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Want to Hear a Joke?....Governor Jennifer Granholm

By Republican Yankee, Section News
Posted on Thu Jul 05, 2007 at 05:49:28 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)

Granholm's Political Theatrics are More Transparent than Ever as Her Illusion of Leadership Continues to Blur Away.

Well, the governor has been in all kinds of motion these past couple of weeks. First, it was sending an unprovoked letter to the legislature to cancel vacation and pass a tax deal that didn't exist. If it did exist, it was news to both the Republican Senate and the Democratic House, both of which declined that such a deal had been made, while her own Lt. Governor refused to cast the tie-breaking vote to pass reforms that were agreed upon in this "deal". It's also funny that Granholm didn't seem to oppose vacations when she was in Mexico with her family for a week after the election.

But now she's even flip-flopped on that since she was viewed as "uncool". Now it's okay if the legislature takes a one-week vacation. She'll "allow them to" (like she actually has a choice).

When these events made her look like an idiot, Governor Granholm decided it would be a good idea to tell legislators to give back 5% of their salaries to the state. Granholm has claimed in the past that she gives back 5% of her own salary. This was in response to Senator Bishop demanding that state employee raises, over $100 million of state employee raises, be rolled back to help balance the budget.

Now, let me be very careful here. I agree with Granholm that the legislators should give back some of their salary. But I also believe that she should give back some of her salary and expect state employees to do the same thing. I've had enough of this "they've sacrificed enough" garbage. Why? Because the people of Michigan, suffering record bankruptcies and foreclosures along with the nation's highest unemployment rate have "sacrificed enough" also. State employees still have a job to go to in the morning, which is a lot more that a lot of other Michigan resident can say. The state's in trouble, you work for the state, you're going to take a hit. It's like that with every other employer in the country and the state shouldn't be any different.

But I must add that there is huge difference between what Bishop is proposing (rolling back employee pay raises) and what Granholm responded with (legislators giving back 5% of their salaries). That difference is that Bishop's proposal actually represents REAL savings for Michigan's budget, while Granholm's proposal just makes her look "cool" while doing nearly nothing to balance the current budget deficit.

Then, there was the ridiculous "message from the governor", which if it weren't for the United States Constitution would have made me think that Granholm was auditioning for a Vice-Presidential spot. Granholm talked about bi-partisanship and "go anywhere and doing anything" to create jobs as if the people of Michigan hadn't heard this one before. Yes, the business tax is new but the fact that Michigan is the only state where hitting a hole-in-one is easier than finding a job is not. Granholm ignored this and instead her and the Michigan Democratic Party made a lame attempt to make her look heroic for doing nothing more than her job. This has been the staple strategy of the Granholm administration.

But what was all of this really about? The budget deficit? The business tax? NO! This was about a self-obsessed governor looking at her approval rating go down the toilet. She just can't handle not being "cool" and rather than react with action, she did the only thing that she knows how to do: dressed up nice, put on some make-up, wore a pretty (but fake) smile, and told everybody that she's doing a great job.

The bad news is that it won't do anything for her. Granholm can globe trot all she wants, but it hasn't and won't change the facts that Michigan is the most miserable state in the country. Isn't this the same governor who said in her State of the State Address that she "owed it" to me to "tell the truth"?

Granholm's in way over her head, trying to do a job she doesn't know how to do. This is because she has no legislative experience AT ALL and rather than use the last 5 years as an opportunity to eliminate that weakness, she has instead chose to whine and moan like a little girl who "isn't getting what she wants". Here's an idea, if the governor wants to build a relationship with legislators TALK TO THEM! And by "them" I don't just mean Bishop and Dillon. By "them" I don't just mean House Democrats. By "them" I mean all legislators who have an important role to play in moving your agenda forward. Talk to them, deal with them, compromise with them. But she hasn't and probably won't.

Let's take a look at what happened here. In 2006 Granholm won re-election and finally got what she had been begging for a Democratic chamber in the legislature. So did she talk to Dillon? Did she plot with him the best way to propose her budget so that he could garner the votes in his caucus to pass it? No. I know this because she ended up proposing a plan that Democrats to this day say they can't support.

You see when you're Governor Granholm you think that the legislature's job is to pass whatever you want, especially if some legislators have a "D" next to their name. They're supposed to look at your plan and even if they don't agree with it, shrug and say "she's the governor, she must know more than I do, I guess I should sign on to this." This of course is outside the realm of political reality, which Granholm repeatedly has ignored during her tenure.

