Remember this story the next time you hear a Republican say "more tax cuts".
Lansing - Governor Jennifer Granholm pledged today to thoroughly investigate how a seven-year-old boy beaten to death last summer was left with an adoptive family despite repeated reports of abuse.
Ricky Holland's adoptive parents are in jail charged with open counts of murder. They have pleaded not guilty and face a preliminary examination February 28.
Granholm says the child protective services section has been understaffed since the late 1990s.
She plans to hire 51 additional caseworkers in the budget year that starts October 1 and says she won't sign budget bills unless the money is there to hire them.
She adds that the Republican-led Legislature has turned down her past requests for more caseworkers.
I'm glad she is investigating. I'll bet that she will find an over-worked, over-loaded caseworker and a department with very little resources to do anything about these situations.
The Detroit News ran an article with the title "Adopted boy's death shows how state fails kids". How is it that they do not make the connection to the cuts in revenue? How do they think that government can function when all they want to do is cut the money? Do they think this all comes for free? The GR press did the same thing with the Sago mine disaster, calling for more "government oversite" after the fact.
Up until someone dies, Republicans demand tax cuts. After someone dies, Republicans demand more "government". And then they refuse to fund it. It's enough to make your head explode.