There are lots and lots of obvious things to overcome before Michigan
regains prosperity and informed hope for the future.
An automobile industry struggling through the greatest transformation of
modern times. A 7.7 percent unemployment rate, highest in the nation.
Thousands of homes under repossession, the consequence of the subprime
mortgage crisis. Reductions in the absolute value of real property,
even [...]
Columns
From Confrontation to Collaboration
Look Out for Dirty Tricks
What would you say if the Michigan legislature passed and Governor Granholm signed into law a measure that:
Authorized the state to pay up to $10 million to hold Republican and Democratic primary elections in January.
Ordered the Michigan Secretary of State to develop, again at public expense, a list of voters' party preferences, including names and [...]
Michigan Should Consider Stem Cell Research
History is full of examples of political authorities and churches making fools of themselves by making various kinds of scientific research illegal. Most of us know the story of Galileo, the great 17th century astronomer and physicist who proposed that the earth rotates around the sun. He was severely punished by the Roman Catholic hierarchy, [...]
Nine Months to A Missed Opportunity
After months of wrangling, our political masters have at last passed a required balanced budget, as required by the state constitution.
The $9.8 billion spending plan adopted early Thursday morning “resolved” the $1.75 billion general fund budget deficit by imposing $433 million in spending cuts, on top of earlier adopted increases in the income and sales [...]
Universities: Fueling Michigan's Future Economy
There was a time -- and not all that long ago -- when the Big Three automakers were really big and didn’t want, need or dream of getting any outside help. That was also an era when nobody thought much -- let alone worried -- about Michigan’s great universities.
Sure, the University of Michigan was [...]
Recalls are a Great Way to Ruin State
Recalls should be reserved for somebody who commits a crime, steals money, displays moral turpitude. I voted the way I did because I thought it was the best for my district and for my state. If the voters disagree, they’ll have their voice at the election next year.
State Representative Ed Gaffney (R-Grosse Pointe
Wouldn’t I have [...]
Everyone Should Have a Vision for Michigan
Everyone has - or should have - a vision for Michigan the way they would like it to be. How would you like to share yours - and maybe win a prize that could include a college scholarship, a vacation at one of our nicest resorts, or a shopping spree?
I've been writing a lot recently [...]
We Want You! Michigan Citizens Must Lead When Elected "Leaders" Won't
Two anecdotes capture the astonishing combination of incompetence, isolation, irresponsibility and rank partisanship that have characterized our political system in Lansing over the past several weeks.
A conversation with a Republican State Representative as he emerged from a late night Sunday night session of the House went like this: What are you going to do about [...]
What's Your Vision for Michigan?
Michigan's public policy and finance system is broken.
That's the only lesson that can be drawn from the year-long (!) deadlock in Lansing over the state’s budget. The interests of nearly 10 million Michigan citizens have been held hostage to the partisan agendas of both political parties and their member office-holders.
Otherwise, we'd be talking seriously about [...]
Prosperity can't come without a talented workforce
Last week was marked by the abysmal failure of our elected leaders to do their jobs and agree on a plan to wipe out a projected $1.75 billion deficit in the state’s budget for the next fiscal year. With everybody involved preoccupied with blaming everybody else, what you hear all over Lansing the thin, high [...]


