[WestsideMac]

Originally Posted by ram2

Good roads exist in Ohio and Indiana. How have those states been building good roads?

Ohio might have good roads, but I don't think Indiana should be your point of comparison.

Indianapolis' current mayor, Joe Hogsett, ran his campaign that got him elected on the fact that he would fix the potholes that plague Indianapolis streets. So even if you haven't driven on those roads, that gives you an idea of the shape some of our roads in the most heavily trafficked areas are that one of his biggest selling points in his campaign was roads.

Also there's a running joke about one of our state's marketing campaigns from a few years' back to use the phrase "A State That Works." While intended to be about our tax and business friendly policies and attracting more companies to Indiana, most people say it's due to the fact that there is always some kind of construction/roadwork going on in Indiana.

I-69 extension South from Indy to Evansville is over 2 years behind schedule! How you ask? This article details it pretty well, but suffice it to say that it still isn't completed. I-69 fiasco offers tough lessons

Speaking of I-69 ... northbound towards Lansing out of Indiana and going through Ft Wayne I have driven at least 2 times a year for the last 15 years to visit my In-Laws in Michigan and almost always construction going on somewhere to fix or expand or resurface roads just on that interstate alone.

I-65 our main interstate between Indy and Chicago had a bridge nearly collapsed while people were driving on it about 5 years ago. They had to completely rebuild it essentially after that. Detours caused lots of issues on the other roads used and lots of construction on those alternate routes after. https://www.usatoday.com/story/trave...iana/31556813/

My BIL works as a bridge inspector in a different and more rural part of the state of Indiana and said that he sees all sorts of issues, but if they aren't an immediate danger or depending on what funds are available sometimes they don't fix them right away especially because they don't see the amount of traffic that Indiana's big cities do.

Finally, we generally fund via Federal funds and State revenues from local taxes (at least in my neck of the woods). There are some private company partnerships like with the I-69 extension used, but not very often. Those sometimes get turned into Toll Roads if that happens too.

All that to say, I've driven many of Michigan's roads and while I haven't been in the Detroit area most of the rest of the state typically seems in about the same or better shape than the Indiana roads I travel (my experiences). There are obviously good and bad roads in every community, but I will say that I think Michigan has been smart in not paving thousands of miles of roads in rural areas. Those are much cheaper and easier to maintain and fund with dirt or gravel than repaving. I wish Indiana did something similar as then that funding can go to other projects or keep up with pothole and other issues in the more heavily trafficked areas.

Just an Indiana guys' .02 that not everything is greener in the next state over.

[leroythelion]

Originally Posted by mgkeith

I am referring to the concept of trying to slow the spread of Covid. Too many people have been ignoring common sense directives (no excuses for that) so we find ourselves where were we are now. I am not referring to you, Coldjensens, because I know that you know better.

It didn't help the Head Honcho in DC set a bad example. Logic tells me a lot of this surge was due to his rallies.

Rumor has it Big Gretch will close all the schools this week. Let's see how far she tries to extend her powers to other businesses in the State.

[mgkeith]

Originally Posted by leroythelion

It didn't help the Head Honcho in DC set a bad example. Logic tells me a lot of this surge was due to his rallies.

Rumor has it Big Gretch will close all the schools this week. Let's see how far she tries to extend her powers to other businesses in the State.

Rallies were a mistake. A lot of gatherings weren't handled well, big and small. It's being said by the health dept. that non-household get-togethers were a major spreader of the virus. Very sad but true.


What do you think would be ideal right now? What would you do if you were in the governor's place?

[WK91]

I think it’s impossible to know how popular any politician actually is. All the polls are fake, and the elections are rigged.

So all you are left with is anecdotal evidence.

But she seems horrible to me. Her husband ignores Covid restrictions, the MI Supreme Court has to step in to protect freedoms for her constituents, and she was ungrateful that Trump’s DOJ saved her from being kidnapped.

I’m sure she’s going places within the Democratic Party. She seems like someone they would love.

