Wednesday, February 14, 2007

MI Senate Republicans consider education for the chopping block


(Hat tip to Nirmal at Capital Viewpoint who clued us in with a MIRS teaser and got me watching the wire for this to break)



OK, who here is surprised by this, raise your hand.



C'mon. Did anyone actually think that the Republicans would do the right thing by our state?



Of course not. They would rather look at sacrificing your child's education first before they pull a measly two cents out of their well-lined, dry clean only, silk pockets.



LANSING -- Senate Republican leaders said today they will turn down Gov. Jennifer Granholm's budget-balancing plan for this year because they oppose a tax hike she has proposed.



The $800 million-plus deficit in the budget year that ends Sept. 30 can be entirely closed by making cuts, said Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester.



"The Republican caucus has said we can get it done with cuts and we're going to put our money where our mouth is," Bishop said.



And in yet another jaw-dropping, stop-the-press, shocking development- they won't say what they will cut. Imagine that. They have been so forthcoming before, haven't they? Wonder what has changed.



Oh, that's right, nothing. But at least this time they did offer up the kids for consideration.



He didn't specify where the cuts would be made, but said school aid reductions are on the table.



How long will we have to wait for the Pubs to FINALLY TELL US what they would cut? Just another couple of weeks. That's all.



No rush, really.



The rejection of the governor's executive order, to be made official at a Senate Appropriations Committee meeting later today, means Granholm must propose another plan within 30 days. Republican senators will draft their own proposal for balancing the budget in the next couple weeks, Bishop said.



Makes you wonder just what they have been up to, doesn't it? What are they doing with their time?



Many of the speakers at Saturday's Republican state convention brought up their opposition to a 2 percent tax on services that Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm proposed last week.



But even more popular than the speeches were the buttons made by GOP state senators that showed the word "TAX" with the universal circle symbolizing "forbidden" over it.



So the buttons also said, "Naysayer - And Proud of It." They were one of the hottest items at the convention.



They gave speeches! And made buttons! Wow! That was constructive!



And there, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of the sad state of the MI GOP, the party that is continuing to hold your future hostage to their outdated and damaging fiscal policies.



They are proud to say "NO" to your kids, to retraining displaced workers, to alternative energy, to creating jobs... well, proud to say "NO" to Michigan in general.



And they still won't tell you what they would do instead.



You can put your hand down now.





Editor's note: Sorry no posting for the past few days. When Nolan Finley started shooting at his own party, and the GR Press said they would consider tax increases, well, I was convinced the world was coming to an end.



And I just didn't know what to say about that.



Besides, our governor has started blogging now, and I figured that she could take over. She only received one snarky comment, and she handled that quite well- proving she is ready for the big time. ;-)



How ya gonna keep 'em down in Lansing when they've been to Daily Kos. I really don't know.