Michigan Taxes Too Much

It’s Official: Indiana Is a Right-to-Work State

JGillman — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:58:59 +0000

Congratulations are in order for our Hoosier neighbors

By Paul Kersey | 2/1/2012 12:00 AM

Just prior to noon Wednesday, the Indiana Senate passed House Bill 1001 on a 28-22 vote. Gov. Mitch Daniels signed the enrolled bill a few hours later. While the law does not change contracts currently in force, workers in Indiana will no longer have to pay union dues or agency fees as a term of employment when new union contracts are signed.

If the past is any guide, the law should be a boon to Indiana’s economy and a tremendous benefit to Indiana’s workers. Right-to-work laws are associated with faster economic growth, job creation and rising wages.

The law empowers workers and makes unions more accountable to the members they represent. We have every reason to believe that the working men and women of Indiana will use their new prerogatives wisely, that unions will adapt and survive, and that the great majority of Hoosiers will benefit.

We are confident that as Michiganders see what right-to-work protections bring to Indiana, support for labor freedom will expand here. Michigan may become the 24th right-to-work state, perhaps as early as the end of this year.

Parents Say “Embrace Cyber Charter Schools”

JGillman — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:24:22 +0000

Parents: State Superintendent Must Embrace Cyber Charter Schools as Part of New State Digital Learning Initiative

Families Encourage House to Embrace Digital Learning, Pass Senate Bill 619 to Expand Opportunities for 10,000 Students on Cyber Charter Waiting List

LANSING—As state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan this week announced the state’s new partnership with Digital Learning Now, parents today reminded Flanagan, the state Board of Education and members of the House Education Committee that policymakers have the opportunity to fully embrace digital learning by passing Senate bill 619 and expanding digital learning opportunities for thousands of Michigan students currently languishing on waiting lists.

Flanagan unveiled the new Digital Learning initiative yesterday when he announced that on Wednesday Michigan will observe “Digital Learning Day,” kicking off the state’s “Year of the Digital Learner.” Digital Learning Now is an organization that has publicly called on the state to remove the enrollment cap on cyber charter schools.

“We are pleased that Superintendent Flanagan appears to have had a sudden change of heart when it comes to digital learning,” said Michigan Chapter of the National Coalition of Public School Options Board Member and parent of a digital learner Brian Kevelin. “Parents across the state are thrilled Flanagan and his department are now partnering with Digital Learning Now, an organization that has repeatedly called for removal of the state’s cyber charter school enrollment cap. What better way for the House Education Committee to join Flanagan and parents across the state than to commemorate Michigan’s first “Digital Learning Day” by passing Senate Bill 619.”

More information about cyber charter schools can be found online at http://www.publicschooloptions.org/michigan/.

Michigan Served As Valuable Lesson Against Government Economic Efforts

JGillman — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:41:06 +0000

Yesterday was Michigan’s birthday.

Our state has undergone a great deal of change over the last 175 years, and today can serve well as a history lesson for the country and itself. Especially given the recent discussion with regard to government owned bridges, light rail, and other stimulus & economic development efforts funded with tax dollars, we should certainly note that some things never change.

The Mackinac center in 1998, published a piece that needs to be read again.

Michigan: Privatization Pioneer

By Dr. Burton W. Folsom | March 1, 1998

During the 1830s and 1840s, the new state of Michigan became part of a national debate on privatization.

Railroads and steamships were transforming the way Americans did business. Many believed that massive government aid—state or federal—was needed to make the U.S. competitive and efficient. A government subsidized steamship company sent ships every other week from New York City to Liverpool, England. Congress also put the building of lighthouses under the Treasury Department and funded them out of general revenue. The subsidized steamships—and all other ships for that matter—could use the newly built lighthouses and it all seemed to be free of charge.

In this flurry of government activity, Michigan eagerly joined the crowd. “Extortion from the public” was the phrase that Stevens T. Mason, the state’s first governor, used to describe a privately funded railroad. Under Mason’s direction, the state of Michigan sold $5 million in bonds to fund several railroads and canals. When the dust settled, they had lost so much money that the young state almost went bankrupt.

