Tisch, Robert.

Robert Emanuel Tisch (known as Bob Tisch) was a tax-cut crusader mainly active in the 1970s and 1980s. He was known as much for his populist zeal and his direct, often abrasive, style, as he was for the three "Tisch Tax Cut" proposals he fought to have put on the ballot in the 1978, 1980, and 1982 Michigan elections.

Tisch was born March 28, 1920, in Jackson, Michigan. During World War II and the Korean War he served in the biological warfare unit of the Army. In the postwar years, Tisch settled in Laingsburg, a small community near Lansing. Over the years, he worked at a variety of pursuits, including sign-painting, milking machine sales, children's furniture manufacture, and cattle farming. He and his wife, Bethel, raised five children on their family farm.

Tisch was elected Shiawassee County Drain Commissioner in 1976 and continued to serve in this role until 1984, when he lost his bid for reelection. His previous political experience had included a turbulent and short-lived term on the Laingsburg school board in 1955 (he was recalled amidst bitter controversy) and time as a local judge.

The late seventies were a time of severe inflation and recession that hit Michigan particularly hard. Although an unlikely "professional" politician, Tisch, fed up with the situation and spurred on by the multitude of complaints he had been hearing from those around him, began a grassroots (and often self-funded) campaign to lower property taxes. He was denounced by many, both for the extremity of his plan and for his blunt, even profane, manner of speaking. Despite this opposition, however, Tisch and his plan achieved considerable popular support.

The 1978 Tisch tax cut proposal addressed a serious issue, sharply rising property taxes, but was considered by most to be extremely drastic in its way of dealing with the problem. Thus, many give credit to Tisch for scaring legislators into formulating and promoting the much more moderate Headlee Amendment, which eventually beat the Tisch plan. Ironically, however, Tisch considered the Headlee Amendment to be almost worse than nothing at all and continued to campaign relentlessly for versions of his proposal in the next two elections. The "Tisch II" plan, like its successor, was defeated at the polls. Tisch III, in 1982, did not receive enough petition signatures to make the ballot.

In addition to his tax cut campaigns, Tisch ran independently for governor in 1982. His bid for this office was unsuccessful, but his party, the Tisch Independent Citizens Party, garnered enough votes to automatically qualify for inclusion on the ballot in the next election. Tisch is the only Michigan person to date known to have had a major political party named for him. The Tisch Independent Citizens Party continued to qualify as a major political party through 1992.

In 1992 the Tisch Independent Citizens Party became affiliated with the conservative U.S. Taxpayers Party, and in 1993 it was officially renamed the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan (also referred to sometimes as the "Michigan Taxpayers Party"). The Taxpayers Party favors eliminating income tax and most government programs. Tisch was active in the party on both the statewide and the national levels, serving as leader of the Michigan party, Chairman of the Central States, and Michigan Member of the National Committee. He even ran as presidential hopeful Howard Phillips' running mate for the U.S. Taxpayers Party in 1992. Ill health forced Tisch to resign from his party duties in 1996.

Tisch died October 9, 1997.

From the guide to the Robert Tisch Papers, 1978-1997, 1980-1982, (Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan)