Governor Granholm facing stiff opposition

Governor Granholm is facing a lot of conservative opposition and has governed very liberally. She vetoed the partial birth abortion ban, she helped raise money for gay pride, she played a part in shutting down Ice Mountain bottled water, she launched a campaign to get lead paint out of lower income houses. She is also going after Dow Chemical. Part of her budget plan put a tax on hospitals and nursing homes to keep medicare alive, but a conservative judge shot it down. As Attorney General she really went after the special interests. I think all DUers in Michigan need to give her some support because I think Republicans will go all out to get rid of her in the next elections.

My freeper father in law worked for them. I want some ammo.

We are not going to let Governer Granholm go down because of this rethug ecomony! We will fight like hell to keep her on the job. She is a flat out winner. I like her as much as I like Howard Dean if that tells you anything. lol Bay City, thanks for your positive thinking!

is responsible for such heavy pollution in the Saginaw Bay that pregnant women are told not to eat the fish from it. Dow Chemical has dropped Dioxin all over Midland citizen's property for 20 yrs and it has now just come out. It is very toxic and property value is going to drop like a rock. The area surrounding Dow has the highest cancer rate in the nation.

the wonder of silicone breast implants, sold and implanted before any safety testing was done. lovely.

I don't like Dow Chemical, who may develop some useful products but seems to make most of their money from poisoning people.

:toast:

She would have made one hell of a presidential candidate in either 2008/12.

The far Right went into hysterics right before her election when they knew she would win. They began running ads bashing her for supporting taxes on the rich, reparations, gay rights ect. they would show some clip of her saying something liberal and then a voice would say "too Liberal and too extreme for Michigan". Apparently not because she was elected. I think the state is trending more liberal.

Those were, for the record, really fucking funny.

-Colin
(I worked on her campaign. So I have DU indie points. :-) )

After years of Engler, I never thought I'd see my state go so Democratic! Both Senators and the Gov are Dems. Granholm won election by a large margin (good riddance Dick Posthumus!) Granholm is very personable and popular. I've heard many say (and I totally agree) that if she ran for President, she would win (though I do not advocate changing the Constitution so she can run.) I think she's great. Her town meetings were broadcast on TV and proved to be so much more informative than any Repug-orchestrated media event I've seen lately. She's got my support. She still has to prove herself, but I approve of what she's done so far. This state is very nearly broke so it won't be easy. She will definately face some of the most pressing political issues of our time during her first term. If she succeeds, this will bode very well for her possible, future campaigns.

I'm not saying to not support her, but bear the following in mind:

1. She just got into office, she doesn't have to run in the next elections.

2. She's one smart cookie, and even most republicans will admit it. Plus, she's been very decent and worked comparitively well with the GOP legislature. I'd say she's been more centrist than super-liberal.

3. She opened a can o' whoop-ass on Posthumus in the last election, and she could do it again - she knows how to campaign.

Oh - 3.5 If we're lucky, Ted Nugent will run next time anyhow!

4. If the republicans in congress are stupid enough to(and able to) get a constitutional ammendment allowing non-native-born citizens to be eligible, she'll probably be President someday. She'd do a good job, too.

We are a nation of immigrants. It seems silly that someone like Governor Granholm can live in this country her entire life and only because of a technicality not become president. She moved here when she was 4. I would support an amendment that says if you become a U.S. citizen before your 18th birthday, you can be president.

It seems like common sense to me.

but is it necessary?

I would be a lot more open to the idea if Ahnold hadn't been elected to political office last year. I think that what you proposed would exclude Ahnold, which is fine with me : )

Sorry, probably my fault. I'm talking "law of unintended consequences here" - they (I think it was our good friend from the state of Utah) started making these noises when it became clear that Arnold would be governor of California. It's pretty obvious why.

So I mean stupid in the "be careful what you whish for sense", because I'm pretty sure that A.S. will never be President, even if they got the thing passed, but Granholm very well could be. So they're "stupid" in that sense. Probably not very karmically good for me, since only a few lines before I hoped out loud that they would run "the Nuge".

I want to make it clear that I've got nothing against immigrants, as I'm going to marry one in less than three weeks. Yay.

I'm just guessin' here, but I think we're probably on the same ideological wavelength, even if I'm not as good a writer as I ought to be.

Has poluted the whole Saginaw river valley with Dixon. When Engler was Governer, no problem. Governer Granholm is on there case big time. She means to help the people who own property in the area, and make Dow pay. One big battle. It is not easy when the Rethugs controll both houses and the Court. We do have one hell on wheels Governer and she is there equal. Much is happening in Michigan. We have to cut 900 million more from state budget, from a budget that has already been slashed to the bone. The Governer needs, and will gladly accept all help. She is like Dean in the way she hears what the people say. She came out all around the state at town meetings and asked the people, what would you cut. Real interesting in Michigan. Oh, it won't be Ted Nudget, we should be so lucky. lol

She's also getting citizen input on the nearly $1 billion budget mess.

Grandma G was Herbert Henry Dow's secretary during WWI and her first husband, Ted Post, was the first person ever killed in an industrial accident at Dow's Midland complex (he fell down the inside of a smokestack the company was erecting, circa 1920).
Anyhow, Dow made its first fortune producing mustard gas for the Allies during the War to End All Wars. They made another by manufacturing napalm.
Seems Dow has no problem with death and destruction. Unfortunately, they also have a tendency to get their very own US Congressman to represent their interests in Washington (Gil Currie, Bill Schuette, now Dave Camp). Though the Saginaw Valley as a whole is quite Democratic (as you know, BCP), Midland invariably elects Repubicans due in no small part to the Dow Money/Publicity machine.
So, yes, this is a political fight (heck, you don't remember any turmoil while John (Governor Potatohead) Engler was in office, do you?). And it's the landowners along the Tittabawassee River (especially in Freeland, four miles downstream from the Midland Complex) who are going to take it in the neck if Governor Granholm loses this fight.
I live six blocks from the Saginaw River (which the Tittabawassee empties into). Dioxin is still present in the riverbed (though, in fairness, at least part of it is there because of GM's Central Foundry, and its use of PCBs through the years).
I don't trust Dow, nor do I trust the Michigan Legislature to act in the interests of the public, rather than Big Business and/or themselves. This is a fight Gov. Granholm had better win, or we're all in deep, dioxin-laden sauce.
John
And not for the first time, either.

I read that some big tech company laid off a bunch of employees. Granhold put together an investment fund so that these peope for these highly-skilled people to start there own companies.

this is brilliant on a couple levels. Obvioulsy, it's good for the MI economy, because it keeps people in Michigan, and helps start new businesses. Ford and KMart were small businesses once. It's also a fuck-you to the company that fired these people. What kind of small businesses will these people start? They'll start businesses applying the knowledge they have now. Ie, they'll start companies that compete with their former employers. Those big companies will have to think twice next time the consider firing highly trained people.

No doubt, MI Republicans, the party for big business and against free-market competition are going to hate her for this.