Guess What? Michiganians Support Tax Increases

This is going to blow the conservatives' minds. A new study released by the Kellogg Foundation shows that a majority of Michiganians support a broad range of tax increases.

The polling found:

• Support for increasing the sales tax increased from 37 percent to 51 percent and was opposed by 9 percent after deliberations.

• Support for boosting the income tax went up from 27 percent to 45 percent, and opposed by 20 percent.

• Support for cutting business taxes increased from 40 percent to 67 percent.

• Backing for increasing the beer and wine tax was high before and after discussion, from 66 percent to 68 percent.

"The public is willing to sacrifice, willing to invest, willing to pay the cost. However they demand transparency, accountability and different results," said Anne Mosle, vice president of the Kellogg Foundation

Now, mind you, this wasn't the usual reactive poll. A group of 314 people were invited to Lansing for a weekend to engage in and participate in a discussion of the topic and the poll was taken at the end of the process.

"This was an unprecedented experiment. We put the entire state in one room under conditions where it could think" about the economic crisis, said James Fishkin, director of the Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford, in a teleconference with the media today.

The deliberative poll, he said, is an effort to use social science to reveal what people think when they're informed and engaged. Participants broke into discussion groups to delve into the issues, and they were given pro and con arguments to consider.

So, what does this information do to the famous right wing talking point that people are not willing to pay more taxes? I think it destroys that myth, once and for all.

Obama Tells the Truth on Taxes

I'm sick and tired of John McCain's lies. here is Barack Obama in his own words explaining his tax plan.

The truth on Obama and taxes