The Truth Be Known

Posted on May 29, 2011 by chadphillips

The truth has a way of finding its way to the surface.  Sometimes it just kind of pops out, defying the lips of its keeper.  Sometimes it takes a twist of fate to free it.  Recently, the truth has surfaced in the debate about the education budget. 

Sometimes it just kind of pops out.  The Republicans have been lockstep so far in putting together the state budget.  They have also been lock lipped, if you will.  In person, on TV, in email, in the paper, they have been saying the same exact things.  However, one rookie representative let the cat out of the bag.  He said what many of his colleagues are too wise to say.  In the May 14-15 edition of the Big Rapids Pioneer, Representative Phil Potvin said “It’s kind of like one of your kids coming to you and yelling and screaming at you saying, ‘Dad, I want my allowance.’ ‘What do you mean you want your allowance?  You haven’t emptied the basket, you haven’t mowed the grass and I sure don’t appreciate your language and your attitude.”  This is the same guy who exactly one month earlier donned a “No Whining” button at a Republican fundraiser in response to teachers, students, and parents rallying outside.   To summarize:  Teachers are whiners.  Teachers have not been doing their jobs.  And politicians are our daddies.  The truth finds its ways out.

Sometimes it takes a twist of fate.  Politicians have been using crisis as a way of ushering in sweeping change for years.  Some prominent examples include the New Deal in response to the great depression, the increased spending on science and education in response to the Soviet’s launch of Sputnik, and the Patriot Act in response to the 9-11 terrorist attack.  The newest version of this is the Chicken Little act happening around the country in response to state budget shortfalls.  The cuts to education, we were told, were necessary to balance the budget.  That sounds reasonable.  Cuts were made to education for that same reason under the Granholm administration.  However, when additional revenue came in above expectations, before the budget was even passed, only part of it was earmarked for schools.  Those additional funds are only being made available with strings attached.  So much for the budget being the reason for the cuts.  The truth finds its way out.

Campaigns seem to be the one place where truth has difficulty escaping.  In an interview with annarbor.com prior to the election, our Governor indicated that present levels of funding were sufficient.  In an interview with the Cadillac news prior to the election, our daddy Phil Potvin  said we “need to properly support the education system.”  Now the truth be known.

Posted in Phil Potvin, Schools | 4 Comments

Dread Scott!

Posted on May 23, 2011 by chadphillips

It is not uncommon to hear a teacher complaining about the Michigan Education Association (MEA) and their lack of support for Republican candidates for office.  A good number of teachers have a hard time getting behind the MEA just for that reason.  After all, many teachers have conservative leanings.  However, when the MEA does endorses a Republican candidate, it seems to backfire.  In 2008, the MEA endorsed Grand Blanc Republican Paul Scott.  According to an article in the Flint Journal, the MEA said Scott “exemplifies what MEA views as a friend of education.”  

Fast forward a few years.  Paul Scott is now in his second term, and now he is the chair of the House Education Committee.  Despite the 2008 MEA endorsement and his education chair position, he has become anything but a friend of education.  Scott who has studied to be a politician and lawyer, has never worked in the education field so far as I can tell.  So maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that Scott is championing the attack on teachers rather than working to help public schools and public school children.  What Scott does not understand can best be explained by something I heard from a speaker in Lansing at a rally of over 6,000 public school supporters.  To paraphrase that speaker, “teachers’ working environment is their students’ learning environment.  You cannot pass bills that affect teachers without also affecting students.”  Paul Scott is not only willing to pass these laws, he is sponsoring them.  He has co-sponsored a bill to fine the MEA $5,000 for every teacher that strikes and the bill also strips a striking teacher’s teaching license (HB4466).  He also sponsored a bill that would remove the portion of law that requires “just cause” for firing a teacher (HB 4226).  This bill would also allow for a teacher to be fired after 2 years of being rated “ineffective” regardless of any other factors.

