Democrats in the state House of Representatives launched a tool today that will measure Michigan’s progress on education, clean air, job creation, etc. If it sounds a little bit like Gov. Rick Snyder’s dashboard approach, that’s because it is — intentionally.

From the website:

The Governor says state government should be outcome-based, and we couldn’t agree more.

His dashboard only includes measurements he picked himself, though. That’s like students deciding what tests they should be graded on! We’ve created the Michigan Report Card so that you, the people of Michigan, can decide how to evaluate YOUR government and hold YOUR leaders accountable.

I know the Governor believes that Michiganders have to think happier thoughts about our state, but some of the examples on the site showing how Michigan stacks up against the national average on subjects like higher education and cleaner air is simply staggering.

Snyder’s folks have been spinning themselves silly all over town trumpeting their “transparent” approach to job creation — not including indirect “spinoff” jobs when they announce a new project. That’s well and good, but isn’t it just as silly to assume that we can turn Michigan around just by having better state self-esteem when, clearly, we’ve got a lot of deficiencies to address?

If we don’t demand that Michigan’s progress is measured by the issues that affect us the most, those issues won’t get any attention. Weigh in, and help promote real transparency.

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