Two-term Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm is term limited so the gubernatorial race for 2010 is heating up mightily. On the Democratic slate we have Lt. Gov. John Cherry along with a couple of others who are exploring runs.
On the Republican side we have a whole host of contenders. The latest of these is Attorney General Mike Cox who announced his candidacy Wednesday via Twitter and Facebook (Ooo! Trendy! Youthful! Cool!)
Predictably, Cox is running on hatred-of-taxes platform. He not only has committed to not raising taxes, he stated yesterday that "the first thing" he would do would be to cut taxes by $2 BILLION.
While that may be a typically Republican approach, it is a completely absurd (if not politically suicidal) plan given Michigan's $1.3 billion tax hole this year which is predicted to rise to over $2 billion in 2010.
Mike Cox is a two-term Attorney General in Michigan, the first Republican to hold that post in nearly 50 years. Regarding his tax-cut proposal, according to WOOD-TV8:
Cox said all the candidates are focused on fixing Michigan's ailing economy, but he's the only one who to suggest the state should cut Michigan's main business tax in half, saving businesses $1.3 billion, and repeal the $700 million income tax increase that took effect in 2007.
He has said he'd pay for the $2 billion in annual tax rollbacks in part by changing pensions for new teachers and health insurance for state employees, saving $187 million.
Okay, I'm no math whiz (yes I am) but whipping out my trusty abacus and subtracting $187 million from $2.1 billion leaves [...click, click, click...borrow a two...click, click, click...carry the one...click, click, click...] ONLY $1.9 BILLION TO MAKE UP!!!
Oops.
According to the Detroit Free Press:
Cox criticized Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm for what he called a lack of leadership over the last seven years.
"I'm frustrated and angry that we have had this rudderless ship," he said.
and
"The bigger problem of what's going on in Lansing is that we lack leadership," Attorney General Mike Cox said. "We have a nice captain, but she is not very good at steering the ship of state."
Those of us in Michigan, at least those with a brain, have a somewhat different perspective on things. We see a progressive, energetic leader who has gone to great lengths to stimulate Michigan's economy, to bring new jobs and manufacturers to our lovely Mitten, to shift our reliance on the automotive industry, to prioritize education, to create a hub of green energy R&D and manufacturing in our state, and to help re-educate our workforce to prepare them for a new economy.
Sounds like solid ruddership to me.
But back to this tax cutting thing. By the time the next governor takes the reins, without any further cuts, we'll be something like $4 billion in the red. Taking another $2 billion out our budget will be catastrophic. Because we must have a balanced budget, this will mean further slashing of essential services (which are already being cut to the bone) and sacrificing the investments that are needed to help us crawl out of this enormous financial hole we're in.
In the past, Republican governor John Engler [shudder] balanced his budgets by slashing funding for roads and our park system while opening up our state forests and parks to development by his Big Oil buddies. This was a complete travesty since tourism is Michigan's second largest industry. When I see Cox making ridiculous proposals such as this one, I can only envision a return to the crumbling highway infrastructure and the deterioration of some of the finest parks and natural areas in the country - our bread and butter for the tourism industry.
Fortunately, perhaps, Cox is facing stiff competition from Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) and Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land. He's also being battered by Michigan Democrats over steering legal settlement funds to projects connected with Republican donors and will likely lose the support of some of the more ardent "family values voters" due to a marital indiscretion a few years ago.