An Op-Ed in today's Detroit News by Michael Van Beek, education policy director, outlines school reforms Michigan should make in order to qualify for a federal grant.
The Livingston Daily editorial today cites research by Mackinac Center scholars about the failure of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
A new report out of Oregon alleges fraud and intentional deception on the part of state officials in their rush to use taxpayer money to lure green jobs to Oregon. The Oregonian reports that state officials deliberately underestimated the cost of tax payer subsidies for green energy projects, resulting in a cost 40 times greater than estimates provided to Oregon lawmakers before they voted on the tax breaks. Findings include:
A new client who is part of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation's lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Human Services is featured in The Flint Journal today.
Michigan voters should not be fooled by the latest effort of environmental groups, called "Mi Water," that purportedly would regulate mining in the state. The ballot proposal does not regulate mining as much as it effectively bans future mining in Michigan.
A column in Saturday's Kalamazoo Gazette references a recent Current Comment about school consolidation by Michael Van Beek, director of education policy, that details why school district consolidation isn't the answer to problems with Michigan's public education system.
A reporter with The Michigan Messenger contacted two college professors in response to an Op-Ed that Paul Kersey, labor policy director, wrote for The Detroit News.
Both professors agreed with Kersey who, in relating his recent study on the Michigan Public Employee Relations Act, said the refusal by unions to renegotiate contracts could force the city of Detroit to declare bankruptcy.
In his recent Oakland Press blog posting, capitol reporter Tim Skubick speculates that the recall weapon could be stolen from the anti-tax side and used by the "more money for government" crowd. Specifically, he's thinking about K-12 schools:
The schools now confront a whopping $292 cut for every school kid who walks through the door. The governor is urging the education lobby, see yesterday's blog, to get in the game and turn up the heat on republicans who are loathed to put up a green light on new revenue. Tossing the recall card on the table might up the ante.
A new report by the National Center for Education Statistics contains some bad news for Michigan schools. When compared to proficiency standards on national tests, Michigan's self-proclaimed "proficient" students score near the bottom in the country.
The NCES study compares state-defined proficiency with that of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. This process measures the strength of each state's standardized tests and cut scores. It addresses whether a student who is "proficient" by State A's standards would also be "proficient" by State B's standards. In most cases, it's much easier to be marked proficient in Michigan than almost any other state.
The U.S. House of Representatives has just posted on the Internet its health care overhaul bill, HR 3962, “To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, etc.” All 1990 impenetrable pages of it.
In response to a question from Jon Boguth in Time on what makes Michigan's existing businesses less worthy of tax relief than film producers, Gov. Jennifer Granholm responded, "You can't give tax credits to everybody, because somebody's gotta pay for them." It's a clear admission that the program is not costless. And because the film incentive is so generous, the costs of "success" would be massive.
Politicians are often anxious to been seen as "green" as they support stringent environmental standards and mandates. Unfortunately, they often ignore the costs of those measures — that is, until those costs come home to roost in their own districts. Witness U.S. House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey, D-Wis., who along with 98 other Democrats voted to protect agricultural and Great Lakes shipping interests from Environmental Protection Agency regulations as part of a deal to move a $32.24 billion natural resources funding bill.
Legislators loading (more) debt onto taxpayers to pay the health benefits of retired government employees may make many voters wonder who these pols really work for. Here's the latest version, from MichiganVotes.org:
Senate Bill 927, introduced by Republican Senators Mark Jansen, Bill Hardiman and Roger Kahn, to give local governments the power to borrow without a vote of the people to pay for the health benefits that current and past officials have offered to government employees after they retire. A referendum on the debt would be required only if someone gathered signatures from 5 percent of local registered voters or 10,000, whichever is lower. The amount of debt imposed could be as high as 5 percent of the jurisdiction's state equalized property value.
Michael LaFaive, director of fiscal policy, responded today to a Detroit News story that distorted information contained in a recent policy brief written by Gary Wolfram, Ph.D., a Hillsdale College professor and Mackinac Center adjunct scholar.
Wolfram's brief also was referenced in this Oakland Press column.
In Wednesday's MIRS "Capitol Capsule" (subscription required), Michigan Economic Development Corp. CEO Greg Main discusses the latest Michigan Economic Growth Authority targeted tax break deals for selective "winner" companies. MEGA is the flagship program of the state's "economic development" bureaucratic empire over which the MEDC presides.
State Sen. Nancy Cassis has introduced legislation in Lansing that would allow localities to set up what might be called “right-to-work zones.” The authority of local governments to take this step is dubious — what little legal authority there is on the question is all negative — but while courts have struck down local right-to-work ordinances both times they came up, neither of the two decisions involved a state statute that authorized local right-to-work. This is a question on which legal experts disagree vehemently, but a carefully-written “local option” law passed by the state legislature could work.
A speech on health care reform at Northwood University last night sponsored by Students for a Free Economy was covered by WEYI-TV25 and the Midland Daily News.
SFE hosted Michael Tanner, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, who discussed "The Obamacare to Come." Tanner, a nationally known author and speaker, will discuss the same topic tonight in East Lansing.
Some American politicians frequently tout the European model as a shining example of energy policy, citing government policies there promoting alternative energy over the past decade. Recent studies out of Spain and Germany, however, indicate that those two countries have been successful in increasing the amount of alternative energy but at a high cost to their economies.
Last Saturday, The Detroit News ran an article titled "Michigan's Shrinking Government" examining various measures of state spending and employment. The piece had several problems, but one sentence stood out: "The economic development staff has been slashed."
The Mackinac Center sponsored a luncheon Oct. 26 in Troy where attendees had a chance to meet some of the "stars" of the Center's recent YouTube video series in which Canadian citizens describe the problems they have had with their country's single-payer health care system. Two of those individuals are Shirley McGuin and Mike Jubenville.
The Granholm Administration wasted no time after the Michigan Economic Growth Authority monthly rubber-stamp board meeting on Tuesday to start pumping out press releases bragging that more than 2,800 new jobs were coming to Michigan as a result of selective tax break deals for the latest gaggle of "winner" firms and projects.
Governor Granholm and certain quarters of the state media have been very excited by a recent report from the Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth extolling the success of the No Worker Left Behind Program, but the report leaves a lot of questions unanswered. It is far from clear that NWLB has had any positive effect on the state’s economy, or even done much to help its participants. Until the economic fundamentals of the state are addressed, retraining programs are probably an exercise in futility.
Lawrence W. Reed, president emeritus of the Mackinac Center, will be inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame Wednesday night, according to the Midland Daily News.
"The 2009 laureates truly epitomize the essence of Junior Achievement; free enterprise, ingenuity and entrepreneurship. They have unselfishly shared their individual successes and talents to enhance the quality of life in Midland and the surrounding areas. We are fortunate to have such giving leaders in our community to serve as role models for our youth," Mike Rush, president of Junior Achievement of Central Michigan, told the Daily News.
A public forum about Canadian health care hosted Monday by the Mackinac Center was covered by Reporting Michigan.
Speakers included three Canadians featured in videos the Center recently released, discussing their difficulties with nationalized health care and warning that the United States should not pursue reforms to that end.
The legislative defenders of this state’s public school unions and establishment — including horrendously failing school districts like Detroit’s — recognize that they can no longer just stand in the schoolhouse door blocking the exit of students seeking a real education someplace where learning actually occurs.
While Lansing plays out the current chapter in the perpetual shortfall between how much it would like to spend vs. how much it expects to collect, new evidence reveals that the total revenues and spending of Michigan’s state and local governments have never been higher.
