We suppose we should be glad Michigan legislators and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer hammered out their differences this week, resulting in the Legislature then passing bills to restore more than half of the state funding that Whitmer had vetoed in October.

But we aren’t.

Frankly, we have come to expect these types of partisan political games out of D.C., but, in Lansing, we would have hoped for more cooperation and quicker compromises to have been reached by GOP leaders and the Democratic governor.

We were disheartened and disillusioned to see our hope was based on nothing more than wishful thinking.

Both the governor and GOP leaders in the state House and state Senate failed miserably in their first state budget adoption.

Unfortunately, it was the residents of Michigan who were the collateral damage of their stubbornness. And — vindictively, perhaps — it was rural Michigan and Up North citizens who most were impacted, rather than citizens living in more urban areas downstate.

After witnessing that fiasco, we understand the apathy citizens have toward politics on all levels today.

We hope our leaders learned that this type of leadership cannot continue. We need leaders who are courageous and compassionate, who will lead through compromise and caring for others.

Whitmer’s first budget is now history. It was ugly, at best, because of the political posturing.

Let’s hope for a lot more vision and leadership by all in the process when the next budget debate begins in February.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)