A recent blog post by Michael Jahr, senior director of communications, about Michael Moore accepting a Michigan film subsidy for a movie of his that railed against government subsidies was quickly picked up by other media, including The Michigan View at The Detroit News and The Houghton Lake Resorter.
"Cry me a future/Where the revelations run amok/Ladies and gentlemen/Lions and tigers come running/Just to steal your luck." — From "Especially in Michigan," by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
United Van Lines has released mid-year data on where it takes its clients to and from in the 48 contiguous states. Once again, Michigan finds itself in the number one position. That is, 61.6 percent of all Michigan-specific UVL traffic is outbound. Fortunately, this is down from 70 percent during the same the same time frame last year. Unfortunately, that drop may be a function of having nowhere to go.
The New York Times reported yesterday that "the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be dissolving far more rapidly than expected" and that "the immense patches of surface oil that covered thousands of square miles of the gulf are largely gone."
Donald J. Kochan, an adjunct scholar with the Mackinac Center and an associate professor at Chapman University School of Law in Orange, Calif., wrote Monday in the Los Angeles Times about Ben Franklin's views on "luxury" and how they apply to today's society.
The Traverse City Record-Eagle yesterday reported that filmmaker Michael Moore expects to receive between $650,000 and $1 million in state film subsidies for producing part of "Capitalism: A Love Story" in Michigan.
Actually, the Record-Eagle reported that Moore has "a new project - revitalizing derelict, depressed downtown theaters in communities across Michigan." The fact that he would use taxpayers' money to pay for his philanthropy was barely noted. The irony that Moore might receive state funds for a film that denounced government handouts to the wealthy and politically favored went completely unremarked.
A Dearborn Times-Herald Op-Ed by Mike LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, points out the obvious: tax hikes kill jobs and tax cuts create them.
LaFaive's Viewpoint on the same topic is highlighted at "The Corner" on National Review Online today.
Michigan public schools received and spent more money per pupil in 2008-2009 than in any previous year for which figures are available, according to new data from the Michigan Department of Education.
Combined taxes from local, state and federal sources pumped $19.59 billion in the public school system last year. This gross receipts figure was actually down $200 million from the previous year, but since the number of students dropped by an unprecedented 31,000 from 2007-2008, the amount of money spent per student increased by $200, to just over $13,000.
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 Legislature did not meet this week, so instead of votes this report contains eight newly introduced bills of interest:
It is good news that cap-and-trade legislation passed by the U.S. House will not be taken up by the Senate as announced by Senate leader Harry Reid yesterday. However, it is too early to celebrate the death of this job-killing legislation that would increase the cost of energy for American consumers and businesses. As Mark Twain famously quipped: "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." Bad ideas coming out of Washington die only to be resurrected in another form.
The Tuesday, July 22, Michigan Capitol Confidential story "The Art of the Ann Arbor City Budget" reached millions of readers, starting with an appearance on national news aggregator, the Drudge Report. The American Spectator quickly followed with a column expanding on similiar "creative" arts funding in other states. USA Today, Instapundit and Neal Boortz picked up the story as well.
Presented without comment, this excerpt from an item by John Peterson on the "AltEnergyStocks.com" site, which describes itself as a provider of "high-quality, original research into alternative energy, renewable energy, and clean technology companies":
A newly introduced bill in Michigan gives new meaning to the phrase "politically correct economic development." Included in Ed Clemente's introduced House Bill 6242, which would create a new government economic development commission, is a stipulation that members appointed by the governor must "be representative of this state geographically, racially, and with regard to gender."
When it comes to which model of vehicle Americans should buy, the federal government knows best — or believes it does. Not content with merely requiring that vehicles get better fuel economy, Congress is now considering legislation that favors the newest fad in green cars — the plug-in hybrid. According to a report in the Detroit Free Press, a Senate committee yesterday approved two bills aimed at promoting hybrid vehicles, one of which would expand a $25 billion loan program aimed at fuel-efficient vehicles and the other a $3.6 billion bill sponsored by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., aimed specifically at plug-in hybrids.
