Sound-Off Sunday: Condi Rap

I'm feeling a little sick, but this was pretty funny:

Condilicious:

Naysayers (Republicans): investment is not a ''permanent fix''

The Naysayers -- and I do mean Republicans -- sure are thick on the empty rhetoric. From today's South Bend Tribune:

On the House side, state Reps. Neal Nitz, R-Baroda, and Rick Shaffer, R-Three Rivers, both took shots at Granholm's tax hike proposals.

"Taxing our way out of the current budget crisis is not a permanent fix. We need to focus on reforming government bureaucracy to create a smaller, more efficient government," Shaffer said.

Let me repeat: State Government is the smallest it's been since the 1970's. State Government is the smallest it's been since the 1970's. State Government is the smallest it's been since the 1970's. State Government is the smallest it's been since the 1970's. State Government is the smallest it's been since the 1970's.

Hit the point home yet? We sure can make the government smaller, but I doubt we'll make it more efficient.

The concept of public investment wooshes over the heads of Republicans like Rick Shaffer. As the Governor said in the State of the State: the naysayers are already against any plan from the Governor before they've even read it.

Increasing revenues isn't a "permanent fix?" Neither is cutting the budget to Bostwana GDP levels, boyo. We need quality roads, neighborhoods, schools, prisons, and police. And we need revenue to do so.

Skubick the Vampire can't wait to sink his teeth into Granholm over possible revenue increase.

Good Lord, Tim Skubick is still a loser. In the latest Off the Record, Skoob tries to nail Granholm between the eyes (from the comfort of his ivory tower of course) about her bi-partisan budget panel. "THE DECK IS STACKED!!!" "WHERE'S THE OVERSIGHT!?!?" "WHY AREN'T BUSINESS LEADERS THERE?!?!"

Heaven forbid the Governor might want to shut the doors for some time to think. After all, the Republican legislature shut the doors in her face and didn't think when they decided it would be a fun stunt to kill the SBT and get us in this mess in the first place.

Thankfully, the panel -- Dawson Bell, Kathy Barks Hoffman, and Bill Ballenger -- weren't buying (most) of Skubick's omnipresent Granholm bash-fest.

And Barks Hoffman came back and hit Timmeh square between the eyes with her own little gem:

Skubick: "Well here's her -- here's [Granholm's] problem: let's assume that she goes there to raise the tax. And she goes on the road to sell it. Where is the smoking gun? When she says to the electorate 'We cut three billion dollars from the budget already. We can't cut another billion because the sky will fall.' The last time I checked, the sky is still up over Michigan. Where's the smoking gun where all these budget cuts have just ravaged our state? Does she have one?"

Barks Hoffman: "Well, Tim -- you know -- you're not paying in-state college tuition because your daughter's going to school out-of-state. But all in-state college tuitions -- they went up over 10% there for a while."

[...]

Skubick: "I'll give you that -- but where are all the bodies in the street?"

[emphasis added]

Bodies in the street. Well, I can't point you to many of those, but I can point to some potholes, Skubick. And I'm sure there will be many-a-more if JG pulls out that additional $1bn. The sky will still be there, of course. Profound point.

Watch the inanity here.


I really wish he'd have a new thought.

Senior Capitol Correspondent Gossip Columnist Tim Skubick!

Hat Tip to MichiganLiberal:


Tim Skubick: Off the Record > MichiganLiberal. ...In Bizzarro World!

Tim Skubick hearts Michigan Liberal! He loves it so much that he decided to lambast the burgeoning political site and creator Matt Furgeson through the subscription-only MIRS News.

Since I don't want to go down the dark road of copyright infringement hell, an excerpt only:

The favorite blog for liberals to use for ranting and raving may be headed for the dumper sooner rather than later. The web site originator of Michigan Liberal.com [sic] is looking for new work and may be headed for a post in the Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM administration.
[...]
Last check revealed that no offer had been made, but either way it appears she will have to find another favorite site real soon as Ferguson wants a new and more financially rewarding gig.

Oh, Timmeh. From faux-reporter to gossip columnist. I'm sure he reads PerezHilton.com, regularly, hoping that one day he can catch the Governor in a Britney-like moment. I guess exploiting the Ricky Holland murder to sink S.S. Granholm wasn't enough.

Michigan Liberal isn't going anywhere, and Matt is not leaving the site. Rest assured, MichLib is still here to offer a nexus on all things political, and all things Michigan. If you want, hop over to MichLib to show it some pocketbook-style love.

Next time, Tim, remember: Matt isn't the one railing against you on MichLib. That train is being led by Quaker21.

