The state of our state

Granholm's State of the State address went something like this: "Michigan. Brutal. Budget cuts. But jobs! Michigan! Jobs! Michigan! Energy! Jobs! Michigan!" By the end I almost felt employed.

But she only devoted a minute or two to the most critical passage of the speech -- the restructuring of state government. The plan is to reduce the salaries of elected officials by 10%, consolidate 18 state departments into just eight, cut off funding to the state fair, and close three prisons. Those are serious changes, but we never heard the details. And as the business press has complained, the savings aren't sufficient to cover the deficit. I guess the federal stimulus will save us.

Still, I thought it was a solid speech. Serious, well delivered, and relentlessly optimistic without seeming deranged -- a tough feat to pull off in an economy as tanked as ours.