What could have been a 'burning' issue for the incoming director of the state Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth (DELEG) may be all but washed out. That's after a hearing Tuesday in Lansing before the director of Michigan's Bureau of Construction Codes, Irvin J. Poke. He heard comments from about three dozen people, most of whom were opposed to making fire sprinkler installation mandatory for new home construction in Michigan.
Ron Dzwonkowski at the Detroit Free Press wrote an article on the late Joe Overton, the man behind the Overton Window concept of political possibilities. Overton was vice president of the Mackinac Center, and his idea of a moveable window of politically acceptable public policies is now the title of a best-selling novel.
Michigan leaders who are enamored with building new light-rail passenger lines should look to Greece's experience with its railway system. The New York Times reports that Greece's Hellenic Railways is bleeding red ink at a rate of $3.8 million per day. The total debt of the Greek railway system has increased to $13 billion, or roughly 5 percent of Greece's gross domestic product. Greek government officials who are interested in selling a stake in the state railway system may have difficulty finding a buyer — the Greek rail system pays three times as much for interest payments on its debt as it takes in on revenues.
Michigan has lost forever the contributions of a stalwart freedom fighter: Chetly Zarko was found dead this morning at the age of 39. Reportedly, he slipped away while reading, sitting in a chair in his apartment.
Requieset in Pace.
Chet's greatest passion was defending the people's right to know through the state Freedom of Information Act. The University of Michigan's bureaucracy was one early target of his dogged pursuit of the truth.
Last spring, the Legislature adopted a largely-gutted version of a modest school employee pension reform proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in January. One of its features is what the governor and her speechwriters labeled a "hybrid" retirement plan for newly hired teachers, one that supposedly falls midway between a traditional "defined-benefit" pension and the modern "defined-contribution" or 401(k)-type plans.
The work of Mackinac Center analysts has provided information to challenge conventional wisdom on several points, and Michigan newspapers have taken note.
The Grand Rapids Press picked up on Michael Van Beek's work taking down the claim that public schools are underfunded, part of Van Beek's "Debunking School Funding Myths" series. The Press article quotes Van Beek saying "The real reason for school money troubles is not 'underfunding,' but a failure to contain employee costs that comprise about 80 percent of operational budgets."
Media outlets across the state are highlighting the debate about job-creation policies. Mackinac Center Fiscal Policy Director Michael LaFaive has long argued that tax incentives and subsidies are not the path to improving Michigan's economy.
The Grand Rapids Press is hosting a live chat about tax incentives at 12:30 today. For the chat, LaFaive will join Brigit Klohs, president of an economic development agency. Listen in and ask your own questions here.
(Cross-posted from The Michigan View)
On Monday, Rush Limbaugh dedicated a substantial portion of his show to an incredible article by Angelo M. Codevilla in the current American Spectator: America's Ruling Class — And the Perils of Revolution. (Here's the text of Limbaugh's monologue.)
With the appointment of an interim Senator in West Virginia, Democrats in Washington are pushing through an extension on unemployment benefits. Under current law, benefits run out after 99 weeks (up from a previous record high of 65 weeks in 1975).
There's valid argument that a compassionate society with a dynamic economy should provide unemployment benefits, and a legitimate debate regarding how much and how long. But recently, some have gone beyond this and argued not only that these benefits are necessary, but that they actually stimulate the economy.
Yesterday, President Barack Obama and Gov. Jennifer Granholm came to Holland bearing gifts: cash subsidies for an electric car battery plant owned by the Korean firm LG Chem. The federal contribution is $151 million in "stimulus" money, and Michigan taxpayers are kicking in another $100 million in cash (plus more later). Of course the real gift-givers are taxpayers, who are all but buying the plant for the company, given that its construction is expected to cost between $244 million and $303 million.
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 legislature did not meet this week, so instead of votes this report contains eight newly introduced bills of interest:
Centrally planned jobs with a "green" focus are not the way to boost the economy in Michigan or nationwide, a Mackinac Center analyst told The Daily Caller, a Washington, D.C.-based political news website.
"There's no evidence that electric cars are the future; the market will sort that out," Jack McHugh, senior legislative analyst, told The Daily Caller for a story about President Obama's appearance in Michigan Thursday to promote an electric car battery maker that received $151 million in subsidies.
