Whitmer Wednesday: Broken Promises

Whitmer Is A Lot Of Talk, But She Did Not Deliver On What She Said She Would – Don’t Fall For It Again

Whitmer Did Not Create Auto Jobs

• Since Whitmer took office Michigan lost thousands of auto and auto parts manufacturing jobs combined and won’t stop lying about it.
  • PolitiFact rated Whitmer’s claim that she created 25,000 auto jobs as “mostly false.”
• Despite this verified fact as reported from the Detroit Free Press’ Clara Hendrickson, and The Center Square’s Scott McAllen, Whitmer has refused to take down officialstatements andtweets falsely claiming that she created 25,000 auto jobs.
• According to a review of publicly open-sourced announcements from the big three auto companies, 56.66 percent of all auto investments from the big three auto companies since January 2019 have made outside of Michigan.
  • A review of Ford Motor Companies’ press releases, show that since January 2019, Ford made $14.10 billion in investments for auto production in states outside of Michigan, nearly three-quarters of their total investments.
  • A review of General Motors’ announcements as compiled by GMAuthority.com, show that since January 2019, GM made $8.05 billion in investments for auto production in states outside of Michigan.
  • A review of Stellantis North America’s press releases, show that since January 2019, FCA North America made $3.13 billion in investments for auto production in states outside of Michigan.
• A total of $25.28 billion in auto investments left Michigan since January 2019.

Whitmer Did Not Revive Michigan’s Manufacturing Sector

• According to the National Association of Manufacturers, manufacturing in Michigan flatlined right when Whitmer took over as governor in 2019.
  • Michigan lost 28,700 manufacturing jobs since Whitmer was sworn into office.

• In June, Kellogg’s announces that it was breaking up into three companies and the corporate headquarters will be moving from Battle Creek to Chicago.
  • Michigan lost 28,700 manufacturing jobs since Whitmer was sworn into office.
• In April, Stellantis announced that they will be opening up a second electric vehicle battery plant and chose Kokomo, Indiana over two locations in Michigan.
• Earlier this year, Stellantis and LG announced a $4.1 billion investment in Ontario building electric vehicle batteries in Windsor, just across the river from Detroit creating 2,500 Canadian jobs.
• Whitmer traveled to see Joe Biden for help to bring semiconductor manufacturing to Michigan but lost out to Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) who created a more business friendly environment which landed a $20 billion deal with Intel.
• In 2021, Whitmer skipped out on a presidential visit from Joe Biden when Biden went to Detroit to promote electric vehicle production.
  • Whitmer was in California fundraising for her reelection.
• In 2021, Whitmer failed to place a bid on a Ford Motor Company electric vehicle expansion.
  • Ford decided to open up factories in Tennessee and Kentucky, an $11.4 billion investment which created 11,000 jobs between those states.

Whitmer Did Not Fix The Damn Roads

• A May 2022 EPIC-MRA poll shows that 93 percent of Michiganders rated Michigan’s roads negatively.

• In 2021, the Biden White House graded the roads in Michigan a D+
• Whitmer repeatedly promised that she will Fix the Damn Roads ever since she first announced she was running for governor in 2018.
• Reports from all over Michigan show that the roads were not fixed as Whitmer entered her 4^th year in office.
• The average household in Michigan is spending nearly $5,000 in maintenance and repairs to their cars annually.

Whitmer Did Not Focus On Fixing The Water Pipes

• Whitmer made fixing the lead pipes and providing safe drinking water part of her campaign for governor.
  • In July 2018, Whitmer released an ad showing kids playing with a water sprinkler in a backyard saying that Benton Harbor’s pipes “now [has] more lead than flint.”
  • At a 2018 gubernatorial debate, Whitmer called clean drinking water a “fundamental human right” and vowed to create the Department of Great Lakes and Fresh Water so residents complaining about water “won’t get ignored for two years” and called for expediting lead pipe replacement and providing bottled water.
• However, as Governor, Whitmer ignored Benton Harbor’s water crisis for years.
  • EGLE Director Liesl Clark admitted that EGLE did not make a request for Benton Harbor to have their lead lines replaced in the last two years despite knowing how bad the lead contamination was.
  • Benton Harbor Community Water Council Leader Rev. Edward Pinkney criticized Whitmer for ignoring the rising led lead levels in the water and not sounding the alarm sooner.

Whitmer Did Not Quickly Reopen The Schools

• In her 2021 state of the state address, Whitmer said that COVID-19 “stole” in-person instruction from students and announced an advisory council to “promote comprehensive recovery” in schools.

• A full year later, many school districts such as Flint, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Battle Creek and Lansing refused to fully reopen.
• As a result, Michigan’s students learning growth was stunted
  • Preexisting disparities between minority students and white students grew.
  • 40 percent of students failed to reach expected “growth targets”
  • Students who attended school in-person performed better on standardized tests than students who were prohibited from in-person instruction.
• A University Of Michigan survey found that 63 percent of Detroit students had symptoms of depression, 56 percent had symptoms of anxiety and 23 percent contemplated suicide during the lockdowns.
• The Michigan Department Of Education allowed school districts to spend COVID-19 money on not COVID related expensed such as a food truck, playground equipment, the demolition of a school pool and metal detectors and x-ray machines.

Whitmer Did Not Get Money Out Of Politics

• Whitmer broke her campaign promise to get unlimited spending out of Michigan Politics.
  • Whitmer campaigned on her “Sunshine Plan” which called for the reversal of Citizens United.
• Whitmer received nearly $4 million in excess contributions after falsely claiming she was in an active recall election and then and citing an obscure memo in the 1980’s to claim she violate contribution limits.
  • After being called out, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson suggested that Whitmer contribute the excess money to a charity.
  • Instead of a charity, Whitmer transferred the money to the Michigan Democrat Party to spend on political campaigns, including hers.
• A prominent pro-Whitmer super PAC called Road To Michigan’s Future, reported that they raised nearly $6.5 million in 2020.
  • The PAC is run by former Granholm staffers and shares a treasurer with Whitmer’s campaign.
  • The PAC promoted Whitmer’s Fix The Damn Roads initiative and funded a political activist group that tried to get the ballot initiative limiting her emergency powers on COVID-19 thrown out before it got to the ballot.

Whitmer Broke Her Promise To Not Attempt To Raise Gas Taxes

• In 2018, Whitmer called the notion that she would raise the gas tax “ridiculous” and “nonsense”
• In her third month in office, Whitmer called for a 45-cent gas tax, effectively tripling it
• In April 2022, Whitmer vetoed Republican legislation to suspend the state gas tax to help alleviate the cost of rising gas prices.

Whitmer Did Not Bring Down The Cost Of Auto Insurance

• Whitmer promised to “bring down the cost of auto insurance” rated in the state.
• Auto insurance rates increased in Michigan in 2021.
• In 2022, Michigan had the second highest auto-insurance rates in the nation.
• The average 45-year-old Michigan is paying the highest auto insurance rate in the nation compared to 45-year-olds around the nation.
• The average 65-year-old Michigan is paying the highest auto insurance rate in the nation compared to 65-year-olds around the nation.