Mourning Michigan: How Liberal Policies Are Killing The State I Love
August 5, 2008 / 1:06 am • By Dr. Melissa ClouthierWell, I’ve been gone for nearly a week due to technical and transportational difficulties. No computer. My iPhone went haywire, too. So, for five days, I had no meaningful connection to the world except CNN on airport TVs and that is not a meaningful connection. It’s an excruciating connection.
Guess what I did? I went all retro and read a couple books. One stunk. One, is better than I expected. (I Am Legend, the book, bored me to tears; the movie was about as bad.) So, I’ve been reminded of something: there are multiple ways to waste time and reading a crappy book is as bad as surfing the internet.
What took me to airports and bad books, oh, and $15 bucks a suitcase and $3 a bag of cashews (I kid you not) and three hour airport delays? Few things could be worth that suffering. One of those few things: family.
After an eight year absence, I took the trip from stifling Houston to the green, lush outskirts of Flint, Michigan to visit family and friends. I’m still in mourning.
As connected as the internet can now keep us, no email, no digital picture, no webcam, no IM can replace the smell of the hay, the sound of the hushed and remote quiet, the smile of the new baby or old friend, the taste of Grandma’s rice salad, the touch of a loving hug. Technology has its limitations.
The reunion reminded me of what I didn’t know I was missing. Now I know. For so long, I just wanted to get away and forget and be something different. And the difference was forced. But it was artificial, because I went back and couldn’t escape it: this was home. The way my cousins walked and smiled and cocked their heads when they laughed reminded me that I couldn’t escape my genetics. There was no question we were all related. In Michigan generally, hearing the voices, watching the women, especially, I couldn’t escape it. Culturally, I’m a Michigan woman, no matter how hard I try to be a high-maintenance Texas lady. I think the Texas women know I’m a poseur anyway.
Michigan’s beauty overwhelmed me. The rolling fields of corn and hay. The perfectly manicured, vast, unfenced yards. The quiet.
Too quiet.
After all these years, Michigan felt too much the same, only quieter. The Genessee Valley Mall in Flint served as Exhibit “A”. Mind you, the day was magnificent–80 degrees, puffy clouds, no humidity–and so people were outside and enjoying the day if they had any sense whatsoever, but still. The Mall was empty. Barnes and Noble was empty. It reminded me of a Mall that is no longer in business in Auburn, New York. I was there as that Mall died and it was a reflection of the community around it. Jobs had left. People had left. Or people had aged and with a fixed income weren’t shopping all that much. The emptiness and quiet, so comforting at my Uncles farm, felt bleak and lonely at the local Mall.
Michigan, due to ignorant and corrupt government policies and short-sighted unions and auto executives, is dying. People are leaving for better job possibilities elsewhere. People are retiring and living on pensions from the Big Three. People are getting old. The people who remain seem aware and yet not. It is only when a person is exposed to the vibrancy of a city like Houston that the contrast can be made to the sighing exhalation of an aging, diminishing state.
I talked to more than one “company” man discouraged and feeling betrayed by a company he’d given his adult life to. That’s what people did–got married and then married a job and stayed loyal and true to the brand. The younger guys were more philosophical than bewildered. They had seen the instability of the companies and seem to understand their days are numbered. Manufacturing, as it had been known in Michigan, was a thing of the past.
Even being profoundly committed philosophically to open trade, it distressed me to imagine the men (because it is mostly men doing this heavy work) not having a joint to weld or a part to manufacture. As it is, I was told, the steel now comes from Taiwan and rarely from America. Manufacturing still happens down South.
It didn’t have to be this way. Egregious taxation results in disastrous economic consequences. There’s no avoiding it. The Wall Street Journal summed things up nicely (go read the whole thing to get a perspective of how taxes can kill a state):
The tax hikes have done nothing but accelerate the departures of families and businesses. Michigan ranks fourth of the 50 states in declining home values, and these days about two families leave for every family that moves in. Making matters worse is that property taxes are continuing to rise by the rate of overall inflation, while home values fall. Michigan natives grumble that the only reason more people aren’t blazing a path out of the state is they can’t sell their homes. Research by former Comerica economist David Littmann finds that about the only industry still growing in Michigan is government. Ms. Granholm’s $44.8 billion budget this year further fattened agency payrolls.
