STATE REPRESENTATIVE  ALDO VAGNOZZI (D-FARMINGTON HILLS)

I don't live in Farmington or Farmington Hills but I know a little bit about the district.  It's in Oakland County, it's a great place to live (I've got friends there who swear by it) and it's got a bit of a moderate streak.  Which makes me wonder, when they first elected Democrat Aldo Vagnozzi in a close contest back in 2002 did they really know what they were getting?

Aldo plays the moderate well for the cameras.  He loves kids and old people, talks about the importance of "local control" and he hates Detroit, a prerequisite when you're running in Oakland County.  And, according to Gannett News Service he even likes the idea of cutting taxes to spur job creation.

Q: If you had to choose between tax incentives to encourage Michgian's auto-baed manufacturing industry and emerging industries, what would you do?

A: I do not believe that's (a) choice that has to be made.  We should award tax incentives wherever they can produce the most benefits.  Our goal should be creating high-quality, good paying jobs in whatever industry they may be in.

That's an interesting quote, given the man's record.  Aldo Vagnozzi voted YES on the Democrats' massive $613+ million service tax hike and Aldo Vagnozzi voted YES on the Democrats' massive nearly $800 million income tax hike.  Can't help but wonder how, precisely, that helps him meet his goal of "creating high-quality, good paying jobs."

Not that he didn't protect some high-quality, good paying jobs at the MEA but voting NO on MESSA reform that would have taken $400 million out of their gilded pockets and put it back into the classroom where it could buy books, school supplies or pay our great teachers more.

But those are only the obvious contradictions.  Two weeks ago Aldo gave The Oakland Press a peak into his actual reasoning for approving the largest tax hike in the history of the state of Michigan despite a nation's-worst 7.4% unemployment rate:

"One of the key features is it sets aside money for the rainy day fund," Vagnozzi said of the budget deal. "That fund used to be $1.5 billion. Gov. Engler drained it completely."

According to Aldo the state needed MORE than it was going to spend and he thought it was appropriate for YOU to pay it.  Didn't he say something about wanting to provide tax incentives all over the place to create jobs?  What kind of jobs does this move provide, Aldo?

Oh, and about the evils of raiding one fund to pay for something else, they're not really THAT evil.  Otherwise there's no way Vagnozzi would have supported what became Public Act 72 of 2007, a bill that raided funds from a specific place, in this case convention facility set-asides, to cover other expenses.  

Unfortunately, this is only the tip of the inconsistency-iceberg when it comes to the Farmington Hills Democrat.

To explore the entire iceberg would require far, far too much server space so lets just contain it to 2007, shall we?  Since the first of the year, despite his insistence that he'd like to provide tax incentives and to create jobs, Aldo Vagnozzi has supported:

House Bill 5118, a tax on financial institutions equal to 0.235 their of their net capital.

House Bills 5096 and 5097, a bill that would result in an additional $30 million in annual use tax paid by business in the future.

House Bill 5105, a measure to repeal a law that requires Detroit to gradually reduce its city income tax to 2.0 percent for residents and 1.0 percent for non-residents who work in the city.  Remember what I said about hating Detroit?

House Bill 4376, a bill that allows higher taxes on rental properties.

House Bill 4383, a tax hike on toll-free phone calls and automobile purchases.

House Bill 4384, a tax hike on water softeners and water coolers.

House Bill 4387, a $3.9 million tax hike on business expenses.

House Bill 4261, a tax on hotels and motels in Grand Rapids and Lansing, two cities not found named Farmington Hills (what happened to local control?) to help pay for more Jeff Daniels ads asking Michigan residents to visit Michigan.

House Bill 4221, a bill raising garbage disposal taxes on Michigan residents by 3,571%.

House Bill 4882, a 6% tax hike on some automobile purchases.

And Senate Bill 796, extending a sunset on certain medicaid "fees," proving once again that there's no such thing as a "temporary tax hike."

Here's hoping the next opportunity the voters of Farmington and Farmington Hills have the chance they'll realize there's no such thing as a fiscally "moderate" democrat.