I like Gov Granholm. She's the kind of politican that few states are lucky to have -- honest, friendly, reasonable. I also think she's intelligent.

But it is, IMO, her intelligence that had led her economic policies to disaster. Simply put, when she doesn't know something, she relies on her intelligence to function as a form of intuition. And for whatever reason, she just has some sort of block when it comes to business.

In her 2007 state of the state speech, she advocates raising taxes to help make Michigan more competitive.

"The tax changes I will prpose are simple, fair, and progressive."

Which is a recipe for disaster. Words like fairness and progressive send up red flags.

If I have $100 to invest and I have 100 companies to invest it in, should I be "fair" and invest equally in all 100 companies?  Should I be progressive and give it to the poorer companies?  Or should I base my investment based on merit and capability?

Granholm's administration has be not-quite hostile to business as much as not understanding the role of business in the success or failure of a state.

To be "simple" about it, business is everything.  Busineses are the ones who employ people and people (and businesses) pay the taxes. Without those businesses, everything else collapses.

Politicians tend to get stuck on things like "better education for our children". That's nice. But the skills necessary to function in our society are remarkably cheap to acquire.  They do not require spending $10,000 per student per year. 

I don't know what the exact amount is necessary to adequately educate a child only that $10,000 per student is far too high.  You get into diminishing returns pretty quickly.  My sons attend public school. And of the 180 days they are in attendance, they lose a solid 10 on various "parties". They lose another 3 or 4 to "field trips" that have no educational value (I should know, I have gone with them on some).  Their curriculum is full of fluffy nonsense that does nothing to help them acquire basic math and reading skills.  The teachers have assistants who have assistants.  At a certain point, money is just a metric used by politicans and Michigan has far exceeded that metric.

Here are the two basic problems with Jennifer Granholm's political philosophy:

1. She doesn't understand the role of business in a state's prosperity
2. She thinks education has a significant role in making a state successful

Both are incorrect.  When I hire people (or as politicians call it -- when I "create" jobs) if I can't find someone locally, I bring someone from out of state. About half the people at our office are from outside Michigan. 

Bringing talented people from outside of Michigan isn't a "bug" IMO, it's a feature. Politicians should be glad when businesses recruit talented people from out of state.  Obviously you want a hard working, educated local work force. But once you have that, goodies like free tuition and such are counter productive. They do nothing for your state other than encourage moochers to move in. Is that the goal?

If Ms. Granhom really wants to make Michigan successful here are a few things I'd recommend:

1. Lower taxes, especially on businesses.
2. Eliminate thing likes Single Business Tax now (The itself SBT was finally removed in a referendum)
3. Keep on top of the roads. It's humiliating to bring someone in where the roads are a total joke (they're getting better though - thank you!)

That's pretty much it.  She should also use the tight budget as an excuse to cut educational spending. The problem with schools (whether it be suburban or inner city) is not a lack of money but a lack of self-reliance and accountability. Throwing money at public schools when they can't even fire incompetent teachers is wasteful.

Making it easy for every child in Michigan to go to college sure is nice. And as they move off to Texas or Arizona or South Carolina to get a job, I'm sure they'll be faintly appreciative (though not likely) of Ms. Granholm's commitment to education.

The mantra politicans need to remember is that businesses create jobs.  What's good for them is good for your state.