Talk politics.

Um, what's the vid about, dear?

I think some of the logic behind tax breaks are to increase investment and address MI's terrible unemployment rate. The problem with that is that state corporate tax rate breaks aren't really shown to increase investment. Most economic stimulus is worked out on the local level in the form of property tax abatement on equipment.

Wow. They really want the political world of the 1930s but the military of the 21st Century then. Dipshit A-holes'll ruin the country they keep doing this. >.<

The business/corporate tax rate is being adjusted (http://michigan.gov/documents/budget/1_345974_7.pdf), not really cut. Many businesses will see their taxes increase, while some will no longer have to file - the ones that do have to file will be businesses that cater to rich clientele or have massive profits, so there's now a significant reason for small business to come into Michigan.

Maddow also says he's targeting seniors, but it's only taxing pension income, which doesn't seem unfair. Social Security is not going to be taxed (http://news.michiganradio.org/post/state-income-tax-pensions), and the claim that the taxes are going to be increased on the poor is not true, as Snyder is only looking to halt the scheduled decreases for a time. No one, from the looks of things, will be paying more in income taxes. Not great, but Michigan's got a lot of problems thanks to Snyder's predecessors.

The kicker is the deductions, which impact everybody (http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110219/NEWS04/102190315/Deductions-targeted-under-Snyder-s-budget-plan-Michigan), not just the poor as Maddow claims/implies. Besides, many of these deductions go toward charitable donations, which poor people, generally speaking, aren't doing.

So no, Snyder is not taxing "old people and poor people and giving it away." He's looking to actually get Michigan off its death bed, and looking for everyone to buy into it.

As for the "financial emergency" thing, it's just the ability to put towns into a form of receivership. What Maddow (tellingly) doesn't inform her audience about is that certain triggers must be hit (http://www.detnews.com/article/20110310/POLITICS02/103100375/1022/local/Financial-manager-bill-passes-Michigan-Senate) to review these towns, not "when the governor says so." She can't tell you this because she's too busy demagoguing.

People really need to stop watching Rachel Maddow if they want to be informed, because this is getting ridiculous. Took me five minutes to do what her paid staff could not.

ETA: I started to post, then decided to look into it, and edited my beginning out that reflected my pre-investigation thoughts, in case you were wondering.