Columns

Tim Skubick

GOP Gets Pass
on No-Tax Pledge

May 20, 2011

The Michigan legislature approves a half-billion-dollar tax hike. That’s the kind of story you would expect from a Democratic governor and legislature.

Look again.

That hefty tax hike on some retirees was adopted by a GOP governor and his pals in the Republican-controlled House and Senate.

Who’d a thunk it?

For decades GOP lawmakers have steadfastly opposed anything that even looked like a tax hike. They would sign and then wave around their “No Tax Pledge” card with honor and a self-serving smile, because opposing taxes was a one-way ticket to re-election.

Enter one Rick Snyder. There’s an R after his name, yet some conservatives believe it’s a wobbly R at best. He never signed the pledge.

Seven right-wing Senate Republicans refused to cough up a yes vote on the governor’s pension tax on those under 60. But, astoundingly, 19 did.

When Democrat Jennifer Granholm used to go to Republicans with her tax hike schemes, they laughed her out of the room.

Yet Mr. Snyder still basks in the joy of boosting taxes, albeit on straight party-line votes, including 56 House Republicans who all of a sudden look like tax-and-spend liberals…yeah, that’s a stretch — but it’s not that far off.

Take Sen. Mike Green from up north. He’s about as conservative as it gets, and up until now he never met a tax hike he didn’t hate. But he was the deciding vote that set up a 19-19 tie on the pension tax, allowing Lt. Gov. Brian Calley to break it.

Or how about Sen. Mike Kowall (R-Oakland County)? During his years in the House and Senate, the Democrats never asked him for a tax-hike vote. It was a waste of time. But there was Big Mike the other day, punching the green yes button while holding his nose at the same time.

And then there is Tea-Party-favorite Sen. Patrick Colbeck. He signed the no-tax pledge and did vote no on the Senate floor, but he provided the decisive fourth yes vote in committee that teed up the governor’s package for final approval in the full Senate.

A true anti-tax believer would have stood fast in opposition to block this tax hike from getting to the floor, but he gave the governor the vote he needed.

Surely, the national and Michigan T.P. crowd are up in arms and will haul these three and other Republicans to the woodshed. Won’t they?

Nope.

The man who invented the no-tax pledge gave everyone a bye, noting that the overall Snyder plan was a net tax cut…yeah, a tax cut for business with seniors getting a tax hike.

So much for Grover Norquist’s credibility.

And the vocal Michigan Tea Party? It was MIA.

And on top of that, sneaked into the bill was a freeze on the state income tax rate, which was going to go down before the governor decided it shouldn’t. And he got Republican votes for that, too.

Heck, when the aforementioned Ms. Granholm tried that, the GOP Party chair, Betsy DeVos, called it a tax increase. Nobody from the party did that this time.

Surely, all this means Mr. Snyder will be a one-term governor because the Democrats will remind seniors about the pension tax at re-election time.

But he may have the last laugh. He probably won’t run.

Tim Skubick is Michigan’s Senior Capitol correspondent and has anchored the weekly public TV series Off the Record since 1972. He also covers the Capitol and politics for WLNS-TV6 in Lansing.

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Where’s the Data?
You’ve heard the governor is driven by data. But somehow he can’t slap a number on how many jobs his new biz tax will create; he just knows that it will work, so suck it in and trust him already.

According to the Snyder administration, there was no way to quantify the jobs number. Apparently in this big wide world there is no computer modeling program that could regurgitate a jobs figure. At least that’s their story and they’re sticking to it.

But wait a minute. That conservative think-tank up in Midland issued a news release the other day trumpeting the “fact” that the new 6 percent flat-rate corporate income tax will produce “57,000 jobs” in year one and 120,900 by the year 2016.”

How is it the Mackinac Center was able to grind out these numbers when their pal who is running the state could not?

One of two things is happening here. Either the governor didn’t want to run the numbers or there really isn’t a way to quantify the figure and the center is just making this stuff up.

Now, the center will deny that allegation, which then means the governor didn’t try hard enough to answer the question. Either way, something doesn’t smell right.

Others have joined in the debate.

Former state treasurer Bob Kleine, who worked for Govs. Granholm and Milliken, does not cite any data but concludes, “No one knows for certain, but the evidence says it will not” create jobs.

The governor often points to a recent survey conducted by the small business guys. He says they will use the tax cut money to create jobs — but the survey suggests that is third on the to-do list.

The report hints the extra savings will go into the benefits and paychecks of employees first, followed by the purchase of new equipment and then new jobs.

Another report in the early 1990s concluded that a 10 percent across the board cut in state and local taxes would produce a 2 percent spike in employment. But here’s the kicker: it would take up to 20 years.

Maybe the bean counters at the Mackinac Center have a response to that?

Hint of Bipartisanship
It wasn’t much, but there was a faint hint of bipartisan cooperation during the recent Senate vote on the governor’s biz/pension tax. The Democrats actually gave the gov something and he returned the favor…or did he?

For weeks the Senate Democratic leader had bellyached about not being included in budget chats with Gov. Rick Snyder and his two sidekicks in the House and Senate. Sen. Gretchen Whitmer wanted to help, but that came with a price — and it all came to a head during the heat of the tax battle last Thursday.

Here’s the inside skinny.

Lt. Gov. Brian Calley desperately wanted to vote on the tax issue, but the only way that could happen was with a 19-19 vote. Then his vote would provide the historic 20th vote for passage.

But here was the rub. Ms. Whitmer was threatening to send some of her Democrats off to Ohio or some other exotic locale. Then they could not vote and there would be no tie for Calley to break.