Michigan’s unemployment rate as of June was 8.5%. It will get worse as GM makes more cuts.
And that’s another thing: the Democrats, for all their lovey lovey talk seem to not understand that high gas prices brutalize the families they ostensibly care about so much. With high gas prices, just getting to work is an issue because money is already tight. Democrats, Obama leading them, seem to think that another industry bailout by the government (taking more money from taxpayers) will solve this problem, but it just creates more of the same. Then, high gas prices change consumer behavior–i.e. they buy smaller vehicles. Plants making bigger vehicles close. The guys working at those assembly plants, the guys working at sub-contractors manufacturing parts for the plants, and the smaller businesses that supply parts for the parts, fold. Jobs are lost. And when jobs are lost, taxes aren’t paid. And then the government services can’t be sustained just when people need them the most. Here’s what the Heritage Foundation found:
Analysts at The Heritage Foundation recently examined how going from $3 and $4 retail to $5 and $6 retail per gallon of gasoline would affect the U.S. economy. If prices continue to rise at an accelerated pace over the course of a year:[1]
Total employment would decrease by 586,000 jobs,
Disposable personal income would decrease by $532 billion,
Personal consumption expenditure would decrease by $400 billion, and
Personal savings would be spent to help pay the cost.
The contrast couldn’t have been greater in Michigan: gorgeous landscape, bereft of people. Again, I am reminded of Upstate New York, where the death occurred fifteen years ago. The Finger Lakes region possesses the striking loveliness that characterizes Michigan. And yet, these once vibrant areas are devoid of industry and the people who fuel it.
Government policies and politicians do have an affect. Cities, states and the whole country rise and fall on one small law at a time. Cumulatively, policies punitive to industry and innovation kill business, kill revenue and kill a family’s ability to survive. Their only choice is to wither with the economy or move.
I don’t want Michigan to die. The death seems so senseless and premature. Like a meth addict who rots from the inside, the big-government politicians have created a craving beast that needs a hit. The true nourishment that comes from innovation and production has been traded for the quick fix of raising taxes.
I don’t want Michigan to die. People I love live and work there. They need jobs. They need to keep their money, not give it all to the government.
I don’t want Michigan to die. It’s home.
40 Responses to “Mourning Michigan: How Liberal Policies Are Killing The State I Love”
August 5 2008 / 9:38 am
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I share you sentiments. It is sad to see our state go down in flames. Wake up people help us get pour state back.
August 5 2008 / 9:40 am
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Cities & states, like retirement accounts, need to be diversified. When they’re not, and their major industry goes away then there is nothing to fall back on. Maybe they can take a cue from places like Austin, become more entrepreneur- and business-friendly, and re-tool for the future?
August 5 2008 / 10:29 am
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Wait a minute – how is it “liberal policies” have caused ANY one state’s decline when we’ve had a “compassionate conservtive” in office for eight years?
The link you provided for Obama’s proposal is mostly supportive of his idea. Helping the auto industry continue to be viable by helping them convert to production of fuel efficeint vehicles sounds like a good plan – am I missing something here? It also decreases our dependence on foreign oil -another plus.
And Obama calls for the oil companies making billions of dollars in profits to help out the American people hit hardest by the current economy….again how is that destructive???
And here’s a quote from the article:
“Michigan, he said, should be at the center of alternative energy production, saying the state has the potential to become one of the nation’s foremost producers of wind energy.”
Sounds like he wants to BOOST Michigan’s economy.
Hmmmm, I do see where Michigan Republican Party chairman Saul Anuzis says that pushing for production of fuel efficient cars would be harmful to Michigan, but he doesn’t explain HOW. We cannot continue to produce and use cars that get 10mpg or less – it’s just crazy! (Thank goodness I never bought into that stupid craze – I have always -and will continue- to drive a 4 cylinder, 25-30mpg car.)
ALL of Americans have had to cut back because of the rise in price for gas, food, and other basics -not just people in Michigan. There are many industries -especially smaller privately owned businesses- that are hurting.
