I can’t roast a turkey that doesn’t come out dry, and casseroles and stuffing have never appealed to me. But there’s one Thanksgiving Day tradition I try my best to honor, and that’s to be grateful. My inspiration, in part, is Larry Reed, who led the Mackinac Center for many years. His pamphlet “Are We Good Enough for Liberty?” explores the importance of expressing gratitude, saying it’s a key to being a person of good character, something to which I ascribe.
This article originally appeared in The Detroit News October 28, 2025.
History’s most consequential heroes aren’t always the most powerful. Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II played important parts in toppling communism. But it was a Polish electrician, climbing a shipyard fence in an act of defiance, who inspired a movement. On Sunday night, that electrician, Lech Walesa, spoke to a crowd of 500 in Detroit.
This article originally appeared in IndyStar on June 27, 2025.
Indiana’s 201% hike in its cigarette excise tax, which takes effect July 1, will reshape consumer behavior, and not necessarily in the way lawmakers expect.
While the intent is to boost revenue, the dramatic tax increase from 99.5 cents per pack to nearly $3 will light up at least one major unintended consequence: cigarette smuggling. Some smokers will quit, but many others will engage in tax avoidance and evasion — and possibly other illegal behavior.
Michigan's limits on nurse practitioners are a prime example of economist Thomas Sowell’s maxim that “There are no solutions, only trade-offs.” These are highly trained nurses with graduate degrees who can diagnose illnesses, prescribe medications, and provide high-quality care. Research conducted over many decades shows that nurse practitioners perform as well as physicians in most cases, that their patients are equally satisfied, and that their services cost less.
Local government officials should use a variety of statistics to assess the health of the communities they serve. Population is one important statistic, but there are others. Union Township in Isabella County provides an example.
We’ve written previously about the township’s population decline. When people move to a community in large numbers, that suggests that local leaders are doing something right. A growing population implies that the community offers a high quality of life, including economic opportunities. A declining population could be a sign of trouble.
A new report has some solid suggestions for policy reform that would help Michigan’s economy. Business Leaders for Michigan recently released its “Michigan in a New Era” plan, and some of it aligns with free-market ideas from the Mackinac Center.
The business group calls for clarity and accountability in education. Michigan has been spending even more money but is getting worse results. Education spending has now reached nearly $25,000 per student, while Michigan falls behind the rest of the country in test results.
This article originally appeared in The Detroit News September 25, 2025.
Data centers are facilities that house computing and telecommunications infrastructure. They have been around for a long time, but demand is skyrocketing thanks to the rise of internet, cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and cloud data storage. More data centers are being built around the country.
This article originally appeared in The Detroit News November 4, 2025.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is running out of time to keep a campaign promise. During her first gubernatorial run, she pledged to open the governor’s office to the state Freedom of Information Act.
Oklahoma should get tax reform sooner rather than later
An ambitious framework for reform of property taxes appears to have stalled in the state legislature, but the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs notes many recent improvements in state tax laws and suggests reforms that could help the Sooner State’s housing market. “Oklahoma could also consider lowering its annual valuation-growth cap below the current 3 percent limit,” writes Curtis Shelton. “Because a property’s taxable fair-cash value cannot currently increase more than 3 percent per year, reducing that cap could further protect homeowners in fast-growing markets.”
Unions simply don’t operate the way they used to. Instead of prioritizing compensation and conditions for the American workers, many large unions are entrenched in political movements outside the interest of the workers whose paychecks fund their operations. Gene Hamilton joined The Overton Window Podcast to discuss what his organization is doing about it.
Michigan lawmakers deserve applause for paying down employee pension system debt. The state has taken important steps to deal with accumulating retirement debt and stop making promises that defer costs to future taxpayers.
Governments should not promise pension benefits to employees and then kick the costs of those pensions to future taxpayers. They should save money on their pension funds, invest wisely, and use the returns to pay for the costs of monthly benefit checks.
For almost all of its history, Banks Township in Antrim County had no zoning ordinance or zoning map. That changed in 2000, but an ongoing debate may return the township to the way things were.
The purpose of zoning, as stated by the township, is to meet the core needs of residents, ensure appropriate land use, limit overcrowding and congestion, facilitate government services and promote public health, safety and welfare.
Michigan’s job growth has been weak during the Whitmer administration. Employment is up by 41,255 people, a 0.9% increase. That’s the 13th-worst among the states. The national average is 4.4%.
