NYTimes on Snyder

[Wesley Mouch]

The New York Times profiled Rick Snyder today. I think we're lucky to have him. In his term, I think Detroit's has and will be a huge beneficiary of competent, consistent, and conservative government that will allow Detroit success -- if it can stand the idea that it wasn't 100% invented here.

I was most fascinated by his avoidance of political positions cited.

Worth one of your free NYT articles each month [[if you don't clear your cookies).

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Why are we so lucky? And he fascinates you? He's a Romney clone, and some of the laws he passed I and many others totally don't agree with. Another rich guy republican who looks to profit from his policies to eliminate the middle class. Romney is so shady he won't even turn over his tax returns, as if he's hiding something.

[kenp]

Keep up the good work Snyder. Whatever happened to Granholm?

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Keep up the good work Snyder. Whatever happened to Granholm?

Here's another one. What has he done that's been so good, besides trying to force a bridge down our throats?

[dmike76]

Cinci, I hope you're not buying into that bullsh!t that Matty Maroun has been spreading.

[kryptonite]

Keep up the good work Snyder. Whatever happened to Granholm?

I think she moved to California to accomplish nothing there in keeping with her record here.

[dmike76]

I like the bridge, and I definitely like the 10 million he's putting towards stabilizing neighborhoods around certain schools in Detroit. I'm not really sure why he vetoed requiring photo ID for absentee ballots. I don't see the problem in proving who you are when you vote.

[Shollin]

Obama is getting lambasted for having an unemployment rate in the 8's and Snyder is getting praised when it's 9%.

[rjlj]

I think that the Governor is doing well. He has helped business and like the article says, he is a problem solver who uses common sense.

The New York Times profiled Rick Snyder today. I think we're lucky to have him. In his term, I think Detroit's has and will be a huge beneficiary of competent, consistent, and conservative government that will allow Detroit success -- if it can stand the idea that it wasn't 100% invented here.

I was most fascinated by his avoidance of political positions cited.

Worth one of your free NYT articles each month [[if you don't clear your cookies).

[kenp]

Obama is getting lambasted for having an unemployment rate in the 8's and Snyder is getting praised when it's 9%.

In 2010 Michigans had a 14% unemployment rate, today it is just above 8%
Maybe its Obama maybe its Snyder perhaps neither.
It is a ridicules comparsion however

[brizee]

A hyena smiles and laughs all the time.

It will still devour it's victim before their heart has stopped pumping.


I have no problem giving credit for positive work if and when it actually happens.

But not being quite as bugshit as he could be like some of his peers doesn't get him a cookie either.

[rex]

Obama pulled our hide out of the fire so to speak. Had GM been allowed to fail I can only imagine where our unemployment would be right now. Im by no means a republican and I voted for Snyder. We needed a shake up in the worst of ways. The fact that Snyder is actively seeking to help Detroit is promising. I probably dont agree with everything hes doing or has done but Im also trying to not pay too much attention. Unemployment has receeded 5 percent under his administration. Some of it must be working

[Bad Brains]

Snyder claims to be so "pro-business" but doesn't seem to have a problem squashing the medical marijuana dispensaries that were generating lots of jobs and tax revenue. How ironic.

These clowns are for "small government" except when it comes to issues THEY disagree with. That's awfully convenient.

[Wesley Mouch]

Snyder claims to be so "pro-business" but doesn't seem to have a problem squashing the medical marijuana dispensaries that were generating lots of jobs and tax revenue. How ironic.

These clowns are for "small government" except when it comes to issues THEY disagree with. That's awfully convenient.

I'm in favor of full legalization of pot -- but aren't laws written by the legislature, not the governor? If the State [[and feds) liberalize, then he can't 'squash'. Wanna change that law -- you can count on my vote.

[rex]

can count on mine too

[Shollin]

In 2010 Michigans had a 14% unemployment rate, today it is just above 8%
Maybe its Obama maybe its Snyder perhaps neither.
It is a ridicules comparsion however

According to the BLS, Michigan currently has a 9.0% unemployment rate as of July 2012. In December on 2010, Michigan was at 11.7%, down nearly 3% from the previous year. The unemployment rate was trending downwards before Snyder took over.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Cinci, I hope you're not buying into that bullsh!t that Matty Maroun has been spreading.

No, but I'm definitely not buying into the BS that the taxpayers of Michigan won't spend a dime on this bridge. Plus the fact he taxed public pensions still sets me on fire. Seniors are the one demographic that doesn't need more tax burdens placed upon them

[313WX]

Obama pulled our hide out of the fire so to speak. Had GM been allowed to fail I can only imagine where our unemployment would be right now.

According to the BLS, Michigan currently has a 9.0% unemployment rate as of July 2012. In December on 2010, Michigan was at 11.7%, down nearly 3% from the previous year. The unemployment rate was trending downwards before Snyder took over.

Don't let facts interfere with the Snyder love fest.

