foolmenot.comThe Governor says (below); “There is not one single silver bullet” to fix Michigan’s economy- But that doesn’t mean you have to keep shooting blanks; geez!
My silver bullet would be quite simply; do things that put Michigan on the same playing field as the competition, in this case, other states; geez, at least Indiana! Business people who have been successful over the long term know this concept to be [the] silver bullet that keeps business afloat… But then, if one has never had long term success in private business and one hires others who have not had long term success in private business, why would one be expect to understand this??
Elsewhere in the article, and I love this one; the Gov says, “I would like to lower the rate (of the Single Business Tax). Call it something else. Get rid of the SBT” Words mean things folks and these live interviews can be a job-killer for Liberals… What she is saying here is an admission of truth from a Liberal that conservatives don’t often hear- Getting rid of a tax only means changing its name…
Her words, not mine!
Full article follows…
Detroit News
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Granholm: 'There's no silver bullet' for reviving state
The Detroit News editorial board Monday interviewed Gov. Jennifer Granholm. The following are excerpts:
Q . Talk to us about your proposed state budget and the economy.
A . We have an economic strategy that is short-term, medium-term and long-term. And that economic strategy is to jump-start our economy today and train people for the vacancies that exist today and to diversify our economy and take advantage of a global economy by bringing jobs here, going anywhere and doing anything to bring jobs to Michigan. There is not one single silver bullet. It is critical that we work on an economic plan that creates a work force that makes us competitive.
Taxes
Q . Looking out 10 years at the kind of Michigan economy you want to see, would your tax plan get us there?
A . I've done that. And my plan wasn't adopted. I need a Legislature that works with me.
Q . Aside from the single Business Tax, what specifically has the Legislature blocked in your economic recovery program?
A . They haven't done the Merit scholarship or the curriculum yet. I'm hopeful that they will. On the diversification (investment fund) effort, they have done that.
Taxes are the toughest. I'm not opposed to cutting taxes. But taxes are not the only answer to a state's economic development. I've signed into law and we have $1.7 billion less tax revenue due to tax cuts than we did during the most robust time of our history recently, which was in 1999. We have cut and cut and cut. And you would think that with all that tax cutting we would be growing jobs at the fastest clip around.
Some of that maybe has to do with the Single Business Tax structure. But it has to do with the fact that we're the domestic auto capital of the world, and we've lost jobs because we're competing with countries that are paying 50 cents an hour.
Q . What specifically do you want as part of an economic stimulus policy that the Legislature hasn't given you?
A . I would like to lower the rate (of the Single Business Tax). Call it something else. Get rid of the SBT.
Q . Have you put an elimination proposal on the table?
A . I have told them repeatedly: I don't care what you call it, but what we should have is a tax system that treats taxpayers fairly, business taxpayers as well as others. That means lowering the rate, flattening the base. That means that all of those darn loopholes that have appeared over time that end up costing more for those who are paying, those have got to be eliminated too.
Patterson's SBT plan
Q . So do you support what Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson is proposing -- a ballot initiative to eliminate the Single Business Tax?
A . And? And? What's the next part of that? You can drop one shoe. What's the second (one)?
Q . Under your plan, the Single Business Tax would still be there as a value-added tax.
A . I'd be happy to move away from a value-added tax, but we have been bumping up against this constitutional spending limit for years and year and years. We are now $5.8 billion below the Headlee limit as a state because of the tax cuts and because of the economy. I say that as an example of how we have attempted to make government smaller, to make the business climate competitive. So if Brooks is willing to work with me on something, I'd be happy to do it.
But right now that proposal stands sort of on the same footing as the K-16 proposal (for guaranteed school and university funding), which is: Here's the solution but no way to pay for it.
Q . So the Legislature is stopping you from lowering the rate and flattening the tax?
A . That's what we proposed last year and that's what they ran away from it because it had loophole closings. There are all sorts of bizarre loopholes.
Q . If the two parties can't agree on the business tax in Michigan, then shouldn't the voters eliminate it? That certainly would force the two parties to come up with an alternative and break the gridlock.
A . I wouldn't assume there has to necessarily be gridlock. This is an election year, which is the most difficult of times to get an agreement on something as sensitive as a tax cut. But if people were willing in good faith to remove it from the political process and work quietly on a solution that really was a rational solution....
Q . How can the people of Michigan get the politicians and government officials to have more of a sense of urgency about the situation?
A . I believe there is a sense of urgency in Lansing. I think both parties desperately would like to see a solution. Unfortunately, there is a disagreement about how you get there. I think there is an opportunity to work right now and to have a solution appear after the election.
Federal aid for autos
Q . What is it that Washington should do to help the Michigan economy and the auto industry? And what's the impetus given that every other state seems to be thriving in this economy?
A . The impetus is that we are unique. We are the automotive capital of the world. Our domestic automakers have contributed significantly to making this country great. We need to figure out any way to assist them -- not as a bailout, but as a strategy to make them more competitive in this global economy.
As part of that federal solution, there needs to be, in my opinion, a much more aggressive response to enforcing these trade agreements.
And there needs to be a recognition that health care and pension costs are making our companies uncompetitive. We have a single-payer system, and it's business that bears the full brunt of it. The other countries we are competing against are providing assistance with those issues for their companies. We are not.
Why is it for the first time in Michigan's history more cars are being built in Ontario (Canada) than in Michigan? They are not going there because of Canada's tax structure. They are not going there because of Canada's regulation. They are not going there because of the wages. They are going there because of the (government-funded) health care.
State hospital tax
Q . Part of your budget has $42 million in Medicaid provider taxes, which may leverage more money for the urban hospitals, but might hurt the suburban hospitals like Beaumont.
A . Every hospital gets a tax-exempt status because there is a recognition of a shared mission. Everybody's got to take the uninsured. Beaumont does not get the same share of the uninsured that some of the others get, so in exchange for (that), part of it is a shared responsibility to draw down additional federal dollars to be able to care for them.
Q . Some your plans have favored manufacturing over service industries. Why?
A . Service industries in Michigan have grown. Manufacturers have lost. We have focused on making sure that we're able to keep what we've got.
Q . Do you see manufacturing as Michigan's future?
A . I think advanced manufacturing is. As we diversify with this $2 billion public-private initiative, we have to build on our strengths.
Higher education
Q . How many of the Cherry Commission's 19 recommendations on higher education have you put on the table?
A . A lot of them we have done and moved down the field. I signed into law the ACT (which replaces the high school MEAP). The Merit scholarship I've had on the table for well over a year to try to make universal access (to college).
The Department of Education is doing professional development and recruiting new math and science teachers. What I put in the budget this year with respect to math and science tutoring -- all of those are part of the Cherry Commission proposals.
Some of them have been blocked by the Legislature, but hopefully we'll get the high standards core curriculum through.
How is Michigan better?
Q . You're at the start of a re-election campaign. How is Michigan better today than if you hadn't been governor?
A . We have now $2 billion to invest in diversifying our economy. There are 237,000 jobs that would not have been here but for our efforts. We have gone international to make Michigan attractive to research and development companies around the globe.
We will have a high-standards core curriculum for the work force of the 21st century. I've cut taxes to make us more competitive. We still have work to do, but we've cut taxes 51 times.
We will have trained 30,000 unemployed people for the vacancies that exist today.
My fellow governors joke all the time that I have the hardest job of any governor in the country. And it's true, because our economy has been so reliant on one industry. But that's why we've got to be extremely aggressive about diversifying.