While we Austinites were out simply playing in our rare and minimal snowfall yesterday, some folks up north were putting their flakes to an anti-tax purpose.
Common Sense in Government, a group opposed to a possible sales tax expansion in Michigan, built more than 30 angry snowmen on the state capitol lawn to protest the move.
Michigan faces a budget shortfall of around $1.7 billion for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
To make up some of that money, Gov. Jennifer Granholm has proposed extending the state sales tax to
cover some services. In exchange, she would lower the overall sales tax rate, currently at 6 percent, by half a
percentage point.
The tax extension and hike reduction, says the Granholm Administration, would raise $500 million.
But the anti-tax group and its icy surrogates — many holding signs proclaiming "Don't raise our taxes!" and "I'm mad and I vote" (Really? Even in warm weather elections?) — are emphatically against any tax hike.
Instead, the Tea Party-affiliated group — obviously the snowmen prefer their beverages iced instead of hot — wants lawmakers to make spending cuts before extending or increasing taxes.
I'm not sure what Calvin and Hobbes think about taxes, but I suspect the precocious duo would appreciate the method used to get the message across.
Related posts:
- 10 states in big financial trouble
- State tax refund delays are now the norm
- State tax collections nosedive
- Bet on it, states are struggling
- State tax collectors ramp up enforcement
- Don't forget your state taxes!
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