Home » Featured »

Snyder talks entrepreneurship, economic growth at on-campus town hall meeting

By on September 9, 2010 3:09 am in Featured, University / 47 comments

 
Snyder talks entrepreneurship, economic growth at on-campus town hall meeting
Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder speaks to about 200-plus students, faculty, staff and community members Wednesday evening during a town hall meeting at the Charles V. Park Library Auditorium. Snyder, an Ann Arbor businessman, spoke about strengthening the Michigan economy through entrepreneurship and innovation. (Photo by Jeff Smith/Staff Photographer)
email

GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder criticized the Michigan business tax, calling it a “job killer,” before a packed Charles V. Park Library auditorium Wednesday.

The Ann Arbor businessman spoke to about 200 students, university officials and community members about strengthening Michigan’s economy by encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation.

“The government’s job is not to create jobs,” Snyder said at the town hall-style meeting.  “The government’s job is to create an environment where businesses can grow.”

Because his son recently graduated from college and is struggling to find a job, Snyder said he sympathizes with college students and recent grads trying to find work in the state.

After a question from a student regarding financial aid, Snyder addressed the Michigan Promise Scholarship, which has been an issue for students since it was cut last year. He said the program “is not the right answer.”

“We need to look at who really has the need,” he said.

Snyder also said the state needs to change the requirements for need-based financial aid.

Student attendance was strong at Snyder’s speech, which was announced this week.

“This is my first time voting for governor so I thought I’d go check it out,” said Midland sophomore Faith Gantner.  “I think his different background in business offers a new perspective and he can bring a lot of innovative ideas.”

After the event, students held signs and chanted “Hire Rick!” as Snyder exited.

Democrat protest

Several people dressed as cows, in a reference to Snyder’s executive background at Gateway, stood in the hall outside the auditorium to protest the event.

College democrats from different Michigan universities formed the crew to encourage fellow students to register to vote and stay informed about local politics. The volunteer crew follows Snyder around to each of his events  and plans to continue until the Nov. 2 election.

“Being a college democrat keeps me involved; I’ve always been a democrat and have strong democratic beliefs,” said Whitmore Lake freshman Kelsey Fearer, a member of the CMU College Democrats. “I’ve had friends and family whose jobs have been outsourced and I understand how unfair it really is.”

Gateway went from 20,000 employees to under 2,000 and outsourced work to China under Snyder’s leadership leaving many families jobless, said John Tramontana, Michigan Democratic Party communications director.

“If Snyder’s vision (for Michigan) is anything like it was for Gateway, we’re in trouble” he said.

 

Tags

, , ,

Related Posts

 
  • Sucks

    Yes because Democrats in business have never outsourced a job ever. Never ever ever

  • Michmediaperson

    These Democrats should stop for a moment and review the hundreds of thousands of jobs Michigan has lost in the last eight years under the regime of socialist Governor Jennifer Granholm.

    How can anyone blast Mr. Snyder after the pitiful Granholm record.

    Snyder is presenting a positive gameplan to turn Michigan around.

    Virge Bernaro and his supporters are being NEGATIVE. They have no gameplan. They're anti-Wall Street so no corporation will want to do business in Michigan. Bernaro's buddy, Barack Hussein Obama is not renewing the Bush tax cuts for people making over $200,000 so that means that most small businesses will see massive tax increases meaning they will either go out of business or have to layoff employees. Plus, the skyrocketing costs of Obamacare will be a job killer.

    Snyder is a business professional. Bernero is a negative-minded person with a chip on his shoulder.

    Again, I ask these Democrats how many jobs Jennifer Granholm has lost the state of Michigan since she was hired eight years ago.

    As far as the outsourcing, a question to the Democrats in the state of Michigan. Have you bought a Dell, Hewlett Packard computer, flown United Airlines or bought a Ford, GM, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, VW, Hyundai, Kia…….products that part of the vehicle or all of the vehicles were made in Mexico, Canada or overseas. Or, shop at Wal-Mart or Meijer which buys a lot of products from China or products that have been shipped outside the country.

    Also, have the Dems answer. Who educated the Chinese, India, the Phillipines businesspeople ? Answer—-Michigan universities including CMU. Schools like CMU educate them, Americanize them and then they go home and open businesses and pay a buck or two an hour and draw away American business.

