State of Michigan Archives: on Tax Reform

Mike Parson: For lower taxes, but online retailers hurt local business

Bill Schuette: Cut taxes and make Michigan a growth state

Bill Schuette (R): Yes. "I will cut taxes like @POTUS did nationally and make Michigan a growth state." Reduce MI taxes from 4.25% to 3.9%.

Gretchen Whitmer (D): No. Trump cuts help millionaires & billionaires, not families just trying to get by." Repeal retirement tax. Increase state user fees to pay for infrastructure.

Gretchen Whitmer: Trump tax cuts help only millionaires & billionaires

Bill Schuette (R): Yes. "I will cut taxes like @POTUS did nationally and make Michigan a growth state." Reduce MI taxes from 4.25% to 3.9%.

Gretchen Whitmer (D): No. Trump cuts help millionaires & billionaires, not families just trying to get by." Repeal retirement tax. Increase state user fees to pay for infrastructure.

Bill Schuette: Signed pledge to oppose any tax increase

Abdul El-Sayed: Limit tax foreclosures for over-assessed Detroit properties

"Some people in Detroit are paying more than the value of their home every year in taxes," El-Sayed said. "If that happened in the suburbs, people would be up in arms." El-Sayed's plan builds in a review of every tax foreclosure for over-assessment. Any finding of over-assessment at any point would lead to automatic enrollment in a discounted state repayment plan. Money from the state's Hardest Hit Fund could assist county governments with the review. El-Sayed would also streamline the process for a poverty exemption, which would no longer have to be handled in person.

John James: Trump's tax reform will aid working families & entrepreneurs

Bob Young: Taxes need to be made simpler and flatter

A: We need to do something about taxes. I just did a tour of northern Michigan businesses. I was talking to a dairy farmer up there & I said, "I went to Harvard law school, I've been on the supreme court for 18 years and I don't think I can do my taxes I have a professional do it." And he said "My tax return last year was 94 pages." This is a dairy farmer. We need a flat tax, we need something that you don't have to be a tax attorney to do, and it's fair."

Marcia Squier: Wealthiest get wealthier via tax loopholes

A: Strongly support. The middle class is disappearing and the lower class is growing astronomically, while the wealthiest become even wealthier, using tax loopholes and other means to continue this rift.

Jack Bergman: Simplify and lower tax rates for everyone

Due to our policies regarding taxes, energy, and trade, it is more expensive to do business in the United States than in many of our largest trading partners. This must change. We should support American work, not tax it.

Brenda Lawrence: I believe in a progressive tax

Brenda Lawrence: I believe in a progressive tax. I think we should not be taxing anyone living below the poverty line. Also, I think we should raise the amount allowed for deductions for children and dependents.

Marcia Squier (Green Party): Several things need to be done to make the tax code fairer. For example, exported goods should be tax exempt, but imported goods should always be taxed. This will discourage corporations from shipping jobs overseas and encourage job creation and retention here at home. I also believe that corporate tax loopholes should be closed, large corporations should be paying the most in taxes. Small businesses should receive tax exemptions and government grants for creating a sustainable, vibrant "Main Street". These same rules should be applied to people as well. The highest earners should pay the highest taxes, while the other 90% should receive tax exemptions and incentives.

Marcia Squier: Highest earners should pay the highest taxes

Marcia Squier: I think that several things need to be done to make the U.S. tax code fairer. For example, exported goods should be tax exempt, but imported goods should always be taxed. This will discourage corporations from shipping jobs overseas and encourage job creation and retention here at home. I also believe that corporate tax loopholes should be closed, large corporations should be paying the most in taxes. Small businesses should receive tax exemptions and government grants for creating a sustainable, vibrant "Main Street". These same rules should be applied to people as well. The highest earners should pay the highest taxes, while the other 90% should receive tax exemptions and incentives.

Rep. Brenda Lawrence (Dem.): I believe in a progressive tax. I think we should not be taxing anyone living below the poverty line. Also, I think we should raise the amount allowed for deductions for children.

Dave Trott: Reduce regulations & update the cumbersome tax code

Mike Bishop: Put forth more than $1 billion in cuts in Michigan

Gary Peters: Middle class bears burden of unfair tax code

Gary supports legislation to institute the "Buffett Rule," which would require millionaires and billionaires to pay at least the same tax rate as middle class families.