[Wesley Mouch]

No, but I'm definitely not buying into the BS that the taxpayers of Michigan won't spend a dime on this bridge. Plus the fact he taxed public pensions and not private ones still sets me on fire. Seniors are the one demographic that doesn't need more tax burdens placed upon them, when these government based pensions are are utterly ridiculous and unsustainable over the long haul.

Well, we're kinda sliding back to a bridge discussion, but you are right. Some tax money will get spent on the bridge. Government spending your tax money is one thing you can be certain of.

But back on thread, if Snyder can truly work with those on the 'other side of the aisle', then we might find the prosperity to pay those taxes. The article points out that he does pursue his goals -- but that he does so without making it a political war. We might get something done this way. I don't see much of that happening, say, in Wisconsin.

[cman710]

With respect to Detroit itself, I think time will tell regarding Snyder's performance. Detroit's fiscal crisis is still far from fully playing out, and only then will we be able to judge the situation. How well Snyder will the crisis [[and his relationship with the mayor and city council) remains to be seen.

[xequar]

According to the BLS, Michigan currently has a 9.0% unemployment rate as of July 2012. In December on 2010, Michigan was at 11.7%, down nearly 3% from the previous year. The unemployment rate was trending downwards before Snyder took over.

As a question, though, how much of that reduction can be attributed to people falling off the unemployment rolls or leaving the state entirely? How much of that reduction in unemployment came about from actual unemployed people getting actual jobs?

Because while "lucky" is a word some, like our OP, might use to describe our fortune of having The Nerd as our governor, it is absolutely not a word I would choose, unless it were prefixed with "un."

I will say truthfully that I like what Tricky Ricky's doing with regard to the second bridge. I like that he axed the small business tax that really was pretty onerous for small businesses to bear. I like that he legalized fireworks. I will give him credit for vetoing the voting restriction laws. And, I like that he's willing to at least toss Detroit a bone with the 10 Million for demolitions and whatnot.

Edit: I somewhat like what he's doing with the second bridge. My understanding is that we're getting hosed long-term, since Canada's going to collect all the toll revenue to finance the thing. We need another bridge, and I support efforts to get another bridge done, but I worry that it's going to become another "Canadian trash" episode where we get all the emissions and pollution and truck traffic from the bridge but none of the tolls and none of the economic benefit. As far as I'm concerned, I'd rather throw taxpayer money at it hand over fist and have control over the thing than set it up to be another way for Michigan to become home to Canadian waste and pollution while they laugh all the way to the bank.

However, his "solution" for dealing with debt issues in municipalities across the state, via the expansion of the EFM law and installation of unaccountable unelected dictators-in-all-but-title is unconscionable as far as I'm concerned. I mean, there are great examples of regional solutions from Minnesota, Maryland, and other places in the U.S. that The Nerd could have bothered to read up on. I mean, if he's going to go as far as wiping away the elected representatives of the residents of a place, why not just grow a set and go all the way by erasing all the little municipal pockets and creating regional governance? Hell, we could even still let people vote, and we could eliminate all kinds of costs from running separate police/fire/municipal governments and all of the services associated therewith for the nearly 200 municipalities of Southeast Michigan. A regional solution would recognize the economic reality that Detroit does not function without the 'burbs and vice versa and would allow for regional solutions for schools, transit, and all sorts of other public services in which improvements would benefit the entire region. Or, he could have worked out consent agreements with other troubled municipalities that allowed them to retain their elected officials but still gave the state a mechanism to step in if necessary, similar to what he did with Detroit. I'm sure there were other ways that were less intrusive, as well.

Of course, I say all of that while fully aware that Synder is not the king of Michigan, and there is a legislature and a judiciary and all sorts of other things that have to align with Synder's agenda in order for him to get stuff done.

Speaking of which, THAT is why we weren't "blown away" after the Granholm years. She fought a Republican house and senate during her first term and a Republican senate during her second. Remembering that elected executives at all governmental levels in the United States are not kings or dictators, Granholm couldn't pass her agenda because she had no support in the legislature, something Synder has in spades. Granholm hustled hard trying to make something, anything, happen, including the bridge. She was stopped at every turn thanks to the Republican-controlled legislature.

Speaking of Granholm, she is now the host of a show called "The War Room" on Current TV. I sadly don't get Current so I can't comment to the quality of the show, but I know it's a news commentary show that airs at some point during the evening.

[9606 Prest]

Thank you Gov. Synder for taxing our pensions. The seniors will remember you at election time!

[Jimaz]

... Speaking of Granholm, she is now the host of a show called "The War Room" on Current TV. I sadly don't get Current so I can't comment to the quality of the show, but I know it's a news commentary show that airs at some point during the evening.

You can watch it at Current.com although I doubt it's live there.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Thank you Gov. Synder for taxing our pensions. The seniors will remember you at election time!

"I'm first in line"

[Cincinnati_Kid]

You can watch it at Current.com although I doubt it's live there.

Also, I hear she's teaching a economics class at one of those big universities in Cali, forget which one. She's "California Dreamin" now.