A new report from the Pew Center on the States, Beyond California (pdf), erroneously suggests that Michigan's economic travails are due to the fall of the auto industry and the presence of what it characterizes as an "out of sync" tax system.
Certainly, the decline of the Big Three is important, but focusing on just this one sector leaves 84 percent of Michigan's job losses unaccounted for. And the auto industry just doesn't mean what it used to mean for the state. In 1963, the auto industry generated 24 percent of everything produced in this state. Today, it makes up just 6 percent.
A Bay City Times editorial enthusiastically echoed the Mackinac Center's rallying cry for government transparency: "Show Michigan the Money." Partly thanks to Mackinac Center Policy Analyst Ken Braun's continual efforts, more public school districts and local governments are posting their check registers online.
Last August, the Mackinac Center released a critical report, "Michigan Economic Development Corporation: A Review and Analysis," which found, among other things, that the Michigan Economic Growth Authority, the state's flagship jobs program, was so ineffective that every $1 million in MEGA tax credits awarded in a particular county was actually associated with a loss of 95 manufacturing jobs in that county.
By Jack McHugh
States with laws giving government employee unions greater power tend to have less economic growth and more government spending growth, according to a recent analysis by Mackinac Center scholars. The degree of public sector unionism is one of a number of theories for what causes some states to grow while others suffer economic decline, one that acquires additional weight thanks to this analysis. Policymakers looking to reverse Michigan's decade-long decline should not ignore the role these laws may play.
The road to hell is paved with the shells from proverbial eggs broken in the service of producing an idealized omelet. In the case of Grand Traverse County, enough eggs are being broken to warrant the attention of the folks at the Guinness Book of World Records.
Only in America can researchers lament the availability of inexpensive food. Instead of appreciating how amazing it is that America's poorest are too fat, a recent paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research hints that minimum wages should be raised to take away Americans' access to abundant, cheap food.
Don't forget, tomorrow at 4 p.m. is the deadline for turning in your bid to purchase the Pontiac Silverdome. As noted in this space about a month ago, there is no minimum bid price. But if you're in the market for a government-owned sports arena that has no teams playing under its roof and thus nobody helping to pay its bills, then do be advised that the annual upkeep on the building is estimated to cost you $1.5 million, and that the $800,000 in annual operating subsidies from state taxpayers stopped flowing some time ago. This hefty maintenance cost is a main reason why budget-strapped Pontiac is trying to unload the building, regardless of price.
With much talk about school budgets and per-pupil costs of public education in Michigan, there's bound to be plenty of questions and assumptions made about our school funding system. Here's a breakdown of two common myths about one of the most misunderstood concepts — the foundation allowance.
Admittedly, television shows like "Dancing With The Stars" aren't my cup of tea. Nevertheless, as Gov. Jennifer Granholm approaches her final year in that office, the idea of wearing an unbuttoned silk shirt and tight salsa pants, and shaking my behind to "Wild Thing" (a' la' Tom Delay), still sounds more attractive than "Dance with us in government."
Shortly before 10 a.m. this morning, I chatted with a couple of high school students from the Merrill Community Schools while outside the state Capitol. They were two of what appeared to be about 100 kids from this Saginaw-area district of 772 total pupils. The students had been brought to the Capitol for a rally sponsored by an organization calling itself "S.O.S.," which according to the group's website apparently stands for the far-reaching agenda "Save Our Students, Schools and State."
$6,876,303.90, to be exact. That's what the Michigan Department of State Police is charging for documents that I requested via the Freedom of Information Act regarding the state's handling of federal homeland security grant money from 2002 to present (see image at right). This is definitely a record for Mackinac Center FOIA requests. In fact, this may be a record for any FOIA request. Even the $3,438,151.95 down payment seems likely to be a speck above the average FOIA asking price.
The Mackinac Center's call to end tax subsidies for filmmakers is featured in The Detroit News today. The News asked several organizations and individuals for ideas to "fix" Michigan and is printing the top 50 in a continuing series. Center scholars have also contributed ideas including budget reforms, decreasing school employee costs, privatizing noninstructional school services and eliminating agricultural extension programs.
