Results 501 to 600 of 817

A Christmas Wish

… use, what kind of car I must drive, and how much water I can use to flush the toilet. A government that stops giving my tax dollars to millionaire film makers and green causes such as solar companies and battery makers, most of whom go bankrupt. A government that stops printing more money, calling …

Center Shines Spotlight on Indiana Right-to-Work Battle

… Senate and House and public outcry eventually forced these legislators’ hands.  The Mackinac Center sent reporters to Indiana for most of January, filming the union protests held outside the capitol and posting to CapCon. Labor Policy Director Paul Kersey simultaneously illuminated the legislation’s …

Occupy to Protest Mackinac Center

… Growth Authority and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Investigative work has focused on taxpayer dollars being misused to prop up everything from film producers to electric car battery makers to sporting goods stores to alternative energy producers. Given that body of work, one would expect the Occupiers …

Another Look at Hydraulic Fracturing

… the alarmism, fracking is safe — and much safer than the alternatives. Most of the fear about gas extraction comes from a disingenuous scene from a film in which people light the methane coming through their water pipes on fire because of alleged improper well construction, which has nothing to do with …

A Unique Service to Michigan Students: Debate Workshops

… toward Cuba, Mexico or Venezuela, were Greg Rehmke, Mike Winther and Arielle John. Rehmke directs educational programs for Economic Thinking/E Pluribus Films; Winther is a debate coach and president of the Institute for Principle Studies; and John is visiting professor in the department of economics at Beloit …

Less Government for Christmas

A Christmas wish

… use, what kind of car I must drive, and how much water I can use to flush the toilet. A government that stops giving my tax dollars to millionaire film makers and green causes such as solar companies and battery makers, most of whom go bankrupt. A government that stops printing more money, calling …

CapCon Wins Journalism Awards

Michigan Press Association winners announced

… Skorup, digital engagement manager, and Tom Gantert, senior capitol correspondent, took third place in enterprise reporting for their work on Michigan’s film subsidy program. The judges remarked that the reporting by Skorup and Gantert was a “Solid outlining of various aspects of wasted government money.” …

Michigan Capitol Confidential Wins Journalism Awards

Michigan Press Association recognizes CapCon

… Skorup, digital engagement manager, and Tom Gantert, senior capitol correspondent, took third place in enterprise reporting for their work on Michigan’s film subsidy program. The judges remarked that the reporting by Skorup and Gantert was a “Solid outlining of various aspects of wasted government money.” …

Most Voters Want MEDC Money to go to Roads

… Mackinac Center and Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which revealed that 66 percent of likely voters favored reprioritizing $50 million from Michigan’s film subsidy program to go to roads. Statewide and national news outlets featured the Mackinac Center polls, including WJR 760AM’s Frank Beckmann, The …

Legacy Society Luncheon

… subjects in his work, including politics, foreign affairs, and the arts. For National Review Online, he writes a column called “Impromptus.” In 2011, he filmed The Human Parade, with Jay Nordlinger, a TV series bringing hour-long interviews with various personalities. National Review Books published a collection …

Sharing Positive Stories of School Choice

… conventional-school peers. They also ignore the tremendous impact charter schools have had in students’ lives. In July, the Mackinac Center brought out a film crew to shoot interviews with students, parents, teachers and principals at Chandler Park and two other high-performing charter schools. In their own …

An Evening Talking Policy with Speaker Cotter

… the speaker admitted that he didn’t initially think it was possible to make Michigan a right-to-work state or to eliminate the state’s ineffective film subsidy program — two successful policies the Mackinac Center pushed for many years. The speaker also discussed internal improvements that have been …

Back to the Future for Taxpayer Stadium Funding in Detroit

Legislators should stand firm against special deals

… legislators, especially Republicans in the state House, pledged to rein in subsidies and managed to achieve some successes. In 2015, the state ended its film incentive program and rolled back other spending from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. There are now threats to go back to the old way …

