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Gov. Rick Snyder speaks to the media after the inauguration ceremony on January 1, 2015 at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing.

(Fritz Klug | MLive.com)

The governor had a bouncy start to his second term launched on the Capitol steps Thursday in bone-chilling temps. When the oath of office was administered by the chief justice of the state supreme court, the governor said "I do" not once but twice.

Hey, everybody gets nervous at swearing in events. Ask Bill Schuette, the state attorney general, who muffed his own oath of office administered by a federal judge, which prompted the state supreme court justice to utter the line of the inaugural event, "That's what happens when you bring in hired help."

With all the pomp and circumstance of the governor's second and last inaugural event now in the history books, the governor pledges to build on the success of the last four years. And if anybody out there thinks being a lame duck governor will slow him down, he cautioned, "You don't know me" in his 18-minute speech sprinkled with all sorts of bi-partisanship and relentless positive action stuff.

But this governor faces some challenges in the days ahead that will require more than a heavy dose of RPA.

There's already chatter about the new and more conservative state Legislature having its eyes on rolling back the state income tax rate, as advertised years ago but never accomplished.

Let's just say the governor is not there yet and shows every sign of not getting there ever.



"I wouldn't put that first on the list that's going to be feasible," he explained to Capitol scribes. The governor is trying to tamp down the tax cut fever because he thinks it would be "very difficult" to do and accomplish all the other spending he desires in the second term.

Confronted with this in the hallway after the Thursday gig, the incoming senate GOP leader Arlan Meekhof was not deterred. He correctly points out you have to study the state budget and the economy before you make any tax cut choices, but when told the governor was not enthusiastic, Mr. Meekhof offered, "Yeah, and he said he opposed Right to Work."

The governor is also hoping to cobble together a coalition to sell a sales tax hike to fix the roads. He concedes the yes vote campaign will be expensive, but he refuses to attach the $20 million figure to the campaign that others have suggested, saying that will depend on how much the anti-tax crowd is willing to spend. The governor thinks his ace-in-the-hole on that front is a lousy pot hole season leading up to the May 15th vote. Just how upset will the voters be?

Will the damage to their vehicles trump their disdain for raising taxes?

As usual the governor goes into all this with his rosy disposition and his desire to work with everybody.

The imponderable at this early read is, how many out there are willing to work with him?



Watch "Off the Record with Tim Skubick" online anytime at video.wkar.org

