Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Bishop abandons budget talks, goes renegade



Bishop refuses to compromise and puts people and schools in jeopardy with his actions.



State budget talks were cancelled this afternoon by Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, who called on Gov. Jennifer Granholm and House Democrats to take action on an agreement to cut $337 million out of the deficit.



And this video from WOOD has Bishop directly blaming the Governor for backing out of this so-called "deal". Not the Democrats in general, just her. Mike really needs to make this personal for some reason.



What deal? Who knows. Bishop is real good at saying "no", but apparently has a problem when he hears it.



Mikey throws a fit and decides to waste more of the taxpayer's time.



Meanwhile, Democrats on a House-Senate conference committee rejected the bill that would cut the current year deficit through accounting shifts and some actual spending reductions. The Senate planned to work into the evening to fashion a new budget cut plan that is certain to be dismissed by Granholm and legislative Democrats.



"The Senate will not go home tonight until we have a solution," said Bishop, R-Rochester said.



Wait a minute here. The cuts on the table were already rejected, so Bishop decides to make more? In what world does that make any sense?



Total stunt. Republicans are going to pull the same maneuver they did before- make a bunch of horrific cuts and call their job done.



For some reason, Bishop feels the need every once in a while to explode and just act absolutely like a child. From Liz Boyd-



"We are disappointed that Sen. Bishop chose to cancel budget negotiations. We know how difficult this is. But we are close. We have reached a compromise on so much including budget cuts and reforms. But we need a comprehensive solution to the problem."



And Granholm came right out and threw the cards on the table in one gutsy move.



Granholm also stepped up the rhetoric today when she told the Michigan State Medical Society at a meeting in Lansing that unless the state increases revenues, access to Medicaid will be curbed and "people will die."



Once again- two different quotes here. The AP reads like this-



"If people do not have access to health care, particularly vulnerable people, then certainly lives are being put in jeopardy," Granholm told reporters afterward.



Telling it like it is.



As I write this at 5:49PM- the Senate is busy wasting your time and your dime on something that has no chance of succeeding, and Bishop knows it, and is doing it anyway.



Your Michigan Republican Party in action, acting out of spite alone and obstructing progress for everyone.



But what else is new.



UPDATE 6:50PM- Well, that didn't take long. The Pubs decided to take money that has already been spent? Now I'm really confused.



Republicans said their new plan, approved along party lines, would fill the budget hole without a tax increase. Democrats criticized the GOP plan for taking nearly $300 million from a new state investment fund for job creation.



"It's too bad the Republican majority refuses to listen to the public and their wishes," said Senate Minority Leader Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek. "These bills are irresponsible. They're reckless."



But Republicans said the 21st Century Jobs money would be better spent on avoiding deeper per-pupil cuts to education.



Why do Republicans hate jobs?



Besides, they just accused Bob Kleine of spending all of this fund. From May 11th-



The partisan bickering continued when Republicans who control the Senate said they were "outraged" that state Treasurer Robert Kleine on Tuesday successfully urged an administrative board to allocate remaining money in the state's 21st Century Jobs Fund. Kleine reportedly warned that the Legislature might take the money to help balance the budget.



"We can't resolve the issues of this economy by spending," said Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, calling Kleine's action "blatantly irresponsible."



Hope they got the checks in the mail.



Doesn't matter, the House and the Guv won't go for it, anyway.



Whew! Quite the day in Lansing today... and I feel like I'm just reacting, not really writing at this point. Too hard to keep up. But there you have it...