In a recent Detroit Free Press article, Doug Pratt of the Michigan Education Association argued that school employees have become victims of considerable budget cuts. Expressing confidence that Gov-elect Rick Snyder will make decisions based on data, Pratt adds, "When you set the rhetoric aside, the data is (sic) on our side."
Michigan's roads and bridges are crumbling while the federal government is throwing money at states for the purpose of building high-speed rail lines. A week before the elections MLive.com reported that Congressman John Dingell announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation will award the state $150 million dollars for a high-speed intercity passenger rail program and an additional $3.2 million to pay for project planning. The federal economic stimulus plan includes $8 billion for building nine lines for bullet trains, including one from Detroit to Chicago.
The fall fundraiser for public radio supposedly ended in October, in the middle of the Juan Williams' firing imbroglio. And yet this morning, Nov. 11, my local NPR affiliate here in mid-Michigan was still interrupting programming to request listener donations.
Reportedly the Michigan Legislature is considering legislation to prohibit young drivers from having more than one non-related passenger in the car.
Restrictions on minors are a public policy issue on which people of principle can reasonably disagree. On a similar bill several years ago, state Sen. Mickey Switalski, D-Roseville, eloquently made the emotional case for fewer restrictions, concluding with a very personal reminiscence. Here's what he said on the Senate floor on Oct. 6, 2004:
The lead investor in the Hangar42 movie studio deal was in court today for a preliminary exam, according to The Grand Rapids Press. Joseph Peters is charged with attempted false pretenses over $20,000.
Attention was first drawn to Hangar42 after the Mackinac Center broke the story following a months-long investigation by Center analysts, including a call for the Michigan Attorney General to investigate. Fiscal Policy Director Mike LaFaive and Communications Specialist Kathy Hoekstra raised several questions about the matter with an essay and investigative video posted May 20. At issue was the value of the proposed film studio, which those involved said was worth $40 million, even though it had been listed by a real estate agent for $10 million shortly before the deal was announced.
During her eight years as a member of the Michigan Senate, Nancy Cassis has been a stalwart defender of free enterprise and the principle of a "fair field with no favors" provided by government to particular corporations. She has often been a lonely opponent to the massive expansion of state corporate welfare that the Granholm administration and legislators on both sides of the aisle have substituted for genuine pro-growth economic policies.
Labor Policy Director Paul Kersey was a guest recently on "The Greg Marshall Show" on WMKT-AM1270 in Charlevoix, where he discussed how taxpayers foot the bill for public-sector union dues, the need for right-to-work protections in Michigan and how unions spend a fraction of the dues they take from workers on collective bargaining.
Billions of taxpayer dollars are being thrown at green energy projects in the form of subsidies and tax credits by the federal and state governments. Government is using taxpayer money in financing a high-risk bet that green energy will be successful in replacing fossil fuels that provide the majority of energy that Americans use to power their factories, heat their homes and fuel their vehicles.
David Littmann, senior economist at the Mackinac Center, is cited in The Detroit News today in a story about rising gasoline prices.
The News reports that the Federal Reserve's recent announcement to buy $600 billion worth of government bonds "will force the value of an already weak dollar to plunge further."
Michigan State University continues to investigate potential plagiarism by one of its professors in a school consolidation study, according to the Student Free Press Association.
"This remains a troubling case for two reasons," Senior Director of Communications Michael Jahr told the SFPA. "First, no action appears to have been taken regarding a professor who copied material from other sources without attribution. Second, even though the scholarship in this study was debunked by our education policy director, as well as the author of an earlier report that the study was based on, it continues to be treated as academically sound by some media outlets and MSU."
Michigan Business Review reports on a recent Michigan Capitol Confidential story about members of Michigan's Congressional delegation who voted for an increase in the federal minimum wage law but offer unpaid internships in their offices.
"The publication asks the question that if congressional members believed that it's exploitative to hire employees for less than a minimum wage, isn't it worse to hire them for no pay at all? They make a good point," Michigan Business Review says about Capitol Confidential's coverage.
Columnist Tim Carney observes in the Washington Examiner that whether or not they trim ethanol subsidies will provide an early test for how serious Republicans in Washington are about reducing the cost, size and intrusiveness of government. The same applies here in Michigan.
Due to a data-entry error, Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville, was incorrectly listed on MichiganVotes.org as the sponsor of House Bill 5593, now Public Act 216 of 2009, which increased the state licensure fees imposed on nurses. A Michigan Capitol Confidential story citing MichiganVotes.org inadvertently repeated the error.
