Feb 12, 2007

Back the Governor’s plan


I normally post all of the material on the blog myself, but this Letter-to-the-Editor that appeared on the editorial page of the Lansing State Journal Monday is from a very good friend of mine. She is a Genoa Township resident here in Livingston County, and she has been very politically active in both the county and state. She is also a very active environmentalist where she serves as the Vice-President of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. Irene Cahill is also a forester for the City of Lansing, and I think she personally knows every tree in the city. It is also in that capacity that I hitch rides to Lansing with her.
Posting this excellent letter is payback for all of those free rides to Lansing.
Thanks Irene.

Back Granholm
The people of Michigan have always been committed to a first-class society; one that raises up all the people. Fifteen years of tax cuts have caused deep wounds in the fabric of Michigan's environment (parks, forests, water and natural resources), education, health care and roads. Michigan cannot continue on the path of tax cuts. Tax cut advocates are only interested in themselves and what they can get.

Help Gov. Jennifer Granholm fund essential and other services. The severe cuts looming upon us are real - just about every facet of daily life will be affected.

We deserve excellent education, roads and an environment with clean water, air and public lands. We may have to put up with taxes on services to ensure services we need. We also need the proper level of enforcement personnel to collect the revenue.

Support our governor. We need and deserve responsive effect government.

Irene McDonnell Cahill
Howell

2 comments:

Chetly Zarko said...

So precisely what parks, waterways, and forests have been damaged by budget cuts? Last I checked, nature was pretty good as plunking along. If you have specific environmental concerns - I'm open to hearing them, and enforcement issues against any criminal polluter, but I need more than a wand waiver of "oh, the environment is suffering," lets pump government money into park employees. What's hurting specifically?

And as to education, health care, etc., what's underfunded - specifically.

And what's a "responsive effect government?" If 63% of citizens oppose tax increases, then should the Governor be "responsive" and not raise them?

Anonymous said...

Well hello Chet,
Have you noticed that under the past 12 years of Republican Legislative leadership that we are paying more to enter Parks & that there is less service to the Parks? Parks need inspection of the Trees & of the play areas too. Parks are our collective assets, we all own them and we need to protect them. More specifics another time.