Voters who favor Proposal 1, calling for a constitutional convention, on the November ballot as a way to solve Michigan's problems are misdirecting their anger, according to a Mackinac Center analyst.
"(Michigan's) problems aren't caused by the constitution, nor can they be fixed by it," Jack McHugh, senior legislative analyst, told MLive.com. "The desire to rearrange the institutional furniture is a cry of frustration, not a plausible means of fixing the underlying problems."
Gongwer News Service (subscription required) reports that Gov. Jennifer Granholm is unhappy that a new economic forecast estimates that Michigan will start adding jobs next year. It reports:
"The bummer for me is that date," she said, noting the job growth would begin the year after she leaves office. The state has seen only net job losses during her term.
The headline of a story in today's Detroit Free Press characterizes Gov. Jennifer Granholm's understanding of the state film production subsidies: "Goal of film tax credit is jobs, not more revenue."
There's a story from the 1960s about the late economist Milton Friedman visiting a large public works project in a third world country that was funded by U.S. foreign aid. Given the substantial investment, the famous economist was surprised to see thousands of men with shovels moving dirt one spadeful at a time. He asked his host, "Why don't they use bulldozers?"
After a successful run at the Sundance Film Festival and openings in New York and Los Angeles, the documentary “Waiting for Superman” makes its Detroit-area debut this weekend at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak. The film, which documents the failings of public school systems throughout the country, is apparently less than complimentary towards teacher unions. (Yours truly will have a review early next week.)
When most people talk about the government redistributing wealth, it involves money being taken from those who have more and being given to those who have less, such as with entitlement programs.
That has taken a new twist that few would have predicted with lavish government subsidies for purchasing electric vehicles. The New York Times reports that 20,000 people have reserved a Nissan Leaf, a new all-electric vehicle. Nissan expects the typical Leaf buyer to be affluent, college-educated consumers in their mid-40s. The Feds are granting a $7,500 tax credit as well as $3,000 home-charging unit provided free of cost. On top of this Tennessee, where the Leaf is built, is offering free public charging stations along its freeway system and $2,500 cash rebates. Legislation has been introduced in Michigan that would also provide perks for electric car owners.
The Flint Journal reports that members of a newly formed group called Flint Area Congregations Together (FACT) recently traveled to California, Virginia and New York looking for successful schools in areas with demographics similar Flint. While the aim is noble, the group could learn from a number of high-performing schools right at home in Flint.
The Lansing State Journal reports that a "Sonic" restaurant chain outlet that was promised $90,000 in taxpayer-funded corporate welfare subsidies and tax breaks won't be opening after all in south Lansing. Sharp-eyed corporate welfare officials keeping close tabs on the situation realized this when they noticed that there were "for sale" signs posted on the favored parcel.
In an Op-Ed in the St. Louis Beacon, Christine Harbin of the Missouri-based Show-Me Institute argued that "Tax credit programs are not as effective as advertised" and used Mackinac Center research to help make the case:
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Michigan released a study in which it compared job estimates made by Michigan's economic development agency accompanying tax credit awards to the actual outcomes of those programs. Mackinac found that only 7.9 percent of projects were completed on time and produced the number of jobs promised. Missouri cannot afford this failure rate.
Growing up in America during the Cold War, most of us thought the biggest threat to our freedom was from communist Russia seeking to forcibly impose their totalitarian way of life on us. Turns out we were mistaken: The biggest threat to freedom in America is from within — the modern day green movement. The ruling class has decided that Americans left to their own devices will not do the right things to save the planet and therefore the force of government must be used to control almost all aspects of American life.
Whenever faced with the possibility of lower revenue, Michigan's public school establishment perennially cries that it's already been "cut to the bone." Many people find the claim plausible given the state's "lost decade," so they may be surprised to discover how many school districts have consistently cut costs in recent years:
Governors often use their official State of the State addresses to do a little bragging, and Gov. Jennifer Granholm's February, 2010 outing was no exception. Unfortunately, what was intended as an "economic development" victory lap — citing companies expected to create jobs thanks to selective tax breaks and subsidies provided by her administration — has become a series of embarrassing blunders including Hangar42 studios (Grand Rapids), GlobalWatt, Inc. (Saginaw), and Unity Studios (Allen Park).
A Corpus Christi Caller-Times article confirms the results of a Mackinac Center investigation into solar energy company GlobalWatt's questionable application for economic development tax credits from the state of Michigan.
The Caller-Times reports that a Michigan Economic Development Corp. official told the paper that the agency "didn't check the company's claims" on the application about "upfront cash" incentives with the state of Texas and Corpus Christi. The official went on to say, "We're going to give them (GlobalWatt) the best deal we can regardless of what was offered in Texas."
