Letter regarding Governor Granholm's proposal to close "tax loopholes"
Grand Rapids Press
To the editor,
I'm very concerned about Governor Granholm's proposal to close "tax loopholes." Her terminology is merely a very creative way of saying 'Tax increase." The Governor insists on referring to her tax increases as "tax loopholes." Obviously, she knows what an unpopular idea it is to raise taxes, so she's apparently hoping we won't notice her imaginative verbalization of yet another tax increase. Almost as troubling as the tax increase itself, I'm particularly troubled about Governor Granholm's disingenuous scheme of attempting to hide a tax increase under the guise of "tax loopholes. In her 2003-04 Executive Budget Proposal Governor Granholm even went so far as to define what a loophole is. Why all the smoke and mirrors? Why can't she just admit she IS going to raise taxes? But of course that would probably depend on what our definition of the word "is" is. (Definitions, sound familiar?)
I've always felt raising taxes is similar to an effort to increase egg production by strangling the chicken. Most small businesses are struggling due to waning consumer confidence induced by 911. For many small businesses, raising taxes will be the straw that broke the camels back. The Governor should be doing all she can to help small businesses survive instead of loading them with additional tax burden. If the Governors SBT increase goes through, more small business will crumble under the pressure, taking many jobs with them. When we lose those jobs we lose revenue, which in turn will magnify the deficit. I hate to see us head into that downward spiral.
In addition, the Governor wants to tax people who choose to build a home. The material purchased to build a home is already taxed and now she wants to tax us again just for building it! This doesn't sound like a loophole to me, it sounds like double taxation! This new tax will most certainly reduce new home starts. It doesn't take a Phi Beta Kappa to know that more jobs will be lost and even fewer people will be able to afford homes. Like I said, I hate to see us head into that downward spiral.
Instead of tax increases, the Governor should be proposing tax cuts to stimulate consumer spending and small business growth. When small businesses grow they provide more jobs, which in turn creates increased tax revue. In the long run, tax cuts create more tax revenue than any tax increase possibly could.
Governor Granholm bemoans that she inherited a huge deficit left by the previous administration. When Governor Engler came into office we were faced with a deficit almost identical to what Michigan now faces, and with Governor Engler's leadership we faced it without raising taxes. We should be able to do the same thing now. Strangling the chicken in an attempt to get that one more egg today will only make things more difficult tomorrow.
Pete Odland
Belding, MI