Where's the Love for Our Fiscally Conservative Governor?

"Everything must be on the table."

"There must be shared sacrifice."

I keep hearing such pronouncements from voices both inside and outside of government who characterize themselves as "fiscally conservative." So why are many of them criticizing school spending cuts enacted by Gov. Jennifer Granholm through either line-item veto or executive order?

If one just looks just at the effect of the Governor's actions and ignores the motivations (the administration has all but admitted using school spending as a "hostage" to its demands for tax hikes) Ms. Granholm looks like a fiscal conservative's hero right now.

So where's the love?

For that matter, where's the love for taxpayers from the 12 Republicans and 62 Democrats who voted yesterday to appropriate $159 million in federal "stimulus" money being reserved for next year's school budget, and another $59 million the House proposes getting from various tax hikes, to "undo" school spending reductions?

The tax hikes (part of a proposed "Michigan Future Fund") include a proposed $300 million doctors tax, a $55 million suspension of income tax personal exemption inflation indexing, raising certain business taxes (by repealing deductions), a $43 million tobacco tax hike, and more.

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