Tag: DRIC

Not to fear, he's got a scapegoat to blame for this one.

So who is the great nerdy one mad at now?

Schauer proposes hiking state minimum wage to $9.25 an hour

In the mean time, Rick Snyder's MEDC and Gary Peters are tirelessly working for Corporate Welfare schemes.

From Its Just Politics:

"Finally, just to make all of this a little more high school: both sides say Governor Rick Snyder told them he's on their side. But the Governor's spokeswoman responded that that's not quite true; says he likes transparency, but he also supports free speech."

Right.  Because transparency is a high priority in his world.

Oh, and as for Ruth in 2014?  They ask the question:

"Will Ruth Johnson pay a political price for her stance on disclosure? To seek reelection, she has to be nominated next year at a Republican convention. How will GOP delegates respond to this sort of renegade behavior?"

What an incredible opportunity this 'shutdown' offers us, yet all that they can come up with is self congratulatory political 'twerking'. Rather than applaud a stand for what most republicans profess as their principles, the nerd sycophant unit offers underhanded criticism to the one thing that is going as it should.  Greg McNeilly self proclaimed 'decider' of whom might be an "invasive species", or "Malcontent, magpie", et.. Falls short of identifying the Obama/Reid cabal which has in fact been solely responsible for the shutdown in DC:

"There could not be a stronger contrast between the actions of Gov. Snyder and the House and Senate Republicans and the irresponsibility of Washington, D.C. politicians.  Michigan's responsible leaders balanced the budget months ahead of schedule, put money aside for a rainy day and still ended up with a surplus.

"Gov. Snyder and our leadership in the Legislature have done a tremendous job building a solid foundation for Michigan's economic recovery.  As the state continues to grow, we will count on them to continue the smart, fiscally sound policies that have brought Michigan back."

Gosh Greggie, we are so impressed! And NOBODY not everybody had to pay higher taxes for it! Michigan should be PROUD to have the 47th best climate for business in the country! By Obama's accounting that means we are better than 11 others, but for normal folks a modest 3 is good enough though, right?  What happens I wonder to the wonderful Medicaid/welfare expansion that will not be funded if the GOP is successful in holding the line?  Will the governor be able to pull back enough to get maybe 48th?

Real leadership like this deserves an award.

While private enterprise for the most part has been able to hold costs and effects of inflation in check, in many cases through efficiencies and watchful management, government does no such thing.  An infrastructure operation that is run by government hasn't the same incentives, or mechanisms that allow increased costs to be aggregated along side found savings.  The Price will always go up. And the announcement of rate increases over one international bridge?

"The Sault Ste. Marie Bridge Authority (SSMBA) today reminded International Bridge customers of public hearings next week in Michigan and Ontario to review a proposed toll rate increase.

The proposed increase was prompted by the SSMBA Board of Directors' review on Aug. 15 of its long-range financial plan that details the operational and capital improvement project needs of the bridge for the next 30 years. The proposed toll increase (in U.S. dollars) includes an increase in passenger vehicle tolls from the current $3 per trip to $3.50 per trip on April 1, 2014, and from $3.50 to $4 on April 1, 2019."

We seldom use such direct attacks in a title even though the content has tended to be more direct as of late.  And though we openly wonder on why certain pursuits exist, the Detroit bankruptcy really drives home a point that cannot be ignored.  The bankruptcy had to happen, and even though happening later than it should have been, Snyder gets some credit for doing what is needed.

For the remainder of the message however, Stephanie quotes Forbes and opines:

"In light of Detroit's bankruptcy case getting national attention, many people have missed this little development:

Detroit's Tunnel To Canada Follows The City Into Bankruptcy.  

Since 1930, Detroiters have had two choices to reach Windsor, Ontario across the U.S.-Canadian border: the Ambassador Bridge or the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.

Now, the tunnel's operator has joined the city in seeking bankruptcy protection. It's blaming two reasons, according to Reuters: reduced traffic across the border, and the same kind of unmanageable debt burden that led to the city's Chapter 9 petition.

If Michigander's might recall, Governor Rick Snyder, as part of his campaign platform, ran advocating for a second bridge to Canada to be built, using at least partly, taxpayer money.  One has to ask, in considering this little plan of his, did he not research the profitability of the two existing means by which to get to Canada (the Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge)?  If he didn't do the research that makes Governor Snyder just stupid.  If he did do his due diligence, he would have seen the enormous operating losses of the Tunnel."

Fred Durhal may have a valid argument on this issue. Durhal's complaint via the Ivory Tower:

"I think that was not right," Durhal said today.

He said part of his argument was that it was wrong for Snyder to go around the Legislature to approve a deal with Canada to build the New International Trade Crossing between Detroit and Windsor. Therefore, any state legislator should have standing to bring the challenge, he said."

It took me a while, but I found something that had my interest piqued a couple of years ago when arguing the merits of leaving the DIBC as it is. The facts were not entirely scrubbed from the Detroit Chamber's site, and I wonder how well the travel numbers used to argue for a new bridge will stand up when health care choices are destroyed here as they are in Canada.

"Hubbard pointed out to the committee that the Detroit/Windsor/Port Huron/Sarnia area is home to the busiest border crossing in North America in terms of volume of trade (more than $1 billion in goods crosses daily). Additionally, metro Detroit is home to major passenger vehicle traffic - between 3000 and 4000 Canadian health care workers entering the region every day."

Say NO to Obamacare.