Granholm Touted Failed Companies in Bid for Federal Energy Job

WikiLeaks memo cites flops as proof of her leadership

… Mascoma sold its intellectual property rights to a private Canadian company called Lallemand. United Solar Ovonic, a manufacturer of flexible thin-film modules, was approved for a $17.3 million state tax credit in 2008, to be paid out over 20 years. "United Solar Ovonic is a great example of the type …

Children of Monsters: The Strange Lives of Children of Dictators

Featuring Jay Nordlinger

… series of public interviews at the Salzburg Festival, and he currently hosts two podcasts, "The Need to Know," with Mona Charen, and “Q&A.” In 2011, he filmed The Human Parade, a TV series featuring hour-long interviews with various personalities. His latest book is "Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into …

By The Numbers: 30 Years

… descriptions of every bill and roll call vote. The Mackinac Center launched MichiganVotes.org in 2001. $500 million — The amount Michigan spent subsidizing film producers to make movies in Michigan. The program started in 2007 and it ended in 2015 after consistent criticism by the Mackinac Center. 22 percent — …

Study: Michigan Business Development Program of Questionable Merit

Research shows decline in jobs in counties where subsidized projects are located

… default or was dismissed altogether. Michigan lawmakers should take notice: The MBDP appears no more effective than MEGA or the recently shuttered film incentive program. State planners are not effective at picking winners and losers in the marketplace and the publicly available data suggests that …

Arbitrary Michigan Licensing Laws: Auto Mechanic vs. Makeup Artist

Esthetician requires far more mandatory hours and much higher fees

… Michigan Capitol Confidential recently featured a story bearing this out. Donna Williams is a makeup artist who trained in California and has worked on film and theater productions in both California and her home state of Michigan. She can legally work in a limited capacity on makeup for arts productions, …

Media Watchdog Says Michigan Clinic Staged The Crowding at Virus Test Drive-Through

Conservative site says officials wanted it to look busy for the CBS cameras

… as a Cherry Health insider, directing employees to enter the drive-through line just “to make it look busy.” Project Veritas states that a CBS News film crew pulled medical professionals off the floor to drive their vehicles into the testing lane, thereby giving the crew a longer line of cars for its …

Dragonslayers: Six Presidents and Their War With the Swamp

… The American President. He has been on almost all media, from Al-Jazeera to Glenn Beck, from Tavis Smiley to Rush Limbaugh. Since 2009, he has been a film producer. His documentary, Rockin’ the Wall, appeared on PBS along with the sequel Other Walls 2 Fall. In 2019, he founded the Wild World of History …

James David Dickson Joins Michigan Capitol Confidential As Managing Editor

Daily news site CapCon covers state policy issues from a free-market perspective

… teachers protected by state tenure law. In its 15-year existence, CapCon has also revealed millions in wasted tax dollars for failed corporate subsidies, film incentive projects and battery plants, filing thousands of public records requests at all levels of government.

Whitmer asks for ideas to grow Michigan

Governor’s new Chief Growth Officer has a heavy task: Only Washington, D.C., has grown more slowly than Michigan

… college graduates find their futures elsewhere. Nothing the state has tried has reversed the outflow of young, educated people. Not Cool Cities, not film incentives, not Pure Michigan commercials. The growth council will seat 28 members. Governor’s advisory councils can be created through executive …

MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST April 24, 2007

… "PACho Libre," is a play on the film "Nacho Libre" and puts an emphasis … political action committee. In the film, a teacher battles against … Several individuals appear in the film calling themselves "PACho Libre," … Karen Cross also appear in the film. Making the villain a state … Craig DeRoche, believes this film is poking fun at the wrong …

Celebrating Free Enterprise and One Hundred Years of Kodak Moments

… introduced the Kodak Brownie box camera.  The price tag was one dollar, and film sold for 15 cents per roll.  For the first time, taking pictures was within … endlessly and discovered new techniques and processes for producing better film and lighter, less expensive cameras.  A self-taught chemist, he ended the …

A Mixed Message to Children: Say "No" to Drugs, but "Yes" to Ritalin?

