Our State of Dis-Union

It’s a big night for Bush and he needs to find his inner “thousand points of light” to come through it. This is an unlikely feat but I enjoy watching the underdog. With his approval ratings sagging to 36% and his new troop surge into Iraq not picking up much enthusiasm as hoped for, the president’s new strategy is not too hard to guess. Instead of focusing on his coined “axis of evil” from years past, he will try and score points with the environment and immigration. Both of these issues were good plays with the public in his first years on board with the nation and he can gain more ground offering solutions here than anything that he could add with the Iraq debacle. I remember watching him during the debates or one of his first televised speeches before Congress when he declared something needed to be done about America’s dependency on oil. Odds are he will pull out that phrase again tonight along with some other gems from his first campaign. Bush will spend time on Iraq but at this point he is putting it on the Democrats to quit complaining and find a way to make things work over there. I was impressed with Hillary Clinton on the Today Show this morning who confirmed this willingness to start making headway here. She was of course pandering a little since her 2008 opponent John Edwards has been giving her grief in Iowa.

On to Michigan!


Our State of the State address isn’t till February 6th but Grandholm has a big budget deficit to explain. Unless you are out on a skiff in the middle of Lake Superior or live in a tepee in the great north woods, odds are you heard about the $800 million dollar shortfall in the state’s budget. Earlier projections said we could have a $375million shortfall so Grandholm is going to have to account for that extra $400 million by doing cuts, big ones, to local services and schools and then increase taxes. If the tax receipts are $570 million below projection people must be literally running out of the mitten. Whatever our governor has cooking downtown right now better be good. It’s going to take a lot to turn around this one way train to discontent.

One question I stupidly pose, if not rhetorically is how this does happen in an election year? They could only get away with this over sight in an election year. No one is shocked that Michigan has problems, but $400 million of unaccounted for problems is a fine example of what happens when a poor economy meets and inefficient state government.

In my area of the biz, I’ve talked with school districts about dealing with the school aid cut of up to $220 per student. About half the schools in the state are going to go into deficit as a result since budgets are already tight. I’ve heard some ideas like “pay to play” sports programs or cut tutoring programs. In other areas in trouble: prisons are to release non-violent criminals early on tethers, cuts in police and fire protection, trash pick up, road repairs, and many other services. The list goes on.


Hope this didn't get you too down, fellow Michiganders. Much like the weather here, this too will pass...hopefuly sooner than later. As the Monty Python always says, "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition." Believe it or not it could be worse. Cheer up ya old buggers!

Election Buzz

Hey all. Last night I was sitting in a hospital waiting room with some relatives and the conversation turned to politics, Bush, etc. It occurred to me that somehow the primaries went by and I haven’t weighed in on the ballot proposals yet. Some people have asked me about what I thought in relations to my perspective in the biz (especially props 2 & 5) , so thought I would get on it.

Summary Judgment:

If you don’t read the explanation on all five, I basically am urging voters to VOTE NO on all of them. If anything do it for the simple fact that if our legislators were doing their jobs, poorly written legislation like these proposals would not be forced on the ballots. None of them should be in our constitution.

Prop 1: Money held in conservation and recreation funds can only be used for their intended purposes.

From the nonpartisan Citizen’s Research Council : (http://www.crcmich.org/) this is the first thing that bugged me: "This proposal would extend the length of the Michigan Constitution by 1,834 words, a full 6 percent." There has also been no incidence of law makers diverting these funds from their intended purposes. In essence this is a non issue.

VOTE NO

Prop 2: Ban affirmative action.

Perhaps the most confusing argument of the five, this proposal has divided the state. One of my friends said the other day that Michigan is not ready to go “color blind”. This is California businessman Ward Connerly’s sponsored proposal. Ten years ago California adopted this measure and since has seen a drop in minority enrollment in colleges by more than 60%. I think this was an unintended consequence, but even so, before we can say “yes” can you honestly step back and say that we don’t have disparity between race and sex in Michigan. The supporters of this proposal either believe racism does not exist, or that if it does we should not address it. This effort simply turns a blind eye to discrimination.

VOTE NO

Prop 3: Let’s Kill Doves.

This does not belong in the constitution. What did our representative do this last term? Come on! Interesting note of history though, Granholm was against killing doves when she came in to office and now she supports this one.

VOTE NO

Prop 4: Eminent Domain: power of the government to seize your property.

While the limits by which they do this are needed, proposal four is so poorly written these limits would never work as intended. There is no definition given for “fair market value” for the land so expect plenty of litigation to iron this one out. There is also debate that this has been more about defining the difference between favored businesses and public assets….lots of grey area, VOTE NO

Prop 5: Mandatory School Funding Levels.

Besides the fact that the state can’t realistically fund this, the proposal limits the governor and legislature to set and fund state priorities. Earmarking money is not going to work with out a system of accountability. For a proposal on education to make the ballot I would hope it at a minimum benefits the kids…it doesn’t, just the unions. It does nothing for the problems that exist in the education system that I see on a daily basis. Below is quote from an article that came across my desk last December when debate started going on this. You might find it interesting.

“According to a recent study prepared by Anderson Economic Group, the amount of funding available for K-12 public schools in Michigan has grown rapidly since the passage of Proposal A in 1994. Between 1994 and 2004, operating revenue increased by 71 percent, price inflation grew about 21 percent, and enrollment in Michigan schools increased by roughly 4 percent. (Most schools have received per-pupil operating revenue increases double or triple the rate of inflation.) During this same time period, property tax debt for capital expenditures grew even more rapidly – an astounding 217 percent. Despite all these increases in funding for public schools, the K-12 education establishment is demanding that more money be fed into a system with no link to providing higher levels of academic achievement.” –Jim Barret, Michigan Education Report

VOTE NO

Seuss Like?

"I hear the voices and I read the front page and I know the speculation," the president told reporters in the Rose Garden. "But I'm the decider and decide what's best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense."

Read This!

I emailed some of you guys this article earlier, but thought I would post it as well in case I missed anyone. Click on the title to go to the link. It is really well written and offers some perspective on what is going on with the war of terrorism.