As someone who regularly catches hell from elected Republicans who don’t think it’s my “place” to tell them how to do their jobs - especially when it comes to telling them that God didn’t put Republicans on the planet to raise taxes - I can fully appreciate the hell that Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis is catching these days for…gasp!…telling elected Republicans there NOT TO RAISE TAXES!
The fact is, all too many elected Republicans…especially those who are squishy on tax hikes…think party leaders and grassroots activists should just sit in a corner with their mouths shut while they, the “grown ups,” make all our decisions for us. In their minds we are not to speak until spoken to. Their over-inflated egos have them believing fervently that they “know what’s best for us” and we’re not to call them; they’ll call us when they want doors knocked and envelopes stuffed.
After reading this story, please consider sending Chairman Anuzis an email thanking him for standing up to the power elites and aggressively defending the GOP’s fiscally conservative principles and encouraging him not to give in, quit or stop holding their feet to the fire. His email address is sanuzis@migop.org
Posted on September 12th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National
I was all set to yell “rah-rah-rah!”, right up until you wrote about “defending the GOP’s fiscally conservative principles”. We don’t have any; as in the national deficit is $400,000,000,000 (that’s $400b).
Here is the truth (”the rest of the story”), about the fiscal issue in Michigan, from the August 9, 2007 Lansing State Journal (please read the article as it is oh so illuminating);
“In the 2000 fiscal year, Michigan had $1.26 billion in its reserve fund. By the 2003 fiscal year, though, the fund balance was 0.
During that time, the economy peaked and plunged. But the Legislature firmly under Republican control teamed up with then-Gov. John Engler [R] to enact a series of tax cuts, too.
These tax cuts greatly curtailed state revenue. A Citizens Research Council review of tax changes in this period reports that these changes reduced general fund revenue by $2 billion per year.
So, to prop up state spending, the Republican Legislature drained the reserves dry.
Now, the state faces continual deficits - the 2008 figure is $1.8 billion - and has no reserves to call upon.”
Now this form of public policy is consistent with Republican core values….ie, keep spending more money and reduce the amount coming in. It’s what welfare queens are known to do; live beyond their means!
BTW the Senate Finance Committee chairwoman, Nancy Cassis (R), has offered NO suugestions to reduce spending!
Southy: I wish the national debt were “only” $400 billion. However, when you wrote $400 billion, I think you were referring to the deficit.
The national debt is currently $9 trillion, or approximately $30K per citizen.
Southy: Please disregard my previous statement. You did write “deficit,” not “debt,” I just mis-read it, it’s been a long day, sorry about the error, etc.
Michigan has a lot of issues that are difficult to comprehend living in Nevada. Their unemployment rate averaged 6.5% between 2000 and 2006. Their population only increased by 1.6% during this period. The state lost 350,000 jobs during this period. Much different numbers than Nevada’s.
In addition, Michigan’s not a right to work state, and their economy is heavily tied to an industry (automobiles) that is dying in that state.
Republicans nationally can be blamed for fiscal irresponsibility because they won’t hold the line on spending limits and reductions. The conservative position in general is low taxes, low spending, balanced budgets. Republicans seem to focus on low taxes but disregard the other two issues, and they lose their credibility when they do this. Back in the 1990s, President Clinton told the Republicans that if they wanted to balance the budget with spending cuts, they needed to be specific on what got cut. Gingrich, Lott, etc. never responded. According to Southy, it’s the same situation in Michigan (”the Senate Finance Committee chairwoman, Nancy Cassis (R), has offered NO suugestions to reduce spending!”).
A lot of problems, but Michigan’s biggest problem is that THEIR FOOTBALL TEAM COULDN’T BEAT APPALACHIAN STATE.