When are the tax and spend minds going to realize that 100% of NOTHING--which is what we had before the "breaks" is still NOTHING.

But, what the heck. The new "fair" tax is driving out existing business at a record pace. Why bring ANY business here.

Our citizens apparently don't need jobs and the government will just continue to spend money they no longer have.

---- Well people(states) with so much of one resource tend to have a skewed perspective of how long it will last and how generous we can be with it and still have plenty lying around.

---- However, the facts are that many areas of the nation are experiencing drought. Many states refuse to use their revenue to solve the problem and instead want to siphon off water for cheap from a big source - our great lakes.
The result of that is the Great lakes would soon deplete and no longer BE the great lakes but great ponds.
Those that dont live and use the great lakes for lifestyle and living dont care about them nor do they care about our needs as a shoreline state.
They selfishly continue to allow urban and suburban sprawl and expansion in a DESERT!!
I just flew over the western region last fall, and i saw numerous canals, aquaducts, stealing water resources from supplies, so people can move into a hot dry desert, plant a farm, build a golf course, have green lawns and shade, waste water on athletic fields, and basically act like uncaring pigs, so long as they get what they want, all surrounded by dry desert plains and mountains.

They want hot dry sun and climate with ample water for playtime and luxury.

As far as I'm concerned, they should let those areas go back to being dry and move to places where Human beings and animals like to be - hydrated land with rainfall.
Instead of forcing a problem to exist and then suing and stealing water from states that need their resources for future development and quality of life.

-I have a suggestion for dry areas.
Use your money and make the people who live there PAY for their climate and water, and build massive desalinization plants and pipe the endless supply of salty seawater in for usage and agriculture.
A.) They would create a huge new business industry with the increased demand.
B.) they would fuel new advances and technology to lower the costs
C.) they could irrigate millions of acres of land that has been dry and hot for centuries thereby increasing foliage which in turn, sucks up more CO2, keeps erosion and dust storms down, lowers chances for land fires, adds farming production in a society that is seeing hard increases in prices and demand for food worldwide.
D.) they would then be justifying their prescence in a desert, or just naturally dry areas near the oceans where little rain falls and lots of Seawater lies.
E.) if enough countries adopt the technology, it could alter the sea levels that have been rising for decades, and potentially provide a possible remedy to global warming and melting icecaps.
Rehabilitating inland bodies of water should be a priority for humanity.
Lake Tahoe continues to go down, Lake mead - although man made, contiues to drop, the Great Lakes are all down to some degree, in other parts of the world same thing only worse, the Black Sea is at about HALF of what it was 60 yrs ago.
This one idea alone, of using desalinization plants to pump seawater into inland areas for massive hydration and human use, along with better land management techniques could turn the tide of global warming and has potential to save rainforests, boating, shipping, agriculture, housing, waterways, fishing, etc.

As an example, one small facility advertised by a company in Florida can currently desalinate 5 million gallons per day.
imagine permanent plants 10 times larger, Times 10 for every state on a coastline.
The national water tables would fill back up and inland water flow from where many states are currently sucking water from would rise and they wouldnt even have to change how they get their water.

If you go to this website: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/publications/Constitution.pdf

and get to Article XII, Section 3, there is a provision for amendment every 16 years. If I am reading this correctly, the next revision could be in 2010. Too soon to think about this? Or are things just hunky-dory?

How would we find the meeting location?

I suspect the public should show interest so meetings keep happening even if things are not easy.

The methods they have used can be migrated to any process within State Government. A Library is a public service just like government, just more focused.

And the word "focus" is a key part of the improvement process. For example, don't focus on the negative (dark corners); focus on the opportunities - there are more of those than there are corners!

2. Don't just recommend. Have the panel pick a small process (their plan for gathering info) and improve it. Then begin to look for other opportunities and make recommendations.

3. See examples as in "1." above and poll the panel members (especially the UAW member) for other examples within manufacturing and service industries.

Combine the recommendations with "Green" and alternative energy initiatives to get the maximum bang for the buck.

No need to pump more tax dollars into our bureaucracies - invest in our citizens instead.

