Susan Demas not only takes a shot at Macomb County and Rep. Pete Lund in her new column, she also takes aim at Leon Drolet, the tax fighter from Macomb Township.
Demas, a political analyst who writes for the MIRS newsletter in Lansing, points out that the Snyder budget raises taxes on future retirees and the poor, cuts the property tax credit for some homeowners, and eliminates the rollback of the dreaded Jennifer Granholm income tax hike of 2007.
Given that laundry list, Demas wonders why the Tea Party is supporting the Snyder budget.
“I couldn’t figure out why they weren’t up in arms,” she writes. “So a few weeks ago, I looked for answers from Leon Drolet, the head of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance who threatened to recall any lawmaker voting for (the) a tax hike in 2007 (and lost the only one attempted, with then-House Speaker Andy Dillon).
“It’s … because you’re a Republican and most Tea Partiers are Republicans, isn’t it?
“C’mon. Why do you think the left was so quiet when Granholm slashed arts, library and higher education funding to bits? You go with the one who brung ya. If John Engler had tried (that), there would have been barricades at the Capitol.”
“It’s … because you’re a Republican and most Tea Partiers are Republicans, isn’t it?
“C’mon. Why do you think the left was so quiet when Granholm slashed arts, library and higher education funding to bits? You go with the one who brung ya. If John Engler had tried (that), there would have been barricades at the Capitol.”
Demas then relates that Drolet said he favors Snyder’s actions and berated Granholm’s policies because Snyder proposes a more comprehensive set of tax reforms that provide a net tax cut. That answer was a pat, pro-Snyder talking point, she retorts.
Demas concludes this way:
“Then on Thursday (at the Tea Party rally), I noticed that Mr. Perks — Drolet’s beloved, two-story plastic pig — had a new message emblazoned on his haunches calling for ‘shared sacrifice’ for public workers. Another Snyderism!
“And then it dawned on me. Leon was in on it — or at least he wanted to be. He’s no longer a Macomb County commissioner. He’d lost his state Senate bid last year. With all the Tea Party groups sucking up the oxygen and the money on the right, it can’t be easy for him to earn a living. And he’s frequently joked that he has no useful skills, so he has to work in government.
“Like most Republicans in town, he was auditioning for Snyder. Maybe Dillon could hire him in Treasury so he could help collect everyone’s fatter tax bills. (Then again, maybe not).
“I realized that Tea Partiers had caved. And not even Mr. Perks was going to protect my pocketbook this time.”
“And then it dawned on me. Leon was in on it — or at least he wanted to be. He’s no longer a Macomb County commissioner. He’d lost his state Senate bid last year. With all the Tea Party groups sucking up the oxygen and the money on the right, it can’t be easy for him to earn a living. And he’s frequently joked that he has no useful skills, so he has to work in government.
“Like most Republicans in town, he was auditioning for Snyder. Maybe Dillon could hire him in Treasury so he could help collect everyone’s fatter tax bills. (Then again, maybe not).
“I realized that Tea Partiers had caved. And not even Mr. Perks was going to protect my pocketbook this time.”