When Angry Republican Staffers Attack the Blogosphere!

With winning statements like this...

Some states are considering actions that would go beyond the boundaries of Medicaid. As noted above, a Michigan bill would require a prescription for all sales of emergency contraceptives. HB 5311 was introduced in 2006, and its chief sponsor, Rep. John Stahl, hopes to advance the measure in 2007, said Jamie Hope, Stahl’s staffer. The representative’s biggest concern is that pedophiles will obtain the drug OTC and give it to underage girls in order to prevent their becoming pregnant, she said. “It’s going to give predators another avenue to carry out their crimes,” she said. “We’re just trying to protect our women and children.”

Source: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/shn/2006/sn476b.htm

... it's good to know that there are very sensible staffers to speak for very sensible policies. And by the italicized sensible, I don't mean Mr. Webster's plain-jane definition. I mean the exact opposite.

Jamie Hope. Staffer to Republican MI-House Representative John Stahl of North Branch (Lapeer County). She's such a champ -- if emergency contraception doesn't require a prescription, then predators will molest more girls! Man, she must have just been spinning in her heels over that flawless pearl.

But Jamie Hope doesn't just have an axe to grind with her archnemeses logic and reason: she has a new enemy! The Michigan Blogosphere.

LiberalLucy has a bit of Ms. Hope's comments to share with the world. Comments the staffer left on work time from a government building. Rep. Stahl -- it's all about the company you keep, neh?

Get over to LLP and read the low-down. It's the latest gem of the week! I'll give it Ruby status. A rosy red ruby for rosy, red, republican antics.

"Why I Love the Sound of My Own Voice," by Tim Skubick.

Oh, Tim Skubick -- joy of my heart. For those of you who have yet the fine pleasure of a Tim Skubick experience, let me explain:

Skubick is Michigan's "Senior Capitol Correspondent," a lofty self-made title for his own style of punditry. With a weekly TV show on WKAR and a weekly column in the Lansing State Journal, Timmeh is one of the very few syndicated analysts who cover Michigan politics.

Sadly, his work is just a little below the bar of excellence. I think it hovers somewhere above the line of "Chernobyl toxin."

At any rate, this week Tim decided to write a little love letter to himself with a nice pat-on-the back over a very sensitive issue. Would it be the recent welfare reform legislation? How about that single-business tax replacement? Or maybe even a soft piece on passenger rail? After all, he is our "SENIOR CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT!"

No. Skubick writes about the tragic Ricky Holland murder. But he doesn't discuss the case; instead he writes a little CYA number to defend baiting Gov. Granholm in the first gubernatorial debate.

Skubick is -- well, was -- not shy of doing everything he could to kerplutz the Granholm train throughout her term. Not even exploiting the death of Ricky Holland -- a 7-year old Lansing boy -- was off limits if it could tank her reelection. Not shy of using the Holland case in neither his writing nor his words, Tim Skubick tried to pull off a little coup-de-grace against that "Granholm magic" by abruptly asking her -- on television -- if she was indirectly responsible for a little boy's death.

Oh, the sound of gnashing teeth! In fairness: with Skubick, there's quite a bit of teeth to gnash.

So today in the State Journal Skubick defends his question without labelling it his own. Why? The questioned backfired. Viewers and readers found the question uncalled for and exploitative. They found it inappropriate for a political debate, and as a means of sensationalizing the issues. And Skubick -- used to yucking it up with fellow analysts in the Ivory Tower of Lansing -- couldn't take the heat.

From the editorial:

One viewer accused the moderator of being a "colossal ass" for asking about the Ricky Holland murder during the first debate for governor. Wonder if that viewer saw the recent report on the state's gross mishandling of that little boy's abuse case?
[...]
For those who missed that first gubernatorial debate, the question that produced the most vehement public response dealt with the governor's role in all this.
[...]
Many viewers incorrectly thought the governor was asked if she was responsible for the child's death. What many didn't hear was the word "indirectly" before responsible.

The moderator? Tim Skubick -- himself. Of course, he can't stand to identify himself. Instead, he meanders about, pegging Gov. Granholm for her lack of accountability, drecking up the story of a tragedy for some political points.

It's despicable. And worse yet, Skubick writes the whole thing as a giant love letter to himself: that he -- and he alone -- had the cajones to take a stand against a renegade administration. And that those who see him for what he is -- a muckraker and an opportunist -- cannot hear correctly, or just don't know the facts.

The fact is that Tim Skubick is becoming less and less relevant. Time to take him off the pages of the LSJ, and retire him to the spas of Douglas J.