Arts Groups to Rally April 18 at State Capitol to Protest Grant Moratorium
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Michigan State Capitol Building - Lansing, MI.
Budget cuts and population migration have everybody in Michigan at each other's throats, much like 1959 when the "payless paydays" resulted from a standoff between Gov. G. Mennen Williams and the Republican Senate.
Yours truly was in Lansing then, covering the Legislature so we could see the bloodbath up close and personal. Today's struggle looks like Yogi Berra's proverbial deja vu all over again.
We remember some groups parading in front of the capitol wearing nothing but barrels strapped to their shoulders, to demonstrate that state funding cuts were leaving them without their pants. Those days may be back, too.
Traverse City Record-Eagle columnist Jack Lessenberry had a "Michigan On The Rocks" headline on his column recently. He predicts massive layoffs of state employees, partial or total shutdowns of some departments of state government, closure of state agricultural programs and secretary of state offices, college and university budget slashing. A grim scenario, not calculated to give heart to companies eying Michigan for expansion.
The governor and the Republican-dominated Senate are at odds about how to meet the crisis, so we all apparently will go down together: just like 1959. The ship will sink even faster if the credit rating on bonds is down-graded even more by Standard and Poors.
The Senate seems bound and determined to prove that somebody other than Jennifer Granholm should be governor. However, we can't reverse the results of the election and we shouldn't follow the example of the hidebound politicians of 1959 who were determined to sink the state in order to discredit "Soapy" Williams who was a potential Presidential candidate in 1960. It worked, the Republicans wouldn't meet state needs with taxes, the state's bond rating sunk to its lowest level in history, Soapy's Presidential hopes were killed, his career was done, he didn't run for a seventh term as governor and Michigan's decline began.
Lessenberry says quite pungently and correctly: "Whatever your politics, Michigan desperately needs its elected officials of both parties to start acting like grownups, right now."
ArtServe, a coalition of arts groups from across the state, is planning a rally at the Capitol on April 18.
Joy Butler, director of the Bay Arts Council, says: "It is vital that we are visible at this time. The goal is to have people at the rally from every walk of life -- students, arts professionals, parents, business people, teachers, etc."
Bay Arts Council is hosting an Arts Connection meeting at the Bay City Masonic Temple on Madison Avenue on April 12, 5:30 - 6:30 to share any news/plans for car pools/etc.
Ms. Butler adds: "Sorry for the short notice, pass this on to others you know that would be interested in attending & please note that we can not park in the Consistory lot or the Penzien Funeral Home lot. Any where else you can find a spot is fine."
As the reality of budget cuts sets in, observers puzzle over this question: "Where, really, is Michigan going?
If we listen to the Mackinac Center pundits, things are pretty bad, and bound to get worse unless we cut taxes and spending even more.
Highly-regarded Economist David Littman of the Mackinac Center says Michigan's economic and budget difficulties are the result of years of bad public policies that serve the interests of government rather than taxpayers.
We don't hear the Mackinac Center screaming about the federal government where the taxpayer is getting strung up daily like Saddam Hussein under a so-called conservative government. But, let's just assume that this wrangling is a good exercise in soul-searching. Listening to the governor it sounds like she is a different world than Littman.
In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm underscored some signs of hope for Michigan's future, including recent job-creating investments.
"In this season of renewal and hope, Michigan continues to grapple with tough economic times," Granholm said. "But we're pushing forward with our comprehensive economic plan every day, and we are beginning to see results."
Granholm noted that in March alone, companies prepared to invest over half a billion dollars in Michigan, creating and retaining nearly 15,000 jobs. Companies choosing to invest and grow in Michigan include Netlink Software Group, a start-up pharmaceutical business called Lycera Corporation, and the Hybrid Development Center, which is a joint venture between GM, Daimler Chrysler, and BMW.
Governor Granholm emphasized that it is critically important to adapt and adjust Michigan's economic development strategies to stay competitive in the global marketplace.
"When we succeed in attracting cutting-edge industries - technology companies, life sciences businesses, and alternative energy ventures - we are once again leading the nation and the world," said Granholm.
Granholm noted that Michigan is ranked fourth in industry and research development in a survey conducted by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. The study also ranked Michigan among the top ten states in foreign investments.
Dick DeVos will be in town a week from Tuesday to speak to the Rotary Club, looking more and more like he's going to run again, so we'll get his side of the story, too. No doubt he won't be in agreement with the governor.
Our suggestion is that, with all the brainpower and business acumen in the Mackinac Center's impressive stable of advisers and in DeVos's companies, that they get together and come up with an economic growth strategy, a job development package. Isn't that what's really needed?
Perhaps the underlying problem is that we all need to recognize that the taxpayers fund the government and that their interests are the same.
Michigan didn't become the automotive capital of the world and the Arsenal of Democracy during World War II by paying coolie wages and not providing vital government services.
I don't know if we can tax cut our way to prosperity, but it seems that more analysis of our problems and strategic planning for the future is getting lost as the parties square off in this fight.
It seems to this corner that a cooperative approach to meeting the crisis caused by the retraction of manufacturing and the shift in auto production to other states would be a good idea.
Let us know what you think, and, please have a good week. Thanks for reading.
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