"No" on Proposal 1

In less than a week, Michigan voters (well, at least around 20% of registered Michigan voters, if the projections are accurate) will go to the polls to vote on Proposal 1. There have been lots of "Vote Yes" television ads trotting out the big guns and the little people alike, but I remain unconvinced -- I'm voting “no” on Proposal 1 for a variety of reasons.

The sales tax increase will give Michigan one of the highest sales taxes in America at 7%, which means that tourism will most likely be negatively impacted, even though we have nice things like abundant water and surly retail providers. This new normal of 7% will have the greatest impact on those with low to middle socioeconomic status -- it's estimated that Proposal 1 will raise taxes by about $200 per year for every person in Michigan, and it's certain that a family of four could find better ways to spend $800 over twelve months. (And let’s remember that when the rich say that the poor don’t pay taxes, they’re conveniently forgetting things like property taxes and sales taxes such as these, which in low SES populations make up a higher impact.)

What about all those positive advertisements? Well, by presenting a united front through the media, politicians and corporations alike show that they support the interests of the other, rather than the interests of the citizens who elect the politicians and buy the products the corporations produce. In other words, they’re trying to see just how much shit they can get away with before the citizens of Michigan wake the fuck up. As much of the significant road damage comes from heavy industrial vehicles used by corporations -- with these same corporations receiving significant tax breaks (or “corporate welfare”) under the Snyder administration -- it's OK to curtail some of this corporate welfare to help fund infrastructure repair.

(As a sorta-aside, the claim that this tax increase will also help with schools and police is utter obfuscatory garbage. The same claims were made about the lottery, and this has been shown to be consistently false. The old axiom is sad but true -- if the teachers of Michigan can be fucked, the state government will find a way to fuck them.)

There is no doubt that our roads and bridges need to be fixed, and there is no doubt that Michigan citizens will continue to be injured and die because of this neglect of infrastructure. But blackmailing the Michigan voters with mendacious bullshit that hurts the majority of the Michigan voters is beyond the pale. It's the job of the legislature to govern, not just to be elected, and part of moral governance is recognizing the dire need for infrastructure projects, projects that historically create jobs within the normal parameters of state budgeting, and to present Proposal 1 as the last resort is shameful. Too bad that the legislators of Michigan, and the corporations that buy their policies, are beyond shaming.

(Of course, if there was vision in governance, Michigan would immediately legalize marijuana for personal and medical use, and use the resulting tax funds accrued for infrastructure, drug treatment programs, research, industrial paper production from hemp, and so much more. One possible Pure Michigan logo could be the Michigan mitten holding a joint, but that’s for the ad men to decide. For additional information on Proposal 1 and why you should vote "no" on that patchwork piece of dog offal, going here is a good start.)