Election Results - Good, bad or the same for Detroit? [City & Metro]

[Lowell]

Poor Dave Bing, he's delusional. Changing residency requirements?

http://detnews.com/article/20101103/...-time%E2%80%99

That's not going to happen.

That article is typical of the slipshod journalism we see increasingly. The quote is,

"Residency, that's something we'll have to talk about." There is no context for the quote, whether he supports or opposes it. It is tacked onto the end of the article and is a complete non sequitur.

Regardless, let's remember this is a man who "moved" to the City of Detroit to run for mayor. It becomes a little like pot meet kettle if he supports resuming residency requirements. Will never happen anyway.

[shovelhead]

Yesterday's election results just mean more bad times ahead for Detroit. Last time we had a Republican governor, we lost Recorder's Court, the Residency requirment, and had to hold a costly statewide election to get allow casinos after Engler bascially vetoed the Detroit city vote to allow them. Not to mention the closed mental heath clinics that put a bunch of patients out on the streets and increased the number of homeless in the City. Look for more of the same, especially with the GOP in power in the house and senate, too.

And Governor Granholm accomplished what for Detroit in EIGHT years?

[lincoln8740]

And Governor Granholm accomplished what for Detroit in EIGHT years?

Don't be silly--- everything was Engler's fault!!!!

As far as the election--Hopefully he will start on day one cutting Lansing down to size.

Any projects that are not compulsory which involve taxpayer money--put an immediate halt to

No light rail[[ no state dollars can be used for it)
No bridge[[please don't tell me "there is no public funds being used"!)

Get rid of the MBT

Lower the movie incentives so we actually get a net gain from them

Cut or eliminate state agencies that have a federal duplicate

The DEQ would be great start.


Cut cut cut

[Novine]

Looks like you haven't been paying attention to what's been happening to Michigan state government. There is no DEQ because it was merged into the DNR. State agencies have been cut and consolidated. There are a lot less people working for the state than when Engler was governor. Prisons? Closed. State Parks? They haven't had state General Fund dollars for years. The only reason that the overall state budget has increased is because of money coming from Washington DC for unemployment benefits and health and human services for the unemployed and poor. Republicans in Lansing and Washington DC will see that even that goes away so those people are left to fend for themselves.

"Cut or eliminate state agencies that have a federal duplicate"

I love this one. You support eliminating the Michigan National Guard?

[lincoln8740]

Looks like you haven't been paying attention to what's been happening to Michigan state government. There is no DEQ because it was merged into the DNR. State agencies have been cut and consolidated. There are a lot less people working for the state than when Engler was governor. Prisons? Closed. State Parks? They haven't had state General Fund dollars for years. The only reason that the overall state budget has increased is because of money coming from Washington DC for unemployment benefits and health and human services for the unemployed and poor. Republicans in Lansing and Washington DC will see that even that goes away so those people are left to fend for themselves.

"Cut or eliminate state agencies that have a federal duplicate"

I love this one. You support eliminating the Michigan National Guard?

Okay cut the DNRE--remove all remaining parts of DEQ
How about cutting the MDE?
Just go to the State website to see all the useless crap that the State wastes taxpayer money on

I know you don't want to cut anymore and are dying to raise taxes but "elections have consequences"

[Russix]

Okay cut the DNRE--remove all remaining parts of DEQ
How about cutting the MDE?
Just go to the State website to see all the useless crap that the State wastes taxpayer money on

I know you don't want to cut anymore and are dying to raise taxes but "elections have consequences"

Wait, this is sarcasm, right?

[Mikeg]

With Republicans gaining control of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of Michigan's government, Democrats will be watching from the sidelines during the upcoming decennial reapportionment process.

[Mackinaw]

If Snyder is able to be himself and push his agenda, I think that he will be beneficial to Detroit. Even if concrete legislative initiatives meant to help central cities don't get passed, he has a chance to really reorient the business communities and perhaps even the middle class of this state toward central cities.

Anyone who cannot sense that he is a hundred times more sophisticated and independent than a typical elected official, particularly his fellow republicans, has not paid attention and sized up this man. I am not enthusiastic about what happened nationwide yesterday, nor about what a republican majority in Lansing/DC might do to Detroit, but Snyder should not be lumped in with all of this.