With 4.7 million people employed in the state, a 41,255-person increase over six years is not much. The state offered the automakers and battery manufacturers companies $1.45 billion in taxpayer money to projects that pledged to create 14,800 jobs. That sounds like subsidies should be able to make a dent in Michigan’s trends.
In just the past few months, multiple stories have emerged of local government restrictions holding residents back in Bay City, Michigan. As reported by Bay City Times:
Rigid parking requirements
Local business owner Lyndsay Edmonds faced months of delays trying to open a small bed and breakfast. She had to get approval from three different city departments (planning, zoning and historical commission) in order to seek multiple variances. Why? Because of the city’s rigid parking requirements. Bay City has parking minimums she can’t comply with. The city thinks it knows better than businesses and entrepreneurs about how many parking spots their own establishment needs.
Traverse City Light & Power’s troubled internet service provider business continues to be a source of financial distress for the city. At a recent meeting, the Traverse City City Commission approved a plan to let TCL&P borrow money from city-controlled funds intended for other purposes to help the city-owned utility finish building its internet network.
Michigan lawmakers don’t have to agree on much each year, other than how to spend all the money that the state collects from its taxes. Partisans needed to compromise with each other to do this, since Republicans hold a majority in the House and there is a Democratic governor with a Democratic majority Senate. Both sides were going to have to give up something and get something in order to pass a budget. What they came up with has a number of positive features.
Why is it so much more expensive to build things than it used to be? Dollars get you less than they used to, but inflation doesn’t fully explain why building the Mackinac Bridge cost about $1 billion dollars in today’s money, while the I-75 modernization project is already above $1.4 billion. Or why the Golden Gate Bridge cost $35 million ($800 million today) in 1933, while the safety net alone installed under the bridge in 2017 cost $224 million.
This article originally appeared in The Detroit News October 21, 2025.
Give Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Legislature a quiet round of applause for completing the state budget earlier this month. The Legislature is split — Republicans control the House and Democrats have the Senate — so agreeing on how to spend $81 billion took negotiation and tradeoffs. But passing a budget is a minimum expectation for lawmakers.
Michigan lawmakers have introduced one of the most ambitious occupational-licensing reform packages in the country — more than 50 bills that would repeal unnecessary licenses, simplify education mandates and make it easier for skilled people to work in our state. The changes in House Bills 4879 through 4934 would make it possible for the state to protect the public without blocking opportunity.
Can libertarian ideas break through in an era dominated by fear-based politics and bipartisan protectionism?
Brian Doherty, senior editor of Reason Magazine and author of books including “Radicals for Capitalism” and “This Is Burning Man,” joins The Overton Window Podcast to discuss one of the movement's central challenges: shifting the Overton Window toward liberty in a political landscape increasingly hostile to free-market principles. Doherty’s latest book, “Dirty Pictures,” traces major post-1960s shifts in the business and aesthetics of comic books through the history of underground comix artists.
Michigan relies on tourism. Tourism is an important part of the economy for much of the state, and it’s helping many municipalities adapt to new economic conditions and thrive. Having a robust tourism sector requires having places for people to stay — hotels, bed and breakfasts, cottages, cabins and homes.
Policy can be powerful, and in states, governors get the biggest say in policy. Michigan performed below the national average during Jennifer Granholm’s term and above average during Rick Snyder’s term. It has fallen below average during Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s term.
The Michigan House is considering heavy-handed bills that would impose burdensome requirements on artificial intelligence systems and likely drive AI development out of the state. Several other states are pursuing better approaches, dubbed “Right to Compute” laws. These states are not taking the punitive and one-sided approach Michigan is considering. They instead seek a more balanced one that promotes innovation and puts up guardrails against the most likely dangers of AI development.
This article originally appeared in The Detroit News October 15, 2025.
Millions of people took to the streets on June 14 for No Kings Day, protesting President Donald Trump. The movement is preparing No Kings Day 2.0 for this weekend, including a rally in Detroit, to highlight what they call Trump’s “authoritarian excesses.” But the protesters may be overlooking a concrete, effective solution.
I’ve never thought much of the joke that Halloween is a socialist’s favorite holiday because it encourages kids to go door-to-door asking for free handouts.
I have fond memories of going door-to-door dressed as a soldier or ghoul, collecting loot in my pillowcase and filling my belly with sugar. That love carried through into my young adult life, when I’d purchase bags of Halloween-themed candy and turn my yard into a cemetery using whatever decorations I had on hand, dressing up as a Knight Templar or as Snake Plissken. Now, as a parent, I get to look forward to taking my kids trick-or-treating.
