Michigan has been the scene of historic, sometimes bloody, battles between organized labor and management. Proposal 2 – the ballot effort to include collective bargaining rights in the Michigan Constitution — has lacked physical confrontation. But there’s plenty of bad blood between labor unions, which put the measure on the November ballot, and business groups […]
Michigan Government
Citizens cannot do their job of running their government if they don’t know what their public servants are doing.
Posted inMichigan Government
Democratic Party, but not Dem candidate, gets foul in House 52 race, Truth Squad rules
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS: Mark Ouimet vs. Gretchen Driskell Who: Michigan Republican Party, Michigan Democratic Party, Friends of Gretchen Driskell What: Mailers Truth Squad call: No foul on GOP mailers. Foul on one Democratic party mailer, but not the other. No foul on Driskell mailer. Republican Party mailers Republican freshman Rep. Mark Ouimet of Scio […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Prop 3: More renewable power, but at what cost?
Consumers Energy President and CEO John Russell caused a stir last month when he marked the dedication of the utility’s first wind farm near Ludington by declaring that renewable energy is “clean, reliable and affordable for Michigan.” Russell’s comments added fuel to the debate over Proposal 3, a proposed constitutional amendment that would require Michigan’s […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Renewable energy prop could divide communities targeted for wind farms
Mary Straubel vividly remembers the day in 2009 that thrust her into a contentious debate over wind energy that would create a deep rift in the quaint tourist towns of northwest Lower Michigan. “I came home from work one day and someone had put up an anemometer (wind gauge) across the street,” said Straubel, a […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Genesis of Prop 2 found in Right to Work debate
For years, it was unthinkable that Michigan, the cradle of the labor movement, might ever become a Right to Work state. Union workers helped build the state, union power shaped its politics and the idea of severing the two would be like Georgia rejecting peaches. Things are different now. The battle over Proposal 2, which […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Foul called on Medicare claim in Stabenow attack on Hoekstra
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS: “The Truth About Pete Hoekstra” and “Through Me” Who: Stabenow for U.S. Senate What: TV ad and website pages Truth Squad call: Foul The campaign material for incumbent U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, attacks Republican Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra for his stand on Medicare, abortion, taxes and other issues. Questionable statement: “Hoekstra supports […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Everyone gets a foul in House 67 campaign, Truth Squad rules
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS: Jeff Oesterle v. Tom Cochran Who: Friends of Jeff Oesterle (http://www.jeffoesterle.com/), Committee to Elect Tom Cochran (http://votetomcochran.com/), Michigan Republican Pary (“Loyalties” mailer, “Sand” mailer), Michigan Democratic Party (“Example” mailer, “Polluter” mailer) What: Websites and mailers Truth Squad calls: Flagrant foul and Foul on Democratic mailers; Foul and Technical foul on GOP […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Proposal 5 seeks end to majority rule on taxes
The signal moment in the budget reform agenda of Gov. Rick Snyder came by a margin of one, as the state Senate voted 20-19 in May 2011 to approve a $1.7 billion tax cut for business and impose a variety of changes to Michigan’s personal income tax. Lt. Gov. Brian Calley cast a rare tie-breaking […]
Posted inMichigan Government
California is poster child for tax limitation rules, for advocates and critics alike
In the depths of the Great Depression, California lawmakers devised a bold prescription for balancing the state books. Called Proposition 1, the 1933 measure called for a complicated shift in taxes between state and local governments and boosted state spending for schools. Almost as an afterthought, it required a two-thirds vote in each chamber to […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Prop 5 advocates say taxes are high, but figures show Michigan in the middle
It is an article of faith among small government advocates that Michigan residents are overtaxed, especially in relation to other states. That might have been true in 1985, when Michigan ranked seventh in the nation with a state and local tax burden of 10.4 percent, compared to a national average of 9.7 percent. The data […]