CoD and Wayne County leadership should cozy up to Snyder and promise their partnership ASAP.

[woodwardboy]

We're all done. Unless trade policies change radically, Michigan is doomed.

[professorscott]

I don't know about all of Michigan; I've only ever lived in the southeast part, so I can only speak to that.

Our problem for the past 30 years or more is that we had grown fat, dumb and happy on the auto industry. From 1920 to maybe 1960 that didn't create any problems, and from 1960 to perhaps the early 1980s we were able to manage the problems as they did come up. Later, we could no longer tread water.

To put a historical perspective on it, the first newspaper article I have found talking about the ongoing problem of layoffs in the auto industry was in the Detroit Times in October 1961. So that has been an issue for just about half a century.

Now, let me be blunt here, and I hope you all understand this: the automotive jobs are not coming back. Never. Not ever. It has a little tiny bit to do with Michigan's historically pro-union stance, and it has a great deal to do with the fact that there are more European and Asian cars than ever and that it just doesn't take as many human beings to build a car as it used to.

That being said, if we are going to have an economy here at all, it has to be something other than automotive, and it will never be one single industry. We've lost a million jobs in the past decade; count them, one fucking million. The film industry isn't going to hire a million people. Neither is health care, automation, alternative energy, or anything else.

So what will bring back jobs?

The answer is, not ten companies hiring 100,000 people each, but rather 100,000 companies each hiring 10 people. But Michigan actively chases away those companies, and that is the one problem I think Mr. Snyder deeply understands, and Granholm [[and Engler, etc., go back as far as you like) never did.

So I am guardedly optimistic here, I think Mr. Snyder has a grasp on the answer to the question "why do most businesses not even consider locating here". I just hope he doesn't get swallowed up by the do-nothing culture of Lansing.

[woodwardboy]

100,000 companies in Michigan can never operate cheaper than in China, India, Mexico, Vietnam, Brazil..etc..
If Snyder truely wants to even the playing surface against the 3rd world, Michigan would subsidize all utilities. Electricity, water, gas would all be dirt cheap along with taxes.
Companies in China for example pay almost nothing in utilities. The government picks up the tab.

[Don K]

Whatever Snyder's preferences are, they will have to go through a legislature whose leadership no doubt will hail from Ottawa and Kent counties [[or thereabouts), and who devoutly wish they could saw off the three counties [[well four including Washtenaw - damned commies) and see them sink into Lake Huron [[full credit to Barry Goldwater and his comment about the eastern seaboard).

Welcome to the new Michigan, where education will be funded at Mississippi levels, in-state tuition at U of M will rival Harvard's, there will be no more state parks, and Metro freeways and highways will revert to gravel paths while the residents of the sticks will drive on the finest highways in the country. Oh, but we have lots of prisons, and lots of money for them.

I'm just glad Cox/Hoekstra/Bouchard didn't win the primary, because Snyder might be able to moderate the excesses of the legislature, once he gets his feet on the ground.

[reddog289]

The big pitch with both Rick and Virg was jobs, Without them threre is no reason to stay in the State.I myself am a Union member and I realize that not everyone is, wants to be or is able to be one.
I voted for Grandholm last time because I feared for my job,Yet shortly afterwards many of my fellow Union family lost their jobs.And things got worse.
I soured on Grandholm early on. I never liked nor trusted her, Yet I voted for her out of fear, Which I overcame with this last election.
I do belive Bernaro would have did a better job then Grandholm, Yet he had the Donkey on his back.I hope things do improve with Snyder. They can't get a whole lot worse.
We Shall See.

[Mikeg]

100,000 companies in Michigan can never operate cheaper than in China, India, Mexico, Vietnam, Brazil..etc..
If Snyder truely wants to even the playing surface against the 3rd world, Michigan would subsidize all utilities. Electricity, water, gas would all be dirt cheap along with taxes.
Companies in China for example pay almost nothing in utilities. The government picks up the tab.

Yes, if only the US could be more like China, all of our energy problems could be easily solved and we could lead the world in producing clean energy, green jobs, blah, balh, blah. BTW, your initials wouldn't happen to be TLF, would they?

