STATE REPRESENTATIVE: JOEL SHELTROWN (D-WEST BRANCH)

"As one of a small group of bi-partisan moderates at the State Capitol, Joel is using his faith in our future to build a better tomorrow for northern Michigan."  That according to the personal website of 103rd District State Representative Joel Sheltrown.  Not that you'd know it if you tried clicking on his homepage at www.sheltrown.com.  For some reason the site's been torn down.  But whatever for?

Could it be because Sheltrown wants to hide silly little claims like those in light of his recent voting behavior?  

There've been a lot of disappointments in Lansing this calendar year.  We've seen the House Democrats push through the largest tax hike in the history of the state.  We've seen the Governor and her party whips screaming about the need for "cuts, revenues and reforms" before voting for tax hikes, against reforms and then increasing government spending by $750 million in GF/GP dollars alone.

But nothing's been more disappointing than the betrayal of working moms and dads by a handful of would-be fiscal conservatives.  Joel Sheltrown tops that list of Benedict Arnolds and now he's trying to hide it from you.

Which makes a lot of sense actually, when you consider that Sheltrown's betrayal doesn't appear to be a one-time thing.  Rather, it seems he's had a big government tax-hike epiphany and isn't done raising your taxes.  

Lets start back at the beginning.  Northern Michigan's rural 103rd is solid social conservative territory but fertile ground for pro-union "moderates."  Even so, Joel Sheltrown eeked out a relatively narrow victory in 2004 considering his family name.  His brother, Dale, was a long-time lawmaker from the same District and if we love anything in America it's voting for a politician with a familiar family name.

Still, for a Democrat to earn the 103rd there are a few prerequisites.  He or she has got to be pro-life, they've got to be pro-gun and they've got to be anti-tax.  Joel Sheltrown was three for three.  Sure, he openly and actively campaigned against right-to-work, he sought and gained big labor endorsements and he shills for the MEA but those sorts of things are forgivable so long as he's got northern Michigan's own big three in his back pocket.

Sheltrown was eager to prove he had them, too.  He was endorsed by Right to Life.  He's on the board of directors of the Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners.  Of course, he actively supported a radically anti-life, anti-2nd amendment Jennifer Granholm for Governor leading cynics like me to ask... "where's the fruit?" but I digress.  

But how do you prove you're anti-tax?  Don't think too hard, it's easy.  You just make promises and hope you never have to back them up on the floor of the House.  

According to Sheltrown's now defunct website, featured prominently under the "issues" heading we used to find the following statement:

Single Business Tax: Joel supports an immediate repeal of the SBT and replacement of revenue through increased income tax revenue through employment growth. He does not support an increase in the individual income tax or sales tax.

No wonder Sheltrown yanked his website offline.  Joel Sheltrown voted YES on a nearly $800 million income tax hike.  Joel Sheltrown voted YES on a $613+ million sales tax increase on services.  Those aren't votes that'll raise income tax revenue through employment growth, Representative.  

What's more, it looks like Sheltrown isn't done.  According to Associated Press reports discussing the just-wrapped budget negotiations, the Representative is leading the charge to increase taxes on hunters, one of his core constituent groups.

Sheltrown said he met recently with sporting groups in hopes of building support for fee increases but was told the Senate had ruled them out.

Sheltrown should have ruled them out!  So much for that whole "bi-partisan moderate" label.  So much for being a fiscal conservative.  At least we know Joel Sheltrown understands that what he's done is wrong and is trying to wipe away the memory of previous no-new-tax pledges.  It's just not that easy to make people forget broken promises.