The truth is, even though there are a majority of Democrats in the house, many of them are in swing districts and even Republican districts. They don't have the political flexibility of a term-limited executive that won re-election by a wide margin. But rather than talk with Dillon and these legislators so that she can propose a deal that they could vote for, she instead calls them "cowards". Evander Holyfield I guess could call me a "coward" for not fighting Mike Tyson. After all, he did and he won twice. That is the relationship Granholm has developed so far with her beloved Democratic controlled house. And she's wondering why she has to go to meetings as ask legislators "why don't you like me?" and she wonders why her approval rating has fallen to the depths of hell in the last year.

Well governor, in case you can't figure it out, I'll spell it out for you. PEOPLE CARE ABOUT LIVING WELL AND THEY CARE ABOUT YOU HELPING THEM DO IT even if you have to be "un-cool" in order to get that done! Suck it up, take your shots, make some concessions to the Republican Senate, get on the same page as the Democratic House and GET IT DONE!

Hmmmm...Get it done. Wasn't there a candidate in 2006 who used that as his campaign slogan?

< Trying To Slip It To The Taxpayers........AGAIN! | Hollow campaign rhetoric exposed... again >

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Want to Hear a Joke?....Governor Jennifer Granholm | 12 comments (12 topical, 0 hidden)

Granholm's 5% Give Back (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by Rougman on Thu Jul 05, 2007 at 06:28:20 PM EST

Good post.

Granholm has claimed in the past that she gives back 5% of her own salary (never mind that she counts the state taxes she pays as part of what she "gives back").

I had heard the 5% give-back comment before, however this is the first time I've heard that her give-back included her state taxes (3.9% if I remember correctly.)

Can you link that for me?

Whoops. (none / 0) (#2)
by Republican Yankee on Thu Jul 05, 2007 at 06:53:59 PM EST

Sorry, I blew it on that. I had read (or better yet misread) something in MIRS that brought this statistic to my attention. After consulting the article I realized that this was a mistake. I will therefore take that portion of the post down to avoid further confusion.

governor G (none / 0) (#3)
by sandmman on Thu Jul 05, 2007 at 06:57:21 PM EST

figured she could blame all those people with an R behind their name for accomplishing little. Figured now with a D behind their name she'd be COOL.

She isn't.

And compromise - to her this simply means, "My way or the highway."

182 weeks left in her reign!

The legislature... and all of her cronies (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by John Galt on Thu Jul 05, 2007 at 07:27:05 PM EST

Now that she's given 5% back, maybe she can ask for 5% from her husband, and her husband's entourage.

I think it's couth to clean your own house before you tell others to clean theirs.

Good Post (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by Dutchsma on Thu Jul 05, 2007 at 08:01:31 PM EST

One small thing... Jennifer Granholm said she would give back 10% of her salary because times were tight. I don't know if she has given the full 10% back or not, but based on a quote from the Detroit Free Press, I don't think she consistently gives back the full 10% she said she would.

Incidentally, I don't think she has made her 2006 income taxes public yet. Maybe she thinks no one cares. Or maybe she doesn't want people to know that Dan Granholm Mulhern was working as a consultant for the Canadian government in 2006.

Below are quotes from newspapers regarding her salary cut:

"Folks out there in the private sector aren't getting that kind of a pay increase," Granholm said of the 38 percent hike. "As we are facing enormous budget cuts, those who will be asked to make sacrifices will ask the question, 'Well, I'm making the sacrifice, what is state government doing?"' (AP, 2/18/03)

"Even the governor promised to return 10 percent of her salary. House Speaker Rick Johnson, over some colleagues' protests, cut House members' health benefits at a level equal to 3 percent of their $79,500 salary." (LSJ, 11/13/03)

"Earlier this year, with Michigan facing a crushing budget deficit, Gov. Jennifer Granholm promised to remit 10 percent of her $177,000 salary. House Speaker Rick Johnson, over some members' protests, reduced members' health benefits at a level equal to 3 percent of legislators' $79,500 salary." (LSJ, 10/15/03)

"Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, will take the largest individual pay reduction in the new budget year. She volunteered to take a 10 percent pay cut, which will take her $177,000 salary down to $159,300."

