Taxes not to blame for downturn
Despite mounting evidence and report after report that concludes high taxes are not to blame for Michigan’s slow economy, the rush to blame taxes continues.
The latest evidence comes from a report from the respected W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research that concludes “a weak auto industry - not high taxes - are at the heart of Michigan's struggling economy, and that “Michigan has lagged behind the rest of the nation since 2000 almost entirely because of the decline of Michigan's automakers,” according to a story Tuesday in the Lansing State Journal.
This is what Mike has been saying all along, and we have to diversify our economy while actually giving our U.S. automakers some actual help in cutting costs to stay competitive in areas like health care costs and other areas.
The report also said “eliminating the Single Business Tax without replacing the lost revenue wouldn't significantly help Michigan catch up with the rest of the nation in job growth. The cut in taxes would reduce public-sector employment, it added.”
Timothy Bartik, a senior economist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan institute, said “the explanation comes down to the auto industry, which has shrunk as domestic automakers have lost market share and as technology allows more cars to be built with fewer workers. For every direct auto job that is lost, four jobs in other industries are lost, he said.”
“The study also said that doubling the number of college graduates in the state would help the economy, but that would take many years to achieve.”
The Governor wants to double the number of Michigan's college graduates, but action by the U.S. Congress that raised the interst rate on student loans is making that tougher. It’s up to the Michigan Legislature to try and find some solutons, and history shows this group will not.
Mike, who is helping put three kids thrrough college, is well awaure of the costs of a college education, and he also knows the importance and economic
benefits of a college education, for both the individual and to the state.
posted by Communications guru @ 9:46 AM
2 Comments:
Guru, As per your above comments on Chris Ward doing nothing to help our great state then one must assume that you are for Dick DeVos as our current Governor has done nothing to help our great state.
· Michigan has lost a higher percentage of manufacturing jobs since 2000 than any other state. More than 75 percent of the residents say the state is on the wrong track, the worst case of pessimism in Michigan in 20 years.
· About one in five children in Michigan lived in poverty, up from six years ago.
· Almost a third of the state's African Americans lived below the poverty level.
· Detroit remained one of the poorest big cities in the country with almost a third of its residents living below the poverty line.
· Cities and townships posted drops in median household incomes ranging from 24 percent to 6 percent and poverty rates increased in all but three cities.
· Detroit, with 31 percent of its residents living below the poverty line, remains one of the poorest big cities in the country, neck and neck with Cleveland at 32 percent of its residents living in poverty.
· Michigan has lost one job for every 10 minutes Granholm's been in office.
Sharon Parks, a spokeswoman for the Michigan League for Human Services, a Lansing-based anti-poverty group. "What's more important is the poverty rate. It's an indication of the level of need out there that is not being addressed. It should serve as a real wake-up call."
The poverty rates in a number of Michigan counties were significantly higher than the statewide average of 13.2 percent in 2005, including Muskegon County, with a poverty rate of 14.9 percent. Isabella County in mid-Michigan had the highest rate at 24.2 percent, followed by Wayne (19.5 percent), Berrien (18.9 percent), Ingham (18.8 percent) and Saginaw (17.5 percent).
The child poverty rate, covering children 18 years or younger was 21.3 percent in Muskegon County, higher than the state average of 18.5 percent. It was the highest in Berrien County in southwest Michigan at 30.6 percent. The remaining four counties in the top five for child poverty were Wayne (29.1 percent), Van Buren (25 percent), Saginaw (24.9 percent) and Genesee (23.6 percent).
http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060903/NEWS01/609030308/1002
From Argus 9/3/06
Well robo poster, even though I answered the very same rant before I’ll answer it again, but obviously you have read the post I referred to you since you posted a comment it to it. Does that mean you need help understanding what it means?
All of the stats you cite are true, liberal. Why doesn’t the no-nothing Legislature where Ward is the leader of that obstructionist group as the No. 3 man in seniority shoulder any of the blame? Do you think those dire indicators happened in just three short years? Is the Governor to blame for the auto industry slump? You should read what I posted here on 8/25/06.
“a weak auto industry - not high taxes - are at the heart of Michigan's struggling economy, and that “Michigan has lagged behind the rest of the nation since 2000 almost entirely because of the decline of Michigan's automakers,” according to a story Tuesday in the Lansing State Journal.
The governor has a plan, and despite the legislative leaders doing whatever they can to stay in power, grab more power and make her look bad it has attracted more than 26 companies to the state and retained more. Here’s a link, http://www.granholmforgov.com/site/PageServer?pagename=jobs_map.
The difference between Mike and the Amway guy is Mike has double the business experience he has, and it has actually been successful business experience. Mike has also has experience in government as well, and the Amway guy doesn’t. Mike has actually had the experience of working for a living, raising a family and putting his kids through college in this tight economy.
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