As described here and elsewhere, one provision of Obamacare seeks to tempt state legislatures into expanding state Medicaid eligibility and spending by placing 100 percent the expansion’s costs on the federal budget for the first three years, and 90 percent from the year 2020 on in perpetuity.
(Editor's note: Mackinac Center President Emeritus Lawrence W. Reed, now president of the Foundation for Economic Education, reflects on the passing of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whom he met on two occasions.)
Paraphrasing St. Francis of Assisi, Margaret Thatcher ushered in her long and storied tenure as Britain’s first woman Prime Minister in 1979 with these words: “Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.”
The 1980s were a heady time for political and cultural junkies. If the 1960s were an era where the distinctions between the two were blurred, the 1980s obliterated them completely.
Perhaps no public figure prior to President George W. Bush was vilified more by pop musicians than Margaret Thatcher. British musician piled on mercilessly from Elvis Costello and Billy Bragg to The Style Council, Genesis and Robert Wyatt.
“Individualism has come in for an enormous amount of criticism over the years. It still does. It is widely assumed to be synonymous with selfishness. … But the main reason why so many people in power have always disliked individualism is because it is individualists who are ever keenest to prevent the abuse of authority.” – Margaret Thatcher, Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World.
A rehashed report that is several years old and labeled “updated” from the Michigan Education Association that attempts to paint the Mackinac Center in a negative light has received minimal media interest.
According to The Saginaw News, the report claims the Center has a “hidden agenda.” Media Relations Manager Ted O’Neil pointed out how silly that claim is in light of the fact that the Center has more than 18,000 articles posted online.
The pantheon of rock journalism includes such recognizable names as Lester Bangs, Jann Wenner, Richard Meltzer, Robert Christgau and Michigan’s own Susan Whitall and Dave Marsh. Preceding them all, however, was Paul S. Williams, erstwhile editor of “Crawdaddy!” magazine and author of a shelf of books on the genre, who knocked down the door for all others to follow.
Y = Yes, N = No, X = Not Voting
The House and Senate did not meet this week, so rather than votes this report instead contains several recently introduced bills of interest.
Senate Bill 251: Allow less than unlimited auto crash injury insurance
Introduced by Sen. Virgil Smith, Jr. (D), to allow auto insurance companies to offer policies in which the maximum personal injury protection coverage (PIP) is $50,000. The current no-fault insurance law mandates that vehicle owners buy unlimited personal injury coverage. Referred to committee, no further action at this time.
Research Associate Jarrett Skorup was interviewed on 1320 WILS's "Tony Conley Morning Show" today regarding the updated job numbers to CapCon's breaking news story from last summer regarding Mascoma Corp., the "green" energy company.
Mascoma Corp. received more than $100 million from the federal government and $20 million from the state of Michigan to build a plant in Northern Michigan. They promised to create 70 jobs, and so far three jobs have been reported. Promises to build the plant by 2012 were not fulfilled either.
The Center for Michigan recently made the claim that retaining 5-year-olds for another year of kindergarten doesn’t work. The evidence they provide for this is weak, but that aside, this appears to run counter to their other argument that an additional year of state-funded preschool for 4-year-olds yields huge benefits.
Media attention continues to focus on school districts around Michigan that agreed to new teachers union contracts in order to circumvent the state’s new right-to-work law.
“They have locked in teachers and other school employees from being able to exercise these rights for several years,” Education Policy Director Michael Van Beek told The Daily Caller. “Any deal that’s over three years is pretty well abnormal, especially since the trend with collective bargaining has been toward shorter and shorter contracts, and three years is really seen as quite a long time.”
Rep. Eileen Kowall, R-White Lake, introduced her Main Street Fairness bill in the Michigan Legislature in February. Also that month, U.S. Sen. Michael Enzi, R-WY, introduced the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013.
Both bills are bad news for Michigan specifically, and the United States in general.
Labor Policy Director F. Vincent Vernuccio will participate in the Spring 2013 Griffin Policy Forum at Central Michigan University at 7 p.m. on April 8 in the Park Library Auditorium.
