| Five GOP members of Michigan's Congressional delegation vote against Great Lakes cleanup money. All eight Democrats in Michigan's delegation voted in favor of the bill. Republicans were split: Candice Miller of Harrison Township and Vern Ehlers of Grand Rapids voted for it; Pete Hoekstra of Holland, Fred Upton of St. Joseph, Mike Rogers of Brighton, Dave Camp of Midland and Thad McCotter of Livonia voted against it. Republicans who voted against the appropriations bill cited its overall cost -- $32 billion. "I overwhelmingly supported the funding for the Great Lakes and even wrote a letter in support of it. But the overall size of the bill was far too large to vote for, especially during the current recession," Hoekstra said.
Let's put this in some perspective. $200 million is lost annually due to invasive species, and in this bill Congress allocated a single allocation of $60 million to preventing the spread and removal of invasive species. Meanwhile, while the price tag is high -- $32 billion -- estimates are that the long-term economic benefit could be up to $50 billion. In short, it's spending public dollars to help stimulate activity that would generate economic activity $18 billion in excess of what was spent. All of this is above and beyond the extra-economic benefits, which are frankly as important. Those include a cleaner environment for the people who live in the state of Michigan, and enhanced opportunities to enjoy unique recreational and natural opportunities available for this state. For those merely interested in dollars and cents (which unfortunately is the only way you can argue with people these days), that means making Michigan a more attractive place to live for the young, creative, talented people leaving this state and going elsewhere. Those people aren't looking for states and places with lower taxes. Those people are going places like the Pacific Northwest, Florida, and California, where investments in lifestyle are given a premium. |
