Posted on 07/11/2009 1:33:51 PM PDT by Steelfish
In Michigan, Deficits Defy Years of Cutting
By MONICA DAVEY
Published: July 11, 2009
LANSING, Mich. — Long before California resorted to i.o.u.’s to pay state bills, and before New York’s political insurrection made a mess of this year’s budget planning, and even before the recession pushed dozens of other states into their worst fiscal distress in decades, lawmakers here were cutting.
The cuts started in the 2002 budget year, when some prisoners were ordered to sleep two to a cell. Then came cuts to state colleges in 2003, and orchestras, zoos and operas in 2004.
Medical payments for the poor were cut in 2005, followed by cuts to a youth prison in 2006. After that? More cuts — to prisons, crime laboratories, libraries and day care programs.
Last month, 100 state troopers were laid off, and the troopers left behind were told to drive around less to, of course, cut costs.
In all, even before thinking about the coming year’s $1.8 billion shortfall, Michigan’s lawmakers had — through cuts, accounting shifts and tax increases —
closed more than $7 billion in budget gaps over the past eight years. While many states have experienced a year of pain or perhaps two during this downturn, Michigan is approaching nearly a decade of budget misery.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Actually, in this instance—Michigan is a blueprint for what WILL be happening to California, New York, et al, as the taxpayers move out. Michigan can’t keep up because nobody is left who pays taxes, regardless of how deep one cuts spending.
We’re thankfull that Jenny the fiscal genius is term limited.
“See? The budget has been cut to the bone,” says the New York Times liberal Democrat scumbag columnist, “So raising taxes is the only option left.”
Michigan is testimony to union excess and Democrat control of large cities. Private unions are the primary problem in Michigan rather than public employee unions. Michigan has reformed pensions for all groups except the teachers. Michigan has much less pension liability than other states. No matter the wretched condition of the state, the unions still make their demands. The ruling regime is now an official partner of the unions.
“See? The budget has been cut to the bone,” says the New York Times liberal Democrat scumbag columnist, “So raising taxes is the only option left.”
That’s the Dumbcrat response and it is exactly the wrong solution because all it does is kill economic growth which kills business, which kills jobs, which kills revenue, which kills consumers and on and on and on.
Raising taxes just proves Einstein correct when he said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
Everything government should do should be focused on growing business and hence the economy. Here is what I have been saying for weeks the Repubs need to do.
1. Repeal the Porkulus and take the $700 billion and reform Health Care, including Medicare & Medicaid using a private co-op type system.
2. Pass a balanced budget amendment to stop the rampant deficit spending that is killing our dollar. This will stop all the talk from foreign powers about a world currency. If we don’t control spending, it will only be a matter of time before China divorces itself from buying our debt, and that will turn the current recession into the Great Depression II.
3. Focus all future stimulus on job creation by stimulating manufacturing inside this country again, not outsourcing. Do this by reducing regulation (no cap & tax), business taxes, and business costs (see health care above).
4. To facilitate business and job growth, focus government spending on infrastructure upgrade and not welfare. We need to improve power creation and transmission, roads, bridges, rail lines, harbors, dams, street layout, urban spawl and traffic congestion, etc. This is where a viable energy plan comes in. All this is necessary to improve business productivity that is required to improve profitability and compete against low cost 3rd world economies.
If Repubs would run on this, they would win handily.
Great laugh line!
They wouldn’t win. Too many Americans think that they can have big defense, entitlements and debt service all at the same time.
None of this stuff is complicated. Even a GED holder such as myself could do a better job than Berkley educated Granholm.
If you’re going to close a prison, don’t accept prisoners from a state that can’t afford to pay you to keep them. (not to mention that many of their welfare families will follow)
If your state police are headquartered in a donated building for a $1 per year lease, keep them there. Don’t get democrat donors to spend $45 million to build a new HQ that will require a $3 million per year lease.
If you raise cigarette taxes so high that people start to quit, don’t act shocked when revenue falls off.
The Supreme Soviet of the People's Republic of New York helped the process by doing no harm for a month. It's when they're in session that they make a mess of things. If we could figure out how to get them to play lock each other out for another 11 months and get Congress to emulate them, we might have a chance to fix the destruction being done all across the land.
How much lower is the FY 10 Michigan budget than the FY 02 Michigan budget?
How right you are-they're back in session and the first thing they did was vote to increase the sales tax.
you better hope term limits in Michigan don’t mean the same as they do for Mayor for life Bloomberg in NYC.
It's all a scam. The crooks are numerous and the little piggies are just trying to stay hidden..
So what they do is cut stuff that we NEED in order to blackmail the populace into crying for more taxes... That's what they did in DC. They stopped passport offices, VA Hospitals, and I'm sure they'll stop National Parks, Airport controllers, but they'll keep spending money on Nancy Pelosi's worms or Murthas fat a@@ make work projects, art projects with urine and feces and the image of Christ...but not Mohammed...
We get the picture liberals... The government holds the bigger guns.... This is the final phase of Mao and the rest of the little collectivists have had hard-ons for. The final squeeze of the apple in order to create enough chaos and crisis that we will give EVERYTHING to them.
May I suggest that FReepers read Chairman Mao's little red book and also the Communist Manifesto. Lenin and Stalin added the collectivist touches to be done in a "democratic" society rather than a monarchy with agricultural revolt... but either way this is the final stage.
My prediction is that Obama will "rescue" California and all the high tax sh#tholes on the backs of the states that have low taxes and thereby crater the whole economy. That way Michigan and California and New York can continue to spend but suck the life blood out of the states that have fiscal discipline.
Does anybody ever wonder why State income tax is deductible from federal taxes.... otherwise the whole tax and fraud would devastate the high tax sh#tholes.
Can you imagine if you were unable to deduct any of the taxes that are paid as income tax for the state? We'd have to put the border patrol on the interior states and not on the Mexican border.
She’s done all the damage she can do in Michigan, now I think she wants to share her brilliance with the nation from a senate seat.
Lousy SOBs.
My estimates are that MI lost 600,000-800,000 productive citizens. They flipped off the commie governor and said: No more taxes from me, Granholm, you commie pig. They left and ain’t coming back. I also estimate that the socialist state of MI lost 5,000 to 8,000 small businesses. Same message: take a short walk off a short pier.
If the RINO state attorney general, Michael Cox, had any common sense, he would’ve indicted the entire rat party for theft back in 2006. But he’s comfortable in his RINO skin and probably paid off.
MI is the most crooked, thieving state in the union. The shysters and quacks openly brag they can get you on workmen’s comp or SS disability for a price.
The businesses are crooked, the politicians are crooked and the majority of a-hole citizens are crooked.
Never, ever do business in MI unless that business or person is refered to you by someone you trust. If anyone from MI offers you change for a dollar, count it twice.
Exactly....Once you make your state business un-friendly for some noble reason (environment, helping the poor, paying teachers more and more, regulating business, empowering attorneys). You die.
state tax on commissions(not salary-nice,protect the state workers)in New York State is over 11%. All in all,make 10k a month there,take home 5k. If you pay for healthcare you’re under 50% of what you make.
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