Little Red Hen
by Tim Skubick
March 19, 2010
Many lawmakers proudly profess that education is their top priority. If so, why is there serious talk about slicing the K-12 school aid budget by almost $400 per pupil and higher education by 3 percent, which will most assuredly result in tuition increases above 5 percent?
To help understand the [...]

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Daddy-Daughter Dance
by Tim Skubick
March 12, 2010
This is a tale of four fathers with daughters.
Let’s start with Bob Bowman.
For two full terms he worked as state treasurer for Gov. Jim Blanchard. “I’ve always been interested in being governor,” Bowman confessed after he left state government.
But the interest remained unexplored until Lt. Gov. John Cherry dropped out [...]

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Experience Still Counts
by Tim Skubick
March 5, 2010
Everything you read these days about the political climate out there is bad news for anyone who even remotely resembles a career politician.
The anger is palpable, as citizens are mad at Republicans and Democrats. End of story.
Not so fast.
In the latest TV7-Detroit Free Press survey of the governor’s race, [...]

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Truth in Advertising
by Tim Skubick
February 26, 2010
When the Snyder for Guv guys were fact-checking their notorious Nerd commercial, they missed one huge error. The announcer claimed that business guy Snyder had a Ten-Point Plan that the typical career politician would not understand.
Turns out, every politician will understand. That’s because much of the Snyder blueprint contains [...]

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Tea Party Hijackers
by Tim Skubick
February 19, 2010
America, they say, is a red and blue country divided between Democrats and Republicans. Now there is unfolding a civil war within the Grand Ole Party that threatens to marginalize the GOP.
Even though the re-election bid of U.S. Senator John McCain out in Arizona appears to have little to [...]

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Reality State of the State
by Tim Skubick
February 12, 2010
If someone could finagle a way to collect it, we could eradicate the $1.8-billion state deficit the governor has unveiled. Just collect a dime for every time the word “change” is mentioned in the race for governor this year.
Every election features a plethora of candidates (except the [...]

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Granholm, Obama in Similar Boat
by Tim Skubick
February 5, 2010
As President Barack Obama ends his first year in office and Governor Jennifer Granholm enters her last, one is struck by the parallels.
First, the two are masterful at running for office. Second, both are severely challenged at running their respective governments.
A campaign is all about the candidate, [...]

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Game Face for State of the State
by Tim Skubick
January 29, 2010
It would be a hoot if the governor began her final State of the State message thusly:
Good evening. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Majority Leader, members of the House and Senate. I am not going to introduce any common citizens in the audience tonight. It’s a burned-out [...]

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Bowman to Face GOP Brushback
by Tim Skubick
January 22, 2010
Bob Bowman backers will quickly dismiss it as a cheap shot. But if the former state treasurer under former Democratic Governor Jim Blanchard decides to run for his old boss’s job, his opponents will jump on it as proof positive that Bowman is “not one of us.” [...]

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Dillon’s Dual Role Put to Test
by Tim Skubick
January 15, 2010
Mike speaks: “I know you want to increase revenue, Andy, but if I let you do that, it will help you win the Democratic nomination for governor, and my party wants no part of that. So, will I compromise with you on this package? Sorry old [...]

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