Now I must admit that I am a newbie to this concept of barrier to entry in the industrial organization so don’t quote me. The University has its own expert in multinational conglomerates ; a guy in the economics department named William Adams. I was doing some web crawling and came upon this paper, “Beer in Germany and the United States," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(1), Winter 2006, 189-205.” and was pleasantly surprised. Another small businessman I know from my son’s soccer team has been trying to educate me on the concept of “the firm”. I still don’t get it, and maybe when I do I’ll fully appreciate the contrast of Walker Wire and ePrize.

Now if ePrize, is still in that renovated warehouse building off I-696 that used to be a manufacturing facility of some sort, you probably used that 2 story elevator that they had voltage problems with about 3 years ago. (An electrical contractor working for them called me in for some engineering assistance). The space is, indeed…groovy in a campy, Google-ish sort of way. I did not get the impression, however, that they were hiring PhD’s, though. The supply of young, smart, ineluctably “attractive” people, in that part of the county was plentiful.

For a more fully dimensioned view of possibilities for Michigan’s transformation, might I suggest a trip to Clutch Cargo’s or St. Andrews Hall? One cannot fully understand the young unless we understand their music. Maybe that is how we get our young people to stay: Tax abatements for nightclubs! Ha! (On the condition they clean up the place of drugs , of course) I say, create a barrier to Sandhill Road’s poaching of our home grown talent with alternative rock. Want more ePrizes? I say, nurture garage bands; not just the “arts” as visualized by the state-paid arts administrators. Music is information. While the music industry is having a hard time; the music itself isn’t. Have a listen to Ann Arbor’s own Tally Hall. Take care.

As for Dillon himself, its ok, you can dislike him all you want. I dont know the man personally and im indifferent to wanting to.
I stated point my argument that its more important to me to see an elected official trying very hard to move legislation to solve problems or at least do their job per our state constituion that is law. Than if i have met the man or woman and find them distasteful or that they have wronged me personally somehow and tainted my opinion of their personality or job habits.

If we based all our elected officials on how congenial they are to every single person that contacts them or that they give quick personal service at every level, then i dare say they would not be accomplishing major tasks because of concentrating solely on minor ones. I'm not saying its not important at all to focus on individuals but there should be a compromise and some people will lose out.

The good of many outweighs the good of one in my book.

Unless I'm missing something here, none of these sectors create wealth, they just move existing money around. The fact that we are creating jobs for surgeons and nursing assistants suggests dismal economic prospects. Growth in services without growth in industry predicts a day when no one will have the means to buy the services.

So, why is your news good news for Michigan?

--John

So i dont think he meant they are literally offering people like you, money to add your name to the list, to define it as "buying" your vote.

As for your experience with Mr. Dillon, i'd say from my experience many people have many different personal experiences with local and state officials and some are always bad and some good. If thats just the nature of people who go after those jobs or not, i cant say, however, I always consider the person's performance overall vs the competitor to judge their worthyness to be in office.

From my perspective, his two congressional counterparts appear to be large blocks of concrete on the road to recovery, and Dillon has appeared to put in a decent effort to solve the problems in alliance with the governor.

Lest we forget, In Parallel to the Federal Government, Michigan has had a Long term of Republican Controlled State congress, just as the Fed with the National Congress.

When things were good for the nation, we didnt have tax cuts and our economy nationally and statewide made plenty of revenue.
Since then, The nation is now in its second recession in the same presidency, and only starting its 2nd year of democratic control in congress with a president stuffing them at every attempt to change course.

In our state, the GOP cut the income tax for us with Engler's initiative back when things were good... and no one complained about that. thats fine.
But when things went bad, our GOP congress didnt see the writing on the wall that auto sales were dipping significantly and shedding jobs in the industry left and right. Nohing was done. Tax cuts did ZERO for our state economy as it continued to slide because of different reasons than people that were working needed a few extra bucks a month in "Tax releif". Coincidentally major economic research organizations determined quite specifically that Mr. Bush's tax cuts cost our government more in revenue and cuts to services and lossed jobs than it spurred in economic growth. Which stands to reason because they gave most of it to people who didnt need any of it to invest or buy things.