Huge multinational corporations with expensive lobbyists shouldn't be able to game the system. That's why Gary cosponsored the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act: a bill to make sure corporations can't exploit unfair loopholes to avoid paying their taxes. Gary knows we need a responsible approach to cutting wasteful spending,

Rick Snyder: Simplify the tax code; end job-killing Business Tax

Jack Hoogendyk: Lower corporate taxes; keep tax cuts; end death tax

• I support making current tax cuts permanent. Taxes are too high.
• Corporate tax rates need to be lowered to provide more incentive for corporations at home and abroad to invest in the United States.
• I support the permanent elimination of the death tax.

Duncan Hunter: Sponsored FairTax proposal

HUCKABEE: Nothing’s going to discourage Americans from spending money! No, the FairTax does something that is absolutely phenomenal for the economy. It untaxes productivity. It untaxes those things which we export.

HUNTER: I’m a sponsor of the FairTax.

Fred Thompson: Phase out the AMT; lower taxes grow the economy

A: Well, in the first place, I don’t buy the concept that any reduction in taxes is lost revenue to the government. The taxpayers haven’t lost it. It’s in their pocket. We shouldn’t confuse the wealth of government with the wealth of nations. As you pointed out, the AMT was designed to target the rich guy. And when the Democrats start targeting the rich guy, if you’re a middle-class guy you ought to run because you’re going to get hit. We’re going to have to look at this as part of a total picture. Generally speaking, lower tax rates grow the economy. It’s been proven in the ‘20s, it was proven during the Kennedy administration, proven during the Reagan administration and again during this administration. I would apply that same principle to the AMT. It ought to be phased out.

John McCain: Tax system is fair; wealthy pay bulk of taxes

A: Everybody’s paying taxes, and wealth creates wealth. A vibrant economy creates wealth. Revenues are at an all-time high.

Q: So you’re saying the system is fair?

A: Sure it’s fair. The bulk of the taxes are paid by wealthy people. Should we reform our tax code? Absolutely we should fix our tax code, and we should fix it immediately.

Mike Huckabee: FairTax untaxes productivity & things which we export

HUCKABEE: Nothing’s going to discourage Americans from spending money! No, the FairTax does something that is absolutely phenomenal for the economy. It untaxes productivity. It untaxes those things which we export.

HUNTER: I’m a sponsor of the FairTax.

Tom Tancredo: Takes the oath: no tax increase

A: Absolutely. I’ll take the oath. The fact is this, that when we talk about spending cuts, we have to think about what exactly it is that pushes spending at the federal level, which is mandatory spending. If you want to control federal spending, you must look at Social Security and Medicare.

Mike Bouchard: Prioritize our spending and hold ourselves accountable

Mike Bouchard: Growth in government stunts economic growth

Mike Bouchard: Make the Bush tax cuts permanent

Some have argued that such tax cuts are responsible for the current federal deficit and have benefited only the very wealthy. In fact, federal revenues have grown from about $2 trillion in 2001 to about $2.3 trillion. At the same time, federal spending has increased from about $1.9 trillion to around $2.7 trillion. The problem isn’t too little revenue, in my view, but too much spending. As President Kennedy once observed in defense of his own tax cuts, “a rising tide lifts all boats.” The same was true for the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.

Bret McAtee: Current confiscatory tax policy is unconstitutional

John Engler: Exempt new high-tech sectors from state business tax

So I propose a Next Michigan action plan to encourage these new companies to make our state their home. Let’s put out the welcome mat and exempt them from Michigan’s state business tax.

John Engler: Has cut and will continue to cut personal & business tax

John Engler: Strengthen Taxpayer Bill of Rights

George W. Bush: People should not pay more in taxes than they do for food

Mike Bishop: Supports flat tax; opposes internet sales tax

A: No.

Q: Do you support a flat tax structure for state income taxes?

A: Yes.

Q: Would you support returning any operating surplus to Michigan taxpayers?

A: Yes.

Q:

George W. Bush: Leaving money in Washington means bigger budget spending

BUSH: I have a plan that takes $2 trillion over the next 10 years & dedicates it to Social Security. My plan has been called risky by voices out of Washington. In my judgment what’s risky is to leave a lot of unspent money in Washington, because guess what’s going to happen. It’s going to be spent on bigger federal governments.

McCAIN: Your tax plan over the next five years not only spends all of the surplus, it spends $20 billion in addition to that. But this idea that somehow if the money is left. -- you don’t understand the role of the president. The president of the US will veto bills that spend too much. I’ll veto bills that force Congress to spend less. That’s what’s being president is all about.

