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budget 
Sat Feb 09, 2008 at 00:18:33 AM EST
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( - promoted by Eric B.)
Now that Governor Granholm has released her 2009 fiscal year state budget, the Republican nay-sayers are starting to flood the airwaves and the blogosphere with their disinformation about state spending. Instead of sitting back passively letting their lies spread, let's review some fact-checked numbers to fire back in their direction. Let's start with the General Fund...
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Fri Dec 14, 2007 at 16:53:25 PM EST
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...as waxed today by Sen. Mickey Switalski of Roseville. Quite fitting for the season if I may so myself. Enjoy the video here, or read the pretty prose below - Annus Mirabilis, A Fiscal Odyssey Sing, Goddess, the Wrath of Constituencies displeased,
As Solons took budgets in both hands and squeezed.
Then, weary with cuts, dropped the red budget axe
And seized its hated rival, the increase in tax.
Heroes searched for a cure to the Plague economic
Hit on Revenue, Cuts and Reforms as the tonic--
That many brave Pols to the Fate of Recalls sent
While their bodies by Perks the Pig were rent.
Say then, What Cause first locked the parties in strife?
Some say it was term limits that shortened our life.
Or exuberant tax cuts. Or government waste.
Whatever it was, we Chronic Deficits faced.
Granholm threw down the Gauntlet at her State of the State.
Said she "Sales Tax on Services will be Structurally Great."
The blown away 'Crats cast their votes for fair Jenny
Even Fiscal Conservatives, like two-penny Denny.
But with just sixteen votes, it was never enough.
Lawmakers decided to chew on this stuff.
Insurmountable problems, an abundance of critics.
Tempting solutions that hid pitfalls and gimmicks. Oh yes, there's lots more where that came from...
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Mon Oct 29, 2007 at 16:23:12 PM EDT
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Late Monday afternoon, recall language was filed against two more Democratic state representatives, almost immediately following the rejection by the Macomb County Election Commission in the case against Rep. Steve Beida of Warren.
Marie Donigan of Royal Oak is extremely well-liked in her district, and as poster NorthernLib points out, she received over 62% of the vote in the 26th district. It is worth noting that Donigan is in Oakland County, whose Election Commission holds a Republican majority.
Joel Sheltrown of West Branch near the Cadillac area is also a bit of a surprise. While the 103rd District trends red, Sheltrown is a well-liked moderate Democrat who won with over 69% of the vote.
It is unclear why these two specific legislators were chosen, but Donigan's name had been rumored as being on the list of recalls back a couple months ago when it was first being drawn. There are also several questions as to why these recalls are just now being announced.
Stay tuned as we bring you the latest.
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Mon Oct 29, 2007 at 14:58:31 PM EDT
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From the House: Six budget bills have passed! This is everything except DHS (Dept. of Health and Human Services) which -- of course -- is a biggie. Read this AP article for more. They're planning a late night in the house tonight, so get your jammies and popcorn and stop in later for updates as they come in. Up next: A minimum of at least eight budget bills are expected to be voted out the House tonight. Sources are projecting a total of 10 budget bills in all. From the Senate: The Senate just passed the conference committee reports on History, Arts and Libraries (HAL), Dept. of Labor and Economic Growth (DLEG), and Military and Veterans Affairs. Up next: The State Police Budget. As of now, our sources inside the House report that there will be no layoffs of troopers, but two crime labs willl close, certainly effecting civil servants. For a continually updated list, click here for info from the Senate Fiscal Agency. (Warning - it's a .pdf and it will require Adobe to open.) The Senate is adjourned until 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. Watch House TV and Senate TV live. ~Liberal Lucy and Diane
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Fri Oct 26, 2007 at 13:56:03 PM EDT
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Why am I even surprised to read this noon update from the AP? House Democrats say they're ready to start moving budget bills now.
But Senate Republicans say votes won't occur until next week. That's because they want final agreement on sticking points before they pass other parts of the budget. Translation: Mike Bishop and his band of not-so-merry men and angry women want to make sure that there are plenty of concessions for themselves before they say yes to anything that might make them look bad in the eyes of the ultra-conservative Right.
At what point do even the most right-wing of Michigan citizens throw up their hands and say enough is enough!?
And while Mikey primps for his next round of interviews with the press, state employees are continuing to feel the pain. This from the AP's Tim Martin - As Michigan lawmakers work toward an agreement on a new spending plan, some state departments already are planning temporary layoffs and other cutbacks to make ends meet. Sick, this just plain sick. Time to start emailing and calling your state legislators, again.
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Thu Oct 18, 2007 at 09:15:00 AM EDT
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 The home foreclosure rate is too high, the state budget situation is still unsettled, the National Debt is skyrocketing, personal bankruptcies are at an all-time high... it goes on and on. All day we're bombarded with bad news about money and by the sound of it, there isn't any positive financial news to report.
Bull, and I'm not talking about the markets.
In this state of ours we've got an incredible force of educators, financial institutions, and community organizations coming together in a spirit of unity and philanthropy, to make real change in a very non-partisan kind of way.
Sure, my mom's one of them and I donated my time to design their very non-partisan blog, but this isn't a tale about me, my mom, a blog, or even politics. It's about how a group of people are working to raise this state from the ashes of financial pain to success, and more importantly, the progress they are achieving without the usual partisanship.