Paul Scott calls seniority based lay-offs “asinine.”  I might suggest allowing for a system of lay off under the disguise of performance, in a field where performance is impossible to accurately measure, as asinine.  What will occur is that people who have a relationship with the administration, be it a social one or a physical one, will be the first to be retained.  The next group to be retained will be the “yes men” group.  The third group to be retained will be the lowest paid teachers.  So basically we will have a “free market” system for lay-offs.  Think about what will happen to people who have decades invested in a system and who have given everything of themselves for the children in the district in which they work.  If they are not let go because of the reasons stated above, they will be let go because a new guy, with no ties to the community, who may not even want to stay for long, edges out the old guy on a performance evaluation.  And suprise, the new guy only makes about half of what the old guy makes.  Now the old guy, who needs a few years more to retire, will have to find someone who will want to hire an old guy and will probably have to do so at a starting teacher’s pay, which will lower his pension for life.  That sounds asinine to me.  But then again, “paying your dues” is probably not a phrase that Republicans would understand. 

Paul Scott not only plans to destroy the profession of teaching, he is working to defund public education.  Scott was a sponsor of the bill to repeal the single business tax which is now causing a huge hole in the general fund.  In order to balance the general fund, the state will be taking money from the school aid fund.  His latest bright idea (HB4138 & 4652), is to reduce the amount of sales tax on used automobiles which will also cause a decline in the school aid fund.  Why is this guy chairing the education committee again?

Scott is no friend of education.  He is an enemy combatant.   Thank God teachers are starting to engage Scott in a ground war.  They have begun knocking on doors to educate Scott’s constituents.  He is one of many who must be replaced come November of 2012, if not sooner.  Our student’s future depends on it.

Posted in Schools | 5 Comments

Great Lakes Education (Read DeVos) Project

Posted on May 15, 2011 by chadphillips

In a recent post, I questioned why the Chamber of Commerce would donate to a pro school privatization group called the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP).  I first noticed the GLEP when I was researching contributions to my state Senator Darwin Booher, who I classify as an anti-public education legislator.  Researching the GLEP took some work, but I was able to find out a lot of information on the group using a campaign finance search and by looking at archives of their website on the Wayback Machine.  

The GLEP started in February of 2001 and they received their first donation of $25,000 from billionaire Dick DeVos that same month.  The following month, Dick’s wife Betsy made her first contribution of $25,000.  Over the next decade the two would donate at least $895,000 to the group (see my excel sheet).  Both Dick & Betsy also served for a period as chairman of the board of advisers of the GLEP.  Greg Brock managed the group’s day to day operations in those early years and the GLEP paid him about $67,000 a year to do so.  According to the GLEP web page, Greg Brock was the “former executive director for the Republicans and campaign manager for Kids First! Yes!.”  Kids First! Yes! was the group that pushed the failed 2000 voucher initiative.  Dick and Betsy were major funders of that group as well.  Betsy DeVos and Greg Brock have now taken their partnership to privatize public schools nationally through the group American Federation for Children.  

The GLEP website in those early months provided a lot of insight into what the group stands for.  In 2001 Betsy criticized the legislature for “failing to lift the cap of 150 charter schools chartered by Michigan’s four-year universities.”  In 2003 the web page noted that “The number one priority for Great Lakes Education Project continues to be lifting the state’s cap on the number of charter public schools allowed under Michigan law.”  The group had to wait out a two-term Democratic Governor, but it looks like Republican Governor Rick Snyder is ready to make their wishes come true.  Snyder’s plan to allow for more charter schools will move us a step closer to making public school a for profit industry.  Maybe we should not be surprised since Rick Snyder contributed $2,000 to the GLEP in April of 2006. 

