The right kind of change
Rusty Ward’s letter merits rebuttal from those following the race in the 51st district. He wrote, “We had over a decade of John Engler/Republican tax cutting philosophy dominating Lansing — and to what gain? Our manufacturing sector has been decimated; our unemployment is the highest in the nation, we are losing our homes, and the gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing wider day-by-day.” My problem with Mr. Ward’s analysis? It’s factually incorrect.
When Engler took over, according to the ALEC’s Rich State Poor State book released in late 2007, “Michigan’s unemployment rate was about double the national average. The state budget was $1.5 billion in deficit... Businesses were leaving the state in droves for more capital-friendly environments. Michigan had become the very symbol of American deindustrialization.”
After two-dozen tax cuts, however, Michigan’s economic situation turned around. The ALEC notes that, “In the 1990s, Michigan put 800,000 additional people in jobs...this Midwestern state that had once been the unemployment capital of the country recorded a jobless rate of just three percent, the lowest since Ford first introduced the Mustang Convertible in the mid-1960s. Michigan was no longer an industrial plant state, but rather had become a corridor for high-tech entrepreneurship.”
One estimate of the savings to Michigan residents and businesses as a result of Engler’s tax cuts totals $12 billion. Michigan even won the Governor’s Cup in 1997-98 for creating the most new plants and businesses in the nation. Gov. Engler proved that tax reductions on businesses could spark an economic revival.
The situation changed in the final years of Engler’s tenure. Excessive spending increased the deficit and his successor, Governor Jennifer Granholm, believed the way to balance the budget was to raise taxes. Gov. Granholm’s 2007 budget proposal included the largest tax increase on Michigan businesses in state history.
What should we have expected from these policies? Well, Mr. Ward might have expected a decade of prosperity to follow. But since the early 2000s, Michigan has returned to the high unemployment experienced in the 1970s and 1980s. We’re spending more on prisons than schools because we forgot that privatization works. So we’ve seen two strategies tried in the last 15 years, and we’ve seen the results. Raising taxes in the name of “equality” and saying that the cost of business doesn’t matter is a recipe for disaster.
Mr. Ward is right that we need change in Lansing. Unfortunately for him, change means rejecting his policy prescriptions. It means electing candidates who understand what policies are needed to retain our youths and to encourage business activity. I believe that Paul Scott is our candidate for this right kind of change. As he proved at the Michigan Economic Forum in March, Paul has the experience and education tailor made for a state representative. — David K. Suska, Grand Blanc

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