Michigan plan would tax retirees up to age 67 - to "free up" 900M for Corp tax cuts.

[elehhhhna]

Michigan plan would tax retirees up to age 67
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN Associated Press © 2011 The Associated Press
April 12, 2011, 5:36PM
Share Del.icio.usDiggTwitterFacebookStumbleUponEmail Close LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced a new plan Tuesday to tax retirees' income up to age 67.

The Republican governor had wanted to tax all retirement income the same as normal income in a bid to raise $900 million to help pay for a business tax cut, but many lawmakers balked after seniors made their displeasure clear. More than a thousand angry seniors protested at the Capitol a month ago, and many had told lawmakers during a recent legislative recess that the taxes would be a hardship.

Snyder has been working to reach a compromise with top Republican lawmakers, and they joined him at his announcement Tuesday.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7518769.html

[Dawson Leery]

1. How soon can a recall election occur?

[Motown_Johnny]

6. we can't start collecting signatures until july,

then we have 90 days to get ~800,000 valid signatures


BUT...


If we can get them all in by August 5th we can get the recall on the November ballot


If not then I suppose a special election is held later, have not bothered looking into the details on that yet (sorry)

[Old and In the Way]

2. Retirement income?...try unable to work, survival income.

At some point, the blowback is going to be spectacular.

[sarcasmo]

3. If this passes my wife and I are going to take the hit. This guy is one term and done, he has

screwed with the Unions and Retirees.

[exboyfil]

4. To some degree retirees

should be asked to pay more (not to say that the corp taxes should be cut or that personal tax rates should not be adjusted upwards). I know when I look at the combined company pension and benefits of many of the retirees from my company, they are doing quite well (you know Winnebago and casino well). When you consider the low rate they paid into Social Security and Medicare through most of their working lives, I really don't have a lot of sympathy for them. Since, unless something radically changes, we are going to be asking our children to pony up a third more than we are currently, I have to wonder when it will end.

[doc03]

8. So you are against collective bargaining, I guess. I assume

those people belonged to a union and through collective bargaining they made an agreement with the company to defer some of their wages so they could have a retirement income in addition to SS. Many of them also saved in a 401k or an IRA to have an income other than a measly SS check. There was a contract with the people of the USA that you could put a portion of your income in a retirement account and the taxes would be deferred until you retire. So now when they retire you have decided they make too much. They didn't create the problem so why punish them?

[MrScorpio]

5. I have to say that this Snyder character is, by far, the WORST governor we've ever had

He's even worse than Romney… Far worse.

I had never thought that I'd see this day come to pass.

[hayu_lol]

7. Many seniors have been paying into SS for over 60 years.

the remark keeps getting tossed around that we only paid a little over our lifetimes. Truth is that we paid in dollars worth a dollar in buying power...that same dollar today is worth a nickel.

Back in those days(50s), a single income of roughly $400/mo could provide housing, clothing, food, insurance, transportation and entertainment. Now we have congressmen who cannot live on $175,000...poor guys.

[MichiganVote]

9. Recall Snyder. Fraudulent campaign platform.

[Travis_0004]

10. Why not only tax retirment incomes over a certain level, say 75,000

And don't use it for tax cuts, use it to pay down Michigans debt.

This way somebody who is making 75,000 a year can afford to pay a bit more in income taxes, but retires with lower income pay nothing.