There they go again. This important essay was written by Mike Jackson, executive secretary treasurer of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights union. Please contact your state legislator and ask them to vote NO on House Bill 4406. The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), an anti-union organization, is hoping taxpayers further subsidize their failed training programs. This time, […]

You can listen to Mitchell Robinson read and discuss this now-viral essay here: https://www.eclectablog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Mitchell-Robinson-Stop-with-the-heartwarming-teacher-stories.mp3 It seems like every day now we see another one of these stories that are supposed to be “heartwarming,” or show how “dedicated” teachers and other school personnel are… this superintendent spent 90 hours per week this summer repainting his school to save $150,000! this teacher […]

Donald Trump signed the Trump Tax Scam bill into law in late December. The new law was supposed to save Republican Party from Donald Trump but, so far, that hasn’t happened. Despite spending millions of dollars running nearly 17,800 advertisements on television, the law remains extremely unpopular. 36% of Americans think the law is a bad idea while only 27% […]

When Republicans in Congress passed the Trump Tax Scam, one of the things they did was to raise taxes on citizens at the state level. In Michigan, that increase in taxes amounts to $1.5 BILLION, something even Republicans have been forced to admit. Democrats, who have been trying to enact an increase in the personal tax exemption for years, today […]

Last year in a rare exhibition of bipartisanship, the Michigan state senate voted unanimously and the House voted 89-11 to pass a new rule involving the taxation of a purchased vehicle when someone trades in another vehicle in the transaction. Under a 2013 law, buyers initially could exempt the value of the trade-in vehicle up to $2,000 from the sales […]

“[Republican] Gov. Rick Snyder proposed legislation Monday to offset what he said would amount to an unintended $1.5-billion annual tax increase for Michigan residents resulting from the recent federal tax reform package.” That’s the lead sentence in an article in the Detroit Free Press from yesterday titled “Snyder proposes plan to offset federal tax reform for Michigan taxpayers“. The article […]

On our podcast this week, self-described zillionaire Nick Hanauer made it clear that trickle down economics is a concept used by the super-wealthy to convince themselves as well as all of us mere mortals that giving tax cuts to rich people will create more jobs and wealth for everyone. Unfortunately for them, as Hanauer says, “it just happens to not […]

After happily signing countless tax breaks for corporations into law in Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder finally found one to veto. It’s one that would benefit actual Michiganders and not for-profit corporations: Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed on Tuesday a tax cut recently approved by the Michigan Legislature, saying the measure would put too much strain on the state’s budget. Snyder vetoed […]

In March of 2015, Michigan Democrat Jim Townshend introduced legislation in the House – House Bill 4341 – that would change Michigan’s regressive flat state income tax to a graduated tax. Not surprisingly, it never went anywhere in the Republican-controlled House. And that’s a shame because, if implemented, it would increase state tax revenues by as much as $700,000,000 $870,000,000 […]

In the wee hours of the morning today after a marathon 12-hour session, House Republicans, led by House Speaker Tom Leonard, face-planted mightily in an effort to blow a $1.1 BILLION hole in the state budget by reducing the state income tax over the next four years. Their original salvo was to eliminate the state income tax altogether, an idea […]

The costs to replace the lead service lines in Flint is estimated to be north of $50 million. Governor Rick Snyder estimates that it will take $2 billion a year to fix and maintain Michigan’s roads and bridges. Disinvestment in education and our cities has schools being closed and cities on the brink of insolvency. When you add it up, […]