In 1971, George Lucas produced his first feature film, an anti-utopian masterpiece entitled "THX-1138."  One particularly arresting feature of "THX" (which was the "name" of the film's main character) was that in the society envisioned by Lucas, "drug evasion" …

The Lowdown

… Michigan Chamber has drawn particular attention to the package of subsidies for film producers that was requested by the governor and approved by lawmakers earlier … satirical lesson regarding how all Michigan job providers can pretend to be film producers, thereby tricking politicians into giving them tax rebates. When …

Cast Your Vote for Limited Government

… consecutive months. State tax credits and subsidies were granted to the film industry last year to the tune of $48 million in the name of creating jobs, … resident $3,691 per year. This money is used to fund programs like the Michigan film incentive and the MEDC — programs that have failed to deliver on their stated …

Who Wants to Know?

… Mackinac Center researchers, not news media, who recently exposed the Michigan Film Office's failure to report their spending as the law requires, reported … massive "government-reform" initiative. After we publicized these findings, film officials complied with the law, an expensive mandate was defeated and a …

Flight Fight

… living hauling freight or chartering flights for aerial photography and film work. "The presidential TFR has changed this year and gotten even larger … indirect losses are unmeasurable, because so many of our clients — like film customers, for example, that would normally be shooting stuff for the MLB …

Legislation needed to address MEGA audit findings

… MEGA credit to a convicted embezzler.  We will also hear from the Michigan Film Office about the Hangar42 scandal, which resulted in a criminal charge over an apparent attempt to defraud taxpayers of $10 million in refundable film credits. ~~~~~ See also: Thirty-One MEDC Salaries Top $100K MEDC-Endorsed …

Free-Market Library

… charter schools in Michigan, some 12,000 students are on waiting lists. Film Noir An investigation by Fiscal Policy Director Michael LaFaive and Communications … studio has applied for a large refundable tax credit through the Michigan Film Office. Knockout Punch  Education Policy Director Michael Van Beek and …

MEGA “GlobalWatt” Deal Raises Questions

… conference where she touted his alleged new jobs for Michigan. The Hangar42 film subsidy deal provides more evidence: Last February, Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced with great fanfare the opening of a major film studio thanks to an "assignable" tax credit worth as much as $10 million. …

According to Beneficiaries, All Government Spending Is Worth the Investment

… Grants 51x Early Childhood Education 16x Earned Income Tax Credit 1.67x Film Credits 6x Tourism Advertising 40x Transit Spending 4x   Many analyses … spending generates $51 of economic activity. Thus, it acts as if the Ann Arbor Film Festival would only exist with subsidy, and it certainly has proved otherwise. …

Shouldn’t Enhancing Your Neighborhood Be Up to You?

… projects or by government escaping its proper limits.  For example, had a state film subsidy program not skewed local government incentives, the city of Allen Park would never have taken on massive debt for a film studio whose collapse has brought the city to the edge of bankruptcy and …

Schauer Jobs Plan Pricetag: $3.7 Billion

Without offsetting cuts or taxes, candidate’s 'Blueprint' blows big hole in state budget

… extra money would go to public schools, universities, community colleges, film subsidies, state revenue sharing payments to local governments, higher unemployment … incentives,” but does not specify exactly how much more Schauer wants for these film subsidies. This year, $50 million was appropriated. As originally enacted …

Politicians Don’t Guide the Economy, You Do

Economic growth starts with the individual, not the state

… reports on the program lack a proper accounting of the costs. The state’s film subsidies are an even more dramatic example of politicians’ impotence in … economy. Despite $500 million in taxpayer expenditures, there are fewer film jobs now than when the program began in 2008. The future looks different …

What the New Legislature Should Stand For – and What It Should Not

A time for choosing in Michigan

… industries in the form of selective tax breaks and subsidies. Open-ended film production subsidies exploded, redistributing about $500 million from state … expanded at a cost of about $300 million per year, and $50 million in annual film subsidies continue flowing down the drain. State spending increased by $2.7 …