Assuming an average class size of 25 students, the $292 per-pupil cut currently debated in the Legislature means that each classroom in the state will have to make do with $7,300 less funding. This leads to images of classrooms without enough textbooks, pencils or chalk. The reality, though, is that comparatively, schools spend very little on classroom supplies such as these.
In the face of their failure to reverse an economic decline that's been underway this entire decade, Michigan politicians are perennially desperate for ways to show they're "doing something" to fix the problem. The approach they've mainly adopted is a massive expansion of discriminatory tax breaks and subsidies for particular firms selected by state bureaucrats or political appointees.
By Jack McHugh
The Nov. 6 edition of the Gongwer Michigan Report (subscription required) describes a new "bulletin" from the Michigan Department of Treasury defining which foods are considered "prepared" — and thus subject to the state sales tax — and which are not:
By Jack McHugh
A bipartisan package of bills in the Michigan Senate is poised to protect consumers from the tragedy of bad interior design. The legislation may or may not succeed in that, but it certainly will protect interior designers from the tragedy of more competition generating lower prices for consumers.
In a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, Shikha Dalmia cited the Mackinac Center's recent finding that Michigan's public-sector employees annually receive $5.7 billion more in benefits than their private-sector counterparts.
Property Rights Network Director Russ Harding was quoted in The Detroit News, opposing a bill mandating "green" driver's education courses. "Everyone, including me, is in favor of fuel efficiency and protecting the environment," Harding said. "But what bothers me is that this is another attempt by the government telling us how to live."
"Everything must be on the table."
"There must be shared sacrifice."
I keep hearing such pronouncements from voices both inside and outside of government who characterize themselves as "fiscally conservative." So why are many of them criticizing school spending cuts enacted by Gov. Jennifer Granholm through either line-item veto or executive order?
Even as Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the state Legislature struggle to produce a budget, the Congressional health care bill rushing towards passage in Washington this weekend threatens to blow an even bigger hole in Michigan's ledger. Much of Lansing's budget prescriptions have been short-term bandages (like using federal stimulus dollars to pay for government largesse) but these patches do nothing to fix long-term ills like Medicaid entitlement spending that now gobbles up 25 percent of the state's budget - up from just 5 percent 30 years ago.
Russ Harding, director of the Property Rights Network at the Mackinac Center, was a guest Thursday on WMKT in Traverse City. Harding discussed the Boardman River dam removal issue in Grand Traverse County, as well as the speech he will give at noon Monday to the Antrim County Republican Women's Club at Siren Hall, located at 151 River St. in Elk Rapids.
In the latest Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency Economic Indicators report, economist David Zin echoed an observation I made here last month on personal income: The recent increase in a key economic indicator — personal income growth — suggests the very opposite that Michigan has turned a corner.
Lawrence W. Reed, Mackinac Center president emeritus, is cited in a Detroit News column today about First Amendment concerns surrounding disagreements between President Obama and Fox News, while his popular monograph "Great Myths of the Great Depression" was cited yesterday by Investors Business Daily in an editorial about Tuesday's New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections.
On Tuesday, voters in Virginia and New Jersey sent a message to Washington out of fear of what America might become. In Michigan's largest city, Detroiters elected a mayor to deliver them from what their city has become.
Detroit is a progressive's dream - a living monument to decades years of Big Government statism. The city sports a living wage, the region's highest taxes, a commuter tax, government-run public services, government-run parks, government-run schools and a crippling 85 percent illegitimacy rate. These Great Society-inspired policy "successes" have led to a 30 percent unemployment rate, a 50 percent adult illiteracy rate and a city budget on the verge of bankruptcy.
Russ Harding, director of the Property Rights Network at the Mackinac Center, was a guest today on "The Norm Jones Show" on WTCM in Traverse City. Harding discussed the Boardman River dam removal issue in Grand Traverse County, as well as the speech he will give at noon Monday to the Antrim County Republican Women's Club at Siren Hall, located at 151 River St. in Elk Rapids.
