In the midst of a stifling budget crisis, the Michigan House of Representatives has put forth a proposal to increase the state’s income tax as much as 0.7 percent.
It’s a desperate move, and not the right one.
Increasing taxes will not solve budget crisis
That’s really kicking the people when they’re already down, especially with the current economy as poor as it is.
Legislators are trying to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1.
This is the conclusion that is left after months of procrastination and stubbornness.
The response by a government should not be to tax its citizens.
Some of the other ideas that have come up in the last year are to give every student an iPod and to make English the official language.
This isn’t helping.
Republicans have staunchly refused to advocate tax hikes, while Democrats have equally refused to cut government programs.
Both parties have the right idea. They are looking out for the voters that put them in office.
But this has now gotten past the point of partisan politics.
Both sides have to loosen their stances and work together to solve this problem.
Democrats need to be willing to look at cutting some unnecessary programs.
Republicans need to look at raising some taxes.
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At the same time, if they plan on dissenting, they need to come up with counterproposals to help lower the state budget.
This isn’t the fault of one party as much as it is the fault of the politicians representing us.
They should look at some of the proposals that came up in the past.
A popular idea is to allow bars to stay open later, stretching closing time an extra two hours from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m.
The move would make more money for local communities, which in turn would find its way to the state.
It is inventive ideas such as this that will remedy or alleviate the budget crisis.
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Shutting down the government will not solve anything.
Neither will violating the state constitution and running past deadline.
And how are lawmakers punished?
After all, they are the ones who create the laws that govern us.
So what happens if they do violate the state constitution once the government shuts down?
Voters are the key in terms of holding the government accountable for its actions.
If you don’t like what is going on, maybe it’s time to put new people into office.
We need our government to come together, and put forth an intelligent solution to remedy the state’s budget crisis — and fast.
Here’s a message to the state’s politicians: Start doing the job we voted you in for; otherwise, we’ll find someone else to do it instead.