A story Friday in Michigan Capitol Confidential about a CATA bus driver who made $140,000 last year provided the impetus for a front-page story Saturday in the Lansing State Journal.
"The wage information was originally reported by Capitol Confidential, a publication of the Midland-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy," the Journal reported. "The free-market think tank obtained CATA records through a Freedom of Information Act request."
Every week, MichiganVotes.org sends a report to newspapers and TV stations showing how just the state legislators in each publication's service area voted on the most important and interesting bills and amendments of the past seven days. The version shown here instead contains a link to the complete roll call tally in either the House or Senate. To find out who your state senator is and how to contact him or her go here; for state representatives go here.
There are renewed calls and more pressure in metro Detroit to build a light-rail from the Oakland County suburbs to downtown Detroit, according to The Detroit News.
Mackinac Center analysts have explored the problems associated with such public transportation on numerous occasions, including here and here.
Michigan's economy can recover if government places fewer burdens on business, Mackinac Center President Joseph G. Lehman told Fortune Magazine today.
"We used to be a wealthy state," Lehman said. "Now we're a poor one."
Fortune pointed to this research by James Hohman, fiscal policy analyst, which shows public-sector benefits in Michigan outpace those in the private sector by $5.7 billion annually.
Obamacare restricts how states can save money on Medicaid until they take on larger burdens they can't afford in 2014. Meanwhile, Michigan has a $1.5 billion spending overhang going into the 2011-2012 budget year due to the use of one-time "gimmicks" and remaining federal "stimulus" dollars to prop-up the current budget.
The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) forbids tighter eligibility standards except to "nonpregnant, nondisabled adults" with incomes over 133 percent of poverty, which applies to exactly zero people on Michigan Medicaid.
With no option to reduce eligibility, the way Medicaid currently works, states must either eliminate optional services or reduce payments to doctors. The former likely won't save enough, unless the state also eliminates prescription drug coverage. The latter may also be limited by federal requirements on maintaining access. Doctors are already dropping out of Medicare and Medicaid because of low payments from the government insurers. Further reductions in Medicaid reimbursement will only worsen the problem.
That is why I have advocated seeking a waiver to transform Medicaid into a premium support program to aid in the purchase of private insurance and fund personal accounts. As Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson wrote, "[P]rivate insurance generally is better than Medicaid." If the state can reduce cost and provide better health care coverage to the poor, the premium support and personal account plan should be a no-brainer and get federal approval for a waiver.
There's no question that Michigan's economy has performed poorly over the past decade. Essentially, the state lost one out of every five jobs since employment peaked in 2000. However, Michigan's economic trends have changed in recent months. It is no longer the worst performer in the country. In fact, since the end of the U.S. recession, Michigan's performance is average.
As General Motors finalizes plans to begin selling stock again, questions surround the government takeover of the automaker that could affect the share price, according to David Littmann, senior economist.
"Is this the last time (the government saves an automaker) or is it just a precedent that encourages moral hazard?" Littmann asked when interviewed by the Detroit Free Press.
The Michigan Public Service Commission has just issued a report on "net metering" in the state during the last six months of 2009. The press release that accompanied the report chirped that the number of net metering electricity customers increased by 85 percent during that period, from 135 to 254. With a few exceptions, most of these small generators make electricity with wind turbines and solar collectors.
Voters going to the polls today have been bombarded for months with promises made by candidates seeking their support. Voters for too long have been disappointed by politicians who say one thing while running of office, only to do quite another after being elected. I believe there are two primary reasons for this phenomenon.
Mackinac Center President Joseph G. Lehman was on WEYI-TV25 in Saginaw discussing the two ballot proposals Michigan voters will address today.
"You don't need a new constitution," Lehman said regarding Proposal 1. "The legislators and the governor have all the authority they need to bring spending in line with what they can afford."
Michigan Capitol Confidential reports that the Lansing School District used taxpayer-funded resources to send out a flier that clearly encourages voters to approve a tax increase to pay for more spending by the district.
Experts quoted in the story explain that while probably improper, the flyer urging voters to "Fund Our Future" was not (quite) illegal. A school district spokesman told MichCapCon.com that the phrase is "just a slogan."
The average teacher salary in Huron Valley Schools was $62,439 in 2009, and teachers contribute nothing to the cost of their health insurance premiums. The district pays about 51 percent more than the average employer in the state for employee health insurance. Huron Valley also pays teachers who opt-out of health coverage $3,281 annually. The local union president is fully released from all teaching duties (without loss of pay or benefits) to conduct union business. These are among the highlights in the current collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the district and the local arm of the Michigan Education Association union.