What the New Legislature Should Stand For — And What It Should Not

… politically connected firms through tax breaks and subsidies. For example, film production subsidies exploded, redistributing about $500 million from state … expanded at a cost of about $300 million per year, and $50 million in annual film subsidies continued flowing down the drain. Overall, state spending increased …

Bottom Line Will Tell How Effective House Republicans are at Limiting Government

… the Republican-controlled House eliminates the proposed appropriation for film subsidies, slashing it from $38 million to zero. The same panel cuts the … have been put back on the shelf. Questions about the wisdom of dollars for film subsidies will give way to line items nearly lost amid row upon row of other …

Introduction

… Economic Growth Authority, a refundable tax credit program, the Michigan Film Incentive Program and the 21st Century Jobs Fund. The first of these programs, … Snyder. Gov. Granholm created the latter two initiatives, but in 2015 the film incentive program was also ended by Gov. Snyder. The 21st Century Jobs Fund …

Pure Fiction: State Tourism Cost-Benefit Analysis Ignores Costs

The full cost of the Pure Michigan advertising campaign is ignored

… Michigan State University’s Center for Economic Research to examine the state’s film incentive subsidy program, for example. The MSU scholars concluded it was effective. An accompanying university press release called the film program a “big time hit.” Yet the authors of the report omitted all of the …

A Plea for Skepticism about the MEDC: An Open Letter

Lawmakers should take a closer look at economic development programs

… self-aggrandizing public relations statements. Another case involves the disastrous film incentive program, which wasted $500 million before being shut down. In … tapped by the MEDC to measure the impact of the first year of the Michigan film incentive program. The researchers declared it a success and a corresponding …

A Policy Guide to Fiscal Responsibility in Michigan

… through MEGA. From 2008 to 2015, the state dished out $500 million for film incentives, but could show no new growth in film jobs for it. An empirical analysis of the state’s Michigan Business Development …

Endnotes

… N.Y.: The Foundation for Economic Education, 1998, p. 29. See Michigan Department of History, Arts, and Libraries web site, "What is the Michigan Film Office," https://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17445_19275---,00.html. Act No. 523, p. 2. Executive Order No. 1991-21. See Michigan Department …

Subsidized Art Isn’t Free Expression

… caused you to ask a question that is not at all relevant to your argument. The Mackinac Center makes its case against public funding for the Ann Arbor Film Festival (AAFF) not for the sake of censorship, but for the sake of reserving the taxpayers’ assets for the genuine needs of all taxpayers, not the …

A Man Who Knew How Precious Life and Liberty Are

… produced the killing fields for which the film was later named. Indicative of the … much worse than those depicted in the film. He was driven to do well so that the … earned a little money here and there in film from cameo appearances and bit parts. … celebrate our creative achievements in film. But we should be even more thankful …

The Trend Toward — and Away From — Transparency

… the Freedom of Information Act. Still, it has become less forthcoming with information about the agency itself and about the high-profile Michigan Film Incentive subsidy, another economic development program under its supervision. [*] In a May 28, 2009, Detroit Free Press Op-Ed co-authored by economist …

Poverty is 2009 national debate topic

… department at Ave Maria College of the Americas in Nicaragua. Gregory Rehmke, director of educational programs for Economic Thinking/E Pluribus Unum Films, a nonprofit organization in Seattle, Wash. He has lectured and published widely on a variety of public policy issues. Mike Winther, co-coach of a …

MEGA Stories

… refuted. Which means never. Parting shot: At least one news outlet has reported that "Wonderstruck Studios, LLC" has dropped plans to build a promised film studio in Detroit, for which it had been given a MEGA deal. Even if this deal were costless to taxpayers, it still underscores the inability of the …

The Third Degree

… door. C. An insulation door. D. A resistance door. 7. What qualities do phosphates add to washing products? A. Raise wash efficiency. B. Prevents film forming on glassware. C. Both A and B. D. None of the above. 8. In 1977, the level of phosphates used in laundry detergents was lowered to what percentage? …

