>This (arts grant checkoff on MI 1040) is a good idea.< Yes, I can see where liberals who can’t tie their shoes without government involvement would approve. Because lord knows, without help from Big Mother they could never figure out anything so complicated as how to write a check to a non-profit arts institution.
Re. "Thanks to the fiscal irresponsibility of the short-sighted selfish Republicans in Washington, we have tough economic times here in Michigan."
Well, they are fiscally irresponsible in DC, for sure. But, those pesky facts undermine the rest of this claim. Nationally, 3.7 million net new jobs were added during the past two years, there have been 26 consecutive months of MANUFACTURING sector expansion, real GDP has been rising at 4 percent, and wages and salaries up 7 percent from last year.
Meanwhile, in Michigan, unemployment stuck at 7 percent - 2 points above the national average. We were the only state to lose jobs last year, and at midyear 2005 employment is down 31,000 jobs from a year ago. Per-capita personal income was 3 percent below the national average in 2004.
Hmmm - do I sense a little cognitive dissonance here? Gosh, maybe those punitive business taxes, fees, and increasing regulations really are important to potential employers, who take one look at locating in Granholm's Michigan and say, "You gotta be kidding!"