    Snyder would be a positive addition for the state. He will have a big turnaround job since Granholm and the Democrats have run the state into the ground.

  • Richa4dj

    Remember NAFTA was passed by Democrat Bill Clinton

  • Cvtheis55

    I wonder if these protesters even know why or what they are “protesting.” The fact that he is a Republican? It's time we have a governor who knows about balancing books, income versus expensis, and cutting where needed.

    I want a Governor/President who will vow to reduce the budget year over year, reduce the state/federal payroll, and reduce the number of agencies. We need the government to say 'no, we can not afford to provide that extra service, nor is it within our mandate as a government to do so.'

  • Reader

    How many people were there? The room doesn't fit more than 140. So I don't know how there could have been more than 200 people in attendance. Why didn't CMU stop the College Democrats from protesting inside the building? That's against CMU rules. They used to persecute the conservatives for doing it.

  • michmom2five
  • Ray

    Would the cow people prefer that Gateway closed it's doors? Outsourcing American jobs hurts, but what hurts worse is the fact that liberal tax policies (ie: high tax policies) place an enormous amount of pressure on many businesses in the US. Since most of the major technology competition comes from Asia, it only makes sense to utilize those resources. Allow Asia to have that sector, while we focus on other manufacturing industries such as automotive and printing money to pay for the stimulus. Don't blame a company for supplying products that consumers want. If people really didn't want products built in foreign countries, they would stop supporting companies that make that transition. I buy American!!

  • Logical Chip

    Right on the money Mich..couldn't have said it better myself!

  • Okstampede

    Check Andy Dillon's record per Virg, or was Virg lying??? Looks like you painted yourself into a corner! No substance, just soundbites, typical Democrat!

  • The Truth

    I agree with most your points, and I like Snyder, but when you unnecessarily call the president “Barack Hussein Obama,” I have to believe that you're trying to spur xenophobia. Next time I suggest you say what you mean: “Barack Obama, a black Muslim with no birth certificate.”

  • driver

    Why is George Ross apparently taking sides in an election? Or did he present CMU T-shirts to Bernero as well when he was here?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JTNQYINCLO763CITA7L6P5TW34 Major

    Rick you will win this one. My family long standing democrats are all voting for you!

  • Logical Chip

    Bernero wouldn't accept the t-shirts…he couldn't find a union made label on them.

  • Michmediaperson

    Hats off to CMU officials who welcomed the next Governor. That will pay off big dividends when George Ross and Kathy Wilbur go searching for money in Lansing next year. Snyder will remember the people who are good to him. Hopefully, under Dr. Ross, we will see more Republicans visit campus. Hopefully, CMU will play a role in Snyder's turnaround plan to revive Granholmland back into Englerland when we had little unemployed, highly-paid jobs and a bright future.

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    You're voicing support for the spending of taxpayer money on education in order to favor “the people who are good to him.” You're supporting both socialism and cronyism, which is not at all consistent with your assorted anti-”left” ranting. Are you a hypocrite or just plain dumb?

    Engler salted the earth just before leaving office; it didn't much matter who would be governor next, he set his successor up for failure.

    Also, it wasn't the UAW that wrecked the Big Three, it was the businessmen who bet the futures of their companies on cheap oil in order to boost personal gain in the short term. And businessmen are to be trusted? Hell, the previous Republican businessman nominee for governor of Michigan ran an ad campaign for Scamway instead of a campaign for office.

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    Remember, it was Bush Sr.'s baby, and Clinton was no less pro-business than he. The typical Democrat politician legislates solidly right of center, overall. There is no significant left-wing political party at the national level in this country. There's the moderate right (Democrats) and the far right (Republicans.) Dishonorable mention goes to the new “so noxious, the far right wants to be able to maintain some illusion of not being responsible for them” (Tea Party.)

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    Were you not paying attention when Wall Street raped and pillaged the economy?

    Guess who doesn't cost the taxpayers a dime and helps keep down tuition costs for domestic students? International students, that's who. And are you proposing that the rest of the world be left uneducated, in order to better be exploited? Would not the world be a better place if people were better educated and not as prone to cling to dangerous ideologies out of ignorance?

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    Looks like you can't recognize blatant sarcasm. Typical reactionary moron.

