Author Archives: Phil Power

We must protect ‘Michigan, Our Michigan’

By Phil Power | Published: August 24, 2011
The Latin motto on the state of Michigan’s great seal — “Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam, Circumspice”– says it all. Translation: “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.“ And it is a great — no, perfect — set-up for all the wonderful “Pure Michigan” TV commercials extolling the beauties of our state. Naturally, it seems only right [...]
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Immigrants can energize Detroit

By Phil Power | Published: July 28, 2011
Whatever you think of Detroit, it is hard to imagine Michigan thriving if our largest city isn’t on some kind of road to prosperity. And plenty of folks, both business-oriented (think DTE Energy, Business Leaders for Michigan) and philanthropic (think the Kresge, Skillman and Hudson-Webber Foundations) are committed to and heavily invested in the city’s success. Then [...]
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Parties play to extremes; voters left stranded

By Phil Power | Published: July 20, 2011
The coverage of Betty Ford’s funeral last week pushed my thoughts back to the mid-1960s, when I ran the Capitol Hill congressional office of Rep. Paul Todd, Jr., D-Kalamazoo. Those were days when Rep. Gerry Ford, R-Grand Rapids, was on his way up in a career that would ultimately take him first to the position of [...]
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Get cracking on Metro Detroit freight hub

By Phil Power | Published: July 13, 2011
This may sound too good to be true, but it is true: Michigan could easily transform itself into a global freight gateway that could create more than 200,000 jobs and add billions in economic activity. And this could all happen within the next decade. If we play our cards right and this all works out, Michigan could [...]
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Voters shut out on redistricting

By Phil Power | Published: June 29, 2011
Every decade, the law requires every state to redraw every legislative and congressional district to reflect changes in population discovered by the Census. The cycle’s process is about at its end, with maps for both Congress and Michigan’s Senate and House districts now being rushed through the Legislature before its summer break. But if you think this [...]
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Sand thrown in gears of democracy

By Phil Power | Published: June 16, 2011
If you’ve been around for awhile, you’ll have noticed that both our state and national politics have become nastier and more partisan in recent years. Why? I have developed what I call the “single sandbox theory.” Simply put, it suggests that a fragmented news media have spawned countless single sandboxes, each occupied by a partisan personality. Here’s [...]
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Michigan needs an attitude overhaul

By Phil Power | Published: June 8, 2011
There was a different, pleasing feel about last week’s Mackinac Policy Conference. True, the crowd on the wonderfully long, pale green and white porch of the Grand Hotel, punctuated by blazing red geraniums, was as aggressive as ever around the bars at cocktail time. But the mood was markedly different than in recent years. “This is the [...]
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Snyder’s off to fast start, but it’s a long race

By Phil Power | Published: June 2, 2011
Gov. Rick Snyder is taking a victory lap or two at the annual Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce’s policy conference on Mackinac Island this week. Both of the governor’s main initiatives – a complete restructuring of Michigan’s business tax system and a radically reorganized state government budget  – have been adopted by the overwhelmingly Republican Legislature. [...]
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Will Michigan build on its history of technological prowess?

By Phil Power | Published: May 25, 2011
As we head into Memorial Day weekend, here are two straws in the wind to mull as you sip your lemonade … It’s now clear that Michigan’s economy has turned the corner. Things aren’t perfect yet, but seasonally adjusted unemployment figures put our jobless rate for April at 10.2 percent, according to the Michigan Department of [...]
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Snyder has his lab coat on

By Phil Power | Published: May 18, 2011
“It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.”                                                              – Justice Louis D. Brandeis, 1932 Justice Brandeis made his celebrated remark about the states serving [...]
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