Land O Links
"Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones" – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes.
* Gov. Rick Snyder and michiganliberal.com are rarely on the same side of a political dispute, but there is common cause on Proposal 1 – the vote to retain the enhanced emergency manager law:
http://www.michiganliberal.com/diary/19745/proposal-1-and-why-you-should-vote-for-it
* Unions and business groups are slugging it out over Proposal 2, the ballot prop to place collective bargaining rights in the Michigan Constitution. Meanwhile, in Arizona, the state made an eyebrow-raising offer to its employees: Give up civil service protections and become an at-will employee and we’ll pay you a 5 percent bonus for the remainder of the fiscal year. Almost 40 percent of the eligible employees accepted. Thanks to that and other changes, the majority of Arizona’s state work force is now "at-will.":
* Proposal 5 would require legislative supermajorities to boost tax rates in Michigan. If it passes, those looking for new dollars for existing or newly proposed initiatives will have to root hard for Michigan’s existing tax structure to yield more money. The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that for fiscal 2013, states are expecting some growth, but nothing huge. (Michigan’s fiscal 2013 started on Oct. 1.):
http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/budget/projected-tax-growth-in-fy-2013.aspx
* If you vote and use the Internet, there are people out there who know more about you than you may like – and are trying to make money off of that information:
* Amtrak ridership figures are surging. As usual, the bulk of the passenger rail service’s business is the corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C. However, figures are up pretty much across the board. "Ridership figures aside, Amtrak is now a (relative) success at the ticket window. Revenue in 2012 covered 85 percent of Amtrak's operating expenses [PDF]. As a consequence of this improved financial footing, Amtrak requested only $450 million in federal operating funding in 2013 — less than Congress was willing to appropriate.":
* Cocaine use is down; meth use is down; opioid use is reaching "epidemic" levels. (Bridge recently reported on the opioid – read "prescription drug" – abuse problem in Michigan.)
See what new members are saying about why they donated to Bridge Michigan:
- “In order for this information to be accurate and unbiased it must be underwritten by its readers, not by special interests.” - Larry S.
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- “Your journalism is outstanding and rare these days.” - Mark S.
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