Archive for the '2010' Category

I’m sure glad Michigan has Rick Snyder as our Republican candidate for Governor. If we are fortunate enough to have the ‘Tough Nerd’ at the helm of the State, we can make a clean break from the failed economic policies of the worst Governor in America, Jennifer Granholm…

Well….Actually Snyder is planning on continuing Granhom’s flawed policy of advocating ‘advance battery’ manufacturing over other industries. Via MLive:

Bayer’s 400-acre chemical park development is the future home of fortu PowerCell, a $623 million, 734-job advanced battery plant planned by a Swiss-German startup company. Groundbreaking for the initial 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility is expected in April 2011.

“Batteries are important to our future,” said the Republican candidate, who faces the Democratic nominee, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, in the Nov. 2 general election. “Our automotive industry is critical to the state.”

The fortu PowerCell development was brought to Muskegon Township in part by a special $100 million state battery tax credit that was supported earlier this year by Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, the Republican-led Michigan Senate and Democratic-led House of Representatives.

Several of the candidates in the Republican primary for governor opposed special tax breaks for certain industries as “picking winners and losers.”

Snyder’s plan to “reinvent Michigan” includes reform of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., which hands out special incentives such as the battery tax credits.

Snyder’s campaign platform says such assistance needs to be results-oriented, transparent and in conjunction with general business-climate improvements in tax policy and state regulation. (emphasis added)

For a supposed business expert, the “tough nerd” should understand that a government bureaucracy advocating one business over another is a recipe for economic disaster. You know, like the one we are in now. Furthermore, according to research the Mackinac Center has pulled together, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. has a poor track record creating jobs. Really poor.

One other crucial question about those batteries, who is Snyder planing on selling those new advanced batteries to? I hope its not Toyota, because they are having a tough time selling the Prius in Japan due to the ending of their government’s subsidies for hybrid vehicles.

The Prius hybrid has spearheaded sales growth for Toyota Motor Corp. in Japan for more than a year, helped by government subsidies. The model will likely bear the brunt of plunging demand as the support ends.

“A collapse in sales is unavoidable,” said Hiromi Inoue, the new-car sales chief for Tokyo Toyopet Motor Sales Co. “The daily pace of orders for the Prius is already dropping. We are bracing ourselves for the coming crisis.”

The number of customers signing up to buy a Prius at Tokyo Toyopet’s 66 showrooms has dropped to about eight a day from 20 in June, Inoue said. Industrywide, car sales in Japan are expected to plunge 23 percent in the six months beginning in October from a year earlier, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.

Demand for the Prius surged after the third-generation model went on sale in May 2009 and the government introduced the incentive plan a month later. Under the program, consumers can apply for a 250,000 yen ($2,963) subsidy if they scrap a car more than 13 years old to buy a more fuel- efficient one, or 100,000 yen for a new car bought without scrapping the older one. (emphasis added)

It seems the “Tough Nerd” should rethink the whole government advocating one business over another idea. It is a recipe for economic disaster.

And, by the way, the Prius is not the only eco-car that has rough looking sales forecast numbers.

Ken Proctor* of the Libertarian party on his philosophy:

Unfortunately, over the past several years our freedoms have been under attack. Government bailouts of a selected few “too big to fail” companies and preferential treatment of certain industries and politically-powerful groups violate every principle the Founding Fathers stood for. I, and the other candidates running on the Libertarian Party ticket, are determined to reverse these trends. Our government should NOT be picking winners and losers in our economy and American life. It SHOULD guarantee equal opportunities for all people, groups and businesses to grow and prosper, and then get out of the way. To do this we must work together to change the face of American politics.

Over the past several years Michigan has offered hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives and subsidies to trendy “green energy” companies and the film industry. Democrats and Republicans joined to enact a new Michigan Business Tax, and a steep surcharge on that tax, to dramatically increase the taxes paid by most businesses across Michigan, while dramatically decreasing the taxes paid by the politically powerful Big Three automakers. They also diverted federal “stimulus” money to guarantee the jobs of politically powerful state employee unions, rather than create more private jobs. Bringing new businesses to Michigan is great, but not when the companies are lured by government incentives that do not require the companies to be profitable to survive. Witness the steep job cuts by the ethanol and solar power manufacturers lured to Michigan by those incentives. That money was foolishly spent.

Michigan has been cutting deals with large corporations in “cool” industries but over-taxing and over-regulating the small businesses, the true heart of Michigan’s economy, to the point where the owners close their doors and leave for greener pastures. They flee to Texas, Florida or other states where there is no Michigan Business Tax, no personal income tax, and new employees can’t be required to join a union as a condition of employment.

He has a much more conservative Platform than Rick and his green energy and cool cities, Granholm lite agenda.

*I will keep researching Ken Proctor and keep a sharp eye on Rick Snyder as we get closer to november 2nd.

An extra big tip O’ the hat to Jason @ Right Michigan