We HAVE to find a new way, because the old way just isn’t working for us anymore. Producing more oil is NOT the new way – it’d be like putting a band-aid on a life-threatening gash to a major artery! And it would take TEN YEARS for offshore drilling to make a difference in our current situation.
So I go with Obama’s plan – help the hurting auto industry, make big oil cough up some dough, all while planning to wean ourselves off oil dependency over the next 10 years….wow what a crazy fascist plan!
August 5 2008 / 11:08 am
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I have a contact in Michigan (Port Huron area). He fills me in with all the juicy gossip about what’s happening there. Including the latest in the soap opera of Detroit politics, with its mayor-for-life (the one with the unpronounceably faux-African name) always under indictment for something. (And always using the race card to Get Out Of Jail Free.)
Detroit = Zimbabwe with a US Zip Code.
P.S. What both you and he are talking about is all Below Da Bridge, down in Da Mitten. I’ve never heard anything about Yooperland (Above Da Bridge) being affected. Maybe it’s time to head north over Da Bridge, eh?
August 5 2008 / 11:59 am
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I’ve moved from MI too but will always call MI home. Liberal policies aren’t killing the state, they’ve killed it. It is beyond sad and sooner or later those still there will demand change.
August 5 2008 / 4:32 pm
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Cynic,
Or, we can stop looking to the government as the solution to problems since they’re the ones who cause it. The Unions and The Big Three have danced around the truth to their own destruction. Any bailout would enable institutions that have created this mess. In addition, American companies pay so much in layers of taxation that foreign companies are spared that it is nearly impossible between pension obligations and taxes for American companies to be competitive.
Reduce taxes. Break the unions. Save Michigan.
August 5 2008 / 5:08 pm
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Melissa,
I know return visits to Flint can be shocking and depressing. It’s not easy seeing a once great city brought to its knees.
But I have to say I’m a little confused by your analysis of who is to blame. I’m not going to get into the whole liberal versus conservative thing, because those terms don’t really have any meaning anymore. A few thoughts:
1. How can you blame government taxes for G.M.’s problems, when the automaker has been getting massive tax breaks at the local, state and federal level for years? If lower taxes are the answer, then why isn’t G.M. doing better?
2. I would be the first to say that some unions have made mistakes. They often protect workers who probably should lose their jobs, for example. But to pretend that unions destroyed Michigan is ridiculous. The “company men” with their nice houses and big lawns that you describe wouldn’t have any of that if it weren’t for unions. Look at factory conditions before unions mobilized…is that what you want? Again, unions need to make some changes, but I’m astounded by people who enjoy all the benefits of unions, while claiming they’ve ruined the country. (By the way, companies could stop the alleged excesses of unions by not agreeing to them during collective bargaining.)
Finally, you’d earn a lot more respect from the citizens of Flint if you were a little more heavy handed in monitoring comments. Headless Unicorn Guy’s thinly veiled racism detracts from the ideas you discuss on your site.
If you want to keep tabs on Flint, check out Flint Expatriates: A blog for the long-lost residents of Flint.
http://www.flintexpats.com
Thanks for your time.
August 5 2008 / 5:26 pm
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Simple solution but it won’t be done. I just hope that the end of the Granholm administration may mean the end of the bleeding. Time will tell but the bottom line is that it is not Bush’s fault and neither McCain nor(and certainly not) Obama can help MI.
August 5 2008 / 6:49 pm
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Wonderful new piece, brings back wonderful old memories. What a fine, fine post. I really like the way you took this policy analysis and just alloyed it with your own personal experiences. Powerful stuff. Thank you.
August 5 2008 / 11:23 pm
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Gordie,
1. It’s not just the car companies that need tax breaks. It’s the layers of taxes, like I said. For example each supplier pays, and their subs pay, and all this inflates the cost to make the vehicle. By the time the car is made, it costs significantly more to manufacture than a foreign car. Thus, margins are tighter.
2. The problem with unions is this: the workers are paid an artificial wage for the job. It is too high. Like subsidies to farmers, union workers are paid too much. It is simply not competitive. A guy turning a wrench should not be paid as much as a teacher. Period. It is unskilled labor. Now, the more skill, the more pay.
Also, the unions are short-sighted. They have preferred to have plants leave the states rather than make concessions. The whole cut-the-nose deal. So the guys who still have jobs are overpaid, but many workers now have nothing.
