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For practical
reasons, politicians typically feel compelled to propose policies that are
politically acceptable to the public. For many pols, that’s an excuse to play
it safe.
This is sad, because
politicians can still be entrepreneurs. Just as market entrepreneurs develop
products that consumers never quite knew they wanted (think the iPad),
political entrepreneurs can develop policies that voters never quite knew they
wanted.
Enter Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, the Mackinac Center’s keynote speaker
on Nov. 14 in Lansing. Gov. Daniels, enthusiastically introduced by Michigan
Gov. Rick Snyder, headlined an event that promoted policy entrepreneurialism in
a Michigan market ripe for change.
Nearly 600 people turned
out to hear the message that evening at the Lansing Center, including Michigan
House Speaker James Bolger, Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Young
Jr., Michigan Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman and a contingent of state
lawmakers. Against the backdrop of a beautifully decorated room and a
beautifully served, Michigan-themed dinner, the assembly listened to thoughts
on political boldness from Govs. Snyder and Daniels, Mackinac Center President
Joseph G. Lehman, and emcee and radio talk show host Frank Beckmann. Also that
night, four people were honored as models of courage: policy entrepreneur and
Mackinac Center President Emeritus Lawrence W. Reed, and home-based day care
providers Sherry Loar, Paulette
Silverson and Michelle Berry.
As the keynote speaker, Gov. Daniels was a perfect fit.
Speaking simply, wryly and without written remarks, he explained how seven
years ago, on his first day in office, he abolished public-sector collective
bargaining — something he could do unilaterally, since it had been established
in Indiana state government by executive order. This bold gambit removed the
roadblocks to a smaller, better government that employed the “Yellow Pages”
test: “If it’s in there, you [the government] probably shouldn’t be doing it
yourself.” The subsequent streamlining, he noted, left 21 percent fewer
state employees — fewer than in 1975, and the fewest per capita of any state in
the nation.
The resulting flexibility also improved state services.
Permit waiting times dropped. Tax refunds came back in 16 days, rather than 31.
Child protective services cleared one of the nation’s worst backlogs. Average
visit times at the Department of Motor Vehicles fell to around 9 minutes
and 30 seconds, with customer satisfaction at 96 percent. The state’s
business climate, once “nondescript, in many cases, unattractive,” is “now
routinely measured somewhere in the top five.”
Reflecting on these
accomplishments, Gov. Daniels described a goal — and an attitude. The goal was
one he communicated to his governing team from the start: running government
“every single day in a way that leaves as many … dollars in the pockets of the
free men and women who earn them as we can.” The attitude involved leadership,
particularly making hard choices: “People make these calls in their personal
life all the time. They’ll understand if government and those leading it put it
plainly to them in that way. … [M]any things we did didn’t look too good at the
time. But if they deliver, if they produce improvement — tangible, concrete
results — folks will open their minds … and come to a new point of view.”
A classic example was his decision to end public-sector
collective bargaining: “The sky did not fall, the revolution did not begin,
maybe because we acted so quickly and suddenly. There’s a good lesson in there,
Rick, and I think that I’ve mentioned to a lot of other governors: What ought
to be done — do it early, do it fast, do it swiftly and do it decisively In the
wisdom of the old country song, ‘If I shot you when I should’ve, I’d be out of
jail by now.’”
Gov. Snyder, introducing Gov. Daniels, explained that when
he decided to run for governor, “I said I would really like to go visit the
best [governors]. So actually, Gov. Daniels was kind enough to have a meeting
with me.” At that meeting, Gov. Snyder brought up the now-repealed
Michigan business tax, saying, “Gov. Daniels, I want to get rid of the dumbest
tax in the United States, so you don’t get most of your business from our state.”
Mackinac Center analysts had also recommended repealing
the tax, and Gov. Snyder had kind words for the Center’s work, saying: “First
of all, I’d like to say thank you to the Mackinac Center, to Joe [Lehman], to
your board, to your entire team. You do provide a good role model in terms of
the research, the thoughtfulness, the ideas that you put forward. It is very
helpful, … because it’s about getting people on board and having facts and
information to share. … I even keep the ‘101 [Recommendations to Revitalize
Michigan]’ around near my desk and pull them out and see how I’m doing on the
list every so often.”
Another key issue on
which Mackinac Center analysts and Gov. Snyder had agreed was that the more
than 40,000 home-based day care workers and business owners in Michigan are not
government employees. The newly installed Snyder administration’s decision to
stop the illegal collection of government employee “union dues” from these
providers had ended a lawsuit filed against the state by the Mackinac Center
Legal Foundation (see Impact Spring 2011), and during the event at the Lansing
Center, Mackinac Center President Joe Lehman honored the brave stand of the
Center’s clients in that suit with the Center’s Lives, Fortunes and Sacred
Honor Award.
In accepting the award on behalf of co-plaintiffs Sherry
Loar and Michelle Berry, Paulette Silverson said: “I am honored to accept these
awards on behalf of Michelle, Sherry and myself. It has been a privilege to
work with the Mackinac Center. They have pushed relentlessly for the truth in
our case. … The results, in my opinion, are a very big victory for freedom, and
I thank you.”
Also honored that evening was former Mackinac Center
President Lawrence W. Reed, who received the Center’s Champions of Freedom
Award. In presenting the award, Lehman quoted Reed’s own words: “We need to
take time to assist our brothers and sisters who are laboring in the same
vineyards, on behalf of the same causes. When we strengthen others, we all grow
stronger.”
Gov. Daniels echoed that sentiment in his remarks on
Michigan. He spoke warmly of restoring the Midwest’s economic strength. He also
described how popular support and positive policy change become mutually
reinforcing, saying: “This is what I predict you are going to do in Michigan.
Success breeds more success. Be bold. Take chances. Trust your fellow
citizens.”
That’s
what the Mackinac Center is all about.
