Snyder’s Speech in Livonia Covers Jobs, Taxes and…Weight Loss?
Gov. Rick Snyder addressed The 11th Congressional District Republican Committee on Monday night.
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Gov. Rick Snyder got his new job running as the “CEO candidate,” and he’s keeping to the promise to run Michigan more efficiently and effectively, he told a Republican group Monday night.
Though the $65 per seat event ($125 per person for a private reception with the governor) was billed as a “We Remember” 9/11 dinner, the Republican governor spent much more time giving a business-style, go-Michigan pep-talk than talking about terrorist attacks.
The governor spoke before The 11th Congressional District Republican Committee, which represents Northville, Plymouth and Canton, among other cities. The event was held at Laurel Manor in Livonia.
First-term governor reviews inaugural year
He focused on a list of successes for his first year in office, such as balancing the state budget, creating the emergency manager system to take over failing cities and school districts, and repealing the Michigan Business Tax (MBT) – all issues for which he received criticism from Democrats.
“Since I’ve been in office I’ve signed 130 bills into law,” Snyder told the crowd of about 200 people. “But I believe in quality more than quantity.”
The governor said he’s tried to hit a number of goals each month. The first couple months of the year were about taxes, including the MBT removal, which he declared was “the dumbest tax ever.”
April and May were all about education reform, Snyder said.
“We need to start putting students first. Adults are not our first priority,” he said.
Upcoming priorities
He said the first focus for the fall will be health care reform.
“I have a special message about ‘wellness’ that I’m going to announce Wednesday,” the governor said. “It’s especially stressful to me, because I’m overweight, and I’m going to weigh in and fill the public in on what my weight is and my goals to lose it…and you all can hold me accountable.”
In October, Snyder said he plans to focus on infrastructure, with building a new bridge to Canada one of his top crusades. He said he’s personally crunched the numbers, and said he knows another span across the Detroit River will create jobs.
“The one special interest who is opposed is going to spend as much money as possible to distort the facts, to override what’s best for the 10 million people in Michigan,” the governor said.
He said Canada is going to fund the $550 million cost, which can then be turned around and used as match funds for $2 billion in federal grants to fix other infrastructure in Michigan, such as roads. “The Michigan taxpayers will pay zero for a new bridge,” Snyder said.
Revitalizing the state
What Snyder tried to emphasize most during his talk, however, is that Michiganders no longer have time to be divisive in the quest to bring back the state’s confidence, which has suffered being named as “dead last” in many economic and financial lists.
“These fights with one another, blaming each other, has never solved anything,” the governor said. “I have a motto: Relentless positive action. I want you to leave here fired up, passionate. We need to take Michigan from the ’50 out of 50’ columns and put ourselves to the top 10 – or number one.”
Several of the crowd said they were fired up by the speech, and by Snyder’s shoot-straight attitude. Ralph Nichols, a Bloomfield Hills resident and owner of the Dale Carnegie course franchises in Michigan, said he’s a big fan of Snyder’s approach to government.
“He’s just not a politician you’ve ever seen, he’s a CEO. He runs the state like a business, and the people who work for him know if they don’t produce, he’ll find someone who will,” Nichols said after the speech.
District 20 Rep. Kurt Heise, R-Plymouth, was in the audience for the talk, and said he liked the governor’s request to work together for Michigan’s benefit.
“We need to put talk of blame behind us,” Heise said. “Also, though it has been painful, the education reforms we’ve gone through have shown we can pull together, such as the contracts and privatization in the Northville and Plymouth-Canton districts. Together, we can solve these problems.”
ConcernedParent
9:11 am on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
He really said we needed to put students first and no one threw their bread rolls at him?
Lilly Frydrych
10:24 am on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Are you kidding? Governor Snyder you are destroying peoples lives with privizitation. We made concessions and I mean BIG concessions, in good faith, to keep our jobs and healthcare and you just come along and wipe us out. You say you are putting students first? There is an adult behind every student and if that adult cannot provide a home,food,and clothing there will be no students because we will all be living in our front yards because we have no money to pay for anything. When are you going to get a grip and see the path of destruction of peoples lives you have left behind you? Are you kidding me? Maybe you should find out how much doctors and dentists are willing to give the public for free Maybe you should tell all these heathcare companies to give it up too. STOP YOUR MADNESS PLEASE!