Finally, GM in particular (I can speak to it, since I grew up as a GM brat), has always been top-heavy organizationally. They simply have WAY too many layers of upper management to be effective. The concept of lean and mean is foreign to them–kinda like he government.
For the record, I didn’t want bailouts of the airlines after 9/11, the banks with this mortgage loan business and I don’t want the car companies bailed out, either. They need to get their shit together and the market forces need to work.
The government’s job is to make a regulation and tax environment favorable to innovation and development. The company’s job is to make products people actually want. Right now, people want economical cars b/c of gas prices. The companies got caught with their pants down. But the gov’t needs to do what it can to get cheap fuel, too. The Democrats are killing the economy, by not forcing OPEC and the rest of America’s oil suppliers to have more competition. Starting drilling would ease everything for everyone, including the car companies.
August 6 2008 / 8:30 am
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Since I live in Flint, I see the decay every day. In yesterday’s primary, the voters in Flint pretty much gave the same do nothing politicians more time to preside over the destruction. The democratic party machine, with the UAW’s blessing and assistance, couldn’t care less as long as they’re in power.
August 6 2008 / 11:31 am
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I experience the same feeling when I visit Terre Haute, Indiana. The city is dieing on the vine. Yet, evry attemp at bringing new business or new jobs to the city is met with the same old liberal attitudes. Are these union jobs? Will the company pay ‘X’ and provide full benefits? Will the new plant redo all the roads? Will the company provide help for minorities wanting jobs? And the best one, “Let’s raise the taxes on the land the company is considering, so we can get more money from them. After all they will be using city services.”
August 6 2008 / 11:31 am
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I’m a former Flint resident too (76-04), now living in Southfield. It’s sad to see what’s become of the old neighborhood. I think it is fair to put much of the blame on Liberalism… either through the Democrat party directly, or through the unions. They both have a paternalistic cradle-to-grave mentality.
Regarding the wind power…. I did some quick calculations on this… According to wikipedia (i know), Michigan has around 18,000 MW of installed electric capacity. Knocking off the 4000 MW that comes from nuclear, that leaves 14000 MW. The biggest wind turbines have blades the size of a football field, and are rated (generously in a 20mph wind) at 2.5 MW. That’s over 5600 turbines. You can’t just pack those thing in either. I understand they need to be at least a mile apart to prevent shadowing. So you’re looking at 1400 square miles of land to set up this monster. And we still haven’t figured out what to do with calm days…
August 6 2008 / 11:37 am
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maybe obama can sign an executive decree — now — making all Americans buy a GM or Ford vehicle. that would help things. it’s no coincidence that the most socialist of states is so uncompetitive; a useful lesson to other states. unions are like viruses, they don’t care a whit about the health of the host organism even though their continued survival depends on it.
August 6 2008 / 1:18 pm
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First, they came for the oil companies, and I didn’t speak up because I didn’t own any oil company stock. Next, they came for …
Cynic13 writes: “Obama calls for the oil companies making billions of dollars in profits to help out the American people hit hardest by the current economy….again how is that destructive???”
This proposal isn’t about helping “people hit hardest by the current economy”, it’s about buying power with other peoples money. Obama wants to use the power of government to confiscate private property, promising to split up the loot if elected. This is part of a strategy the Democrats have been using for generations. It is nothing more than rank Marxism.
Profit provides the incentive to invest, hire and create wealth. Obama’s proposal strikes at the very heart of our economic system, promising to undermine the incentives that drive economic growth. How hard would you work if your wages were confiscated?
Maybe you should check your 401K portfolio. Own any oil companies? Pharmaceuticals? Whose property will the Democrats come for next in their quest for power?
August 6 2008 / 1:24 pm
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Cynic,
You must not live in Michigan. I do, I work in the automotive industry and know first hand what liberal policies do and what they accomplish. Granholm was voted into her office under the guise of change, rallying against the big bad evil republican governor who ruled Michigan with an iron fist.
Even though Engler cut government, left office with a surplus, credit was given to Clinton. Now we have a Governor with a Democratically controled House, and liberal detroit calling the shots. High gas prices aside, here are somethings Granholm has accomplished during her 6 years in office.
