Monday, June 04, 2007

Will the Republicans decide Michigan's future?



Already the Senate Republicans are taking charge of the argument over the size any tax increase.



But Cropsey said he could not see the Senate passing a $1.5-billion tax increase. A tax increase of that size would effectively maintain government as is, he said, adding a $1-billion tax increase might be possible.



Alan Cropsey just said a billion dollar tax increase is possible. Stop and think about that for a moment.



And back to the quote from Bishop-



Senate Majority Leader Michael Bishop, R-Rochester, said a half-percent increase in the income tax rate was too high.



And Ron Jelinek, back in May



Senate Appropriations Chairman Ron Jelinek, a Republican from Three Oaks, told WOOD-TV for a Sunday show that a tax increase appears inevitable for next year's budget.



"I don't think we have any choice," he said. "We're going to have to increase revenues somewhere. My personal philosophy is I will stand for that. But I can't go to my constituents and say we're going to raise your taxes so we can add new programs. That's where I have a real problem."



And of course we had DeRoche calling for a gas tax increase long ago. Craig was the victim of bad timing on that one.



Does all of that even register on the radar? The sudden change from a "cuts only" stand to one where they are conceeding a tax increase? Hello? Anyone?



Watch from here on out. They will start to dictate the terms of what will happen next, and, given how the reviews of the '07 budget turned out, it won't be pretty.



Funny how the Republicans can talk about these things, take control of the conversation on every single issue, while the Democrats run from their own shadows.



Hey guys, it shows.



Just so you know.



Are you going to stand up this time, or are you going to let the Republicans tell us what Michigan's future is going to look like? Because if you are going for the latter, just to hide behind the guise of "bipartisanship" simply to cover your own ass, it's hard to fathom a reason why we elected you in the first place.