Talking Michigan Politics

On this week's Talking Michigan Politics podcast, Grand Rapids Press editors Jeff Cranson and Ed Golder discuss: 1. Taxes. Voters said yes across West Michigan, with wide margins in the cities of Wyoming and Kentwood. In Grand Rapids, a proposal to hike the income tax from 1.3 to 1.5 percent for residents was adopted narrowly. Our friend, Peter Bratt, crunched the numbers (PDF). The question that keeps coming up is whether this signals that the anti-tax Tea Party is not as influential as believed or whether the movement is focused on nameless, faceless bureaucrats in D.C. and Lansing and is not a factor in voters' decisions on local issues. 2. Governor's race Republican candidate Peter Hoekstra continues to lead in polls, but was it a good move to seek the endorsement of Rick Santorum, a former Penn. U.S. Senator? Santorum had other stops in Michigan, including an endorsement for 2nd Congressional candidate Jay Riemersma. The social and fiscal conservative was ousted in the 2006 Democratic