Blown Away by Former Detroit Mayor James Cavanagh's Ghost

… of the past half-century may provide to guide our future choices. In 1965, then-Mayor of Detriot James Cavanagh provided narration for a piece of film boosterism titled "Detroit: A City on the Move." Among other things, the mayor confidently announced that Detroit's future was bright "as a direct …

Small Businesses vs. Big Governments

… “communications specialist” for the Michigan Economic Development Corp., three jobs to test racehorses for drug use and a $70,000 job for the Michigan Film Office. “That’s what passes for a cut to the bone in Lansing,” Owens said. “We are rapidly getting to the point in this state where the tax spenders …

This Just In: Convicted Embezzler's Business Awarded State Tax Subsidy

… the last the public hears of state corporate welfare deals involving questionable supplicants. There is so much money sloshing around the Michigan film incentive subsidies, for instance, that future scandals seem all but inevitable.

Plagiarism, Flawed MSU Studies, and the People vs. the Ruling Class

… paid for by those unions). A third flawed MSU study paid for by the state's economic development bureaucracy buttressed its own specious claims that film producer subsidies are a wise use of taxpayer dollars. Consider this latest action from a pillar of the state's academic establishment in light of the …

Free-Market Fundamentals: What Did You Do For Liberty Today?

… ___ I wrote a letter-to-the-editor in defense of liberty, limited government or personal responsibility. ___ I recommended a good article, book or film that advances values consistent with a free and civil society. ___ I sent a personal check to an organization I know to be working for the advancement …

Don't Tenure Current Teacher Tenure Law

… above average, and indeed, some are downright poor. No one disagrees that bad teachers should be removed, so the only question is how. The documentary film "Waiting for Superman" provides some insights on the magnitude of the problem. It notes that every year nationwide, one out of every 57 doctors and …

Don't Tenure Current Teacher Tenure Law

… above average, and indeed, some are downright poor. No one disagrees that bad teachers should be removed, so the only question is how. The documentary film "Waiting for Superman" provides some insights on the magnitude of the problem. It notes that every year nationwide, one out of every 57 doctors and …

State Spending From State Sources Going Up Next Year

… Fiscal Agency analysis released last week understated this increase by leaving out so-called “one time” spending items (for example, $25 million for film subsidies, a figure that some lawmakers are already trying to increase). Given all the news stories about “draconian cuts,” many might be surprised …

Our Mission For 2012 and Beyond: Continuing to Hold Their Feet to the Fire

… level with the help of two Michigan Republican members of Congress. A Republican-led Legislature sitting on union reform bills and continuing the film subsidy. A physician's response to Governor Snyder’s new child weight reporting program. A public school system in which only 0.001 percent of all …

Commentary: Tourism Study Flawed

State needs to abandon subsidy favors

… somewhere. For example, groups that support public arts funding have found that every dollar in grants returns $51. Early childhood education returns $16. Film credits apparently have a six-fold return. Even the RASCO scandal involving convicted embezzler Richard Short was supposed to bring back $45 for every …

Economists: Business Tax Reform Helping, Not Hurting, Michigan

Union leader's claim about 'corporate special interests' proves false

… that particular big business, industries and companies favored by politicians received some of that $1.4 billion as special deals, similar to a state film incentive program that gives money to out-of-state movie producers. In reality, it was mostly small businesses that received a tax cut because they …

Feds Take Money But Pass On the Job of Disposing Nuclear Waste

Government has collected nearly $37 billion from rate payers

… but came up with no specific destinations. Radioactive waste can generally be stored and disposed of safely. The federal government has sponsored films of trains crashing into nuclear waste containers to show how it can be safely transferred.

