Messages from Space Needed to Remove Logs from Michigan Lakes by Tom Gantert Or Five Years, Randy Stewart Has Wanted to Expand His Business
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Daily Online Coverage at MichCapCon.com A review of the votes and proposals of the Michigan Legislature — Vol. 5 No. 2 — Spring 2011 DON’t TREAD ON ME MESSAGES FROM SPACE NEEDED TO REMOVE LOGS FROM MICHIGAN LAKES BY TOM GANTERT or five years, Randy Stewart has wanted to expand his business. The 56-year-old Indian River man wants to take logs that have sunk to the bottom of lakes about 20 miles south of the Mackinac BridgeF and sell them. One of the stumbling blocks? The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality says that to be eligible for a permit he would have to provide GPS satellite coordinates for each log that he wanted to remove. Stewart said he could remove as many as 60 logs a week. The logs are usually about 16.5 feet long and sometimes covered in mud at the bottom of the lake. See “Message from Space” Page 8 COMMENTARY INSIDE THE ISSUE Page 5 Union Bannering 13 POLITICIAN PUPPY Teacher Union TRAINING Prez: Stronger What the tea parties can learn from the dogs Emergency BY KEN BRAUN their masters have set an Financial Your Legislators 18 example by relieving themselves lmost everyone loves puppies, in the backyard. That type of Managers Will Tea Party Could Cut at least until they start “communication” would just Up the Federal Credit Card makingA messes on the carpet. confuse a puppy (to say nothing Be “Just Like With every puppy comes the of the neighbors). Instead, an responsibility of training it to external system of rewards and Being in the become “man’s best friend.” The punishments is used to guide same can be said about legislators. the puppy toward doing the Slave Days” While they are, of course, not dogs, right thing. BY TOM GANTERT they do need to be trained in order There’s a lesson in this for to be turned into a voter’s best tea party groups who seek to uring a union rally in early friend. While most go to Lansing or communicate their concerns to March in Lansing against a Washington to do the right thing, politicians. You don’t need to billD that would give new powers to many will end up making messes explain the principles or speak appointed emergency managers, that result in less liberty. their language to get your point the president of a state teachers’ Training legislators, as with across. Indeed, this is often the union compared the legislation last thing that will work. Midland, Michigan 48640 Michigan Midland, training puppies, must be done to slavery. Permit #1776 Permit P.O. Box 568 568 Box P.O. with care and common sense. While trying to speak their “It’s again a way to say to Fenton, MI Fenton, 140 West Main Street Main West 140 PAID PAID language can take many forms, Mackinac Center for Public Policy Public for Center Mackinac Puppies don’t learn to bark labor, ‘you don’t count,’” said Iris U.S. POSTAGE POSTAGE U.S. See “Puppy Training,” Page 6 See “Slave Days,” Page 8 Capitol Confidential Capitol before going outside because NONPROFIT ORG. NONPROFIT Michigan Capitol Confidential SPRING 2011 | 2 Are you new to Michigan Capitol Confidential? Many of you have already e-mailed, written or phoned us to say that you’d like to remain on the mailing list for Michigan Capitol Confidential. If you haven’t contacted us yet, but would like to remain on our mailing list, please let us know! If you are reading this newspaper for the first time, thank you for taking the time to look over this publication from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. 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Braun, Senior Managing Editor, Michigan Capitol Confidential 989-631-0900 [email protected] Michigan Capitol Confidential SPRING 2011 | 3 ad liberties Scaling back the incentive One of the first bills signed by His decisive move frees up to programs and removing a host the governor spends $25 million 40,000 workers from a union if of special exemptions from on the Pure Michigan tourism they don’t want to associate with the Michigan business tax will promotion campaign. The it, and stops letting the union How Is Gov. Snyder channel companies’ ingenuity tourism industry won’t fund use the state as its bag man. and wealth into creating jobs, the program, even though its Another decision, to not lobbying for loopholes or officials claim the ads are a big combine certain regulatory Doing So Far? currying favor with politicians. moneymaker. If the going gets and permitting functions in a means without extracting more It sends a signal to businesses tough on the budget, Gov. Snyder single department, missed a from the ailing private sector. everywhere that Michigan is a may wish he had that $25 million big opportunity. Environmental Not only would a tax increase place where everybody knows to fix potholes, pay pensions or permitting should have have been politically unpopular, the rules, and everyone plays train police. been brought into this new but my colleagues estimate by the same rules, which has However, Gov. Snyder made department to streamline that Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s not been our approach since at an outstanding decision when the process and make it BY JOSEPH G. LEHMAN proposed sales tax hike, for least 1995. the Department of Human more responsive to the needs example, would have eliminated The few remaining business Services reversed a policy of of job creators. Unless the The following is an edited version 30,000 more jobs. Gov. Snyder’s subsides in Snyder’s plan would his predecessor that enriched Department of Environmental of a commentary that appeared proposed $1.1 billion business go through the appropriations unions at the expense of low- Quality becomes at least as in Dome Magazine (www. tax cut should help spur the process, not the tax code. This is income children and their concerned with protecting the domemagazine.com/features/ re-creation of some of the more a huge improvement because it caregivers. The Mackinac economic ecosystem as it is with cov03113) on March 19, 2011, than 850,000 jobs we lost in the subjects each subsidy to public Center has represented three protecting the rest of nature, the 10 weeks into Gov. Snyder’s term. last decade. scrutiny before (not after) the workers in a lawsuit against agency will act as a check on our The part of the budget with deals are done, and requires the state seeking an end to growth that could offset many of hat a governor does the most potential long-term lawmakers to take stands on this collection of millions of Gov. Snyder’s positive changes. means more than what impact, however, is the tax individual deals. dollars in so-called public- One cannot address the aW governor says or what kind simplification. Gov. Snyder’s The governor kicked a sector union dues from private structural challenges of of people he brings to his plan largely reverses more than hornet’s nest when he proposed day care owners and workers. See “Gov.