it just seems like with every day that passes, things get a little darker in the mitten state, despite the fact that we sprung forward this weekend and now have an extra hour of sunlight. even the st. practice day weekend wasn't enough to take my mind off of what was happening with our budget and in lansing. but this weekend, unlike the rest of my week, i spent a lot of time socializing with my friends and in the grand st. patty's day weekend tradition, imbibed in the celebration. after a couple of vodka and tonics, i happened upon an idea that tickled me and i thought i would share. see, governor nerd seems to have failed civics and doesn't understand that he doesn't get to unilaterally decide what is best for the state. there needs to be balance. so this got me to thinking, in a humorous, non ignorant way (because i passed all my civics, government, history and political science classes) of what i would do if i was dictator of the state.
1. i would make it illegal to be a republican. try and cross me when your political ideology isn't allowed in my state? yeah that's right. you wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
2. i would take all the money that the state invests in major banks out and create a state bank. i would only allow the state treasurer to invest our money in this state bank or community banks and credit unions. the hope here is simple, the big, corrupt, ugly, money grubbing banks would flee my state.
3. i would take a systematic look at the budget to invest in one of the most important assets we have in this state, the kids. as cliche as it is, it's true. children are our future and i for one want those little buggers to be educated. invest in schools, invest in teachers, invest in universities. this will provide positive things for the state, as people will want to come here to teach and business will want to hire our educated workers. (smart, right?)
4. i would stop the tax credits for big businesses that aren't contributing back to the state. if you aren't using michigan workers or creating michigan jobs, i'm fine with you leaving. don't let the door hit you on the way out.
5. appropriately use money on smart programs that are working in the state, like our film incentive, the next generation battery production and solar panel creation. put michigan to work competitively in this new economy and used best practices and empirically researched best methods for making the state work better.
6. if anyone tries to undermine me and my authority, please see number 1. it is my belief that if i'm working for the best interest of the citizens of michigan, things will get better. (and you might notice that no where in this list do you see anything about providing tax cuts for millionaires, taking away rights of municipalities or undermining citizens' right to vote.)
of course, this isn't actually possible. but i know that most of my ideas aren't bad. outlawing republicans is unreasonable but the rest of the stuff actually makes sense to saving our state. i'm not the only one with these thoughts. there are good public servants out there who are working on these very things while getting cut off at the knees every step of the way by obstructionists. i am proud of those who are in lansing and in their local government who are fighting for what's right. keep it up guys. we need you.
governor nerd, there are many like myself from my generation of young people who think like this and we can work to give michigan a very bright future. we just need you to quit trying to stymie us.
from the girl who would totally be a better governor right now than the nerd.
until next time...
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