November 7 - Election Day 2006 (How I am voting)

Governor – I think that Jennifer Granholm has done a very good job as our governor. I think she has been fiscally responsible during hard times. She hasn’t done anything terrible like the previous governor did. I think she works hard for the state. She will be getting my vote. I want to point out too that sometimes she says things that are soooooo stupid that I find myself cringing. I think she means well though and I think she is like a lot of people and just not all that great at off the cuff witty repartee. I used to think that she was stupid but then I started paying closer attention to what she was doing and what she was saying that wanted to do. No, she is not stupid. She is probably the best governor this state has had in my lifetime. Plus DeVos is connected to Amway which is one of the only corporations in the world I think might be more evil than Walmart what with their pyramid scheme marketing that scams their own customers and all. Maybe if we elect him we can call up Ohio and tell them that if they can sign up West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania in our new Tax Revenue pyramid scheme, they can be rich (assuming of course that each of those states signs up two or three others). Soon Michigan can be funneling tax revenue from ALL 50 STATES into our coffers and we will be RICH RICH RICH! (or not)

Attorney General – Only vote for Michael Cox if you hate gay people. If you want to know just what I mean by that, read THIS

U.S. Senator – I will admit that I don’t know much about Michael Bouchard. I will also admit that I am going to be very lazy about this race and vote for the incumbent because she hasn’t done anything that I didn’t like or at least I haven’t noticed her doing anything that I haven’t liked. So, Stabenow gets my vote for sure.

15th District Representative in Congress – I’ll vote for John Dingell although I am tempted not to. I don’t have any particular reason not to except that I liked it better when he was someone else’s representative in Congress and we had Lynn Rivers.

18th District State Senator – Liz Brater. I get literature and pamphlets from her once in a while. I always think her views on things are pretty close to mine and when they aren’t, she seems to have good reasons for taking the positions she takes.

54th District State Representative – Alma Wheeler Smith for pretty much the same reasons as I like Liz Brater.

In the local races, I guess I am voting for Paul Schreiber for mayor and Brian Robb for City Councilmember since no one is running against either one of them. I guess that election really happened in August since there are no Republicans to speak of in Ypsilanti apparently.

And here are some opinions I have about the proposals.

Proposal 1 – This is the first of a couple of proposals to amend the state constitution to put budget constraints on the state government. Generally I think that is a bad idea because who knows what the needs or desires of the people will be in the future? Still, I value conservation and recreation and keeping those programs. So I am kind of on the fence about this one although honestly I am leaning towards voting no on it. I would support, however, regular old laws made by the regular legislature and signed by the governor that would earmark money for state parks and the DNR and whatever else.

Proposal 2 – The one that would ban affirmative action programs. This was a hard one for me, believe it or not. When I first heard about this one, I thought that it sounded like a good idea. I think I thought this because I wish we lived in a world where affirmative action programs are no longer needed. But then I took a long hard look at things and I have decided that discrimination still exists and so as a State, we are not quite ready to give up on affirmative action programs. But maybe someday we will be.

Proposal 3 – Part of me wants to vote no JUST TO PISS OFF The Nuge. Part of me wants to vote no because I don’t like hunting. But I figure that since I love eating the flesh of dead birds myself, far be it from me to stop others from catching their own. So, I’ll be voting yes on this one.

Proposal 4 – This is the one that will keep the government from using eminent domain to seize property that they will then turn over to a private business. I can understand why it is sometimes desirable for governments to do this. However, I also can understand why a home owner might not like it when that happens. I mean I wouldn’t like it. So the main reason I like this proposal is that it still gives the government a way to seize property but it requires them to pay 125% of the value. I think this will provide some disincentive for governments to use this power and I think that is a good thing. But if the project is important enough, there is still a way to get it done. So, this one gets a yes vote from me.

Proposal 5 – This is the one to give money to the schools. I hate schools and I hate teachers too. Oh and kids. And puppies. Just kidding. I am still going to vote no on this one for pretty much the same reasons I am going to vote no on proposal 1. I think that schools are important but I also think that other things like police departments, fire departments, public health departments, community mental health agencies, etc are important too. I fear that this proposal jeopardizes all of those other programs.