So in conclusion, GOP policies of economics, business acumen, community development and social service needs, dont seem to be inline with patterns of success and prosperity for those that need it the most. However, they do seem to benefit their supporters and themselves greatly.

However, I also will not participate in his recall. I believe it's the voters job to vote for his opponent. Recalls are a waste of time and money, and very rarely work. Phil says the petitioners are buying votes. I've been visited by petitioners at my home at least six times. I now have a sign on my door that states this, hopefully the petitioners get the idea. However, no one tried to buy my vote, nor would I have accepted it anyway.

I especially like the part that prohibits spending on any state or MEDC employees. I say this not because I bear them any ill will, but because I believe we need to diversify the message from Michigan.

While "Pure Michigan" is a great campaign, I don't believe it is the end-all. Other messages and message-makers need to get funding to tell more stories from our state.

Its common knowledge that you have to invest to get a return on that investment. So our state must spend some money to make money.

Tourism is a good choice to spend on, because the reasons people come to our state, are also the reasons people who live here like it too.

I watched intently the Rick Albin specials with interviews of the various players all last fall and i have to say, Deroche and Bishop were pathetic. I have never seen two people toss more insults at their opposing party members in my life.

Everytime Mr. Dillon and Gov. Granholms spoke in response, it was measured, hopeful and with full attempts to be cooperative. (althought toward the end, the frustration was evident)

Bishop on the other hand purposely adjourned the Senate numerous times when a vote was to come, and stated both that he would not support and that he would support the same topics numerous times. Deroche just kept lobbing baseless antagonistic insults at anyone he could, sounding as childish and immature as any employee of the state could sound.
Neither Deroche or Bishop ever came up with any plans to balance the budget, never voted on Granholm's proposals and fought tooth and nail against any idea the House came up with.
On top of that, They controlled both houses of state congress for years and failed to fix this oncoming budgetary disaster for years of watching it come while granholm's budget cutting continued each year.

You wanna talk about obstructionists to progress and refusal to do the job they were elected to do? thats classic.

You too can watch the interviews if you go to Woodtv8's website and check their archive of political videos.

The Campaign to remove Mr. Dillon is just another terrible example of a political party that cannot win by telling the truth. Another reason i am ashamed that i used to be a member of that party.

The fact that the term limits also make these recalls particularly moot, is another testament to the audaciously obvious political attacks that this group and its members are perpetrating. The Estimated $250k they may spend to start this, then the "TAXPAYER dollars" it will take to follow it through, And the Fact that some of this funding and initiative is from out of state political hacks, is an insult to all Michigan residents. ... Can Anyone tell why it is, that of the two major political parties, the GOP provides ream after ream of recent evidence, at the national and State level, showing clearly that they cannot win elections by telling the truth and will literally stop at no tactic to cause harm to their opponents? - yet this is the "conservative, christian" party? ....hipocrisy knows no bounds.

As Michigan tries to re-join the globally reconfigured jet stream of capital by developing its information technology businesses, we can see how all these cool new tools (blogs like this one, for example) can be deployed to divide us--as well as unite us. There are some very internet saavy political staffers who can skillfully hurt as well as help a political career with the way they manipulate information. Just turn on cable news any night and look at all the people who can have a career in political bloviating!

This leads me to a larger, but loosely related idea that Michigan's competitive advantage used to lie in the "barrier to entry" that large capital investment in manufacturing capability presented to competitors. I worry at bit about going too far into transforming the Michigan economy into an information age economy. (Frankly, I’ve been hearing that since 1980) While we may only be able to earn half of what we used to earn while doing it, let's try to retain some "barrier to entry" to competitors by staying in the business of making big, heavy complicated stuff you can't transform into a digital bit and run through a cable.

As the situation with Representative Dillon demonstrates, the information age enables any competitor to eviscerate your political career in a keystroke.

As you know from my frequent responses in the past, I greatly enjoyed your columns back in your newspaper days. I am sure they are just as good or even better today (maybe even better becasue I think you have an ideal forum).

BUT I find the columns terribly hard to read off the computer screen in their present format -- and that is the quickest way to get them.

