By William Crandell, The Democratic Voice

Quite often I hear accusations from his opponents that President Obama is a socialist and that he believes in the redistribution of wealth.

I think these accusations are nothing more than a tool designed to scare Americans into believing that our president is anti-American and seeking to destroy capitalism in this country. Furthermore these charges are designed to convince the public that we should continue the same awful trickle down economic policies that have caused so much misery to the poor and the middle class. The tax policies of Gov. Snyder have made Michigan an excellent example of the trickle-down theory gone wrong as our wealth is being redistributed, not from the top down, but from the bottom up.

When many people sat down to figure out their state taxes a couple of weeks ago they came to the realization that they had to pay a lot more. The Earned Income Credit and Homestead Tax credits were now more or less gone and the new Pension Tax had kicked in.

People suddenly found themselves investing more of their income into this state whether they could afford it or not.

Many questioned whether they are getting their money’s worth as public services are cut, our roads are in awful condition and our schools are struggling just to survive.

While we pay more in taxes Michigan corporations enjoy $1.4 billion in tax breaks that are not producing any jobs nor helping to fund roads or law enforcement or fire departments.

We’re stuck paying more while they pay less and we receive very little in return.

Another recent example of the governor’s trickle-up tactics is his new Automotive No-Fault Insurance plan that gives insurance corporations a break by capping catastrophic coverage at $1 million. Once again, insurance companies are more than willing to take your payment every month, but then leave you with nothing when you need them the most. These are also the same companies that invest millions to promote lies about Obamacare trying to get it repealed, which would continue to leave your average American with little to no coverage or having to choose between paying the mortgage or health care. The least that these multi-billion dollar corporations can do is take care of you when something awful happens after taking your money for years.

I’ve been hearing this trickle-down nonsense my whole life, but the fact is that it has never worked. It is a lie perpetuated by the wealthy and their bought-and-paid-for political pundits and politicians.

The only redistribution of wealth in Michigan is the rich getting richer and not having to pay their fair share in taxes.

More and more of the tax burden is being heaped onto the shoulders of those that can least afford it so that the GOP can take care of their friends and donors.

End the lie, enough is enough.