Michigan's Nightmare or America's Dream

Sometime people need support and understanding to help them believe that they are not alone. Many people in Michigan are suffering as a result of the economy and the horrible leadership and the lack of foresight of our governor and the majority of our legislature. The thing that keeps us going is that there is hope of change. It is incredible that we keep voting for change but never seem to get it.
Since the Democrats are not coming to Michigan, maybe you would like to hear some of the Republican candidates in person, speakers from the Wall Street Journal and others at the Michigan Defending The Dream conference. The conference in Washington DC was great. It was energizing to be around other Michigan activists and the conversations were always stimulating or debatable. Most of all, in Michigan it will be like a revival of spirit and hope in the future of our state. I am hopeful that I will be there to meet you.

Your Turn

Yesterday some of us went to Lansing to deliver coal to our legislators. Now it is your turn. Just click to select the coal. Then,highlight the piece of coal, select Copy, go back, find your legislator's email address from the links and Paste this piece of coal to the email to your legislators. Tell them what a bad job they are doing. Tell them this is all they deserve for the holidays.

Michigan House
Michigan Senate

They Have Been Very Bad

Members of the Wayne County Taxpayers Association (you and your family and friends) are invited to join a coal-ition of business and citizen associations who will present gifts of coal to the naughty politicians, and a "thank you" Christmas card to good politicians. The event will take place this Thursday, December 13 at 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM on the Capitol Building steps in Lansing.

Santa will be there with a truck-load of coal parked in front of the Capitol Building and some personal gifts of coal by coal-ition members will be delivered to the offices of naughty elected officials who raised your taxes. If you want to make signs specific to the event, then try variations of "Coal-ition for Tax Reform", "Tax Reform Coal-ition","Coal-lison of Taxes and Good Sense.

Please come and join us. Thanks in advance for your support!

Troubled Times

So, what is Governor Granholm's job? Is she a hostess? How about a world traveler at public expense? Is she a kept woman at the expense of the public. Maybe a spoiled brat that throws temper tantrums if she does not get her way? How is it that Michigan has survived this long without a Chief Operating Officer? My head swims with questions about this governor. Some of them less flattering then the questions expressed above.

It seems to me we should have a job description and make the candidates read it before they run for office, to see if they are qualified. The governor obviously does not know how to reduce a budget. She can not balance a budget without a tax increase. While we bleed jobs, she travels abroad and brings back a handful of jobs which we must subsidize dramatically. With her bare bones budget, she hires a COO who is a negotiator instead of a business expert. If you detect frustration in my writing, you hit it on the head.

If she were at least merciful, she would fall on her sword and quit to save the state from anymore of her bad ideas.

Uphill Battle All The Way

Sometimes, I feel like Sisyphus. He was an ancient king of Corinth who was condemned by the gods to push a huge bolder up a hill only to have it roll back down for him to begin again. I am sure that other taxpayers in Michigan feel the same way. Just when we think we are making some headway with tax increases, government comes along rolls another tax right by us.

There were few people in the tax movement that did not realize that the recently passed increase of sales tax on some services was a bad idea. Certainly, they recognized it before most of our legislators. When the legislators finally catch on, what is their response? According to Rep. Jack Hoogdyk , "effective immediately, any business that generates over $350,000 in business activity, will have to calculate its Michigan Business Tax liability and then add 22% to that bill. Over 60,000 businesses in this state will see their tax bill, the MBT, go up by 22%. Large corporations will get a break because the maximum liability on the surcharge will be capped at $6 million."

Now I know that I have made this point many times before, but business does not pay taxes, people pay taxes." All these taxes will get passed on to the consumer. If business can be more competitive in another state, they will go there. If there workers can pay less taxes and keep their job they will follow. The legislature, while making bookkeeping easier for some businesses, helped their cash flow and additional costs, they have just shifted the cost to other businesses. They in turn will pass it on to us. So what have they done for taxpayers? Nothing.

This is too important to let this stand. We can not let a bunch of self involved politicians drive this state into deeper despair and recession. It will be ten years before the surtax is set to expire. I am sure that they will not let that happen unless we force them. Lets keep he pressure on them to reduce our taxes and make this state a place where people want to come to do business and take a vacation.

