October 8, 2002 - Granholm - I do not want to raise a single tax

Back in the rosy nearly-post-Engler days in Michigan back in October 2002 there was a debate between Jennifer Granholm and Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus. When asked whether or not they would raise taxes this was Jennifer Granholm's response -

I do not want to raise a single tax, except for one - to make sure there is parity between the diesel tax and the gas tax.

I guess Posthumus had Granholm pegged when he responded to her above statement with this -

The question was 'will you raise taxes?' and what my opponent said was, 'I don't want to raise taxes,' not, 'I won't raise taxes.

Anyone surprised that our taxes are going up in Michigan?

One more thing. This is a quote on the Michigan.gov (official state website mind you) from March 30, 2006 and you can read the entire article at www.Michigan.gov -

Republicans have made their intentions clear: They intend to raise taxes for Michigan families by $800 or gut education, health care, and public safety in order to finance a tax cut for business,” Granholm said.

Our plan was revenue neutral and would not raise taxes on Michigan families nor force draconian cuts in education, health care, and public safety,” Granholm said. “The differences between us are striking.

I would say the difference between Jennifer Granholm at pre-election time and Jennifer Granholm at post-election time are striking as well. Remember when the first President George Bush said "No new taxes!" during his campaign? Just thought I would point out that this isn't just a Democrat or Republican thing - it's a politician thing.

Republic-Michigamme pink-slips entire teaching staff

All 14 teachers in the Republic-Michigamme school system were given pink slips on Wednesday. The school will be back in session this fall according to school superintendent, Vicki Holsworth. The move was made in light of the rumblings in Lansing of possible cuts to school funding. There are 150 students in the entire K-12 at Republic-Michigamme making it one of the smaller districts in the state. Evidently the move gives the district flexibility in terms of having to adjust positions to half-time or eliminating some positions.

The article struck me as I had not heard of a district giving its entire (albeit small) staff pink slips.

Read my previous post about the possible cuts to the school systems in Michigan as proposed by Governor Granholm just a couple of weeks after telling schools to "fight" a similar (although less drastic in terms of dollars) cut to school funding by state Republicans.

The duplicity of our governor is too disturbing to even be funny.

The state of Michigan should learn from the Detroit Tigers

Daniel Howes' article on how the Detroit Tigers have a lesson for all of us has inspired me to show what Michigan and its' leaders could learn from the Tigers. The Tigers suffered through 12 straight losing seasons. In 2003 they even tied the record for most losses ever in a single season with 119. The players were known throughout baseball to have horrible attitudes and a work ethic to match.

Just three years after their 119 loss season the Detroit Tigers won 95 games in the regular season and made it to the World Series.

How did they rise from the depths of despair and what lesson(s) can Michigan learn from them?

1. Leadership - Owner Mike Ilitch, GM Dave Dombrowski, Manager Jim Leyland, and the players themselves all exhibited excellent leadership skills.
2. Management - Jim Leyland's no nonsense, grind it out day-to-day, forget yesterday and focus on today management attitude was a large part of their renaissance.
3. Performance - Jim Leyland and the Detroit Tigers players performed well above anyone's wildest expectations.
4. Jim Leyland's Mantra - There are NO short cuts - you have to work at it.
5. From the Detroit News (regarding Jim Leyland and his leadership) - "when things go right it's not all about him and when they don't, he doesn't look for the five closest people to throw under the proverbial bus. Sound like any leaders you know -- or not?"

Lets compare the 5 winning examples from the Detroit Tigers to Michigan. The part of Jim Leyland will be played by our governor, Jennifer Granholm. The players will be played by our elected legislature.