Raised taxes on Gasoline
Raised property taxes and collects them in one big lump sum at the end of summer (wreaks havoc on your vacation budget)
Removed sales tax holidays for school supplies and school clothes
Increased fees across the board for Secretary of State (DMV for everyone else)
Turned the state highways into a perpetual state of construction causing massive traffic jams
Expanded our state government by almost 10,000 jobs since taking office
Destroyed small businesses with an unfair profit tax or know as the dreaded Michigan small business tax
These are just a few things Granholm has screwed up. She is a big reason why the state is dying. Manufacturing companies are pulling up roots here and moving to states more friendly to business. Sometimes people need to take responsibility for their actions and Granholm is one of them. She had the chance to take the state into the 21st century, and now we’ll be lucky if we can remain a territory of the US. Liberal policies caused our problems here and I will not be suprised if the state turns red in the next election. Not too many happy with our Democratic leadership.
August 6 2008 / 1:29 pm
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I am a Michigander and share the good Doctor’s sorrows but I am not without hope. when the house has been destroyed you start again at the foundation. Prior to Michigan’s automotive golden age, we were a state of farmers, miners and lumbermen (and eventually oilmen as well) and when you take our water into account, I don’t think there is a state east of the Mississippi that can match Michigan in terms of natural resources. If we would just DO IT oil production and refining alone could put a big dent in our unemployment rate (but the environmentalists would rather see us collecting welfare.) Michigan’s recovery must begin with its own natural resources. Of course we need a governor whose willing to do that which we don’t have at the moment.
August 6 2008 / 2:08 pm
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Excellent post.
I’m a MI native (Kalamazoo) now living in Denver, and this place is lousy with transplanted upper midwesterners…Quite by chance, I have no fewer than six close friends also from Michigan. I still have family in K’zoo and north of Detroit, but they’re the ones too old to pack up and move.
It’s such a physically beautiful state, but it’s buried itself economically and there’s plenty of blame to go around. The state is such a synonym for decline now that I can’t imagine what it would take to lure new industries there. And don’t get me started on Detroit. I’m sorry, but the poster above who accused another of “veiled racism” is kidding himself. The people of Detroit have ghetto-ized themselves by voting year after year for crooks and clowns like Kwame & friends, and they’ll continue to do so. You know why.
August 6 2008 / 3:15 pm
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Thanks for this blog. Especially
WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2006
Birth Rate Decline: Discussing The Parent Trap
My pastor will be getting a copy.
August 6 2008 / 4:16 pm
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I’m very sad after reading this account. I was valedictorian of my little high school outside Syracuse New York 40 years ago, but when I graduated from Syracuse University there were no jobs. Governor RINO Rockefeller’s socialist policies were already causing a hemorrhage of jobs. In the decade of the 70s that followed, the environmental psychopaths put their Gucci shoes on the neck of the industrial Northeast and they never let up. I have migrated all over the western US to stay employed, but I spent 30 years in California and watched it turn into a 3rd world shithole with its marxism and open borders.
I still love my hometown area, it’s beautiful, just like Michigan, where many of my neighbors came from back when the auto companies had hard times in the 1950s. They would always say how our part of NY reminded hem of their homeland in Michigan. God damn the liberals to hell for what they have done to this beautiful country.
August 6 2008 / 4:55 pm
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I had to leave Grand Blanc 2 years ago because of that,….heartbreaking indeed.
August 6 2008 / 10:23 pm
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I grew up in Mid-Michigan near Lansing in the 70’s/80’s. My father was a local UAW union president. I know the union killed thousands of jobs due to their many constraints: inflexible work schedules and shop rules resulting in low labor productivity, way above market level wages, severe constraints on firing, etc… The stories from the union guys on how they were sticking it to the man were humorous as a kid.
When I went to college and out into industry as management it became very apparent they were actually sticking it to themselves and their decedents. State laws and politicians heavily supported the unions. They thought heavy industry wouldn’t leave with the large asset base they had in the state. They were wrong, industry just died.
I finally stopped thinking of Michigan as home a couple of years ago when my brother left and joined me and some others in hot and happening Atlanta. All of our family is now out of the state, after 150 years of family working with Michigan farms and factories. It’s all gone, the state is now dead to our family.
