Thursday, September 27, 2007

Pass the budget, not the buck - Part 2

State Rep. Brian Calley’s most recent column in the Hastings Banner is another reminder of what’s wrong in Lansing.

I was told by former Banner Editor David T. Young that when he was approached by newly-annointed State Representative Brian Calley about running a column that Calley assured the Banner, which previously had refused to run columns and articles from politicians because they too often were campaign propaganda, that the column would be non-partisan and stick to informing readers of what was happening in Lansing. At first, Calley stuck to his promise, but like everything else he says, that vow was issued with forked tongue and slowly but surely we see the real politician poking out from behind the gleaming white teeth and the humble, aw shucks prose of the supposedly simple man sent into the lion’s den who reports back weekly on how awful and partisan the process is- and by some coincidence it’s always the Democrats’ fault.

Calley’s newest column proceeds to convince us that the horrible state budget stalemate is the fault of House Democrats and the Democratic Governor as he compares the state budget negotiations to going out to eat with your wife and watching another married couple argue. As usual, he’s got it all wrong as he hides behind his supposedly bipartisan persona while he sticks to the party line, he says one thing but then does another.

Citing the fact that not ALL Democrats are voting for the proposed tax increases to fix an almost $2 billion structural hole in the budget, mostly caused by massive and continued tax cutting in the 90s (and then obviously made worse by the cyclical downturn in fortunes of the “Big 3” US automakers and not due to the phantom menace of high taxes since Michigan ranks in the middle of tax burden and at the very top for reliance on auto manufacturing), our State Representative informs us that the Republicans are merely innocent bystanders unable to help along the process and held victim to the bickering Democrats who don’t agree on a solution. This is not the whole truth and nothing but the truth and Calley knows it, he just doesn’t expect or want YOU to know it.

I won’t disagree with everything Calley says, but much of it is partisan spin with just enough truth to convince those not following along at home. While it’s true House Democrats haven’t supported the Governor the entire way (thank goodness one political party still believes in allowing it’s members to dissent and actually represent their constituents as opposed to
enforcing solid party discipline and marching in “lock step”... or is that goose step), the real problem is that at every turn the State Senate which is controlled by the Republican Party has refused any measure that would close the budget hole and pushed the crisis to the brink in a game of chicken. Remember that despite getting less votes across the state in the combined Senate races, the GOP ended up with control because of redistricting much like a President can gain the White House despite losing a popular vote (and yes, this is the way the system works and I use it only to point out that more voters elected to give control of the state economy to Democrats and that the state GOP should understand this in regards to their negotiating position). Senate Leader Bishop has stubbornly refused any tax increase despite the Republican Party not having enough votes to do anything but be a road block to any real compromise, Bishop has continually and doggedly done everything to stand in the way of any real solution, instead offering only meager cuts in spending to departments that have already faced year after year of cuts of increases less than that of the rate of inflation- a defacto cut by any measure.

Also remember that it is a Republican former state legislator who has threatened and organized a well-funded and coordinated recall campaign for anyone in Lansing who dares to vote with the people and patch up the gaping budget hole with the increases in revenue that will end this yearly madness of last minute budget stop gap measures and quick fixes once and for all. This recall threat and the obvious stance of the Republicans which is to try to force Democrats to push through a tax increase with ZERO support from them (an impossible task given the GOP control of the Senate) has forced 8 Democratic members of the House to refuse to vote either way without some measure of bipartisan support, but yet there is NO Republican willing to cross party lines to vote for a tax increase and so we still have no deal less than a week away from a government shutdown. Democrats rightfully smell the GOP trying to shirk their responsibility to deal with the mess and know they are going to be left holding the bag. Why should the Democrats act like the responsible adults who get stuck cleaning up the mess just so the GOP can use it as a bludgeon against them in the next election?

And so now some are calling for half measures to move the goalposts and put off the big decisions for another day- something which the Governor has said she will not allow. While some in Lansing are trying to do the right thing and face up to their responsibility, our State Rep. Brian Calley takes the tough stand and declares his support for.... more of the same. How disappointing and yet how predictable, and the whole reason we're in this mess.

In his tenure in Lansing, Calley has become a pro of coming to town and donning some “dungarees” and fresh-out-of-the-box sneaker and walking among us common folk, shaking hands & kissing babies and telling us what we want to hear. He writes his weekly column as if he were Jimmy Stewart, aghast at the awful partisianship in Lansing while he votes straight party line and does everything he can to ingratiate himself to leadership to further his attempts to move up the ladder and take the next step to State Senate. If you hate career
politicians then you might want to know that Calley has said to confidants that he never wishes to go back into banking and has made it known his eyes are on the prize- a cushy seat in the State Senate which is surely no more than another stop along to bigger and better things and many more years making a nice living from the government his philosophy constantly demeans and diminishes.

Where Calley’s dishonesty becomes most apparent is his lack of acknowledgement of the role the state GOP has played in all of this. Even IF House Democrats ALL voted for a tax increase would Senate Majority Leader Bishop allow ANY Republicans in the Senate to vote with Democrats and pass a tax increase? If you think so I've got a bridge across the Straights of Mackinac to sell you. Democrats only control 2/3rds of the process and without ANY Republicans willing to muster the fortitude and political courage to pass the solution the people of Michigan understand is needed then NOTHING gets done. So, instead of blaming the Governor and the House Democrats, maybe Calley should have used the time he took to write his partisan screed this week and called up Mr. Bishop and told him to quit standing in the way of a solution.