Somebody went to her with this suggestion: if you provide all of your votes, we will buy down the governor’s cut to education, which was originally pegged at a hefty $470 per pupil.

Whitmer was intrigued, and long story short, she got an agreement from the other side to shave the cut down to around $245.

In addition, Whitmer knew that some Detroit Democrats were worried that the GOP would never allow a vote on bills to extend Motown’s income and utility taxes. Hence, she asked for and got a pledge from the gov’s guys that the vote would be held.

Note that the front office did not promise to supply votes, only to allow it to be voted on. She was pleased.

Come to find out, that vote was going to happen anyway, but nobody told her that.

Regardless, this was bipartisan cooperation, but apparently not with the governor per se. Asked about the “deal,” the governor asks what deal? He never signed off on it, but his party’s Senate leader may have without notifying the governor.

Regardless, the latest plan was for the governor to endorse using some of the state’s newly found surplus to buy down the school aid cut, so in the end, Ms. Whitmer will supposedly get what she wanted anyway. Maybe. A big maybe.

Cover

Photo by David Trumpie

Meet the New Leaders

by Susan J. Demas
November 16, 2010

The good news for Randy Richardville, Gretchen Whitmer, Jase Bolger and Rich Hammel is that after the last four years, the bar is set so low that it would be hard to fail.

The last legislative leadership quadrant was born in the bowels of 2007’s deep budget crisis and never recovered. In the Senate, tensions over tax policy left Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) and then-Minority Leader Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek) barely speaking to each other.

In the House, relations between Speaker Andy Dillon and then-Minority Leader Craig DeRoche were even worse. With only two years in the legislature, Dillon (D-Redford Township) struggled to lead a caucus still badly divided after his upset win in the leadership fight against then-Rep. Andy Meisner, Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s chosen candidate. And DeRoche (R-Novi), still reeling from losing the majority in 2006, was determined that a Democratic-led tax increase would vindicate his party in the ’08 elections. (It didn’t.)

We know how the rest of the story goes: a tax increase, budget cuts and a brief government shutdown in ’07.

Though the players changed in 2009 with Mike Prusi (D-Ishpeming) taking over as Senate minority leader and Kevin Elsenheimer (R-Kewadin) assuming that role in the House, the result was fairly similar: another short government shutdown, although big budget cuts instead of a tax increase.

“We didn’t work well together,” acknowledges Prusi. “We started out with fairly regular quadrant meetings, but that fell apart pretty quickly.”

So when Granholm — who began her governorship saying she wanted to work with the quadrant as successfully as had Governor William Milliken — dissolved those meetings this year, no one missed them very much. Relations between the four legislative leaders and her administration had deteriorated to the point that the state’s $44 billion budget was, even at critical times, being negotiated via text message.

Thanks to term limits, both Granholm and the current quadrant will be swept out of office on December 31 — and all of Lansing (and the rest of the state) is hoping they take the dysfunction with them. In their place will be Republican Rick Snyder as governor, Richardville (R-Monroe) as Senate majority leader, Whitmer (D-East Lansing) as Senate minority leader, Bolger (R-Marshall) as speaker of the House and Hammel (D-Mt. Morris Township) as House minority leader.

“They do have to get along better,” says Craig Ruff, senior policy fellow at Lansing-based Public Sector Consultants and a Dome columnist. “They have to restore some level of confidence.”

Indeed, Snyder and all four leaders are singing the bipartisan tune right now (if not Kumbaya, because they all know they’re facing a $1.6 billion budget deficit right out of the gate). Of course, with Republicans riding in with control of the governor’s office, a supermajority in the Senate and firm control of the House, there may not be a lot of negotiating needed. But that all depends what the new governor will do, which remains a question mark.

“Republicans hold all the levers,” notes Democrat Prusi. “But I’m hopeful at the tone Rick Snyder has set.”

Inexperience is another wild card. Like Granholm, Snyder will take office with no legislative experience to speak of. The new quadrant will come armed with 26 years at the state level between them (their predecessors had 24).

Sens. Richardville and Whitmer are fairly well known in Lansing (if not statewide) after spending a decade apiece in office, but the House leadership is pretty green. On the surface, the new quadrant has a lawyer, an executive, a small businessman and an autoworker. They’re all native Michiganders and parents and have college degrees. Two are Baby Boomers and two were born into Generation X.

But the questions for many remain: just who are these leaders and how will they work together? Here’s a primer.

Randy Richardville
Position: Senate Majority Leader
Age: 51
Hometown: Monroe
Family: Wife, Sarah; two kids, 29 and 27
Education: B.S., finance, Albion; M.S., management, Aquinas
Previous Occupation: Monroe economic development director
Political Experience: House, 1999-2005; Majority floor leader, 2003-05; Senate, 2007-present

Almost every day when the Senate is in session, citizens are treated to the smooth vocal stylings of one Randy Richardville.

As president pro-tempore, he fills in when Lt. Gov. John Cherry isn’t presiding over the upper chamber, which is to say quite often. With his velvety radio DJ voice, Richardville makes listening to descriptions of bills and senatorial rules downright pleasant, even on the longest session days.

“I try to make it fun,” he laughs.

Come January, he’ll be off the podium announcing legislation and in back rooms negotiating it as the Senate’s new majority leader. The mirthful Richardville will corral a caucus of 26 – the biggest in modern history. He’s the only member of the new quadrant with leadership experience, having served as majority floor leader in the House under Speaker Rick Johnson. And he also represented the most Democratic district in the lower chamber, proving his appeal to more than just the GOP base.