(Editor's note: This is a guest post by Jay Schalin, a senior writer with the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy in North Carolina, a nonprofit institute dedicated to improving higher education in North Carolina and the nation.)
In his recent column, Nolan Finley argues that Michigan can turn around by emulating North Carolina. "The states that have passed us on the prosperity list get it. North Carolina, for example, has sacrificed to pour more money into its colleges and universities," he writes.
Horse racetrack owners complain that the state is schizophrenic about their industry, erecting statutory and bureaucratic barriers to it operating profitably while throwing special favors at particular tracks in the form of subsidies and selective tax breaks (see "'Schizophrenic' State Planning"and related stories in Michigan Capitol Confidential). Further, they say it's unfair that they must compete for gambling customers against a government lottery with sales outlets in every convenience store.
Taxpayers and students won a small but potentially very important victory Friday when Administrative Law Judge David M. Peltz found that the Legislature did not give unions the authority to sidetrack privatization of non-instructional services by school districts. The decision came in the first round of what may still prove to be a lengthy administrative and legal battle over the meaning of amendments to the state collective bargaining law that the Legislature passed last year as part of the "Race to the Top" reform package. Nonetheless, the decision improves the chances that school districts will retain the right to privatize services, and strengthens the hand of school boards in dealing with inflexible unions.
A school district consolidation study done by Andrew Coulson, Mackinac Center adjunct fellow, was cited Thursday in The Grand Rapids Press.
A recent study on the topic from Michigan State University has come under fire for questions of both plagiarism and methodology.
On Thursday the plug was officially pulled on a monumentally hyped film infrastructure deal in Allen Park called "Unity Studios." There were no press releases from the Governor's office or the Michigan Economic Development Corp. announcing the evaporation of the mirage, but they had plenty to say when its promoters were granted their first batch of state corporate welfare promises in 2009:
A columnist in today's Detroit News cites research by Center scholars on the disparity between the wage increases in the public sector and wage decreases in the private sector in Michigan over the last decade.
Frank Beckmann, who also hosts "The Frank Beckmann Show" on WJR AM760, said the fiscal 2011 state budget, which takes effect today, was passed with "cowardly fixes."
Many school boards around the state are attempting to renegotiate contracts with their local teachers unions to contain costs. Here's a brief recap of some of the new contracts agreed to this last month.
Grand Haven: A new two-year contract grants teachers net across-the-board salary increases of 1.75 percent this year and next. The district changed health insurance plans, moving from "SuperCare I" — the most expensive plan sold by the MEA union's MESSA arm — to a slightly less generous Choices II. Teachers will have to pay $10 for brand-name prescriptions, but still won't be required to contribute anything toward the cost of health insurance premiums. More information can be found here.
The Michigan Education Association opposes bonus pay for teachers who excel at improving student performance, but supports a merit system for teachers who excel at raising money for MEA politicking.
Here are the details: A recent study based on some math teachers in Nashville, Tenn., failed to show three years of merit-based pay had any effect on student achievement. The MEA and its parent organization, the National Education Association, were quick to use the limited experiment’s results to reinforce their argument that teachers should be paid like assembly-line workers.
WNEM-TV5 in Saginaw reports that questions have been raised regarding an "alleged preferential tax deal" involving the Michigan Economic Growth Authority and GlobalWatt Inc.
A Mackinac Center investigation by Fiscal Policy Director Mike LaFaive and Communications Specialist Kathy Hoekstra produced an essay and this video examining the details of the agreement and paperwork filed by the company to obtain state subsidies.
This is worth plucking from a Capitol Confidential story today:
State employees get a 3 percent pay hike this Friday, because lawmakers in the House and Senate failed to veto it earlier this year. This will be the 11th raise they've received since 2002. In addition, individual employees are constantly getting "step" or seniority pay hikes, longevity boosts, and more.
Tim Greimel, D-Auburn Hills, of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners recently wrote in an Op-Ed for The Oakland Press that he embraces the Mackinac Center's transparency initiative and wants Oakland County to post expenditures online.
House Bill 6458, introduced by Reps. Gabe Leland, D-Detroit, and Mike Huckleberry, D-Greenville, is the latest assault on private property rights to come out of Lansing. The bill exempts property owners in Michigan cities with a population of 900,000 or more (read: Detroit) from protection under Michigan's Right to Farm Act.
At the end of last August the National Labor Relations Board began the process of reconsidering its decision in a case known as Dana Corp., issuing a request for briefs from interested parties on the effects of the Dana ruling on unions, employers and workers. This is a process that Michigan, with its still-powerful union movement, will want to watch closely.
