THINKING FOR OURSELVES

Taxing times

By Shea Howell

Michigan Citizen, Nov. 4-10, 2007

Michigan’s budget battle raises serious questions for all of us. Twice facing government shutdowns, the Governor and the legislature finally acknowledged that we simply have to raise taxes to cover the deficit. The new budget includes $435 million in cuts in state services, along with a modest income tax increase to 4.35% and an extension of the sales tax to some services.

This tax was met with a firestorm from right-wing, anti-tax organizers.

First, they flooded the legislature with angry messages. Then they initiated recall campaigns targeting Republicans and Democrats who voted for the increase. Under the banner of the Ax the Tax coalition, the group announced that it hopes to begin gathering petition signatures before December 1. Meanwhile, trade associations, chambers of commerce and various business interests have all joined the chorus that taxing is terrible.

This anti-tax talk is nonsense. It reached a new low when Congressmen Peter Hoekstra wrote a letter to Gov. Jennifer Granholm suggesting that she convene a state budget working group to study how the state can better spend its federal cash. Hoekstra was upset by the “message sent by the state” when it began installing a 2 mile $318,000 fence near U.S.- 31 to deter turtles from crossing the road. This expenditure, financed by federal money dedicated for environmental improvement, remedies a problem that even Hoekstra admitted was serious.

In his letter Hoekstra oekstraHoHHHHH says “It is not the concept of the project …that concerns me.” No. He was just looking for an easy shot to ridicule taxation. He wanted to find something he could twist out of context to inflame voters. Of course, in the three minutes he took to write the letter, we spent almost the entire amount on the war in Iraq he has continued to support. If Hoekstra was really concerned about priorities, he could use his power to establish some oversight on the war spending that he is so eager to authorize. He could acknowledge that we are not a high tax state, ranking 26th in the nation. Nor are we a high government state, ranking nearly at the bottom, 46th in the number of state employees.

This anti-tax talk destroys democratic values. One of the things I have always valued about being a Detroiter is that our city has a clear understanding of public responsibility. We have a long history of supporting a personal income tax. We routinely pass millages for schools, parks, museums, zoos, libraries, transportation, public safety, the arts and higher education. Even in the most difficult of economic times, with a higher unemployment rate and more limited incomes than many of our suburban neighbors, Detroiters consistently vote to provide for the common good.

The anti-tax forces in our state decry any sense of mutual responsibility for the quality of life we all share. As a result, they foster a climate that diminishes us by emphasizing individual greed over public responsibility.

They use the budget crisis to further privatize state responsibilities.

In the name of fiscal responsibility, these anti-tax, privatization forces are dismantling functions best done within the civic domain. Wrapped in anti-union rhetoric, they seek to put the welfare of our children, when they are the most vulnerable, into the hands of people who make money out of misery.

It’s time that the rest of us challenge this petty, pernicious policy. Taxes are essential. They are they way we care for one other, for our public culture, for our shared, limited resources, and for the most vulnerable among us. Taxes are a responsibility we share. They are how we express our common values. We are not served by public officials who fear this kind of discussion.

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