Mike
10:56 am on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Thank you Governor, for pulling the Public Sector more in line with the Private Sector. I am sorry the Teacher's Union finally has to pay part of their costs. Still not up to non-union workers in the area. We need to look at changing the public union’s pension system, from Guaranteed Benefit to Guaranteed Contribution. That way the individual has greater ownership. And School Districts don't have to lay off people when the market tanks.
ConcernedParent
11:44 am on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
What we need to do is to invest in public education -- and that means valuing the educators. While we continue to demonize the people to whom we trust our children's education, we will continue to fail our children and our community. The schools and the teachers have faced cut after cut over the last 3-5 years. Class sizes in Northville at all levels of K-12 are now higher than almost anywhere else in the country. So far Northville has been able to attract professional people, but this will stop as soon as it becomes more widely known that we have woefully underfunded schools.
Not only will Northville fail to attract people to move here, families will begin to move to other school districts. I have already seen this happen. This was the very first Summer I can remember in which parents were actively discussing other options for their children's schooling. Some have moved, some have put their children in private schools, others are considering home schooling. People who were planning to remain in Northville through retirement are now reconsidering. This is likely to continue and get worse. The very first thing people do when contemplating a move, is to check the quality of the schools. Northville Schools have a well-deserved reputation across the State, but with class sizes of OVER THIRTY at the elementary level, this will no longer be a district to which people will want to bring their families.
ecnalubma
1:08 pm on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
When Rick Snyder was running for governor he made creating a “jobs friendly environment” and “value for money government” his priorities. How is he achieving this? By shifting the tax burden to seniors, gutting education, and giving a $1.8 billion handout to corporations, possibly more? How is Gov. Snyder doing? Well, according to his own MiDashboard and newly released employment numbers Gov. Rick Snyder is not doing well. Mi’s unemployment rate has increased from 10.7% to 10.9%, nearly two full points above the national average of 9.1%. Add insult to injury, 36% of Michigan’s children live in households with jobless parents, ranking Michigan 47th nationally. Under Snyder, Michigan’s schools are failing our children. It’s no wonder Rick Snyder spends $20,000 a year to send his youngest child to a private school. According to the Governor’s own figuring, third-grade reading proficiency has fallen from 90% to 87%. The number of Michiganders with bachelor’s degrees has fallen and is ranked 36th nationally. Infant mortality has increased from 7.6 to 7.7 deaths per 1,000 live births and Michigan now ranks 37th nationally. Simply put, Rick Snyder is failing, the thing that he would like to do is liquidate the state of Michigan, like his investment companies have done and his past business experience has done in the past, this will require him to banish any organized opposition, discredit the knowledgeable people; this is one nerd who is only getting started.
JR Livonia
2:17 pm on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Governor Snyder is making the tough decisions that the past administration was unable to do. Governor Granholm left this State decimated... record setting unemployment, an unbearable business-stifling tax burden and no plan to fix anything! Where have you people been for the past 8 years. He has a plan... let the man have his day!
ecnalubma
2:41 pm on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Sure we should give him a chance, like giving the fox the key to the hen house! Now the Governor and Michigans Lawmakers want to gut more funding from our local governments. Link to this: http://michiganradio.org/post/another-tax-break-michigan-businesses#.Tm4sYaGKN3M
JR Livonia
2:53 pm on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Who creates the vast majority of jobs in Michigan and the US? Yes... you're right, small to medium business! In order to open new business and expand existing business, we have to find better ways to spread the tax burden. Our Governor and legislature will obviously find a replacement before "gutting" funding from local government. Yes these are hard decisions, but at least our Governor is not burying his head in the sand and hoping things get better. What will it take for people to see that something has to be done? Look at Ford Motor Company... they made the tough decisons and look at where they are now... at the top of the game!
ConcernedParent
3:01 pm on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
"Our Governor and legislature will obviously find a replacement before "gutting" funding from local government." They didn't find any replacement when cutting $400 per pupil from our schools. And next year it will be worse. Guess what will happen to your house prices when the public schools are falling apart? Thirty one 8 and 9 year-olds in a classroom isn't education, it's crowd control.