Misplaced Priorities

While our legislators are hunting, vacationing and playing, Wayne County burns. Thousands of homes up for tax foreclosure in 2008 are listed in today's Free Press . Apparently, our legislators could care less. As we are finding it harder to find things to be thankful for, they are off relaxing from doing nothing to help. This is unforgivable. We are expected to take cut after cut to our personal budget through wage cuts, higher deductibles for our insurance, tax increases or job loss. They are content with pretending they are trying to do their job with no sacrifice on their part.

What is it going to take to get you boiling mad. They are taking our homes and wages now without our consent, what will they take next? This holiday season will be horrible for some families. While I think that we all should be as generous as possible, I think it should be our personal decision. By the time the state gets its grubby hand on the money there will be none left to distribute. Do yourself a favor. Check out MichiganRecalls.com. Let's get some of these guys out of office as a lesson to others. If enough of you contact them, maybe we will not have to take three more years of Granholm's bad policies.

Forgive Me

Yesterday was the clarity hearing at Wayne County for recall language on the petitions for Rep. Andy Dillon, Rep. Marc Corriveau and Rep. Edward Gaffney. Well, I lost it. I must have been having flashback of the McCollough Recall attempt of 1983. I managed to get out two coherent words of the many I spoke. I do not like to loose it like that and don't very often. I was not intimidated - just angry. I should not have let them get to me like that.We knew that the decision was made before we got there. We knew that was part of their strategy to delay the approval until after the November elections and into the coldest weather. The judge who sat on the board admitted he had contributed to Corriveau but did not recuse himself because he thought he could be fair.

The walls were lined with Teamsters, UAW and MEA members. There were also elected officials, lawyers and bunch of political types. You would think that the Teamsters and UAW would be on our side. The only reason for them to come there is intimidation. If I hadn't been so angry, I would have laughed. These are probably the same people who will be sent out to stalk us while we are collecting signatures. If they start pushing me or getting in my face and threatening me they will have pepper spray to think about and of course I will not hesitate to call the police. These people do not believe in free speech. They believe in their speech.

When Speaker Dillon had a town meeting in Redford, I had something else to do and did not feel the need to go because we had been communicating for months. I was told by a reliable source that he had body guards. I do not know what he is thinking about. Recall is the choice to prevent violence. It is operating within the law. It is a rational way to express your dissatisfaction after discussion fails. We have operated with integrity and it is they who wish to resort to thuggery.

How is it they feel it is necessary to thwart our efforts by these means. Could it be they have something much greater to lose then the average taxpayer? Why did I feel the need to ask the obvious? We have put another poll question on our website. It is the language that we submitted on the petition. I can only ask you to be honest and vote once . Remember that the person being recalled gets to put a 200 word rebuttal on the ballot as well. Please take the time to take the poll on the language and if you have not voted on the poll to recall, do that one too.

Rose Bogaert, Chair
Wayne County Taxpayers Association, Inc.

Recall 1983

I just finished watching a historical presentation on the recalls of 1983. I can not comment on the other recalls, although I knew the people involved, but I sure can comment on the McCullough Recall because I was smack dab in the middle of it. It was one of the coldest winters I can remember. This was truly a grass roots movement. We had next to no money and we only had our anger to keep us warm.

In the panel presentation, McCollough says he sent out people to present his side of the story. They were like thugs. We had to call the police on them several times. They badgered people who came up to sign. I remember him calling us a dogs breakfast and malcontents. We believed and I still do to this day, that it was some of his supporters who signed the petitions more then once. There were probably others who signed more than once by mistake because we were frequently in front of the same stores over a three month period. Some people may have forgotten if they signed. There were three signatures that appeared on one petition which appeared on a petition that were forged according to his handwriting specialist. When we investigated those three people said they did indeed sign the petition and we could not find the signatures on other petitions turned in. My question is who would think to hire a handwriting annalist to look over all those petitions unless you expect to find something.

I will also tell you right now that John Engler never had the authority to stop the recall nor anyone else. They were collected by people who wanted McCollough removed from office and that was not something to be bargained away by anyone in Lansing no matter what they may have said.