These comments may also be riddled with typos; I can hardly tell what I am writing.

Your stuff is too good to lose -- plesse make it more legible!

Warm regards, Ted

Certainly, this is just one isolated experience of just one person, but it strikes me that all of our senators from the UP and
their Detroit "troll colleagues" should be
having some dialogue about encouraging and
facilitating more UPERS to come down, maybe for the first time, and take a look at Michigan's largest city. There has to be a way that someone can help package tours into Detroit that would be enriching for everyone.

I apologize for the typo.

Not to change the subject but another issue I recently learned of; the cost for a title for a moble home increased from $45 to $90 in January. Now, who do you think mostly lives in mobile homes? Not people with six figure incomes, actually I bet most don't make more than $35,000 a year, the majority probably make less. Who thought up that ingenious idea?

In response our Governor's spokesperson goes on about how the Indiana Governor came to town in response to Michigan's highly successful "Upper Hand" campaign. Then she went on about all the great victories Michigan has won for new companies.

Come on, what great victories? She didn't even bother to mention them. If she were to compare Indiana's record to Michigan's she would have been "blown away."

I think it's high time our Governor stopped competing with press releases. I am sick and tired of seeing inflated nonsensical MEDC new jobs claims.

They brag about moving jobs from Livonia to Detroit. (That will help
Michigan a lot!)

They inflate actual new jobs won by modeling all the spin off jobs. (i.e. They inflate jobs numbers by 1/3 or so and call it science)

Most recently they announced jobs to be created over the next ten years by a project. (As though anyone can accuratly predict the economy and sccess of a company for ten years)

And there isn't any point to discussing our Governor's desire to develop a more efficient goverment.

Finally lets compare our Governor's latest "economic development strategy" passing a renewable portfolio standard with Governor Daniel's efforts.

Michigan's renewable resources aren't good enough to exploit for the private market so she wants to create a mandatory build out of renewables in Michigan. An economist would call it a government make work project paid for by you and I.

On the other hand Governor Daniels has declined to support a renewable mandate. The result Indiana now has hundreds of wind turbines being constructed and will catapult past Michigan with no government intrusion. I wonder if he used incentives and encouragement of the private sector?

2 years, 8 months, 19 days to go

I am writing to hopefully bring awareness to the public concerning the lack of judicial awareness in the state of Michigan, along with an extreme lack of knowledge between Michigan courts and the Department of Corrections.

My name is Amy Hay and I am currently serving a 25 month sentence for prescription fraud at Huron Valley. In layman’s terms I was doctor shopping. I am a non violent offender and my crime didn’t involve a victim.

At the time of my sentencing I was assured the decision to send me to prison would be in my best interest. I was told I would receive substance treatment, counseling and adequate health care. I was led to believe I would probably be released, with good time, in 11 to 13 months. No one informed me good time did not exist in Michigan, or about Truth in Sentencing. Truth in sentencing means everyone sentenced since 2004 will serve their full minimum sentence, regardless of the crime they committed.

In the year I have been incarcerated I have not received any of these options. My substance abuse issues were never addressed; as I was told they would be. Incarceration in a state prison was clearly not in my best interest; but in the interest of the Court to push me off on the Michigan Department of Corrections and wash their hands of any responsibility or obligations.

What has actually transpired during this past year of incarceration is appalling. I have not been given any opportunity to properly address my substance abuse issue. I have not received any counseling or rehabilitation due to over crowding, lack of professionals, due to poor budgeting and funding. My family and I were assured by the judge this would be done. To the courts I am just a statistic and to the state I am just another $30,000 or more a year.

The two major players of the Judicial System have failed me and hundreds others. It seems as though the right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing. Instead of the state allowing me to make amends for my wrongs and be a productive member of the community, I am just left here waiting out my time, unemployed and receiving no real treatment for my issues.

I no longer wish to remain silent and just let time pass me by. The county courts can’t uphold their promises. Then you have Michigan Department of Corrections failing each person who is sentenced. I’m expected to be held accountable for my actions but who is making the court system and the Department of Corrections accountable for theirs?