JR Livonia
3:14 pm on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Why does everyone criticize, condemn and complain.... but offer no solutions? What is your solution? Will doing nothing solve our problems? Amazing...
ecnalubma
3:35 pm on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Raise the gas tax to 23 cents in order to bring in billions of matching federal dollars to repair Michigan’s decaying roads and provide work for its citizens. Move to a graduated income tax (similar to the federal income tax system). Michigan is one of only seven states that still use a flat-rate system. This will provide tax relief to the majority of Michigan citizens. Tax all services and nonessential food items at the 6 percent tax rate. It is estimated that this can generate over $2 billion. The state of Illinois taxes all sales including services at 9 percent. Tax all out of state Internet purchases. It is estimated that Michigan lost over $75+ million in taxes in 2009 from Internet sales and that figure is expected to grow to over $500+ million in coming years. While it is the expectation that citizens pay taxes on those purchases, it is not likely happening. Give retirees back their tax credit, finance education to pre-cut $$, and stop paying his cooperate buddies back! These are just some simple ideas that have worked in other states. This will turn things around.ConcernedParent says it right. They will not replace $$ to our local government.
vivi
11:20 am on Wednesday, September 14, 2011
JRLivonia, that is my response to all the naysayers: WHAT IS YOUR PLAN? Granholm didn't have one - except to don her cheerleader outfit and create "Cool Cities". How do you, ConcernedParent, propose that we get the state out of the financial miasma we are in? Do you think we need to create jobs? Then we need to get rid of the stifling business taxes in this state, which make us uncompetitive with even other rust-belt neighboring states, let alone the rest of the country. If we DON'T do this, we are just following the same old head-in-the-sand plan (or should I say, lack of?) The governor said that the next two years would be very difficult but that after that, we would be firmly on the road to an economic recovery. We can't keep funding everything in the same way, and expect anything to change. Gee, isn't that what everyone voted for in 2008: change? Well, this is the painful change that has to be made to get us back on track. And don't worry - I spent my entire elementary school career in a class of 50 and still went on to advanced degrees. We all need to keep our eye on the bigger prize: a healthy economic environment in Michigan, which will, in turn, finance schools, public services, etc. Yes, there will be short-term problems, but we are never going back to the "old days", here or anywhere else. So, we can either fall back to old, unsustainable patterns, or we can create new ones which - while temporarily frustrating - will take us on to the future.
ConcernedParent
12:14 pm on Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Small or large businesses do not hire in response to tax cuts. They hire in response to increasing demand, so the likelihood of local business being spurred into boosting the economy by tax cuts is extremely small. The decision for businesses to relocate is based on many criteria -- the tax environment is only one of those. More important is a trained work force, great schools and a community in which people actually want to live. Trash the schools and you lose any advantage there AND punish our children all in one foul swoop. Great job.
I'm tired of people saying we can fix the schools when the economy is back on track. Tell that to my eight year old who has only one chance at 4th grade. It's great that you survived a class of 50. Have you been in a classroom lately? The world has changed. Your 'short term problem' is my child's education.
JR Livonia
3:40 pm on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Exactly! They won't need replacement dollars if we can implement the changes to which you speak! I'm sure you are not the only one thinking along these lines. This is the kind of dialogue we need to succeed in this state. Thank you!
JR Livonia
3:55 pm on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
One more thing ecnalubma... stay thirsty my friend!
ecnalubma
5:21 pm on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
JR: Thanks, my point is that the State could go even further, in small bites, that would actually balance the budget, improve things like the roads, education, and healthcare, without putting the the majority of the weight of the cuts on any one single group. Right now his cuts are on their way to make Michigan a haven for foreign companies who are looking to America for cheap labor.
JR Livonia
1:04 pm on Wednesday, September 14, 2011
concernedparent.... What do you propose we all do? Have you ever talked to your legislators about your concerns?... Have you offered them any ideas that you feel will help your 4th grader? Or are you like the vast majority who complain when things get cut, but offer no input or solution... criticize, cendemn and complain... where has that gotten us?
