The mild-mannered radical (not)

Well the pundits have spoken on Gov. Snyder's budget (at least in the Free Press).... Props to Stephen Henderson--he's usually one of those wishy-washy vaguely liberal (think President Obama) pontificators, and while there's some of that in his piece on Snyder's budget, he basically makes a lot of good points, especially with regard to the EITC. He's right--cutting services for the poor is not going to make Michigan a better state. Now that Rochelle Riley has decided to follow Mitch Albom's career path (mindless, completely thoughtless drivel) thank God the Free Press has added Jill Alper's thoughtful new columns. Alper absolutely nails Snyder's budget--republican bullshit to help corporations and the wealthy elite and do absolutely nothing to create jobs or help the working people of Michigan. Media fail--for a Princeton grad, Brian Dickerson isn't as thoughtful as one might surmise from his educational background. He's buying into the cult of personality surrounding Gov. Snyder, calling him a mild-mannered radical. He got the first half right, but Snyder is no radical. Truly radical would have been to call for a graduated income tax and more investment in Michigan, not less. He's a republican--a nice enough gent, but nothing really much different than Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, or any other conservative who thinks the rich should get richer at the expense of the other 98% of Americans. Uh...there was also a piece by John Truscott. Suffice to say, it was his usual fellation of tea party members. Enough said. Perhaps the most telling opinions are these: 62% (32% favor) of Michigan voters oppose the K-12 cuts; a Free Press poll shows horrible numbers for the Governor: 53% (41% favor) are against taxing pensions, 58% (36% favor) against cutting the EITC, 49% (43 % favor) are against replacing the business tax. Even worse for Snyder? His numbers have dropped from 59 favorable/8 unfavorable to 44/27. Whoops! Note to Dems: please remember these policies the next time you cast a vote for a republican in anger. Independents might heed the same warning.... Peace, emaycee