Federalized Health Care Opponents Prepare for November
Nationalized health care's rough journey through Congress ended Sunday.
Wendy Day of Common Sense in Government and other allied opponents of the federal plan will help fire Michigan's first counterpunch today when they announce a citizen petition drive that they hope will halt the proposal in its tracks.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved President Barack Obama's health care legislation Sunday night, which among other things will mandate that nearly every American purchase health care.
The response in Michigan will be to try to amend the state constitution so that it prohibits a federal law from compelling any person, employer or health care provider to participate in any health care system, and prevents anyone from being penalized for ignoring the federal law. more …
Cost-Cutting Options Written Out of Kent ISD Contract
The Kent Intermediate School District approved a one-year agreement with its unions that would halt privatization even though school administrators acknowledge it is not enforceable. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy received the contract between the Kent County ISD and its unions this week through a Freedom of Information Act request. more …
Lansing Rally on Sunday to Show State Resistance to Federalized Health Care
With a vote on President Barack Obama's health care reform bill expected Sunday, a group of protesters are holding a last-minute rally to show politicians it is time for states to flex their own muscles. Joan Fabiano of Grassroots in Michigan is hosting a health-care protest Sunday from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in Lansing at the State Capitol building. more …
School Employees Likely to Get Three-Quarters of $554 Million Service Tax Proposal
Only $8.8 million of a proposed $554 million in taxes earmarked to help Michigan schools would go to teaching and testing supplies and textbooks, according to a Mackinac Center for Public Policy analysis. Meanwhile, $434 million — more than 78 percent — would go to school employee salaries and benefits more …
Activist Notebook: 'TEA Party Express' to Tour Michigan
The Tea Party Express national bus tour will be hosting a series of rallies across the nation and will include stops in Michigan next month... more …
Michigan's Costly Tab for 'Cap-and-Trade'
Cap-and-trade legislation will hit Michigan hard by 2030 if passed, costing the state as many as 91,000 jobs while raising residential energy costs as much as 60 percent and cutting a family's disposable income by as much as $1,400 a year, according to a new study. more …
Changing the Climate on Climate Change
Paul Chesser spoke of the nearly 20 controversies that have been recently uncovered involving the science promoting global warming.There was China-gate, Climate-gate, Peer-Review-gate. Those were just a few of the 19 documented controversies that have shined a light on the faulty data and assumptions behind global warming.
more …Recent Developments in Union Corruption Cases
From the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards come the following updates on union corruption investigations in Michigan: more …
Michigan Should Not Create a 'State Bank'
By Michigan Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo
Wall Street investors would have to loan us the money, and the people of Michigan would be on the hook twice: first for paying off the initial bonds and second for the low-interest, higher-risk loans the bank would be created to make. Our state's financial situation would only be made more precarious by taking out loans to start a bank in order to make even riskier loans that existing banks and credit unions find too unsound to make. more …
Michigan Needs a 'State Bank'
By Michigan Sen. Hansen Clarke, D-Detroit
Look, no plan is perfect. No plan is ideologically-neutral, but we are in an economic crisis in this state. I urge everyone to consider every possible angle to create jobs. Yes, I believe the government should be able to create jobs... more …
'Survey of Pain' Says Taxpayers Need to Hurt More
The Michigan School Business Officials and a tax-increase advocacy group called "Save Our Students, Schools and State," have released results from a canvass of 300 school districts, dubbed the "Survey of Pain." Tax hikes are proposed to alleviate the pain... more …
Road Rage: Keeping More of Michigan's Gas Tax Dollars at Home
Following a report that estimates Michigan taxpayers have paid for $1.7 billion in road improvements in other states over the past 50 years, State Sen. Wayne Kuipers said it's time the state got payback.
more …The Cost of a New State Constitution
Whether residents approve a constitutional convention on this November's ballot may come down to how much it would cost to rewrite the state constitution.
But there is a disagreement over just how much it would cost. more …
Secretive State Department Told to Fess Up to Taxpayers
Seven months of silence is too long.
That was the message Patrick Wright told the Senate Family and Human Services Committee this week. more …
States Launching 'Civil Disobedience' to National Health Care
Lawmakers opposed to President Barack Obama's plan for national health care reform are hoping to spur a nationwide "civil disobedience" that can derail Obamacare.
more …
Many Senators Refuse to Stand Against "Ineffective Teachers"
An investigative series by the Grand Rapids Press in late 2008 exposed the wrenching and expensive process that Michigan public schools must go through to dismiss even the most troublesome of tenured public school teachers. Though a new state law is supposed to make this easier, critics argue that all of the strict teacher tenure protections will remain in place and that these are a far greater impediment to getting the job done. more …
Public Events: Two Free-Market Panels of Experts to Examine Green Jobs and Climate Change
As the science behind global warming theory comes under closer scrutiny due to the Climategate scandal, several events have been schedule to discuss this controversial issue. more …
Walled Lake Teacher Contract Analysis
The following is a detailed analysis of the current Walled Lake Consolidated Schools teacher contract. Of its $167 million operating budget, 87 percent is devoted to employee compensation. more …
Does Michigan Need a New Constitution?
Standing before a crowd of TEA party activists last month, a member of the audience asked State Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, whether a constitutional convention was a good thing.
“That is a very bad thing,” Bishop told the crowd. “Any time you open a window, all the flies can come in. There are a lot of flies out there now.” more …
Superintendent Pay, Teacher Pay, and School Spending Reform
Senate Bill 1148, introduced recently by Sen. Bruce Patterson, R-Canton, would limit the total compensation of public school superintendents to 75 percent of what the governor is paid and prohibit districts from paying any teacher more than what a state legislator makes. more …
Legal Experts See Few Constitutional Hurdles Currently Impeding Federal Health Care Takeover
A recurring topic on conservative talk radio shows has been that mandated health care is unconstitutional and could derail President Barack Obama’s health care reform. But three constitutional law experts say that scenario is unlikely. more …