  • Stu

    i have to laugh that someone is mad that CMU may be leaning toward a republican. it's about time. this school has been so pro-democratic it's not even funny. perhaps ross is a republican; i had him pegged for a liberal democrat. then again he's no dummy. when the democrat is losing by 20 points in all the polls, you gotta get on the bandwagon and be for snyder.

  • Logical Chip

    Wow, must be a union member. There is no doubt that the UAW destroyed the American Automakers. $60K a year for UNSKILLED labor, couldn't give a rip about building a quality product, striking when they didn't get all of their demands met by the automaker. Just look at the new auto plants (in right-to-work states) that are doing very well. The UAW killed the goose that laid the golden egg…and what do they get? The Democrats reward them with the nearly 40% of General Motors that the government itself does not own. The line of hypocrites forms on the left. And stays there.

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    You're a whole lot of wrong.

    I'm not now, nor have I ever been, nor am I likely to ever be, a union member.

    I was there to witness the Delphi spin-off from GM from an inside, white collar perspective. It was clear that it was going to be a screw job for both the unions and anyone tricked into buying stock in Delphi. Being told, in a meeting held to inform employees about the impending spin-off, that units were being realigned to hide poor performance didn't inspire confidence. The video they showed to employees on “Independence Day” had high-school quality production and starred executives acting like drunken buffoons. Sure, I saw unhelpful things from union employees, but I also saw plenty of toxic in-fighting and incompetence among management and other non-union employees. The destiny of failure was why I left, despite having a favorable pay arrangement at the time. If I was the slightest bit surprised the stock dropped 99% from the IPO, it was only that it hadn't happened quicker.

    Again, what wrecked the Big Three was the highest levels of management betting it all on SUVs and other gas guzzlers. (In GM's case, leaving itself partially on the hook with regard to the doomed-to-fail Delphi spin-off didn't help.) When you've produced an excess of what hardly anyone wants to buy anymore and lack the ability (thanks to committing design and tooling to the wrong products) to produce what people want to buy in a timely fashion and in sufficient quantity, your company is going to bleed. Especially when your competition isn't so short sighted. The market spoke, and it said “F~~~ you!”

    The UAW hamstrung the Big Three to an extent, but it was the Big Three's executives that played Russian roulette and triggered the head shot.

    Also, the ownership by the UAW isn't a gift; it's solely to cover the retiree health care obligations of GM: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104549771

    Corporate worship and union busting leads back to the de facto slavery that unionization rose from.

  • Michmediaperson

    Per the Muskegon newspaper today, since 2002 when Jennifer Granholm and the socialist Democrats took office, the state has LOST 165,000 automotive manufacturing jobs plus other automotive expansion jobs such as VW!!!!

    Wonder when the CMU Democrats are going to talk about this????

    The Muskegon paper also stated Granholm could have expanded the automotive employment sector had she invoked right to work (capitalistic) instead of union shops (socialistic).

    Let's hear from the CMU Democrats why they keep talking about 18,000 low-paying jobs Gateway shipped overseas (that we don't know if Mr. Snyder had anything to do with) versus 165,000 jobs lost under Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat state house and Uncle Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow in Washington…..all liberal Democrats who have put Michigan workers out of work!!!

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    “Some newspaper in Muskegon.” Is that known for quality journalism anywhere? Given how lazy and incompetent the typical journalist is, it's not at all unlikely that the story was largely gifted from a pro-corporate, anti-union source. If “some newspaper in Muskegon” is the “media” in your chosen handle and you “wrote” the story, it's all but certainly garbage.

    The Big Three hosed themselves, jobs were lost as a consequence and the state economy tanked. Big surprise. This state doesn't need more automotive jobs. It needs a more diverse economy so that its fortunes aren't so tightly bound to a single sector.

  • Logical Chip

    As a former EDS employee, I also saw first-hand the troubles within the former world's largest automaker. Just because you were stuck in the component manufacturing side, does not give you a complete picture of the situation. Sure, there are incompetent executives and white-collar workers in just about any organization. Unlike a union member, they can be terminated for their failures. Unions exist to retain members at all costs, so that dues money stream keeps coming in.

    To say that the UAW hamstrung U.S. automakers is a gross understatement. How can you expect to compete with other automakers when you are paying people to do absolutely NOTHING. The Jobs Bank is just one of the devices used by the union. Since about 25 years ago, UAW members had the right to stay in the jobs bank indefinitely while collecting full pay for doing no work or for helping with community service projects. Only recently was that changed to just TWO YEARS of getting full pay for sitting around picnic tables and playing cards.

