Dumb picks dumber as running mate

Michigan Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Snyder chose rightwing State Rep. Brian Calley, R-Portland, as his running mate on Wednesday, but its’ unclear which one of the two will be dumb and who will be dumber.

Calley, the former banker and two-term State Representative, helped write the Michigan Business Tax (MBT) and the 22 percent surcharge passed back in 2007 that replaced the hated Single Business Tax (SBT). Ironically, Snyder had harsh words for the work of his running mate, calling the MBT a job killer, just days before he made the choice.

He told his hometown “newspaper,” Ann Arbor.com, that the creation of the 2007 tax is “like Lansing went to the video store and rented ‘Dumb and Dumber.’”

“We’ve got an environment now where we’re killing job creation through the Michigan business tax. It is absolutely awful,” he said.

The teabaggers who appear to control the GOP and are pushing it off the cliff are not happy with the moderate and unknown Snyder, so the pick of a conservative is a move to shut them up and try and get them onboard.

We know very little about Snyder and his plans and policies because he refuses to debate with the Democratic nominee, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, and he appears to be just trying to run the clock out to November before voters really can get to know him.

We do know that he knows absolutely nothing about state government, he’s rich and he outsourced thousands of U.S. jobs while he was in charge at Gateway Computers.

While Snyder was an official at Gateway Computers, the company outsourced nearly 20,000 American jobs to China and other parts of Asia. But Snyder took good care of himself at the same time - cashing-out tens of millions of dollars in stock options while the lives of thousands were ruined. While he served on the board of directors Snyder was sued in 2000 along with two other Gateway executives. The issue was that Snyder cashed in on 355,000 stock options worth $23.7 million at a time that executives admitted they misrepresented the company’s financial outlook.

Now, we know he will do anything and say anything to win, even compromise his alleged principals.

That’s in sharp contrast to Mayor Bernero who has led by example. He's cut his own pay, doubled his health insurance premium, and gave up his city-funded car to share in the sacrifice of Michigan's workers.

His job creation record is outstanding. The Lansing Economic Development Corp. reports that Lansing has created 5,311 jobs and saved 1,722 for a total of 7,033 jobs since Bernero became mayor in 2006. Bernero has leveraged over $500 million dollars in new job-creating investments in Lansing, and he helped launch the area's first regional public-private economic development initiative.

Calley’s selection also sets up an interesting development. He won the primary for the 33rd District Senate seat to replace term-limited Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, the most rightwing member of the Senate. It’s unclear how Calley’s name will come off the ballot and who will replace him.

Capitol newsletter lists top Legislative accomplishments of the decade

With the end of the decade just three days away, reporters and writers are reflecting on both end of the year and end of the decade with the best of stories and lists. Subscription only Gongwer has put together a list of the most significant laws passed in the Michigan Legislature in the past decade.

My number one is the workplace smoking ban, but it was just number three on their list. Ironically, the Michigan Legislature finally passed a workplace smoking ban that includes bars and restaurants earlier this month after a fight that took the entire decade.

No. 10 – was raising the state’s minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.40 an hour in 2006. Despite Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, Gov. Jennifer Granholm managed to get it done. It was accomplished by attempt to go around the Legislature. Democrats launched a petition drive, and when Republicans saw how successful it was, they went ahead and approved it in the Legislature.

No. 9 – was the groundwater withdraw package of bills to regulate withdrawals of Michigan's groundwater. “In 2006, the first regulations and permits were imposed. Then in 2008, the state went further with the Great Lakes Compact and significantly toughened those rules. Much of the debate surrounded the groundwater withdrawals of the Nestle water bottling plant in Mecosta County.”

No. 8 – was the energy reform package of 2008. It also reversed a legislative decision in 2000 to provide customer choice and instead capped that at 10 percent of the load for Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison to give them the demand stability they said they needed to be able to finance new power plants in the state. But the most important thing it did was create a Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS). It required the utility companies to provide least 10 percent of its power by a renewable power source by 2015. It doesn’t go nearly far enough, but it’s a start.

