Tim Skubick: Gov. Snyder's road funding proposal points up inconsistency in GOP tax philosophy

What the governor says makes a lot of sense as he tries to urge a decidedly unenthusiastic citizenry and legislature into supporting his gargantuan effort to pump $1.2 billion into road and infrastructure repairs.

?The more you drive, the more you pay.?

Put another way, if you don?t drive, you don?t pay one thin dime.

If you drive, you will pay more depending on the miles you log each year.

That certainly sounds fair.

Wait till the Democrats wake up to what marker the governor has just laid down.

Anybody heard about the graduated income tax?

For decades Democrats have foamed at the mouth over the prospects of ditching Michigan?s one-rate-fits-all income tax system. Those dragging down one hundred mil a year pay the same rate as the slug making $15,000.

That certainly sounds unfair, those Democrats would argue. Yet efforts to adopt a tax system that says, ?the more you earn, the more you pay? has never moved an inch, thanks to Republicans who would rather slit their throats than adopt such a proposal. A recent survey shows 63 percent of the citizens think the R's are dead wrong.

So here?s the governor applying the same philosophy to the roads. How can he ignore the same ?fairness? concept when it comes to taxes: as your income raises, your taxes go right along.

State budget director John Nixon was unwillingly dragged into this debate the other day. ?I didn?t come here to talk about the graduated income tax,? he protested when grilled on the issue on the Off the Record broadcast.

First he suggested he knew very little about it, but come to find out he presided over a similar system in Utah from whence he came. So it wasn?t that the Phi Beta Phi guy was ignorant; he just didn?t want to wade into the scrum.

Finally, after some mumbling and fumbling, he confided that the graduated tax would not be his first option for revamping the state tax system. Chances are his boss the governor feels the same way.

Apparently it is OK for motorists driving 30,000 miles a year to pay more than the one at 5,000, and if the same driver with a salary 10 times the other guy still pays the same income tax rate.

What?s the saying about wanting it both ways?

Watch "Off the Record with Tim Skubick" online anytime at video.wkar.org .

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/michigan-news/~3/wN0cYbrtOnM/tim_skubick_road_funding_pay_t.html

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