August 6 2008 / 11:22 pm
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I have watched the UAW “workers” at GM powertrain in Flint sleep in front of their machines. They are useless and overpaid. Buy Japanese cars that are the high quality vehicles today. The stupid bastards at GM do not deserve a dime for the crap they build, and I think they build the best of the American cars. I got ahold of a GM Powertrain executive on a flight once, he tried to tell me Honda and Toyota only had “perceived” quality advantages. Take a look at the auto issue of Consumer Reports before you buy your next car. Boycott the black circles. That guy was an idiot and a perfect example of why GM has lost its position as the automotive leader of the world.
August 7 2008 / 8:29 am
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We just returned from a week in Mayville.Beautiful. But everyone around there IS old. Farming may be the state’s best real hope for survival.
August 8 2008 / 11:23 am
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Gordie (who’s playing the race card on me):
My informant from Port Huron is 1/4 black (what Victorians called a “quadroon”), which nowadays qualifies as “all black” under the “one-drop” rule blacktivists are now so fond of. (Actually, he’s 1/4 black, 1/4 Jewish, 1/4 German, 1/4 Scandinavian, and all blue-collar small-town/rural.)
And present-day Detroit’s still a shithole, no matter how much you play the race card.
August 8 2008 / 2:06 pm
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Dr. Melissa,
Thank you for your writing. I, my wife, and 1 year old son moved to Austin two months ago. We moved from Fenton, Michigan which is about 15 miles south of Flint. How similar your thoughts and feelings are to mine, in fact my wife is from San Diego and I drug her(figuratively of course) all the way from Los Angeles to my beautiful homeland in Michigan three years ago because of the attributes that you mentioned.
I was a teacher in Michigan. My wife and I chose to each leave a job, leave my whole family, sold a home (losing tens of thousands on), and put an inherited lakehome up for sale ALL for the promise that Texas has.
I’m the only one working now, the job is not teaching and considering the amount more I make minus the extra time I work I make about the same. Needless to say, the job was not the reason for our move, especially since it is in the building industry. The reason was simply the promise that Texas has; growth.
I did not even take the time to read the liberal responses to your writing, I’ve heard them all too many times before from Michigander after Michigander. I heard on the radio just today that Kilpatrick is in jail and the talk host commented “The people knew exactly what they were getting when they re-elected this guy.” I couldn’t agree more. Michiganders no longer have the excuse of ignorance. If they don’t think they have tried liberal ideas in the government and unions for year after year after year in Michigan and now have the obvious results then they are just being blind and stupid.
You and I can yell to Texans “Be careful of liberal (socialist) government and unions!” and they would be ignorant not to listen, but Michiganders? If they don’t listen then they are being stupid. I feel bad for calling people stupid, but…
Maybe Michigan needs a governor from Texas NOT Canada. That’s my two cents worth. More importantly, I’ll never root for the Longhorns, I will always bleed maize and blue. Go Blue!
Pax Figioli
August 9 2008 / 9:46 pm
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Cynic 13 would not even consider the thought that raising taxes on business will drive business away. The government makes more off of high gas prices than Exxon does. Raise taxes? Who pays the taxes but the consumer. Why high gas prices? Restrict supply and the cost goes up. Obama said gas prices are not too high, they just rose to fast. The worst part is when a senator says he will raise prices on the rich. They mean you and I when they say that. Obama voted to raise taxes on people making more than 42000. The rich.
November 16 2008 / 2:16 pm
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I felt compelled to leave a reply because you have made many valid points all over your blog.
I am a Michigander born in Cadillac and currently living in the U.P., I just want to point out that It doesn’t matter which side of the political spectrum your opinions fall, Michigan has and does continue to suffer and every 4 years each side plays the blame game. The biggest thing I have noticed from every politician is they seem to think the state ENDS at Saginaw. The Democrats may keep us poor but the Republicans seem to like us that way. Whenever the federal government decides to replenish the military ranks, they set up shop. They know full well they have a whole state full of destitute unemployed,massively patriotic people.
