Elections indeed have serious, long-term consequences

Just when it looked like Hamtramck was going to pull out of a financial crisis, along comes Gov. Rick Snyder.

You know Snyder, the guy who got elected to office without telling anyone what he would specifically do once in there. He’s the guy the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press editorial boards endorsed without knowing what Snyder planed to do, besides “reinvent Michigan.”

In short, Snyder is the guy who got a free pass from voters and newspaper editorial boards. Well, guess what? It turns out Snyder is about to push most of the state’s municipalities and school districts into bankruptcy. He’s doing this by slashing state revenue sharing by one third and making cities compete for a smaller pot of money by how well they are able to merge services and perform other budget tricks. His budget for public schools calls for a reduction of $470 per pupil.

Merging services is something that has to get in light of the new economic reality we face. But this isn’t a possibility for a city like Hamtramck. What, merge with Highland Park or Detroit? That would be the end of our stable neighborhoods.

Snyder says he wants to reinvent Michigan government. It sounds to us that this so-called reinvention will be done on the backs of small communities that have their hands tied.

At the same time we are all being asked to make sacrifices,yet Snyder is giving tax breaks to the super rich and businesses.

All we can do is shake our heads and remind folks that elections have consequences. The next time a candidate runs for office and refuses to say what he or she will do, move on to the next one.