TAX NEWS - JUNE 2010

Michigan Tax: Tea Party strength in Michigan recalls Tisch era

by Ron Dzwonkowski, 02 June 2010 -- Given the still-sorry state of the Michigan economy and an unemployment rate that just dropped to 14%, it's not too surprising to see that the Tea Party movement has a solid base in the state. A lot of people are hurting, unhappy and worried — a perfect climate for alternative political movements to take hold. It's happened in Michigan before during hard times.

A new poll by EPIC-MRA of Lansing shows 40% of Michigan voters support the "Tea Party movement" based on what they know of it, although only 17% say it "best reflects their views." That could mean that a lot of state voters are looking for something to shake up a political establishment that, frankly, has not served Michigan well during this period of wrenching economic transition.

The great unknown is how support for Tea Party ideas will play out in this year's elections, particularly Republican primaries. Since the Tea Party doesn't have a slate of candidates, will its backers and sympathizers just stay home or cast their votes for the candidates with the most conservative, even Libertarian, views?

The poll, conducted for the Free Press, WXYZ-TV, WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, WJRT-TV in Flint and WILX-TV in Lansing, found the Tea Party appealing mostly to Republican voters, with three-fourths of them saying they liked its ideas, compared with 65% of Democrats saying they oppose to the Tea Party. The Tea Party is essentially a protest movement started in 2009 after Congress passed the $787-billion economic stimulus legislation. Its loose-knit ranks swelled further after Democrats rammed through President Barack Obama's health care reforms. Named for the 1773 "Boston tea party" protest of American colonists against British taxation, the growing movement generally supports limited government and less taxes.

In Michigan, the Tea Party support is reminiscent of the late 1970s-early '80s enthusiasm for radical tax cutting plans advocated by Robert Tisch, a previously unknown drain commissioner from Shiawassee County whose 6-foot-6 frame, booming voice and folksy manner attracted tens of thousands of followers. At a time of high unemployment, a near-meltdown of the state budget and pitched battles in Lansing over taxes and spending (sound familiar?) Tisch had great grass-roots appeal.

He also scared the hell out of the Lansing political establishment, which reluctantly backed the 1978 Headlee Tax Limitation Amendment as a more reasonable alternative to a drastic Tisch tax-cutting plan that was on the same year's ballot.

Tisch came back in 1980 with another tax-cut proposal that voters also defeated. He then ran for governor himself in 1982, collecting 80,000 votes in the year that Democrat James Blanchard defeated Richard Headlee, author of the aforementioned amendment, 1.6 million to 1.4 million.

If nothing else, Tisch, who died in 1997, was a catalyst for action. Fear is a great motivator. Although the Tea Party won't have a ballot proposal to hang over Lansing's head, perhaps its backers will play a similar role in Michigan politics this year — that of a force to be reckoned with, or ignored at political peril.