The GLEP has been especially critical of the Michigan Education Association (MEA).  Their website said “the MEA teachers union has held school boards hostage by forcing them to purchase the expensive MESSA insurance program.”  Betsy Devos went further by saying that the MEA “currently controls our state legislature.”  They listed as a goal of the GLEP “to recruit, train and fund candidates for elected office in Michigan.” The first check they wrote to help a candidate get elected was to Bill Shutte who was running for the U.S. Senate.  They only gave Shutte $40.00 in June of 2001.  However, when Bill Shutte ran for Michigan’s Attorney General in 2010, the GLEP gave his election committee a check for $34,000.  Shutte won the election. 

The GLEP is not funded solely by Dick and Betsy DeVos.  They managed to get a lot of their rich friends and relatives involved.  In 2004, Dick’s parents Richard and Helen DeVos began contributing, and the two have given $275,000 to the group since then.  Betsy’s mother, Elsa Prince Broekhuizen (mother of Blackwater/Zee Services LLC owner Eric Prince) has donated $75,000 to the group.  Dick’s brother Douglas DeVos has chipped in $16,000, and his other brother Dan (President of Fox Adventures) has given $5,000.  Dick’s sister Cheri and husband Bob Vanderweide (CEO of the Orlando Magic) ponied up $10,000.  Many other wealthy Grand Rapids area business owners have contributed to the GLEP.  A few names that you might know include Daniel Gordon, the CEO of Gordon Foods at the time, and Henrick Meijer the founder of the Meijer supermarket chain.  Those two only gave $1,000 each though.  The biggest name donors are none other than Jim and John Walton of Walmart riches.  Each donated $100,000 in 2004.  

The group seemed to be running full steam complete with employees, an office, phone lines, newspaper subscriptions, expense accounts, and much more up until sometime in 2007.  At that point the website became very vague and their outgoing expenses have been limited mostly to checks to help elect candidates and to political consultants.  They also funded misleading post card mailings and robo-calls in the 2010 election.

Who knows what the future of the GLEP project will be now that much of their work will be done by Governor Rick Snyder and the Republican controlled Senate and House of Representatives.  It appears that they have become just another front organization to give rich donors another way to fund their candidates.  It looks like they will leave the creation and dissemination of privatization policy to “think tank” groups like the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the American Legislative Exchange Council.  It is hard to believe that the donors to the GLEP are truly passionate about student success.  If they were, wouldn’t they have gone into the education profession?  Why wouldn’t they have given the millions of dollars they spent on politics to students so they can attend the type of private schools that our Governor’s kid goes to?  I guess these types of unanswered questions make me skeptical about their real intentions.  I believe what really irks these individuals is that there is a lot of money being spent on an industry (public schools) that they can’t make a profit on.  They see not-for- profit as another way of saying for socialism.  After all, if someone can’t get rich off it, then what is the point of having it?

Update: on 7/24/2012 Dick and Betsy DeVos donated $100,000 each to the GLEP which brings the total DeVos family contribution to over a million dollars.

Posted in DeVos Family, Great Lakes Education Project, Schools | 19 Comments

WWYD about the Budget?

Posted on May 11, 2011 by chadphillips

For the most part, Michigan Republicans have been able to put up a united front.  In fact, if you have talked to one, you have talked to them all.  One common line is “what would you do about the deficit?”  followed by “anyone can find problems, but we need solutions.”  The Center for Michigan put out a little balance the budget game that allowed us laypersons to take a shot at balancing the budget.  Some thought it was too simple, but I thought it was a good starting point.  First, you had to decide if you wanted to give the massive business tax cut the Governor is proposing.  I chose no because I don’t believe in cutting revenue when you are staring at a large deficit.  After all, no business would cut revenue, and we seem to only be looking at issues through a “free market” lens.  After choosing no on the tax cut, I  chose prison sentencing reform for a total savings of 1.25 million.  I also chose to extend the sales taxes to services (1 billion), soft drinks (83 million), and an increase of the beer tax (106 million).  I’d be happy to pay taxes on my services, soda, and beer.  These taxes seem like a “shared sacrifice” to me.  If I don’t want to share the sacrifice, I won’t purchase these good and services.  These simple changes alone would nearly balance the budget.   But choosing no on the tax cut looks like an unrealistic option.  If the Governor demands it, the legislators will cave in and give it to him.  So what would I do to balance the budget with the proposed tax cut?  I would go to a graduated income tax.  If businesses are only profiting a hundred or two hundred thousand dollars, go ahead and give the individuals who take home that money the same tax rate that most of us pay.  However, if they are going to make a half million or several million dollars, then I believe they can pay in a bit more.  After all, if we have to share in the sacrifice why can’t we share in the prosperity?