For example, the Michigan Central Railroad, projected to run from Detroit to St. Joseph, was built poorly and with cheap materials. Its trains were overloaded and run twice as fast as recommended. The locomotives, cars, and rails, therefore, were quickly destroyed by the constant bouncing of heavy loads on flimsy track.

The Michigan Southern, which was supposed to go from Monroe to New Buffalo, fared even worse. The bidding and contracting for building the railroad were rigged by political insiders. On one hand, large cost overruns plagued the road; on the other hand, the road was so poorly constructed that it was almost worthless. The road bed was too shaky, the curves too sharp, and the materials too rotten to carry trains or cargo. The Michigan Southern lost money during every year of state operation.

When the government builds a project, the incentives are different from private enterprise. Satisfying political interests is often more important to legislators than building a railroad that is profitable and well constructed. State builders use taxpayers’ money, not their own. If the road fails, it’s the state, not the builders, with empty pockets. The Michigan story is full of accounts of padded vouchers, illegal bidding, cost overruns, and the stealing of materials by contractors and even by the citizens themselves. Since no one actually owned the railroads, no one felt the responsibility to take care of them.

“Extortion from the public” was the phrase that Stevens T. Mason, the state’s first governor, used to describe a privately funded railroad.

Judge Thomas Cooley, Michigan’s most famous 19th century lawyer and a president of the American Bar Association, observed this waste firsthand. He wrote about it later and said, “By common consent it came to be considered that the State in entering upon these works had made a serious mistake.” The people of Michigan, Cooley reported, became convinced “that the management of railroads was in its nature essentially a private business, and ought to be in the hands of individuals.” In 1846, therefore, the state of Michigan abandoned all the canals and sold the Central and Southern, which were only partly completed, to private investors. The new owners had to promise to rebuild most of the lines and complete them to the Chicago area. From this distress sale, the state recovered one-half of its $5 million investment and ended its headaches from being in the railroad business.

Meanwhile, the federal government was learning its lesson, too. The federal steamship subsidy mainly went to Edward Collins, who charged high prices for shipping and lost much of his trade to private shippers, who competed effectively with him even without subsidies. The last straw for Collins was when he crashed half of his fleet—killing hundreds of innocent passengers and destroying millions of taxpayer dollars. After more than a decade of abuse, Congress privatized the steamship business in 1858. “The whole system was wrong,” concluded Senator Robert M. T. Hunter of Virginia. “It ought to have been left, like any other trade, to competition.”

The federally funded lighthouses, which were supposed to guide the steamships, also produced dim results. The Fresnel lens, invented in 1822, put out a powerful light and was a major advance over earlier lenses. All major countries adopted it quickly, except for the United States. In the U.S., Stephen Pleasanton, the General Superintendent of Lights, refused to adopt the new and improved lens because his good friend Winslow Lewis was the supplier of an inferior style of lenses. Hundreds of shippers petitioned Congress to improve safety and adopt the Fresnel lens, but Pleasanton blocked their paths. Meanwhile, ships and lives were lost each year from poorly lighted beacons on the shore. Only when Pleasanton was finally overruled by Congress in 1852 did the U.S. begin installing Fresnel lenses.

If lighthouses had been a private enterprise, the Fresnel lens would have been quickly adopted. Few owners would have risked losing business to innovative competitors.

By the 1850s, the forces of privatization and free enterprise began winning the battle of ideas in the United States. The state-funded railroads, the federally funded steamships, and the federally owned lighthouses sent clear messages that government aid was a hindrance, not a help, to economic development. The privatization of railroads and steamships cut prices and improved safety. In the atmosphere of relative laissez-faire that followed, not only Michigan but the whole United States moved toward becoming that beacon of freedom that shined brightly and attracted immigrants from all over Europe.

Reinventing Michigan: Michigan Works! Honors Job Makers, Workers Paired through “Demand-Driven Employment Strategy”

JGillman — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:53:29 +0000

LANSING (January 24, 2012)—The Michigan Works! Association today celebrated recent hiring and employment successes achieved across Michigan through the “demand-driven employment strategy” laid out late last year by Governor Snyder.

The 2012 Alumni Celebration, an annual opportunity for state leaders to recognize the work of job makers and employees successfully paired by the Michigan Works! System, saw 25 honorees from across the state receive awards presented by their local lawmakers and state workforce development officials.

