Jennifer M. Granholm was elected the 47th governor of the State of Michigan in November 2002. Since taking office, she has successfully resolved over $4 billion in budget deficits, trimming more from state government than any governor in Michigan’s history. A fiscal hawk, Granholm has worked to ensure that state government spends every penny efficiently, while aggressively pursuing her top priorities: growing Michigan’s economy and maintaining the state’s high quality of life.
Granholm has focused on improving Michigan’s economy through the most comprehensive plan in the country – her Jobs Today, Jobs Tomorrow plan. Her economic agenda includes creating thousands of jobs for Michigan workers this year by accelerating infrastructure projects, training unemployed workers for high-demand jobs, and by diversifying Michigan’s economy through the unprecedented $2 billion 21st Century Jobs for Michigan Fund. The fund was created to help diversify Michigan’s economy in key industries including the life sciences, alternative energy, advanced manufacturing, and homeland security and defense technology. Governor Granholm has also reduced the red tape businesses face when seeking permits from the state.
And she’s gotten results. Since taking office in 2003, Governor Granholm’s administration has helped to create and retain some 331,000 jobs. She has met face-to-face with businesses from across the country and around the world – and her leadership is paying off. Two trade missions to Japan have resulted in more than 1,000 new jobs and more than $200 million in new investment from Japanese companies.
Governor Granholm is going anywhere and doing anything to create jobs for Michigan workers, and direct action by her administration is convincing major corporations to create jobs and expand in Michigan. Keebler relocated its headquarters from Illinois to Battle Creek. Toyota is putting 400 people to work in York Township at its new Technical Center. And when manufacturing jobs left Greenville for Mexico, Governor Granholm stepped in and helped convince United Solar Ovonic to open a new manufacturing facility there.
Michigan was cited by Governing magazine (February 2005) as an outstanding leader in its Government Performance Project (GPP) report titled, "Grading the States 2005." The nationwide report card gives Michigan and the Granholm administration high marks in the areas of money, people, infrastructure, and information management. Only Virginia and Utah scored higher than Michigan.
Governor Granholm’s focus on families has meant extending affordable prescription drug coverage and health care coverage to more than 292,000 Michigan families. Granholm saved the state nearly $40 million in 2003 when she introduced the nation's first bulk-buying pool for prescription drugs; and then she extended those savings to citizens by introducing the MiRx Card, which provides discount prescription drugs to uninsured families. Since 2003, Granholm has also enrolled nearly 50,000 additional children for health insurance through the Healthy Kids and MiCHILD programs. In 2006, Governor Granholm signed into law legislation that increases Michigan’s minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.95 per hour in October 2007, and up to $7.40 per hour in July 2008 – the first increase in Michigan’s minimum wage in nine years.
Despite tough fiscal times, Granholm has increased spending for Michigan’s public schools. In 2005, for the first time, classrooms in Michigan received record funding at levels promised by the previous administration. The first in her family to attend college, Granholm has championed universal access to higher education. She successfully challenged state universities to hold the line on tuition increases and has proposed a first-in-the-nation program that would award $4,000 to every Michigan student who completes two years of post-secondary education.
Granholm began her career in public service as a clerk for U.S. Judge Damon Keith on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. She considers Judge Keith a mentor to this day. In 1990, Granholm became a federal prosecutor in Detroit, where she maintained a 98 percent conviction rate. In 1994, Granholm was appointed Wayne County Corporation Counsel. She worked to reduce taxpayer-funded lawsuit payouts by 87 percent.
Elected Michigan’s first female Attorney General in 1998, Granholm continued her fight to protect Michigan’s citizens and consumers. She established the state’s first High Tech Crime Unit to prosecute Internet crimes. Following the September 11th attacks on the United States, Granholm led a multi-agency effort to ensure that Michigan laws could effectively be used to fight terrorism at the state level. In the wake of the attacks, she also cracked down on gas stations gouging consumers at the pump. As Attorney General, Granholm also started a successful statewide mentoring initiative.