As long as the Republicans in Lansing are in the majority in the Senate they can effectively block any budget deal so to blame Democrats for the lack of a deal is not wrong, it’s a blatant lie and I’m calling Calley out on it. Instead of blaming the people who’ve proposed as REAL solution to our problem how about Mr. Calley remember all his talk of bipartianship and
actually follow his own suggestion. Instead of offering partisan spin, Mr. Calley should offer the cold hard truth to his constituents even if it hurts his obvious career ambitions. All of us get up and go to work and do our jobs without complaining, maybe it’s time for our highly paid “welfare cases” in Lansing do the same... or maybe next time they come to us asking for our votes we’ll tell them they’ve taken enough of our money and done too little to earn another paycheck. Maybe instead of whining about how mean-spirited and partisan everything in Lansing is, our State Rep. should stand up and cross party lines and do what’s right.

Brian Calley comes to town and says he’s for your local domestic violence shelter, more funding of mental health treatment, and whatever else he thinks you want to hear but then he goes to Lansing and votes party line in favor of a rabid right wing agenda of tax cutting government down to the size it can be drowned in a bath tub until our schools are failing and bridges are falling down. I wouldn’t mind Mr. Calley being such an anti-tax idealogue, I just wish he wouldn’t lie about it. I also wish he and his cohorts would do their ONLY constitutionally-mandated job and PASS A BUDGET instead of putting it off for another day. When it comes to fixing the budget mess, there's no better time than right NOW!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Pass the budget, not the buck

President Harry Truman is known for the sign he placed atop his desk in the Oval Office, reminding everyone that "The Buck Stops Here." If only the politicians in Lansing were as willing to take responsibility...

An October 1 deadline draws near. By that date the Michigan House and Senate will have needed to pass the state budget with the signature of the Governor or the state faces a government shut down. The Attorney General has decreed that absolutely no money can be spent without a balanced budget signed into law. As of now the state is almost $2 billion short of making ends meet. Lansing, so far, has yet to deal with the situation and mostly what we've seen so far has been grandstanding and theatre, more of the same.

The Republican-controlled Senate has time and time again insisted that the state's budget should be balanced through spending cuts and have rejected several plans and compromises to deal with the budget shortfall through revenue increases. A last desperate measure by Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop to pass the buck and make the voters decide was foiled last week, and so here we are, right where we were so many months ago when I last commented on the situation. Frankly, I'd put off saying anything else, assuming that the "paid professionals" in Lansing would finally come to some resolution. Especially since the best solution has been sitting on the table for quite some time.

In a previous post here, I called for the legislature to roll back a small portion of the Engler income tax cuts for at least a temporary period of time. Since then many others have come out in favor of the same method for putting our state budget back in the black. Other plans have been floated but none is as elegant or as easily wiped away, should more prosperous times return. Raising the sales tax or adding a new service tax were both equally flawed solutions and harder to do away with.

Though, to be honest I doubt any tax increase will be temporary. Michigan's financial situation is not just a product of "lean times" or a temporary manufacturing downturn as much as it is a product of continued and excessive rounds of revenue cuts as part of a deliberate "starve the beast" mentality among right wing conservatives in the state and the result of the lust for globalization among the country's rich elite who lobby Congress for trade deals that cut the American worker off at the knees and move production to foreign countries, robbing us of our ability to pay our mortgages or our taxes.

Michigan's attempts to to transform itself from an auto manufacturing state to whatever comes next won't be quick or easy, but it also cannot be done without an investment in education and infrastructure. Both have been slowly rotting away as the people have been sold the snake oil of lower taxes and smaller government which come at "no cost" much like those "no interest" and "no money down" home loans. Those little tax refund checks sure feel good but they don't last. Meanwhile, the state is failing to educate it's workforce and it's citizens while the roads and schools crumble. It's time to quit passing the buck and deal with the mess we've created.

Some would say that it's foolish to expect that common sense will rule and that people will see how the "feel good now" tax cuts of the past created this mess and that it's time to own up to our collective responsibilities. Then again, outside of a small and timid group of corporate puppets and timid bureaucrats in Lansing, most people I talk to seem to understand the need to own up to our responsibility to properly fund schools, roads, health care, etc. But yet, the interest groups are already threatening to recall politicians who vote for tax increases, and timid politicians who cling to their cushy jobs and look to take the next step up the ladder of sucking on the public teat are feeling the heat. So, it's fair to ask if we expect politicians to make the tough and correct choices, isn't it time for the voters to do so as well?

For too long citizens have returned to office the very politicians who traded the milk cow of American industry for the magic beans of a Flat Earth. We've voted the guys who offered prosperity without cost and glory without sacrifice. I have no doubt that whatever form the final budget takes in Lansing, there will have to be some form of increased revenue (even the Senate conceded as much when it offered only a meager package of cuts which fall far short of the $2 billion needed). When the time comes, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth as anti-tax, anti-government special interests threaten recall and primary challenges. We can only hope that our elected representatives belly up and do what's right. But when our time comes will we support the ones who were responsible and wise or will we once again support the short term solutions and the easy answers?

I ask the lawmakers in Lansing to do what's right and pass the budget, then I ask for the voters of Michigan to support them when they show courage and make them accountable if and when they pass the buck.