Republican tax hikes hit poor 1,000 times harder than rich

A new report from the Michigan League of Human Services shows just how much the Republican tax hikes are expected to hurt Michigan families.

Just a reminder in case you don't know what Michigan Republicans did:

• 51% of families will pay higher taxes.
• The Earned Income Tax Credit - which rewards people for work - was drastically reduced.
• The child tax credit was also reduced.
• The tax deduction for charities has been eliminated, costing you an extra $435 if you donate $10,000 per year to good causes.
• Pensions are now being taxed.

State Rep. Jud Gilbert (R-$80,000 Per Year), second from left in the top picture, tried to explain it away.

State Rep. Jud Gilbert, R- Algonac, chair of the House Tax Committee, says the bills were part of a larger package aimed at streamlining the tax code. He says about $1.4 billion in tax credits, including tax credits to businesses, were eliminated. The package also reduced the Earned Income Tax Credit - another credit for the poor - from 20 percent to 6 percent of the federal credit.

“I think what we’ve done in the revamping of the tax code,” says Gilbert,” is people are paying the same rate on the same amount of income. “

"Streamlining the tax code." Boy, we've sure heard that quite a bit from conservatives. It's a line that ignores a simple truth: Life isn't black-and-white. Not everybody can afford to pay the same on everything.

For a Party that claims to be all about Christian values, they sure don't act like they take Matthew 25 to heart.

Snyder recall effort fizzles; focus must shift to winning in 2011 and 2012

No surprise here.

Two newspapers report an effort to recall Republican Gov. Rick Snyder is fizzling.The Detroit Free Press on Wednesday cited an e-mail from campaign spokesman Tom Bryant saying "the recall effort will be coming to an end."

Organizers tell The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus the effort will fall short of making the February ballot.

The Associated Press called numbers listed on the group's state finance registration but didn't reach anyone actively involved in the recall effort.

We can debate until the cows come home about whether or not it was worth it to try to recall him. Everyone knew the odds were stacked - only two states have ever recalled a governor. But since we all know that this recall campaign is done with, there is no reason - none - to waste time looking behind and asking, 'What if...?'

What needs to happen now is that those who were involved in the effort to recall Snyder need to continue - rather, expand - their efforts to keep this progressive movement going. Sure, not all of us Democrats/liberals/progressives were on the same page when it came to recalling Snyder. But we ARE on the same page in opposing the emergency manager law, efforts to make Michigan a Work-for-Less state, and the many other fronts in their War on People.

So if you live in Michigan, get involved in the fight to repeal the EFM law. Write/call your elected officials. Donate to a favorite candidate before the Friday night deadline (if I could find a full-time job, I certainly would make a contribution or two!). Volunteer for candidates running in this November's elections. Help make the Democratic Party more progressive by taking part in Engage Michigan.

In addition to local races in 2011, there's a plethora of activity on the 2012 ballot with races for President, US Senate, US House, State House, State Supreme Court, countywide offices, county commissions, and so much more. In addition to the likely EFM referendum, we'll probably see another ballot initiative or two.

Hanging together is so much more fun than hanging separately.

Cue the Buyer's Remorse: Bernero would likely beat Snyder today

So says Public Policy Polling. The press release is in PDF form and it won't let me copy and paste, but here are a few highlights:

• Of poll respondents who didn't vote, Bernero leads 37-32%
• 47% would back Bernero, 45% would back Snyder
• Snyder's approval rating is 33% (with 50% disapproval)
• Collective bargaining rights are favored 59-32%; a constitutional amendment to ensure these rights would be backed by 49-37%
• Snyder's EFM power grab is opposed 50-32%

What does this tell us?

• Now that people know who Snyder is and what he stands for, they don't like him. No surprise.
• People have said that turnout was a big factor in the disastrous results. Well, this shows that it was. It also shows that with better turnout, Bernero wouldn't have had to persuade that many independents and others to vote for him in order for him to win.
• We didn't have to lose the 2010 election. The only reasons we did were because of bad turnout and the lack of funds needed to define the campaign on OUR terms, as opposed to their terms. (Hiring more paid staffers would've helped too, had we had the $$.)

That last point is important because it speaks to an issue I've noticed among many Democrats in recent months: The lack of a 'Yes We Can' attitude toward getting things done. I heard someone say as early as May 2009 that we wouldn't win the governorship. That attitude prevailed throughout the entire campaign, despite the fact that Michigan is a Democratic-leaning state. The reality is, if more people realized that we could have won... we might've won. People were happy to jump on board the campaign of Barack "Yes We Can" Obama, but who would want to volunteer for a campaign that they thought would be impossible to win? And more importantly, why did so many Democrats feed that mindset?

