Thursday, December 29, 2005

WOODTV.com & WOOD TV8 - Grand Rapids news and weather - Local politicians upset over governor's veto of transit system funds
After reading crap like this, one has to wonder- Just how much is Mr. DeVos paying Mr. Albin?

By vetoing House Bill 4994, Governor Granholm has denied $14 million in federal funds to Grand Rapids for further study of a mass transit plan in the area.

It’s a move that has some area politicians wondering why.

Really, Rick? With a few clicks of a mouse I figured it out. I'm a bit perplexed as to why you and the "area politicians" can't do the same.

Governor Granholm has used her veto pen liberally this week. In addition to saying “no” to welfare reform, she turned back the $14 million from the federal government to study two transit routes in West Michigan.

Ah, nice trick. Slip the words "liberal" and "welfare" in there, even though that has no bearing on this particular story. That will get the juices boiling.
One idea was to develop some type of high-speed travel from the Cutlerville area to downtown Grand Rapids. The other idea was a route from the airport to downtown. The federal government was willing to pay for the study, but the governor said no.

So government spending is okey-dokey fine when it comes to the pork that benefits West Michigan, but when it comes to feeding women and children, not so much. Gotcha. Glad to know where your priorities lie. Big business - yes. People - no. Or why bring up the "welfare reform"? Moving on-

Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell tried to get the governor to approve the bill, “I urged her, I pled with her not to veto it. I understand why she did it. It's a political game that's being played. But it's a high stakes game and Grand Rapids -- the whole Grand Rapids region -- is the loser on this.”

This little quote is taken out of context and made to look as if Granholm is the one playing the "political game". Let's go to the Grand Rapids Press for the rest of Heartwell's quote, shall we?
Heartwell blamed the Republican leadership in the state House for scuttling Kooiman's bill.

"House Speaker (Craig) DeRoche was not about to let anything hit the floor of the House that could help Detroit," he said.

Puts it in a little different perspective, doesn't it? But I guess Rick didn't want to tell you that part. Hmmmm.
Representative Jerry Kooiman sponsored the bill and says it was designed specifically for Kent County, “It's not for your typical grid bus system throughout the state. There is only one transit agency in the state that has been designated by the federal transit agency for this type of program and that is Grand Rapids. Her reasons for vetoing it are highly suspect.”

No, not really. She told you why. Let's go to Liz Boyd in case you have forgotten the explanation. It was short and sweet, and pretty clear.
Granholm said she liked the bill, but did not like that House Republicans tailored it to benefit the Grand Rapids system alone.

"She believes very strongly that the options outlined in the bill should be an option available to every community in Michigan, not just Kent County," said Liz Boyd, the governor's press secretary.

"The Republican leadership has put politics over policy on this issue."

If you want to talk "highly suspect", Mr. Kooiman, explain this next piece of information to me.
Since the $14 million from the federal government was only designated for Kent County, no other area could have benefited from the legislation.

My, that's odd. I wonder why Mr Kooiman didn't target his original bill just for Kent County then. I wonder why House Republicans felt the need to deny other communities this authority if the above sentence is true. Back to the Press.
State Rep. Jerry Kooiman, R-Grand Rapids, said his original bill did not restrict the authority to Kent County. But other legislators were worried about granting other transit systems the same authority and limited it to Kent County, he said.

So, which is it? Did the Fed money specifically say "Kent County"? If so, why the worry about other locations? Back to the Free Press for a little more information.
The best remedy is for Granholm to ask the Legislature for a bill like the one Kooiman initially introduced, giving transit agencies the same extended levy authority for rapid transit and rail projects.

Grand Rapids should have the authority provided in the bill. The region's Interurban Transit Partnership plans to develop a streetcar or rapid transit bus corridor serving its downtown and is seeking a $14.4-million federal grant for engineering work on the project. The Grand Rapids area has become the state's leader in transit and land use planning, and the Legislature ought to encourage its efforts.

But, without change, the bill on Granholm's desk could also block a proposed Detroit-Ann Arbor rapid transit line that would also serve the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

Congress has already approved $100 million to design the system. The federal government could also chip in up to 80% of the costs of building such a line, but not if the region doesn't have a long-term plan to pay for operating costs. The Legislature's bill would prevent such a plan by limiting levy authority to five years. Either way, local voters would have to approve any plan to pay for transit systems through property taxes.

This part makes it seem like the Fed money could be used by anyone as long as they pony up the long term bucks to pay for it. So, Rick's statement is, well, a lie. The House Republicans changed the bill so other areas could not benefit. I wonder why Rick and Jerry didn't want to tell us that part.

And now for the grand finale- time to drag up the East vs. West divide, proving once again that Republicans can't govern unless they make someone the enemy. Turning the citizens against each other is such a wonderful tool, isn't it?

On the eve of the 2006 election cycle this move by the governor will be seen by some as an east-west issue with Granholm favoring southeast Michigan.

In a statement yesterday, Representative Kooiman said that the governor's action, "Sends a clear message that the future of West Michigan is not something that matters to her."

Yes, of course, back to the old canard that "Detroit gets all the money". I honestly don't see how the governor's move "favors southeast Michigan" at all. Seems to me she wanted this available to all communities. And had Kooiman's original bill gone through, that's what would have happened. But now Mr. Kooiman wants to play both sides of the fence and claim her actions are a direct slap at West Michigan, which I hope I have proved is complete and utter bullshit. House Republicans are the ones that jacked this bill around. House Republicans can fix it.

The question is, will they? Or will they continue to obstruct progress for the sake divisive politics that hurt the citizens of Michigan? And will Mr. Albin be there to fuel that fire? My guess is yes to all the above.

Granholm would have passed the damn tax cuts except for one thing. (and those finally did go through after a compromise. See how easy that was?). She would have passed the welfare reform except for one thing. She would have passed this bill except for one thing. She has been willing to compromise and negotiate on all of these proposals- House Republicans are the ones who have shown that they will not bend at all on these issues, and not only that, seem to go out of their way to find things that provoke a veto and divide us all.

But Mr. Albin chooses to leave out those little pesky details. Gee, I wonder why.