Via the Detroit News
Dosomethingblog.com has a single post asking for comments on doing something positive. According to the Detroit News, the Do Something blog is the creation of PR firm, Beach Communications.
People across Michigan know something is wrong with Michigan. Politicians have not acted quickly enough or in a manner that we can agree with and this gives folks a chance to voice their positive ideas. This is their chance to have a public forum, of sorts, where their voices can be heard.
Reading the positive comments and ideas helped me get in a positive frame of mind. It is far too easy to be pessimistic about things like gas prices (should I quit posting the average price of gas?), our economy, or our state government.
Lets be positive and creative and see what happens.
Have a Great Friday!
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{ 4 comments }
How would I fix Michigan the Governor asks? Well about we start with:
1. Reduce the state workforce for all but law enforcement. The state should not be in the business of employing laborers, maintenance workers, office staffs, etc. The State should out-source every possible function to contractors. The only staff working on the State rolls should be a few people managing the contracts let out.
2. Repeal the Prevailing Wage Act. Contracts should be let the lowest bidder, not held hostage to an aritificial, non-reality, wage minimum. That alone would probably save the State millions of dollars a year.
3. Consolidate School districts: Withdraw support to the “Intermediate School Districts”, they are a duplicitive waste of money.
4. Expand regional Law Enforcement: Withdraw support to local police forces. Every small town and city does not need their own police department. Resources are better spent in using larger Sheriff’s departments or the State Police.
5. Clean up Detroit’s crack houses: Order the Michigan Army National Guard into Detroit with their heavy construction equipment to raze vacant houses, drug dens, and other rat infested buildings. The Guardsman would rather help out locally anyway and it wouldn’t cost anything to have them do it on their annual training cycles.
6. Sell our roads. Sell or lease our major expressways to a private company for maintenance and modernization. Let them charge tolls to use them.
7. Reduce the gas tax: Since the State would have lower road costs (see above), they wouldn’t need higher road taxes on gasoline.
8. Place “Sunset Laws” on all taxes: Every tax authorization would constitutionally require a “sunset date” for their expiriation. Force lawmakers to vote on all taxes on a regular basis.
9. Initiate a part time legislature: They would do less damage in 6 months then they would in 12. Make it a part time pay as well. Maybe they should only meet on weekends. That would help ensure that we’d only get legislators who actually care about productive time spent.
They are other things as well… I’ll write about those next time!
Ken G.
Chesterfield, MI
I would ask the governor why we don’t spread the taxing revenues around to include smaller vendors who could host a couple gaming machines instead of turning to another big casino…..once again.
The big casinos make plenty of money, why can’t we spread the opportunities more evenly to include the average “small” businessman who needs desperately to exist too?
Is it always the guys with the big bucks, running the big casinos who get the nod from Lansing?
What would be the harm in making it more equitable for the little guy who has to pay the business taxes and worry about his smaller number of employees who also worry about keeping their jobs in this Michigan Economy?
How about letting Class C liquor licensed businesses like Bowling Alleys have a shot? They already have large numbers of patrons who spend a couple of hours in the building. They already are licensed to have Lotto , Pull tabs, and Keno.
They let them do it in Montana and it is a huge success for the state!
Subject: “Pass the trash”….. A solution to the Michigan budget deficit situation and open letter to the governor…
Dear Jennifer,
Just wanted to let you know that educated taxpayers are aware of the “pass-the-trash” user fees that you have increased and are pointing back to the citizens of the State of Michigan. From car registrations fees to penalty
fees to tobacco (I understand this one but it was pretty easy to slide that one through, eh?). My favorite one is the beverage alcohol bill where the State gets the same rate as before and you now open the flood gates for merchants to charge whatever they want (that one hurt….). The last one I’ll mention (and there are many more) will be phrased as a question……How come my $13.00/month
phone bill becomes $27.85/month with your additional FEES? Where does the residual go, the general fund?????? OK, on this one, I will grant you clemency since it was “grandfathered” over but the “pass-the-trash” principal holds true.
Understand the deficit situation we are in but instead of “passing the trash” to the taxpayers of Michigan, why don’t you get out-of-bed with the MEA. In
the city of Brighton, our teacher average salary is $75,000/year (not bad for 8 months of work…). If you really are serious about the deficit situation,
why don’t you look into a 10% pay cut while reducing their pension rates NOW!! Guess what? I pay about $3-$4K/year (the norm in the private sector) for my employer provided health care. Why don’t we have the MEA pay their fair share
instead of….you guessed it…”passing the trash”. Just want you to know that every time I make my property tax payments (where 80%+ goes to schools….), I
think of you.
There……DEFICIT SOLVED. Pay cut, pension cut and having the MEA pay their fair share (and I won’t even charge you a consultant’s fee…).
Good news on the horizon though….I understand that the Canadian trash situation will be championed by yourself, Levin, Dingell (who is also in bed with the Detroit Free Press) and Stabenow. I humbly believe you ALL are
fully qualified to tackle this initiative and will “pass the trash” back to Canada (ironic symbolism, isn’t it???).
Good luck with your pending hike in the State Income Tax,proposed taxes on services, MORE taxes on beer, wine, spirits, gas tax and your upcoming impeachment!! Typical Democrat….
Yours sincerely,
George A.
Brighton, MI
People have some interesting ideas. However, I have to strongly object to Ken’s suggestion to
“Consolidate School districts: Withdraw support to the “Intermediate School Districtsâ€, they are a duplicitive waste of money.”
I am a special education teacher. Small schools are very beneficial. Students in my school know all of the teachers and the teachers know them. Students are much more successful this way. We also have several students who attend through school of choice because their parents want them to attend a small school.
Also, ISD’s are vital. In many counties, this is where psychologists, social workers, vocational coordinators, and other people are housed. Without the ISD, each school would have to hire these people. It would cost schools more money to do this. Also, ISD’s house the center based programs for low functioning special education students.
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