Granholm was elected by the people of Michigan to serve as their first woman chief executive on November 6, 2002.
Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Granholm is an honors graduate of both the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She serves as Vice Chair of the Democratic Governors Association and Chair of the National Governor’s Association Health and Human Services Committee. She and her husband, Daniel G. Mulhern, have three children.(from Governor's page)
(I had no idea that the people who would later sponsor MichLib this month were behind this, or have a role in it. So, there is that. - promoted by Eric B.)
The Michigan Senate Democrats have spent 2011 fighting back against the policies of Governor Snyder and the Republican legislature. Policies that have raised taxes on seniors and middle class families, slashed funding from our K-12 schools and done nothing to create a single job this year.
Some of you may have noticed that we've taken some new approaches to reaching out to Michigan residents about our opposition to the Governor's agenda. From hosting online events, to our highly successful "Governor Snyder - Are You Even Listening?" series of videos, we have been exploring new ways to broaden our audience and help spread our message about why these Republican policies are wrong for Michigan.
This week, we launched the first episode of a new series of videos that I think you'll agree is not the typical type of political video coming from a legislative caucus. The Not Exactly RickSnyder Show parodies the Governor and his policies by having the Governor himself (or more precisely, an actor playing the Governor) host a talk show where he's able to speak directly to the people of Michigan about how effective he has, or hasn't been, in getting Michigan back on track.
So I took a bit of a break this past month, and I figured by the time I came back y'all would have things sorted out: people would be surely by flying around with jet packs by now, God would have sent fires and floods to smite the unrighteous, and, if I really got lucky, Barack Obama would have "grown a pair".
And now that I'm back, debt negotiations are about to commence between that same Barack Obama and the Republican Congressional Leadership, things like Social Security and Medicare cuts are apparently on the table in order to protect tax cuts for the rich, and certain quarters of the Republican Party aren't even trying anymore to hide their racism.
All of which suggests that I shouldn't be looking for a jet pack anytime soon.
But there is some good news: God is apparently working hard, and states like Oklahoma and Arizona and Florida and Georgia and Texas have been alternately aflame or aflood, apparently as a result of their unrepentant behavior...and on the economic front, New York City's Stonewall Inn is going to make a ton of money this summer hosting weddings.
That gives us a lot to talk about...so let's get right to it.
Forget the protests. Forget the town hall meetings. Forget the newspaper editorials. Forget ALL of the opposition to the Governor's agenda thus far this year. Clearly, it's all been wrong.
When asked to describe his agenda recently, Governor Rick Snyder called it taking "relentless positive action." Yes, you read that right. Raiding money from our public education, raising taxes on working families, and giving a billion dollar giveaway to CEOs is apparently now "positive action". And Rick Snyder is fricking relentless with it.
I was relieved to see a video come out today from the Senate Democrats that points out the ridiculousness of Snyder's statement by contrasting it to the REAL effects his agenda is already having on Michigan. You can check out the video here:
It's great to see we have some Democrats in Lansing willing to challenge the Governor on this kind of stuff. We're not going to be successful in our opposition unless we're willing to be aggressive, and it looks like the Senate Dems are going to do just that!
Tonight, December 29, 2010, at 8 P.M., WKAR-TV presents 'An Evening with Gov. Granholm'. This will be Jennifer Granholm's last interview as Michigan's Democratic Governor. It was conducted by Tim Skubick, host of the public affairs program "Off the Record."
For details on this program, when you can watch it again, and how you can watch it if you are outside of Michigan, along with other political news originated by Michigan's research universities this month, follow me over the jump.
I think Virg's plan to help revive the economy in Michigan makes a few very good points. He does't want to raise the sales tax on everything, which I think is critical if we want people to continue spending money. Also he wants to freeze tuition, which for someone like me who is entering college next year is very important. Finally I think his point about making attempts to keep young people in Michigan, will really help the economy, because it will get the young people excited about getting jobs in Michigan, as oppossed to leaving and finding a job somewhere else.
