The last installment of Roger Bucholtz articles
Why? Is it that we can’t chew gum and walk at the same time? Waiting to address tax reform until we have state spending under control is like not looking for a job until we had a family budget. One issue does not depend on the other. While the issue of how state revenues are being spent needs to be addressed, so does how state revenue is raised. The MI FairTax raises revenue by a means that is the least harmful to the economy relative to all other methods of taxation. The visibility of citizens’ true tax burden on every sales receipt will focus the attention of the public on state spending and facilitate spending reforms. The constitutionally limited spending under the MI FairTax will help to assure spending reforms stay in place, whereas only the “spending restraints” of the legislature “control” spending today… and just how is that working out for us?
Michigan residents need jobs NOW and the removal of state taxes and tax compliance costs from the price of Michigan goods and services via the MI FairTax will make Michigan labor and business more competitive. There is no reason Michiganians must endure needless unemployment while work on budget controls continues.
Michigan’s current woes are precisely the reasons why Michigan should lead the nation by adopting the MI FairTax. Many other states including Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Wyoming, and Nevada all use sales tax as their primary source of revenue to pay for state services. All of their economies are doing substantially better than Michigan. In fact, some of those states are the most competitive and economically strongest in the nation.
Roger Buchholtz
MI FairTax President (volunteer)
