Tag Archive for Trains

Cronyism, Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Proposal 15-1, Rent Seeking, Republicans, Taxes

Whoo Whoooooot!

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Found on the side of some possible MDoT leased passenger cars in Cadillac today.

Vote-no-Train

I guess they need this proposal to pass so that Rick Snyder can get his train set built from Ann Arbor to Traverse City after all!  All he needs are a few transportation ‘Ho’-Scale helpers to really push this thing over the rails and onto voters.

Waiting to be ‘tagged.’

I think I can..  I think I can..  I think I can..  I think I can..  I think I can..  I think I can..  I think I can..  I think I can..  I think I can..

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Cronyism, Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Proposal 15-1

It Only Gets Worse

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Taxes that increase every year to keep up with inflation.

STOP-167Say What?

We have used the 16.7% tax increase in the stop sign logo, (at the right) and will continue to do so.  However, it is hardly a complete look at the tax implications if proposal 15-1 were to pass. We are attempting to find all the ways in which our prior legislative session gave us the shaft, including train to nowhere projects, redistribution of wealth, and the fuel tax replacement components.

Folks might actually be aware of the replacement fuel tax and that it will be more than what the was tax was before. Presumably, it simply replaces the sales tax that has been collected on fuel, that does not go toward roads.  However, when one looks at the analysis done by the House Fiscal Agency, there is a paragraph that explains the mechanism accurately; and in particular, a line at the end of that paragraph points out an easily missed point.

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Michigan Politics

The Duplicity Of Wayne Schmidt

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Heads I win Tails You Lose. Now Go Ahead And Flip That Coin.

du·plic·i·ty [doo-plis-i-tee]
noun, plural du·plic·i·ties

deceitfulness in speech or conduct, as by speaking or acting in two different ways to different people concerning the same matter; double-dealing. Synonyms: deceit, deception, dissimulation, fraud, guile, hypocrisy, trickery. Antonyms: candidness, directness, honesty, straightforwardness.

MIFTW-logoRight To Work

Wayne Schmidt hemmed and hawed during the debate lead up in the right to work fight. As I was bringing a measure before our county commission to promote it, he was declaring it dead on arrival.  The measure simply called for Representative Schmidt and Senator Walker to support and move forward the Freedom to Work (right to work) legislation that was ultimately passed in late 2012.

Instead of embracing it or endorsing right to work, Schmidt would repeat the mantra that “its not a good time;” something that did not make any sense of course, as a full Republican majority in all areas of Michigan government is a rare occurrence.  If THAT was not a good time, what is?

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