Book about Michigan economy 'has a hopeful ending' Granholm says while on 'The Daily Show'
Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm and husband Dan Mulhern will grace the stage at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor Tuesday night, promoting their new book, "A Governor’s Story: The Fight for Jobs and America’s Economic Future."
The 7:30 p.m. event is being billed as a "spirited conversation" about the couple's new book, which Granholm talked about on 'The Daily Show' with Jon Stewart Thursday night.
"The book is just heartbreaking story after heartbreaking story," Stewart said of "A Governor’s Story," which talks about the shedding of jobs in Michigan.
"But it has a hopeful ending," Granholm interrupted.
Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm
"We're always boasting 'Oh, I got this job from Illinois or Indiana or Texas.' Every governor is in the game of competing for jobs, and that's not a very good national strategy," she said.
"You're just moving businesses from one state to another — all through tax incentives," she said. "You're really racing to the bottom inside the country, rather than competing and inviting the globe to invest in the United States."
Granholm said the economic hardships of the United States hit Michigan first, and Michigan never came out of the 2001-2002 recession.
"And you know, everybody now is scratching their heads, 'How do you create jobs in this global economy?' It's not by the solutions that are being proposed by many who are saying that the thing we ought to do is simply cut taxes and cut government," Granholm said, admitting she cut taxes 99 times in her first term as governor and cut spending more than any other state.
"You would think that with all that tax cutting and with all that spending reduction — reducing the size of government — that we would be No. 1 in employment, right?" she said. "But alas, we were the No. 1 in unemployment for many years in the past decade."
Ann Arbor is the first stop Granholm and Mulhern are making as part of a national tour to promote their book, which went on sale this week. It is published by PublicAffairs Books.
Following what's expected to be a candid conversation in Ann Arbor Tuesday night, Granholm and Mulhern will take questions from the audience. A book signing will follow in the lobby.
Tickets are available online or at the door. General admission is $10 and VIP Seating is $15 with proceeds going to support the Michigan Theater.
For an additional $15, admission will include a copy of “A Governor’s Story.”
The event is co-sponsored by Nicola’s Books and the Michigan Theater. For more information visit www.agovernorsstory.com.
- Watch Granholm's appearance on The Daily Show (Note: she appears about halfway through the episode)
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's e-mail newsletters.
Comments
aataxpayer
Sun, Sep 25, 2011 : 2:35 p.m.
Which was worse - the republican led senate or the governor. It's as if we were being led by children that couldn't get along.
SonnyDog09
Sat, Sep 24, 2011 : 12:34 p.m.
OK. So I read the article, but I won't read her book. In the article, she says that what we are doing won't work, but I did not see her solution. So, what does she propose that we do to bring about her happy ending?
Charlie Brown's Ghost
Mon, Sep 26, 2011 : 1:40 p.m.
Yeah, single-party rule is much better. Take Ann Arbor, for example. Good Night and Good Grief.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sat, Sep 24, 2011 : 1:28 p.m.
You need to go back to her 8 "State of the State" addresses and track all of her proposals that the legislative Republicans immediately declared DOA. That's what happened to them. Good Night and Good Luck
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sat, Sep 24, 2011 : 1:13 a.m.
Apparently the usual suspects who have posted here are ignorant of or have conveniently forgotten that, under that state's constitution, the governor can do only what the state legislature permits. And they appear also to be ignorant of or to have forgotten that Republicans controlled both houses of the state legislature in her first term and the state senate in her second. Finally, they appear to have forgotten that throughout those eight years Ms. Granholm was in in office legislative Republicans swore not to cooperate with her and that conservatives applauded them for their lack of action, even as the state's economy collapsed around us all. Nope. They are ignorant of or have conveniently forgotten all of this. Good Night and Good Luck
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sat, Sep 24, 2011 : 12:54 p.m.
Yes. I can be "suspected" of and expected to have some facts in hand before I post my opinions. Others? Not so much. I'm shocked. GN&GL
Charlie Brown's Ghost
Sat, Sep 24, 2011 : 4:09 a.m.
Speaking of the usual suspects.
Gordon
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 9:13 p.m.
And they call Snyder a polyanna.
Tru2Blu76
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 9:09 p.m.
