An interesting editorial in the Detroit Free Press makes the case for Michigan to increase it’s marketing budget to gain more tourism dollars. It would be great to see more tourism dollars spent in Michigan as a result of an increased marketing budget.

However, I would like to see funding for this to come from cuts elsewhere in the state budget. Michigan tried to rid itself of the Single Business Tax, but Governor Granholm vetoed that. We can’t keep increasing our spending while decreasing the state’s revenue.

I am not calling for additional taxes or fees (taxes in disguise). I am calling for a more fiscally-minded state government that trims the numerous excesses (too many to list here) and become more lean.

Like I said, you can not just call for an increase in one budget area without a plan for how you will fund it. It is easy to make the statement, but difficult to figure out how to pay for it. Would we see enough money come in as a result in a tourism increase to offset the budget increase?