    So if the American automakers “bet it all on SUV's…”, why are there foreign automakers building SUV's and large pickup trucks here in the U.S.? Oh, that's right, most of the plants are in right-to-work states. Did GM close Lordstown (OH) Assembly, where small cars are assembled?…No…Did GM close Fairfax (KS), Assembly, where mid-sized cars are assembled?…Nope…Did GM end its joint venture with Suzuki in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, where they built small, fuel-efficient cars and SUVs?…No to that one too.

    If working without the UAW taking part of your money for your “protection” and to have union-friendly candidates elected to office is “de facto slavery”, somebody needs to tell all those non-UAW member American workers at Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Kia/Hyundai, BMW, Subaru, and Mercedes-Benz! They'll get a good laugh!!!

  • Logical Chip

    Oh, if NPR reports something…it *must* be true. I am so *sure* that the UAW ownership of GM is *only* to cover retiree health care obligations. Right.

  • Logical Chip

    If you bothered to check out the Muskegon Chronicle, you could read it for yourself. That is if you can pry yourself away from the liberal blogs and the poor excuse for news and misguided opinion offered up on CNN, MSNBC, and others. Based on your handle, it seems that a second-rate, ex-ESPN “broadcaster” is your favorite source of “news”. That's too bad.

    http://www.mlive.com/opinion/muskegon/index.ssf/2010/09/editorial_lets_give_rtw_a_try.html

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    If that person bothered to include a link, I would have. (It's rather unfair to call out CNN and MSNBC by name for their “poor excuse for news and misguided opinion” while relegating Fox News to the category of “others.” Don't you know how important it claims itself to be?)

    Now that I've read it, I'm certain it's garbage, though I do not believe Michmediaperson wrote it:

    “What the Booth Newspapers’ study found was that if Michigan had been a right-to-work state back in the 1960s, it would have up to 60,000 more auto-related jobs today, although they would pay between $5,000 and $9,000 less.”

    Making predictions 40+ years out for such a highly complex, non-deterministic system that isn't massively auto-correlated, and for which there's scarcely more years of data with which to build a model, is an exercise in wild speculation. Ask a statistics professor if you'd like an authoritative source.

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    If you actually have a contradictory source, try posting it again, as the link doesn't work.

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    I wasn't involved in “the component manufacturing side.”

    “Unlike a union member, they can be terminated for their failures.” Sure, they CAN be, but it's rare enough to be noteworthy, while the idiot co-worker/manager/executive is cliche. In the case of executives, when they do get canned for screwing up, they often get paid huge money to go away.

    “How can you expect to compete with other automakers when you are paying people to do absolutely NOTHING.” Isn't the fact that the Big Three failed to find something useful for them to do a greater indictment of them than of the UAW? Rather a dumb move to outsource jobs while remaining on the hook for paying the original job holders, isn't it?

    “Bet it all” as in “they were irresponsibly and hazardously over-committed to gas guzzlers”, not as in “literally, the only products whatsoever that they made or developed were gas guzzlers.” Sure, other companies had some similar products back then, but they were in no way similarly over-committed.

  • Logical Chip

    Unfair? Just because I did not include CBS, NBC, and ABC, etc., by name in “others” does not mean they are excluded. CNN and MSNBC just happen to be the most blatant in their bias for the liberal point of view. Fox News does provide another (competing) perspective than the rest, but I have not heard that they claim to be “important”. Please back up your claim with real facts properly credited, credible sources. They do claim ratings victories, but I would expect winners to do that.

    Why are you concerned with making predictions 40+ years out? The study looked at HISTORICAL data comparing right-to-work states with union shop states. BTW, the author of the study has a doctorate in economics, and is a professor…It would seem that he IS an authority.

    Why are you certain it is “garbage”?…It is an editorial, citing a study done by a local professor. Do we not still have the ability to disagree with the liberal spin put on stories and point out the failings of the union shop, or does tolerance only apply when the aggrieved is a liberal?

