Sunday, March 29, 2009

John Cherry for Governor?

Before the entire Democratic Party apparatus gets on board the John Cherry Bandwagon, I'd like someone to explain why is he going to be any better than Governor Granholm.

This has nothing to do with whether he is the person most able to get elected. We got Granholm elected twice and at this point I would have rather have seen what Dick DeVos could have done. Granholm has been wrong on education, wrong on energy policy, ineffective in economic development and gutless in prison reform. Our state as gotten worse, not better, under her leadership.

I understand this is impolitic, but I no longer care if the best person is a Republican or a Democrat. I care who will make this state a better place to live for the most people, and a lousy Democrat is not necessarily better than a good Republican.

So what does John Cherry stand for? What is he going to do to dig Michigan out of this mess and how complicit has he been in Granholm's failures? If he has done nothing as the Lieutenant Governor he can only be criticized for being a typically boring person in a typically useless position. I suppose this is better than being an active participant - but says nothing about what he will do once woken from his LG stupor.

I have seen nothing yet that explains who he is and what he stands for. OK, he's a Democrat. Now tell me something useful.

Jim Webb is Not Your Average Politician

Senator Jim Webb has introduced legislation to create a commission to investigate why the U.S. has become a nation of prisons and why our criminal justice system seems to be out of control. In a rather long piece, Glenn Greenwald sums it up here.

Unlike most politicians (including our Governor), Webb is willing to take on the politically unpopular issues that are destroying lives across the country. Being "tough on crime" is so pervasive in state capitals that it is impossible for your average legislator to ask valid questions about what the hell are we doing and is it causing more harm than good.

Webb has the advantage of not really giving a shit if he gets reelected or not. He's not in love with himself or the Senate or any of the Village crap that makes senators so useless. This allows him to ask the tough questions and reveal the quality so lacking in D.C.: Courage.

Secretary of State Clinton made a similarly gutsy move last week when she admitted that the U.S. bears a lot of responsibility for the drug-related violence in Mexico. As obvious as this sounds, no one in the past has had the temerity to come out and say it. We buy their drugs and sell them weapons to kill each other. Bravo to Hillary.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Why is Harry Reid Still in Charge of the Senate?

What is it about Harry Reid that qualifies him to be the majority leader in the Senate? He has no balls, no guts and now it appears that he has no brains either:
“Roberts didn’t tell us the truth. At least Alito told us who he was,” Reid said, referring to Samuel Alito, the second Supreme Court justice nominated by President George W. Bush. “But we’re stuck with those two young men, and we’ll try to change by having some moderates in the federal courts system as time goes on — I think that will happen.”
Come on Harry, do you really expect me to believe you thought Roberts was a moderate? How does someone so clueless end up running the most important political caucus in the country?

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Money for Nothing

I've had a lot of doubts about Michigan's program to lure movie productions to the state with an outrageous offer to pay up to 42% of the costs. Just to make this absolutely clear, the state (that's us) gives the producers a check for 42% of the money spent in Michigan. The idea was to build a "movie industry" in Michigan which would magically create good jobs for our flagging economy.

A story in today's Times lays out the results . If what they say is correct, Michigan has spent $48 million to yield $53.8 million in employment income. Adding to the pain is that the majority of the films are B Grade garbage that won't even make it into theaters.

Don't get me wrong, I love movies and I loved Gran Torino (shot in Detroit) - but this program is a joke; a short sighted hallucination that displays no understanding of the nature of the movie industry or the jobs that it creates.

People who work in movies are gypsies. With a few exceptions (like scripted TV shows) there are no permanent jobs. There are gigs that move from place to place. Michigan's idiotic offer to finance B grade horror movies brought the gypsies here for a while. Unfortunately, California just matched our offer - and does anyone really think movie producers are going to choose Michigan over Southern California if the bribes are equal?

$48 million for $54 million in temp jobs. This is criminally stupid and a sign of desperation. Who ever came up with this idea should be fired, today.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Spare Me

Listening to Chuck Schumer on the radio railing about the AIG bonuses was a bit much.

I mean, Schumer personally carried the water for the hedge fund plutocrats when someone threatened to actually make them pay taxes on their billions in income. They made money during the Wall Street feeding frenzy that made the AIG bonuses pale in comparison yet paid taxes at rates lower than their secretaries due to their abuse of the tax code.

Schumer, Senator from Wall Street and recipient of massive contributions from same made sure their gilded status was protected from the evil tax collectors. And now he's up in arms about the AIG bonuses.

Just because he's a Democrat doesn't mean he's not a hypocrite, opportunist, band- wagoniste wanker.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

What the Fuck?

It's really hard for me to believe that in 2009 a squad of special narco-police could blow into a hippie's apartment at Grand Valley State and shoot the guy because they thought he was a dealer. Thank god he's not going to die, but given where the shot landed that was more luck than design. Meanwhile, Press columnist Dave Mayo is looking at seven years for growing Chronic in the privacy of his house - and his wife could do two to three for running a "Drug House".

We're talking about Pot here, you know the stuff that is so goddamn funny in movies like Knocked Up and Pineapple Express. The stuff that Michigan voters just resoundingly approved for medicinal purposes. The weed that has never killed anyone.

It's painfully obvious that what makes Pot dangerous is the fact that it is illegal. The fact that it is illegal is why Mexican gangsters are killing each other to gain control of the business, why governments are being corrupted and why an absurd number of Americans are having their lives ruined.

It's time to change the laws, and anyone who doesn't understand this is either deranged or stupid - or maybe a gutless politician or someone who earns his living as part of the War on Drugs.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

So Raise the Damn Taxes

I don't think anyone can disagree that Michigan's roads are a disaster. My drive to work has once again become an obstacle course as last year's pot holes return with the spring thaws.

Assuming we can agree on this fact, the next question is how to fix it? On one hand are the timid, but somewhat rational people like Governor Granholm who think we need to increase taxes to maintain the infrastructure. But even she can't come right out and say it because she has been so cowed by the other side: the anti-tax fundamentalists.

I would think by now we could admit that the theories of the anti-tax crusaders are based on nothing but sand. Cutting taxes does not increase income, jobs or prosperity. It puts more money into the pockets of some people and takes it away from the Government that can no longer afford to maintain the roads, schools and hospitals that define our quality of life.

I would think conservatives (of all people) would understand that you can't get something for nothing. There is no magic fairy and there will not be a pony under the Christmas tree. Either we pay more taxes and allow the government to fix the roads or our cars will be ruined and businesses will pass the state by because our infrastructure is collapsing.

Destroying the state because you are too scared to raise taxes is not leadership. Michigan deserves better.