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June 19, 2013
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 America the PassivePosted on Sep 21, 2011BERKELEY, Calif.—Democrats should be building statues of former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, or at least giving away copies of her new book, "A Governor’s Story."
It’s not that her eight years in Lansing were a roaring success. After all, the state was falling apart in the center of a national disaster, manufacturing jobs disappearing or moving overseas. But now that she is a "former," teaching at her alma mater, the University of California, she has the freedom to talk about what she learned and say a number of things that need to be heard by Americans who can’t seem to get in their heads the idea that the world has changed. And that America has to change too.
As she told Monica Davey of The New York Times last week, after years of cutting taxes and spending, alienating many of her Democratic supporters, especially union members:
"Everything that is hitting the country hit Michigan first.
"We tried all of those prescriptions too. We did everything that people would want us to do, and yet it didn’t work. Laissez-faire, passivity, tax cuts, hands-off does not work. And, really, that’s the lesson from this laboratory of democracy which is Michigan."
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"The question is for the nation: Is there something that can happen now to prevent it from happening to the whole country and having a prolonged recession in the way that Michigan did?" Granholm added. "I think there are ways to stop it, but it can only happen with a partnership with the federal government, because individual states simply do not have the tools to compete against China or the globe."
Brian Dickerson, a columnist for the Detroit Free Press, summarized the book this way:
"She cares about her constituents, but she can’t tell them the truth; they can’t handle the truth!
"The subtitle of this book should be: what every Michigander should know about the new globalized economy, and why no politician, including Jennifer Granholm, has the stomach to tell them."
So what would she have us do now that she is a former governor who says she will never run for office again? Her answers (solutions?) include having the federal government act as a true national government. She does not believe states have the tools to compete with one another and the world.
"Why do Americans say they hate an active government," she writes, "then get mad when government does nothing while their jobs disappear?"
"Tax rates play a minor role in business location decisions," she argues. "For the kinds of advanced-manufacturing, high-tech businesses we were recruiting, talent is what matters along with quality of life, culture and the sheer ‘coolness’ factor of host cities."
She bemoans the fact that talented students from other countries grab an American education and then head back home. But still, she argues that federal action, particularly on education, and most particularly on community colleges, is the core of the answer. What we need is a talented, job-ready workforce.
"Business leaders," she writes, "will tell you that everything today is about speed to market. They just can’t afford to wait."
And neither can the rest of us. The Republican idea that the market will take care of things as long as taxes on corporations and millionaires are lowered has been tried and failed.
What Granholm is arguing, now that she doesn’t have to face the electorate, is that Americans have to invest in themselves—and the only way to do that is through strong federal government action.
© 2011 UNIVERSAL UCLICK  TAGS:
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By abhishek, September 23, 2011 at 8:41 pm Link to this comment
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Report thisastrologie
By MouseyTongue, September 23, 2011 at 12:07 pm Link to this comment
Want my two copper plated zinc pennies worth? (Ever
Report thissince 1983, check it for yourself!)
One: Any ‘US company’ that has nothing but offices
and product outlets in the US, with all manufacturing
etc. overseas should NOT be credited as being a US
company with any rights and privileges that pertain
thereto.
Two: National prizes for ‘ordinary’ peoples ideas
that create new products or innovation that will
contribute to the US having an actual product to
export as well as use internally.
Three: no more lifetime judgeships for senile old
timey racist, bigoted and self serving ‘superior’
types. Ditto Congress.
Four: Accountability of the judicial system for
malfeasance, nonfeasance and misfeasance in
convicting any person found to be innocent. No more
of this ‘but I BELIEVED (personal opinion) they were
guilty so I did nothing wrong by not doing things
right…
Five: Audit Congress and find out how many people
made money on the ‘decriminalizing’ of ‘bucket shops’
by Congress - by UNANIMOUS VOTE! When does Congress
vote unanimously on ANYTHING, EVER?!
SIX: A NATIONAL LOTTERY! VOLUNTARY TAXATION WITH A
POTENTIAL HUGE ‘TAX REFUND’ FOR THE WINNER!
SEVEN: PROSECUTE THE THIEVES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
‘BRIDGE TO NOWHERE’ AND THE ALASKAN 15 MILLION DOLLAR FOR DEFRAUDING THE US GOVERNMENT (THE PEOPLE!) AS WELL AS ANY OTHER SUCH BOONDOGGLES AND SCAMS.
AIRPORT FOR A VILLAGE OF 150 PEOPLE.
EIGHT: ENFORCE THE LAWS AGAINST PERJURY, FRAUD AND
ELECTION TAMPERING BY PROSECUTING INTENTIONAL ‘SMEAR
TACTICS’ AND PERSONAL UNFOUNDED ATTACKS ON CANDIDATES
BY OTHER CANDIDATES.
NINE: ENFORCE SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE,
DISQUALIFY AND FINE ANY CANDIDATE USING RELIGION AND
DOCTRINES TO SUPPORT HIS CANDIDACY. IF THEY CAN’T RUN
ON REASON, THEY WALK.
I got more, how long is YOUR list?
By prisnersdilema, September 23, 2011 at 9:39 am Link to this comment
They use montetary police to bail out the corporate traitors… Not those who work for a living..
When they print money it devalues the work of working people….
Report thisBy Anarcissie, September 23, 2011 at 6:22 am Link to this comment
prisnersdilema— The US government bails out banksters with the same funny money it does everything else. As I said, one of the things it can do is print money. Reeves or the author of the book he reviews seems to think it can pass miracles.
I live happily in Queens, New York, so appeals to ethnic purity are lost on me. In my opinion, energetic, talented people coming to the U.S. increase its wealth. But the ability of immigration to balance the depredations and waste of the kleptocracy and the expenses of foreign military adventures have long since been overwhelmed.