Posted in Business, Schools, Taxes | 2 Comments

Breaking Down (and Apart) Snyder’s Plan for Education.

Posted on May 8, 2011 by chadphillips

If you you haven’t read Governor Snyder’s plan for public education, you should.  Some people believe Governor Snyder is an expert on education because he holds several degrees.  However, none of those degrees are in the field of teaching or educational leadership.  Sure, the Governor has spent a lot of time in school, but that doesn’t make him an expert on schools.  The chronically sick are not experts in medicine, and frequent fliers are not experts in flight.  I doubt either have written position papers on how to improve those industries.  Most people know their limitations.  Some people may think the Governor has credibility on the subject of education because he is a self proclaimed “nerd.”  I am a self-proclaimed jock, but I am not an expert in all areas of athletics.  Despite having spent some time in the pool, I have no plans to create a swim training program, invent a new swim stroke, or design an aquatics facility.  I too know my limitations.  I believe the Governor has little credibility when it comes to reinventing education in Michigan.  Just to prove me right, he handed in a failing paper on the subject.  Let me hit the low points.   

The Governor praises the “rigorous set of content and assessment standards and high-school graduation requirements” that were adopted under Governor Granholm.  He says the “results are promising.”  After acknowledging the promising results, he gives a list of reasons that we are not getting a good return on our “investment.”  For example, he says that only 16% of students are college ready based on the ACT taken as part of the MME test.  That isn’t a good number.  However, these students haven’t even finished their junior year.  They still have over 25% of their high school course work to complete.  Should we be surprised that they are not college ready?  At least the Governor used actual numbers rather than the fictional A.L.E.C. data that he used in his campaign.  So the Governor uses this data as fodder for a plan that creates more unfunded mandates.  Actually, we lack a term for mandates that are not only unfunded, but that come with funding cuts.  Maybe the term “Ricktaker” should join the term “Ricktater” in our new Michigan vernacular.  Let’s dig deeper into the “Ricktaker’s” plan.

Snyder’s emphasis on the importance of early childhood education is right on.  He notes that “only 65% of children entered kindergarten classrooms this year ready to learn the curriculum.”  However, instead of ponying up money to make preschool available for all children, his big idea is to consolidate a bunch of governmental departments.  The reality is his funding plan is forcing schools to scale back or eliminate pre-school opportunities when we should be mandating and funding pre-school for all.  Even though he says “we know too much about the first five years of life to continue to invest as though learning begins at the kindergarten door rather than at birth” his plan will do little to remedy the problem.

Of course, the Governor calls for greater school “choice” for  parents and students.  We all know “choice” to be a code word for the privatizing and profitizing public schools.   His plan will “increase the number of charter schools in Michigan” and he hopes to attract the top “charter operators from across the nation.”  He praises “free market ideas” and suggests that we allow “online educators.”  He says that “every child in Michigan who needs or wants up to two hours of daily online education must receive it.”  This is just a way to circumvent the voters wishes.  The voters turned back a privatization initiative via vouchers in 2000.  I already vented on that idea.  But to summarize, the use of online instruction will not only turn education into a for-profit business, it will export our jobs.  Can you say Gateway?   