1. Leadership - Our bipartisan legislature (the players) does their own thing. Our Governor says one thing and then does another. No one wants to put politics aside and create a winning plan for the residents (the fans - sticking with the baseball analogy here). Is it any wonder why the fans (Michigan residents) are leaving the ballpark (Michigan)?
2. Management - Jennifer Granholm could take a lesson from Jim Leyland (whom Tiger fans wanted to vote in for governor last year) and develop a no nonsense "buck stops here" attitude. No more passing the buck and blaming our state's failures on the Engler administration. You are in your 5th year as Governor of Michigan. Show us something.
3. Performance - We are facing a multi-billion dollar budget deficit in the coming years. Businesses continue to leave and layoff. Here we are at the end of April and the Democrats and Republicans just don't seem to have a sense of urgency about stopping the bleeding and creating a workable plan that won't have the burden (tax increases) placed on Michigan residents.
4. No Short Cuts - Rather than really trying to find areas to cut, state lawmakers are proposing tax increases to plug the holes in the budget deficit.
5. "When things go right it's not all about him and when they don't, he doesn't look for the five closest people to throw under the proverbial bus. Sound like any leaders you know -- or not?" - No Comment.

Granholm faces angry audience at Southfield town hall meeting

In case you didn't know, Jennifer Granholm is touring the state this week holding town hall meetings so she can find out what Michigan residents are saying and thinking about our state's economy. Just as she is kicking off the town hall meeting week Comerica announces that they are moving their headquarters out of Michigan and down to Texas. Ouch. Talk about unlucky timing.

Well, it is no surprise that Granholm faced some angry (and justifiably so) folks in Southfield. She can expect plenty more of those at all of her other stops across the state.

Here are some of the comments dealt to her (via the Detroit Free Press):

"Why don't you use your emergency powers to declare a state of economic disaster?" asked Jerry Goldberg, 56, a Detroiter who belongs to an activist group that wants the state to step in to stop foreclosures, utility shutoffs and other bad news for residents.

Leticia Hall, a 30-year-old mother of two from Detroit who said she has been out of work for six months, said she wants a job or at least some help when her unemployment checks end next month.

It is also no surprise that most people are not happy about Governor Granholm's proposal of fixing Michigan's budget crisis - raising taxes. Who wants more taken out of their pocket when they are already feeling pinched?

Don't forget that you can vent your frustrations and place your vote on Jennifer Granholm's job performance as Governor of Michigan at www.squidoo.com/bestofmichigan/. So far a few votes have been cast and the overwhelming majority is "Throw her out before things get worse."

Place your vote on Governor Jennifer Granholm's job performance

I have added a new poll to my Squidoo Lens - Best of Michigan that asks a simple question. Has Jennifer Granholm done a good job running our state? You have two choices - either yes or no. None of that "undecided" garbage that a typical poll contains.

Vote today at www.squidoo.com/bestofmichigan.

Granholm's state address optimistic without the details

Maybe we should nickname our illustrious governor "Jenny Blue Skies." It seems to her that if Michigan residents can be as optimistic as she is about our state's future that everything will fall into place and make Michigan's economy rebound. Yeah, and if ifs and buts were candies and nuts we'd all have a Merry Christmas.

She threw out a lot of dollar figures when talking about ambitious new programs. She didn't say how a struggling (projected budget deficit in 2008 of $3 billion, yeah that's billion) Michigan economy was going to provide the revenue necessary to run these fun sounding programs.

What I liked about her speech:

• A commitment to quit plugging holes in the budget by cutting school funding.
• Requiring cities and townships to consolidate purchasing/services with other local municipalities to receive increased revenue sharing payments from the state

Wow. I thought there would be more points that I liked, but after reading through the text that was all I could honestly come up with. There was a lot of talk and optimism, but not much at all in the way of facts to back up her accusations and financial solutions.

Her proposed state budget makes its debut tomorrow. It will be interesting to see her "tax boosts" and what will be cut in order to balance the budget.

I guess I just expected more in the way of hard numbers. Optimism is great, but optimism without facts to back up your reason for being optimistic is like skipping dinner and eating a sugary sweet dessert instead. Sure it tasted good, but it usually leaves you feeling sick and empty when you're finished.

See for yourself. You can read the text of her speech at the Lansing State Journal.