“The Michigan political class is often flying blind,” Ken Braun of the Midland-based Mackinac Policy Center, said.
“Both political parties are equally culpable for the jam we’re in,” Phil Power, founder of the Center for Michigan, added.
“Party politics have superceded public policy,” said John Rakolta, a prominent Republican benefactor and owner of the Walbridge Aldinger development company. “I’m a social conservative, but if we make social issues the number one issue, we’re never going to win. We’re finished.”
The three men were asked to discuss the future of Michigan at a breakfast meeting of the Oakland County Republican Party in Farmington Hills. While the three tried to remain optimistic, there was a definite sense of gloom on the economic position Michigan finds itself in.