What incentive is there for a Chinese company to improve energy efficiency or conserve energy if its cost is so heavily subsidized by the government that they pay almost nothing for it?

Does the Chinese government also pick up the tab for containment and remediation of their domestic energy extraction pollution? How about the cost for manufacturing point source pollution controls? You might want to read this before you answer.

If it's truly a level playing field you want, then you also have to be willing to accept the same standard of regulatory enforcement that is practiced by the Chinese government.

[woodwardboy]

It's not just China, but nearly all 3rd world countries heavliy subsidize utilities. Detroit, which has higher water and sewage rates than Tuscon Arizona makes no sense. Go to Mexico, let the a/c run all summer long, get an electric bill for $40 a month.
Also, I have no idea why the US has never embraced diesel engines for the consumer car market.

[Lowell]

"Go to Mexico, let the a/c run all summer long, get an electric bill for $40 a month"

True, perhaps, but just don't leave your house if you want to breathe. Those prices are subsidized by lax pollution laws that have long made the air in Mexican cities as breathable as the water is undrinkable.

[Lowell]

...CoD and Wayne County leadership should cozy up to Snyder and promise their partnership ASAP.

This reminds me a of great old political quote. "If you are not at the table, it's probably because you're on the menu."

[Hypestyles]

I wonder will 'anyone' from Detroit get put in Snyder's cabinet..

http://hypestyleshomebase.blogspot.c...gop-sweep.html

[Mikeg]

..... Detroit, which has higher water and sewage rates than Tuscon Arizona makes no sense.......

Surely you have heard of the Central Arizona Project? Tuscon is entitled to receive about 5% of Arizona's annual allocation of water from the CAP, which was built using $4 billion worth of Federal funds. Yes, Detroiter's tax dollars were used to "make the desert bloom" and the new inhabitants have many years to pay us back for our generosity, asssuming the Colorado River doesn't dry up first.

[Danny]

Since the Republicans in control in the Michigan legislature.

We can say goodbye to the film incentive program.

We can say goodbye to creating more job base.

We can say goodbye to helping out the poor, and troubled cities like Detroit. It's a be a conservative clean sweep of the poor and main street in every neighborhood and ghettoes.

We can say goodbye to welfare checks, WIC, EBT's medical assitances.

Time to pack up and leave Michigan and let the rich folks turn it to their resort state.

[Motor City Sam]

And Governor Granholm accomplished what for Detroit in EIGHT years?

Don't argue against a point I haven't made. I've never said Granholm was great for Detroit. But she didn't do what Engler did, which was take overt actions against the best interests of the City.

[sam]

Wow, judging from these posts nobody seems to get it. It is still Democrat versus Republican, and whether the government services are going to be cut from people who need it. Well, the really bad news is that you can count on a sovereign debt crisis, and the sovereign is the US. Considering that the Federal debt, public and nonpublic, is $14T, and the present value of unfunded liabilities for all the services everyone is worried about is north of 130T dollars. The Fed is now monetizing the debt and calling it QE2. That will be followed by QE3, and QE4, and QE whatever. If you thought the meltdown tripped off by Lehman was bad in 2008 you do not want to think about what happens when the Fed triples interest rates in one day because the Chinese will no longer buy our crap-US Treasuries. So that 42 cents out of every Federal dollar which is borrowed just cannot be borrowed anymore because there are no takers except those with casino mentality. The Chinese factory worker basically figures out that making $1.50 per hour in order to pay for the UAW's healthcare is not going to cut it anymore. Remember? His government loaned Obama the money for the bailouts. That worker riots, the dollar finally tanks relative to most major currencies, and developing economies get turned upside down. If you think this election is going to change any of this you must be smoking something. There is so much debt in the developed countries at this point it can never be paid back. The economies will have to be reset, and that means we all take a hit, and it does not matter whether you are on SS or some fat pension that is running on interest payments from bonds that are going to default. Nobody is going to bail out the US, so take a look at Detroit and divide by two. That is what will be left if you are lucky.

And you guys will still be worried about the Democrats and Republicans. Maybe it is time to start worrying about the anarchists instead.