Secrecy is a wonderful thing.  Minus any hard and fast evidence as to what is going on, the mind is allowed to wander aimlessly in search of the truth.

       Exhibit A is the Don Quixote-like mission for tax reform involving the Michigan legislature, Detroit Renaissance and the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce.

       Last February or so, House Speaker Andy Dillon hooked up with the two business groups and Senate GOP Leader Mike Bishop as they joined hands and embarked on a perilous journey to find someway to make Michigan's business tax more attractive.

       "This will be driven by the data," opined the optimistic and self-assured Doug Rothwell from Motown Renaissance.  And from that point on all the focus groups and survey results went under lock and key.

        Who the heck knows what they are up to?

        Looks like nothing.  Maybe they discovered that finding a consensus within the business community on how it should be taxed is really a hopeless exercise in self-flagellation.

        Minus any proof to the contrary, let's go with that conclusion because last week out of the blue, the legislature suddenly woke up from its long winter's nap and reasserted its authority in trying to resolve the tax reform dilemma.

       Rep. Kate Ebli (D-Monroe) proudly announces the formation of a 17-person work group to tackle the issue and find a solution, if it can, within the next four to six weeks.

       Asked why she has waited until the middle of the summer when lawmakers have supposedly been on the job since last January, Ebli glibly replied her committee has been working all along on=2 0this assignment.

       Balderdash.  She and everyone else were waiting for Rothwell and company to produce something, and now that they've produced nothing, lawmakers will finally get down to doing what they should have been doing six months ago.

       If lawmakers farmed out every issue to the special interest groups to resolve, why would we need a legislature?

       That's not a rhetorical question either.

         

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