Rose Bogaert, Chair
Wayne County Taxpayers Assn.

Good ThingsCome...

It's unbelievable our website is finally whole. Comcast got it together.Now all of you who have been dying to become a member of the Wayne County Taxpayers Association or want information about the recalls can contact us on line. Oh, did I forget to mention we have a donation button. We can now become one of the 15 to 20 people a day to ask you for a donation. I am very sympathetic.

Most of all, I would like to mention that we are in worse shape then we were 30 days ago in this state. We now have an expanded service tax which can further erode our economy. The WCTA has joined the "Ax the Tax" coalition, which is dedicated to repeal the new service taxes (sometimes the lobbyist are right). If we can not do it legislatively we are committed to do it on the ballot. It behoves us to support this because businesses do not pay taxes - people pay taxes. We also have an income tax which also burdens the already suffering taxpayers in this state. As I write the budget 30 day extension is about to run out. If we fail to cut our costs we will go deeper in debt.

There is also a website where you can get information about Recalls. It's like a central sorting house. You contact them and they will put you in touch with the right people. This is not something to take lightly. It is important that our elected officials be reminded who is sovereign. We have to take a few of them out just so they are certain it can be done. If they forget who it is they are supposed to represent then representative government doesn't mean anything.

Our federal government is not doing much better. Instead of doing the peoples business, they are up to monkey business. They are still padding the bills with earmarks and there is political bantering and gotcha politics on every issue.

What is a battered taxpayer to do?

Bias in the Freep

I was almost in tears when I read the informational peice on Speaker Andy Dillon in the Free Press. His family loves him. He goes to church. He is good looking, a nice guy and well educated. He is an all american politician. What that has to do with the tax increases he advocated I am not certain. I am sure that there are many in this state with the same qualities who have lost their jobs, their homes or their children to other states or countries due to our business climate and bad policies.

The State Constitution provides a tool to the electorate when your representative refuses to represent you or does something illegal and that is recall. Recall requires that you collect the valid signatures of 25% of the number who voted in the last election for governor in the district. This is not an easy task. In the case of Speaker Dillon aprox. 12,000 signatures would have to be gathered to account for a margin of error. After the sinatures are gathered and certified, the person to be recalled gets to put a rebuttal on the ballot.

So why go through all the trouble? Because good government doesn't just happen. Because it is your obligation to pay attention. The less you pay attention the weaker you become and the more intrusive government becomes. I believe that the tax increases have hurt the people and the business climate of this state. So take a position, whatever it is, and get involved.

Rose Bogaert, Chair

Ax the Tax

The WCTA just joined the Ax the Tax Coalition. The are dedicated to get rid of the most recent sales taxes placed on some services in Michigan. The bill is so poorly written, even some in the legislature have second thoughts about how they voted. Some of the taxes would be compounded like with the value added tax and of course all would be passed down to the consumer. If the legislature can not be persuaded to remove the taxes then we would work to have it removed through the ballot process. It's just one more job killer in Michigan. Contact us for more information.

Speaking of killers, our website is only partially up and running. If you have us in your favorites, please delete us and put us back in because Comcast has changed the address. You can still reach us at http://www.wctaxpayers.org/ but it must be routed differently. Keep in mind we are only partially up and running. Apparently they are short of their high speed power stuff. You can not join, pay by credit card, donate or take part in our survey. You can, however, contact government, read our newsletters, read and look stuff up. They asked that we be patient. They would pick the quality that I lack most.

Rose Bogaert, Chair

High Speed Internet Service.

For those of you who have been trying to contact our website, we have been hijacked by the webmaster at Comcast. They have been changing to their new bigger and better service. So, of course, we now have no website. They say they are working as fast as possible. It is now going on 48 hours. If you need to contact us you may do so by phone. The WCTA number is 313-278-8383. It makes it harder to conduct recalls if no one can contact you. Hopefully they will not lose all our data.

In the meantime, you can contact the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance. They will transfer Wayne County inquiries to me. (You don't think this can be a left wing conspiracy do you? Naaaaa. )They would just shoot me. This thing is not personal with me. It is about what these tax hikes can do to the state. It's about how many people will get hurt as a result of these bad policies. These tax hikes are not a temporary inconvenience. They are a permanent blow. Michigan's bad economy has taken its toll on hundreds of thousands of Michigan citizens. We are still doing thing the way we always have. Poorly!

