I oppose government overreach, PERIOD, regardless of who's overreaching.  And I'm just as ticked off at the Republicans as I am at the Democrats.  But I also know that the problem isn't so much one party over another as it is an institutionalized mindset.  Over the past seven generations (give or take), we've come to accept a greater government involvement in our day-to-day lives as a reality that we'll just have to figure out how to live with.  I view that mindset as a bathtub-sized crock of horse manure, and the TEA Party movement agrees with me.

Not particularly surprisingly, income-based and business-based taxation are viewed as symbols of that overreach that many citizens are now realizing should be opposed by every legal means available.  The core of this resistance is based on the assertion (made back in 1964 . . . by a Democrat) that as long as the government retains the power to tax as they see fit, they can fund any government program that they desire to keep running.  For this reason (among others) I suspect that you are dead wrong in your belief that a graduated income tax is more likely to be approved by the Michigan electorate than a progressive consumption tax.

The reasons that the Michigan FairTax Proposal is receiving widespread support are:

1. It throws out the current state-level tax system and replaces it with a sales-tax-only system . . . with no loss of state revenue.  This is because everyone who buys retail in the state will become a taxpayer . . . including those who do not now pay income-based or business-based taxes.

2. By being a sales-tax only system, the MFTP places everyone's true tax burden out where it can be plainly seen . . . on every sales receipt/invoice.  No more hiding of our tax burden in the form of income withholding or business taxes (that have to be passed on to customers, employees, and sharholders in order for business to remain profitable).

3. The MFTP places the state tax system behind a constitutional firewall . . . so that no old tax can be resurrected, nor can a new tax be enacted, nor can the sales tax rate be raised, unless approved by the voters (in the form of a legislatively-referred ballot initiative).