"It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country."
–Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
–George Santayana (philosopher)
Michigan was an experiment and it failed. Michigan pass a law, PROPOSAL A – MICHIGAN Property and Sales Taxes -- Adopted March 15, 1994, which has proven to cut taxes, caused calamitous hardship as well as a failing state economy.
Given this reality, I don't know where any Republican can claim cutting taxes stimulates job growth and a healthy economy. This report exams all fifty states and one point and there is an opposite effect to cutting taxes in any long term strategy.
In the figure below, it shows the increase in state funding per student from 1999 to the proposal of 2015. It should be noted, while the spending per student has increased, it has nothing to do with changing policy, it is due to less students in the educational system of Michigan.
Proposal A (click here)
Low taxes and low levels of public services (click here) are not the path to long term economic prosperity. A special section of the study reviews the relative rankings of all states by per capita income over the period 1929 to 2010. Its key findings: the states that were low tax in the beginning of this period were
also low income then, and they remain low income today—none of the bottom 10 in 1929 ever made the Top 10 over the years measured. Pp 34‐36, Table 8).
We are well under the Headlee Limitation,...(click here)
Interesting enough during this same period the GDP of Michigan increased until of course 2008. The recovery in Michigan since 2008 was primarily due to Washington policies. So, while the GDP was increasing in Michigan during this time, the incomes to citizens were decreasing, there was growing unemployment and the state was having tax short falls.
...The tax cuts (click here) were sold as being the key to creating economic prosperity for the state; but, over that period, Michigan’s national rank in per capita income has tumbled from 18th to 35th and the state’s unemployment rate, aligned with the national average in 1994, last year was more than 25 percent above the national average, according to the report....
...Individually, (click here) some of these past tax changes were likely reasonable policies. Collectively however, they now threaten the ability of Michigan to support its public investments, the services that create opportunities for young people, that attract and retain talent, and that are increasingly important in today’s knowledge service driven economy.
In December, 2011, Gov. Rick Snyder issued a special Talent Address. In it, he said, “In the 20th century, the most valuable assets to job creators were financial and material capital. In a changing global economy, that is no longer the case. Today, talent has surpassed other resources as the driver of economic growth.”
This study agrees that talent is the key to Michigan’s future. Sadly, his administration has not put dollars and priorities behind that sentiment. See the Michigan Future website (www.MichiganFuture.org) for data on educational attainment across the states.
Gov. Snyder and the current Legislature, while making these statements supportive of attracting and retaining talent, have continued to cut taxes, mostly for businesses, and issue tax abatements. (The business tax cuts have been offset somewhat by increases in taxes, mostly on low and middle income
families through a reduction of the Earned Income Tax Credit, and senior citizens, through the pension tax...
While Michigan was accepting increases in their sales and use tax from 4% to 6%, none went to the education system. Michigan never reexamined the laws that were causing collapse of so many public school systems. The hardest hit are majority minority communities. Michigan simply let the educational system rot under oppressive laws (tax cuts) because they were convinced raising taxes would ruin their 'business environment.'
When people are poor there is a poor economy. Tax cuts to the bone won't bring the economy back because there is no money in it in the first place. The healthiest statement I read to this effect is that business and the people should be equal partners in any government treasury.
"The Buffet Rule" (click here)
Basically, the people are seen as one shareholder in the deposits made to the treasury, be it local, state or federal. So, for each business in the state they are a shareholder to the treasury and the people are one and only one. Businesses ante-up no different than citizens, but, citizens don't carry the cost for a business to exist.
–Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
–George Santayana (philosopher)
Michigan was an experiment and it failed. Michigan pass a law, PROPOSAL A – MICHIGAN Property and Sales Taxes -- Adopted March 15, 1994, which has proven to cut taxes, caused calamitous hardship as well as a failing state economy.
Given this reality, I don't know where any Republican can claim cutting taxes stimulates job growth and a healthy economy. This report exams all fifty states and one point and there is an opposite effect to cutting taxes in any long term strategy.
In the figure below, it shows the increase in state funding per student from 1999 to the proposal of 2015. It should be noted, while the spending per student has increased, it has nothing to do with changing policy, it is due to less students in the educational system of Michigan.
Proposal A (click here)
Low taxes and low levels of public services (click here) are not the path to long term economic prosperity. A special section of the study reviews the relative rankings of all states by per capita income over the period 1929 to 2010. Its key findings: the states that were low tax in the beginning of this period were
also low income then, and they remain low income today—none of the bottom 10 in 1929 ever made the Top 10 over the years measured. Pp 34‐36, Table 8).
We are well under the Headlee Limitation,...(click here)
Interesting enough during this same period the GDP of Michigan increased until of course 2008. The recovery in Michigan since 2008 was primarily due to Washington policies. So, while the GDP was increasing in Michigan during this time, the incomes to citizens were decreasing, there was growing unemployment and the state was having tax short falls.
...The tax cuts (click here) were sold as being the key to creating economic prosperity for the state; but, over that period, Michigan’s national rank in per capita income has tumbled from 18th to 35th and the state’s unemployment rate, aligned with the national average in 1994, last year was more than 25 percent above the national average, according to the report....
...Individually, (click here) some of these past tax changes were likely reasonable policies. Collectively however, they now threaten the ability of Michigan to support its public investments, the services that create opportunities for young people, that attract and retain talent, and that are increasingly important in today’s knowledge service driven economy.
In December, 2011, Gov. Rick Snyder issued a special Talent Address. In it, he said, “In the 20th century, the most valuable assets to job creators were financial and material capital. In a changing global economy, that is no longer the case. Today, talent has surpassed other resources as the driver of economic growth.”
This study agrees that talent is the key to Michigan’s future. Sadly, his administration has not put dollars and priorities behind that sentiment. See the Michigan Future website (www.MichiganFuture.org) for data on educational attainment across the states.
Gov. Snyder and the current Legislature, while making these statements supportive of attracting and retaining talent, have continued to cut taxes, mostly for businesses, and issue tax abatements. (The business tax cuts have been offset somewhat by increases in taxes, mostly on low and middle income
families through a reduction of the Earned Income Tax Credit, and senior citizens, through the pension tax...
While Michigan was accepting increases in their sales and use tax from 4% to 6%, none went to the education system. Michigan never reexamined the laws that were causing collapse of so many public school systems. The hardest hit are majority minority communities. Michigan simply let the educational system rot under oppressive laws (tax cuts) because they were convinced raising taxes would ruin their 'business environment.'
When people are poor there is a poor economy. Tax cuts to the bone won't bring the economy back because there is no money in it in the first place. The healthiest statement I read to this effect is that business and the people should be equal partners in any government treasury.
"The Buffet Rule" (click here)
Basically, the people are seen as one shareholder in the deposits made to the treasury, be it local, state or federal. So, for each business in the state they are a shareholder to the treasury and the people are one and only one. Businesses ante-up no different than citizens, but, citizens don't carry the cost for a business to exist.
