“Today, the country is middle-aged but self-indulgent. Bad habits have accumulated. Interest groups have emerged to protect the status quo. The job is to restore old disciplines, strip away decaying structures and reform the welfare state. The country needs a productive midlife crisis” — David Brooks, New York Times columnist. For the past three years, the New Year […]
Phil's Column
Phil Power is the founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan.
Posted inPhil's Column
Setting the stage for 2012's performance
Frank Sinatra memorably sang about it being a long, long time from May to December and about the days dwindling down to a precious few. That’s the way it is in Michigan as the darkness closes in early at the end of the day and we begin to take stock of the year that’s about […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Center will make your voice heard on schools
I know I’m not alone when I say I’m disgusted with the way our political system is (not) working these days. What seems to be happening all over the country is that a mixture of highly partisan activists from both parties, passionate ideologues and special interest groups are succeeding in mostly closing off the political […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Get the mentally ill out of prisons, jails
Michigan taxpayers could save millions of dollars every year, not suffer any hardship and do humanity a service. How? Simply by shifting treatment of the mentally ill from state prisons and local jails to a system of outpatient treatment and mental health courts. This shift also would reverse a past mistake of epic proportions. Over […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Political physics pulls us back to the center
It wasn’t a revolution — but it just might signify a sea change. I’m referring to the results of the Nov. 8 off-year elections, which were anxiously scrutinized for possible indicators of public mood. Would that message be a continuation of 2010’s sharp tilt to the Tea Party-driven right — or a cautionary tale about […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Moroun's 'victory' is loss for everyone
Last week, I received a torrent of comment on my column about the astounding efforts by Manuel J. “Matty” Moroun, owner of the Ambassador Bridge, to block a new bridge over the Detroit River, which would provide competition to his very profitable monopoly. Virtually every corporate interest and political leader wants the new bridge, which […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Moroun's money writes sad tale for state
You might not think finger-pointing could make a sound of its own, but it does. High, thin and very penetrating. And it could be heard all over Lansing after last week’s vote in the Senate Economic Development Committee sunk — at least temporarily — the much-debated project to build another bridge connecting Detroit with Canada. […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Two movements, one core
To most observers, the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street movements could not be more different. The right-of-center Tea Party tends to be tightly focused on taxes and the size and intrusiveness of government. And it has been steadily growing in power, driving its parent Republican Party to the right. It’s a movement with […]
Posted inPhil's Column
It's time to invest in Michigan Inc.
The dwindling Lansing press corps experienced a brief tremble of excitement last week when Gov. Rick Snyder indicated he might not run for re-election if he completes his agenda in four years. “Report: Snyder may not seek re-election if agenda complete,” headlined the Detroit News, quoting the Michigan Information and Research Service, (MIRS) a capital-based […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Behind good policy is good research
The other day, suitably fitted with required jacket and necktie, I made my way to the Detroit Athletic Club for the 95th annual meeting of the best-respected — and least-known — institutions in our state: the Citizens Research Council of Michigan. CRC is one of Michigan’s crown jewels. If you aren’t familiar with it, you […]