The folks at the Mackinac Center, who are certainly no fans of so-called “trade missions” by politicians, have pointed out the spurious motives behind these trips by engaging in snarky comparisons of past press releases issued by both the Granholm and Snyder administrations.
The center’s Michael LaFaive did some homework and came up with solid examples of the happy talk that is standard procedure for each of these junkets.
LaFaive writes:
“Here are some examples from the current and previous administrations. Judge
for yourself:
“April
8, 2013: Calley leads delegation to strengthen Michigan business
ties to Netherlands. The press release quotes Lt. Gov.
Calley: “We will be delivering the message that Michigan is more
business-friendly than ever and the best state in the North American market to
compete and grow.”
“June
14, 2013: Snyder leads delegation to enhance Michigan’s business ties
with Israel. This one reminds readers of previous missions to Asia,
Europe and Canada, and has the exact same words coming from Gov. Snyder’s lips
as the previous example with Lt. Gov. Calley saying: ‘We will be
delivering the message that Michigan is more business-friendly than ever and
the best state in the North American market in which to compete and grow.’
“If the press releases are cut and paste jobs, so are the trips themselves.
Politician X visits foreign country Y, politician X claims new investment
promises that will generate jobs and a brighter future, politician X puffs and
postures. Rinse and repeat.
“And as mentioned, it’s all bipartisan — here are some examples from the
previous Democratic administration:
“April
16, 2008: Granholm Traveling to Israel, Kuwait to Bring New
Investment, Jobs Back to Michigan. This one boasted of how many
foreigners had decided to invest in Michigan thanks to earlier visits by Gov.
Granholm to Germany, Sweden, Austria and Japan. ‘This mission will allow
us to continue our concerted efforts to showcase our state
as a growing high-tech hot spot and the best place in North America for
international companies to do business.’
“November
23, 2009: Lt. Governor Cherry Concludes Overseas Investment
Mission. Readers are told the mission secured promises from Israeli
firms ‘to start water technology pilot projects’ that would be ‘another step toward establishing Michigan as the North American leader in
water technology.’ (The two pilot projects referenced in this
press release have yet to materialize.)”
