Posted on 07/11/2009 1:33:51 PM PDT by Steelfish
In Michigan, Deficits Defy Years of Cutting
By MONICA DAVEY
Published: July 11, 2009
LANSING, Mich. Long before California resorted to i.o.u.s to pay state bills, and before New Yorks political insurrection made a mess of this years budget planning, and even before the recession pushed dozens of other states into their worst fiscal distress in decades, lawmakers here were cutting.
The cuts started in the 2002 budget year, when some prisoners were ordered to sleep two to a cell. Then came cuts to state colleges in 2003, and orchestras, zoos and operas in 2004.
Medical payments for the poor were cut in 2005, followed by cuts to a youth prison in 2006. After that? More cuts to prisons, crime laboratories, libraries and day care programs.
Last month, 100 state troopers were laid off, and the troopers left behind were told to drive around less to, of course, cut costs.
In all, even before thinking about the coming years $1.8 billion shortfall, Michigans lawmakers had through cuts, accounting shifts and tax increases
closed more than $7 billion in budget gaps over the past eight years. While many states have experienced a year of pain or perhaps two during this downturn, Michigan is approaching nearly a decade of budget misery.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Same with my wife. Grew up in Dearborn; never lived anywhere else until I swept her away. :)
We went back recently to bury her father. The traffic in the suburbs is roughly equal to 10 years ago. The traffic in the city is a third. When GM abandons the Ren Center, they should just put barbed wire around Detroit and shoot anything that shambles out. The decripitude is accelerating. A beautiful state, wiped out by the Marxists.
Republicans can do nothing. They lost.
California, even in a terrible economy, with a government run by incompetent corrupt politicians, has nearly *double* the economy of the next biggest economic state of Texas.
Did you get that part?
((*Nearly double the Texas economy*))
California, even with it's high unemployment, and screwed up government, is Americas economic powerhouse... No state comes close.
They’ve already raised taxes in MI. They did it in fall of 07 and it just made things worse. They raised the state income tax back up to the level it was before Engler came into office. I left the following summer because they were talking about jacking up taxes again.
Granholm got into office and pissed away the surplus put in place by Engler and then blamed him for the deficits. She has destroyed the state with her spending.
Well of course, the >*entire*< economy has slowed down..From Cal to Florida...
Let’s go a bit beyond the past year or so. The CA economy hasn’t grown at the same rate as other states for nearly two decades now.
So, once again, after 8 years of savage "cuts",
spending is up by $8 000 000 000.
Could I trouble you for the source on these numbers? I’d like to pass them along with this article and want to be prepared when the question of their source comes. I did a quick search for them but am not finding it readily at hand. It would be greatly appreciated, and thank you.
During the election, I told people to export Michigan’s economy to the rest of the nation by voting for Obama. The folks laughed then and are crying in their beers now. Oh well, the dolts would still vote for the O.
“Granholms doctorial thesis from Berkeley was titled Why I love French communists.
Is that true? If so, can you source it for me?
Thanks.
Yeah, so how's that liberal-run union thing working out for ya?
Wow, thanks for posting that.
Exactly and well said. In Michigan the big important news and announcements were about cutting State Police jobs. Who in their right mind cuts police protection instead of the thousands of bureaucrat jobs in Lansing? Oh wait..I KNOW...the thousands of bureaucrats in Lansing! Scare the people to get more taxes to line the pockets of these unneeded societal sponges.
Granholms doctorial thesis from Berkeley was titled Why I love French communists.
Is that true? If so, can you source it for me?
No can do. That’s my title for her doctoral thesis. During the 2002 campaign, I heard her thesis praised French communists and she wanted to bring their ideas here and place them into practice. I believe the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has all the really good dirt on her. Try fishing here -
Good luck.
Thanks for the link. I will definitely check it out. The funny thing is that your “sarcastic” title for her thesis, was totally believable. Sad really.
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