Though several lawmakers emerged as rivals for the top post — Sen. Mark Jansen (R-Cutlerville), Sen. Mike Nofs (R-Battle Creek) and, most recently, Sen.-Elect John Proos (R-St. Joseph) — Richardville racked up early support and was considered the odds-on favorite by the lobbying corps. He ended up running unopposed.

A natural dealmaker, Richardville hails from the “We can disagree without being disagreeable” school of thought. He and Whitmer have been friends since their House days, something that should buoy hopes for a less contentious Senate.

Sen. Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw), the newly minted Senate Appropriations chair, is Richardville’s uncle who used to babysit him in his boyhood. Kahn describes his nephew, a former manager at both Cargill and Herman Miller, as “very even-tempered and thoughtful” and “very well-liked.”

“He’ll bring a team-building characteristic to the majority leader’s office,” Kahn says. “The state of Michigan should be grateful to have him as majority leader.”

Richardville’s top priorities are improving the business environment, reducing regulation and improving the tax structure. And he seems content to carry on Mike Bishop’s tradition of setting a distinct agenda. While Senate Republicans share many of the tenants of Rick Snyder’s 10-point turnaround plan, Richardville said his caucus’ priorities will “parallel those of the governor, not replicate them.”

Still boyish with a heart-shaped face, Richardville admits the long days (and nights) in Lansing over the last 12 years have caused his social life to take a hit. One of the ways he relaxes is by taking the long way home to Monroe through the back roads.

“It takes an extra half-hour, but it’s kind of peaceful,” he says.

Gretchen Whitmer
Position: Senate Minority Leader
Age: 39
Hometown: East Lansing
Family: Divorced, two daughters, 8 and 7
Education: B.A., communications; J.D., both from MSU
Previous Occupation: Attorney, Dickinson Wright
Political Experience: House, 2001-06; Senate, 2006-present

If there’s a Democrat who could have enjoyed statewide success in the Year of the Great Shellacking, it’s Gretchen Whitmer.

For the last couple years, the dynamic senator and top fundraiser looked to be a lock as the Democratic nominee for attorney general. But traversing the state started to take a real toll on her two young daughters, 8 and 7, who took to following her around the house around the holidays because “we didn’t know if you were coming back, Mommy.” So Whitmer bowed out in January to put them first.

As it turns out, her help is sorely needed in the legislature. The dean of the Senate, Whitmer ended up running unopposed for minority leader, as her chief rival, Sen. Glenn Anderson (D-Westland), dropped out the eve of the election. (He saw the writing on the wall, having led the caucus’ disastrous re-election campaign.)

For the next four years, the Senate Democrats will be a tight-knit group of 12, meaning that they can’t even procedurally block legislation by withholding immediate effect. And after dwelling in the minority for 26 straight years (and counting), the Dems desperately need some kind of a spark.

“She’ll raise the profile a lot,” says longtime friend Deb Cherry, who just resigned from the Senate to take over as Genesee County treasurer. “That’s her nature. She has charisma. …I don’t believe the Republican caucus will be in lockstep and Snyder will need the Dems.”

A striking figure with raven hair and almost mischievous brown eyes, Whitmer has naturally attracted the kind of attention that Sarah Palin has (and from Maxim magazine, no less). But Whitmer, who graduated magna cum laude with a J.D. from Michigan State University, isn’t really the type to waste her time with reality shows like Dancing with the Stars.

“I walk at 5:30 every morning with a friend…so I go to bed by 9 p.m. I have no idea what’s going on with any reality show,” she laughs.

She’s proven to be a skilled politician, winning competitive primaries and general elections in the House. And Whitmer is focused on policy, as well, crediting both her father, Dick, who was Commerce director under Bill Milliken, and her late mother, Sherry, an assistant attorney general under Frank Kelley. The former House Appropriations ranking member plans to fight for a long-term approach to the budget, quality education and a tax code “that makes sense.”

“Politics has gotten more personal and more partisan,” Whitmer says. “Back in the Milliken and Kelley years, it was about working together and doing the right thing for people, as opposed to winning an argument. But that’s not the case with a 24-hour news cycle and term limits.”

In spite of the Democrats’ minority status, she’s feeling optimistic about the 2011-12 term, largely because of her relationship with Richardville. And although she’s well aware of the long hours in store for her in Lansing, the mother of two feels “very lucky” to live only eight miles away.

Jase Bolger
Position: House Speaker
Age: 39
Hometown: Marshall
Family: Wife, Molly, two kids, 16 and 14
Education: B.B.A., finance and political science, WMU
Previous Occupation: Owner, Summit Credit Services
Political Experience: House, 2009-present; Calhoun County Commission, 2005-09

If Jase Bolger wasn’t getting ready to become the next speaker of the Michigan House, he’d probably be opening another business in Marshall, the somewhat sleepy south central Michigan hamlet he calls home.

Fourteen years ago, he founded Summit Credit Services, which updates customer data for Fortune 100 companies. His experience as a small businessman inspired him to run in 2004 for a spot on the Calhoun County Commission, where he served with soon-to-be House Minority Floor Leader Kate Segal (D-Battle Creek). But Bolger had to hand over the reins of managing his company when he joined the House in 2009.

“It requires personal sacrifice,” he says.

That goes for his golf game and hunting schedule, both of which “really have had to go on the shelf with this job.” But Bolger decided to take the leap after getting slammed with a higher tax bill from the new Michigan Business Tax (MBT), which he says is “driving jobs out of state.”

