Governor - Four Year Term - Vote for One (1)
Candidates were asked to summarize their backgrounds in 75
words and were allotted 75 words to answer each question. If the candidate did not reply by the
required date for publication, the words, "Did not respond in time for
publication" appear under the candidate's name.
QUESTION 1
How do you propose to bring additional revenue into the
state of Michigan budget?
QUESTION 2
What new measures would you advocate to preserve Michigan's
natural resources, including the Great Lakes?
QUESTION 3
Beyond creating an attractive business climate, what
specific proposal would you offer for increasing jobs in Michigan?
I was born and raised in Ada, Michigan. I graduated from
Forest Hills Public Schools and received a Bachelor of Business Administration
Northwood University. I led Amway/Alticor as president for nine years, and I am
currently the president of The Windquest Group, a private investment company. I
have been involved with many community revitalization projects in Grand Rapids
through the Grand Action committee.
1. Making Michigan's business climate attractive to job
providers is vital to our state budget.
As governor, I will create a pro-jobs tax structure that will end
Michigan's reputation as an unfriendly business climate and make Michigan more
competitive with other states. To
ensure that we can provide funding for important state services such as
education, public safety, road projects and Medicaid, we must create in
Michigan a climate that fosters job creation and economic growth.
2. Any conservation strategy for Michigan must start with
the Great Lakes. It is absolutely
essential that we keep our water clean, safe and plentiful. As governor, I will fight against
polluters, guard against water diversions and work to stop dangerous invasive
species. I also believe in the
importance of practicing conservation for people, not from people. My administration will fight to ensure
access to our natural resources and protect Michigan's strong outdoor
heritage.
3. In The Michigan TurnAround Plan
(www.TheMichiganTurnAroundPlan.com), I outline 134 specific steps that will bring
jobs to Michigan. For example, we
must make state government a friend of job makers by creating one-stop shopping
for businesses. We must make sure
job training results in a job. We
must improve our education system to make sure every child has a chance. Finally, we must do more to sell
Michigan-made products around the world resulting in more jobs.
I previously served as federal prosecutor in Detroit, where
I had a 98 percent conviction rate, and as Wayne County's chief lawyer, where I
reduced taxpayer funded lawsuit payouts by 87 percent. Elected Attorney General
in 1998, I continued to protect consumers and Michigan's families by cracking
down on gas gougers and prosecuting nursing home employees who abused elders.
My husband Daniel Mulhern and I have three children.
1. I balanced the state's budget, despite inheriting $4
billion in deficits, without a general tax increase. I will not shift the tax
burden from corporations to working families. I am bringing in additional
revenue by going anywhere and doing anything to bring jobs to Michigan. I made
government more efficient and improved our business climate. I have improved
our quality of life, workforce, and infrastructure - the most important factors
in business location decisions.
2. I am modernizing Michigan's economy with pro-environment
investments in alternative and renewable energy. My administration is drafting
a statewide rule that will reduce harmful mercury emissions by 90%. I recently
signed landmark laws to protect the Great Lakes from water diversion and from
ships who dump toxic chemicals, and I will vigorously enforce these laws. I
will continue to enforce steep penalties on polluters and fight to keep
out-of-state waste from being dumped in Michigan.
3. My $6 billion Jobs Today, Jobs Tomorrow plan is the
nation's most aggressive economic plan. My $2 billion 21st Century Jobs Fund
has already funded 61 startup projects, creating thousands of jobs in growing
industries. Our stringent new high school curriculum and my proposed $4,000
scholarship for every child will give Michigan the world's most qualified
workforce. I am putting Michigan to work today by speeding up construction
projects and training workers for existing openings.
A graduate of Ohio State University and a registered
professional engineer in Michigan, I am currently employed as a white-collar
autoworker and am a member of IFPTE local 2001. Like all Green Party candidates, I accept only individual
contributions. No PAC, soft,
corporate or other special-interest money and the expectation of payback it
brings. Only by funding campaigns
with clean money can elected officials remain loyal to The People, not
corporate special interests.
1. I propose redirecting Michigan's priorities away from
current corrupt and unjustifiable practices such as corporate welfare and
incarcerating people for simple possession, and back toward the fundamental
business of the State. Ending the
siege of Iraq will free up Michigan's eleven-billion-dollar share of the
cost. I also propose closing
loopholes such as the Diesel fuel road tax subsidy, eliminating tax exemptions,
revitalizing the estate tax and taxing money, not people.