The Governor talks a lot about funding public education.  He notes that we are 21st in the nation in total expenditures per pupil as if that is something to be proud about.  However, when it comes to business, having the 17th best state to do business in isn’t good enough so he has proposed a massive tax cut.  So 21st is good enough for schools but 17th isn’t good enough for businesses.  He also proposes that “a portion of state school aid be tied to the academic achievement of a school district.”  So good luck to schools that have a greater percentage of students who come from disadvantaged homes.  You know, the ones the Governor noted that come to school not ready to learn.  Those schools will now have less funding to implement interventions.  This is great example of why some “free market” ideas fail to work in the not-for-profit world.

The Governor says his proposals can “all be achieved in our present system of collective bargaining for teachers and other school employees.”  Later he goes on to say “I propose that in fiscal year 2013 a portion of the state foundation allowance be allocated to school districts that pay no more than 80% of employee health care premiums.”  This proposal circumvents collective bargaining and basically creates a mandate without calling it a mandate.  The legislature is working a bill that would mandate an 80/20 plan.  If the Governor signs it we will confirm the common belief that the he does not believe in the collective bargaining process.

The Governor wants to make college classes available as early as 9th grade.  However, many schools are considering scaling back such programs because of funding cuts.  Also, how many students in 9th grade are really ready for the rigors of a college class?  Not many students are as gifted or as motivated as our Governor was in school.  Many do not want to  begin college instead of finish the last semester of their senior year in high school as the Governor did.   Maybe it is ok that we don’t remake every student in the Governor’s image.  Maybe it is ok if high school kids take high school classes and college kids take college classes for the most part. 

The Governor’s suggestion that teachers need to be monetarily “rewarded” for excellence in teaching is wrong.  A teacher’s reward is intrinsically motivated.  When we see a student succeed, often despite many obstacles, we feel good about our accomplishments.  That is all the reward we need.  Besides, anyone who took Intro to Psychology knows that giving external rewards, such as bonuses, for an intrinsically rewarded behavior, like helping a student succeed, actually makes it less likely to reoccur.   

Perhaps the most contradictory part of the Governor’s plan is his ideas for training teachers.  He notes that “nearly half of all teachers quit during their first few years.”  To remedy this, he intends to make it hard to become and remain a teacher, at least for people who plan to commit their lives to do so.  His plan calls for teacher preparation to include “more in-classroom clinical experience.”  That could mean the addition semester of student teaching.  The governor proposes higher cut scores on teacher certification tests and higher requirements for continuing education.  He also suggests that 40% of teacher’s evaluations be based on student achievement, a plan that will hurt teachers in poor districts more than affluent ones.  As noted earlier, his plan for education also includes lowering teacher compensation by making teachers pay more for health care.  How will all of this recruit and retain better teachers?    After proposing that people have to walk through the fires of Hell if they want to become a teacher using the traditional path, he gives other people a free pass.  He suggests an “alternative certification system” to quickly get a “qualified businessperson” into the classroom.  So the Governor’s plan is to create both students and teachers in his likeness.

The Governor’s belief that schools need to be more like businesses is wrong. We are not for profit, we are for students!  We refuse to cast aside our faulty parts.  Most businesses fail, and we refuse to fail.  Too many businesses foster nepotism and cronyism.   The tenure and seniority system the Governor would like to weaken or eliminate minimizes those things in our public schools.  Public schools have no glass ceiling, and reject the type of systems that still allow such problems to exist in the private sector.  Perhaps the private sector should adopt more public sector ideas rather than the other way around. 

Governor Snyder started out thinking he was an expert in all things.  Then he read a lot of conservative think tank propaganda and found some talking points to back up his ideas.  Now he is enlightening us on how to fix the problem.   How fast he has become just another politician. However, that was to be expected.  The hardest pill to swallow is that he was educated in the public school system he now wishes to destroy.  That mentality reminds me of the American Taliban.  Governor Snyder is fast becoming the public school equivalent of John Walker Lindh.

Posted in Schools | Leave a comment

Politic$ is not a Local Affair.

