11-8-07
Founder of Weather Channel:  Global Warming is the Greatest Scam in History
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/joes-blog/comments_about_global_warming/

11-1-07
MICHIGAN STATE GOVERNMENT SPENDING GROWS AGAIN!!
Gov. Jennifer Granholm and 148 lawmakers ended nine months of haggling over the state's budget crisis by essentially agreeing to preserve the status quo.
That was the news headline today.  An overall spending increase in the new state budget of 1.3 billion $.  The LSJ and FreeP are reporting $700 million more - but they are only citing the General Fund.  One more time:  overall spending increases in the budget from 41.6BILLION -- to 42.9 BILLION.  .... I have no further comment except I am thinking about not voting ever again.  No wonder people don't give a shit.

I feel really terrible for this blogger on the Detroit FreeP site.  Michigan's leadership should hang their head in shame.

    I pray every day and night that my house will sell before I lose it. I have worked my whole life, lived modestly and have put 5 children through college (no grants-of course did not qualify). Now, by sticking it out in this state, I will probably lose my house (which I will never be able to own another again), my excellant credit will be down the toilet (as soon as my house is foreclosed and I file bankrupcy) and most of all, I am tired of always being semi-hungry. I cannot work anymore hours than I am already working, I cannot even sell my blood (due to religious beliefs).
    Things started sliding downhill about 6 years ago, but these last 3 years (especially the last 1.5 to 2 years) have wiped me out. Between HIGH and FAST INCREASES of gas prices, car insurance, utilities, property tax, city/county tax, food/merchandise, medical insurance (premiums,co-pays and RX) and NOW state income and service tax, I am bankrupt. I HAVE NO MORE TO GIVE. Plus, on top of all this, I understand state income tax will retro to the beginning of the year, so come April I will owe more money to the state that I can't pay. Since I won't have the money, I will be charged fees and fines that will compound until I do, at rates that fall under loansharking and racketeering. But of course it is legal, since the state justifies these charges.
    I now DESPISE this state. It has taken away MY DREAM. It was taken away everything I have worked for. Unfortunately, I am at an age where I cannot get it back, so yes, I am totally "BLOWN AWAY". I will HAPPILY escape from this state with barely my life and will NEVER allow myself to think or acknowledge that it is included as part of the UNITED STATES. To me, it will be regarded as some isolated and third world piece of worthless property set aside from the rest of the world.
    I know that I have rambled on but please be nonjudgemental. I just recieved (in the mail) a statement from my mortgage company that I am, AGAIN, late on payment.

IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY THOUGHTS, READ DANIEL HOWES FROM THE DETROIT NEWS.  From his Blog 10-31-07
Posted by Daniel Howes on Wed, Oct 31, 2007 at 2:30 PM
 

Budget cut? What budget cut?

It's somehow reassuring, isn't it, to know that Beltway-think is alive and well in Lansing, where a state budget that's $760 million larger than last year's is the austerity budget Michigan needed to avert yet another shutdown.

Except that it's really not, at least not to many in the real world.

"Thanks mainly to an increase of nearly $1.5 billion in taxes, lawmakers approved $9.862 billion in general fund spending, up 8.5 percent over last year's budget," The Detroit News reported today. "The 2006-07 budget was reduced by spending cuts and stop-gap measures. Gary Olson, director of the Senate Fiscal Agency, said ... that's misleading, because last year's spending base was depleted by a 11th-hour cuts, delayed payments and other one-time measures.

"'Adjusted for that, it's about a 3.5 percent increase,'" Olson said.

Oh, that clears it up, here in the land of the economically illiterate. Highest unemployment rate in America? Levy an arbitrary tax on services. Declining housing values? Raise the state income tax. Intensifying pressure on public revenue? Grant pay raises to state employees because they've already been negotiated and, well, reopening a collective bargaining agreement is too hard, too divisive.

Really? Tell that to the United Auto Workers, whose leaders a) opened contracts with General Motors and Ford Motor two years ago to craft concessions on retiree health-care and b) this fall are negotiating landmark deals with the automakers that are removing billions in unfunded liabilities from the companies, ensuring retiree health care, improving cash flow and reversing Wall Street sentiment on Detroit's debt and equity.

Who are these politicians in Lansing kidding?

And in today's Free Press: "Despite more than $430 million in savings and cuts, the 2007-08 budget is $760 million larger than the previous year's because of employee pay raises, inflationary costs and other spending increases."

All of which means this, folks: The financial train wreck that is the state of Michigan still is a train wreck. But for $1.3 billion in new taxes and a service tax that has enraged business enough to galvanize opposition -- even to the point of forcing Detroit's automakers to stand with others in opposition -- the state would be in receivership.