Rose Bogaert, Chair
Wayne County Taxpayers Ass0ciation, Inc.

My Turn

Since the passage of the income tax increase and the passage of the expansion of the sales tax to certain services, I have been fielding questions about state legislators who are being recalled in Wayne County. What I can say is that if anyone is interested I can steer you in the right direction, give you procedural advice and act as a contact source. Most of the calls I get, want the governors head. There has been no official filing on the governor as yet, but don't let that deter you. If enough of you are interested, there will an attempt .

The problem is that we must collect 1,500,000 signatures to insure we have enough to recall her. We have 180 days to collect recall signatures after language has been approved but they must all be collected within 90 consecutive days. You need a heck of an organization to get that done. Don't let that keep you from contacting us or the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance for direction or encouragement.

I personally have the distinct honor of attempting to recall of House Speaker, Andy Dillon who is responsible for orchestrating the increases and bowing to the governor. If you look at those people who contributed to him, you can see why. It is not like either party could not see this coming. They have all been responsible for the mess the state is in. For thirty years I have been hearing that we have to diversify business in Michigan and they just haven't bothered to get it done.

The tax increases could well be the last nails in the coffin in this state. We can not do any worse than having the highest unemployment. The exodus of our educated and unemployed from this state does nothing to help. The worst offense of all is the reluctance to cut spending and transferring the burden on to those who are having trouble keeping their homes, experiencing wage reductions, larger deductibles on insurance and an uncertain future. As far as the taxes on services, businesses do not pay taxes people pay taxes. They just pass the tax down to the consumer

Get involved and help save our state.

Rose Bogaert, Chair

The Pertinent Anachronism is "CYA"

All the blustering and bloviating in the legislature in Lansing amounted to nothing. If it were within my power I would ask for the resignation of almost every one of them. I would also extend a special request to our governor. According to the WCTA poll thus far 76% of those who voted would sign to recall their legislator if they voted for a tax increase. We hope that they will make the effort and do just that.

The worst part of all this is that our elected officials have no respect for us. They pat themselves on the back for making deals which would have the least political impact on them. They deserve to be confronted on their lack of concern for the future of this state. Even the lobbyists, who think they have won, have not. If there are less people, there are less teachers. If there are more taxes, there is less business. If there are fewer jobs, there are less people. If there are less people, there is less revenue. The spiral will continue and will be repeated over and over again.

This legislature has missed an opportunity to turn Michigan's economy around. They have failed to uphold the constitution which they swore to uphold. They have caved to a governor who talks down to her constituents and can out and out lie with a straight face. As she awards a multi million dollar no bid contract to her friend or takes trips abroad at taxpayer expense to bring back handfuls of jobs, hundreds of thousands have lost jobs to this continued policy without hope of recovery. Notice I have not let the republicans off on this issue. They are enablers. They are part of the wheeling and dealing.

They passed a replacement for the Single business tax ,which was to be revenue neutral, with the Michigan Business Tax that is expected to bring in $750 million more in revenue. They expanded the sales taxes on to some services. Wait. It will not be long before we will be right back to the same place. They will not have enough money and we will revisit the value added tax or an increase in sales tax.

It is becoming more and more obvious that the taxpayers must come together and stay together no matter what party or political persuasion or we will become more crippled than we are. We need a constitutional amendment to clarify and restrict these politicians from foolishly spending so much of our money. We need a term limited, part-time legislature so that they will be harder for lobbyist to get at and more available to us. We need competent legislators who do not think that it takes more than six years to learn their job. We need statesmen who reflects the concerns of their constituent and if there is something we have wrong, explain honestly and not ignore us.

The status quo will not do. Join us.

Rose Bogaert, Chair
Wayne County Taxpayers Association, Inc.

Tick Tock

This is Sunday. There will be no rest for our legislators. At about one o'clock they are about to get locked into session for the third day. I suppose I should feel sorry for them. Somehow, I feel that if they had seriously thought about running the state correctly before this, they would not have this problem. Its not as if you could not see this coming.

