In some ways, the battle over what to do about Michigan's Single Business Tax resembles the Vietnam War. Nobody is quite sure how it all started. Nor is it clear what we should do, or how we can get ourselves out of it -- or who we should blame.

Let's start off by recounting some chronology.

Last year, in response to criticism that the SBT was at heart a job-killing tax on payroll (meaning it punishes employers for hiring more workers) Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm proposed substantial modifications, designed to benefit mostly Michigan's struggling manufacturers.

The Republican-led Legislature ignored her proposals.

Then, earlier this year, the Michigan House and Senate passed bills repealing the SBT at the end of 2007 without addressing the problem of how to come up with the $1.9 billion the repeal would cost the state. Granholm last month vetoed the measure, saying it was "the height of irresponsibility" to cut nearly a quarter of the state's general fund revenue without providing a clue as how to replace it.

While all this was going on, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson in early February announced he would lead a petition drive to put repeal of the SBT to the voters this fall.

The State Board of Canvassers last week approved the wording of the petition, obliging supporters to collect 254,206 valid signatures by May 31 to put the measure on the ballot.

Last week, Granholm upped the ante. She sent a challenge to Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, R-Grandville, and House Speaker Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, to sign an "Agreement to Lead," committing everybody to repeal the SBT at the end of 2007 and adopt a "better business tax" that fully replaces SBT revenue lost and does not put the tax burden on the backs of individuals.

Both GOP leaders promptly rejected the proposal, calling it a "campaign gimmick." So where does this leave us, other than up the Au Sable without a paddle?

* First, a far-reaching tax proposal that in a nonelection year would be the subject of serious-minded discussion has been entirely swallowed by political rhetoric, games of chicken, gotcha maneuvers and partisan gridlock. For example, a handout from Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos this week was headed, "On the road campaigning against the jobs-killing SBT."

Granholm's press release accompanying her challenge said, "I will not allow the business tax burden to be put on the backs of Michigan families." Republicans think they've got the Guv over a barrel by proposing a big tax cut that promises to create badly needed jobs in Michigan's stricken economy. The Granholm camp figures that voters will recognize how irresponsible it is to blow a $1.9 billion hole in the state's budget without talking about how to repair the damage.

* Second, much of the sound and fury is being fueled by two myths. Myth No. 1: Michigan is a high business tax state. False. The taxes businesses pay reflect the sum of both state and local taxes. According to a recent study conducted by the Council on State Taxation, Michigan's business tax burden is the 17th-lowest in the nation. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Michigan business taxes rank 36th in the country as a percentage of personal income and 31st as a percentage of business profits.

The Small Business Survival Index ranked Michigan as fifth-most small-business-friendly in the country, while Site Selection magazine rated our business climate eighth in the nation last year, up seven places from the year before.

Myth No. 2: More tax cuts are the answer to all our economic problems. Not so. According to an EPIC-MRA survey of 1,200 "new economy" business executives, a skilled work force and excellent universities are just as important as the business tax climate.

Despite their heavy business tax structures, high-growth states like California and Massachusetts got the highest ratings as states most favorable to high-tech businesses.

What's more, it's not just high-tech industries. Speaking to the Detroit Economic Club last month, an "old-tech" manufacturer, Delphi Corp. CEO Steve Miller, said there was nothing any state government could do to prevent Delphi from shutting 21 of 29 U.S. plant sites.

Not tax cuts. Not financial lures. The underlying economic realities trump all.

Ask General Motors Corp. boss Rick Wagoner if tax cuts would have resolved his market share problems, or, for that matter, his relations with the United Auto Workers' union.

Any CEO in the private sector would chop off the head of any silly subordinate who walked into the board room and proposed eliminating one-quarter of the company's revenue -- without at the same time explaining either how to cut costs or get enough new income to at least replace the money lost.

Why should Michigan -- the one company in which we all have a major stake -- be any different?

Putting repeal of the SBT on the ballot could hurt the state's bond ratings.

John Ceffalio, Fitch's Ratings analyst for Michigan, says our financial picture is cloudy and eliminating the SBT without a replacement for the $1.9 billion it generates would create more uncertainty. On Wall Street, or anywhere else for that matter, uncertainty costs money.

Our political leaders are playing a very dangerous game. A story I picked up last week on a visit to Lansing tells it all. A top aide to Dick DeVos was asked how "Who cares?" the man is supposed to have answered. "This is a campaign. We'll worry about where we'll get the money when we govern."