Top 25 for 2013

… Charter School Story Wrong Eight Senate Republicans Join Democrats in Passing Obamacare Medicaid Expansion Public Employee Pension Systems Raided to Pay Film Studio Bills While Local Governments Fight Food Trucks, State Subsidizes Some of Them Higher Cigarette Taxes Create Lucrative, Dangerous Black Market …

A Legislative Agenda for 2014

… end Michigan’s “transition” out of it. — “Raise” Gov. Rick Snyder’s bid to cut $25 million out of wealth redistributions from Michigan taxpayers to film producers by making the total cut $50 million. In other words, zero-out this bizarre form of reverse-Robin Hoodism. For a complete list of recommendations, …

Sunshine Week 2014

… owners, graduate student research assistants and home-based caregivers. We’ve also dedicated a lot of time and effort into helping taxpayers understand film subsidies, corporate welfare and school spending. Even with those accomplishments, Michigan’s government transparency laws need updating for the 21st …

Interpreting Proposal 1’s Loss

First, look at current resources

… new House plan recognizes this, increasing road funding over time while diverting funding from less-needed areas like the 21st Century Jobs Fund and Film Incentives to the transportation budget. It also begins devoting more tax revenue from the growing economy to needed road funding. It is also encouraging …

Pure Michigan Scare Tactics

MEDC deploys 'Washington Monument syndrome'

… state’s transportation infrastructure. The MEDC is the state’s corporate welfare arm, which hands out select subsidies to corporations and oversees the film incentive program and the Pure Michigan advertising campaign. Specifically, the House GOP plan would redirect $185 million of spending on “economic …

The Problem of Corporate Welfare

… situation (though Michigan will be on the hook for past deals for decades). The amount of incentives handed out is less, particularly when it comes to film incentives. But the real problem with state “economic development” agencies is that trying to pick winners in a free enterprise system is inefficient …

The MEDC’s Pure Michigan Puffery: Part II

Reforms could make agency more credible

… demonstrated that it cannot be trusted to evaluate itself. The agency has a history of commissioning dubious studies justifying its programs, such as a 2009 film subsidy study and one in 2002 promoting big spending on government broadband deployment projects. This dynamic of self-serving research is not unique …

Republicans Backtracking on Previous Good Tax Work

More holes in the tax code with data center deal

… a select industry (data centers) rather than just one company only makes this a slightly less bad idea. This is the same Legislature that ended the film credits program, which also benefited one industry and arrived with similar promises of being the growing industry of the future. In 2010, Gov. Rick …

Pure Michigan Spent $295 Million and Even Hotels Only Got Scraps Back

Researchers find taxpayers pay big to ring resort cash registers just a little

… mostly a blunder. The marketing scheme is widely recognized thanks to its homey TV commercials showing picturesque Michigan locations and narrated by film and television star Tim Allen. Michigan’s Legislature appropriated $34 million to the program for the current year, $1 million more than last year. …

Profiles in Courage in Defense of Taxpayers

Cotter and Chatfield hold the line on cronyism

… for state legislators is go along to get along. Examples are commonplace: A since-repealed state program that gave nearly half a billion dollars to film producers was opposed by exactly one legislator when it was approved in 2008. Scores of similar giveaways have been authorized by the Michigan Legislature …

Cheers for Detroit Schools Transparency

District has come a long way

… These requests have helped us uncover unions skimming money from home health care aides and child care providers, break news of a scandal involving a film studio, expose teachers who couldn’t be fired despite committing criminal acts, find out about millions of public dollars being used for private union …

How to Control the Pension Debt

The costs of pension liabilities have grown out of control

… can stop it. A young Steve McQueen eventually figures out that it doesn’t like the cold, so the town freezes it and transports it to the Arctic. The film gives me the same feeling I get as I watch the government pension scandal across the country. Pensions provide retirees with a decent income in retirement. …

How to Control the Pension Debt

The costs of pension liabilities have grown out of control

… can stop it. A young Steve McQueen eventually figures out that it doesn’t like the cold, so the town freezes it and transports it to the Arctic. The film gives me the same feeling I get as I watch the government pension scandal across the country. Pensions provide retirees with a decent income in retirement. …

Lessons from Ronald Reagan

from the 1980s to Today

… of the United States. He has been on almost all media, from Al-Jazeera to Glenn Beck, from Travis Smiley to Rush Limbaugh. Since 2009, he has been a film producer and his documentary, “Rockin’ the Wall,” about rock music’s part in bringing down the Iron Curtain, appeared on PBS. He retired in 2016 to …