The question now is, will those who we have elected choose the expedient way by raising taxes, or the correct way by bringing spending in line with revenue? I do not think Michigan can take any more business as usual. The people out here are suffering because of job loss, loss of their children who have had to leave the state to find a job, loss of their homes because of taxes, reduced wages, higher insurance deductibles or even loss of insurance.

A tax increase will not get them a job, will not attract business, will not attract people to move to Michigan and it will not increase the family budget. Residents should not expect to reduce their budgets while the legislature continues to spend without making the appropriate cuts. Some of our legislators have done nothing to even attempt cut and have even suggested increases.

Speaker Andy Dillon has said that he will keep house members locked up for however long it takes to get them to vote for a income tax increase. Too bad he did not put as much emphasis or time into reducing the waste in state government or improving the business climate. I hope his prisoners of war are strong enough to withhold the pressure. As we speak they are making deals with our money to bribe for enough votes to pass the tax. They are offering things that they should not. We are not talking compromise. We are talking possible bribery.

Rose Bogaert, Chair
Wayne County Taxpayers Association, Inc.

One Day at a Time.

It has been three full days and only a hundred people have responded to our poll. Obviously our members have not got the word. The question will be on our website for a while - at least until after our newsletter goes out. I think people want to find out what the legislators and the governor are going to do to us before they decide if they should or should not sign a recall petition.

The very fact that they have done nothing except think of ways to raise our taxes should be reason enough to convince us to sign. That October deadline to balance the budget is almost upon us and they have done nothing but throw some things into committee. The governor keeps going around with the same old ideas, which all entail spending more of our money. No matter what they say about cutting the budget, they still manage to spend more each year.

I find it humorous that the legislators blame all their troubles on, Leon Drolet, the head of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance. There is no question that he can raise hell but he can not do it alone. They complain because one man is making $39,000 for doing something he believes is good for the State and its taxpayers, while they take almost $80,000 plus benefits for doing next to nothing?

If he or anyone else says something untrue, legislators can easily rebut the accusations from their pulpit. Some started by saying this was a bare bone budget. I can not believe they thought anyone bought that. Then they proceeded to spend money they didn't have. Then they pretend they didn't spend it by pushing it into next years budget. Now that the liability is greater for next year, the obvious decision for any rational being is to make a promise to spend more. NOT! It is either cut the state budget or our budget. I pick the state budget.

For Your Voting Pleasure

We have just placed a poll on our website in a moment of insanity. This poll is not scientific. Just a matter of curiosity. The question reads " Are you willing to sign a petition to recall your legislators if they vote for a tax increase?" We have to believe there are people out there that are mad about the legislators lack of action with regards to reducing spending.

Over and over again legislation is thrown together at the last minute. As I recall (no pun intended) before the last recall, they were in session well into the night deciding to raise taxes. The same is true when then State Senator Debbie Stabenow put forth a proposal to eliminate funds for schools so that the method of funding would change. The republicans, not to be outdone, said me too. That is how we got the now troublesome Proposal A. I am sure people will want to stay here after college or move here when they find out their taxes will almost be double that of someone living here in a similar house and neighborhood since 1994, especially if they can not find a job.

Perhaps the legislators feel that close to $80,000 with full benefits isn't enough for what is really a part-time job. Maybe they feel they are above the State Constitution. Maybe they do not think they should loose their job for doing nothing about the budget and voting for nonsense half the time.

Remember politicians, staff, those in the MEA, AFT and government workers you only get one response in this poll.

Recall Madness?

The real madness is expecting the taxpayers of Michigan to continue to follow the line that a tax increase is the answer to Michigan's problems. What is the poor taxpayer to do but take drastic measures, when the people they elect to represent them refuse to hear them. What I can not understand is why our elected officials feel put upon when they are expected to do their job within the financial limits of the state's income.

