If the dollar amounts hold steady, the governor feels that he can spend your money far better than you can to the tune of about $1.4-billion.

Fred & Karl would be so proud!

Thankfully, the Michigan Legislature didn't down the kool aid and go for it last year, but with the '14 election up in the air, and the Mi-GOP a little antsy about retaining control, who knows what will be driving them during this session of the Legislature.

Now, you're probably asking yourself, I still don't get it, KG.

What does a money sucking governor have to do with a bottomless money-pit formerly known as Detroit?

We can start by asking what has the governor, or even the state for that matter, done to prove to us that it absolutely needs $1.4-billion of our money?

Much like he has personally demanded of Detroit, where are the metrics Gov. Snyder can show us to prove that higher registration fees and gas taxes are the only solution?

He's good on promoting "dashboards" and readily quantifying data in order to support his position.

So, he needs even more of our money because...

{Insert hearty Michigan-bred, winter-acclimated, cricket noises here}

I thought so.

Look, if Gov Snyder wants $1.4-billion, I can give him that (more actually), without shaking down hard-working Michigan Motorists.

Let's start with that pesky 6% Michigan Sales Tax which generates approximately $1-billion in revenue.

Mysteriously, instead of going to roads where it should, it gets dumped into the general fund.

This one is a no-brainer.

Reprogram that back to roads.

Next, let's look at something called the "Comprehensive Transportation Fund". This little known line item in the Michigan Budget takes money that MDOT collects ostensibly for needed things like roads and bridges, and gives it to another money pit known as public mass transit. The latest figures that I had show that it takes away about $186-million.

Reprogram that back to roads.

The good people from the Mackinac Center put out a report a while back on yet another little shakedown know as the prevailing wage law. Why do we even have an artificial base built into the cost of doing work here in Michigan? According to their report, repealing this law will save Michigan Taxpayers about $200-million.

Lansing has already tackled dues checkoff and FTW. In for a penny, in for a pound.

Repeal prevailing wage, save Michigan Taxpayers $200-million and reprogram that back to roads.

Here's one that most of you may not have heard of. Tucked into the federal government's system of returning federal gas tax money is a little provision known as "highway enhancements". This is a program designed to use gas tax dollars intended to pay for roads and pay for frivolous items like bike paths, parks and other superfluous programs. According to the people at the National Center for Policy Analysis, that program averaged about $6.51-billion in revenue. Presuming an even 50-way split, my math works out to about a little over $130-million.

Get rid of it.

Tell Pres. B.O. that we can create more `shovel ready" jobs without it, if you have to.

If you need to, tell him that you'll give him credit for all of those employed workers and he'll probably sign an E.O. for it right there on the spot!

So, according to my math:

            $1,000,000,000 (Sales Tax going to roads)
            $   186,000,000 (Public Mass Transit expenditure to roads)
            $   200,000,000 (Prevailing Wage savings to roads)
+          $   130,000,000 ("Highway enhancements" to roads)
______________
            $1,516,000,000 (in funding without shaking down hard-working Michigan Motorists)

Wow!

Over $1.5-billion in funding for Michigan roads WITHOUT the need for Gov. Snyder's tax hikes.

Or, we can just take him at his word that Michigan "needs" $1.4-billion in new taxes with no justification, rationale or even any coherent defense on where our money is already going?

Hypocrisy, thy name is Rick Snyder.

Michigan Republicans should take heed of this and keep it in mind for the next two years if they want to have any hope of retaining power in Lansing.