I guess I might feel differently if Jenny would have taken a pay cut for herself, instead of reducing the NEXT governors wages. This being such a classless act, along with the early release of criminals and the law enforcement cuts, the bridge to nowhere crime lab, the educational cuts, (and the simple fact that she doesn't even know the U.P. is Michigan), AND she is still hell bent to raise taxes on us...so SHE can continue to collect HER salary and life long benefits.
TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT! Let ME have a LITTLE of MY money, to spend on something OTHER than taxes and bills! That's all I ask! I wouldn't NEED government help IF I had two nickles to rub together at the end of the week that isn't already spent on gasoline, electricity, heating, food, prescriptions, housing (talk about TAXING), car insurance, house insurance, health insurance...etc. Insurance IS government controlled!! The government FORCES us to have ALL these insurances!! QUIT FORCING ME to GIVE all my money to other people!!
The Government DID do this to us!! LESS GOVERNMENT is ALL this country needs to recover!

Hey reality check, NOT all business tax's went down in this state. As usual you are WRONG! When the mbt replaced the sbt, MOST business's taxes went UP! You drink wayyyyyyy toooooooo mucccccchhhhh cooooollaaaiiiidd!

Wow am I thankful today I live a simple life.
I totally agree with "cry me a river." We the people are to blame for this current mess. And so many people believe that the govt. got us here and the govt needs to fix it.
We the people got ourselves in this mess. It's up to us to fix it.
Start with a little gratitude for what you do have. Buy American made products and quit gripping about all the sludge that you yourself are wading through. Instead of buying a T-bone steak, buy some hamburger and a box of Hamburger Helper. Quit putting everything you WANT on credit cards and buy only what you need. When a person comes to grips with whats a neccessity and whats a desire, their choices become more down to earth.

Wah Wah Wah M A-

What a rant. Start acting. Start acting. How bout a few of your beaut ideas on what you feel us self inflated Americans should do??????

Enough is enough....the average working class people can not take any more of this...we are seriously taxed to death. The last couple of years have pushed the people to the limits. Families losing there homes, jobs....LIFE. We the people need to band together and make some major changes. Like get rid of all the fat in the political offices. Lets be real we know there is millions we could cut there. Stop cutting from schools, and our CHILDREN...and start cutting where it needs it....all these garbage political offices. Like our so called governor to start..how much of our money does she BLOW on business dinners, gas in all her cars, jet fuel, getting her nails done weekly, her hair done, clothes... although I wouldnt mind her spending a little to get some of those nasty witch moles removed from her face. We need to make some changes...we need to do it together...before it is to late..

Ok Everyone - Stop blaming the government and start looking at your over inflated lifestyles. We killed Michigan, the government didn't. We always want more, more, more. Big business got bigger, why, because we wanted more. Would you all stop acting like two year old children and take responsibility for your own actions. More pay, more toys, more house, more lifestyle, sounds like the American public to me. We pay teachers minimal amounts of money to teach our children and yet will pay millions for ex-drug dealers to have tv shows that influence our children. Stop complaining and start acting, maybe if we all weren't so complacient we wouldn't be in the situation we are in. Stop being passive and start being active, maybe that would help OUR situation. Stop acting like all you can do is sit around and complain - get off your butt and do something about this.

To my man who claims that we are losing jobs because somebody bought a foreign car - why don't you get the facts my friend.

I worked in the auto industry for 10 years, engineering seats for Domestic AND Foreign corporations. My brother currently works in this state for a Japanese Corporation as an engineer. Where he works they have thousands of employees, as well as hundreds of employees elsewhere in the state at dealerships and small manufacturing firms that make parts for those Japanese cars.

The corporation that my brother works for is talking about moving its North American HQ to Tennessee. Why? Because of Michigan's business climate. And folks like you want to raise taxes...sheesh. YOu went to public school didn't you?

In every case, when taxes are cut, revenue increases. JFK did it, Reagan did it, and Bush did it. Canada did it by cutting their taxes on cigarettes about 10 years ago. Once the taxes were less, people stopped smuggling in cigarettes and started buying them legally - thus, paying taxes. Revenue went up. Lower taxes increases economic activity which raises revenue.

The problem has never been about cutting taxes, it's been about increasing spending. Take a look at our state's budget increases every year, including last year's. While our Governor was claiming that we were facing a $1.5Billion shortfall, she oversaw the Congress increase the budget by that very amount last year.

You want to know the best way for this state to get back on its feet?

1)Cut business taxes to 0%.
2)Streamline the environmental process for building new facilities (and note I didn't say ignore polluters).
3)Legalize marijuana, and let the non-violent offenders out of prison.
4)Don't allow the unions to force new manufacturers to unionize BEFORE they hire their workers (which is illegal anyway).
5) Develop Schools of Choice through Tax Credits.
6) Privatize as many services as you can, and get rid of the excess "civil servants" instead of moving them to new departments.

If someone had the guts to do these 6 things, and then Michigan Residents had the guts to begin new businesses based right here in Michigan, manufacturing goods to be shipped around the world via the internet, we'd be a long way down the road of recovery before Obama can fabricate his next economy-killing stimulus package.

I dont understand why most working people such as myself are asked to take paycuts to keep job or to help economy ? Why hasnt " any " government employees taken a single penny paycut ? Why has our governer and her aids taken a pay increase ? Our governer wants to raise our taxes yet again instead of taking less money for herself and her staff . How can they sleep at night ?

