Nope, that wasn't me.  If I remember correctly, the appearance on Off The Record was made by none other than Nick DeLeeuw himself.  (FYI, Nick's the guy that actually owns and runs this site . . . good friend of mine.)

Unlike RMGN, MFTP focuses strictly on Article 9 of the Michigan Constitution.  Granted, it is a comprehensive overhaul of the state tax system, but it does clear the Article 12 hurdles.  (Besides, this proposal only needs one sheet of paper, not twelve of them.)  The key to understanding how much it truly does lies in understanding the mechanics of the FairTax Initiative itself, as well as understanding the mechanics of the Michigan Constitution.  I can promise you that I've done my homework, and any of the regulars here should be able to back up that assertion.

The proposed sales tax rate for the Michigan FairTax Proposal is 9.75%.  Before you go too deeply into sticker shock, note that this proposal does do away with the state income tax and all state business taxation, so the FairTax is the only state-level tax that you will ever pay again.  Yes, you will now pay a sales tax on groceries and services; but, as we both have observed over on TheBlogProf, we pay taxes on those things now . . . they're just embedded business taxation.

Since February 2008 I've given presentations or otherwise projected my rhetorical influence into 47 of Michigan's 83 counties.  In the course of those travels I have spoken with more than my fair share of business owners, and in the process of those conversations I have learned that typically between 16% and 20% of the on-the-shelf price of anything you buy in this state (including gas, groceries, clothing, cars, and services) is embedded state business taxation.  (That's not including federal corporate taxation.)  By design, the current income-and-revenue-based tax system conceals from the citizens what their true tax burden is.  (Many estimates that I've read cite a burden somewhere in the vicinity of 50%, but the estimators admit that it's nearly impossible to nail that number down.)

And besides, as we also discussed on the other site, what now happens under MFTP is that those who escape their burden under the current tax system (read: criminal enterprises, underground economy, and illegal aliens) now cannot do so, because a retail sales tax is so loophole-resistant.  So by reducing the tax rate and broadening the tax base (to everyone who buys retail in the state), we ensure adequate revenue for the state government's legitimate functions - though not a penny more - and force every taxpayer in Michigan to play by the same set of rules, with no exceptions allowed.