County Board Increases Taxes!

On the campaign trail, Senator Barack Obama promised to cut taxes for 95% of all Americans. Now that he's President, he has obviously forgotten about all of the citizens in Macomb County because the Board of Commissioners voted to increase the millage rate by 9 per cent. I went to the board meeting along with many others who voiced their opinions one way or another. I wasn't present for the final vote, but it is sad that the Democrats are raising taxes, skyrocketing deficits, and printing money that we do not have.

I voiced my own opinion in front of the board on the issue. The first thing I mentioned was that while running for the Charter Commission last year, I wrote on my advertisement that 'I do not fear that America will become a socialist country. I fear America already is a socialist country.' I then gave a statistic that America's Gross Domestic Product (the GDP, or the size of the country's economy) shrunk by 6.1%, meaning that $1 trillion of our wealth has evaporated. I talked about how Washington and Lansing are ruining this economy with higher taxes and runaway spending, with our unemployment rates reaching levels that we haven't seen in decades. I did the best I could, but my effort, along with those of many others, came up short. The commission voted for the millage increase by a 16-10 margin. All six Republicans along with four Democrats voted against the tax hike, but 16 Democrats voted for it. It's a shame.

In these tough economic times, the last thing we can afford to do is increase taxes. All that will do is discourage the creation of jobs and wealth for all Americans. On Saturday, former NFL quar-
terback and conservative Republican Jack Kemp died of cancer. During his great political career,
Kemp was a Congressman, a former Vice Presidential running mate with Bob Dole, and a staunch
advocate of President Ronald Reagan's tax cuts in the 1980s. Those tax cuts created incredible
economic growth, increased revenues to government, and made the rich pay a greater percen-
tage of the tax burden. Although it's been only three days since Kemp's passing, he's already
turning over in his grave as the Democrats have ruined this economy. We need to stop the bleeding now before it's too late.

G.J. LaRouche, 5 May 2009