Democrats AND Republicans are the problem NOT the solution. They only serve the large corporations that put them into office to begin with.

how about you leave the state fair alone. i think we should let the government shut down. its about time we had a little less governing anyways. how about we fire jenny? that should add her salary to the budget.... oh and get rid of some of the other programs that are totally useless and making people lazy and reliant on government aid.

I'm not sticking up for her, and I'm not saying she does a bad job, but it's hard to make 10 million people who are used to living in a world that doesn't exist anymore happy. It has nothing to do with buying a foreign car, thay are made by robots anyways. We are so stubborn as to the way we make a living that we are doomed to be the armpit of America if we don't change our way of thinking.....quickly!

I just read in this morning's Free Press where some of the dreaded cuts are coming down. 7 million will be cut from the State Fair budget. How many people in Michigan especially Northern Michigan go to the State Fair?
Michigan Promise Scholarships. Why should I as a taxpayer pay for other people's kids education?
Here's a good one too. Cut tax incentives for the film industry by several million dollars which "the States Film Office" says the cost is inflated." Michigan's State Film Office"????
The Governor said she will push to raise taxes to put these programs in the budget.
Also the article says she is going to use Federal stimulis money to help balance the budget. Hey Governor, that money is supose to help the State of Michigan by creating jobs, NOT cover the costs of your bloated tax and spend government!

Actually, we need Michiganians to start thinking local again. Our farmer's markets, along with new local "industry" could go a long way in rebuilding Michigan's economy.

Agriculture is currently controlled by Big Business. We need to return it to its family roots, and encourage local entrepreneurs to manufacture agri-products for exporting around the world. Jellies, Jams, Sauces, etc. are just a few items that could be made in local commercial kitchens that could bring millions into the area, and create jobs.

Our current agri-business forces local farmers to dump large portions of their crops; employ people at minimum wage and only temporarily; and focus all their attention on providing product for sale or use at large corporations. This could all be changed.

With the Internet, and the variety of product we have to offer, we could create hundreds and perhaps thousands of decent paying jobs in this community. Instead of looking for some corporation to come in and give us jobs, let's create our own.

Where is our entrepreneurial leadership in the community? The Chamber of Commerce? Where are they? Let's get this thing going - soon.

Every time I drive up and down I75 and see a foreign car I count it as one more job that Michigan lost. Gov. Granholm didn't make you buy that Honda, Toyota, etc. But when YOU did, you tolled the death knell for thousands of Michigan jobs. Without those jobs, where is our revenue suppose to come from. By buying foreign you resigned yourself to the fact that you wouldn't support your local schools, police departments, fire departments. YOU killed Michigan, not the gov.

I'M TIRED OF HEARING PEOPLE CRY OVER WHAT OUR LEADERS ARE DOING TO US.INSTEAD OF WASTING YOUR TIME CRYING WHY NOT STAND UP AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. WE HAVE THE POWER TO ELECT THESE INCOMPATANT BAFOONS,WE ALSO HAVE THE POWER TO GET RID OF THEM. BUT WE HAVE TO STOP CRYING,STAND UP, BAND TOGATHER AND SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AND TAKE CONTROL.

Since no one wants to pay taxes to provide for government services, lets start cutting.

No more money for schools, hospitals, roads, or infrastructure. No more gov't employees or pensions plans. Lets close down all the prisons including those that house murderers. Lets shut down all the DEQ and the DNR and allow toxic mining. Just shut down the whole state of michigan. (sarcasm)

Some want new industries to move here to Michigan. Would you move here if that's all you heard about how high business taxes are? If you look at Michigan's rate, compared to other state's..Michigan has REDUCED significantly their business taxes. And yet industry still stays away. Why? Because of the same old refrain coming from the Republican leaders about how high the taxes are. Now, when business pay lesser taxes, who pays more? That's right. Your average everyday taxpayer.

There does need to be cuts in the State spending. And there does have to be increases in tax revenues. When your population goes down and your tax base leaves, those who are left WILL have to pay higher taxes in order to MAINTAIN spending that people deem important.

I don't envy the next Governor of the State of Michigan. It's going to take years before Michigan comes back to what it was. And it will take even longer if the same old same is being said.

Any politician who tells you that he/she can cut taxes and increase services is a liar.

Is there seriously a more incompetent Governor in all of the United States than Granholm? It seems like every single year, the budget fails to balance on time, and every single year there is an extension.
She has proved that she can't do her job effectively, period. Our jobs and livelihoods have suffered as a result. If there's any good news in all of this, it's that she doesn't have another term to continue the damage to our state. Thank God.

Wow, will this woman ever go away?!? She drives me crazy. Thank God the Congress & Senate shut her tax increase agenda down!!! But, she's still determined to increase our taxes, just as she stated above.
Like the people of this state aren't already struggling to stay above water. Sure, Jen, throw more taxes at us!!!
The sad reality is that there are ways to balance this budget without increased taxes...she and her Dem buddies just won't go there. There's one thing they could do to make a huge difference and that is to put government wagesat the same scale as private sector wages. It's been proven that this move alone would save billions of dollars.
2010 can't come soon enough for this state, I just hope we can all sustain until then!

Well i'm glad we put her to work again. Isn't it about time that she does something for the people instead of the st. government! How is this going to benefit michiganders? Is this going to put us back to work, or keep mi. residents from leaving the state? I'll bet it doesn't, and i'll also bet that we are headed down a dark path with no light!! This is real bad,the st.econ., Do something for the people, the people that bring her that revenew. We need our industy back! Not new industy with half the pay for half the people!! New industy means new wages from new companies, which in turn means less pay for new jobs. Industries! lower pay for the worker should come with higher taxes for the industries , not the tax payers!