One of the biggest applause lines in his first State of the State
was when Gov. Rick Snyder tossed some red meat to his conservative
base: The role of government is to support success—not to pick winners
and losers. 
  Tell that to the Michigan Manufacturers Association which is
shaking in its boots because a draft plan of the governor's new
business tax makes the big companies..dare we say…losers. They would
cough up more money to the state than they do now. 
  The winners, if the plan is implemented, are the smaller
businesses, many of which, won't pay a dime under the new flat rate
tax. They will pay through the personal income tax however. 
  Business guy/gov. Mr. Snyder wants to eliminate all the tax
credits that many companies receive and by doing so he creates the full
employment bill for Lansing lobbyists. 
  The governor observes that over the years those lobbyists have
quietly and systematically stuck tax breaks inside the tax code on
behalf of their clients, which is what they get hefty retainers to do. 
  Mr. Snyder, on a self-imposed mission to reinvent the culture in
this town, believes that is "an indication of political power" which
may be the understatement of the month. 
  Rather he would wipe out the tax code and start over and if a
business wants a tax break the governor wants the lobbyists to go
through the budget process to get there. 
  Grasp the extent of this cultural reform: Everyone loses the tax
breaks they now get, and if they want them renewed they will have to
convince lawmakers and eventually the governor that those credits
produce jobs. 
  Meanwhile the MMA, which represents the Detroit Three, Dow
Chemical and a host of other biggies, ponders what to do next. At this
read it appears on a collision course with the new GOP governor but the
chances are very good that will be avoided as the administration is
willing to give the group a break on the personal property tax which it
wants.