Jack Lessenberry writes in Metro Times that Gov. Rick Snyder's most obvious allies have turned on him when it comes to raising taxes to try and fix Michigan roads.
He writes that the Chamber of Commerce decided to stay neutral when it comes to the May 5 ballot issue to raise sales tax to help repair Michigan's pathetic roads.
He writes that a lot of Republican lawmakers refused to vote to help raise taxes for the roads " including Jase Bolger, the beefy, not-overly-brilliant outgoing Speaker of the House."
He flatly refused to even allow a vote on raising taxes for the roads. (Word on the street is that he either has pipe dreams of being governor, or at least of getting money somehow for doing the bidding of Amway heir Dick DeVos.)
Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette has also refused to back the May 5 ballot issue.
Of the Chamber, Lessenberry writes:
Last week was a bad one for our poor old "relentless positive action" governor, Rick Snyder. First, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce refused to help him out, even though Snyder has been a towel boy for their interests since the moment he took over as governor, more than four years ago.
Why, the very first thing he did was ram through a massive tax cut for business, doing so in part by shortchanging schools and eliminating most of a tax cut for the working poor.
Now, his top priority is a May 5 ballot proposal that would raise the sales tax to fix the crumbling roads. You'd think businesses would be solidly behind this.
After all, they need better roads, too, and raising the sales tax means the poor pay more than their fair share. Even if there are some things the Michigan Chamber doesn't like about this proposal (hint: It also helps education and local government), you'd think they'd owe the governor a vote of support.
Ho-ho. In politics, gratitude is a word in the dictionary. They wouldn't have dared to do this to John Engler, who knew how to reward friends and punish enemies. But Snyder had little clout to begin with, and now has almost none.
He's a lame duck, he can't run for re-election, and there's not much risk in antagonizing him. So the Michigan Chamber is officially staying neutral on the road tax bill, and won't put up a penny to help it pass. This is rather astounding, given that Snyder has bent over to give business whatever it wanted:
Tax relief, right-to-work. All this was supposed to lead to the creation of a vast number of new, good-paying jobs, plus Michigan apple pie a la mode in the sky.
Lessenberry says Snyder is committed to fixing the roads. He writes:
But unlike much of the legislature and the entire tea party, he is rational, not certifiably crazy. He knows we need decent roads if we're going to attract any new business, and hold on to what we have. He knows that the serfs as well as the bosses need a way to get to their crummy jobs, too, and that our ruined roads are tearing both Mercedes and their jalopies apart.
Lessenberry writes this about Bill Schuette:
And if that weren't enough, Attorney General Bill Schuette, perhaps the least admirable politician in Lansing, has galloped down to shoot the wounded.
Normally attorneys general don't comment on issues outside their field of expertise, meaning (ahem) the law. Much less publicly embarrass a governor of the same party.
But Schuette stabbed his fellow Republican Snyder in the back, claiming Proposal 1 "has a lot of potholes and pitfalls," and said he would vote against it. What he's doing, of course, is the same thing he's been doing in the same-sex marriage case: Sucking up to the tea party and the far right.