"At a time when state employees are being asked to help make up the deficit, she feels compelled to lead by example," Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said. (Grand Rapids Press, 9/13/03)

"The salaries for Granholm and other elected officials are set in statute. There are several ways they can return money. For example, the governor will write a check back to the state every month, Boyd said." (Grand Rapids Press, 9/13/03)

"Granholm will make $177,000 this year as governor. She has volunteered to cut her salary by 10 percent to help the state balance its budget, but has not done so yet." (Grand Rapids Press, 4/17/03)

"The governor's salary is $177,000 but she has been returning a portion of it (5-10 percent) since October 2003 as a gesture toward state employees asked to accept concessions to help balance the state budget." (Source: Detroit Free Press, 4/21/05)

Ah...That was it. (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by Republican Yankee on Thu Jul 05, 2007 at 10:08:27 PM EST

When she said 10% that was when she was counting the state taxes that get taken out of her pay check. The MIRS article that I referenced earlier said:

MIRS 4/12/2006

"In 2005, the governor and her husband made a total of $178,119. The governor listed $158,991 as her income."

and then...

"If the governor paid 5 percent of her flat gross $177,000 gubernatorial salary, that number would be $8,850, but since the governor pays the 5 percent after taxes, and with her adjusted gross income, the number works out to be less".

So that's the deal. She can claim 10% if she really wants to, but that's only if she is including the state income taxes that would have been deducted from her income anyways. So in principal what I had originall published was correct, I just had the numbers wrong.

It's a number game, yet another staple of the Granholm administration.

Open question to anyone. (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by KG One on Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 09:10:31 AM EST

Can anyone tell me exactly how the governor cut her salary?

I've heard the quotes mentioned above several times already, but I've never found out exactly how she pulled off this feat.

Obviously she doesn't check a box on her payroll deductions to divert money back the the state. I've yet to see her do a photo-op handing a personal check back to the state treasurer.

I also realize that she has a penchant for lying when it's convenient for her to do so, but I find it hard to believe that even she would make a claim to cut her salary for several years now and not follow through. That would be a PR goldmine against her, and she knows it.

So bottom line: How did she cut her salary?

the governor can not cut her own salary (4.00 / 1) (#8)
by Nick on Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 12:12:10 PM EST

But she can offer to return a portion of it or ask that the appropriate body cut her salary.

That's what she's done in the past and why she claims to have cut her own salary. Technically inaccurate but true when the rubber meets the road.

This gets Kind of Sticky... (4.00 / 1) (#9)
by Republican Yankee on Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 12:24:00 PM EST

The only things that I have been able to find that would spell out exactly how this works basically just says that Granholm "requests" to have 5% of her salary given back to the state. I'm not certain exactly how that happens, but unlike most claims with the governor, I trust that it does.

Better people to talk to regarding this are members of the legislature. When the most recent pay raise took effect in 2002, many legislators gave portions of their salary back to the state or donated it to charity.

I do think that it is worth noting that the governor cannot take it upon herself to lower her salary or anybody elses. All salary is decided by the State Officers Compensation Commission. The Commission decides how much the legislature and the governor should make and makes a recommendation. The legislature must then approve the increases, at least as of 2002.

In 2002, the SOCC recommended pay raises that brought salaries up to what they were today. Back then, the statute said that both houses had to "reject" the pay raises. The house did, but the senate (half of whose members were term-limited) decided to not vote on the issue and the raises went into effect. The procedure changed when voters approved the change on the 2002 statewide ballot. But the bottom line here is that Granholm collects $177,000 a year. She can give that back to the state or donate some to charity. According to what I've read in MIRS 4/12/06, Granholm could claim the amount she gives back to the state a "gift" and therefore make it tax deductable, but she has never exercised that option.

Income Facts (5.00 / 1) (#10)
by Dutchsma on Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 12:28:44 PM EST

I did some checking to see if there were any reports on her giving money back to the state. I figured it would be something that a couple of reporters would find interesting. It doesn't include 2005 yet and I don't think she has released 2006. But this is what I found:

Granholm Income Tax Returns 1999 - 2004

1999 Income Tax Return

* 1999 Income: $206,539 (AGI) (Detroit News, 1/25/02)

o Wage income: $200,727
o Other income: $5,802 (Source: AP, 1/24/02)

* 1999 Taxes Paid:

o $44,870 - Federal, state and local combined (Source: AP, 4/16/03)

**Mulhern income from Wayne County accounted for about 1.5 percent of his total income.
(Detroit News, 1/25/02)

2000 Income Tax Return

* 2000 Income: $218,104 (Gross)
$210,359 (AGI)
(Source: Detroit News, 1/25/02)

o    Combined wages:    $114,912
o    Mulhern-Hastings Group:    $86,871
o    Capital Gains:        $16,321
(Source: AP, 4/16/03)