You may or may not know that Rick Snyder wants to phase out the Michigan film tax incentive program, but Rick's just wrong! We have created an ad we want to get on the air to spread the word in the next few days, and you can help at www.rickswrong.com.
The governor's race is tightening up (despite what the polls may be saying), but there's an issue that can help push Virg over the top. The Michigan film tax incentive is a bigger deal than some people may think. Many people don't know that Rick Snyder wants to phase it out even though it's creating jobs, making us feel good about ourselves and our state again and keeping our young people from moving out of the state.
The DetNews is saying that Snyder is beating the heck out of Virg and crushing Undecided.
Republican Rick Snyder heads into the general election campaign with a nearly 20-point lead over Democrat Virg Bernero in the race for governor, according to a Detroit News-WDIV poll released Wednesday.
The Ann Arbor businessman holds a 51 percent to 32 percent edge over Lansing's mayor, with 18 percent of likely voters undecided. The candidates have roughly equal name recognition -- 88 percent for Snyder and 80 percent for Bernero -- but with widely divergent favorability ratings.
In other news, it looks like Snyder etal is afraid to debate the former debater. Either that, or the crack new campaign team forgot to read the sticky notes left around from the previous crew. I guess they've heard the rumors (actually true) that Hizzoner is a champion former debater who can pretty much smack down (or maybe even smite) the competition because he's a first negative. (Yeah, I know like 4% of the readers of the post know what that means but if you do... you get it. Game, set, match, b*&^h, nuke.)
Don't count out Virg... he's a fighter and he's already kicked Undecided's butt. I have a feeling the Angry Mayor is coming for the Nerd and it isn't going to be pretty come Election Day.
Time again for my weekly feature in which I excerpt my articles from Examiner.com. This week, the digest not only describes what happened on primary night, but also debunks two popular myths about this election year.
Many column inches have been written about the anti-tax sentiment sweeping the country in the form of Tea Party protests and town hall meetings during the past year. However, only a relatively small amount of that well-publicized hostily to taxation was in evidence Tuesday, as ten of the thirteen ballot proposals involving property taxes passed, some by impressive margins with relatively strong turnouts exceeding the county average of 21.28%. Only the renewal of the millage for the general operating budget for Manchester Township, one of the millage renewals for police protection in Northfield Township, and the bond proposal for the Saline Area Schools failed.
Details on the ballot proposals at the link in the headline.
In municipal primary elections held last Tuesday, all the incumbents running to keep their offices won. In Ann Arbor, the mayor and five council members won strong, in some cases overwhelming victories over an insurgent slate. In Ypsilanti, the mayor and the one council member who ran for re-election also won by large margins.
These electoral wins came despite widely publicized anti-incumbent sentiment which claimed only a few victims in the state, most notably Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, who lost her congressional seat in the primary.
Details on the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti municipal elections at the link.
It looks both these memes (anti-incumbent and anti-tax) held little weight in local elections. Take that, Tea Party!
Other races, including Governor and U.S. House of Representatives, on the other side of the jump.
From my viewpoint as an advocate for the Second Amendment and as part of the pro-Life minority in the Democratic Party, I second (or third) your support for Cox. His record on both issues outweighs his past indiscretions. And as a northern Michigan resident, for what it's worth, I'd also like to add my Democratic support in your primary for both Jason Allen for the 1st Congressional District and Dennis Lennox in the 105th House District.
Jack Lessenberry posted an article over at the Metro Times this morning where he lists all of the candidates for Governor from "worst to the not-so-worst."
Not surprisingly he pretty much dumps on all of the Republican candidates, save some complimentary words towards Rick Snyder.
On the Democratic side, however, he let this bomb drop on Virg Bernero.
