Why say "No!" to Michigan

The purpose of this blog is to explain why businesses should avoid moving to Michigan or expand within Michigan until House Joint Resolution L or some other serious tax reform package that takes the tax target away from businesses is passed by the legislature and approved by the electorate. Don't get me wrong. If you are reasonably sure you can make a profit here, don't let me get in your way. Just hear me out. Michigan is on the ropes and we have a chance to send the socialists who've destroyed our economy packing. We suffer from a very extreme case of entitle-mentality and it has caused us to become the laughingstock of the US. Our government couldn't find their own ass with a mirror, binoculars and a 'Kick Me' sign. They had a chance to take the right road when they got rid of the Single Business Tax, but Governor Grandstand couldn't stop talking about what new business tax we would replace it with, so businesses wisely took a wait and see attitude toward Michigan, which killed any chance of progress for a few years, but helped send us down the road to tax reform. Unfortunately, the gutless cowards in Lansing could not say "No!" to the portion of voters who are addicted to the sugar-coated turds that the socialists have been spoon feeding to them for over five decades. The wimps in Lansing passed the new Michigan Business Tax and it guarantees that things will get much worse until we become Hollowigan or possibly Michiganissippi. Then we will finally have a chance for the tax reform we need and then will be the time for you to pounce and invest your capital in our economy.

What must happen is this. We must lose enough jobs and enough people that we can't possibly balance a state budget without big pain for the remaining few. Then, House Joint Resolution L, which is essentially a FairTax proposal would scrap all income taxation and business personal property taxation in favor of a consumption tax on goods and services sold within Michigan. This will make products made in Michigan much more competitive inside Michigan and in markets outside of Michigan, because the high cost of Michigan's entitlementality will no longer be buried in the cost of our products. Michigan is uniquely situated for success with this approach, because the majority of our borders are lakeshore, with an international barrier on the East and North and with rural counties of low population density on the land borders.

For this reform to occur, Michigan must first wrestle the political power within the state away from the socialists and those who are addicted to the their policies. This means we must lose not just union members, but retired former union members who voted themselves a huge income tax exclusion of up to $80K per couple for pensions and other forms of retirement income. As it is right now, we have just received an income tax increase and new services added have been added to fund the sales tax pool. The projections are that these increases plus budget cuts that are currently being hammered out will balance our budget, but given the trends - decreasing population, rising unemployment and plummeting property values - these projections are rosy at best and likely to be a case of putting the cart beside the horse so that the horse will walk around in circles until it dies. That will be when sanity will have a chance to assert itself in Lansing and if/when that happens, that will be when your capital will help provide the economic miracle we need. Resolution L is currently languishing in Lansing, waiting for the politicians to grow guts or for the electorate to give them permission to focus on the societal imperative of enabling productivity.

I know this seems too simplistic, but I intend to write more later on how and why it would work and also how and why it will be the right thing for the people of Michigan and the investors who are willing to take a risk on the productivity of our society. In the meantime, if you see negative comments about this blog, please consider the possibility that they are signs of a malady which should be called Sugar-Coated Turd Withdrawal (SCTW).