George W. Bush: 1997 no-tax pledge: judge results, despite breaking pledge

BUSH: I led my state, in 1997, to the largest tax cut in Texas history. I laid out a plan that cut $1 billion of property taxes.. I am a tax-cutting person.

FORBES: There was a lot of hedging about this pledge. The pledge was made in 1994. I have a copy of it here, promising not to raise the sales tax or to propose any kind of income tax. When he proposed this bill in 1997 it did have provisions in there for tax increases including increasing a sales tax. Pledges should not be lightly made and a pledge is a promise. Bush’s own staff admits that he broke the pledge. In 1998, I supported you & I would have voted for you. But you did break that pledge.

BUSH: [People] need to look at the results. That’s what’s important. The results are people from all walks of life received a substantial tax cut under me as the governor of Texas.

George W. Bush: Cut top tax rate to 33% while cutting lower income taxes too

McCAIN: I have never engaged in class warfare. [But] there’s a growing gap between the have’s and have-not’s in America and that gap is growing and it’s, unfortunately, divided up along ethnic lines. We ought to cut middle-income and lower-income taxes. But I’m not sure we need to give two-thirds of that tax cut [money] to the wealthiest 10% of America.

BUSH: I believe everybody ought to get a tax cut. I believe it’s important to cut the top rates. I think it’s important to drop the 39.6% [top tax rate] to 33%. I also know it’s important to make sure people who are on the outskirts of poverty get a tax cut as well. And my plan does both.

George W. Bush: “A tax-cutting person” in TX, would do same for US

John McCain: Tax cuts should go to middle- & lower-income people

McCAIN: I have never engaged in class warfare. [But] there’s a growing gap between the have’s and have-not’s in America and that gap is growing and it’s, unfortunately, divided up along ethnic lines. We ought to cut middle-income and lower-income taxes. But I’m not sure we need to give two-thirds of that tax cut [money] to the wealthiest 10% of America.

BUSH: I believe everybody ought to get a tax cut. I believe it’s important to cut the top rates. I think it’s important to drop the 39.6% [top tax rate] to 33%. I also know it’s important to make sure people who are on the outskirts of poverty get a tax cut as well. And my plan does both.

John McCain: Leaving money in Washington means President vetoes spending

BUSH: I have a plan that takes $2 trillion over the next 10 years & dedicates it to Social Security. My plan has been called risky by voices out of Washington. In my judgment what’s risky is to leave a lot of unspent money in Washington, because guess what’s going to happen. It’s going to be spent on bigger federal governments.

McCAIN: Your tax plan over the next five years not only spends all of the surplus, it spends $20 billion in addition to that. But this idea that somehow if the money is left. -- you don’t understand the role of the president. The president of the US will veto bills that spend too much. I’ll veto bills that force Congress to spend less. That’s what’s being president is all about.

Orrin Hatch: Leaving money in Washington means bigger budget spending

Steve Forbes: Evidence that Bush broke 1997 no-tax pledge

BUSH: I led my state, in 1997, to the largest tax cut in Texas history. I laid out a plan that cut $1 billion of property taxes.. I am a tax-cutting person.

FORBES: There was a lot of hedging about this pledge. The pledge was made in 1994. I have a copy of it here, promising not to raise the sales tax or to propose any kind of income tax. When he proposed this bill in 1997 it did have provisions in there for tax increases including increasing a sales tax. Pledges should not be lightly made and a pledge is a promise. Bush’s own staff admits that he broke the pledge. In 1998, I supported you & I would have voted for you. But you did break that pledge.

BUSH: [People] need to look at the results. That’s what’s important. The results are people from all walks of life received a substantial tax cut under me as the governor of Texas.

Mark Schauer: Decrease corporate tax; support individual flat tax

Schauer indicated support for the following tax levels:
• Maintain Status on Alcohol taxes
• Maintain Status on Cigarette taxes
• Slightly Decrease on Corporate taxes
• Maintain Status on Gas taxes
• Slightly Decrease on Income taxes below $75,000
• Slightly Decrease on Income taxes above $75,000
• Maintain Status on Property taxes
• Maintain Status on Sales taxes
• Slightly Decrease Property taxes for seniors
• Q: Do you support a flat tax on individual incomes?
  A: Yes.