Bernero often goes off half-cocked. He has taken Matty Moroun's money, and opposes the vitally necessary Detroit River International Crossing bridge.
When I questioned him about this, he showed an astonishing lack of comprehension of the issues, and when presented with information about Moroun's career as a slumlord and generally bad citizen, said he believed in the possibility of deathbed conversion.
Ouch.
Granted, he doesn't seem particularly excited about Andy Dillon either, but does sum up the Democratic race this by saying he's the best option.
He (Dillon) is clearly the better choice, if only because he is the only candidate who has tried to do something sensible about the Michigan budget mess
(Aside from the conclusion it reaches, a pretty decent wrap up of what happened last week in the gubernatorial primary. - promoted by Eric B.)
Supporters of Virg Bernero were on top of the world last week. Political pundit Bill Ballenger released a poll of the Democratic race that he stated showed such a "substantial lead" for Bernero that he was ready to call the race right then and there.
Supporters cheered while Bernero released statements showing his campaign had the momentum behind it now and it was all going to be smooth sailing from there.
But just as quickly as that good feeling set in, it seems like it was pulled away as reality came crashing in.
Where was this momentum coming from that Bernero bragged about? Dillon had just come off getting the endorsements of Detroit Mayor Bing, former mayor Archer, and the bulk of the rest of the prominent Detroit officials. Considering Detroit is likely to represent a sizeable percentage of the overall turnout on August 3rd, that was certainly momentum for Dillon.
(Promoted for quality of argument. - promoted by Eric B.)
I know there have been a lot of posts here already advocating the pros and cons of both Andy Dillon and Virg Bernero. To be honest, I know little about Dillon, but I have learned quite a bit about Bernero as a resident of Lansing and dealing with him as our Mayor.
Unfortunately, my experiences with him aren't good. I've never been one to get actively involved in local politics until an issue came up a couple of years ago involving Lansing's munical golf courses. I live right next to one of them, a very nice course that our community was always proud of. It was kept up well, was a nice "gateway" to Lansing coming from one of the major roads going into the city, and best of all, the course was self sustaining. It, barring unforseen expenses, paid for itself.
On July 8, MSURyanJ posted an ironically-titled diary attacking the Bernero ad being run by the Genesee County Democratic Committee. Of course, as is par for the course, MSURyanJ went after the Bernero campaign for the ad, when it was independently produced by the Genesee Dems.
In the same thread, Brady decided to participate in a little race-baiting while on the taxpayers' dime...
I, like many others, was hoping that if nothing else, the Democrats could get through the primary election without resorting to name calling, mud slinging, and outright slandering their opponent. Whoever the party's candidate for Governor ultimately winds up being, after all, is going to have enough of an uphill battle against their Republican opponent already.
For the first few months, it seemed we were going to have a relative peace. Each candidate had their share of "here's why I'm better than the other guy" slogans, but nobody had gone off the deep end. Then the debates happened and we took a turn for the worse, as Virg Benero kept using cheap, tired insults against Andy Dillon like "Speaker of the Mess," and the nonsensical "fat cat."
I was still hoping against all odds that things could get back on track and we could keep things focused on the issues, but that all went out the window today when I turned on my TV and saw Bernero's first ad finally hit the airwaves. Calling it an attack ad wouldn't do it justice. Calling it a trainwreck might.
In a poll released on Friday, 42 percent of Democrats were still undecided when it came to the upcoming primary election for their party’s gubernatorial candidate in August. Thirty-four percent of those polled said they planned to vote for Speaker of the state House of Representatives, Andy Dillon, and 24 percent said they liked Lansing Mayor, Virg Bernero.
To increase transparency and accountability for Michigan politicians, The Center for Michigan today launched the Michigan Truth Squad, a non-partisan Web-based project that will seek to keep candidates and campaigns more honest and issue-focused in the ads they use to persuade voters during the 2010 election season.
Submit political campaign ad tips to www.MichiganTruthSquad.com
