Even as Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the state Legislature struggle to produce a budget, the Congressional health care bill rushing towards passage in Washington this weekend threatens to blow an even bigger hole in Michigan's ledger. Much of Lansing's budget prescriptions have been short-term bandages (like using federal stimulus dollars to pay for government largesse) but these patches do nothing to fix long-term ills like Medicaid entitlement spending that now gobbles up 25 percent of the state's budget - up from just 5 percent 30 years ago.
Russ Harding, director of the Property Rights Network at the Mackinac Center, was a guest Thursday on WMKT in Traverse City. Harding discussed the Boardman River dam removal issue in Grand Traverse County, as well as the speech he will give at noon Monday to the Antrim County Republican Women's Club at Siren Hall, located at 151 River St. in Elk Rapids.
In the latest Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency Economic Indicators report, economist David Zin echoed an observation I made here last month on personal income: The recent increase in a key economic indicator — personal income growth — suggests the very opposite that Michigan has turned a corner.
Lawrence W. Reed, Mackinac Center president emeritus, is cited in a Detroit News column today about First Amendment concerns surrounding disagreements between President Obama and Fox News, while his popular monograph "Great Myths of the Great Depression" was cited yesterday by Investors Business Daily in an editorial about Tuesday's New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections.
On Tuesday, voters in Virginia and New Jersey sent a message to Washington out of fear of what America might become. In Michigan's largest city, Detroiters elected a mayor to deliver them from what their city has become.
Detroit is a progressive's dream - a living monument to decades years of Big Government statism. The city sports a living wage, the region's highest taxes, a commuter tax, government-run public services, government-run parks, government-run schools and a crippling 85 percent illegitimacy rate. These Great Society-inspired policy "successes" have led to a 30 percent unemployment rate, a 50 percent adult illiteracy rate and a city budget on the verge of bankruptcy.
Russ Harding, director of the Property Rights Network at the Mackinac Center, was a guest today on "The Norm Jones Show" on WTCM in Traverse City. Harding discussed the Boardman River dam removal issue in Grand Traverse County, as well as the speech he will give at noon Monday to the Antrim County Republican Women's Club at Siren Hall, located at 151 River St. in Elk Rapids.
An Op-Ed in today's Detroit News by Michael Van Beek, education policy director, outlines school reforms Michigan should make in order to qualify for a federal grant.
The Livingston Daily editorial today cites research by Mackinac Center scholars about the failure of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
A new report out of Oregon alleges fraud and intentional deception on the part of state officials in their rush to use taxpayer money to lure green jobs to Oregon. The Oregonian reports that state officials deliberately underestimated the cost of tax payer subsidies for green energy projects, resulting in a cost 40 times greater than estimates provided to Oregon lawmakers before they voted on the tax breaks. Findings include:
A new client who is part of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation's lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Human Services is featured in The Flint Journal today.
Michigan voters should not be fooled by the latest effort of environmental groups, called "Mi Water," that purportedly would regulate mining in the state. The ballot proposal does not regulate mining as much as it effectively bans future mining in Michigan.
A column in Saturday's Kalamazoo Gazette references a recent Current Comment about school consolidation by Michael Van Beek, director of education policy, that details why school district consolidation isn't the answer to problems with Michigan's public education system.
A reporter with The Michigan Messenger contacted two college professors in response to an Op-Ed that Paul Kersey, labor policy director, wrote for The Detroit News.
Both professors agreed with Kersey who, in relating his recent study on the Michigan Public Employee Relations Act, said the refusal by unions to renegotiate contracts could force the city of Detroit to declare bankruptcy.
In his recent Oakland Press blog posting, capitol reporter Tim Skubick speculates that the recall weapon could be stolen from the anti-tax side and used by the "more money for government" crowd. Specifically, he's thinking about K-12 schools:
The schools now confront a whopping $292 cut for every school kid who walks through the door. The governor is urging the education lobby, see yesterday's blog, to get in the game and turn up the heat on republicans who are loathed to put up a green light on new revenue. Tossing the recall card on the table might up the ante.
