PDF QUESTIONABLE STATEMENTS:
"I'm the only candidate with a track record of creating jobs." (Text on screen: "Rick has created thousands of jobs.")
It's true that during Snyder's tenure at Gateway, for instance, the company grew from 763 employees to 13,300 jobs overall, 10,600 domestically. While Snyder doesn't deserve sole credit for creating jobs, he did serve as president and had a role.
However, the issue of Gateway shipping jobs to Mexico, China and Eastern Europe while Snyder served on the board of directors has been raised in gubernatorial debates. This practice was established in filings with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission in 2004 and 2005 that list Snyder's name as a director. Snyder stresses that when he took over as interim CEO in 2006, Gateway opened up a call center in South Dakota that brought 130 jobs back from overseas.
Snyder says he has created 420 jobs in Michigan and 1,253 nationwide while running Avalon and Ardesta, two venture capital firms The figures are based on the number of jobs at companies in which Avalon and Ardesta have made investments.
The assertion that Snyder is the only candidate to be a job-creator is very similar to the claim Snyder made in his "Businessman" ad, in which he claimed to be the "only businessman running" for governor. The Truth Squad gave Snyder a foul, noting the business experience of four other gubernatorial candidates: Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, Sen. Tom George (R-Kalamazoo), House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Township) and U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Holland). All of these candidates can claim to have had a hand in creating jobs.
"My detailed plan will reinvent Michigan. And create jobs for you and our kids." (Text): "Eliminate Michigan Business Tax; Cut taxes on job creators $1.5 billion; Slash needless regulations; Help small business."
Viewers would benefit from knowing where they could read about Snyder's "detailed plan," being as his 30-second TV spot doesn't give much information. His 10-point plan is on his website, which does flash onscreen.
Snyder does want to eliminate the MBT and replace it with a flat, 6-percent corporate income tax, which he does not mention. Snyder's website says that would save businesses about $1.5 billion in taxes. Today, the MBT brings in about $1.8 billion; the state's closely related insurance premiums tax adds another $200 million or so, putting direct state business taxation at about $2 billion.
Snyder says on a white paper on his site he would also consider eliminating a number of special "tax expenditures" – credits that go to special purposes, many earmarked for businesses. But he's not specific about which he would support eliminating.
But it's not clear exactly how much a 6 percent corporate income tax would bring in. According to the Michigan Department of Treasury report on the Single Business Tax (which brought in about the same revenues as today's MBT) "Had the SBT been substituted with a standard CIT (corporate income tax), the average rate necessary to generate the same amount of revenue today from corporations based on history from 1977 until 2003 would have been 7.18 percent.
So setting the corporate income tax rate at 6 percent would be about a 20 percent reduction – about a $400 million tax reduction, not a $1.5 billion tax cut. More details are needed about what tax Snyder would use, and what expenditures would be eliminated and what saved, before determining how big a business tax cut Snyder is really proposing.
As for slashing "needless regulations," he's not specific, just as he wasn't in his "Jobs" ad, which earned a foul from the Truth Squad for this reason. He has proposed to substantially reduce the time it takes for the state to provide air and water pollution permits, but do to so would likely reduce or eliminate the ability for the public to make input into those decisions. And he also wants to protect Michigan's natural environment, including efforts to protect against invasive species – steps that will likely mean more regulations. Snyder also doesn't say how he would help small businesses specifically.
"We need jobs and a governor who has created them before." (Text): "That's only Rick Snyder."
Once again, Snyder is making the misleading claim that he's the only candidate who's created jobs.
OVERALL IMPRESSION:
It's another Snyder ad, replete with somber orchestral music, stressing the economy that's light on specifics, particularly in terms of how he would reduce red tape and create jobs. This is the second ad in which Snyder has claimed to be the only businessman or job provider in the race. He needs to stop repeating this obvious falsehood, which shows disrespect for the voters. While championing himself as a job creator, Snyder also neglects to acknowledge that Gateway outsourced jobs while he sat on its board.
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD CALL: Foul.
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Foul stating he's the only candidate in the gubernatorial race to have created jobs and for failing to be more specific, either in the ad or on his web page, about his business tax and regulation reducing plans.
Download Michigan Truth Squad Analysis .pdf