No. 7 – Was the mandatory minimum sentencing laws repealed in 2002. “ Michigan's tough anti-drug laws, especially its mandatory life sentence without parole for anyone trying to deliver 650 grams of cocaine or heroin, earned infamy in the pages of Rolling Stone, which profiled the case of Gary Fannon, who was serving a life sentence under the so-called 650 Lifer Law.” Even with that, Michigan’s incarceration rates were the 2nd highest in the 12-state Midwest region, and our rate is the 11th highest in the nation, according to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Justice.

No. 6 – was the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in 2004. It was a low point in Michigan when we put discrimination into the Constitution. It was led by the state’s and nations’ leading anti-gay hate group, the American Family Association (AFA) of Michigan.
No. 5 – was the law passed in the lame duck session that made Michigan a “shall issue” state for concealed weapons. It was my introduction to how strident the pro-gun people really are. Not a word about it was spoken during the 2000 election season, but it was passed in the lame duck legislative session in December of 2000.

No. 4 – was the affirmative action ban in 2006. Some of the same people that were behind the same sex marriage ban were behind this ballot question that bans affirmative action programs based on race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin. Even though there was widespread evidence of fraud in collecting the signatures, this was allowed to stand.

No. 2 – was the "Race to the Top” education reform legislation passed just two weeks ago. The package of bills seeks to position the state to compete for up to $400 million in federal funds through President Barack Obama's "Race to the Top" program that requires states to enact major education reforms to receive the funds. Among the things the bills would do is to expand the number of charter schools by allowing current charter school operators to open new charter schools, provide a path for alternative teacher certification and stipulates that districts with at least 25 percent of their students in the lowest achieving 5 percent of buildings in the state would be run by a CEO appointed by the state superintendent.

The top measure of the decade – according to Gongwer – was the replacement of the Single Business Tax (SBT) with the Michigan Business Tax (MBT) in 2007. The Republicans killed the SBT in the summer of 2006 with no replacement in sight as a campaign gimmick because they knew the Republican scandals would hurt them. It did, and they lost control of the Michigan House.

Double standard reigns in Michigan Senate

LANSING – At least one Michigan Democratic Senator expressed his frustration at the Senate majority’s refusal to move any bills sponsored by a Democratic.

Sen. Ray Basham, D- Taylor, expressed that frustration Wednesday during the statement portion of the Senate session after bombastic Sen. Nancy Cassis, R-Novi, got up and made another speech about the House Democrats declining to take up Senate Bill 1 that would eliminate the Michigan Business Tax (MBT). The bill passed the GOP-controlled Senate in January. You will recall that when Republicans controlled both the House and Senate back in 2006 they eliminated the Single Business Tax (SBT) right before the 2006 elections as a campaign ploy with no replacement in site. The MBT was a bipartisan effort to replace the revenue from the SBT.

Voting to kill the MBT with no replacement would be as irresponsible as killing the SBT was with no replacement was.

Basham, who has been trying for some 12 years to push his workplace smoking ban through, said he agreed with Cassis that good legislation should get a hearing no matter who sponsored it. Very few bills sponsored by Democrats have moved in the Senate.

“By not dealing with this legislation, we are losing 3,000 people a year in Michigan who are dying from smoking-related illnesses,” he said. “Secondhand smoke is related to 17 respiratory diseases, and so to bottle up legislation—and that is just one of my bills—there are a number of bills that the interest groups have signed off on that aren’t moved for whatever reason.”

Basham, who has spent his entire 12 year career in the Legislature in the minority, first in the House and now the Senate, said he would write a letter and intercede with House Democrats on behalf of SB 1, sponsored by Sen. Mark Jansen, R-Grand Rapids.