Capital Area Michigan Works!, the Lansing-area Michigan Works! Agency worked with Ingham Regional Orthopedic Hospital and William McMillan, one of today’s honorees, to fill a vacant position as a Certified Surgical Technologist and Center Care Specialist. The health care industry is one of five identified by Governor Snyder as critical components in the reinvention of Michigan’s economy.

“It has been seamless process to work with the Michigan Works! System,” said Diane Robertson, Patient Care Manager at Orthopedic Surgical Services, Ingham Regional Orthopedic Hospital. “Bill has done a wonderful job and it’s a pleasure to have him on our team.”

Said Luann Dunsford, Chief Executive Officer of the Michigan Works! Association: “The Michigan Works! System works each and every day to meet the workforce demands of our local employers. By focusing on this new demand-driven employment strategy, we are connecting job makers with the skilled workers they need while preparing Michigan citizens for the 21^st century jobs of tomorrow.”

Today’s celebration highlighted the achievements of local job makers and 25 individuals who displayed an ability to upgrade their skills and transition into new high demand occupations and industries including manufacturing, health care, information technology, criminal justice and more.

Companies and employees successfully paired through Michigan Works! and honored today include General Motors; Ingham Regional Orthopedic Hospital; Select Specialty Care; Jim Riehl’s Friendly Cadillac Honda; Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital; Riverside Medical Associates; Imaging Diagnostics; MicroMax Incorporated; Mears Service Center; Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services; Mel Trotter Ministries; Lakeland HealthCare; HealthSource Saginaw; the Laurels of Mt. Pleasant; Metro Health; Ventower; OSF Hospital; Pinkerton Governmental Services; Iron River Care Center; April Steel Processing; R-Tech Guys and more.

“Local Michigan Works! Agencies are working every day with Governor Snyder, Pure Michigan Talent Connect, the legislature and workforce development organizations across the state to create a talent pool and opportunities for Michigan to compete in the global economy,” Dunsford concluded.

Governor Snyder recognized the strength and importance of Michigan Works! One-Stop Service Centers during his recent special message on workforce development. The Michigan Works! System has over 100 Service Centers in cities across Michigan, each open and available to every Michigan resident. Each offers a broad spectrum of services to meet the needs of local businesses and assist those seeking employment.

Employers and job seekers can find the Michigan Works! Service Center nearest their home by visiting http://michiganworks.org/agencies/map or by calling (1 800) 285-WORKS (9675).

Established in 1987, the Michigan Works! Association fosters high-quality employment and training programs serving employers and workers by providing support activities and a forum for information exchange for Michigan’s workforce development system. For more information, please visit www.michiganworks.org.

Parents: ‘Please consider the kids and parents, and let us choose’

JGillman — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:51:41 +0000

Families Encourage House to Pass Senate Bill 619, Expand Educational Opportunities for 10,000 Students on Cyber Charter Waiting List as National School Choice Week Begins

LANSING—As policy makers and legislators this week observe National School Choice Week, Michigan parents with students on waiting lists or currently enrolled in one of the state’s two cyber charter schools shared their personal stories and encouraged lawmakers to expand educational opportunities for every child in Michigan.

“I have two children on the waiting list for enrollment in a cyber charter school, both for medical reasons, and still no spot for them,” said Lori Beilman, of Benton Harbor. “All I ask of lawmakers in the State House is please consider the kids and parents, and let us choose what is best for our families.”

Parents have broadly praised Michigan’s cyber charter schools for helping gifted students excel, struggling students catch-up, students with health and developmental problems succeed and students who were victims of bullies find a safe learning environment.

The House Education Committee this week is expected to hear testimony on Senate Bill 619, a measure designed to lift the state cap on enrollment in cyber charter schools, expanding educational opportunities for parents and students.

The bill would lift the cap on the number of students permitted to attend cyber charter schools. Because of current law, only two cyber charter schools currently operate in Michigan despite the fact that nearly 10,000 students currently languish on waiting lists, their parents clamoring for the opportunity to enroll their children in cyber charter schools.

