For a so-called conservative, “Republican” Rick Snyder sure does have this thing for imposing a tax hike on Michigan Motorists (along with the aid of his BFF Sen. Arlan Meekhof).
He even thinks that his own story is proof positive that it can be done.
I just love it when Mr. “relentless positive action”, conveniently forgets to include several glaring details.
Oh well, those who fail to learn from the lessons of history…
(9)Nuh Uh.
(0)Just when you thought that things couldn’t get any stranger?
I bet you’re wondering which strategy that is?
Well, wait no longer (Here’s a hint: We’re at Phase 1)
{Click below the fold for details.}
(12)Nuh Uh.(0)Well, would you look at that?
Remember that saying about not learning the lessons of history…correctly.
Well, here we go again.
(15)Nuh Uh.(0)Never forget, and never take your eyes off the slippery Dick.
We urge Mich Senate to take the next step to fix the roads. Senate plan for roads includes 15-cent boost in gas tax. http://t.co/t0tj6Iyfai
— Rich Studley (@rstudley) June 30, 2015
What is it that SOB’s in Lansing, do not understand about no new taxes?
Look, as long as Kirk Steudle is in charge of MDOT, which has the money to waste on stupidity like this, our legislature has not done its job.
Time for part time legislature because, 51.4¢ a gallon on gas, and 55.6¢ a gallon on diesel: http://www.api.org/state-taxes/michigan.pdf
Part time legislature because we are #6: http://taxfoundation.org/blog/map-state-gasoline-tax-rates-2014
(15)Nuh Uh.(0)House Road Funding Package Puts Gas Tax Increases on Autopilot --- Tax on B5 Diesel for Heavy Trucks Cut 20%
Southfield, MI Gas Prices 12 June 2015
Michiganders woke up this morning to discover that regular unleaded gasoline prices are now $ 3 per gallon, a $ .25 increase, or more, from yesterday. Refinery problems, summer driving season, and SE MI’s special fuel blend are blamed in the press, but really this price shock is an intended consequence the Federal Reserve’s zero interest policy and their determination to boost stock prices. Oil derivatives are cheaper than dirt when there is no cost to money.
Wall Street wasn’t happy early this year when plunging oil prices drove down stock averages. So someone is furiously selling off Treasury paper and buying oil & gasoline futures contracts. Treasury interest rates have been rising in lockstep with oil & gas prices, on the same days, even the same hours. Officially, no one knows who is behind these trades, but the Federal Reserve is sitting on $ 4 trillion in Treasury paper and is fighting any effort to audit their holdings. A coincidence? Not likely.
Your government extracting more money from your wallet.
(14)Nuh Uh.(0)Or, the “Right Michigan Solution for Fixing Michigan Roads”.
A little bit of this and a little bit of that. Soon enough, you’ve got the makings of a pretty good framework to work within.
If you’re really a Conservative, that is.
If not…well click below for more.
{Continued below the fold}
(12)Nuh Uh.(0)Detroit Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference 2015 Starts Today - You Won't Like The Outcome
Is that a donkey in front of the Grand Hotel?
Later today Michigan’s Self Very Important Persons start checking in at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s 2015 Mackinac Policy Conference held on Mackinac Island. At $ 2,150 per person for Chamber members and $ 2,925 for Chamber wannabees, average Michiganders will not be much in evidence. The attendees list reads like the last itemized contribution report for SafeRoadsYes!, along with the clueless Michigan politicians who endorsed Proposal 1.
The Detroit Regional Chamber’s “Vision and Pillars” for the 2015 Conference is innocuous enough, but the Conference’s agenda is far less oblique. A host of left luminaries and crony capitalists orbiting Michigan government will be plotting higher taxes, bigger spending, and more vexatious regulations. When they are not drinking.
The official agenda is all about Detroit, Michigan schools, alternative business subsidies, and the roads, but there is also the transformation of Detroit Water & Sewerage Department into the Great Lakes Water Authority lurking in the background. Roads are the most interesting part of the official 2015 Conference agenda, given the near universal support for Proposal 1 amongst the attendees. Despite touting ‘vision’, expect the Conference to endorse new taxes over improved efficiencies and better engineering.
(13)Nuh Uh.(0)Spectacular Death in Michigan No Bar to Success in Washington
While Michiganders were being entertained and infuriated by the lies of Proposal 1 proponents, few of us noticed that the very same roads funding strife is reaching a crescendo in Washington. The Federal Highway Trust Fund spends about $ 50 billion dollars on ‘transportation’ across the U.S.A. each year. Michigan received $ 1.39 billion from the HTF in Fiscal Year 2014 for new construction of roads and bridges, along with mass transit activities. As a point of reference, Michigan spent an additional $ 2 billion of funds raised within the state for the same ‘transportation’ purposes. The Federal HTF paid for 40.9% of Michigan ‘transportation’ spending in FY 2014.
Funded in the past by an $ 0.184 per gallon Federal gasoline tax ($ 0.244 per gallon on diesel fuel), the Highway Trust Fund’s traditional fuel tax revenues have fallen to about $ 34 billion. The Federal government has been supplementing the Highway Trust Fund from general deficit spending revenues since 2008. In Fiscal Year 2014, the Federal government supplemented the Highway Trust Fund with $ 11 billion in general revenues.
How did this happen?
(13)Nuh Uh.(0)First off, I’d just like to thank those who have sent in suggestions so far for “The Right Michigan Solution for Fixing Michigan Roads” (and yes, I have gotten a few already). I’ve got an update that I like to pass along after the fold.
And for the record, the title of this post isn’t referring to these “poor” schemps.
{More below the fold}
(4)Nuh Uh.(0)There is enough evidence to demonstrate pay increases have not been earned.
Perhaps we take a different look at how we compensate our legislators (and maybe most of the top level bureaucrats)
Perhaps we do away with all of the term limit nonsense, and decrease the salaries of those who remain in government (YES including those who are high dollar appointees) by 10% each year to encourage them to return to the private sector.
Maybe THAT would be the direction pay should go in the future?
(12)Nuh Uh.(0)