“Maybe it is because I have a “D” in front of my name; maybe it’s because of Ray Basham; maybe it’s because of Downriver; or maybe it’s because I drive a Ford truck,” he said. “I don’t know why my legislation is not moving, and I absolutely agree with the Senator from the 15th District.”

Amazingly, Senate Majority Leader Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, took the unusual step of replying to Basham just before he adjourned the session, and then he tried to make the claim the Senate took up the smoking bill. Not true.

“I think this body several months ago passed one of the strongest antismoking pieces of legislation that this state has ever seen,” he said. “It was killed in the House of Representatives.”

The House passed House Bill 4377 in May with bipartisan support that bans smoking in casinos and so-called cigar bars, but the Senate has refused to take it up or Basham’s bill, SB 114, that bans smoking with no exceptions.

Last session in December 2008 after the House and Senate passed different versions of the smoking bill a routine conference committee was assigned to work out a compromise between the two bills, and Basham and Cropsey were two of the three conferees assigned from the Senate.

But Cropsey admitted on the Senate floor in April that the workplace smoking ban bill died in the conference committee last December because he refused to compromise. The fact is it was Cropsey who killed the bill because he refused to do his job.

Senate Republicans deepen Michigan’s budget problem with irresponsible and politically motivated vote

LANSING -- Senate Republicans played politics with an irresponsible vote to eliminate the surcharge on the Michigan Business Tax (MBT) and deepen the state’s projected budget deficit.

Senate Bill 1 passed 25-11 along party lines on Thursday with four Democrats crossing over to vote for the irresponsible measure. The phased in measure will blow a $166 million hole in the budget in the first year, and more than half a billon dollars by the third year when the phase in is complete. The Republicans offered no plan to make up the revenue, no cuts to make it up and no savings to make it up.

“What has happened to all my fiscal conservative friends on the other side of the aisle," said Sen. Michael Switalski, D-Roseville. “It’s as if the goal of the proponents of this bill to put the budget into a bigger deficit.”

Republicans are sticking to the false claim that the surcharge is costing jobs and causing companies to close. Of course, they could not offer a single example. In just the last couple of days, Starbucks will close another 300 stores in 2009 and slash about 6,700 jobs, Black and Decker will cut 1,200 jobs, Ford Motor Credit said today its cutting 1,200 jobs, Boeing is cutting 10,000 jobs, Pfizer is cutting 19,500 jobs, Caterpillar is cutting its workforce by 20,000, Home Depot said it would slash another 7,000 jobs and I have no idea how many jobs the Big 3 have cut.

How many of those jobs were lost because of the MBT Surcharge? The answer is zero.

This is just a political ploy designed to make Republicans look good to voters. Republicans have a history of doing this so they can tell voters they cut taxes. They pulled a similar trick in the election season in 2006 when they killed the Single Business Tax (SBT) with no replacement in sight.

The good news is the voters saw through it, and gave the Republicans control of the House and more people voted for Democratic Senators; the GOP only kept control of the Senate because of gerrymandering.

This has more to do with the fact that most of the Senate Republican caucus is running for statewide office in 2010. Mike Bishop and Tom George are running for or have been mentioned as running Governor, Bruce Patterson and Bishop are considering runs at Attorney General and Michelle McManus and Cameron Brown are running for Secretary of State; so far.

A bipartisan effort enacted the MBT to replace the SBT in 2007. To avoid a brief government shutdown and erase a huge budget deficit, the Legislature enacted a 6 percent sales tax on certain services in November 2007.

Then a month later on December 1, the Legislature enacted the same MBT surcharge on December 1, 2007 to do away with the service sales tax. The same Senators who voted for it in 2007 are the same ones who killed it today with no replacement. It passed 33-4 in the Senate.

Democrats want to get rid of the surcharge too, and House Speaker Andy Dillon has made abolishing it a priority this session. But not without replacing the revenue.

“Unreasonable haste is the direct road to error, Moliere,” said Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing. “I wanted to stand up and clear something up. Not one of us thinks we should or cannot afford to do anything.”

