graduated state income taxes where wealthy people pay a higher percentage than people who make less money. This is also how our federal taxes are configured. Michigan, however, does not. We are one of only seven states with a flat tax. A recent EPIC-MRA poll shows that an astonishing 66% of Michigan voters […]

“Proposal one goes down in flames!,” gloated Todd Courser last night on his Facebook page. “Time to get to work and come up with a solution that will fix our roads without raising taxes! The money is there… all we lack is enough legislators with the political will to make the hard choices necessary to prioritize spending.” “The taxpayers sent […]

NOTE FROM CHRIS: Today is the soft-launch of our newest Eclectablogger Judy Matlock. As “judyms9”, Judy has been the most prolific commenter on Eclectablog for two years running according to our WordPress stats. And she’s not just prolific; her comments are insightful, often getting to the heart of the matter and bringing in angles that the author of the post […]