Once More Into the Tank

Michigan's government is on the verge of shutting down because an agreement cannot be reached on whether to simply cut spending or raise income taxes as well. Governor Granholm and her Democrat allies in the state legislature contend that the income tax must be raised to overcome the $1.75 billion shortfall. Republicans feel that the budget can be balanced through spending cuts alone, and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has a way to do it. Of course, shutting down the government should save money too. Shut everything down for a couple weeks, and that should clear up that pesky budget shortfall. Granted, this will make for some difficulties, but it might not be all that bad.

Michigan is in the tank economically, and raising taxes will only make things worse, not to mention making things harder for a lot of people struggling to get by as it is. Republicans should stick to their guns and resist the siren song of increased revenue through increased taxation. Michigan's government is highly inefficient, and it needs to straighten itself out, streamline its spending and bureaucracy, and not pursue a short-sighted tax increase that in the end will only serve to hit Michigan's citizens in their pocketbooks and create a disincentive for businesses to invest in the state. In this environment, the consequences of a brief shutdown are better than the consequences of a tax increase that is, for all intents and purposes, unnecessary.