Why voters should be offended by Proposal 1

Why voters should be offended by Proposal 1
The most offensive aspect of Proposal 1 isn't the enormity of the tax increases proposed.
Certainly, the tax hikes are steep enough to upset voters who feel they pay enough already.
The sales tax, gas tax and vehicle tax hikes combined would take an additional $2 billion every year, making Proposal 1 the largest tax increase in Michigan since the state income tax was introduced in 1967.
But it's not the hundreds of dollars in additional taxes that voters would pay each year that inspires such bitter opposition to Proposal 1.
Nor is it the hodgepodge of unrelated spending and regulations thrown into a proposal supposedly for road repair.
Voters should be deeply offended by the scare tactics employed by the forces supporting Proposal 1, telling us that anyone — even children — might be injured or killed by flying concrete any day now unless we pass these tax hikes.
Any lawmaker who sincerely believes that has a moral obligation to do everything possible to support every alternative and ensure that one way or another, roads will be funded.
Neither our roads nor the people on them are anyone's political hostages.
And anyone who sincerely believes our road conditions are a life-threatening emergency should find it outrageous that Proposal 1, according to the House Fiscal Agency, puts only $368 million to road repairs the first year, out of $2 billion in new tax money..."