Accordingly, jobs will be his top priority when he takes the helm in the House. The affable Bolger, who sports wavy chestnut hair and an easy smile, plans to work “very closely” with Snyder and is hoping to move forward with a GOP agenda, despite partisan politics.

“We don’t necessarily believe the government creates jobs; individuals do,” Bolger says. “But we’ll do three things: reform spending, taxes and regulation.”

After helping lead the GOP’s expectation-busting 20-seat gain in the House this fall, Bolger’s place as the next speaker was sealed. Sensing the coming wave, his only competition, Rep. Paul Opsommer (R-DeWitt), dropped out before Election Day.

Like Andy Dillon, Bolger will only have two years under his belt serving in the minority when he takes the gavel. Adding to the pressure is the fact that 61 of the 110 House members are freshmen and 31 more have only been there for a term.

But Rep. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge), who is term-limited and just won election to the Senate, always thought Bolger had promise.

“He’s bright, energetic and has the will to take on the tough issues,” says Jones, who worked with him to fight, unsuccessfully, the new Michigan State Police headquarters downtown. “I’ve had the chance to observe him for two years and I’d say he’s a bright leader of the future.”

Rich Hammel
Position: House Minority Leader
Age: 52
Hometown: Mt. Morris Township
Family: Wife, Debra; four daughters, 26, 28, 29 and 34
Education: B.S., applied science, UM-Flint
Previous Occupation: Skilled tradesman at Delphi
Political Experience: Mt. Morris Township Trustee, 1993-97; Genesee County Commission, 1997-2006; House, 2007-present.

Sometimes biology is destiny. That might explain how Rich Hammel ended up in politics, after growing up the son of Richard Hammel, a longtime Genesee County commissioner, and Joyce Hammel, Mt. Morris Township’s treasurer.

Like many of his Beecher High School classmates, Hammel took a job at General Motors after graduation. He worked 30 years as a pipefitter and production worker as the company was spun off into Delphi, also earning his bachelor’s in applied science from the University of Michigan-Flint.

And Hammel soon found himself following in his parents’ footsteps. First, he joined the Mt. Morris Township Board as a trustee in 1993, followed by nine years on the County Commission. The UAW member headed up the board for seven of those years, making him the county’s longest-serving chair. In 2006, Hammel won election to the House.

“He’s pretty respected locally,” says Rep. Lee Gonzales (D-Flint). “People know him; he has deep roots in the community with his family. …He respects people of all backgrounds; he’s genuine about it. He grows on you as you know him and it’s in his nature to act civilly, thoughtfully.”

Known for his no-nonsense tone, the bespectacled Hammel is a worker bee in the House. This term, he ascended to House Appropriations vice chair and often was the one in the room cutting deals with leaders from both chambers.

Hammel entered Election Night as the favorite to win the House speaker race, but had that hope dashed as the chamber flipped from a Democratic majority of 67-43 to a Republican-dominated 63-47.

“It was a pretty big surprise for me and many of us, but the wave was pretty big,” he admits. “The mood was very sour for Democrats, though we had great candidates and a great message.”

Not surprisingly, the House Democrats were the only caucus to hold competitive leadership elections, with Hammel squaring off against another Genesee County leader, Rep. Woodrow Stanley (D-Flint). It was a close vote, with Stanley winning over the Detroit delegation, but Hammel pulled through.

The caucus will “definitely regroup,” he says, but will be focused on the budget and making sure there’s “fairness for working people.”

He’s served two years with Bolger and is looking forward to working closely with him and the other members of the quadrant. The pair share similar interests, so perhaps they can hammer out budget details either at the firing range or on the back nine.

Susan J. Demas, a regular columnist and writer for Dome, is 2006 Knight Foundation Fellow in nonprofits journalism and a political analyst for Michigan Information & Research Service.

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, and the candidate has almost total control over what is done. If somebody doesn’t perform, out he or she goes.

Ah, but if it were only that simple when governing. Obama and Granholm wish they had total control, but in the Congress there are 535 mini-presidents to contend with, and in Lansing the governor has never fully mastered getting 148 mini-governors to march to her tune.

Obama would never admit it, but his lack of experience probably cost him some victories this past year. To her credit, Gov. Granholm has conceded that her lack of hands-on know-how made her less effective.

Both the prez and the gov are highly competitive. And not wanting to lose in the legislative arena is a positive thing — but desire gets you only so far. Knowing the intricacies of crafting a deal is an art that can’t be mastered overnight.

For the president, he is a work in progress on that front. His recent foray into the lion’s den of the House GOP caucus is an indication that he gets it. Unfortunately for this governor, although she has scored a few successes, the take on her has always been, fairly or unfairly, that her staff has let her down, she lacked the John Engler-type power and savvy to get things done, and as she heads out the door she may run out of time to finish her agenda.

On the plus side, neither Obama nor Granholm is a quitter. In fact, the president said so in his State of the Union. The governor inferred it the other day when outlining some reforms by saying, “We are not going to miss the future” in Michigan.

That kind of drive serves them both very well, but that and $10 will get you an expensive cup of Joe. In the end, both need Republican votes to push their agenda, and that creates a political pushback from their own party.

Obama spent the first year in office fending off criticism from other Democrats almost as much as he did fending off GOP attacks.

Granholm is now in the same boat as she moves to include GOP blueprints for downsizing government. House Minority Leader Kevin Elsenheimer was at the front of the line patting the Democratic governor on the head for adopting some 16 government reform ideas that he says the GOP wrote.

