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Category Archives: Columns
Will Snyder suffer from the ‘Obama curse’?
As we head into the New Year, it seems to me the old Chinese curse had it right: “May you live in interesting times.”
Interesting, indeed! The coming year will go a long way to determining whether Michigan is truly ready to launch a period of reform and reinvention or whether we [...]
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Can a serial entrepreneur spark a Michigan culture change?
Midway through his workmanlike Inaugural Address, Gov. Rick Snyder added something new and provocative to our political discourse when he said: “The underlying key to success, though, is to change our culture.”
For years, political leaders have talked about all kinds of factors that could trigger Michigan’s turnaround. A better tax system. Balanced budgets. Entrepreneurship. Service [...]
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Monday’s summit hows how much citizen engagement matters
If you don’t think people care deeply about our state, consider this: More than 500 of them braved bad roads and deep chill on Monday to attend a summit conference on “Common Sense Reforms for a New Michigan” in Lansing.
The summit, co-sponsored by The Center for Michigan and Business Leaders for Michigan, was designed to [...]
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Thoughts from Sri Lanka
My wife Kathy and I have just returned from a trip to Asia, where we spent time in Singapore, and Sri Lanka, the island nation off the southern tip of India that used to be called Ceylon.
It sure feels good to get back home after living out of our suitcases in 90-degree plus temperatures and [...]
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Let’s move to an open primary
There was actually once a time in America when the ways we selected candidates to run for office made sense.
In the 19th century, when most folks had little understanding of or interest in public affairs, the urgent questions for the masses– especially for those in the big cities – were fairly simple: How to get [...]
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One pundit’s view of the Pundit Summit
I trotted off to Lansing last week to listen in on the “Pundit Summit,” the every-other-year gathering of political pros that takes place after every election, an event at which the winners are canonized and the wounded shot on the battlefield.
Probably the most inflammatory comment came from Mark Grebner, president of Practical Political Consulting, a [...]
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Can Snyder seize the moment and govern?
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune …
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
– William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
The bard nailed it. Nothing is ever certain. Failure is always [...]
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BALLOT BOX TOOLBOX: Don’t vote without it
The heart, soul and center of our democracy is an informed, engaged public. That’s never more true than when we’re less than a week from an election, as we are now.
Having citizens who understand what’s going on is probably more important now than ever, with our state facing a profound crisis.
But sadly, the resources available [...]
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A spark of great achievement
Even though it was half a century ago, I remember that night as though it were yesterday.
The crowd, unexpectedly large, standing in the misty October dark. People stamping their feet, waiting for the candidate who was hours late. A feeling of urgent excitement that this election really meant something. And then, around 2 a.m., on [...]
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There’s more work to do on future debates
Last Sunday saw the only debate between the two candidates for Michigan’s next governor: Republican Rick Snyder and Democrat Virg Bernero.
Sponsored by the nonpartisan Center for Michigan in collaboration Detroit Public TV and a group of 20-odd organizations ranging on the left from the MEA to the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce on [...]
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