“Education is not one size fits all,” said Brenda Bergman of Essexville, whose autistic son is currently on the waiting list for enrollment. “Open up enrollment in virtual schools and allow involved parents to make the responsible and appropriate choice to enroll their children in virtual school here in Michigan.”

The National Coalition for Public School Options – Michigan Chapter is an alliance of parents that supports and defends parents’ rights to access the best public school options for their children. The Coalition supports the creation of public school options, including charter schools, online schools, magnet schools, tuition scholarship programs, open enrollment policies and other innovative education programs. www.publicschooloptions.org/michigan

Skoop Skubick: Right To Work Not Going Away

JGillman — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:52:45 +0000

~ Cross posted from RightMichigan.com ~

Damn straight mister.

Relentless Positive Action is a sissified way of saying “I don’t want confrontation with labor” by Mr Snyder.

No one expected Rick Snyder, the left of center Republican governor to EMBRACE Right To Work, but at some points, in order to continue getting support for his other pet projects he has said [privately] he will “sign if it comes to his desk.” The outward warning now, is to make sure that doesn’t happen, or at least to buy him some time until this years election removes a Republican majority from the state house. A loss NOT due to conservative action, but that which has capitulated to the non conservative participation with the governor’s agenda. Skubik opines:

“Some Republicans are taking the risk and ignoring their governor’s pleas to leave this alone because they can’t help it. Now that they have hefty majorities in both the House and Senate, some believe it will help to cement their own re-elections with conservative voters back home. Plus they’ve been itching for years to do it.”

Yes, and Yes.

The majorities exist now, and may not again, unless the Republicans embrace that which brought them there. A strong conservative message coupled by bold action that will help workers in this state face down the liberal leftist labor elements that handicap it in the global marketplace. Snyder’s reinvention of picking winners can hardly match the strength of policy that encourages naturally, the strong development of vibrant business in Michigan.

One needs to remember that much of the success and wealth accumulated by this executive office holder was done so as the result of government-business partnerships.

He knows no other way.

Rick Snyder wants continued federal dollars for trains, Roads, and Bridges. His administration is hell bent on maintaining EDC type functions, and in fact the EDC may well be the tool he uses to steal the treaty out from under the Ambassador Bridge company. (Working on that issue – feel free to get ahead of me on it)

But no where in his agenda is the seeking of business friendly concern with regard to employer-worker relations.

He will not stand up for the business operator who does so naturally.

And as Indiana passes its law, Michigan will take another competitive hit, and remain beholding to a regressive labor controlled work environment.

And we cannot let that happen without a fight.

Rep Walberg Responds To Administration’s Rejection Of Keystone Pipeline

JGillman — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:07:05 +0000

Washington, DC- Rep. Walberg made the following comment after the Obama Administration denied the application for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline:

“President Obama’s decision to deny construction of the Keystone Pipeline stands in the way of numerous “shovel ready” jobs and paves the way for oil to flow into China instead of the United States. For the president to support a trillion dollar government spending stimulus, but to reject private sector job creation is a slap in the face to Americans looking for work, and his keeping America dependent on Iran and Venezuela for oil is a threat to our national security.”

The Keystone Pipeline Project would have extended an existing energy supply pipeline between Canada and the United States by another 1,700 miles. When completed, it was expected to carry 1.4 million barrels of oil each day to refineries in the U.S—expanding our energy supply as well as reducing our dependence on foreign oil. It was also projected to create 20,000 jobs immediately with more than a hundred thousand within the next several years.

Jack Hoogendyk Declares Candidacy Challenging Upton

JGillman — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:45:50 +0000

About That Bridge

JGillman — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:19:03 +0000

Many of you might know I am opposed to a new international bridge crossing that has ANYTHING to do with our government, or its lackeys, in what amounts to an all out eminent domain battle.

There have been some serious abuses going on by our judiciary, and frankly I am concerned that somewhere in the mix is pay-off, pay-back, or a bizarre form of quid pro quo. Something stinks to high heaven in Detroit. A letter received today:

Fellow Michiganders,

As you know, 84 year old Matty Maroun and Dan Stamper of the Detroit International Bridge Company were thrown in jail by Wayne County Circuit Judge Prentis Edward late last week, for alleged failure to comply with Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) requirements for DIBC’s “Gateway Project.” The two men were released from jail over the weekend, but the mere fact they were put their in the first place should be a major concern for every one of us.

