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During long winters, such as the one we are just now recovering from, there always comes a point where I ask myself why I left California. (I grew up in Los Angeles.) Then I remind myself of Michigan’s recovering outmigration rate, passage of right-to-work, and the massive grass root support to get this state back on track, and I’m reassured that Michigan is the better place to be.
Michigan’s recovery, unfortunately, is always tempered by the discussion of Detroit. Assistant Director of Fiscal Policy James Hohman addresses Detroit’s administrative woes — and the silver lining now that an emergency financial manager has been appointed — in "Detroit: The Administrated Road to Serdom." Detroit’s journey has been hampered by poor public policy, mal-administration and corruption, but there are those who hold out hope that the Motor City can reinvent itself on stronger footing.
Of course, the battle against special interests is never really over. Take the many school districts that surreptitiously tried to skirt Michigan’s new right-to-work law with “security” agreements. The surprising and reassuring result of this strategy is that many teachers now feel safe enough to voice their discontent with unions. Anne Schieber, our senior investigative analyst, has interviewed teachers from around the state who don’t feel represented by their union, including the three Taylor teachers the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation filed on behalf of against these agreements.
The other news brightening up our cloud cover is the announcement that John Mackey will be the keynote speaker at our 25th anniversary gala in October. (Visit mackinac.org/25th online for more information.) Mackey is the co-CEO of Whole Foods Market and co-author of “Conscious Capitalism,” the Wall Street Journal bestseller.
All in all, a busy start to the season! We look forward to hearing from you via letter, email, Facebook, Twitter, and, oh, carrier pigeon, we suppose. Whatever works for you — we love hearing from you.
All best,
Lindsey Dodge, EDITOR