The bill now goes to the House Tax Policy Committee.

Insurance companies threaten to flee after being forced to finally pay their fair share

The one industry that paid little tax under the old Single Business Tax (SBT) is threatening to leave the state now that the new Michigan Business Tax (MBT) is finally making them pay their fair share.

William F. Woodbury, assistant vice president and associate general counsel of Lansing-based Auto-Owners Insurance Co., had a column in the Lansing State Journal last week complaining that “this tax increase makes it more expensive to do business in Michigan and it will have a direct impact on consumers, who ultimately will pay the price for the decisions made in Lansing.” Meaning: we are going to raise your premiums so we can still rake in record profits.

According to a story in the Detroit News last month, a recent study by Missouri's insurance commissioner from 1993-98 concludes that Michigan’s auto insurance companies have been piling up huge record profits and excessive surplus funds.

AAA of Michigan was used as a focal point in the study, because most of its business is done within the state. AAA's profit more than doubled to $104.2 million last year from $50.9 million in 2002. AAA's surplus -- money set aside to pay for future claims payments -- swelled by 68 percent during that period, increasing to $1.53 billion from $915 million.

Apparently doubling its profits is not enough, and Woodbury plays his trump card: threatening to go where the tax is lower and move out of Michigan.

Make no mistake; other states are lining up to handpick Michigan's most profitable companies. Their aim is clear: They want the jobs and tax revenues that go with growing companies. Many states, like our neighbor Indiana, are looking at lowering taxes on insurance companies to lure them across the border. The MBT makes it easier for them to do that.

I say good luck with that. According to the Lansing Chamber of Commerce, insurance companies have not been paying their fair tax share for years.

Insurance companies in Michigan have long enjoyed preferential tax treatment – Michigan’s tax on insurers is the fourth lowest in the country. This legislation will create a 2 percent premiums tax that will make our tax system similar to other states and bring insurance taxation in line with the national average.

Not only that, but Michigan insurance companies have been allowed to legally discriminate against Detroit drivers and other urban drivers for years in the form of Redlining. Redlining is the practice where an insurance company refuses to insure an auto or home based solely on the geographic area where the person lives or provides an inferior product based on geography or at a higher price. Sen. Martha Scott, D-Highland Park, has been fighting the practice of charging Detroit drivers as much as 365 percent more than people in other Michigan urban areas.

It’s hard to feel sorry for insurance companies. I have been paying auto insurance premiums for some 30 years and have never had a claim. That adds up to a lot of cash in their pocket. Michigan’s no-fault insurance law even gives them an unfair advantage, in my opinion. In what business do you have a law that requires you buy their product, and we have law enforcement ensuring you do buy it? If you don’t buy it you face a heavy fine. I think there should be a law that says you have to subscribe to a newspaper to insure you know what’s going on in the world, or you should buy a gym or swimming pool membership to insure you are healthy.

It’s time other businesses and companies in Michigan stopped subsidizing insurance companies, and they are now required to pay their fair share.

Ward and Hune prove once again they are out of step with the state on MBT vote

The Michigan Business Tax (MBT) that replaces the Single Business Tax (SBT) that brought in $2 billon in revenue to Michigan’s shrinking general fund budget that accounted for 25 percent of that budget passed in both the House and Senate with bipartisan support on Thursday.

However, two of the three Livingston County lawmakers voted no on Senate Bill 94, and Reps. Chris Ward and Joe Hune demonstrated once again they are out of step with the rest of the state. The MBT passed in the House 75-34. All the Democrats in the House voted for the bill, and 16 Republicans also voted for it.

It had even more support in the Republican-controlled Senate where it overwhelmingly passed 32-3. All three no votes were from Republicans. Sen. Valde Garcia, R-Howell, voted for the bill.

