It's easy to go loony in Michigan; it's so natural to turn on each other when the Bush induced Depression pulls us all down.
A willful and stubborn Nerdhead governor amplifies our desperation and the hurt.
Apparently this economic trauma is being felt everywhere, but not in the heart of our Novice Nerd Governor. The word is out: Snyder is stubborn, very set in his own ways; beyond reason and not inclined to compromise or collaborate. In a word, Tricky Ricky is not political. So many Michigan voters thought they saw a glimmer of hope that he was our Superman-mild mannered Clark Kent turned powerful helper.
Snyder appeared to be a businessman, a special man who is willing to give of himself, step down from his safe high place as a millionaire; become governor/statesman, let-the-chips-fall-as they-may and lead Michigan out of our troubles. Rick was to do this with a credible/honest set of best practices. It turns out Rick's got a character flaw. He doesn't play by the rules of the public governance game.
Snyder May Not Want to Be Political, But He Must He may hate the world of politics. He may know little or nothing about how to bring about consensus among and between folk over whom he no longer holds the power; that which he once had as an owner/CEO to "hire and fire at will."
Snyder insists he's the CEO of Michigan, "hired" to run Michigan as a business. Rick's vision of himself in this mythical role makes him insist that things run in his mind as a business. Michigan is not a business. The Governor is not a CEO. MICHIGAN HAS NO CEO!
Snyder is given the elected responsibility to oversee the other branches of governance and the departments of Michigan. He has a bully pulpit and very limited power as compared to an actual "CEO" of a corporation, his prior domain.
Snyder's Experience Advisers Can't Get Through to the Stubborn Nerd The word is out that his advisers, many very experienced Engler Men, can't get across to Snyder that he must give a much wider berth to the politics-the gentle art of persuasion. We are in a tough time. This time is made much worse by the battering of ideological, social, and raw "business-first-last-and-always" mindset of so many around Lansing.
The Engler Revolution's negative vibes still reverberate in the rotunda of the Capitol, Engler devotees still hunger for the power of political persuasion they once had when the Engler Revolution legislatively took from one group in order to "gift" those "takings" to cronies and others John Engler chose.
Engler was Devilishly Clever As his sidekick and facilitator, Richard D. McLellen has said his buddy, John M. Engler, was a master at pre-planning, mapping and strategizing his every move; first in political terms, then carried right out to the end of the political and legal process to his end goal. That's why we have a Englercentric State Supreme Court and so many programs stamped with the Engler Revolution empress.
Snyder, by comparison, is a Political Novice, in the Worst of Times, Attempting a Steep Learning Curve The Nerd is in the middle of a huge crisis. His inability, or should we say, willful insistence on his own way or the highway, is an extreme liability at this very time.
Some common sense, some sense of working together with the public needs to temper Snyder's stubbornness and angst.
Keep him in your prayers. Thoughtful people are alarmed. Here's Snyder; unknown in philosophy and intentions; having successfully dodged debate and interviews on his inner workings and real outlook prior to the election; now in command of the governorship a political office. He has been elected to the most difficult period of Michigan history in our memory and we don't know the man!
Snyder's Ability to Lead Successfully Depends Greatly on Consent of the Governed The Nerd insists on doing what "He sees fit;" damn the advice of political advisers and seasoned pundits. We're headed for worse trouble. Snyder is losing the confidence and support of the people of Michigan. His high-handed approach to the budget is but one example.
Tricky Rick has turned one faction against another. The poor are immaterial to his beancounting, just as those 85,000 able bodied but mentally ill and unemployables were "throwaways" whom Engler put on the mean streets in 1991.
Now we learn on radical moves such as the newly legislated "Emergency Finance Manager" (EFM) who is given unparalleled powers, dictatorial unlimited discretion to disband cities, school districts, etc. accountable directly back to Snyder himself.
The theory behind the new EFM fails to ostensibly improve the governmental unit's failed operations and financial conduct as we find corruption and malfeasance under the Detroit EFM headed by Robert Bobb.
More pointedly the EFM proposes to COERCE AND FORCE those units (put concurrently under new specifically Snyder induced revenue shortfalls ($470/student cuts in Foundation Grants, the summary end to Block Grants to local units from Lansing, etc. which exacerbate and compound the existing revenue shortages) into a loosely defined, but deadly "emergency status" leading to a sudden takeover and liquidation of assets and buildings, etc. Government take overs of local functions will be hotly resisted. Mark that down. And those employees targeted for loss of bargaining rights,etc. and those elected officials kicked out of office, and barred for years from future office, won't be taking this dictatorial coup sitting down! The public knows what is the hidden purpose of the EFM's and they aren't buying in.
Folks We Are in Deep Tabasco!
It's now becoming clear that Snyder is so deep into his independence and (assumed) power, vested in a belief he truly has his former corporate prerogatives, that he has taken from, and undercut, a very subservient Teapartisan Legislature. Snyder makes the Legislature a victim via his big oversight grab: As the A.P. reports: "...Rick Snyder's move to make the state budget 'simple, fair and efficient' may instead be leaving the public in the dark about how its money will be spent." Furthermore, Snyder's "line items for programs and spending wouldn't be binding. That basically could allow UNELECTED DEPARTMENT HEADS RATHER THAN LEGISLATORS TO DECIDE HOW THE MONEY SHOULD BE SPENT, said Craig Thiel, state affairs director for the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council in Lansing.
"The lack of specifics concerns citizen watchdog groups such as Common Cause Michigan. PEOPLE REALLY HAD A SENSE OF WHAT WAS BEING FUNDED when they could see department budgets laid out program by program, said executive director Christina Kuo. DOING IT SNYDER'S WAY 'REALLY GOES AGAINST HIS COMMITMENT TO OPEN GOVERNMENT AND TRANSPARENCY.'"
Original Post.
No comments:
Post a Comment