It also makes me laugh to hear them blame Leon Drolet, of Michigan Taxpayers Alliance, for everything. Do they honestly think that he can collect the thousand of signatures necessary to recall them by himself? While he is an effective spokesperson, every signature gathered is a statement on the part of a voting taxpayer. Every person who steps up to form a committee is an emerging leader/activist for the taxpayers of Michigan. Any legislator who complains because he/ she has helped solved a problem for a constituent in the past has lost sight of the fact that is what he/she was elected to do. By the way, Leon Drolet was a little young in 1983 when two senators were recalled. As far as tactics, huge pink pigs, signs and rallies get attention. Unlike the lobbyists, most taxpayers do not have large funds to draw on for an advertising budget.

If you need assistance or information just contact the WCTA. We will help coordinate in Wayne County. We will buffer, if you want anonymity, until the Recalls are necessary.

Recalls

Some of you have expressed a desire to recall your State Representative or Senator, if they vote for a tax increase. The WCTA will be glad to facilitate you buy filing the appropriate paperwork with Wayne County to form a committee, find out the number of signatures required to recall them from office, set up the proper documents to establish a bank account at LaSalle Bank for your committee and will even help you file a return if you collect more than $1000. (Chances are you will not even come close.) It will cost you very little, if you do it right. It will cost them a great deal to defend themselves.

We can act as a contact point to match up anyone interested in helping recall. Helping you contact each other is half the battle. We will answer any questions which you may have. All other facets must be done by the committee itself. Anyone else who is interested should call us or email us.

You may choose to file a committee and not follow through without penalty but with the proper help, the signature gathering while time consuming, is not difficult.

Ask your like minded friends for help. You may also wish to contact the Wayne County Election Division. You may do it from our website or click on this link www.waynecounty.com/clerk . You may give our number for the initial contact (313)-278-8383.


Rose Bogaert, Chair
Wayne County Taxpayers Association, Inc.

Standing Down Wind

Let me see if I have this straight. Governor Granholm is going on a five day fishing trip to Sweden and Germany to catch jobs for Michigan. She is trying to get more automotive
and alternative energy business.

Her trip is being paid for by funds solicited by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Foundation whose members are recipients of taxpayer money through corporate welfare from both the state and federal government. Having received this money, they are now financially able to make a contribution to pay for the governors trip along with between 6-25 people from the governor’s office.

The governor contends that the passage of the Michigan Business Tax, which replaces the Single Business Tax, is supposed to be revenue neutral and will now allow different businesses to pass the taxes down to the consumers (taxpayers). Added with the states’ 21st Century Jobs Fund it will ensure that “our tool kit is very robust”. She indicates that it will lure more business to Michigan. She will be looking for companies that will be eligible for more taxpayers dollars
through the Michigan Economic Growth Authority grants.

According to the University of Michiganfrom 2001 to 2005, Michigan lost 308,900 jobs. There have been tens of thousands lost since then. This will be the Governors fifth trip overseas and thus far it has netted us 2,300 jobs. It would seem to me that it would be more productive for the governor to stay home and fix the problems of overspending, poor management and high taxes that exists in the state than to go traipsing all over trying to bring a few more jobs here to Michigan.

To lure these businesses here they are usually offered a tax abatement. That means all or a portion of their property taxes will be forgotten for a period of time. This would mean that the cost of government services would be transferred to the remaining taxpayers. Let’s face it business moved to other states for a reason. If we fail to address those problems, we can not expect business from abroad or from other states to locate here.

In June of 2003 the Mackinac Center for Public Policy put out a report entitled “Does the Michigan Economic Development Corporation Even Matter?” In that document they indicated that economist consider the Gross State Product (the value of goods and services
produced) to be one of the better indicators of economic health.

Every state in the union has an economic development program. In 1996 Michigan ranked 9th (in the top ten) in per capita spending on economic developmentand 24th in GSP. Texas
was dead last in economic development per capita but had ranked 18th in GSP. In 2001 Michigan ranked 20th in economic development expendituresand 30th in GSP. California was 41 in economic development expenditures and 8th in per capita GSP. These were only a couple examples of the study.

Through “regression analysis” The Mackinac Center came to the conclusion that there is no correlation between state spending on economic developmentand GSP.

Economic Development Funds create jobs for those companies that receive them and loose jobs among their competitors by giving those who receive the fund an unfair advantage. The success
of a business should not be decided by the governor or legislature but by owner competence.

Rose Bogaert, Chair
Wayne County Taxpayers Association, Inc.