Millions and millions and millions in tax breaks.  A guy might get the wrong idea and start thinking that lower taxes, not higher taxes, actually help attract jobs, investment and economic growth.  Now where exactly is the disconnect in Lansing?  They know enough to approve these giant incentives for businesses but they want to stick it to everyone else?

Leaves a thinking observer with one conclusion.  The Governor's trying to buy headlines.  She gives away $2 million here and $1.8 million there and she gets her name splashed across a newspaper headline and if she's really having a good day even gets to hold a press conference with her campaign staff dressed in t-shirts bearing the name of the company coming to Michigan.

Either that or the woman suffers from a split personality disorder.  Talk about Jekyll and Hyde.

For Michigan's sake I'm hoping she's more human and less monster as the budget negotiations continue.  So are 700 workers at one of Delphi's plants in Saginaw who'll have a new boss in 2008 and cling to their jobs as long as humanly possible.  The AP reports:

Under the pact, which is subject to U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval, TRW Automotive would manufacture brake assembly components including modules, calipers and rotors for General Motors Corp. vehicles, said TRW Automotive Spokesman Manley Ford. TRW hopes to be running the plant by Jan. 2, 2008, Ford said...

The remainder of the huge brake facility in Saginaw may have some Delphi work for a while after the deal goes through, but it eventually will become vacant, Jackson said.

Even a new buyer couldn't save the entire operation.  Delphi, you'll remember, is the company that came under intense fire in the media from the Granholm administration while they were exploring consolidation options.  Not surprisingly they consolidated to Indiana when their Governor put on a full court press to try to attract them.  What's the old adage about honey and vinegar?

And a little vinegar seems to go a long ways as Michigan families continue to hurt in the aftermath of the manufacturer's decision.

Meanwhile, the UAW continues it's marathon talks with GM but progress isn't coming along quite as well as they'd hoped and the possibility of a massive strike becomes more and more real every hour of the day.  According to the Detroit News:

On Monday, the top UAW bargainer told union members that an agreement is still not yet in sight. In a letter e-mailed to UAW locals across the country, UAW Vice President Cal Rapson said "there are several major issues separating the parties that must be resolved."  He added that the union may consider setting a firm deadline to reach an agreement.

The industry is watching closely as GM works to craft a pattern-setting deal for U.S. automakers. Executives at Ford and Chrysler are receiving periodic briefings on the status of negotiations, though they are not privy to the full details of those talks, according to people familiar with the conversations.

But that's about all that Ford and Chrysler are receiving right now.  Word out of the union yesterday is that the deal the UAW reaches with GM may not fly at the remaining companies, a signal of potential catastrophe on the horizon.  

Whether you're a giant right-to-worker or you always look for the union label, a strike at any of the automakers would be catastrophic for a Michigan economy already hooked up to life-support.  

Besides, take that many employees and sit them on a picket line and I half expect the Governor, Andy Dillon and Mark Schauer to start asking for an extra couple hundred million in tax hikes to offset the "lost revenue" that'd dry up when thousands of autoworkers stop receiving income.