Dollars & Sense
by Bryon Elson
, I
BEST CHANCE:
Match
March 20, 1993
Lotto Ticket
,
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o chairm n r
Small indepenaen .
busine 'se demand
Insurance reform.
"There are two victims in this excl ive arrange-
ment aid St ve Alwood tate director of
FlB/Michigan. "One' the mall, independent busi­
n that loses business due to exclusive contrac with
major chains. The nd i the consumer, who 00
longer has the freedom of choice."
As the heal , urance cost-ccntai n-
t .
itio
boice e to �:trld�� -";�'��.
not driven from the picture.
Antiques
by Ralph & Terry Kovel
Cottage
Industry
Eskimo Rugs
to of the economy 10 t
at 1 t many job they created
if not more, aid Will Mudge, .
tant tat director of the ational
Fed ration of Independent B in
(NFIB).
NFIB i defini tely
th biparti leg' Ia-
e that would reduc
prop rty t but raise the tate in-
com t because it offers no t
relief for business.
T lO-bill packag , sponsored
by a bipartisan group of House law­
m ers, will only provide property
t relief to private homeowners am
ome agricultural busines es, Mudge
said.
T P KAGE passed
through the House Taxation Com­
mittee 1 t wee and now must go
be ore-the full House and the Senate
for approval b ore going on to th
governor.
The Greenville Chamber of Com­
m fee agrees that Michigan is not
providing a favorable climate for
small bu i and is concerned wi th
any legislation that does not provide
tax relief for the business sector, said
Executive Director Kathy Jo Van­
derLaan.
The Gr
·16 I a coalition of 16
, chool and local gove .
ment inte t. T li t i�lud the
Michigan Chamber of Commerce,
the Michigan Association of School
Administrators and the NFIB among
others.
"The iinple way to addr s
mall-business concerns is to . ude
busin property in any pro rty tax
relief plan that is passed, dge
aid.
People who say that businesses
don't need property tas relief as
much as homeowners do are thinking
of big busin es that can get special
deals or Industrial tax abatements,
Mudge said.
Small businesses don't get those
tax breaks so they're subject to the
same rising assessments as home­
owners and they are also paying busi­
ness personal property tax, he said.
ROBERTS SAID businesses
pay 3 percent of the value of their
equipment per year as an additional
tax and people wonder why they
don't buy more equipment in Michi­
gan. It's too expensive, he said.
The Lansing-based NFIB has
24,000 members in Michigan and
s sector draws its membership from all walks
�� .... �"'- �.MiilllU(;Qa� __ 'sprop�?� cp JGW.ij�, udge '� .....
_r-v.inol�"'- t SQ mmerce . Each year. the org�ati !lOlls
eeps track of any pendmg legisla- 1 ts membership on a vanety o� lSSU
tion, but has not taken a firm stance and uses the results to lobby in sup­
on anything yet, VanderLaan. port of the majority opinions, he said.
o credit card rate has the
competition looking down on us.
• Economic a istance for Indian
and Eskimo i not a n w id a. Sir
Wilfred Gr nf II was a m dical mis­
sionary in Labrad r, Canada, from
about 1900 to 1930. He e tablished
hospital , schools and orphanages
for the Eskimo in th area. To bring
incom to the area, he t up a cot­
tage indu try. Th Eskimo made
hook drug . Most of th rugs pic­
tured d g sleds, polar bear , puffins,
Canadian geese or oth r local ub­
jects. The rugs were usually labeled
"Grenfell Industries, Newfoundland,
Labrador." Today th rugs are con­
sidered fine example of Eskimo
folk rt.
... ......
Howdy Doody started "life" a a
voice on a radio how. It started on
Decem r 27, 1947. NBC started a
new children's show called "The
Puppet Playhou .... Bob Smith, later
to become Buffalo Bob, was the
emcee. The show featured circus
puppets. A few weeks 1 ter, red­
head d marion tte was created to be
Howdy Doody. There w a dis­
agreement in 1948, the original
Howdy left the how, and a new
marionette w created.
Th new Howdy Doody how took
on a Western lOOK, and th circu
days were-over. Buffalo Bob,
Clara 11 the Clown, Chi f Thunder-
ird and Prince s Summerfalt
Winterspring cam regular in th
ca t. Collectors continu to rch
for a11 types of Howdy Doody
m mor bili uch s dolt .rnarionet-
t ,windup toys, watch s, games
nd records. .
GM
16.4% APR
Fa lIll ()p
.........
m rked
hi 0,
C.1T(1 Iud h) om n IBn -, 11(1 ... ,
AT&T
15.9% APR
1 1.1 IFll
I r t m � vsrv quart rl APR lor ( I, 1 AT T nd Ib prowjI"C1 b RA 1 reh F d ne MD'1.1 I
emBANK
15.4 Yo APR
COMER! A
12.4% APR
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BElTER