I am a general contractor from Michigan. If you want to get sick, come to Michigan and drive by acre after acre of abandoned factories and tall weeds breaking through the asphalt in parking lots that ten years ago was a sea of new vehicles. As a former General Motors executive recently lamented, "how do you go from controlling 56% of the world market to bankruptcy?" It's beyond sad.

There's a lot of theories and finger pointing... trade deficits, unions, management, credit crunch, regulations, taxes and politicians.  Take your pick.

When I first moved to Michigan from South Florida about ten years ago, I heard someone comment, "If you want to find a GM executive, look on the golf course." It's a sad commentary, but one I have been guilty of as well. Rather than write an elected official to protest bad, new legislation, rather than joining a politicl organization to demand lower taxes, rather than showing up at committee hearings to voice my opinion, I went "golfing". And, in the meantime, the consequences of my ambivalence were winding swiftly forward. Here we are. Reality... weeds in parking lots.

What can I do now and will it help? It is certain it will not help if I continue to do nothing. So, I have recently written many letters to officials. I forward emails that support the cause I believe in, the restoration of the republic. I developed an easy to use "tax calculator" that is easy that outlines total current taxes against proposed new taxes. It shows which states are more tax friendly for those who may be considering a move. Will these things help? I don't know. I just feel, this is my part. I am not offering an opinion. Look at the numbers and ask yourself if where we are heading is the right direction.

The tax calculator is here:  <a href="http://www.mycbay.com/tax_calculator.html">www.mycbay.com/tax_calculator.html</a>