[PacificaViews]

The first thing the governor should do is continue to make public announcements. Laws can be put into effect, but enforcing them is problematic and often not effective. Then the MOST important thing to do is to lead by example. Case in point, Gavin Newson, governor of CA, went to birthday party at the French Laundry restaurant in San Francisco last week - a group larger than 25 unrelated people. That's a very big slap in the face for everyone in CA that is trying to stay safe, while witnessing a hypocritical governor partying. People tend to follow trends and roll models.

Same with Donald Trump. As long as he is in office, he ridicules those that wear masks, continues to hold rallies, and encourages anti-masking. What's amazing is that his grandfather died from Spanish Flu when his father was only 13 years old. But Trump either lied or was clueless not knowing that: "When I was hearing the amount of people that died with the flu, I was shocked to hear it," Trump said while touring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's headquarters. "Over the last, long period of time when people have the flu, you have an average of 36,000 people dying. I've never heard those numbers, I would've been shocked. I would have said, 'Does anybody die of the flu?' I didn't know people died from the flu." - Donald Trump.

I'm so glad our president-elect Joe Biden is a good roll model, wearing a mask when not public speaking, and encouraging mask wearing and not participating in activities that cause spread. His press conferences were set up with safety measures not seen at Trump rallies. In fact, Biden didn't even hold "rallies" like Trump did because of the risk of Covid19 spread. Having the right roll model at the helm will help all our governors, and will help and protect all of us.

[VM1138]

Originally Posted by Retroit

A Republican governor would never have gotten away with:
-ordering nursing homes to take in Covid patients
-prohibiting, delicensing, and fining a barber for staying open
-abusing his/her authority by issuing shutdown orders
-not having masks and ventilators available for use
-promising to fix the damn roads by assuming people would support a 45 cent increase in gas tax

But a Democrat governor can because Michigan has badly educated citizens (to put it politely).

Try not to fall into the victimization trap. Ohio’s governor is a Republican and he took very similar steps as Whitmer, often a day or two before she did. But because it’s a red state it didn’t help Trumps campaign to constantly attack Dewine and undermine safety protocols there. Whitmer, being a popular Democrat and a woman, was the perfect foil for people to suddenly accuse of being a tyrant.

I don’t know if anyone pointed this out yet in this thread but as of October 20th, Whitmer had a 54% approval rating and a 59% approval rating regarding her handling of COVID. Which means some Republicans who don’t like her still approve of her pandemic response. Which leads me to believe most of the outrage against her is manufactured by smaller, well-funded groups with agendas more than being grassroots opposition from citizens.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by leroythelion

It didn't help the Head Honcho in DC set a bad example. Logic tells me a lot of this surge was due to his rallies.

Rumor has it Big Gretch will close all the schools this week. Let's see how far she tries to extend her powers to other businesses in the State.

What about protests? That is where I have seen the largest groups of people ignoring social distancing and no masks



My son was super careful about social distancing and mask wearing, hand washing. He apparently caught COVID anyway.



Despite following all the recommended measures at work, we now have several people out with covid. A company I work with frequently just shut down because of it. My brother in Germany said it is heavy there as well and even worse in Austria (for no rational reason at all).



I do not think we know enough about how it spreads to do anything about it. It is going to go where it wants to go. All we can do is keep trying.

[Kevroqs]

Originally Posted by Sparrow_temp

If your poll is heavily sampling Democrats, you'll get a much stronger approval rating of a Democrat governor.

Most of the people that supported Whitmer are in the metro Detroit area and possibly Grand Rapids.

Those who still support Whitmer after her strict shutdowns shouldn't complain when the economy turns to garbage and it's hard to get a job because no one wants to hire.

[Kevroqs]

Originally Posted by Zenstyle

You’re hearing the complainers, and those who are afraid of women in power. (There still are some people like that, unbelievably.)

I just don't like elected officials who violate the constitution and abuse power

[VM1138]

Originally Posted by Kevroqs

I just don't like elected officials who violate the constitution and abuse power

Let’s hear your constitutional argument. Have you read Michigan’s constitution? What do you think would be constitutional relating to coronavirus?