The topic will be “The Future of Labor Unions in Michigan.” Also scheduled to participate are former Lt. Gov. John Cherry, AFT-Michigan President David Hecker and Michigan Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Rich Studley. John Lindstrom, publisher of Gongwer News Service, will moderate. Admission is free and the public is invited to a reception in the Park Library Baber Room from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Y = Yes, N = No, X = Not Voting
The House and Senate are on a two-week spring break, so rather than votes this report instead contains several recently introduced bills of interest.
Senate Bill 210: Increase charity sales tax exemption
Introduced by Sen. Michael Green (R), to exempt from sales tax up to $25,000 in annual retail sales made by a nonprofit organization for fundraising purposes, rather than $5,000 under current law. At least 10 similar bills raising the $5,000 cap have been introduced since 2002. Referred to committee, no further action at this time.
A lawsuit filed by the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation on behalf of three teachers in Taylor over a 10-year contract that will force them to financially support their union was cited in The Wall Street Journal Monday.
The column, written by Stephen Moore, is about Michigan’s new right-to-work law and the lengths unions are going to in order to prevent workers from exercising their freedoms under the new law.
Mackinac Center research was cited in the Livingston Daily Press & Argus about the possible repeal of the state’s prevailing wage law today.
The story cites this 2007 study by Paul Kersey, former director of labor policy, which shows the law increases the cost of publicly funded construction projects by 10 to 15 percent.
Michigan school districts are required by law to make performance a "significant factor in determining compensation" for teachers.
This is uncharted territory for nearly all schools, since historically they've paid teachers based only on years on the job and academic credentials. Some public schools in India, on the other hand, have paid teachers based on performance for years, and a new study finds large and positive impacts for Indian elementary school students.
Elkhart County in northern Indiana, which borders Michigan to the south of Cass County, increased its employment 6.9 percent in the third quarter of 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That growth is more than any other large county in the country for that quarter, and it far outpaces the national average for employment growth of just 1.6 percent.
When a company wants to go public and offer shares of common stock, it must fill out an S-1 form, a background document used by investors for research before an initial public offering (IPO) is filed. Because they have a direct financial interest in the performance of a company, individuals and groups that invest are smart to look closely at this document before pledging their money.
Michigan’s right-to-work law takes effect today, meaning that unions cannot get employees fired if they choose not to financially support the union.
Labor Policy Director F. Vincent Vernuccio discussed the issue on WWJ AM950 in Detroit and participated in a live web chat with the Lansing State Journal today at 11 a.m.
This month marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon.” The album is a watershed for music lovers and audiophiles as well as prompting several critical reassessments throughout the past four decades.
While the album’s themes of insanity, fame, loneliness and death remain as universal as they did four decades ago, Side Two opener “Money” has proven somewhat problematic for free-market critics such as your writer.
School districts and universities signing last-minute contract extension that circumvent Michigan’s new right-to-work law aren’t breaking any laws, but they are denying workers their freedom, Education Policy Director Michael Van Beek told The Macomb Daily.
Michael Van Beek, director of education policy, was a guest on “The Tony Conley Show” on WILS AM1320 this morning discussing school funding.
Van Beek recently analyzed claims by a Michigan State University professor that school funding fell almost 25 percent between 2002 and 2011 and found that to be incorrect. Van Beek found that the professor excluded billions of dollars in tax revenue that go to intermediate school districts and funding from the federal government and local school millages. Overall school funding, when adjusted for inflation, increased 22 percent between 1995 and 2011, according to Van Beek’s research.
Labor Policy Director F. Vincent Vernuccio will take part in a live chat about right-to-work Thursday at 11 a.m. with the Lansing State Journal.
A Kent County Board of Commissioners subcommittee is recommending that the Kent County Land Bank be prohibited from purchasing tax-foreclosed property prior to tax auction.
If Kent County commissioners approve this recommendation, they will be taking a step toward both encouraging private-sector development and saving taxpayers money.
Research Associate Jarrett Skorup was a guest on “Let it Rip” on FOX2 in Detroit Sunday, where he discussed the millions of taxpayer dollars that are being taken from Michigan residents and given to Hollywood producers and other politically connected corporations.
