Who will hold the "creating cool" conferences? Who will launch embarrassing economic development campaigns centered on telling everyone that Lansing is a "cool city"? Who will give tax credits to convicted felons while raising taxes on everyday citizens?
Jenny did me a favor, though. I was driving home the other day, and got to listen to her speech at the Brookings Institution. Honestly, can't remember if it was C-SPAN radio or NPR, but she was as entertaining as ever. She was pressed about creating jobs, and after ummingg and uhhhing her way through five minutes of Q&A, she started breaking out her old "attract young workers", "make cities places young people want to live" line that's served her terribly since she took office. Guess she had to break it out one last time for tradition's sake.
Now the interesting thing to see will be the benefit to Michigan of not having her there next year. Perhaps the new governor will understand that ribbon cutting ceremonies for 100 new jobs mean little when you've lost 10,000 in the past six weeks. Perhaps businesses will be less terrified of actually moving to a state where the governor wants to tax you to death for making an actual product that can be sold in a store, but will offer you a tax credit if you hire three 25 year old Javascript developers to help build your website.
She'll be gone soon, which should bring hope to Detroit, Michigan, and anyone who appreciates common sense economic growth.