Even one Tea Party wag and the ultra-conservative Mackinac Center gave a shout out to the governor. Unheard of around here.

Noticeably absent were similar shouts from Democratic House Speaker Andy Dillon and his Senate counterpart, Sen. Mike Prusi.

And therein lies the dilemma of working a deal with the enemy. The moment you give ground to the other guy, the home team cries foul.

The trick for Obama and Granholm is to make sure they get something in return to keep that home team on their side. Obama is trying to do that with health care and has the time to git’er done. But the governor has yet to seal her “Grand Bargain” with concessions from the GOP, and her clock is ticking quickly with less than 330 days remaining.

Tim Skubick is Michigan’s Senior Capitol correspondent and has anchored the weekly public TV series “Off the Record” since 1972. He also covers the Capitol and politics for WLNS-TV6 in Lansing.

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Love Ya Babe
This is just a guess, but betya the part most folks will recall about the governor’s last State of the State will have very little to do with the policy stuff she laid out. What will stick are her ad-lib comments about her family.

It’s not the first time a governor has gone there.

Just before he left office, former Gov. John Engler came close to tears as he recounted the challenges his family faced during his 12-year tenure in the chief executive’s chair.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm topped him as she allowed a rare peak into her innermost feelings about how being governor impacted her loved ones.

“Jack, Ce Ce, Kate, Mom and Dad, and Dan’s mom, and Dan,” she began in a deviation from her written script.

The assembled House and Senate members could relate, as many of them face the same familial challenges.

The governor did not recount the countless hours that her job took her away from the family and how her husband, Dan, picked up the slack and made it work.

Even though she was tenacious about trying to be there for the girls’ basketball games and Jack’s lacrosse matches, there were times when they went on without her; when the call of duty superceded a mom’s natural desire to be there with them. It must have hurt.

She reflected about how she brought home each night all the burdens of a state that was in depression-like trouble. It hardly gave rise to the conversation starter, “How did it go at the office today, honey?”

Everyone around the dinner table knew.

So, for just a few moments she shared that emotion with the viewers and listeners. It underscores the tremendous personal commitment politicians at this level must make to do the job. The general public rarely dwells on that and is more likely to ask, “What have you done for me lately?”

And it rarely pauses to say “thank you.”

It was a touching moment, and as she spoke directly to her husband, First Gentleman Dan Mulhern, she gave more than a thank-you. It was Granholm being Granholm as she ended with, “I love ya, babe.”

And everyone rose in a thunderous standing O. It was a moment to remember and ponder long after the policy battle is over.

Early Out — Risky Stuff
One of the confounding elements of politics is that the practitioners oftentimes don’t learn from the mistakes of the past.

And at first blush it looked like the current governor was poised to repeat the grievous blunder of predecessor John Engler — when he willy-nilly offered seasoned state government workers a chance to leave government early. He dangled a fatter retirement check in front of thousands of state workers and they jumped at it faster than you can say, “Let’s move to Florida.”

It was the typical meat axe approach of Mr. Engler, who was most interested in reducing the size of government, no matter what.

But it did matter, and the “what” concerned the safety of little children.

What Mr. Engler either did not consider or refused to factor in, was the brain and experience drain the early out program created in an instant. Weary civil servants dashed for the door, leaving less experienced folks to mind the shop while even less experienced replacements were filtered into the system.

In the Human Services department alone, seasoned Child Protective Services workers, who investigate child abuse in families and foster homes, were gone, leaving the kids at risk. One of them even died, as you’ll recall from the Ricky Holland tragedy. He was murdered by his foster mom and dad, stuffed in a garbage bag and buried in a shallow grave miles away from his home.

Fast forward to Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who is eager to coax 7,000 state workers with 30 years of experience or more to leave now, too.

“I’m very worried about that,” confesses Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, who has thousands of civil servants in her East Lansing district. “Some folks may fall through the cracks,” she warned.

When the governor announced this new retirement incentive program last week, nothing was said about addressing the “Engler” problem noted above.

But come to find out, this governor did learn from those mistakes and claims to have safeguards in her program to prevent that from happening again. Her intent is to exchange a meat axe for a scalpel.

Good thing. The mother of three kids does not want a tragedy on her watch as she leaves office at the end of the year.

Hangover Politics

by John Lindstrom
Gongwer News Service
January 22, 2010

Okay, everyone take a deep breath. We are just three weeks into 2010 and political actions and portents have already uncorked a heady brew that could leave the state and nation seriously hung over as they lurch into the elections that are still 10 months away.

Even in an age of the never-ending campaign (which is the normal state of electoral politics in the U.S. today) the pile up of developments in the first 21 days of the year is imposing. Just since the sun came up on January 17 there have been so many changes one can be forgiven for taking a steadying brandy or two. Or maybe a bottle. Or maybe a case.

Consider Tuesday, January 19. Yes, we’ll get to Massachusetts in a bit, but start at the Capitol, where Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) unveiled a proposed constitutional amendment to cut the pay of every public worker directly and to require them all to pay more for their health insurance. It is one of the broadest slaps at public workers since Calvin Coolidge blackjacked the Boston Police Strike in 1919 (see, told you we’d get to Massachusetts).

Reducing the size and scope of government in every conceivable form has always been a guiding principle for Mr. Bishop. He speaks of it frequently and fervently. Even so, the proposal he outlined is a very big, risky move that could easily work for — or against — Republicans.

