The governor's race is starting to attract a fair number of "letters to the editor" across the state. This
first one (courtesy of Pohlitics) is from the
Grand Rapids Press:
Governorship can't be bought
Can DeVos buy the governorship? I don't know. By spending huge amounts of his own money ($13 million in 12 months) that is clearly what he is trying to do despite anything he says to the contrary ("DeVos outspends governor 10 to 1," Press, July 29).
He is blatantly trying to buy it. Not with fresh ideas but with very clever sales pitch. He sounds good on TV but can he really deliver the goods like Granholm has? Michigan is very lucky to have her.
She has given her all to protect Michigan workers and jobs. She has literally gone everywhere, anywhere, at any time to create new industries in our state. Throughout all of it, she has kept her grace, integrity and character intact. She is a winner.
Fortunately for DeVos, if he buys the office in November, he will not inherit the kind of economic mess Granholm did from the previous red ink Republican.
He clearly plans to plunge the state into debt as fast as possible by cutting the Single Business Tax immediately without fully replacing it. . That is not a plan for long term success.
Having Google come to Ann Arbor as envisioned under Granholm's 21st Century Jobs Plan clearly works for our great state. She's just getting started. I am looking forward to what she will do with four more years. Let's give them to her.
JERRY HAMELINK/Hudsonville
Should DeVos succeed in buying the governorship, here's one gentleman's
vision of Michigan in the future from the
Daily Mining Gazette:
It`s Nov. 8, 2006, and Dick DeVos, the multi-millionaire soon to be billionaire, has won the Michigan governorship. He has convinced us that by eliminating the single business tax he will turn Michigan`s economy around.
This is the same man who invested 200 million dollars in Amway China and eliminated 1,400 jobs in Michigan. I guess he can't guarantee you a lifetime job in Michigan. But if you want to relocate, he can offer you good employment while you are with his company.
I guess it's not called Amway anymore, but I wonder if they use the same methods of recruitment and incentives? If you worked for Amway you would get a commission for every person (one is born every minute) you recruited to sell Amway to others, that person would get a commission recruiting someone else to sell and so on down the line. This multi-level marketing scheme reminds me of what the Pharaohs used to build in Egypt.
I remember reading what George W. Bush said about how he was going to change the role of the military. If DeVos changes Michigan`s economy the way Bush has changed the military our state could end up in a disastrous situation like our country is in now in the Middle East.
PHILLIP FAUCHER/Pelkie
Amen, Mr. Faucher.
6 comments:
DeVos has no real plan, not any he wants to unveil to voters anyway, but I'm sure it's something like "vouchers, tax cuts (for my base), and privitization".
wow...thanks for keeping us up to date on this situation....I think it is important to keep up to date on what is going on in the different states...( maybe we all should have paid closer attention when Bush was Gov of Tx.....hmmmm...ugly thought)
"He clearly plans to plunge the state into debt as fast as possible by cutting the Single Business Tax immediately without fully replacing it. . That is not a plan for long term success."
That's so brilliant I can scarcely improve upon it. OK, I can't. But it should be remembered.
This vote by the Republicans is crazy. Granholm should pound home just how bad an idea this was. The good news is, I think she will. She had a plan moving forward, and they couldn't wait. Just awful. It would be almost poetic justice if DeVos has to deal with this, but no, I'd rather not explore that possibility.
Hi, TGG. Thanks for pointing out what I should have highlighted. I think it also reveals that DeVos is not your "father's Republican" so to speak. There's a big difference between fiscal responsibility and fiscal stupidity. The SBT makes up approximately 16% of the budget. If that happened to most family budgets, the result would be devastating, and extras like cable would have to be cut, the thermostat would be dialed down, and home maintenance would get neglected.
Most people have some savings to tide them over or family to help out till they get another job, but Michigan is not flush with cash to fall back on, which leads me to believe DeVos and the MIGOP want public services cut. Their business friends will reap the tax savings while us "little people" do the belt tightening.
I think what people are forgetting about the Anway guy, as well as how he ever got the title, is he is not a successful businessman. He was selling closet organizers and heavily financially backed by his father. He took over the family business when his father suffered a heart attack, and he promptly ran it into the ground, lost millions of dollars and sent more than 1,400 jobs to Communist China. It’s also not clear how he departed the company, voluntarily or otherwise. Doesn’t he seem a little too young and power-hungry to retire?
Now, how this qualifies him to run our state I have no idea. Why doesn’t his father run, he’s much more qualified than his son, if you can put aside that pyramid scheme thing.
Communications guru, thanks for your comment, you bring up some good points. I remember reading that it was rumored DeVos was asked to step down by the board because he was doing a poor job. I'll try to find that link.
In the meantime, I see many similarities between DeVos Jr and Bush II. They both inherited their wealth and connections without proving themselves competent or capable. In Bush's case, those doubts about his abilities have been proven true. Michigan Republicans may be willing to take a chance with DeVos, but the fact that they were never even given a choice of candidates should be setting off alarms in their head. DeVos is not the people's candidate - he's the party machine's candidate.
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