Report thisBy prisnersdilema, September 22, 2011 at 8:14 pm Link to this comment
Actually no, when the federal government bails out The corporate traitors on wall street,
and allows coroporate CEO’s to run federal agencies for the benefit of the corporations.
Free enterprisers don’t seem to mind. But, they still complain about the federal
government being a failure.
In the 40 years since Ronnie Reagun took is marching orders from Don Regan, what
more favorable business moves can the government do to satisfy the free
traders/traitors? What more is left to make them happy?
We are living in the result
What next, abolishing the minimum wage, getting rid of social security?
As to foreign nationals getting green cards? Try seeing a Doctor? Does he speak
Report thisEnglish? Can you understand what she or he says. Can you even get an appointment?
Did your nurse in your hospital stay speak English? Can she read English? Did she give
you the right meds? All things to consider now that Corporations run this country.
By Anarcissie, September 22, 2011 at 7:29 pm Link to this comment
Magus12—the only things the Federal government can do that the other entities I mentioned can’t do is, basically, print money and start wars. It’s been doing these things already and I don’t think the results are encouraging.
Report thisBy CenterOfMass, September 22, 2011 at 11:22 am Link to this comment
@taikan “...most of them head back home because this country’s immigration laws and policies don’t allow them to stay here, even though many of them would like to do so.”
That, and they are likely to have more job security at home, rather than in the U.S., because U.S. corporations are sending jobs overseas.
Report thisBy John Steinsvold, September 22, 2011 at 11:02 am Link to this comment
An Alternative to Capitalism (Let’s have a future free of poverty)
Several decades ago, Margaret Thatcher claimed: “There is no alternative”. She was referring to capitalism. Today, this negative attitude still persists.
I would like to offer an alternative to capitalism for the American people to consider. Please click on the following link. It will take you to an essay titled: “Home of the Brave?” which was published by the Athenaeum Library of Philosophy:
http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/steinsvold.htm
John Steinsvold
Perhaps in time the so-called dark ages will be thought of as including our own.
Report this—Georg C. Lichtenberg
By taikan, September 22, 2011 at 9:30 am Link to this comment
According to the article, Granholm “bemoans the fact that talented students from other countries grab an American education and then head back home.”
Apparently she isn’t aware of the fact that most of them head back home because this country’s immigration laws and policies don’t allow them to stay here, even though many of them would like to do so.
We should offer a green card to every non-citizen who graduates from an American university with a Ph.D. in any field of science or engineering, conditioned on that person working and living in the US for at least the first five years after graduation, at which time they would be eligible for citizenship.
Report thisBy magus12, September 22, 2011 at 8:44 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
@Anarcissie
I think you missed the point. It’s about the linkages among people, linkages between the ability, flexibility and sheer might of what the federal gov’t can do when it is the health of the US that is at stake (economic or otherwise) and feed money through state and local governments as well as help the private sector when that is the only, last chance and the well-dressed barbarians are perfectly willing to see all industries die and employees, public or private, go jobless, homeless and hungry in order to kowtow to “the invisible hand” and a doctrine embrace of social darwinism…while denying darwinism itself.
When multinational corporate America is sitting on over $2 trillion in its stash and hires only overseas letting its own country’s private sector and people starve, austerity is the absolutely wrong answer, as is protecting only the super rich and the multinationals. If you own a hamburger joint and you need to sell 1,000 burgers per day in a locality with 1,000 people but only the top .1% of the population can afford your burgers daily, that ONE PERSON, no matter how rich, will not be able to keep your business afloat, particularly when he/she is hoarding cash, refuses to recognize the bank heist represented by the Bush tax cuts, two unfunded wars and unfunded giveaway to Big Pharma. Your burger joint will go bust in no time.
Report thisBy California Ray, September 21, 2011 at 9:30 pm Link to this comment
Ask an Iraqi whether America is passive.
Report thisBy prisnersdilema, September 21, 2011 at 9:29 pm Link to this comment
If you think that this country can only get as bad as Michigan your deluded.
Americans don’t hate the federal government, they hate corporate control of
government. They hate CEO’s who go back and forth between, banking, insurance,
agribusiness, big Pharma, and defense, and the agencies that are supposed to regulate
them.
They hate CEO’s like Immelt who are proud of sending jobs to China who nonetheless
become the presidents job Czar, and bankers who wrecked the economy controlling
federal financial agencies. They hate that no one has gone to jail but Madoff, and no
statues will ever be built to Jennifer Granholme, based on her surrender to globalization.
Unless we get rid of the globalists we won’t have a country anymore.
Creating jobs in China does not create them here, unless everyone works at Wal Mart.
The day will certainly come when Americans take action, I guarantee Mr. R eeves won’t
Report thislike it.
By Anarcissie, September 21, 2011 at 9:19 pm Link to this comment
The assertions reported are incoherent. For instance, ‘For the kinds of advanced-manufacturing, high-tech businesses we were recruiting, talent is what matters along with quality of life, culture and the sheer “coolness” factor of host cities’, but then, ‘Americans have to invest in themselves—and the only way to do that is through strong federal government action.’
The Federal government can’t do anything about the quality of life, culture and ‘sheer coolness factor’ of a host city. Over the long term—sixteen or twenty years—it might be able to foster some talent, but a state or municipality—or a neighborhood or a family or an individual—can do that. Could have done that, long since. The problem is that most people aren’t interested in fostering talent, or talent-fostering wouldn’t be a problem in the first place.
The author and the reviewer seem to believe that the Federal government is a kind of god. I think they’re going to be disappointed, but they say that to the faithful the failure of the gods calls for only more faith.
Report this