2. Existing law is adequate if vigorously enforced. New measures are unnecessary and will
be ineffective if inadequately enforced.
We need more investigators, more field personnel and above all,
whistleblower protection. The
working people at facilities potentially threatening Michigan's natural resources
are best positioned to know what's going wrong; we need to assure them they
will not lose everything for speaking up and reporting wrongdoing. We need to permanently set aside
wilderness areas.
3. "Creating an attractive business climate" is a
thinly-veiled code phrase for corporate welfare: Giving away tax dollars to
large corporations and transferring the tax liability to individuals. It has
never increased the number of people employed and it never will. I will hire
people directly, WPA-fashion, to do the State's business. Reopen the Lafayette
Clinic and the Recorder's Court, clean up environmental disasters, build roads
to a Michigan specification, operate public transit systems ...
I have a BS degree in Mathematics from Allahabad University,
BS in Mechanical Engineering from Banaras Hindu University, PhD in Engineering
from Mississippi University and MBA in Entrepreneurial Management from
Davenport University. I am
President and CEO of Dashairya & Associates, a management consulting firm
and Executive Director of the Council of Organizations of Asian Indians in
Michigan. I have been married for
32 years and have 3 children who have attended U of M and MSU.
1. Bring good paying manufacturing jobs back to America by
replacing the Federal Income Tax with revenue tariffs. Reduce government by privatizing
services. Part-time pay for part
time legislature. Every department
will have an indexed budget relationship proportional to tax revenue creating a
balanced budget forever. Eliminate
all advertising and media expenditures by state government. Eliminate economic development grants.
2. The natural resources are our nation's wealth and hence,
must be preserved and protected physically and environmentally from foreign
invaders, natural or manmade. We
believe the natural resources should be used to benefit our people.
3. Bring good paying manufacturing jobs back to America by
replacing federal income tax with revenue tariffs. Eliminate single business
tax. Privatize government services. Eliminate all taxes for seniors. Privatize
all education. Part-time pay for part-time legislature. Use U.S. Constitution
as a guide to conduct our business with only one motto "Government of
People, Government for People, and Government by People". Indexed Budget.
I was Born and raised in Detroit Michigan. I have been married for 24 years, and
am a father of two. I graduated
from Chadsey High School in 1975, and attended Wayne County Community
College. I am a member of Brass
Roots and a donor to numerous free-market and individual rights groups. I attend a Baptist church and have
volunteered numerous times for certain causes. My family has supported charities for years.
1. The politicians do not need additional revenue; they need
to stop wasting our money. Prisons
should only be used to protect the public from dangerous criminals; everyone
should be free to engage in any peaceful, honest activity. Libertarians advocate tearing down
barriers to entrepreneurism, economic growth and privatized education. Instead of maintaining the welfare
system, we should establish a dollar-for-dollar tax-cut for charitable
donations.
2. Libertarians advocate privatization to preserve and
protect all of Michigan's natural resources, along with making all polluters
(not other taxpayers) pay for clean-ups.
The great lakes are threatened by the introduction of non-indigenous
wildlife. Ships that have passed
through international waters should be required to prove they have purged their
ballast prior to being admitted to the Great Lakes system.
3. A free-market economy, not government planning, is the
best way to create jobs, keep the cost of goods down, and provide a better
standard of living for everybody. To that end, Libertarians support eliminating
the single business tax and replacing it, not with new taxes, but by making
necessary budget cuts.
Libertarians oppose corporate welfare and burdensome regulations
that keep small businesses from
being competitive. We oppose all attempts to regulate and tax internet
transactions.or township clerk.
These are the running mates of the candidates for Governor.
They were not sent separate questionnaires.
Republican
Governor - Dick DeVos
Lt. Governor - Ruth Johnson
Democrat
Governor - Jennifer M. Granholm
Lt. Governor - John D. Cherry, Jr.
Green
Governor - Douglas Campbell
Lt. Governor - David Skrbina
US Taxpayers
Governor - Bhagwan Dashairya
Lt. Governor - Carl G. Oehling
Libertarian
Governor - Gregory Creswell
Lt. Governor - Scotty Boman
Published by the League of Women Voters of Michigan
Education Fund
(© 2006, LWVMI)