Posted on May 7, 2011 by chadphillips

Tip O’Neil said “all politics is local.”  I tend to disagree.  After all, I keep hearing the question “why aren’t our representatives listening to us?”  If you want the answer, you should look through the campaign finance database at the Michigan Department of State.  There you will be able to tell which special interest groups, and which individuals with an agenda, contributed to your elected officials.  Why are these contributions so important?  Because one saying I tend to agree with is “nothing in life is free.”  Take my representative Bruce Rendon for instance.  Only around 16% of the money Representative Rendon raised came from the 103rd district (Iosco, Ogemaw, Roscommon, and Missaukee counties).  While $16,000 came from 103rd district contributors, over $28,000 came from Lansing political action committees (PAC’s) and individuals.  Four thousand dollars alone came from the Gross Point area including  500 dollars each from two “homemakers” named Lindsay and Nora Moran.  The Moran family must be pretty interested in the politics of the four rural counties represented by Mr Rendon.  Otherwise, why would Lindsay and Nora give up their hard earned homemaking money?  To be truthful, the 103rd was an important district in the 2010 election.  It was one of the districts that flipped from Democrat to Republican control.  A similar trend around the state helped the Republicans take control of the House, retain the Senate, and win the Governorship.  My problem isn’t so much with who won the election, but with who paid for the victories, and how they are being paid back.
NOTE: Here is a spreadsheet with the data I used for my figures for Representative Rendon.

Posted in Bruce Rendon | 2 Comments

Is the Chamber of Commerce Against Public Schools?

Posted on May 4, 2011 by chadphillips

We have all heard the saying “follow the money.”  So what does it mean that the Michigan Chamber of Commerce gave $75,000 to the Great Lakes Education Project  (GLEP) in 2010?  Sure $75,000 isn’t as much money as the $125,000 that Dick and Betsy DeVos gave, but it is significant.  The subversive Great Lakes Education Project lists its mission as bringing “educational freedom and choices to all parents.”  Choice being code for exporting public school students and their state foundation allowance to for profit schools.  Since the voters turned back a DeVos backed voucher initiative in 2000, groups like GLEP and the Mackinac Center for Pubic Policy are now pushing for more private charter schools and online schooling.  Governor Snyder, whose own children attend a prestigious private school, is all for the plan.  It makes sense that the Chamber of Commerce would want to see a new industry become for-profit, though I’m not sure all of their members would agree.  Many businesses and business owners have a close connection with their local public schools.   This may be why the Chamber of Commerce is funneling money through a front organization instead of backing the privatization move themselves.  It is time for the Chamber of Commerce to be upfront and tell their members where they stand on the profitization of Michigan’s public school children.  If they are for privitization, it is time for business to reconsider their affiliation with the Chamber of Commerce, and it is time for customers to reconsider patrionizing Chamber of Commerce affiliated businesses.

Posted in Chamber of Commerce, Schools | 4 Comments

Snyder’s Plan for Public Schools Defies Voters Wishes

Posted on May 2, 2011 by chadphillips

In November of 2000, Michiganders went to the polls like they do every November to exercise their democratic right to vote.  Most will remember that election as the one where Al Gore got more votes in Michigan, and throughout the United States, but didn’t become president.  George Bush won the election because he received more electoral votes after the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a hand count of some unusual votes in Florida could not be done fast enough.  What some may not remember is that same night voters denied a DeVos backed ballot initiative to allow students to receive vouchers in order to take their public school money to private schools.  Michigan voters soundly defeated the initiative despite some 10 million dollars being spent on the campaign.   Maybe Mr. Snyder doesn’t remember the details of the 2000 election.  After all, he was busy serving on the board of Gateway while the company shipped jobs overseas.   The voters spoke that November, but Rick Snyder wasn’t listening.  Governor Snyder’s plan for public education in Michigan would allow students to receive instruction from “online educators.”  That instruction would be paid for with money from the school aid fund.  In essence, online education is private school without the building.  I’m guessing you won’t be surprised that a controversial company called K12, inc, with ties to the DeVos family, would likely be ready to sell their programs to Michigan schools at a moments notice.  I can’t help but think that we are on the same path as Gateway.  Outsourcing our teaching jobs to online companies is not going to improve student scores or the unemployment rate in Michigan.  It may however, make someone a bunch of money which could allow them to become a Governor someday.

