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email me at gary@thedailydrift.com (to advertise here and/or on The Drift Radio or Daily Drift Website call 734-629-6010)
If you're tired of the same old establishment bureaucracy, listen to someone who understands where you are from and who you are. As a self employed business man I too have personally suffered through this recession. I know what bureaucracy and politics can do to the average person and their business. By working together and staying informed and active we can help our state and country renew itself.
My Experience
Commissioner, Zoning Board of Appeals
I spent almost 9 years as a ZBA Commissioner and it has taught me about due process and that complex laws lead to complex problems. Legislation should be kept simple. It also reinforced to me the value of property rights and how to balance those rights against sometimes overwhelming government interference.
Trustee Whitmore Lake Board of Chamber of Commerce
As a trustee for the Whitmore Lake Chamber I work hand in hand with the Greater Brighton Area Chamber of Commerce and other organizations in three counties promoting new and existing businesses.
Past Board President, Northfield Human Services
I served on this board as a member for 3 years; one year as President. Being on the Human Services Board taught me the value of helping those less fortunate than ourselves from a private non-profit setting as opposed to another government program. What started out as a $40,000 a year agency is now an agency with a budget of over $1,000,000 and a leadership that knows the value of lean efficiency. I am proud to have been a part of its growth.
Past President, Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce
As the current President of the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce, I am gaining a better understanding of what the business community needs in order to survive and thrive in a turbulent and uncertain economic environment.
Chief Editor, The Courant & The Daily Drift
As Editor of The Courant, I grew a struggling community newspaper when other major newspapers were going out of business or cutting back. In 4 years we have more than quintupled the size and circulation of The Courant in its print form and taken it online to maximize our coverage and community commitment. I did this not by having experience in journalism, but by thinking outside the box and using Common Sense to successfully grow a viable newspaper business where others are failing. The Courant was at 5,000 circulation in 2007 and is now at 31,000 and growing! The CourantOnline generates an average of over 40,000 server requests a month!
The Daily Drift is a news aggregate that links you to stories from around the world easily and has great commentary from local writers go to www.thedailydrift.com for your daily headlines and get a free subscription!
WHOAAA!
Who gave me my own radio show?!
WAAM 1600 Talk Radio did! Formerly on Saturdays at 1 pm. Get informed with common sense opinion and news with my show "The Drift" Tune in at TheDailyDrift.Com
email gary@thedailydrift.com and I can read your comments on air.
Catch common sense views of our current local, state and national problems.
If you didn't know, I ran for Michigan State Senate(18thDistrict) in 2010
Why did I run?
I was tired of seeing more tax dollars spent every year by a state government that knows the tax payers can't pay anymore and yet they are unwiling to curb the spending.
They keep asking for more tax revenue instead of making the hard decision to cut budgets, to cut personnel and to cut budget breaking entitlements.
This Culture of Entitlements has resulted in "The Sacred Cow Syndrome" where no elected official wants to make tough cuts to items like education, retirement programs, benefit programs and health programs because they won't get re-elected. Getting re-elected is not and should not be the goal of our legislators. Fixing Michigan's broken economy is.
The simple fact is that the State of Michigan's budget is bloated; weighed down by excess personnel, outrageous benefit packages, underperforming pension funds and waste.
Revenue is down because our tax base is shrinking. The higher our taxes and regulations climb, the more businesses will close up shop or open new businesses elsewhere. We need to stop this vicious cycle.
Its pretty simple really... we need a business environment that will attract business - not scare them away.
Common sense tells me that the best way to attract business and jobs is to have reasonable taxes and a friendly pro business environment. More businesses will eventually bring more tax revenue.
For too long our Legislators in Lansing have forgotten that basic business concept. What we need is less government and more business. Our new Governor Rick Snyder and the Republican legislature have no choice but to cut the budget and taxes to promote jobs.
This State has a rough road ahead and decisions will have to be made that are unpopular.
It's high time that we stop electing "Seasoned and Experienced Politicians and Bureaucrats" and start electing decisionmakers who believe in Common Sense.
Keep in contact with your representatives and hold their feet to the fire on fiscal issues.