Former Michigan Speaker for the House Craig DeRoche said it well in his Detroit Free Press Op-Ed last Friday:
“Even untrained legal observers should be outraged that Moroun was imprisoned even though he wasn’t a party to this case (his company was), he was not given the chance to speak, defend himself or answer any charges in court. There were literally no documents or court proceedings or basis for the judge to pursue this perversion of justice or to waste tax dollars so flippantly.” http://www.freep.com/article/20120113/OPINION05/120113055?fb_comment_id=fbc_10150581745711049_21851688_10150582068206049

Keith Crain of Crain’s Detroit said: ”His jailing makes me very nervous for our democracy. The “state” and the courts can decide in a civil dispute to throw someone in jail indefinitely? I thought that was something left to totalitarian states around the world.”
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20120115/SUB01/301159964/keith-crain-am-i-only-one-outraged-by-judge-8217-s-act

Not only was the jailing for the DIBC Executives disturbing, but MDOT official have recently admitted those accusations against the bridge company we not even true. “A Michigan DOT official concedes to TOLLROADSnews that the Detroit Free Press report is mistaken. He agrees that the state is responsible for the missing ramp, not the bridge company as the Detroit Free Press falsely reports.”
http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/5702

Also, attached in this email is a map of the MDOT plans for the Gateway Project and DIBC’s construction as of 2011. It is very clear that the DIBC has completed their portion of the project on was waiting on MDOT to finish their portion.

In retrospect, it is hard to see the Judge’s decision as anything but politically motivated. When you consider the Judge’s son, Prentis Edwards Jr., was recently appointed to the 36th District Court by Governor Snyder and the Governor’s recent talk about bypassing the legislature to pursue the NITC bridge, the picture becomes more clear. Keep these facts in mind as you notice the Governor’s positioning on this bridge issue in the State-of-the-State tonight and in the upcoming weeks.

Educate yourselves on this. The test is already happening. How will you score?

Proposed Government Expansions / Limitations Count in Governor’s Address Available Tonight

JGillman — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:42:12 +0000

Mackinac Center policy experts available to comment on Gov. Snyder’s remarks

MIDLAND — Mackinac Center Fiscal Policy Director Michael D. LaFaive will count and categorize new initiatives proposed by Gov. Rick Snyder in tonight’s State of the State address. Mackinac Center analysts will examine expansions and limitations of government offered by the administration, as they have with such speeches dating back to 1969.

“Last year’s address set a precedent for greatly understating proposed limitations of state government,” said LaFaive. “I was initially disappointed in the speech — which contained three proposed limitations — only to watch the governor and Legislature dramatically rein in and improve many aspects of state government throughout 2011.”

Labor reform may be on Gov. Snyder’s agenda in 2012, whether he mentions it in his speech tonight or not. Labor Policy Director Paul Kersey notes that Indiana’s likely adoption of a right-to-work law may force the governor’s hand.

“On the labor front, the difference between Indiana and Michigan is already stark,” said Kersey. “The Hoosier State may become the nation’s 23rd right-to-work state while Michigan can’t even get Senate Republicans — who have a substantial majority — to prevent the forced unionization of home health care workers by Big Labor.”

The Service Employees International Union, using a shell employer known as the Michigan Quality Community Care Council, has “organized” self-employed home health aides for the purpose of skimming dues from their ailing and disabled clients’ Medicaid subsidy checks. The state House passed a bill to end this practice last summer, but it has not moved in the Senate.

LaFaive, who recently wrote on the “State of the State: How to Move Michigan Forward, said some of the governor’s ideas may originate from the advisory committees created last year through the Office of Regulatory Reinvention, including liquor control reform.

“This area is ripe for change,” he said. “It would be ideal if the governor proposed stripping government-mandated monopolies from millionaire beer and wine wholesalers. Short of that, there are probably 100 or more good alcohol-related reform ideas that could be adopted without much controversy.”

The 2012 “scorecard” of limitations and expansion proposals will be published at www.mackinac.org shortly after the Governor’s speech.