The auto industry has been a blessing and a curse for Michigan. I know many auto workers truly believed that even their children would have a secure job future filling their shoes at retirement. I think Michiganders are learning that nothing is forever , and DON’T put all your economic eggs in one basket. I know entire families that have retired from GM and uprooted to other states so that the next generation can find work. Granholm seems to think she can fund the whole state on cigarette taxes. In the meantime Wal-Mart continues to push the outright LIE that they support small business.
For many of us that live ABOVE Saginaw Wal-Mart is the only place left to shop. They pump millions out of our economy to Bentonville and do not support our local newspapers or our local banks. I think the economic problem in Michigan has been created by such a HUGE spectrum of conditions.
Speaking as one of the little people because the little people are all that Michigan seems to have left , It often feels like it doesn’t matter if we wake up everyday and earn an hourly wage under the yoke of the corporation or under the tax burden of a failed economy because both have left us with little choice beyond moving away if we want a higher standard of living.
Many of us here at some point looked out our frozen winter windows or walking through untouched woods had a moment where we realized “Michigan is in our blood”. My mom tells me Michigan chooses it’s people and once it does no where else will feel like home.
December 2 2008 / 12:23 pm
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Excellent post. Michigan is my home, also. Born in Ypsi, moved out in my teen years to West Michigan, I have always loved this place. I dont think I could possibly leave (in college now)…
Unlike you,I mourn the loss of you, friends, family, and those who have left their stories as comments. I think it is time we assemble short, 1-paragraph stroies from each person we can contact (thousands, maybe) that will tell Lansing exactly what happened to make them leave. Perhaps that will move some Dems…
As a start, you can email me your/ your family’s story at CMWicker@gmail.com
December 3 2008 / 7:06 am
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I live in Michigan, not too far away from Greenville. In 2006 500 people lost their jobs (a possession, like a house, from the words they say). Montcalm County (the funny shaped one NE of Kent) is facing the same problems as its largest city Greenville.
I can’t imagine escaping. I mean, I love it here. The whole poverty thing sucks, can’t find a job, roads suck, but I can’t imagine living anywhere else. There are other places with the Fall season, there are other places with hot summers and cold winter, but they aren’t like this place. I love all the old rusty cars. I love all the dilapidated houses that are still lived in. I love how most garages are larger than the house it sits behind. I love how sometimes there are multiple garages and barns larger than the house. There is too much to love.
There is also a lot to hate. The economic troubles are Bush, or Englers fault heh. We don’t know how to use those blinkey amber lights on our cars(turn signal). Our schools are poor. Our situation is horrible.
Michigan will never perish, we’re too poor to move and Uncle Sam takes care of his unemployed unskilled(not old job) uneducated(college) nieces and nephews.
I’m surprised Montcalm County is only 76th in Michigan in unemployment at 11.9%. Since we have 83 counties some other places have it bad too. We’re poor, under educated, and we overwhelmingly buy into whatever the snake oil salesmen are selling. I’m lucky enough to live in a “rich” enough household that we have no money after paying for my brothers college.
February 10 2009 / 4:28 pm
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I, too, live in Houston but was born and raised in Michigan. And, you are so right about Michigan.
Beautiful. I miss the four seasons.
Anyway, I hear comments to your blog about how can liberal policies have caused this? I am a
chemical engineer and when I graduated from college (University of Michigan) in 1975 Michigan
had a vibrant chemical and process business economy. However, I remember Attorney General
Frank Kelly waging his war against that same industry. I remember the unions striking one chemical,
pharmaceutical, and food processing plant after another. The result was obvious. Not a sudden
move out, rather a slow disinvestment in the state. Plants didn’t shut down immediately, There just
was no investment. So departments and plants slowly rotted until one after another they were shut
down. If you don’t want business, it isn’t going to stay for long.
Michigan could have a strong chemical business but most are gone and those that are left are
just rumps of what they were. Michigan could have a strong food process business but who wants
to deal with the environmental hassle? So, most the plants are in northern Indiana or northern Ohio.
Michigan’s economy has caved in because they drove everybody out except the auto business. This
took 30 years. Now, the only one left is dying. So, what happens? The state dies.
April 10 2009 / 1:00 pm
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Nice post! GA is also my biggest earning. However, it