ConcernedParent
1:18 pm on Wednesday, September 14, 2011
For starters I would not have stolen money from that set aside for K-12 education--a fund that actually had a surplus that was intended to fund K-12 education. I would not have betrayed the voters who were in favor of Proposal A. We need to change the way we fund our schools so that the local community is ABLE to raise money for operating costs. And I would not have put the state in a $1.8 billion financial hole at the expense of education and seniors.
It is patronizing of you to assume that I have not and do not continue to participate at every level in this debate -- with my childrens' school, the school board and my legislators at the local and national level.
ecnalubma
2:14 pm on Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The Governor should not put all of his eggs in one basket. All of these claims that tax cuts will generate gobs is hogwash. No small or large business is going to relocate to Michigan with a hiring base that is not desirable, so education should be a top priority. Then with all of the costs being passed down to the consumer (state resident) those with the $$, and those without, will be leaving the state for greener pastures. By all accounts Michigan is fair in the business environment, ranks around 30, sure this is not great news but only one neighboring state rates in the top 10, Indiana, and in the bottom 10, Ohio and New York (not a physical neighbor, but in the rust belt). So our climate for business isn’t all that bad. The argument here is that the governor favors businesses at the cost of everyone else. Earlier in this blog I made suggestions that have not even been approached, or discussed by the legislators. Now they are considering cutting the Personal Property Tax on businesses. This is a tax businesses pay on equipment, this money goes directly to local governments. So hold on, there goes our home values again.
vivi
5:38 pm on Friday, September 23, 2011
I would just say this to Concerned Parent re: worrying about his 4th grader: I have children and I am concerned, also. And, contrary to your patronizing comment that "the world has changed" (really? how smug) - of course it has. I'm not saying that 50 kids in a class is desireable, but that, obviously, it was do-able. But here's the real question: do you want to bite the bullet and try to fix it now (with your child as a 4th grader), or do you just want to put your head in the sand until everything completely falls apart (with your child as a 5th grader? 6th grader? what's the magic number?) Obviously, NONE of this is the best case scenario, but again, it is as a result of that very head-in-the-sand mentality for years in this state, which you probably supported with the likes of Granholm et al. We're now at a crisis point. We can either ignore it or deal with it. How 'bout we try dealing with it for a change? The opposite has not worked.
Ann Wisniewski
10:11 am on Saturday, September 24, 2011
Why do we always have this "take away from Peter to pay Paul" approach. It is always all or nothing depending on whose special interest group is in power. Why isn't there more balance? I say that we should get rid of all political parties. Are they just too "big to fail"? BTW are political parties constitutional?
vivi
11:01 am on Sunday, September 25, 2011
Because, just like your home budget, there is only so much in the pot. For the first time in YEARS, we have a governor who is trying to balance the budget, not borrow and borrow and borrow. If you did that at home, you'd be bankrupt. On the other hand, if you decide to put a large chunk away for your child's college education or retirement or whatever, you take money away from something else. This is where we are at: trying to live within a budget and trying to even the playing field, especially for small business, which is the overwhelming majority of business. Because we are no longer OVERSPENDING and also trying to remedy a tax situation, we have to take money from other areas. Obviously, there are those who think this shouldn't be happening, but if we have to bite the bullet for a couple of years to get us back on the right track, I personally think it's worth it. What is the alternative? To travel down the same ill-begotten path we've been going down (and down and down) for years.
ConcernedParent
2:31 pm on Wednesday, September 28, 2011
How many times do we have to reiterate that there was a SURPLUS in the School Aid Fund? That was taken away to give tax breaks to companies with absolutely NO guarantees that this will create a single job. Not one. So no, I don't think it's worth sacrificing a generation of our children to try out economic strategies that have a very poor history of success. We are not living within a budget. We are throwing money at businesses who will have a shrinking market to sell their goods and services to! And meanwhile we are destroying the one thing that is still good in most of Michigan -- our schools.
Ann Wisniewski
3:31 pm on Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Concerned Parent,
You have presented with clarity exactly what has happened and is happening in our state right now. For some reason many people do not appreciate how valuable and important our children's education is in creating a vital and attractive business climate. One of the first questions a person who is buying into an area asks is how are the schools. Businesses, if they don't already, should be asking the same question. Thanks, "Concerned" for all your thoughtful insights.