We'll be back here again next year. We'll hear more dire predictions from Tom Clay at the Citizens Research Council, which already is projecting a freshly dug $500 million budget hole by 2009. We'll hear more blame for John Engler, Dubya, free-trade deals and the Japanese yen, the Republicans, the Democrats and the unions.

We'll also have a governor and a state Legislature with an appallingly bad record at managing the state economic environment, no matter how charitably you shave the facts, preparing to do so again. Reminds you of the Detroit Lions, circa Marty Mornhinweg. To wit: Pass a 6-percent tax on services that just about every sector of the business community loathes, which, by the way, provides the jobs that generate tax revenue and -- gasp! -- economic growth, paltry as it is.

Or this: Grind the government to a halt a month ago over the issue of pooling health-care benefits for school teachers to get where? Will districts see the savings? When? How much? What about dismantling prevailing wage laws, a sop to the building trades? Or converting defined-benefit plans for new teachers to 401(k)-style defined-contribution plans?

Like the anti-Detroit coastal crowd controlling Congress these days, the governor and the Legislature are following the path of least resistance in their efforts to paper over irreconcilable structural differences. The path runs through two pockets -- average taxpayers and business -- and avoids, whenever possible, the special interests that fund campaigns, control government and lobby lawmakers. Yep, sounds just like Washington.

"The big picture," says Jack McHugh, senior legislative analyst for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "is higher spending and maintaining the government's status quo -- despite the state's declining employment, its falling home values, its stagnant or declining population and Michiganians' decline in real income since 2001.

"Remember that while the state will have fewer prisoners than expected, gross prison spending is up, and prison guards will still be paid almost a third more than the national average. State government employees are still getting raises. Public school employees will still get costly defined-benefit pensions, and they will still receive retirement health care benefits that are nearly unheard of in the private sector. State universities still face no state budget incentives to contain costs, either. You have to wonder what policymakers meant by their dire warnings of a 'crisis.'"

But you don't have to wonder how they'll manage it. Now we know.

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Government is a necessary evil. That which governs least governs best.

Those who seek security over liberty shall have neither.

"Prosperity tends to breed tyrants."
Abraham Lincoln, 1858

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Is the problem Governor Granholm? - Tim Skubick, 10-5-07

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Message from the Governor on 10-5-07. 

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Ron Paul President 2008??

I like a lot of what I hear this man say, but until he changes his opinions on Iraq and the War on Terror, I can't vote for him. But this is absolutely dead on!!! - Rich

Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) is the leading advocate for freedom in our nation's capital. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dr. Paul tirelessly works for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies. He is known among his congressional colleagues and his constituents for his consistent voting record. Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution.

Debt and Taxes

Working Americans like lower taxes. So do I. Lower taxes benefit all of us, creating jobs and allowing us to make more decisions for ourselves about our lives.

Whether a tax cut reduces a single mother's payroll taxes by $40 a month or allows a business owner to save thousands in capital gains taxes and hire more employees, that tax cut is a good thing. Lower taxes allow more spending, saving, and investing which helps the economy — that means all of us.

Real conservatives have always supported low taxes and low spending.

But today, too many politicians and lobbyists are spending America into ruin. We are nine trillion dollars in debt as a nation. Our mounting government debt endangers the financial future of our children and grandchildren. If we don't cut spending now, higher taxes and economic disaster will be in their future — and yours.

In addition, the Federal Reserve, our central bank, fosters runaway debt by increasing the money supply — making each dollar in your pocket worth less. The Fed is a private bank run by unelected officials who are not required to be open or accountable to "we the people."

Worse, our economy and our very independence as a nation is increasingly in the hands of foreign governments such as China and Saudi Arabia, because their central banks also finance our runaway spending.

We cannot continue to allow private banks, wasteful agencies, lobbyists, corporations on welfare, and governments collecting foreign aid to dictate the size of our ballooning budget. We need a new method to prioritize our spending. It's called the Constitution of the United States.

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STOP THE TAX INCREASES
full article

I'm sorry, but we tried.  Democrats win.  Taxes go up.  Government spending still out of control ...

Thurs 9-20-07 BREAKING NEWS ....
- Michigan highest unemployment in America.  Up again to 7.4%!!!  Idaho is 2.3%
- Out of control spending;  Michigan's budget is bigger than ever at over $42 billion!  It was $28.5 billion in 1996 under John Engler
- Loss of 70,000 jobs since July 2006
- Foreclosures - 3rd highest in nation.  14,000 just since July.
- Michigan Government sucks off 11.2% of state's output already in taxation
- People leaving.  A population decrease. Ohio, Indiana and Michigan account for 8.7% of the nation's loans but account for 20% of all loans in foreclosure nationwide. The reason this is happening is because people are losing their jobs and leaving the area.  "While 43 states experienced year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity, just five states--California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Georgia--accounted for more than half of the nation's total foreclosure filings," said RealtyTrac's Chief Executive Officer James Saccaio.
 

