If you go to Rick Snyder’s Facebook page, you’ll see a picture of him smiling smugly under the banner “Michigan’s Comeback Kid”. Putting aside the fact that “comeback kid” actually refers to a person who has come back from some personal trauma, something our Governor has not done, the suggestion that Michigan is somehow roaring back to economic prosperity under Rick Snyder is ludicrous at best and complete and utter lie at worst.
Last month, we had that the third highest unemployment rate in the country at 7.5%. This month, we’re still the third highest, tied with Nevada and Nevada, at 7.7%. The national unemployment rate went up, as well, but by half as much.
Despite massive tax breaks for corporations and making Michigan a labor-unfriendly “right to work” state, we are not only not “coming back”, we’re losing ground.
>> One in four of Michigan children live in poverty.
>> The number of schools and municipalities in financial emergencies continues to grow, spreading state-appointed Emergency Managers to more and more communities.
>> We have a charter school system that has essentially run amok, allowing anyone, no matter what their credentials, to set up a “school”, begin receiving money from the state paid for with our tax dollars, and not be held accountable for transparency, ethical behavior, or, most importantly, academic success.
>> Our roads and infrastructure continue to crumble and erode with no solution in sight since Republicans who control the state House, the state Senate, and the Governor’s office can’t seem to get it together enough to fund road and bridge repair after one of the most brutal winters in Michigan history.
If you’re looking for a case study for the failures of trickle down economics, corporatization & privatization, and the conservative ideal of “running government like a business”, Michigan is your poster child; all under the so-called “leadership” of Republican Rick Snyder and his colleagues in the state legislature.
So don’t buy the lies that Michigan is somehow surging back economically. The facts show this to be a lie fabricated by the members of a political party desperate to keep control despite the abject failure of their governing model.
UPDATE: It looks like tax cuts aren’t the only thing we should be worried about. Gov. Snyder’s office sent out an email to business owners asking for their opinions on the “regulatory climate” in Michigan:
Through Governor Snyder’s Reinventing Performance in Michigan initiative, the State of Michigan has contracted with ForeSee Results to conduct a survey of a select group of businesses. Business professionals’ opinions about our regulatory system will help drive this initiative’s work and improve the delivery of services.We would greatly appreciate your participation in this survey. If you have already submitted a completed survey, please disregard this reminder message. If not, and you wish to participate, please do so within the following week before the survey will go offline.
Your feedback, aggregated with the survey responses of other customers, will provide important insights into ways that we can improve the regulatory process, agencies and overall regulatory climate. We are also interested in gaining a better understanding of how the regulatory process and requirements affect your perception of Michigan as a place to conduct business.
Please click on the link below to open the survey, which will require approximately ten minutes of your time to complete.
I’m sure we all know how THAT will go. Calls for loosening environmental and product liability protections and more deregulation in 3 … 2 … 1 …
