Six O'Clock News - Voice of the Turtle Edition
"For lo, the winter's past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds has come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. Happy New Year everybody! It's Tiger baseball, 2009!" Hear Ernie say the original from 1993 at the Freep. Gave me chills.
The Tigers win their first Grapefruit League game of spring training, 5-4, over the Atlanta Braves. Fu-Te Ni (who?) picks up the win.
The Michigan Chamber of Commerce wants the state to refuse the unemployment benefits from the stimulus. But... but... but... how will we pay for your tax cuts, you heartless hypocritical bastards? Ohhh, I see. You want the money for your interests, but not for the working people of Michigan. Gotcha.
South salutes Granholm! South Carolina Rep. Cathy Harvin pens a letter to the Freep and tells us what is really going on in Mark Sanford's state. Hint: Mass layoffs, not so pretty a picture.
Battle Creek joins the growing list of communities looking to be a Promise Zone.
The state has taken over Pontiac's finances. The city has been in "financial chaos" and cannot come to agreement on budget difficulties. A financial manager will be appointed.
Lessenberry brings us sobering and stark reality in today's Metro Times. As one who has been watching the numbers with growing horror, I hate to say this, but he is probably right. Read if you want to be bummed out.
Which brings us to our state's finances. According to Gongwer, Mike Bishop says the Senate is "not interested" in the revenue enhancements that the Governor laid out amidst all the wailing over the deep cuts already in the budget. Are the Republicans proposing even more cuts in this time of great need? Take it away, Liz:
A spokesperson for Ms. Granholm said the governor proposed a balanced budget with "painful cuts" that also aimed at ending the structural budget deficit.
"The governor is not interested in exacerbating the structural deficit by using economic stimulus dollars in lieu of permanent changes. We hope that is not what the Senate majority leader is proposing," said Liz Boyd. "If the Senate majority leader is not interested in revenue enhancements, we look forward to seeing their votes for additional cuts."
Given the fit that the House Democrats threw over the cuts already on the table, I'm interested to see how they will respond to more cuts from the Senate as well. Along with the reaction of the public. Serve 'em up.
No coal, says the governor. Yes coal, says Mike Cox. The DEQ plays it safe by appeasing both. And here comes the EPA! Fearless prediction: no way they ever build eight new plants in this state. Just can't see it happening.
Good news comes out of our snowy winter: water levels in the Great Lakes are rising. Don't know about your town, but Grand Rapids recorded its first back-to-back seasons of over 100" of snowfall in recorded history. As happy as I am for the Great Lakes - that's enough now, thank you. Let's play ball!