  • Logical Chip

    Sorry Olbermann wannabe, but if you did actually work for Delphi, you were working for a component manufacturer. What was Delphi? Lets see…Delphi was made up of the former Packard Electric, AC Rochester, and Harrison Thermal, just to name a few. It was the former Automotive Components Group (ACG) of GM. What did they do…they made components for automakers to assemble into a finished vehicle.

    Yes, many CEO's have golden parachute deals, but the typical middle manager on down does not. There are many more worker bees than the single queen (or king). They mess up too many times and they are gone, maybe with two weeks of severance if they are lucky.

    You must have minimal knowledge of union shop rules and the way they are used. The Jobs Bank was only an indictment of the automakers in that they allowed the union to dictate it into the contract. Why would a UAW member choose to move to where a new plant is built when they can get paid for sitting around?

    Agreed that the automakers over-committed their product mix toward larger, truck-based vehicles, but that was what the public was demanding. Oil was at record low prices at the time and was expected to remain so. They would have done themselves a disservice by building less of what the public wanted and tried to force a greater mix of small cars.

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    There was (and presumably still is) more to Delphi than “component manufacturer”, much like there's more to GM than “parts assembler.” If you do consider GM to be just a “parts assembler”, how does that offer a significantly different picture vs. a “component manufacturer”? Regardless, where I was, to the best of my knowledge, all the UAW members I encountered remained GM employees after the spin-off, so it wasn't as if I had no perspective on the part that remained GM.

    “They mess up too many times and they are gone, maybe with two weeks of severance if they are lucky.”
    To quote myself: “Sure, they CAN be, but it's rare enough to be noteworthy, while the idiot co-worker/manager/executive is cliche.”

    “Why would a UAW member choose to move to where a new plant is built when they can get paid for sitting around?”
    Why would GM build a plant somewhere else when they'd still have to pay that person to sit around?

    “Agreed that the automakers over-committed their product mix toward larger, truck-based vehicles, but that was what the public was demanding. Oil was at record low prices at the time and was expected to remain so. They would have done themselves a disservice by building less of what the public wanted and tried to force a greater mix of small cars.”
    They made a mistake, but it would've been a mistake if they hadn't made it? That makes no sense.

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    “Please back up your claim with real facts properly credited, credible sources.”
    While it's of dubious credibility in most cases, it works for this: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,95454,00.html “… ‘THE MOST POWERFUL NAME IN NEWS’ … trademarks of Fox News Network, L.L.C. …” They also hold a trademark for “FAIR AND BALANCED”, though “FRAUDULENT AND BIASED” would be a more appropriate trademark.

    Economics involves large amounts of assumptions, simplifications and hand waving; the results you get depend highly upon the ideology of whom you ask, much like Political Science. It's the equivalent of making claims about what the state of world politics today would be if the US hadn't interfered in Vietnam 40+ years ago. Claiming that changing an important factor in a complex system 40+ years ago would've yielded a particular outcome today is an exercise in pure fantasy, and is (conveniently for the claimant) unverifiable. (Long term prediction of such things lacks a track record of success, to put it mildly, which lends no credibility to revisionist outcomes.) It's also completely irrelevant, as speculation about the outcome of such a hypothetical choice 40+ years ago provides no information as to what choice to make now.

    The editorial can be summarized as: “'Right to work' would be a PR game. Here's some (irrelevant) findings from a study (of dubious value, stripped of context and selectively framed.) We value unions, honest.” It's garbage.

  • Logical Chip

    Let me know when you actually READ the study. Of course…why bother…you have already made your assumptions. Completely off-base and ludicrous, but you are entitled to your opinion.

  • Logical Chip

    Please let me know what Delphi's core business is, if it is not component manufacturing. As posted earlier, I was there when ACG was formed and from what units it was created. GM is more than a parts assembler, but that is their core business.

    Non-union co-workers do not have the multiple layers of “screw-up” protection given by the unions. It is very rare that an employee is given a warning, a written warning, another written warning, a last-chance agreement, a last, last-chance agreement, and a final chance agreement before being terminated. Quote yourself all you want, you prove my point, co-worker.

    Why build a plant somewhere else….let's see…how about places with lower taxes, a non-crumbling infrastructure, and an educated workforce that cares about quality, just to name a few.

    Business models make no sense? If you do not understand matching supply to demand, I suggest that you take an economics class.

