Until this year, I had never before attended the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce's annual policy conference on Mackinac Island.

So I was both interested and curious last weekend as I walked up the lilac-lined hill to the magnificent porch of the Grand Hotel. "Policy conference" thinly disguises what is in fact an enormous schmooze-fest, punctuated by cocktails and the fanciest set of hors d'oeuvres you'll ever see. The crowd included some 1,700 movers and shakers, many of them legends mostly in their own minds.

On the surface, it might seem Michigan's contribution to the art of conspicuous consumption. But in fact, many of the attendees are genuinely significant folks  and Mackinac turned out to be a wonderfully efficient way to visit with a lot of important people who collectively will determine much of Michigan's future.

But I also learned that a politician up north is still a politician.

Topic A, of course, was the elimination of the Single Business Tax and the discussion of what might replace it. The Tuesday before the conference, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson had submitted 372,604 voter petition signatures, easily topping the 254,206 required to win a place on the ballot for a statewide vote.

Insiders say it is almost certain enough of those signatures are valid to qualify it for the ballot. If that's so, that means the Legislature can vote to eliminate the SBT anytime this year without facing a veto from Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

But doing so without replacing much of that revenue could mean chaos. The SBT produces $1.9 billion of tax revenue per year, a hefty chunk of the state's $9.3 billion general fund.

Also before the conference started, Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, R-Wyoming, and House Speaker Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, appointed a special six-member legislative committee to recommend what kind of business taxes will replace the SBT, and how much revenue they should be expected to generate for the state.

The committee will be co-chaired by Sen. Nancy Cassis, R-Novi, and Rep. Fulton Sheen, R-Plainwell. Other members are Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, Rep. Andy Dillon, R- Redford, Sen. Alan Sanborn, R-Richmond, and Sen. Buzz Thomas, D-Detroit.

The committee is supposed to report by Dec. 1.

Cassis says it will get input from various interest groups, especially the business community and the Michigan State Chamber of Commerce; look at the tax structures of other high-growth states; listen to experts; and hold hearings around the state.

That sounds fine and high minded. But all the talk (I mean ALL the talk) on the island was that the committee, the Chamber of Commerce and various important politicians such as Patterson and Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos are already working feverishly on a set of proposals that would only partly replace the lost SBT revenue, and yield a net business tax cut at the end of the day of between $400 million and $500 million a year.

There are three areas of concern about all this: Process, substance and politics.

As to process, it seems very strange to me that a small committee of six legislators, five of them Republicans, is going to oversee the biggest change in business taxes of our times with only a thin veneer of public participation.

Sure, there is lots of talk about transparency just now. Don't believe any of it. You may be sure the tax bill that the committee presents to the Legislature will be worked out in private with only a few insiders permitted a look at what's going on.

As to substance, it's fascinating that all the spin (ALL the spin) is around how important a $500 million business tax cut is to the economic climate in our state. One conference participant who runs a midsized consulting firm in Lansing told me that he figures the tax reduction for his company will amount to a mere $700 a year. "How's that going to change whether I decide to stay in Michigan?" he asked.

The state has faced each year for the past five years a budget that is chronically and structurally out of balance to the point where it is programmed to turn up deficits in excess of $1 billion every year.

Michigan businesses are scheduled for $575 million in SBT cuts already negotiated between Granholm and GOP legislative leaders. The state has cut taxes some $4 billion since 1998.

Do we really need another $500 million in business tax cuts when the state has slashed spending for infrastructure, for revenue sharing with local governments, and for colleges and universities?

Frankly, I doubt it.

Politically, it's remarkable how one-sided this discussion has become. One side, mainly the Republicans and the Chamber of Commerce, is talking as though a $500 million business tax cut is the only thing that is going to restore our economy to perfect health.

And there's nothing whatsoever coming from the other side. The Democrats are scared stiff at being labeled in favor of higher taxes, while the cities, hospitals and universities have been largely silent. What's most appalling is that there is nobody in the middle who is trying to assemble and consider the evidence in a fair-minded way. It's just another illustration of the fact that our politics today are driven by the extremists of either side.

In this case, the tax-cut zealots of the right are in the saddle. And the tragedy is that the concerns of ordinary people, those who may not love taxes but who desperately want good schools and good streets, are largely being trampled on or just plain ignored.