The Democratic governor's proposals for making daylong kindergarten mandatory, offering two years of free community college tuition to laid-off workers and setting up smaller high schools all could face trouble in the Republican-led Senate, and some face changes in the Democratic-led House.

The reasons for the disagreements range from the practical to the ideological.

Some lawmakers are leery of spending as much as Granholm has proposed because of the economic uncertainty the state faces. Granholm's budget plan would raise spending by 2.9 percent, to $44.8 billion, in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. But the Senate now says the increase should be smaller because revenues may be less than expected.

Add to that giant spending increase the $400+ million we're expected to be short because of continually decreasing revenues... you can raise taxes all day long but if businesses are leaving and jobs are dying as a result you're only decreasing "revenue" in the long run... and things are a giant mess.

The last time we had a giant mess we wound up with a Democrat led shutdown of State Government followed by a $2.5 billion tax hike.  

The lefties insist that won't happen this time, yet the new budget spends considerably more cash than we've got.  And the discussion comes complete with approximately zero actual reforms.  They haven't done squat.  Not that that particular fact made it into the story running in all the newspapers.  Though they're more than capable of playing word games to cast Republicans as big bullies.

What happens when you mix ideological bias with an Associated Press byline?  Usually it's a sentence something like this:

One place where GOP senators want to cut back is money for K-12 school districts. (The Senate will) vote this week on a bill that would give public schools $71 to $142 more per student, rather than the $108 to $216 Granholm proposed.

Um... that's not `cutting back.'  That's increasing.  By $71 to $142 per pupil.  That's a lot of dough, considering it follows on the heels of an increase last year.  And the year before that.  And since it doesn't come with any demands for results.

But hey, if the Dems want to raise that sort of spending by even more, be my guest. One thing, though.  Where are you going to get the cash?  If you continue to swear that we won't see our taxes raised again then it's got to come from somewhere.  So what are you cutting?  Apparently it isn't going to come from corrections.  Granholm, Cherry and the executive team are too busy speaking out of both sides of their mouths to get anything done there.

One minute they're telling us how we spend way too much to incarcerate people for non-violent offenses and the next they're eager to take credit for giant DOC / MSP "sweeps" that arrest people for staggering things like, oh, holding a nickel bag. According to the AP:

(The sweep) resulted in the arrests of 58 parole violators, 27 parole absconders and two probation violators.

Law enforcers also made arrests for assault and battery, breaking and entering, domestic violence, forgery, fraud, identity theft, larceny and possession of marijuana.

Forgery, fraud... cigaweed.  These are the sorts of things the Democrats keep telling us don't need to be treated with incarceration.  Welcome to make up your minds at any time.  

They got their headline.  Give it a couple weeks and the Dem House majority will hold a presser highlighting their plans to release everyone they just picked up because they aren't reaaaally dangerous.  I mean, if a guy who's killed over one-hundred people can get parole then why not the guy who tokes outside the 7/11?

Shoot, Kevorkian's going to get who knows how much help from lefty House members and staffers as he makes a run for Congress.  Today's a big day for the lunatic, too.  He's making the big announcement at 10:00 this morning, assuming things go as planned.  The Ivory Tower reports:

Kevorkian, 79, is expected to run as an independent. He was convicted in 1999 of second-degree murder in the Sept. 17, 1998, death of Thomas Youk, 52, of Waterford. Youk had Lou Gehrig's disease. Kevorkian has said he participated in at least 130 assisted suicides during the 1990s. He was released from prison in June.

He will have to get 3,000 petition signatures by July 17 to qualify for the ballot.

Sorry, Gary.  Looks like that Easter miracle you were hoping for isn't coming after all.  The guy seems serious. And "your" voters are going to get him on the ballot. From where I sit that's a beautiful thing.