With ongoing economic hard times there is a lot of public anger directed broadly at government and government workers, especially at teachers. It’s a hard anger to pin down because the invective directed at government is also often tied up in frustration that government can’t do, won’t do, is unable to do certain things. That government can’t, won’t, is unable to, is often tied up in the cutbacks state and local governments have had to make during the ongoing recession. Still, many in the general public, especially those struggling, feel government has to take even more of a hit. So Mr. Bishop’s proposal could tap into that mood to help win passage of his plan to not only cut government workers’ pay but make enormous changes in overall government management.

Yeah, but…this is also a state that has a lot of worker sympathy. So targeting workers directly could easily backlash on Republicans by giving Democrats and their supporters in labor a rallying point. Clearly, Mr. Bishop recognizes that risk, which is one reason why he wants a vote on this proposal with the August primary, when turnout would be lower and more likely to support the change. Putting the proposal on the November ballot would draw more Democrats in opposition and potentially hurt GOP candidates.

In the end, though, expect this more to be a subject in the campaign than an actual campaign issue for the voters to decide. There is a greater chance that a former Cosmo centerfold will get elected governor than that legislative Democrats would put up the votes to allow the issue on the ballot, and unless there is a spectacularly successful petition drive we can expect this will be a matter of argument and not action.

That same day, of course, a former Cosmo centerfold running as a Republican (the party that one just doesn’t think of when one thinks of nude photos) was elected U.S. senator from the state that invented blue laws. Much already has been written about the irony of Scott Brown, pledged to defeat a health care insurance bill, being elected to succeed Ted Kennedy, who made universal health insurance his great campaign, and about how Mr. Brown tapped public worry and anger and how the Bay State Democrats ran such an incompetent campaign. Beyond proving that there are more Republicans in Massachusetts than an award-winning oil painter in Weymouth, what does Mr. Brown’s election portend: a massive win for the GOP in November or a resurgent Democratic Party able to pick up the pieces and add to their successes of 2006 and 2008? Yes.

Wise Republicans know not to gloat too much over the victory, and wise Democrats know not to despair over the loss. Mr. Brown’s victory could indeed be the spark that sets off a new GOP bonfire, sweeping Michigan and the rest of the nation and snapping politics back to the right. But it could also be the spark that sets off GOP self-immolation and allows the Democrats to regroup, refocus and recapture the public mood.

Since governing politics, as opposed to electoral politics, tends to operate on a stampede-or-standoff mode, Republicans have to be careful not to simply stand in the way of decisions and then be blamed for the country continuing to founder. And Democrats must be able to show they can bring in everyone to hammer together some legislative wins. Who plays the hand the most deftly could tip the winner.

Then following that, Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing), perhaps the prohibitive favorite, announced she was not running for attorney general but for re-election instead. Her supporters portrayed the decision as a victory for motherhood, since as a single mom being a senator will allow Ms. Whitmer more time with the kids. Okay, sure.

Since her domestic revelation came two weeks after Lt. Governor John Cherry Jr. pulled out of the gubernatorial race and the day after Mr. Brown won in Massachusetts, it just ain’t going to rank with trotting down the road to Damascus. Whatever, Ms. Whitmer is a young woman and an ambitious politician, and this probably is not the time for a Democrat to give up what would be a safe seat for an uncertain campaign. That she will seek a higher office at another time is a safe bet.

The big effect of Ms. Whitmer’s decision is to emphasize the uncertain status of the Democrats right now. For as she came forward with her announcements, top Democratic names — Denise Illitch and Bob Bowman — were to meet with labor and others to discuss their potential campaigns for governor. Mr. Bowman, the financial whiz kid who was the boy treasurer in the 1980s, also said he could self-fund a campaign. If he is the nominee, that would be a Godsend for the Democrats, who know they will have a viciously tough election.

Then comes Thursday and the extra shot added to the cocktail was the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that corporations (and labor unions, don’t forget them) can spend directly on political ads. The old joke used to be that you had to feel sorry for car dealers during elections because they could never get an ad on TV with all the candidate ads. Now, the car dealers will be able to run an ad for both their four-wheel clunkers and their political jalopies. “Come on down to Honest Harold’s, where every car is $100 over invoice and carries a bumper sticker for Tom Bananaramapeel for Congress!”

The potential effect of this ruling on campaigns is ginormous, it’s spectacucolossal, it’s mammothmindblowing, it’s awesomeious, it’s whatever ridiculous new-age word-merge you want to invent. It is no understatement to say the ruling could have a major effect on federal and state campaigns.

And it is only third week of January. Drink up, we’ve got a wild ride ahead.

John Lindstrom is publisher of Gongwer News Service. For nearly 50 years in Michigan, Gongwer News Service has provided independent, comprehensive, accurate and timely coverage of issues in and around Michigan’s government and political systems. For subscription information, including a free trial, visit Gongwer online.

Know Nothing Journalism

by Susan J. Demas
December 1, 2009

A few weeks ago, I covered Sarah Palin’s pop-star-worthy greeting by more than 1,000 screaming fans gathered in Grand Rapids for her first book signing.

It was quite the media event, evidenced by the fact that “Access Hollywood” was on hand. MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell was embedded for some reason at that fated Barnes & Noble (remember when we used to have ethical debates about reporters who covered real news, say those stationed with troops in Iraq?). She happened to interview one of the Palinites camped out, a 17-year-old swathed in a top with a cartoon that read: “The U.S. government spent $700 million on the Wall Street bailout and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.”

