Gotta love our Yooper friends. They are up there, getting all loud with their Frances-McDormand-in-Fargo accents, and sticking it right in Tom Casperson's ear over school cuts, service cuts, his "wealthy backers", Lansing's lack of response to their postcards, taxes on their pensions, you name it, they are pissed off about it. Watch the video and see Casperson try to back-peddle on, geez Norm, almost every Republican policy that has been proposed so far, or you can read the story in the Mining Journal:
The town hall meeting, held in the Marquette County Circuit Courtroom, was standing room only. The mood of many in the audience may have been best summarized by one man who, during the discussion, shouted, "We're all worried! This is why we're having this heated conversation! Everyone in this room is worried!"
Snyder's budget also calls for cuts to K-12 funding which would result in a $471 reduction in per pupil funding for fiscal year 2012.
Mike Flynn, a member of the Ishpeming school board, said the Ishpeming district, among other money-saving cuts, has already closed its middle school, moving its fifth- through eighth-grade students to the high school; privatized its custodial service; contracted bus maintenance; laid off staff; and plans on laying off three more teachers at the end of the year.
"If this cut happens we will be forced, possibly, to lay off as many as 11 more teachers ... our Ishpeming students cannot afford a cut of this magnitude," he said.
Flynn asked everyone in the audience who supported not cutting the schools budget to stand. Nearly everyone in the room jumped to their feet while cheering and clapping.
Here's a great quote from a gentleman in the video, fast forward to 12:00 if you want to see it...
"Both houses of the legislature are Republicans, as well as the governor, so whatever happens in the next two years, the Republicans are going to be blamed for it. I don't recall you, or most of the other people who are Republicans, running on anything like what is being foisted upon the state."
Crowd erupts in applause and cheers at this point. The Mining Journal has the rest of his quote:
Dave Kallio said the governor is foisting his corporate agenda onto the state and offered Casperson some political advice.
"If you guys get behind and just follow his lead you're going to be doing things that the people of Michigan didn't want. We may have wanted a surgical cut here and there, we didn't want a butcher knife ... I would suggest to you and your fellow Republicans that you temper some of his ideas and think about the people of this state and do your best to solve problems without hurting people the way it appears the government is headed," he said.
Unfortunatley for Mr. Kallio and the rest of the people in that room, the Republicans are taking a butcher knife to the budget. A big one too. And they're using a blindfold as they wield it. You can read some of the horrific things they are doing in committee here, and when they are done voting it all through, you can be sure that there will be lists of the carnage available for all to use as they see fit.
Then maybe Lake Superior won't be the only place that will see blue waves in 2012, if you catch my meaning. Unfortunately you are stuck with Casperson until 2014, unless you are bored and want to start collecting signatures or something...