Snyder house rules: The massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich continues

from the Metro Times:




Snyder house rules
The massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich continues

By Jack Lessenberry
Published: May 18, 2011


Well, Governor Rick Snyder pulled it off. He got the Legislature to enact his massive tax cut for business and slap a tax on future pension income. This will be paid for — in part — by shortchanging education at all levels, from elementary to graduate school.

Film industry tax credits are out the window, as are breaks for cleaning up brownfields. This follows earlier legislation making it easier to appoint emergency financial managers, and giving them broad new powers. Public employees, especially teachers, are bound to see their benefits cut as well. All this has people in a tizzy.

Most of the business community is ecstatically happy. Most of those who care about education and the poor — or those who are part of those communities themselves — are apoplectic.

You can hardly blame them. If this state has any future, it lies not only in attracting new jobs; it is having a better-educated workforce. On top of that, the Snyder house rules continue an ominous trend in America that began with Ronald Reagan: the massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. State Rep. Maureen Stapleton of Detroit put it eloquently. With Michigan struggling to recover from the long recession, "Snyder and the Legislature threaten to derail it by ramming though the largest redistribution of wealth in our state's history." ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://metrotimes.com/columns/snyder-house-rules-1.1148129

And I can't believe anyone is stupid enough to think what is happening is a good idea. Snyder & Co.'s actions are the epitome of short-sightedness.


Julie