O’Donnell asked the young woman, who said her name is “Jackie” and is apparently an intern with the Michigan Republican Party, if she was aware that Palin supported the bailout. To be charitable, Jackie did not have a clue. But she, like everyone else with a pulse and a grudge, has a blog, so she turned an episode that should have made her want to study harder in school into an excuse to bash the “liberal media.” Naturally, right-wingers at The Weekly Standard and Newsbusters.com chivalrously came to the dim-witted damsel’s defense.

Personally, I think this episode demonstrates the pointlessness of man-on-the-street journalism. Most people, even the politically engaged, are staggeringly ignorant of public affairs. So what do we really learn by interviewing people who can’t find Afghanistan on a map about how many troops we should send there? Perhaps only that our educational system is worse than we thought.

I wrote my weekly political column on the Sarah spectacle (how could I not?) and was treated to my fair share of motley e-mails from her admirers. When one reader yawningly accused me of being a no-good liberal Democrat for failing to see the brilliance of Palin and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (and, yes, she managed to misspell their names), I remarked that they were heirs to the Know Nothing Party.

The gentlelady was ebullient at the clear evidence of my bias, as she determined that I had just slandered the collective intellect of the GOP. After I advised her to explore the history of the 19th century Know Nothings, best known for whipping up irrational nativist and anti-intellectual fervor, I never heard back.

In today’s fragmented media, my fan could slap her disjointed thoughts together in a website that nets millions of hits — with a bit of help from well-placed links on The Drudge Report, of course. At the very least, she can post her comments after my column and there they likely will remain unfiltered, unless they’re particularly vulgar.

That’s all well and good and is heralded by some as the democratization of the news. My curmudgeony position on this is well established. We have a handful of active political blogs in Michigan, all of which are rabidly partisan, that can be entertaining and occasionally informative. Now the Associated Press is down to a two-person Capitol bureau, to the detriment of all citizens in this state, who now know even less about what their employees are doing in Lansing. So do I believe any of these blogs will fill that void?

Well, no. I make a point not to drink until after my column is done.

I’ll cop to having fun at bloggers’ expense, mainly because of their utterly predictable, over-the-top reactions like Pavlov’s dog. The mainstream-media-sucks meme is a staple of blogs, both right and left. Odd that they can dish it out but can’t take it.

But what has actually disturbed me is the uncomfortable parallel between some of these blogs and the luddite defenders of Mrs. Palin.

RightMichigan.com dismisses anything in the Detroit Free Press (which they rip as the “Ivory Tower”) as naturally being liberally biased. I suppose that derives from the fact that it used to be a Democratic rag back when there were seven newspapers in Motown and their respective politics were nakedly woven into every story. Those days are long gone. The Freep now has a vaguely center-left editorial page, although anyone familiar with journalism knows there’s a wall between that and news.

Not surprisingly, Democrats, particularly Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Attorney General candidate Gretchen Whitmer, are generally dismissed as whacko. The same can certainly be said for Republicans on the liberal sites (as well as their public enemy No. 1, House Speaker Andy Dillon, who, yes, is a Dem). Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (and his coy aquamarine eyes) is routinely pilloried as the anti-Christ.

Fine. There will always be a place for partisan carnality. But blogs lose me completely when they stoop to trashing experts just because they don’t espouse the correct beliefs. On Michiganliberal.com, the smartest people in the state — those committed to seeing it succeed — are idiots. Tom Watkins, Phil Power, Jack Lessenberry — morons all.

Watkins, the former state superintendent who sounded the alarm years ago on the benefits crisis breaking K-12 education, is an internationally renowned consultant who travels to China as often as Michiganders escape to Chicago. Alas, he is routinely ridiculed as a “Very Serious Person” for having the gall to support Dillon’s public employee health care reform.

Power is the former HomeTown Communications magnate now spending his fortune on the ultimate good government project, the nonpartisan think-and-do tank, the Center for Michigan. He, too, is a VSP, although he can be somewhat forgiven, as he slammed Bishop in a recent column.

Lessenberry is Michigan’s most prolific journalist over the last four decades who has won an Emmy for his reporting on Jack Kevorkian. Although MichLib eagerly links to Lessenberry for his frequent fisking of Republicans, the site savages him for his praise of Dillon and criticism of Granholm. It’s amazing how Jack is utterly brilliant when he agrees with the blogger boys, but evidently downs stupid pills whenever he doesn’t. Such sophisticated analysis.

I understand that blogging is romantically viewed by some as speaking truth to power. Go for it. But that’s not what’s at work in mindlessly deploring those with impeccable credentials who constructively contribute to the political discourse (as opposed to flamethrowers like Glenn Beck) because they’re “wrong” on an issue.

Sure, everyone needs to vent. Just don’t expect folks to buy that Tom Watkins, who has written hundreds of pages of research on educators’ benefits, is less learned on the subject than some dude with a computer and a political ax to grind against Andy Dillon. That, too, is Know Nothingness on display.

Some of the finer qualities of liberalism, I’ve always thought, are a thirst for knowledge and diversity of thought.

It would be sad to see that crushed by the Information Age, right alongside civility.

Susan J. Demas is a 2006 Knight Foundation Fellow in nonprofits journalism and a political analyst for Michigan Information & Research Service.

Thanksgiving Postscript

by Tim Skubick
November 27, 2009

There’s a good reason why political columnists rarely offer up anything remotely connected to Thanksgiving: there is so little for which to give thanks.

Should everyone be rejoicing at the professional manner in which lawmakers and the governor resolved this year’s budget?

Or better yet, should we be thankful that they took two weeks off for hunting season and Turkey Day because, as the old saying goes, if they aren’t in town they can’t do anything to harm you?

You get the point.

