These days, as we know, President Barack Obama has taken a beating from Republicans on the economy. Part of that is justified; he’s been the guy in charge for two years and eight months; his $787 million stimulus package didn’t lift the economy as he had hoped.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder took a similar beating from Democrats yesterday on Michigan’s rising unemployment rate. That was less justified.
The Republican governor, afterall, took office only last January, and his business tax reform package passed only last spring. No one can expect a governor to have such an immediate impact on a state’s economy – especially at a time when the national economy seems poised for a double-dip recession.
That didn’t prevent Michigan Democrats from pouncing, though.
"I remember when earlier this year Governor Snyder said 'Job number 1 is jobs.' However, it looks like his decision to give big corporations tax breaks has led to higher unemployment in Michigan," state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, an East Lansing Democrat and Senate minority leader posted on Twitter after new unemployment figures were released Wednesday.
July’s unemployment rate of 10.9 percent was .4 percentage points higher than the June rate.
Gerayln Lasher, spokeswoman for Snyder, noted to Gongwer News that some of the major changes approved this year, such as business tax reform, don’t take effect until January.