  • Logical Chip

    It is good to read that you admit you were wrong in saying that how Fox News claims to be “important”. There is a difference between powerful and important. Although, somethings can be both…deodorant is one. Even deodorant cannot completely remove the stench of liberal media bias, especially from the two mentioned networks.

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    “Powerful” is synonymous with “important” in that context; I wasn't wrong, as you're well aware.

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    Do you have a link to the study? It wasn't in the editorial, which is garbage, whether or not the study is.

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    GM's core business is “parts assembler” and Delphi's is “component manufacturer”, though there is more to each than their core, and neither of us were at the core of either. So, how exactly does a “parts assembler” offer a significantly different picture vs. a “component manufacturer”?

    It is rare that a non-union employee is disciplined at all, even if they're mostly useless or hazardous fools. It's a lot easier to cover failings when performance isn't easily measured. In the case of management, maintaining an illusion of competence to superiors is sufficient, even if those at or below the same level are aware of utter worthlessness.

    If they're going to build elsewhere knowing that they're going to have to continue to pay the workforce they leave behind, that's on them, not the workforce they leave behind.

    “Business models make no sense? If you do not understand matching supply to demand, I suggest that you take an economics class.”
    You make no sense. “Over-committed” is a mistake. “Disservice” is a mistake. You are asserting that if the Big Three hadn't made the mistake that screwed themselves, it would have also been a mistake. Interesting what happened to their external competition that made the “mistake” of not making the over-commitment mistake.

  • Logical Chip

    Yes I do. Question asked and answered. Accuracy in the words you choose is important, although not necessarily powerful. If you were asking for me to kindly provide you with the like, please ask.

  • Logical Chip

    Sorry, my typo…If you were asking for me to kindly provide you with the link, please ask. At least I admit my mistakes.

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    It is good to read that you admit you were wrong for prostituting yourself to feed a cocaine addiction; it will have great influence on your life. You could say it's a powerful admission. You could say it's an important admission. “Powerful” and “important” are as synonymous in that context as in the context of a particular Fox News trademark.

    The study doesn't really matter; the editorial is garbage, no matter what the study says, as the citation wasn't even relevant. While I'm mildly curious as to how badly misrepresented the study is in the editorial, there's nothing that could be in the study to redeem the editorial in any way.

  • Logical Chip

    Typical liberal response. When you cannot argue with the facts, you attempt an unfounded smear. I feel sorry for you. Please look up the definition of libel and good luck in life.

  • Is Glen Beck a terrorist?

    Typical “conservative” hypocrisy. Do unto others, then cry when others respond in kind. Good luck with your recovery.

  • Vande4jp

    VOTE 4 RICK SNYDER!!!

  • Ddosmond

    It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the job loss in Mich. Ohio and states that involve auto manufacturing. Look at the auto industry as a wheel, them being the hub (the beginning) of a spoked wheel. You then have the spokes (support groups that hold up the the rim), which of coarse are the grocery stores, shopping centers, movie theaters, a business in short, that make up jobs.(the rim, meaning a social network) which intern makes up a functioning wheel. Remove any of the above mentioned elements, you end up with what we have today, a non functioning wheel. You so called Americans keep buying those foriegn products because you can get a better price! The profits go overseas….baby! Get it? Now you expect the American people with a good standard of living to lower themselves to a third worlds standard of living and do it competively. It is not going to work! I don't blame Rick Snyder for selling out to the Chinese and making a huge profit, after all it has been the American way lately, which has stemmed from the human nature of wanting to be like ther other guy; who has just a little bit more than the other guy and it just keeps escalating. I suggest to everyone, buy as much American as possible. I believe if you want to make the United States work,you have to put the United States to work. American jobs for American people. I can't express enough, if you want to live like the countries that you keep supporting, move there! That way you will have little to complain about because all of your neighbors will be like you, working for nothing, living in a shack, eating unhealthy, poor health care if any at all, you get the picture!? Now I don't understand and I will never understand our way of thinking. Why is anyone worth making more than a million dollars a year? Would'nt it be nice to spread around the wealth so all citizens of our great nation, who is willing to work for it, have the opportunity to have a home, (not a cardboard box or a tarpaper shack) cloths on their backs, (not rags) food to eat, (nutritious food) and a few dollars in their pockets for some sort of entertainment?

  • driver

    Michmedia guy, care to tell us, 6 months on, how CMU is reaping those dividends in terms of increased funding from the state?