Posted in DeVos Family, Schools | 4 Comments

Wait and See Equals Apathy!

Posted on April 27, 2011 by chadphillips

Michael Flanagan, the State Superintendent of Schools, made an interesting comment according to a Kalamazoo Gazette article.  He said “Let’s put the slings and arrows away,” and “Let’s stop circling the wagons and shooting in.”  This was in reference to the mobilization that is taking place against Governor Snyder and the Republican agenda.  Mr. Flanagan seems to be joining the Republicans in asking us to take a wait and see approach.  The fallacy is that somehow if we wait and see, something good will come.  When you don’t agree with even the most moderate of the Governor’s and Legislature’s proposals, why should you wait and see which bad plan gets enacted?  If we are apathetic and sit on our hands until a plan is passed, will we somehow be able to change it when we find it is just as bad as we expected?  Let me put it another way.  If Osama bin Laden sent us a message today and said we will soon attack you in one of the following 10 ways, would we wait and see which way he attacked us?  Absolutely not!  While the Snyder regime isn’t waging a military style attack on Michigan, they are waging an economic assault on the American way of life.
NOTE: Five days after I posted this the U.S. military killed bin Laden after nearly 10 years on the run.  That was odd timing.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Business Climate in Michigan not as Bad as Republicans Advertise

Posted on April 23, 2011 by chadphillips

Jase Bolger, the Michigan Speaker of the House, is one of many politicians who are deceiving Michiganders on the business climate in Michigan.  In Bolger’s recent Detroit Free Press Commentary, he said that Michigan is ranked 48th in “corporate tax competitiveness.”  He believes lack of competitiveness in this area is why Michigan has the 46th highest unemployment rate.  When legislative leaders spout statistics like this, they find their way quickly to the rank and file members of the legislature.  Those members then use the information to sell their constituents on the gravity of the situation.  

Speaker Bolger apparently got his information from the non-profit group The Tax Foundation.  What the people of Michigan should know is that The Tax Foundation, while being a non-profit, is anything but non-partisan.  The groups web page notes that it was started by a “small group of executives” in 1937.  The current Chairman of the Board is employed by Eli Lilly, the 10th largest pharmaceutical company in the world.  In 2009 the Chairman was Dr. Wayne Gable who is the President of the Charles G. Koch Foundation.  As many of us have learned recently, the Koch Brothers have been been funding many of the  popular conservative think tank organizations.  The Brothers are rated as the 5th and 6th richest people in America according to Forbes, so they have a lot of influence.  Republicans in Michigan not only believe much of the misinformation put out by Koch backed organizations, but they seem to do an excellent job of disseminating their biased information, Governor Snyder included. 

It is not only the source of the information that is disturbing.  It is how the information is “cherry picked” in order to try and make the situation seem more drastic.  The Tax Foundation ranks us 17th overall for Tax Climate.  Why didn’t Speaker Bolger mention this in his commentary?  Is it because 17th doesn’t seem as bad as 48th?  According to The Tax Foundation, Snyder’s plan for Michigan will bump us up to 13th, until other states cut their taxes too.

So the question is how low should we go?  Forbes lists Michigan as the 47th worst state to do business.  According to their lists, the cost of labor in Michigan is too high.  Once taxes are all but eliminated, will the Republicans move on to reducing labor costs by lowering the minimum wage?  When it comes to rankings, I say put them in the circular file!

Posted in Business, Taxes | 3 Comments