Mid-Day Musings (092107)

The State of Michigan approaches a budget deadline with as-expected priorities:

Michigan House members began voting on another proposal to raise the state’s income tax last night, an effort to resolve a budget crisis projected for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

The proposal would raise the state’s income tax from 3.9 percent to 4.6 percent.

Other votes possibly could include extending the sales tax to some services. Some spending cuts also may be voted on.

The “spending cuts” always come last, if at all. Never forget that “spending cuts” are almost always really “reductions in planned increases from last year.”

The last thing Jennifer Granholm needs to do is chase more businesses and higher-income people out of Michigan by raising the state’s highest income-tax bracket by 18% (0.7% increase divided by 3.9%).

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Amanda Carpenter believes that a government shutdown looms.

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Return of the Conservatives (HT NixGuy) noticed that both Ohio Senators voted to allow the District of Columbia a House Seat. The bill, thankfully, failed. The bill was unconsitutional anyway, because DC is not a state, and only states can have congresscritters. These simple concepts are not understood by Sens. Voinovich and Brown.

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This is Rather Ridiculous –

After the controversy erupted, CBS appointed a commission, led by former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, to investigate. According to Rather, it was all a sham. “CBS announced that it was conducting a thorough independent investigation into the underlying story of the broadcast and its production,” the lawsuit alleges, “when in fact its intention was to conduct a biased investigation with controlled timing and predetermined conclusions in order to prevent further information concerning Bush’s Texas Air National Guard service from being uncovered.”

Art Bell in his worst moments wouldn’t give Dan’s dramatics the time of day.

Update — “Rather: Government Influencing Newsrooms“:

Dan Rather said Thursday that the undue influence of the government and large corporations over newsrooms spurred his decision to file a $70 million lawsuit against CBS and its former parent company.

Why, just the other day I was marveling at how the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, NBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, Fox, and CNN are constantly parroting the Bush Administration line with rare exception, and how they’re always lavishing praise on big businesses and the noble people who run them. (/sarc)

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Transit ideas like this one sound nice, until you see the price tag. Then it’s sic transit pecunia.