G4G talking points 09/04 - Labor Day edition

[SharonRB]

LABOR DAY -- MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 (64 Days until Victory 2006)

“We are blessed in Michigan with the nation’s greatest workforce. We have the engineers who design our state-of-the-art automobiles and the workers who build them; we have the scientists who are designing the next lifesaving drug and the researchers who are developing alternative energy sources and new technologies. We have great ironworkers who built the Mighty Mac and Detroit’s Ambassador Bridge, and great teachers who are educating Michigan’s next workforce.” – Governor Jennifer Granholm speaking about Michigan workers and Labor Day in her weekly radio address.

Governor Granholm visited Albion Machine and Tool Company on Friday, highlighting her comprehensive jobs plan.


Fighting For Michigan Workers: Her plan is supporting manufacturers like the Albion business, and it is diversifying our economy and investing in education and health care to make sure that Michigan continues to have the best workers in the world.


Supporting the Powerful: Dick DeVos has given thousands of dollars to groups that support or defend outsourcing and would make Michigan a right-to-work state – rather than fighting for Michigan, he has laid off Michigan workers and he supports the people and policies that are causing Michigan’s economic problems.


More Polls: A Detroit Free Press poll over the weekend showed Governor Granholm with a slim lead, having erased a five-point deficit in the poll in the past seven weeks despite DeVos’ continuing barrage of negative ads.


Headlines from Around the State

Detroit Free Press: Granholm wipes out DeVos lead
Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm has erased Republican challenger Dick DeVos' lead in the race for governor during the last seven weeks as she gained support and DeVos lost some among women and middle-age voters, according to a Free Press-Local 4 poll… A record $16.7 million has been spent on television advertising in the campaign through Aug. 31. DeVos' campaign spent $12.8 million, and the Michigan Democratic Party spent $3.5 million on TV ads for Granholm, according to the nonpartisan Michigan Campaign Finance Network… Granholm campaign spokesman Chris DeWitt said the poll shows that DeVos' recent ad campaign critical of the governor's ability to bring Michigan jobs has "failed to convince voters he's the kind of leader the state needs or wants." Voter Bob Drapal, 61, a retired school social worker from Commerce Township, said he's leaning toward Granholm. "I'm just not impressed by DeVos," Drapal said. He said DeVos' television ad campaign "was interesting at first, but after a while, it turns you off."
Click here to read the full article...http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006609030711

The Jackson Citizen-Patriot: Governor tours, touts businesses in cooperative
On Friday, Granholm toured Albion Machine and Tool, which is part of a tool-and-die collaborative, and called it an example of "cooperation and competition together. It's a great thing to be able to highlight a novel program," Granholm told a crowd of about 50 workers, company officials and community leaders. "New ways of doing things are what we're all about." The collaboratives were made possible by a 2004 amendment to the Michigan Renaissance Zone Act. To better compete against bigger, foreign companies, particularly those in China, Michigan tool-and-die and machine-tool companies were encouraged to form collaboratives and offered virtual tax-free status as an incentive. Bill Stoffer, chairman and CEO of Albion Machine and Tool, said that since forming the Great Lakes Tool & Die Collaborative with 10 other companies in late 2004, his company increased sales by more than 20 percent and posted its first profit in four years.
Click here to read the full article...http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1157191550287560.xml&coll=3