Six months ago, Michigan passed one of the best examples of the types of laws I want for America. The exact sort of thing I think will help strengthen the middle class, give upward mobility to low wage earners, offer a lifeline to the unemployed, and, of course, stick it to the Man a little.
All good.
Ironically. It's a bit of deregulation. But for the LITTLE guy.
A new state law allows home cooks to sell their pies, pastries, and jams at roadside stands and farmers markets without getting a license from the state. Governor Granholm signed the law today at an Ypsilanti community garden and market. Until now, anyone selling food not cooked in a licensed commercial kitchen was breaking the law.
A person can sell up to $15,000 worth of baked goods in a roadside stand without a license or a commercial kitchen. Right now I could bake bread, put it in a plastic bag with a list of the ingredients and a disclaimer that it was home-made, and put it in a box to sell outside my door. Right Now.
This is an ideal example of the type of upward mobility device America should be promoting.
Not small business. Micro-business.
Because there's a huge difference between a "Small business" which can be a factory employing up to 500 people or a company making as much as $20 million dollars a year....and a guy cleaning dog poo from peoples' yards for $20 an hour. I know one of those guys. Used to be a union trucker making decent money. Been out of work for several years now, and found himself something to do.
He's the guy who needs the break.
See....
....both parties seem to forget about THAT guy. And THAT guy is just some middle class guy who's either looking to get out of the bottomless rat race of shrinking everything...or he's exhausted all other options and found something that's going to get him by.
Ya know what?
I really like progressive taxation. But progressive taxation doesn't apply nearly as much to businesses. So Mom and Pop Book Store gets taxed pretty much the same as Mega-Mart. Actually: mega-mart probably pays less through fancy accountants and city or state tax abatements.
It really is high time to have a graduated taxation system for businesses.
Cuz, ya know, micro-businesses are, in fact, taxed like crazy. Property tax, state tax, Federal tax, unemployment tax the owner, who is usually the only one who actually works there, can't collect on...and get this...USE tax: Like, if you have a display case in your store, the city taxes you more because you have a display case, or a chair, or...whatever. And of course, sales tax. And payroll tax.
My wife, she sits me down and she shows me all she's paying out. And believe me. It's a LOT.
Sometimes...we don't get that meager, and I mean meager, paycheck because money is sent to the city, or the state, or the Fed.
And that's when my apolitical wife gives me the stink-eye, like "WHY IS EVERYBODY BUT US TAKING OUR MONEY?!??!"
And I'm all, like..."Hey, babeh...babeh....BABEH...Liberalism isn't about taxing people. It's about helping the little guy!"
And she's all like "When will they HELP US!!! I just sent $X to the city and guess what? We're negative! No paycheck today."
And I'm all "We're working on it, babeh. We're workin on it!"
I need to stress we're not particularly rich. Or rich at all. Or...even...really median. We're somewhere below the median, by quite a lot, but above the poverty level. We're definitely above the poverty level. This year.
But the point is.
The POINT is...
...the anti-tax shit SPEAKS to folks like my wife who...I think votes Dem, but is having some serious reservations lately...
It speaks to them because the Dems, AND the Republicans really, NEVER figured out that there's a HUGE difference between a SMALL business and one person trying to make enough to pay her family's bills because she lost her job while pregnant in the middle of a decade long collapsing Michigan economy when hundreds of people were applying for every damn job and she KNEW the only chance of work was to create her own.
There's a DIFFERENCE.
There's a difference between a "small" business like a development firm pulling down 7 million a year and the woman who sells used kids clothes, or the local pastry shop.
There's a DIFFERENCE.
And our leadership not GETTING that difference is hindering upward mobility.
2 million Americans are about to be plunged into a termination of unemployment benefits. No money. Nothing.
For the love of god, if we can't do the BASIC act of helping these folks get with a simple unemployment extension because some jerks can't comprehend that every dollar given to the middle class gets SPENT in the recipient's community...
I we can't meet that BASIC need then we HAVE TO provide some vehicle for helping people strike out on their own if they are inclined.
Funny thing about unemployment.
I personally know at least 8 people in the past couple years for whom unemployment benefits were a gateway to starting their own venture. After losing their job, having unemployment benefits for a set period gave them the basic financial security they needed to take a risk and create their own job. The phrase "now or never" has been a recurring theme.
Let's pretend for a moment, we as a nation have any interest in helping middle class individuals actually gain social mobility.
Creating micro-business friendly policy seems like it would be a slam dunk. How could Republicans turn it away?
Next...I'd like to see more safety nets for the folks who give micro-biz a run.