Republicans like to say they’re for lower taxes, but they’re not. They’re just against taxing the rich. At least that’s what we’re seeing play out in Michigan. The legislature eliminates taxes on the wealthy, knowing full well that other taxes, which disproportionately hit the poor, are eventually going to have to fill the resulting gap. One day, they kill the Michigan Business Tax, which hits business owners, and the next they’re telling us that, unless we want to be swallowed up by potholes, we’re going to have to pay an even heftier gas tax. While an additional dime per gallon my not be a lot to someone who makes $200,000 a year, it can mean a hell of a lot to someone who makes minimum wage, especially at a time when State licensing fees, as well as cost of living, are also rising. And, then there’s that fact that many of Michigan’s older cities, like Ypsilanti, either already have, or soon will be, passing local income taxes, just to keep providing the most basic of services. That likely won’t affect too many wealthy Michiganders, as they don’t tend to live in our older, neglected cities, but it will have a huge impact on families that weren’t able to flee for the predominantly white suburbs. Which brings me to this MLive clip about Governor Snyder’s recently passed tax plan that I’d like to share:
…(A) new report says low income families will be hardest hit by a state tax reform package passed last year.
While the changes don’t take effect until the 2012 tax year, the Michigan League for Human Services hopes some credits helpful to the poor can be restored by then, particularly the $600 per-child tax deduction.
The League released a report that says the tax plan will hit poor families 1,000 times harder than wealthy households. Families making less than $17,000 a year would pay one percent more in taxes in 2012, while families making more than $334,000 would see their taxes go up by only .001 percent, the report states…
So, my friends, the next time you hear a Republican ranting about how they’re “anti-tax”, I’d encourage you to do your homework. Chances are, they’re lying.
update: Our friends at Eclectablog just posted something on this same subject. In their piece, they reference a new report by the Michigan League for Human Services, which shows just how much the non-wealthy in this state are getting screwed by Snyder’s new tax policy. The report can be found here… but, here’s the big takeaway – “New tax changes cut business income tax revenues by 83 percent and increase individual taxes by 23 percent.”
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I could get behind a gas tax *if* a good chunk of the revenue could be spent on public transportation. Not owning a car in the first place is a lot cheaper.
If I’m not mistaken, a good deal of what’s already collected through the Michigan gas tax, which is one of the highest in the country, goes toward the general fund. In other words, much of the gas tax isn’t really being used to repair roads, but to do other things, that are no longer funded by Michigan’s ruling class.
Things will get worse for the working people of Michigan. Given yesterday’s passage of union-busting “right to work” legislation in Indiana, people are talking about the possibility of Michigan following suit.
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/job_shop/how-will-the-indiana-right-to-work-law-effect-michigan%3F
Mother Jones has an article on this very thing today.
You’ll find the chart here.
http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/02/soaking-poor-state-state
And there Synder sits, in his gated community, as his friends snap photos of the poor people holding candles outside, and complain about how they’re making it harder for them to get to Whole Foods.