It has been widely reported that various “sweeteners” are tucked away in the Manager’s Amendment to the Senate health care bill (H.R. 3950). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) worked out provisions designed to secure the votes of Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Carl Levin (D-MI) by exempting the biggest insurers in their states from the new health insurance premium taxes embodied in the bill. Sure enough, the Manager’s Amendment adds under Section 9010(c)(2) a new subsection (C) tailored to exempt Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and a new …
Last year, with Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm standing by his side, President-elect Barack Obama proclaimed the importance of rapidly passing a stimulus package, described his intense focus on job creation, and noted that a new president can have an “enormous impact” on the economy. This week, The Detroit Free Press reported that Obama’s stimulus package has “created or retained virtually no jobs” in Michigan, despite $1.2 billion in federal spending and the administration’s report that it created or retained 22,500 jobs in the Great Lakes State. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi_HvJNhaOQ[/youtube] One wonders whether …
The budget shortfalls, plunging revenue, and economic woes plaguing near-broke California could foretell the future of other cash-strapped states. A new study by The Pew Center on the States found that the economic pressures that pushed California to the brink of a total economic meltdown are also found in nine other states across the country, all of which could face a financial disaster just like the one in the Golden State. Those states with economic conditions most like California’s include Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Florida, New Jersey and …
While Time Magazine has set up shop in Detroit to chronicle the continuing decay of one of America’s great industrial cities, the Wall Street Journal has found a teachable moment 90 miles northwest in Michigan’s capital city: government cannot tax and spend its way out of deficits and joblessness. As the Wall Street Journal reports, Michigan’s 15.2% unemployment rate is the worst in the country, with the state having lost 750,000 jobs since 2000. Shockingly, since 2007, two families move out of Michigan for every one family that moves in. …
New regulations passed by the Massachusetts Board of Early Education and Care will now require all child care providers – public or private – to follow new strict guidelines covering everything from academics to child hygiene. The Boston Herald reports that the new regulations are part of the state’s plan to place day care centers under the auspice of Massachusetts Department of Education. In a typical government-knows-best mentality, Early Education Commissioner Sherri Killins told the Boston Herald: I don’t believe there’s anything frivolous or overburdening in the new regulations. We’re …
The Associated Press reported on Tuesdayon a letter the Michigan Department of Human Services sent to suburban mom Lisa Snyder, warning her to stop watching her neighbors’ children while they waited in the mornings for the school bus. Apparently Snyder was kind enough to do this as a favor for a few of her friends who are working moms. Initial reports do not indicate whether the warning letter is backed by possible criminal penalties. What is certain, however, is that this is yet another example of overbroad laws that bureaucrats …
In today’s edition of “Outside the Beltway,” where we semi-regularly post state and local stories of either conservatism at its best, or liberalism at its worst, we find conservatism at its best. Dennis Lennox recently ran and was elected as the Cheboygan, Michigan, Drain Commissioner. His platform? Eliminating the job altogether. See, it turns out that Michigan law mandates that counties, such as Cheboygan, that have over 12,000 people must have a drain commissioner. The problem? Cheboygan doesn’t have any drains to regulate. So Dennis Lennox, realizing the absurdity of …
Debunking myths about the supposed harm free trade inflicts on U.S. manufacturing, Cato Institute’s Daniel Ikenson notes: While the rest of U.S. manufacturing has recovered, Michigan’s manufacturing economy remains stagnant. Real GDP growth between 2005 and 2006 in Michigan ranked dead last among the 50 states. Meager manufacturing value-added growth contributed only 0.05 percentage points to what was a net, contraction of the state’s economy to the tune of -0.5 percent. Nationwide, the contribution of manufacturing was .41 percentage points to an overall GDP growth rate of 3.4 percent. Had …
Michigan is the fourth state we’ve highlighted in our “Lieberman-Warner State of the Day” series, yet we have so far failed to mention that the job loss numbers assigned to each state are conservative estimates of the costs of carbon cap legislation. Heritage’s Center for Data Analysis forecast assumes that the bill works perfectly … exactly as Congress hopes. This includes the development of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology. If CCS is not commercially viable within 10 years, the job losses in each state will be much much higher.