Typical: the right-wing fanboys chime in immediately with disparaging remarks about Gov. Granholm which they've swallowed whole from the hands of corporate propagandists. Without of course having taken the time to notice that Gov. Granholm hits the nail squarely on the head when she points out that this Republican inspired Race To The Bottom has worked only against the vast majority of American citizens. The only thing wrong Gov. Granholm did during her two terms was to, at first, follow that same toxic formula practiced by Republican Governor John Engler. Of course the claim has always been that she "did nothing" while governor: which statement purposely avoids bringing up that the Republican legislature blocked her every initiative. Oh wait: she did cut 99 taxes and did make Michigan's government the third smallest in the nation. Now we have Republican Rick Snyder: doing exactly the same kind of "competition to lose" work we've been suffering from all along. He can count on his volunteer fanboy choir to cheer him on until he's completely ruined Michigan. Just like Republicans in every state and in Washington have done.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sat, Sep 24, 2011 : 1:24 a.m.
Don't cite facts, Tru. It just confuses the conservatives. Good Night and Good Luck
Bertha Venation
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 8:41 p.m.
Ya. Hindsight is 20/20, right, Jen?? As soon as she lost the election... she split for greener pastures in California.... How she's hawking her book here in Michigan? Some NERVE!!
USRepublic
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 8:20 p.m.
Gag me with a spoon. She's more nauseating than Diane Sawyer and even more incompetent than the Man-Child. No wonder they're cronies. Can't she just go back to Canada and help de-value their currency?
Macabre Sunset
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 8:12 p.m.
I thought she was very good at generating jobs - for 49 different states, in fact. It's too bad none of them was called Michigan.
David Dixon
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 7:36 p.m.
As a Democrat, who donated to her first campaign, I have to admit that she showed a total lack of leadership in the areas of state finances, K-12 education, and economic development. She pandered and surrounded herself with her close hard core supporters. She saddled up to Kwame and the DFT by refusing a $250 million private donation for charter school education. Now its time to hawk those books and give thanks for the very substantial Director fees to be received from Dow Chemical Company. Wasn't there something about a battery plant and/or a river cleanup...that ???? or maybe its just a case of self-preservation and politics as usual.
Bertha Venation
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 8:46 p.m.
Ya... no kiddin'
f4phantomII
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 7:16 p.m.
Yeah. We'll all be "blown away".
Bertha Venation
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 8:44 p.m.
and not in a good way!
towny
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 6:55 p.m.
@rob- Keep Dreaming. Granholm's book is a great waste of paper.
Sparty
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 6:24 p.m.
Granholm was a great Governor, caught in the worst possible economic situation where the economy was moving from a State heavily dependent on primarily one manufacturing industry to one that needed to be balanced between both manufacturing and service industries. Granholm said the economic hardships of the United States hit Michigan first, and Michigan never came out of the 2001-2002 recession. "She cut taxes 99 times in her first term as governor and cut spending more than any other state. "You would think that with all that tax cutting and with all that spending reduction — reducing the size of government — that we would be No. 1 in employment, right?" she said. "But alas, we were the No. 1 in unemployment for many years in the past decade." You would think that Slick Ricky and the GOP would have learned that lesson that cutting taxes doesn't create jobs, and that other more balanced approaches are needed instead of their trickle down madness.
Smart Logic
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 9:33 p.m.
Spoken like a true liberal. You resort to calling him "Slick Ricky" because you cannot find a fault with him other than him not being a liberal. I hope everyone else got as little insight out of your post as I did.
towny
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 6:58 p.m.
This state will take decades to recover from granholm. Gov. Snyder is on the right track with the right changes needed that never happened with former gov.
Sarcastic1
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 5:49 p.m.
The book is about how to destroy a state's economy, right?
Charlie Brown's Ghost
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 5:39 p.m.
How can we miss you if you won't go away?
towny
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 5:31 p.m.
Just go away. She should be ashamed how she ran the great state of Michigan into the ground.
Top Cat
Fri, Sep 23, 2011 : 5:19 p.m.
The "hopeful ending" was the end of her 8 year term of preserving the stagnant quo and then the thorough repudiation of her failed policies by the electorate.