The bill ends months of business uncertainly that scared off investors to the state. Governor Jennifer Granholm said the new MBT would make Michigan’s business climate competitive that will attract jobs and job providers. The new structure provides tax cuts for more than seven out of ten Michigan businesses and provides tax cuts to both small businesses and Michigan’s major manufacturers. It is a fair, simple tax that will provide the same amount of revenue as the Single Business Tax it replaces, while encouraging job creation in Michigan.

The Associated Press said the agreement includes incentives that reward businesses for investing in Michigan and creating jobs, with out-of-state companies that have sales in Michigan paying more taxes. The bill could help domestic automakers and large manufacturers by lowering personal property taxes they pay on machinery and equipment by about two-thirds.

Manufacturers, especially auto manufacturers, are getting absolutely zero support and help from Washington, D.C. on free trade agreement enforcement and heath care, and the MBT will help some.

Why Ward and Hune voted no is a mystery, but Ward did make a statement on the House floor.

“This new Michigan Business Tax is a serious mistake,” he said. “It contains special carve-out treatment for certain businesses and it is more complicated than the burdensome Single Business Tax it replaces.”

I think quite a few of your fellow Republicans disagree with you, Chris.

You will recall the GOP-controlled Legislature irresponsibly voted last August to eliminate the SBT at the end of this year, two years earlier than planned, without a replacement in site. The move had immediate negative effects, and it led Standard & Poor's to lower the state's rating on general obligation bonds to "AA” costing the state more money to borrow funds for any reason. It also created uncertainty as businesses looking to relocate avoided Michigan because of the uncertainly over what the main business tax would be while Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop threw up delay after delay in reaching a replacement.

Republican’s shortsighted budget solution costs taxpayers millions

In the face of the Michigan Senate Republican’s proposed replacement to the Single Business Tax that cuts $300 million from a budget that’s expected to have an $800 million shortfall in the current budget year along, the Associated Press is reporting Michigan families have seen their state tax bills decrease by as much as a fourth.

Despite Republicans pushing the myth that Michigan is a high tax state, the AP reports “After 15 years of tax cuts, including drops in property and income tax rates, Michigan families have seen their state tax bills decrease by as much as a fourth, according to an Associated Press computer analysis.”

Gov. Jennifer Granholm plans to layout a plan to keep the services and infrastructure that really attract and retain businesses and companies to Michigan, and at the same time still keep us competitive with other states over tax rates in her State of the State address Tuesday.

The Republicans have not officially grown enough backbone to tell voters what they plan to cut to balance the budget with that huge loss of revenue, but Livingston County’s Legislative delegation said Medicare services not mandated by the federal government, such as in-home care and certain prescription drug programs could be possible targets for reductions. Rep. Chris Ward took the shortsighted view that programs that allow prisoners to earn high school diplomas while incarcerated may be cut. This is typical of that shortsighted view the Republicans take to any problem.

It would be much cheaper and more humane to let a senior citizen spend their last days in the familiar surroundings in their own homes with the occasional help of an in-care provider, but Ward refuses to see that.

Just today the Livingston County Sheriff declared an overcrowding emergency at the county jail because it has been over capacity for 25 straight days. It’s Republican policies that ensures released non-violent offenders are not going to have the skills they need once they are released to make it on the outside, and they will be back. It costs an enormous amount of money to house and feed 51,000 Michigan prisoners.

A recent report by the U.S. Department of Justice found Michigan’s incarceration rates were the 2nd highest in the 12-state Midwest region, and our rate is the 11th highest in the nation, according to an excellent report in the February newsletter of the Gray Panthers of Huron Valley.

We spend more money on Michigan prisons, $1.9 million, than the $1.6 million we spend on our 13 public universities.

The Citizens Research Council of Michigan said the state’s incarceration rate is 40 percent higher than those of otter states, due to longer sentences and lower parole rates. Michigan is spending millions to hold, feed and house thousands of low-risk, non-violent inmates instead of looking for inexpensive ways to ensure their success on the outside or other alternative forms of punishment.