I know what I did was wrong. I feel terrible for all the shame I have caused my family. I want help and I want to better myself. It is pathetic how Michigan spends more money per year on the prison system than they do on education.

Maybe it’s time the judicial system of Michigan be reformed

2) go seriously nuts with state mandatory alternative energy sources using Windfarms and Solar cells, geothermal energy for heat and cooling.
Mandate all state university buildings, all state government buildings and all commerical buildings over a certain acreage to add solar panels to the rooflines and put power back into the grid durin the day when rates are highest.
Add property tax rebates over 3 yrs to any residential addition of solar panels over a certain wattage.
Mandate geothermal energy usage for buildings.
Mandate Vegetable diesel or biodiesel for Michigan refueling stations for commercial fleets with rebates for conversion kits.

A place selling what they call Viesel in Florida for all diesel engines cars, trucks commercial trucking sells conversion kits for 500$ and up for all vehicles and claims identical mileage as 4.10/gallon diesel gives at a cost of $2.50/gallon.

Be the first state to fully separate commercial truck traffic and passenger vehicles using a two tier highway system.
Sure thats expensive, but we're only getting more congested, running out of room for expansion, and costing billions in repairs for the same result.
Passenger vehicles on top, trucking underneath.
Vehicle insurance and medical insurance would pry love it. Less crushed cars in big accidents, or pieces flying off killing people, or deer car accidents. Imagine all the commuter congestion lifted. How many times have truckers been moving along steady trying to save gas to get stuffed behind some guy going 55 in a 70? how many times has a truck pulled out in front of 9 cars in the left lane because he wanted to go 1mph faster than the slower truck in front of them, makin a slinky effect of 9 cars going 75 slam on their brakes?

How about massive investment in public transportation? I would love to see more trains/El-trains/subways etc being used to send people around town and between towns etc.
The perfect experiment for that is a Tri-cities area of Holland/GrandRapids/Muskegon.

How about more efficient prison and rehab processes, judgements, programs, sentencing?
How about universal health care or just more efficient coverage and prevention programs?

If the Feds can give back a big cash rebate to taxpayers all on a big loan to boost our economy, Can the state sell bonds to buy up old decrepit used cars, vans, trucks that average less than 14mpg and sell them for a nominal fee to salvage yards for the scrap and recycling, and the way to buy them would be to offer consumers a rebate check on a newer vehicle purchase at a tiered price up to a top amount. The rebate could be applied to the car price to lower the loan value and payments for the consumer.

Think of the multiple benefits of a program like that -
A) would get polluting vehicles getting bad mileage off the roads and gone for good.
B) would over a shortened time frame, up the average mileage of michigan's registered vehicle population, as opposed to attrition from usable lifecycle of older cars.
C) would get rid of more vehicles without modern safety equipment such as airbags, ABS, etc.
D) would be a boon to auto insurance companies delivering new policies
E) would help offset costs with new car registrations
F) would obviously be a boon to the used and new car market, of which michigan is currently being pounded from low sales nationwide.
G) could certainly be a quantifiable lessening of gasoline and leakable fluids used statewide over the programs time frame.
That could possibly lower demand and prices.

How about marketing more efficiently our water resources?
Business and citizens live in terribly dry places experiencing once in a century drought conditions like for the last year, Georgia, northern florida, the far west.
Lets market our state as WaterWorld.
"you thirsty" you want a green lawn and hardly water it each year? you want cheap municipal water/sewage treatment plants?

theres millions of things that can be done to help our state.

The competition for college kids is most easily noticeable just watching college sports recruiting. Florida, Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and California - Routinely keep their own recruits, and attract from cold weather climates, and most of them have no better programs or colleges than the biggest and best in the cold like Notre Dame, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio state, Penn state, MIchigan etc.
Another thing is pay, many michigan employers refuse to up their payscales because they tell people, its cheap to live here.
Well it may still be inexpensive to find decent housing yet in comparison to the coasts, but cars, gas, utilities and food are just as expensive if not worse here than other states now. It wasnt that way 7 yrs ago but since then its gotten really tough for most families in this state to survive.

We should do some radical things. or face ghost towns.