COLUMN: Back Bernero
Virg Bernero has the plan and the experience to make Michigan work again.
Bernero has a No. 1 priority, and that is jobs. Jobs for the currently unemployed, and a job for you and I after college. Bernero has come up with incredibly innovative ideas on how to get businesses up and running, and most importantly, hiring again.
One idea Bernero has is a Michigan-owned state bank. It is no secret that the giant Wall Street banks have redlined Michigan business, because they think Michigan is doomed to failure.
A Michigan-owned bank would partner with community banks and credit unions to offer lines of credit to businesses, so that they can expand and hire more workers. Only one other state in America does this, North Dakota.
North Dakota currently has an unemployment rate of 3.7 percent; America as a whole has an unemployment rate of almost 10%. The results speak for themselves.
Another fantastic idea is Bernero’s “Make it in Michigan for free” proposal. The idea is simple: in targeted areas throughout Michigan, if a business chooses to redevelop an abandoned factory into an advanced manufacturing plant, they can do so without paying any taxes whatsoever, for up to 12 years. No state or local taxes of any kind. This idea is particularly exciting because it is fighting fire with fire: China has been doing this for 10 years, and obviously they have had monumental results.
Bernero also has a commitment to college and university funding. Bernero knows Michigan has a responsibility to young people, so he supports a restoration of the Michigan Promise Scholarship and college funding in general.
As far as Bernero is concerned, education funding is in itself economic development. He has controversially proposed a university tuition freeze, proving that education funding is a Bernero and a Michigan value. If families have to tighten their belts, universities should as well.
A question that will arise in a rational mind is, even if the gubernatorial candidates have ideas, how will they get them passed?
To that I answer, experience counts.
Rick Snyder says that being a millionaire CEO qualifies him to run the state of Michigan. The gaping hole in this argument is that we had another governor who had never served in the Michigan legislature: Jennifer Granholm. Governor Granholm herself has even admitted she was not ready to tackle Michigan’s hyper-partisan state legislature, and this lack of experience haunted her administration. The Michigan legislature eats people like Snyder for breakfast.
Bernero does not suffer from this lack of experience. He has proudly served as a state legislator as well as the mayor of Lansing. He has jumped into the trenches, wrestled with hard-headed negotiators, and he got things done. As governor, not only will he hold his own against the state legislature, but he will be the victor.
The choice could not be more clear. If you want watered-down George W. Bush policies, vote for Rick Snyder. If you want to move Michigan forward, vote Bernero.