An Interstate Compact to Eliminate Corporate Welfare

… tell. Want your state to be in on the ground floor of the tech revolution? Subsidize data centers. How about attracting young creative minds? Subsidize film production. Want to address the critical need for farm-to-table citrus? With enough subsidies, Michigan could even “compete” with Florida by growing …

Bill Extends Criminal Sanctions To Eavesdropping Via Siri, Alexa, Smart TVs

Law’s definitions of eavesdropping, surveillance, secret records date from 1966

… time when citizens would have a Siri in their pocket, an Alexa on their dresser, and a so-called smart television that could potentially record and film everything that happens in their living room. “Consumers are slowly becoming aware of the danger of private conversations being recorded by their …

The 21st Century Jobs Fund: $274,800-$330,600 annual cost per job created

… successful than they likely are.[*] The Mackinac Center has catalogued such instances involving the 21st Century Jobs Fund, the state’s[70] (now defunct) film incentive program and the Pure Michigan advertising campaign.[71] [*] For more on this subject, see “A Plea for Skepticism about the MEDC: An Open …

Giving Credit to the Dog That Didn’t Bark

Legislators deserve praise for refusing to authorize more corporate handouts

… Cotter and his Republican caucus, especially, did not make it a priority. Lawmakers even got rid of some programs. They stopped handing out money for film production, the most profligate business subsidy offered by the state. Existing programs continued to be funded in annual budgets, but they enacted …

Granholm’s Green Energy Boondoggles No Bar To Selection As Biden’s Energy Secretary

Former Michigan governor finally gets gig 12 years after pitching herself to President-elect Obama

… needed to ensure Michigan’s economic success in the 21st century,” Granholm quoted herself. The company was said to be a manufacturer of flexible thin-film modules, and was approved for a $17.3 million state tax credit in 2008, to be paid out over 20 years. According to Granholm, United Solar Ovonic would …

A Jarrett of All Trades

Meet Jarrett Skorup, Vice President for Marketing and Communications

… any given week, he could write about the barriers to employment created by the state’s occupational licensing rules, the foolishness of the latest film subsidy proposal, and the unfairness of the state’s civil asset forfeiture rules. Or he could be talking with elected officials, journalists and policy …

What I Learned at the School of Education

by Andrew Titus

… running the course. One evening, we watched a film—for nearly an hour—about how middle school children … and high school pupils. At its conclusion, the film urged students to sign up for middle school certification. Even though nothing in the film was objectionable by itself, disguising a plea, …

The Sound of Freedom (Long Version)

… Todd S. Purdum of the New York Times refers to the film as "the last picture show of its kind, a triumph … in Pittsburgh, 40 miles from our home, to see a film called "The Sound of Music." I knew nothing of … but for me it was an epiphany. It’s my favorite film, and it always will be. ##### Lawrence W. Reed …

MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST October 7, 2008

… Arbor News. A production company will shoot the film "High School" this fall in the largely unused building. … maintenance services during the three months of filming. Superintendent Ted Gardella also said there … The Ann Arbor News, "School to net $120,000 in film deal," Sept. 30, 2008 FURTHER READING: Michigan …

Lawmaker Seeks More Transparency for SWAT Team Raids

… 'Professors' Email' FOIA Request $72 Million in Film Credits Not Reported by Film Office New Film Office Report Misleads and Shows Undercounting …

Dec. 16 MichiganVotes.org Weekly Roll Call Report

… Senate Bill 569, Continue giving subsidies to film producers: Passed 92 to 15 in the House To convert the state film incentive program into straightforward handouts … nothing in the bill limits how much the Michigan film office can authorize, and once it does the state …

GOP Candidates For Michigan's 80th House District Tackle the Issues

Cindy Gamrat vs. Steve Schulz

… Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) and the state film incentive program, taxpayers in Michigan spend … oversight committees of the legislature.” On the film subsidy program, he said it is a handout of “lucrative … House Primary Race Contrast Over Right-to-Work, Film Subsidies, Detroit Bailout In 31st District Senate …

