The top race, like most mid-term elec­tions, is the guber­na­to­r­ial race.

This year is even more impor­tant since our cur­rent gov­er­nor, Jennifer Granholm, is termed out and can­not seek re-election. Democratic Mayor of Lansing, Virg Bernero, and Republican busi­ness­man, Rick Snyder, are both vying for the state’s top exec­u­tive posi­tion. Bernero is run­ning on his expe­ri­ence as a past state leg­is­la­tor and cur­rent posi­tion as mayor. Snyder is using his clout as a CEO and ven­ture cap­i­tal­ist that he made mil­lions of dol­lars as the head of big com­pa­nies, which thus makes him qual­i­fied to run the state of Michigan. Snyder is mak­ing this quan­tum leap con­nec­tion because he believes gov­ern­ment should be run as a busi­ness, but mind you he has never held an elected office before.

Both Bernero and Snyder agree that the No. 1 issue in this elec­tion is the economy/jobs, but both have sig­nif­i­cantly dif­fer­ent plans on what the road to recov­ery looks like. Bernero believes the first step to eco­nomic recov­ery is thaw­ing the credit crunch inhibit­ing small busi­nesses from obtain­ing nec­es­sary loans. One way to accom­plish this is through the devel­op­ment of a “State Bank” that would give loans to facil­i­tate the start-up of new businesses.

Bernero and Snyder both agree the Michigan Business Tax needs to be axed along with the 22 per­cent sur­charge. The Lansing mayor thinks it should be replaced with a new cor­po­rate tax that will pro­vide a more sta­ble tax struc­ture that rewards com­pa­nies that cre­ate jobs and re-invest in Michigan. He will not raise taxes on small busi­nesses since they are the eco­nomic dri­ver and real job cre­ator of our economy.

With the exo­dus of many man­u­fac­tur­ing jobs over the past decade, we have all seen the aban­doned fac­to­ries that were once a major dri­ver to our state’s econ­omy. Bernero believes there is no point in con­tin­u­ously look­ing at the past with teary eyes. We need to embrace our past and use this to help bring new man­u­fac­tur­ing jobs to Michigan to pro­duce prod­ucts such as elec­tric car bat­ter­ies, wind tur­bines, and other hi-tech green industries.

With Bernero’s “Make it in Michigan for Free” pro­gram, new man­u­fac­tur­ing com­pa­nies could move into the old fac­to­ries that have been reha­bil­i­tated through this pro­gram. These new com­pa­nies would also receive tax abate­ments from the state for up to 12 years. Unlike cut­ting taxes and just hop­ing busi­nesses decide to set up shop in Michigan, Bernero’s strat­egy is very aggres­sive in putting our large blue-collar work­force back on the job again.

As stu­dents of higher edu­ca­tion, we are all con­cerned with the ever-rising cost of tuition. Over the past decade, we have seen a sub­stan­tial increase in tuition each year as the state cuts more and more fund­ing to Ferris. Under a Bernero admin­is­tra­tion, uni­ver­si­ties would be able to count on a sta­ble and pre­dictable stream of rev­enue from the state rather than wait­ing last-minute to see what the leg­is­la­ture plugs into the bud­get to fill the gap. He is also in favor of restor­ing the wildly pop­u­lar Michigan Promise Scholarship that was rescinded by the Republican leg­is­la­ture last year.

I sup­port Virg Bernero because I believe he has a proven record as the Mayor of Lansing and a past state leg­is­la­tor. I also believe the gov­ern­ment should not be run like a busi­ness because the goal of the gov­ern­ment is not to make a profit, but rather to help peo­ple by pro­vid­ing pro­tec­tion and essen­tial ser­vices. n