Another example: There was a mindset being pushed by many of the House Democrats that said, "Hey look, we're not going to win the State Senate, so support us instead." I asked a House Dem operative to elaborate on why he thought we wouldn't win the Senate, and all he could say was, "The numbers just aren't there." Turns out, the numbers WERE there. Had we kept the Senate seats we lost, we could've won back the Senate with LaGrand, Hopewell, Valentine, and Law. And with better turnout, we would have won the Senate. Instead, thanks to a fragmented campaign, the other side ended up with a 63-47 majority in the House when many people thought it impossible for Republicans to even get 56 seats. What a damn shame.

Yet another example: There is a YouTube video that was very popular among many of my Facebook friends and that was shared very widely, called "Michigan is screwed." That video was of a Rachel Maddow segment about the EFM bill. MSNBC had their own video of that segment, but the title didn't allude to us being 'screwed.' Someone I hadn't heard from in a LONG time posted the "Michigan is screwed" video on my FB wall, and before long I found the video on quite a few of my friends' FB pages.

I was even invited to an 'event' called "Michigan is F**ked." Yeah, really.

I could go on, but all I'll add is that what's going on now would not be going on if Democrats had done better in November. And Democrats would have done better if more of us had a better mindset - a mindset of doing what it takes to win, rather than a mindset of tearing down fellow Democrats and conceding an election long before it even takes place. But I mention all of this because the 2010 election has many lessons to offer us, and it is critical that these lessons be learned.

Dems hit the airwaves

I have a couple of thoughts: One, the background music seems a little too relaxing, too cheery, if you will, to get the message across. Two, they should use more personal stories in their ads. I know the MDP is just launching their ad wars, but think about the personal story that was involved in the Sleeping Judge ad from 2008.

This ad by US Rep. Mark Schauer (D-MI-07) is also on the air, this time with the faces of some of the people who would be affected by Tim Walberg's policies:

Bits of Tid: August 6, 2010

21 more weeks until Governor Bernero's inauguration!

• Who's gonna be the next Lieutenant Governor? My favorite at the moment: Buzz Thomas. He has been a leader in the Legislature and has worked with more than a few of the lawmakers an LG is often expected to work with. But then, there are other good choices, including progressive favorite Alma Wheeler Smith. Had soon-to-be County Commissioner Ray Basham (author of the minimum-wage and smoking laws) or future Congressman Hansen Clarke (who has quite a rags-to-riches story to tell and is a genuinely wonderful public servant) lost their nomination bids Tuesday, I would've suggested either one of them.
• Now, if Rick "Politicians got us into this mess" Snyder picks a politician to be his second banana, that might make him look like a hypocrite - thus solidifying his suppoort among the far 'right.' Perhaps it will be Cassis? Birkholz? Even Cox or Hoekstra to unify the Party of Palin? Heck, maybe Terri Lynn Land or Ruth Johnson - they know what it's like to be a running mate on a losing ticket. Actually I'm thinking he might pick McManus to throw open the race for Secretary of State (I remember Posthumus doing the opposite and picking Loren Bennett to unite the party behind Land for SOS in 2002). But again, to not look like a hypocrite he ought to pick someopne other than a politician - like Dick DeVos!
• I tell you, it's an anti-incumbent, anti-politician year! Anyone else notice how many incumbents lost their renomination bids on Tuesday? Like, for example, um... uh... let me think here... Wait, the only two I know of are Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and Kent County Commissioner Jim Vaughn, the latter having been convicted of a crime and the former having been Kwame's mother. And 100% of Democratic primary voters (not including write-ins) and 63% of Republican primary voters voted for a politician for governor, while politicians Bill Huizenga and Justin Amash won congressional primaries in which most Republican primary voters voted for, well, politicians (like Wayne Kuipers and Bill Hardiman). Upton, Kildee, Levin - all won convincingly as well.
• Andy Dillon isn't quite endorsing Bernero yet. Here in West Michigan, the so-called 'liberal' media is making a big deal of this; which is no surprise, given how much they like to push the 'Democrats in disarray' meme without highlighting divisions within the Party of Palin. At any rate, I highly doubt that a lack of a Dillon endorsement would hurt Bernero that much (at least not enough to cost him the election).
• Keep in mind that hardly anyone has a negative view of Snyder right now. When people learn about who he really is and what he's done, don't be surprised if people start liking Virg more and more (or at least becoming disenchanted with Snyder).
• Tell me again how coming off as angry is supposed to hurt a candidate at a time when people are themselves angry?
• Hey newly (re-)elected precinct delegates! Is there an issue about which you are dying to get your voice heard? Start writing your resolutions now for consideration at your County and District Democratic Conventions so that they will benoticed by those who write the State Party Platform! I plan on writing one for net neutrality, for instance.