Michigan’s 'Job Killer' Environment – An Exclusive Interview with Rick Snyder

State government is broken, spending is out of control and the state operates in a "job killer" environment.

That's the take of the man heavily favored in the polls to be the next Governor of Michigan.

Rick Snyder sat down with Ken Braun, managing editor of Michigan Capitol Confidential, for an exclusive interview. The two-part video will be posted on Michigan Capitol Confidential, starting Monday.

The venture capitalist and former CEO of Gateway acknowledged the job ahead will not be easy.

In the interview, Snyder talks about a tax cut for every business as part of a $1.5 billion tax cut.

"The idea is to reduce the tax burden on business," Snyder said. "We need to go from a job killer environment to a job creation environment."

He said he understands some politicians may not be on board his agenda.

"People are so fed up," Snyder said. "You could find people crossing the aisle to say this is the right thing to do for Michigan. That's part of changing our culture. We get away from this hyper-partisanship. ...We need to get rid of this win-lose mentality."

Snyder said public compensation needed to be addressed. He said it needed to be comparable to the private sector and also affordable.

"I don't think you can check either of those boxes today," he said.

Residents need to better understand the state's finances. Snyder said he wants to create an accounting balance sheet that can be handed to residents that spell out in simple terms the state's finances.

"No one knows what the real facts are," Snyder said. "Once you see those facts, eyes will open. ...We've spent well beyond our means."

Snyder said he is impressed by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, whom he called "a finance guy" who has set up a "system of metrics and scorecards" to measure the state's performance.

"The largest source of business for the state of Indiana is the state of Michigan because he [Daniels] has created a job friendly environment and we got a job killer environment," Snyder said.

(Part one of the interview).

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Shortly after the August primary election, Michigan Capitol Confidential asked both the Democrat and Republican candidates for governor to sit for a short interview. Thus far, Rick Snyder is the only one to accept the offer. The invitation remains open to Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, the Democrat nominee.