Bill Schuette and Gretchen Whitmer
Bill Schuette and Gretchen Whitmer
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer's TV commercials include the catchy phrase: "Just Fix the Damn Roads."
But Nolan Finley, head of The Detroit News editorial page, doesn't buy her campaign push:
Her infrastructure plan pretends to detail, and has what could be a workable idea: Put $3 billion a year into the Rebuild Michigan Bank and use it to leverage federal, state and municipal road dollars.
One important detail is missing: Where will that $3 billion annually come from?
Whitmer supported higher fuel and other taxes while she was minority leader of the Senate, and has hinted she'd be willing to hike taxes to rebuild roads, bridges and water and sewer lines. But which ones and how much are nowhere to be found in her infrastructure plan. . . .
Neither Bill Schuette nor Gretchen Whitmer has offered a credible solution for meeting Michigan's most urgent challenge. . . .
Pithy slogans won’t fill a single pothole. Nor will shirking from the reality that the state’s decades-long neglect of its infrastructure can only be fixed through either steep spending cuts elsewhere or significant tax increases.
Keep that in mind when assessing the plans from the two candidates battling to become Michigan's next governor.
