Brent Graves, a biology professor at Northern Michigan University, sarcastically promotes in MLive a “right-to-live” law to balance right-to-work laws in Michigan. But the attempt to make worker freedom proponents look silly comes up short.
Graves proposes that his “right-to-live” law would allow Michigan residents to choose whether to opt out of paying taxes while still receiving benefits from state government. Graves’s main point is that there are similarities between union representation and an elected government:
Mackinac Center board member Rodney Lockwood and Senior Economist David Littmann are part of a group that will present a plan for private investors to purchase Belle Isle from the city of Detroit for $1 billion and create a "free-market utopia" there, according to The Detroit News and Crain's Detroit Business.
State and national media are widely reporting the findings of a new study by Mackinac Center analysts.that shows tobacco taxes in Michigan and other states increase cigarette smuggling.
The New York Times, New York Post, CBS in Detroit, Bloomberg, The Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call, the Gaithersburg (Md.) Gazette, MLive, Reuters, Albuquerque Business First, The Salt Lake Tribune, The Commercial Appeal, CNN and the Midland Daily News have all covered the story. LaFaive also discussed it on "The Tony Conley Show" on WILS AM1320 in Lansing.
Supporters of the president are circulating a chart around the Internet that makes it appear his plans are turning around the economy.
The president's plans are not doing that, but the chart below that's being used makes it look like the so-called economic recovery began at the same time as President Obama's inauguration in January 2009.
Michigan’s 97th Legislature convened for the first time this week, with the House and Senate electing officers and adopting rules. Twenty-six House members (out of 110) first elected in November were sworn in, while all 38 Senators continue the four-year terms they began two years ago.
Bridge Magazine, part of a group called The Center for Michigan, has released a ranking system for Michigan schools that takes into account the socio-economic backgrounds of students that is “similar” to one introduced by Mackinac Center analysts six months ago, according to MLive.
Newly elected Gratiot County Commissioner Scott Showers suggested at the body’s first meeting of the year Tuesday that all of the commissioners read “Seven Principles of Sound Public Policy,” written by Mackinac Center President Emeritus Lawrence W. Reed, according to the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun.
Supporters of punitively high tobacco tax rates should be careful what they wish for.
According to the Mackinac Center’s latest estimate of cigarette smuggling rates, Michigan is No. 10 nationally in the proportion of cigarettes being smoked here that are illegally smuggled in. This is the third such estimate the Center has produced, and the details are disconcerting. The smuggling rate here increased 12 percent since 2009, with contraband smokes now representing 29.3 percent of all consumption.
Labor Policy Director F. Vincent Vernuccio was on Fox Business with Neil Cavuto Wednesday night discussing the possibilities of unions mounting a recall effort against Gov. Rick Snyder due to Michigan becoming the 24th right-to-work state.
Vernuccio said he did not think such an effort would succeed, and said it could give union members more incentive to resign their membership under Michigan’s right-to-work law if they thought their dues were being misspent on such politics.
A metro-Detroit mayor is offering free bumper stickers to people opposed to Michigan’s new right-to-work law, according to The Detroit News.
“If he wants to prevent workers’ freedom from coming to Michigan, then that’s his own prerogative,” Labor Policy Director F. Vincent Vernuccio told The News. “If he wants to go back to the days of forced unionism … he’s free to do so — as long as he isn’t using taxpayer funds.”
As Michigan transitions to a right-to-work state, the main benefit for teachers and others is that they will not be forced to financially support a union as a condition of employment.
Probably the biggest complaint from public school teachers about their union is the amount of money spent on politics — and where that money goes. This shouldn’t be surprising: The National Education Association, the largest teachers union in the country, took a survey of its membership a few years back and found that a strong majority classify themselves as politically “conservative.”
United Van Lines released its annual accounting of where American households are moving and Michigan ranked as the 6th highest state in outbound traffic in 2012.
That is a modest improvement over 2011, when the Great Lake State was ranked 4th. Specifically, 58 percent of all United Van Lines 2012 Michigan-related moves are outbound.
Media outlets across Michigan are using the year-end “missed votes” tally at MichiganVotes.org to track legislators’ attendance records for the 2011-2012 session.
The Detroit News, Flint Journal, Holland Sentinel, Lansing State Journal, Kalamazoo Gazette, Dearborn Press & Guide, Ludington Daily News, Grand Haven Tribune and Midland Daily News all used the service to highlight the performance of their respective legislators.
Last year, Highland Park schools were out of control, says Mia, an eighth-grade student. "Because we did what we want. We didn't have enough teachers." And, her friend Frankie added, there were a lot of fights.
"We had combined classrooms," Mia said. "That means like 60 students in one class."
Individual legislators missed 2,234 votes in 2012, according to MichiganVotes.org 'Missed Votes Report'
Michigan’s 38 senators and 110 representatives missed 2,234 votes in 2012, according to the Missed Votes Report compiled by Jack McHugh, editor of MichiganVotes.org.
Labor Policy Director F. Vincent Vernuccio was a guest on “The Kudlow Report” on CNBC tonight, discussing a recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board that makes it more difficult for workers to exercise their Beck Rights.
The Mackinac Center's efforts over more than two decades are featured prominently in a new article scheduled for release in the Dec. 31. 2012, issue of National Review about Michigan's journey to become a right-to-work state.
Labor Policy Director F. Vincent Vernuccio and President Joseph G. Lehman provided this overview of the Center's role in this historic move in the Dec. 15, 2012, issue of The Wall Street Journal.
Mackinac Center Editor Lindsey Dodge explains in today’s Detroit News how expensive, needless regulations on taxi cabs in Detroit are “indicative of the destructive policies that have helped the city go under.”
(Editor’s note: The following is excerpted from the introductory remarks delivered by Clifford W. Taylor, former chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and member of the Mackinac Center’s Board of Directors, at an 80th birthday celebration held in April 2007 for Judge Robert Bork, who passed away Wednesday.)
When Comedy Central mock pundit Stephen Colbert coined a word to connote a sense of verity for topics completely unverifiable, the term “truthiness” quickly entered the lexicon. Never mind those inconvenient and uncomfortable facts, Colbert comically winked, the faint whisper of truth is enough if it confirms a person’s ideological bias.
A proposed ethanol plant for Frontier Renewable Resources in the Upper Peninsula has survived a legal challenge filed by the Sierra Club and a Chippewa County resident. But the company building the plant may be one of the biggest green failures in the country.
The Oxford Foundation’s proposed revision of Michigan’s school funding system seeks to “unbundle” educational services, essentially making it easier for students and parents to choose from a wider selection of public school options.
The proposal has received harsh criticism from many school officials. But at least one line of criticism doesn’t stand up to the facts.
Note: Due to lengthy House and Senate sessions, some votes from this week will be included in the next Roll Call Report.
Senate Bill 116, Make Michigan a "right-to-work" state: Passed 58 to 52 in the House
To prohibit employers from enforcing a union contract provision that compels workers to join or financially support a union as a condition of employment. The bill also includes a $1 million appropriation to make it "referendum-proof." All Democrats voted "no" and all Republicans voted "yes" except for Reps. Forlini, Goike, Horn, McBroom, Somerville and Zorn. This vote sent the bill to the Governor to sign, which he did the same day.