*    2000 Taxes Paid:
o    $57,573 - Federal
o    $8,377 - State
(Source: Gongwer, 1/24/02)

**Mulhern income from Wayne County accounted for about 1.5 percent of his total income.
(Detroit News, 1/25/02)

2001 Income Tax Return

* 2001 Income: $270,799

o Mulhern income: $155,695
o Granholm income: $114,274
(Source: Detroit News, 9/29/02)

* 2001 Taxes Paid:

o $69,734 - combined federal and state and local taxes (Source: Detroit Free Press, 4/16/02)

o Paid $1,327 in employment taxes for their housekeeper and babysitter.
(Source: Detroit News, 9/29/02)

* Charitable Contributions: $24,419 (9.01%) including $5,290 carried over from the previous year. (DFP, 4/16/02)

o $4,000 went to Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Plymouth (Detroit News, 4/16/02)

2002 Income Tax Return

* 2002 Income: $214,421
(Source: AP, 4/16/03)

o    Granholm wages:    $111,256
o    Mulhern wages:    $112,474
o    Capital gains         $9
o    Dividends:         $186

* 2002 Taxes Paid:

o    $39,837 - federal (Source: AP, 4/16/03)
o    $47,400 combined federal and state (Source: Gongwer, 4/16/03)
o    $104 paid in AMT (Source: AP, 4/16/03)
o    $120 paid in use tax for catalog and internet purchases (Source: AP, 4/16/03)

* Total Deductions: $37,072

o    $14,974 for mortgage interest
o    $5,044 for real estate taxes
o    $8,680 in child care expenses but received no tax credit because the income was too high
o    $1,934 paid in "nanny tax" for child care givers (Source: AP, 4/16/03)
o    $600 deduction taken on the state form for each of the 3 children (Source: AP, 4/16/03)
o    Losses of $9,704 in Mulhern's company

* Charitable Contributions: $8,797 (4.1%) (Source: AP, 4/16/03)

* Expected Tax Refunds:

o $4,980 - federal
o $558 - state (Source: Gongwer, 4/16/03)

2003 Income Tax Return

* 2003 Income: $208,684 (AGI)
(Source: Detroit Free Press, 4/21/05)

o Dan Mulhern income: $42,679
o Granholm income: $177,000
(Source: Detroit Free Press, 4/21/05)

* Charitable Contributions: $11,716 (5.6%) (Source: Detroit Free Press, 4/21/05)

2004 Income Tax Return

* 2004 Income: $171,779 (AGI) (Source: Detroit Free Press, 4/21/05)

o Granholm Income: $177,000
o Mulhern income: $10,008 (exclusively from the Detroit Regional Chamber for leadership training) (Source: Detroit Free Press, 4/21/05)

* Charitable Contributions: $13,194 (7.7%) (Source: Detroit Free Press, 4/21/05)

* 2004 Tax refunds:

o    Nearly $23,000 in federal and state refunds.
o    $12,696 - federal refund
o    $10,227 - state refund
(Source: Detroit Free Press, 4/21/05)

Just for sentimental reasons... (5.00 / 1) (#11)
by John Galt on Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 08:15:54 PM EST

Didn't Dick DeVos promise to take no salary?

This whole "10% kickback" thing just pales in comparison. Why give back 10k when you can give back the whole $177k.

Two Penny Jenny can spare a little more than the few pennies she kicks back.

Just on top of it, with the large returns listed for Granholm I'm pretty skeptical about how much she gives back. The difference between AGI and her stated income was 6.5% and 8.5%... and I'm not confident that entire percentage is her "kickback" to the coffers - since AGI can be modified by several other factors not listed.

So that's how it is. (5.00 / 1) (#12)
by KG One on Sat Jul 07, 2007 at 08:10:17 AM EST

My thanks to those who have provided info on this issue, especially Dutchsma.

I'm also sad to see, but not totally surprised, that this is yet another lie told by our illustrious governor.

My family and I try to make a donation to charity on a yearly basis (i.e. donations of goods and/or money). I don't go to my boss and kvetch and moan afterwards that I'm taking a pay "cut" for doing the right thing.

That having been said, all I can say on this matter is shame on Governor Granholm for lying...again!

Want to Hear a Joke?....Governor Jennifer Granholm | 12 comments (12 topical, 0 hidden)

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