It seems that Governor Nerd has decided that those drawing unemployment don't need the 26 weeks that they have been given in he past. So, in an effort to save Corporations errrrrrrrr I mean the State money, he has dropped the unemployment draw down to 20 weeks starting in 2012. Brilliant!! Think of all the money that the Corpor.......I mean the State will save. Unless you consider:
According to the U.S. Dept. of Labor for every $1 that the State delivers in unemployment $1.61 is pumped back into the economy. People out of work tend to BUY things. You know - like food, shelter, gas, etc...
Now - lets say the average person draws $300 a week and right now we have roughly 150,000 people drawing unemployment - those six weeks that are taken away will take over $150,000,000 out of the States economy. Incredible. No wonder Gateway floundered under his leadership. How does this make sense? I know that the right would like you to think that everyone that is drawing unemployment is lazy, don't want to find a job, and living the high life on the State's dime. But look at the facts. $300 a week is not much to live on, especially if you have a family. Many of the unemployed are people that were employed for years and now find themselves out of work, and quite frankly are older. There aren't too many places willing to hire a 58 - 62 year old person right now, and this makes up a great deal of the unemployed.
Cutting education budgets for both K-12 and Secondary is a huge red flag for not only teachers, but parents as well. How is going to go over when some districts scrap busing because of budget cuts? Parents will revolt. Telling Universities that you are cutting their budget, and oh - by the way - also telling them they can't raise tuition is the 21st centurys latest version of an unfunded mandate by the State. It is going to cause massive cuts by the Universities, which means more jobs gone in the state.
His biggest mistake so far has been to allow the State to decide when a city or township is in trouble and allow the State to name an Emergency Manager. This Manager can ignore union contracts then fire everyone and start over. His avoidance of the collective bargaining and union busting will not go over in this state. The Unions in the past few years have shown that they are willing to make concessions to save jobs and save Michigan. They sat in Washington along with the Big 3 in a sign of sosolidarity to help them get back on their feet. This is the Nerdy Governor's major mistake and may be his demise.
According to sources in Lansing, polling show that the independents in the State are deserting him in droves. Now keep in mind he dominated this group during the election. He won the election by 18 points and polls now show that if the election were held now he would lose by 2 - amazing turnaround in 90 days.
I get the whole "shock and awe" approach to his plan. He is throwing every idea on the table right now knowing that he will have a full 3 years to rebuild his reputation back before another election. The problem is that you have legislators that are up for election in less than 2 and you better believe that the Democrats have a great chance of taking over the legislature. Nothing in his first 90 days has shown that he is willing to work with the Democrats and if they take over the House in 2 years he will be in for a rude awakening. He is getting everything rubber stamped right now by a Republican House and Senate. In 2 years he is going to learn that Politics is not the same as running a Corporation. As a CEO what you say goes - by your rules. In politics you have to play nice in the sand box sometimes and you need CONSENSUS to get things accomplished.
I know cuts have to be made...I know that tough decisions need to be made. But as a former CEO I thought that he would understand how to do this. Any organization will look into it's own departments and lean them out. They will look for redundancies in the process and eliminate them to save money, they will ask the workers where and what will save the State money. It works - I have done it and it really works. Has the Governor looked into this? Nope - he immediately has gone to the low hanging fruit - take away benefits from those less fortunate and reward those doing well with the hope that it creates jobs (when history shows it doesn't).
The Governor better watch out. There are going to be serious challenges to his office. There is going to be a well sought after petition drive this spring to recall him. Now while most recalls fall short, he has alienated enough people, people that voted for him that are disgusted by the way he has driven his agenda down their throats with no thought of how this will effect those that are struggling to make ends meet right now.
It is going to be an interesting year here in Michigan.....and it starts in May when the recall petitions start to circulate.
