Robber Barons propose to turn Michigan around by making more money

A business group of 70 Michigan CEOs calling itself “Business Leaders for Michigan (BLFM)” says it has a plan that will turn Michigan around, but it will do it at the expense of the poor and middle class and line their pockets even more.

The group is headed by Domino's Pizza CEO and possible Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate David Brandon, and that should tell you everything you need to know. The plan is nothing but the usual false GOP mantra that cutting taxes less pay for workers will fix the problem.

What is even more ominous is the group’s pledge to go after anyone that does not see their vision. At a press conference Thursday, according to subscription only Gongwer, the group pledged to become a major player in elections for state office. Cynthia Pasky, president and CEO of Detroit-based Strategic Staffing Solutions, told Gongwer the group would be a major player in politics. She told Gongwer that the group would “spend big on selected races. She said individuals would also bundle contributions in addition to the PAC's spending.”

Their predictable solutions include broadening the sales tax to services and reducing the 6 percent rate to a level the group declined to disclose. Medical services, food, business-to-business services and some other already-exempt services would remain untaxed.

They also proposed cutting the number of state workers by 5-10 percent, despite a recent report that state workers have already been reduced by 18 percent in just the past seven years. The CEOs, predictably, also call for cutting state worker’s pay and requiring them to contribute more to their health care premiums, even though most state workers and their families have seen their health care costs double in the last couple of years. It also calls for reducing the revenue raised by the Michigan Business Tax by 60 percent and repealing the personal property tax.

It would also require local governments and school districts to share services, eliminate optional Medicaid services, prohibit state regulations from exceeding federal ones and allow unlimited charter schools. It’s also going after local government unions and public safety workers by eliminate binding arbitration for police officers and fire workers.

Noticeably absent is a graduated income tax that was discussed earlier, and, of course, not a single sacrifice by CEOs whose pay has skyrocketed in recent years. In fact, in 1965 the average CEO was earning 24 times what the average worker was making, but in 2005, the average CEO was making 262 times what the average worker is making.

The lack of sacrifice on the part of CEOs was not lost on anyone.

“Conspicuously absent from their so-called 'turnaround plan' is any sacrifice by greedy, corporate CEOs, such as a reduction in their excessive salaries and perks," Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer told Gongwer. "Their 'vision' of change for Michigan is enormous sacrifice by working people and the unemployed while wealthy, corporate CEOs feel no pain."