Published on Sept. 23, 2002
Published on June 5, 2002 – News Release
Published on May 30, 2002 – Michigan Education Report
Too many people continue to invest in the fanciful hope-call it the Frank Capra Theory-that someday Mr. Smith will go to Washington, end the corruption, and restore our liberties.
… morePublished on March 18, 2002
Public schools and their employees don't win many battles against the Michigan Education Association (MEA) union, the political and financial behemoth that dominates Michigan public education. But recent victories over compulsory unionism in two charter schools could signal a new dynamic in Michigan's public school system.
… morePublished on March 4, 2002 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
As proponents of central planning weave new and seductive visions of political society, we need calm and reasoned scholarship to speak the truth in defense of liberty.
… morePublished on July 20, 2001
Privatization is a major vehicle through which Michigan can transform itself from a coercive, politicized society whose outstanding trait is its voluntarism and resourcefulness in solving problems on its own.
… morePublished on June 11, 2001 – Michigan Privatization Report
At its core, privatization is about people. It is about government being considerate of its constituents by a) funding only those functions that it absolutely has to through the onerous mechanism of taxation, and b) if it enters into areas it should not be in in the first place, it should work in the most cost-effective way possible.
… morePublished on June 11, 2001
Published on June 1, 2001 – Non-MCPP Content
Published on March 6, 2001 – News Release
The Michigan Legislature recently gave the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality carte blanche to impose staggering fines on property owners for alleged environmental violations. This is a terrible idea given the department's past abuses.
… morePublished on Jan. 9, 2001 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Published on Nov. 2, 2000
Dear Members of the Westwood Board of Education:
It has come to our attention that your district is suing the state of Michigan to prevent parents and children from choosing schools outside your district. You are concerned that the schools-of-choice program that the Mackinac Center for Public Policy helped establish is leading to increased segregation in your district.
… morePublished on Oct. 27, 2000
Published on Oct. 20, 2000 – News Release
Published on Aug. 8, 2000
Published on Aug. 6, 2000 – News Release
Opponents of school choice for Michigan's children are misrepresenting tuition tax credits in order to recycle their shopworn anti-voucher arguments.
… morePublished on April 6, 1998 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Published on March 1, 1998 – Michigan Privatization Report
Other states are racing past Michigan in improving education by giving parents freedom to choose schools. A Universal Tuition Tax Credit and constitutional amendment can keep Michigan from lagging behind.
… morePublished on Nov. 10, 1997 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Published on Sept. 1, 1996 – Michigan Privatization Report
Shocking juvenile violent crime trends will not reverse until local communities are given wider latitude to ensure certainty of punishment and other deterrents to criminal behavior.
… morePublished on March 4, 1996 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
The laws uncovered by the Mackinac Center's Outrageous Law Competition will make you chuckle. Underlying them are two serious lessons which teach us about government's response to crises and the role of special interests.
… morePublished on Aug. 7, 1995 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
The prison business is booming in Michigan-fifteen percent of the General Fund. Can taxpayers afford the bills that mount from business as usual? Michigan can save hundreds of millions of dollars by trying what other states are already doing.
… morePublished on March 6, 1995 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
In a stunning retreat from free-market principles, Governor Engler asks Michigan to join the bandwagon of states in which government picks the industrial winners and losers. The MEGA plan will not work, and may have unintended negative consequences.
… morePublished on March 6, 1995 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Labor reform that brings Michigan law up-to-date is not something to be feared. Giving workers freedom of choice in union membership would be a plus for the Michigan economy.
… morePublished on Dec. 5, 1994 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
What was conceived as a protection for women in Michigan country clubs has become another entry on a long list of meddlesome and ultimately counterproductive restrictions on personal freedom.
… morePublished on Aug. 1, 1994 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Exempting Michigan's public school teachers from the Public Employment Relations Act would resolve the strike issue, remove barriers union policies have erected, and open the door for the advancement of good teachers.
… morePublished on April 4, 1994 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
In more than 300 of Michigan's 524 K-12 public school districts, costly health insurance for school employees is administered by an organization whose practices are secretive and monopolistic.
… morePublished on Dec. 6, 1993 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Genuine school reformers say, "Change the system so schools can work better, and we will be happy to fund them." Unfortunately, many of those in the government education monopoly say, "Send the cash, keep the change."
… morePublished on Nov. 8, 1993 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
The two property tax proposals on the November 1992 Michigan ballot provide a glaring distinction: one is a property tax cut and the other is not. Proposal C, despite one drawback, represents the best hope in years for real property tax reduction.
… morePublished on Oct. 1, 1992 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Public policy on the environment should not be driven by "bad" science or the absence of good science. Politicians must weigh the evidence and reject emotion, propaganda, and hidden agendas in the global warming debate.
… morePublished on Aug. 3, 1992 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
Efforts to help the handicapped with legislation requiring employers to reconfigure their worksites are another example of good intentions producing bad results.
… morePublished on July 10, 1990 – Viewpoint on Public Issues
![[Photo of Joseph P. Overton]](/media/images/2010/sizes/150x200/OvertonMED.jpg)
