It's a start.
Albin: Last week Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop was here on the show, and the week before that Governor Granholm, and between the two of them they seem to have a rather large difference on how they view this process. The Governor suggests that there is an agreement, a frame of an agreement, for revenues and reforms. Senator Bishop is less certain there is such an agreement. So, since you are the third of the Big Three, if you will, that have to hammer this out, what's your understanding of where the three of you are in terms of what happens for next year's budget.
Dillon: Yeah, I think that, it's somewhere in the middle of that, I think there was an understanding reached in May when we agreed to how to resolve '07, there was an understanding about how we would tackle the next part for '08, and we were working toward that, and we remain to be working toward that. The little bit of acrimony that hit, part of that understanding was, when would this all come together, and when it didn't come together in the time that one of the sides thought it was to come together, it created some tension. But Mike and I spent three days together last week, we met this morning, I see a path for us to get to the solution, and we will.
Basically Andy is saying, yeah, there was an "understanding", Granholm wanted it done right now, and that was the problem there, but me and Mikey are hangin' out and we will get around to it eventually.
Well, Speaker Dillon, maybe she wanted it done so college tuition wouldn't go through the roof and cities and schools could plan their budgets for the year? Maybe she doesn't want to push this to the possibility of a shutdown and have to operate in "crisis mode" all the time? Might have something to do with it.
So, there's that. But, I come not to bury Speaker Dillon, but to praise him. Yes, you heard me right.
Dillon actually did a pretty good job on the show. Compared to Bishop- he is more thorough in his explanations, you understand his position, and he does make some good points. Go watch the two back to back and you will see who has more credibility on the issues- it's Dillon, hands down.
Although he complains a bit too much about the workload (hey, you wanted the job), he does point out that the House is moving legislation, he takes on DeRoche, which is always fun, and in regards to taxes - he admits that we cannot get there without more revenue. And he hit it right on the head with the fact that more cuts actually amount to back-door tax increases, such as the tuition jumps as we are seeing now, and the hidden ones such as Medicaid/insurance premiums.
All in all, he does alright. He still is a little too conservative for my taste, a little too "Bishop friendly", but he has to deal with the Petulant Prom King and I don't so… I guess I wish him luck, and I hope he stands strong in the negotiations in the weeks to come.
Democrats need to be proactive and put Bishop on the ropes. If this does go to shutdown, they better make sure the public knows exactly who is being unreasonable and obstructing progress here.