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Michigan Dead Last for Economic Climate!
Forbes Magazine - July 2007

full article

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Even if they DO raise taxes, they will come back for more - UNLESS WE DOWNSIZE GOVERNMENT AND MAKE REFORMS.

full article from Crains

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Gingrich warns against Michigan tax hike

http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070922/UPDATE/709220411

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SOME WAYS TO AVOID RAISING TAXES
full article

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There’s a Budget Crisis in Lansing.  Is it because Michigan tax rates are too low?  Or is it because the State Government can’t live within its means? 

State Sales Tax
All states except Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon, collect sales taxes.  

States with the highest sales tax are:
California (7.25%)
Mississippi, New Jersey, Tennessee, Rhode Island (7.0%)
Minnesota, Nevada, and Washington (6.5%). 

A proposed increase to 7% would make Michigan tied for the 2^nd highest Sales Tax in the nation.  Only California would be higher.

Source:  http://www.taxadmin.org/FTA/rate/ind_inc.html

 

Fuel Tax
Every state collects excise taxes on gasoline, diesel fuel and gasohol. The figures for each state reflect only the amounts controlled by the states and do not include additional taxes imposed on motor carriers.  The current federal excise tax is 18.4 cents for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel fuel.  These are the highest, in order, as of January 2006.

Michigan is the 6^th highest gas tax in the nation. We are one of the few states which put a Sales Tax on top of the other state and federal taxes.
Source:  American Petroleum Institute and MSNBC

 

Cigarette Tax
Several states are continuing to raise excise taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products in order to increase revenue.  The rates shown do not include the federal cigarette tax of 39 cents a pack.  The top five states with the highest state tax on cigarettes are:

New Jersey ($2.58)
Rhode Island ($2.46)
Washington ($2.025)
Michigan, Arizona, Maine ($2.00) tied for fourth place
Alaska ($1.80).  

 

Personal State Income Tax (Great Lakes)
A total of 41 states impose income taxes. New Hampshire and Tennessee apply it only to income from interest and dividends. Seven states (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming) do not tax personal income. Of the 41 with a broad-based income tax, 35 base the taxes on federal returns, typically taking a portion of what you pay the IRS or using your federal adjusted gross income or taxable income as the starting point.

Wisconsin         Graduated         4.6 to 6.75%
Michigan           Flat                   3.9%
Ohio                 Graduated,        0.6 to 6.5%
Indiana              Flat                   3.4%
Illinois               Fat                   3.0%
Source:  individual state web sites
 

Property Taxes
We had some very fair property taxes a few years ago when we changed school funding and agreed to roll back property taxes in exchange for eating a 6% Michigan Sales Tax.  Since the sales tax is a consumption tax, it made sense.  BUT WHAT HAPPENED?  Limits come off when a property is sold or transferred and TODAY, it seems like we're back where we started.  With rapidly raising Property Taxes - AND the higher sales tax.  Mark my words, the time is coming when Michiganders are going to revolt.  Especially with the decline in property values.  Time to RAISE HELL.  Where does Michigan compare?  Not great.  16th highest as a % of income. 

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Taxes/Advice/PropertyTaxesWhereDoesYourStateRank.aspx
 

Cost of Living (Great Lakes)
Will you pay more or less money to live elsewhere? 
If you live in Grand Rapids and move to this city you will pay more/less:

Reference:  http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costofliving/costofliving.html

 

Cost of Living Burden (Great Lakes) (high to low)

Source:  http://www.retirementliving.com/RLtaxburdens.html

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You ain't seen nothing yet. 

When the panic is over with the state budget, the next major reform must be in Unfunded Liabilities.  

Time to put the MEA in charge of Teachers pensions and health care.  Michigan's education time bomb (Det News)

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Global Warming = The Sky is Falling - Everybody Panic!!!!
????????

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8-27-07
The tornado that struck Eaton County around 425 PM on Friday,  August 24, 2007 was rated EF-3 with top winds estimated at 140 mph. This is the strongest tornado to strike the state of Michigan since July 2, 1997.

Bob sent these tornado shots taken west of Potterville.  Wow.

More Tornado Pictures 8-07

Pictures from Fisherman's Island, Michigan

Michigan's Next Governor?  In 2010?  Hmmm.  You think Ted could tone it down that much?