A new report by the National Center for Education Statistics contains some bad news for Michigan schools. When compared to proficiency standards on national tests, Michigan's self-proclaimed "proficient" students score near the bottom in the country.
The NCES study compares state-defined proficiency with that of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. This process measures the strength of each state's standardized tests and cut scores. It addresses whether a student who is "proficient" by State A's standards would also be "proficient" by State B's standards. In most cases, it's much easier to be marked proficient in Michigan than almost any other state.
The U.S. House of Representatives has just posted on the Internet its health care overhaul bill, HR 3962, “To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, etc.” All 1990 impenetrable pages of it.
In response to a question from Jon Boguth in Time on what makes Michigan's existing businesses less worthy of tax relief than film producers, Gov. Jennifer Granholm responded, "You can't give tax credits to everybody, because somebody's gotta pay for them." It's a clear admission that the program is not costless. And because the film incentive is so generous, the costs of "success" would be massive.
Politicians are often anxious to been seen as "green" as they support stringent environmental standards and mandates. Unfortunately, they often ignore the costs of those measures — that is, until those costs come home to roost in their own districts. Witness U.S. House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey, D-Wis., who along with 98 other Democrats voted to protect agricultural and Great Lakes shipping interests from Environmental Protection Agency regulations as part of a deal to move a $32.24 billion natural resources funding bill.
Legislators loading (more) debt onto taxpayers to pay the health benefits of retired government employees may make many voters wonder who these pols really work for. Here's the latest version, from MichiganVotes.org:
Senate Bill 927, introduced by Republican Senators Mark Jansen, Bill Hardiman and Roger Kahn, to give local governments the power to borrow without a vote of the people to pay for the health benefits that current and past officials have offered to government employees after they retire. A referendum on the debt would be required only if someone gathered signatures from 5 percent of local registered voters or 10,000, whichever is lower. The amount of debt imposed could be as high as 5 percent of the jurisdiction's state equalized property value.
Michael LaFaive, director of fiscal policy, responded today to a Detroit News story that distorted information contained in a recent policy brief written by Gary Wolfram, Ph.D., a Hillsdale College professor and Mackinac Center adjunct scholar.
Wolfram's brief also was referenced in this Oakland Press column.
In Wednesday's MIRS "Capitol Capsule" (subscription required), Michigan Economic Development Corp. CEO Greg Main discusses the latest Michigan Economic Growth Authority targeted tax break deals for selective "winner" companies. MEGA is the flagship program of the state's "economic development" bureaucratic empire over which the MEDC presides.
State Sen. Nancy Cassis has introduced legislation in Lansing that would allow localities to set up what might be called “right-to-work zones.” The authority of local governments to take this step is dubious — what little legal authority there is on the question is all negative — but while courts have struck down local right-to-work ordinances both times they came up, neither of the two decisions involved a state statute that authorized local right-to-work. This is a question on which legal experts disagree vehemently, but a carefully-written “local option” law passed by the state legislature could work.
A speech on health care reform at Northwood University last night sponsored by Students for a Free Economy was covered by WEYI-TV25 and the Midland Daily News.
SFE hosted Michael Tanner, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, who discussed "The Obamacare to Come." Tanner, a nationally known author and speaker, will discuss the same topic tonight in East Lansing.
Some American politicians frequently tout the European model as a shining example of energy policy, citing government policies there promoting alternative energy over the past decade. Recent studies out of Spain and Germany, however, indicate that those two countries have been successful in increasing the amount of alternative energy but at a high cost to their economies.
Last Saturday, The Detroit News ran an article titled "Michigan's Shrinking Government" examining various measures of state spending and employment. The piece had several problems, but one sentence stood out: "The economic development staff has been slashed."
The Mackinac Center sponsored a luncheon Oct. 26 in Troy where attendees had a chance to meet some of the "stars" of the Center's recent YouTube video series in which Canadian citizens describe the problems they have had with their country's single-payer health care system. Two of those individuals are Shirley McGuin and Mike Jubenville.
