Same song, second verse. That’s my reaction to the news last week that the state team charged with reviewing Detroit’s financial condition has unanimously concluded a financial emergency exists in the city. The exact wording: “… a financial emergency exists because no satisfactory plan exists within the city of Detroit to resolve a severe financial […]
Phil Power
Former newspaper publisher and University of Michigan Regent Phil Power is a longtime observer of Michigan politics and economics. He is also the founder and former chairman of the Center for Michigan which publishes Bridge Michigan and BridgeDetroit.
Posted inPhil's Column
Snyder tries to sell long-term investment strategy to Michigan
Give a man a fish, and you feed him a day; show him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Gov. Rick Snyder unveiled his proposed state budget for the next two years last Thursday. If there is a core idea in his $50.9 billion budget message, it’s the distinction between investments […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Michigan politicians starve the engines of economic growth: universities
While we consider Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget message – to be delivered Thursday — we might want to look at some facts underlying our economy. The (persistently) bad news: Since 2008, Michigan has slashed state support for public colleges and universities by 21.5 percent. The (sort-of) good news: We rank only 11th among states in […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Legislators missed chance to have eyes opened on K-12 reform
In my experience, there are two basic types of conferences: * The rehash, where you see/meet new people but don’t learn much new. * The eye-opener, where you hear something quite new that shoves your thinking in new directions. Tuesday’s gathering in Lansing, sponsored by the Center for Michigan to consider expert response to the report, “The […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Report on Michigan schools should be start of statewide discussion on reform
News flash: Michigan residents want better schools, expanded early childhood programs and more support and more accountability for teachers. And they’re willing to pay more to get them. These are among the findings from the largest effort ever made to gather and analyze public attitudes on K-12 schools in Michigan. More than 7,000 people participated […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Supreme Court vacancy gives Snyder chance to combat big money’s influence
It’s rare for a governor to have the power in his own hands to remedy a problem that’s been embarrassing his state since the present state constitution was adopted, half a century ago. But with Justice Diane Hathaway’s retirement next week from the Michigan Supreme Court, Gov. Rick Snyder has an easy chance to lock […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Capitol Hill chaos should drive voters to kill off old ‘gerrymander’
Most people agree that our politics and government today are too often severely dysfunctional. And there’s one big reason why: The taproot of much of all this can be traced to our severely gerrymandered state legislative and congressional districts. For a glimpse of just how powerful this is, all you have to do is glance […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Life isn’t like it used to be, and that’s a bad thing
Like many other dogs, my black lab, HomeTown, has a bed in the back hallway. It used to be his preferred snoozing place. No longer. Several weeks ago, he chewed a big hole in the bed cover, and we sewed a piece of heavy cloth over the hole. HomeTown has yet to sleep on his […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Michigan still needs action on schools, universities, Detroit
It is what it is. I am referring, of course, to the political firestorm that has engulfed Michigan ever since Gov. Rick Snyder announced he would sign Right To Work (or Freedom To Work, if you prefer) when legislation ending the union shop reaches his desk. Naturally, we all wish we could live in a […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Handel’s ‘Messiah’ always gets one jazzed for the holiday season
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare Is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness; prepare ye the way of The Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. *** […]