Democrats acting like Republicans by ignoring fiscal responsibility

Democrats in Lansing have been in control for two weeks and they’re already acting like Republicans with the state’s wallet.

They’re promoting tax cuts with no hint how they’re raising the money to plug the holes they’re punching into the state budget. It’s certainly a switch in roles.

We’re used to seeing Republicans (read Kevin Rinke or Tudor Dixon) throw around monster tax cuts that would bankrupt the state in time. We’ve almost been conditioned to think such big talk is normal.

So, here come the Democrats. They’re not suggesting the income tax be killed, although if nothing is done to a certain law, that will happen. (More on that later.)

The Democrats are looking at giving money back to working-class families and seniors. 

One proposal raises the Earned Income Tax Credit for roughly 800,000 working-class families at an annual cost of $336.4 million based on one estimate.

The other allows seniors to write off certain retirement income off their income taxes. That’s another $442.8 million.

All the while, the D’s are staying mum on the prospect of an income tax cut that will happen unless the law is changed. Back in 2015, the Republicans — desperately looking for political cover after raising the gas tax — created a complicated legal trigger that automatically lowers the state’s 4.25% to a lower amount if X, Y and Z happened, starting in 2023.

Well, X, Y and Z have happened. And it’s 2023. 

The House and Senate fiscal agencies are projecting the rate is going to fall to 4.05%. That’s another $600 million hole in the bucket if the Dems don’t do anything about it.

Add all of these numbers up and we’re talking about $1.4 billion in revenue going *poof* in tax cuts with nothing on the table to make that money up.

Sure, Michigan has an unprecedented $9.2 billion surplus. That’s an enormous life preserver. That’ll keep the ship from sinking for a few years.

When that’s gone? It’s still early, but for now … who knows?

Risk political backlash and freeze this income tax trigger? Senate Democrats lost the majority in 1984 when they voted to raise income taxes.

Raise the corporate income tax? Seems the most likely answer.

Nothing? That’s possible, too.

It’s a huge shift from the party that prided itself on fiscal responsibility over the last several years.

Remember when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proposed her 45-cent gas-tax increase? Four years ago, Whitmer said to fix the damn roads from here on out, we’d all need to find another $5-$9 per fill-up somewhere in our wallets.

She pitched the idea on the argument that it was fiscally responsible.

Let’s go back to a year ago to when Whitmer vetoed two large tax-cut packages from Republicans on the idea that neither was negotiated, and both were fiscally irresponsible.

In her veto letter to HB 4568, a monster $2.6 billion permanent tax, Whitmer said she had a plan that balanced the state’s budget while protecting the investments of “shared priorities like getting our kids back on track, funding local police and fixing our crumbling roads and bridges.”

She can put more money into K-12 education, police funding and infrastructure with $9.2 billion sitting on the balance sheet.

Meanwhile, the Democrats can tactically cut off the Republicans at their own game. The Democrats are forcing the R’s to either swallow their tax cut ideas or claim the tax cuts are not fiscally irresponsible. That would be a rich role reversal. 

Force the Republicans to act like Democrats!

Sticking with unfunded tax cuts comes with a lot of political advantages. Whitmer and the Democrats can blow through $9.2 billion to pay for the tax cuts. 

By that time all the money is gone, Whitmer will be out of office. She’ll be able to claim on the national stage that she cut taxes and increased spending for kids, cops and roads. Kinda like John Engler did.

Then, the Democratic governor will leave future Legislatures and governor to balance the budgets … again, kinda like Engler, a Republican, did.