However, now that you are feasting on leftovers from the TG feast, let’s see if it’s possible to write a thanksgiving postscript.

Thank you to Sarah Palin. She has provided a nice distraction from the gargantuan health care debate, two wars, and the sorry state of the economy around here.

1,500 souls showed up to buy her book in Grand Rapids, and by media accounts the turnout was enough to launch her bid for the White House in four years.

A little perspective please: Michigan has nine million people who did not go roguing, and that mere handful of Palintologists does not a movement make…media accounts notwithstanding.

Thanks to the Gang of 44 in the Michigan House. After spending almost 10 months in hibernation, this freshman class has shown signs of life as it tackles a rewrite of how we fund our schools and pushes a long overdue effort to revamp the state’s gawdawful term limits law. To be sure, they have not produced any results, but their heart is in the right place even if the votes, so far, are not.

Thanks to House Speaker Andy Dillon. Not for his proposed rewrite of the state’s health care system, but for providing the long-running “Will-He-Or-Won’t-He-Run-For-Governor saga.” He and his minions have managed to keep the thing alive for months, but the end is in sight, for which we can also be thankful.

Thanks to Governor Jennifer Granholm for scrubbing the holiday parties at the executive residence this year. The time-honored tradition dates back to former Gov. William Milliken, who was so enthralled by having the Capitol Press Corps over to the house that he had his staff flick the lights on and off precisely at 7 p.m. when the bash was scheduled to end. This governor, of course, would never be so tacky, but she could use the rest as she prepares to enter her final year in office.

Thanks to former Gov. John Engler, who is secretly plotting to influence the outcome of the next race for governor. What’s a political dogfight without the ultimate in political dogfighters sticking his nose into the fray while reports circulate that he and his wife are looking for a new home back here.

Thanks to the Senate Republicans for teaching our children that the word compromise is a four-letter word and that it is better to avoid seeking the middle ground on anything if it damages the GOP chances of winning the next election. Kids, don’t do as they say…compromise in the legislative process is not a dirty word.

And finally, thanks to those political bloggers who add to the discourse and manage to do it with total disregard for any journalistic standards, including pursuit of that little thing we call the truth. You make the rest of the media look pretty good…which in and of itself is quite an accomplishment and something to be thankful for.

Tim Skubick is Michigan’s Senior Capitol correspondent and has anchored the weekly public TV series “Off the Record” since 1972. He also covers the Capitol and politics for WLNS-TV6 in Lansing.

Tim Skubick Extra Extra… (A weekly bonus only for Dome readers)

Biting Off a Lot
Talk about a mouthful.

For months, this lawmaker and that have chatted about revamping the state’s tax system. Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith is tired of all the talking and took matters into her own hands this week.

She wants a graduated income tax.

She wants to close $3 billion in tax loopholes.

She wants a sales tax on services and a new state sales tax rate of 5.5 percent instead of 6 percent.

And when she has nothing else to do she wants to wipe out the 22-percent business tax surcharge.

In other words, she wants the moon, the sun and the stars and, unfortunately for the Democratic candidate for governor, she is not likely to get any of it by her self-imposed deadline of January 31.

But give her credit for trying and having the guts to announce that state government needs more revenue…about $6.5 billion more.

Her biggest hurdle, of course, is rounding up the votes from House and Senate members to pass all this stuff, not to mention convincing you to support the graduated income tax if it makes it to the November ballot next year.

Her second biggest hurdle is fighting off the opposition, which will be strong, loud and well financed.

“This is not going to be an easy sell, but it’s a sell that has to happen,” Smith argues.

“It looks like its dead on arrival from my standpoint,” counterpunches Chuck Hadden, who runs the Michigan Manufacturers Association that includes the major automakers.

Smith’s assignment is to “educate” citizens on why all this money is needed. She can’t do it in a 10-second sound bite, but the opposition can. It will say Lansing wants to take $6.5 billion in new money out of your pocketbook. End of story.

You can see who has the easier job trying to “educate” the citizenry.

But Smith is not conceding defeat. There’s plenty of time for that later on.

Did She Really Say That?
There is one common trait among avid hunters. They are so passionate about the sport that occasionally they lose touch with reality. Just ask Rebecca Humphries, who for the last five years has been the governor’s Department of Natural Resources director.

Nobody knew she had this problem until the news guys at the MIRS newsletter interviewed her the other day.

Ever since lawmakers decided to take two weeks off for hunting season and Thanksgiving, they’ve taken some well-deserved heat for not showing up in town. Think school funding crisis, economic mess, and college kids screaming for their $4,000 state scholarship…all of these placed on hold for this two-week traditional break.

The governor has been relatively mild in her public rebuke saying, “Lawmakers should come back” and work on these issues. Dollars to donuts that in private she is seething.

Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) has been more blunt. “I am appalled and disgusted” by this time off.

Enter one Ms. Humphries, who proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that she’s from another planet.

Asked in the interview about lawmakers taking time off to hunt, Humphries opined, “It is part of our heritage…I hope we never see a day when the legislature decides deer hunting isn’t important enough and so they just stay in Lansing and continue their business.”

Ah. Hello. Earth to Humphries.

Deer hunting trumps doing the citizens’ business?

This is not a close call. Lawmakers who hunt could do it on the weekend. OK, maybe let them go on opening day if it falls during the workweek, but after that it’s back in the saddle.

The DNR director has, on balance, done a respectable job. So maybe she (1) had an off day; (2) was misquoted; or, perish the thought, (3) really believes that stuff about hunting being more important than lawmakers working for the people first.

Let’s go with number three.