MI MSM: Entitlements are responsible for economic growth or something

This from Rich Haglund (formerly Granholm's very own personal lemmiwinks): Government program cuts threaten economic recovery in Michigan, U.S. He does lay out how bad the entitlement problem has become here in Michigan and nationally:

In Michigan, $2.32 of every $10 in income came from what economists call transfer payments: jobless benefits, food stamps, Social Security, Medicare, disability and other government programs.

And Michigan was just one of four states that saw income from government payments grow at least 5 percentage points since 2007, Moody’s says. The others: Arizona, Nevada and South Carolina.

Even more troubling, the entire growth in Michigan’s personal income since 2006 came from transfer payments — an inflation-adjusted $23.2 billion, according to an analysis by University of Michigan economist Don Grimes.

Income from wages, salaries and self-employment fell $22.2 billion.

But now with the coming debt ceiling artificial deadline of August 3, welfare is threatened. Not wanting to raise the debt ceiling is the GOP's fault don't you know. Plus the GOP instituted new legislation here in MI decreasing the government handouts. In Haglund's world, that's a bad thing. Here's one thing he neglects though, and it's a whopper: Flashback: Harry Reid 2006 AGAINST RAISING DEBT CEILING: Public Debt 'The Greatest of the Dangers to be Feared'. Oh, but there's more: Flashback: Obama 2006: “America Has A Debt Problem And A Failure Of Leadership,” Voted AGAINST IT! And this one for the road: Every single Democrat Senator voted against raising the debt ceiling in 2006. What say you to that, Haglund?

UPDATE: An editorial from The Detroit Free Press: Tough times make stricter welfare rules unfairly harsh. Are these guys still running Journolist?