Author Archives: Phil Power

Status quo can’t hold on schools

By Phil Power | Published: May 11, 2011
You may have heard that Gov. Rick Snyder sent a special message on education reform to the Legislature late last month. Well, I have actually read it — something that took me a while. This is far from a twitter message; it is several thousand words. Yet it is well worth the read. The governor’s plan [...]
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Snyder seizes the moment

By Phil Power | Published: May 5, 2011
Four months after the Snyder administration took over in Lansing, it’s becoming clear that we are living in highly consequential, if not downright revolutionary, times. Our past leaders saw the clouds approaching — and did little or nothing to shelter us from the storm. For the previous dozen years or so, Michigan government merely nibbled around [...]
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Tensions rise on education, union fronts

By Phil Power | Published: April 27, 2011
Michigan always has had its share of characters — and I recently shared a podium with one of our best: Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, a quick-witted and amiable rogue if there ever was one. The occasion was a Birmingham Chamber of Commerce lunch meeting April 21. Patterson talked about the ways in which he [...]
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Snyder sets right tone on unions

By Phil Power | Published: April 13, 2011
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity … – A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens Dickens’ famous novel was set in London and Paris during the [...]
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Stakeholder Report: The Center’s work in Q1 2011

By Phil Power | Published: April 6, 2011
Dear Friends of the Center for Michigan: Our work during the first quarter of 2011 marks the start of our new five-year business plan. It has been a very, very busy time for us, but the results have been very affirming about the continuing need for what we do. I’ve organized this report to [...]
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First 100 Days: Bold moves and a naturally “incomplete” grade

By Phil Power | Published: April 6, 2011
Well, it’s been 100 days since Rick Snyder was inaugurated as our new governor and new ranks of legislators were installed in Lansing. The political chattering classes and some of the media are, therefore, preoccupied with giving them letter grades for their work. My own view: It’s still far too early to judge. Frankly, the whole [...]
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Winter whets appetite for spring

By Phil Power | Published: March 31, 2011
By Phil Power April is the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. The English poet T. S. Eliot obviously didn’t have a Michigan spring in mind in 1922 when he wrote the famous poem, The Wasteland, from which the above lines are taken. He was actually a Missouri native [...]
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Vision can get lost in mechanics of budget fight

By Phil Power | Published: March 22, 2011
When Rick Snyder became governor, he received a lot of advice. “Be bold,” everybody said. Snyder was. And look at the trouble it’s gotten him into! According to a poll conducted by EPIC/MRA, Snyder had sky-high approval ratings when he took over in January: 59 percent favorable and only 9 percent unfavorable. But by the [...]
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Beyond the protest noise, debate should center on how to fix things

By Phil Power | Published: March 16, 2011
LANSING — The bitter demonstrations by thousands of union members and their supporters against Michigan’s emergency financial manager legislation may not have been as intense as those the world saw going on in Wisconsin. But the protests in front of our Capitol dome were plenty big, noisy and emotional all the same. The bill, versions [...]
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Snyder’s upsetting the apple cart – and that’s good

By Phil Power | Published: March 10, 2011
“No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” — Winston Churchill, in a 1947 speech to the House of Commons In Michigan, the next few months are going [...]
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