The “State of” Blog
I have attended many “States of” (State, County, City, etc.) addresses and have watched most if not all of the State of the Country speeches that have occurred in my lifetime. Some ask me what are these speeches worth? As I see it, at the very least, we can say that they give us something to judge the politicians on during the year. I’ve noticed that there is always a lot of rah rah and “look at how good I am” words. And sometimes, there is even something worthwhile said.
Earlier this week, Governor Granholm delivered her eighth and final State of the State. I was not there, but have listened and read many comments. From what I hear and read, she was great again and pushed plans to build jobs and the economy. She reiterated her proposal to cut costs by reducing benefits to state employees and indicated that her budget for 2010 would be presented to the legislature next week and should be approved by July 1.
This makes me wonder, how can any organization be six months into its budget year and not have a budget? My response is, “come on Lansing, get it done”.
In regards to the State of the County speech for Oakland County, I was there and listed to L. Brooks Patterson. During his speech, he seemed to be talking about results, not just hopes. One thing, for sure, is that Oakland County’s budgets for 2010, 2011 and 2012 are done and balanced and they are working on the 2013 budget. They may have their 2013 budget done before the state has its budget done for this year which is remarkable.
So, make a note of what each said and let’s judge them at year’s end.