The Model Facade: Selling Jobs to the Public, Press and Policymakers

History shows models are used to obscure costly, ineffective programs

… (which are maintained online here), the state’s film subsidy program and the current and secretive Michigan … consultants to estimate the impact of their new film incentive subsidy program after its first year. … was released and pointed to as evidence of the film subsidy program’s success. The state’s corporate …

Introduction

… intended to create — to those that help underwrite film production. The latter credit — the film production incentives that many states still have … repeal efforts — is even harder to justify. The film industry is hardly a mom-and-pop business on the …

Three Former State Representatives Crowd The Race For Michigan's 13th Senate District

Marty Knollenberg, Chuck Moss, Rocky Raczkowski, Ethan Baker and Al Gui face off

… companies (especially relating to the $50 million film subsidy), and whether they would vote to repeal … While Moss and Knollenberg voted for the original film subsidy program, they have had a change of heart. … House Primary Race Contrast Over Right-to-Work, Film Subsidies, Detroit Bailout In 31st District Senate …

35 Years of Excuses for Bad Policy

Lawmakers should agree to stop offering corporate welfare

… other states, it’s tough selling Montana.” Montana film office manager in 1998 “This will be especially … can’t compete with other states.” An Arkansas film lobbyist in 2004 He offered remarks in support of recently-approved subsidies for film production. “North Carolina, therefore, must be …

Endnotes

… 1998, p. 29. Act No. 523, p. 1. Ibid. Act No. 523, p. 2. See Michigan Department of History, Arts, and Libraries web site, “What is the Michigan Film Office,” https://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17445_19275---,00.html. Act No. 523, p. 2. Ibid. Executive Order No. 1991-21. See Michigan Department …

Outsourcing Job Losses in Perspective

… or one-fifth of its global work-force, not because of foreign competition but because the popularity of digital cameras have depressed the sale of film. Montgomery Ward, K-Mart and other retailers have laid off tens of thousands of workers in recent years, not because of foreign competition but because …

Debate students hone skills at workshops

… policies. Bandow is also the author of a forthcoming book, "The Korea Conundrum." • Gregory Rehmke, program director at Economic Thinking/E Pluribus Unum Films, a nonprofit organization in Seattle. He has spoken and written on each year’s national high school debate topic since the 1980s. To inquire about …

A Statesman To Remember

… crusader Thomas Clarkson and a band of uncompromising activists brought an end to slavery throughout the British empire. If you didn’t see the magnificent film "Amazing Grace" in a theatre earlier this year, you can now watch it on DVD; Wilberforce is the central character. Born in 1759, Wilberforce never …

Field Trips

Area science museums host special programs of interest to budding scientists and their families

… p.m.-5 p.m. For more information, go to www.aahom.org/exhibits/index.html. Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs This IMAX documentary, narrated by horror film veteran Christopher Lee, combines original and historical footage, period recreations, computer-generated graphics and interviews with prominent Egyptologists. …

Government Operations and Spending

… the cooperative extension service and to Michigan State University's agriculture experiment station. » www.mackinac.org/5325#AES 12 Eliminate state film production subsidies. » www.mackinac.org/10733 13 Stop paying Amtrak an annual state subsidy. » www.mackinac.org/7402 14 Eliminate Medicaid spending …

Tool #3: Candidate Questionnaire for Tea Party Activists

Hard-to-dodge questions that suggest whether a candidate for the Michigan Legislature actually supports limited government principles

… conference centers, etc., as a "recreation authority." 17. A bill to hand out millions of dollars of cash subsidies to Hollywood producers who shoot films in Michigan. Part 2 — General Candidate Preferences 1. Would you support repealing a 22 percent Michigan Business Tax surcharge passed in 2007, and …

Green Jobs Fad Means More Government Intervention

… of operation it went belly-up, costing the Michigan State Housing Development Authority $14.5 million. Gov. Jennifer Granholm created the Michigan film subsidy program, which in 2008 cost taxpayers $48 million to get a meager 1,100 new jobs, or $43,600 per job. If similar bribes were required for the …