Taxing the Tapped Out

It's time to fight back. I was in Lansing when Governor Granholm presented her budget. While there, I visited the office of my representative who happens to be Speaker of the House Andy Dillon. He provided me with a copy of this years budget and said see if you can find ways to balance the budget. I took it determined to try.

When I got home I began to look at what he had given me. Then it came to me. We are paying all those people up there very well to do a job. We, as their bosses, have a right to expect that they do it. We do not have a staff at our disposal or departments that can answer any questions we have or follow our directions. We can not order department heads to cut their budgets-but they can. We couldn't hand our bosses our bills and say adjust my pay so that all the bills can be paid and, by the way, include enough for some other things I want. Why should I go through all the trouble when it should be done by them and has been done by other larger organizations. They wouldn't take my advice anyway.

Our job is to set the financial limits of government and theirs is to decide the priorities. With that in mind, we have placed on our website a discussion between Frank Beckmann, WJR Radio host, and Economist David Littman on how to cut the budget. We also have a letter drafted on behalf of Michigan residents by the National Taxpayers Union which will enable you to easily contact your state senator and representative, so you can tell them not to raise your taxes.