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Wed Oct 17, 2007 at 10:03:49 AM EDT
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(the budget crisis isn't over yet. - promoted by JPowers155)
Many Michiganians were left with the impression that the current year budget was finalized with a late night tax deal two weeks ago that ended the short lived drama of a partial state shutdown. That drama is likely to soon be resurrected on Halloween night thanks to the political posturing of legislative Republicans.
Michigan still does not have a budget for the fiscal year that began on October 1. Instead, we only have a month-long continuation of last year's budget and revenue enhancments closing about three quarters of the projected deficit. There is still a roughly $450 million shortfall that must be resolved to finish the budget. The clock is ticking and time runs out at midnight on November 1.
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Fri Oct 05, 2007 at 14:42:01 PM EDT
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I just returned from a business trip. It was the first business trip I've taken since I've been on both state-wide (Skubick) and national (Talk of the Nation, Hardball, CSPAN) media. There were several moments during the trip when I realized that, if the person I was doing business with had seen any of that coverage, it might cause some tension. Not because I am ashamed of anything I said on the media (and note, I made all those appearances under my real name, Marcy Wheeler). Not because anything I said has proven wrong--my work on the Libby story, for example, matches the work of "professional journalists" who covered that story. But simply because much of corporate culture skews conservative, so it often pays (emphasis on pays) to avoid any political discussions in the course of work.
That's a reality that many journalists--whose public speech is usually studiously apolitical and who get paid (however inadequately) for that speech--don't appreciate. Political speech in this country is not "free" speech; it often comes with real world consequences. And that, my dear journalist friends, is the reason why most bloggers who post pseudonymously do so--to protect their livelihood, all the while engaging in the political speech enshrined in our Constitution and critical to the healthy functioning of our democracy.
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Thu Oct 04, 2007 at 17:43:10 PM EDT
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Welcome to another round of "Partisan Hacks posing as Journalists". Today we feature one of the most notorious hacks of them all, Frank Beckmann, the WJR radio talk show host who goes out of his way to pledge his allegiance to Unethical Republican Propaganda on a regular basis.
This morning Beckmann of taped an interview with Gov. Granholm that was to be played later in the day. Beckmann, thanks to his minions at the ultra-conservative blog RightMichigan (RM) was already prepped for a partisan slam on nothing but taxes.
Barely bothering to get his facts right in his questions about the recent budget negotiations, Beckmann accused the Governor of lying to the citizens of this state when it came to tax hikes.
To do this, he played the YouTube clip that RM put together of a debate that took place at TV station in Detroit during the '06 Campaign. The interesting part is, RM couldn't be bothered to put up her answer in entirety, but rather just the part that fit their devious desires.
If he had ethics, Beckmann could have just as easily gotten the clip from WXYZ, who actually hosted the debate. Problem is, it wouldn't have suited his dirty tactics. Even Saul Anuzis, Chairman of the MI Republican Party bothered to post the full clip. Wow. It's a sad day when Saul's own people make him look like the good guy.
So why didn't Beckmann play the real, entire clip? Simple, because if he did, he knew the Governor would have known it was a question about replacing revenues from the Single Business Tax (SBT), and not just a blanket "No New Taxes" pledge, and she would have talked about the SBT/Michigan Business Tax (MBT).
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Mon Oct 01, 2007 at 13:36:48 PM EDT
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(More good framing. - promoted by ScottyUrb)
(originally a myspace bulletin I did to counter an anti-granholm thanks for raising our taxes bulletin, it pretty much shows how I feel)
Don't forget it.
They are trying to tell you that the mean old Democrats (with their devious maven in control Jennifer Granholm) raised your taxes, all families please report your first born to the nearest sos office (to be brain washed into being gay and sent out to take your guns away).
Fact is the Republican's have been increasing your taxes for 20 years.
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Mon Oct 01, 2007 at 08:15:42 AM EDT
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Good morning. It's Monday and we have a budget. Before today's media roundup can commence, a round of applause please for: - LiveBloggers Extraordinaire: Eric B., lpackard, rich, Gov. Pingree, DianeS and me (JPowers155). Neither sleep, nor food nor wonky Internet connections kept you from posting through the long days and nights of this budget debacle.
- Commentators in Excelsis: ProgressiveFemale, ButchSnider, LadyTaeKwonDo7, DJ, NorthernLib, MiPaOK, PerfectStormer, eseum2 and everyone else who cheered us on day and night, night and day. Your questions, comments and thanks kept us going, even when we didn't have any more left to give.
Fight The Good Fight With All Thy Might - AP: Legislature Agrees to Tax Increases to End Stalemate. And yet, there are $440 million in cuts left to be made.
- DemocraticEdge: More Proof That Bishop is to Blame! Bishop's favorite political tool gets used again - CENSORSHIP. The Senate suspended the rules so that the votes on the tax increase were not recorded as a role call vote. Bishop also ruled that no pictures or video could be taken of the voting process.
- MichiganMessenger: Michigan's Budget Elephant - Dept. of Corrections. 20% of the state's budget goes not to bring businesses to Michigan or to educate children or to protect our resources. It's the Dept. of Corrections budget.
- MNABlog: We Interrupt This Crisis. The Michigan Legislature's failure to manage their time properly is not my emergency. Unless it is, causing stress and sleeplessness for the rest of us.
The Strife is O'er, The Battle Won - LSJ: Budget Deal Reached. Governor Calls Off Partial Shutdown. Lieutenant Governor John Cherry cast the deciding vote and ended the stalemate.
- AP: State Shutdown Ends After Four Hours. Campgrounds and rest areas closed up shop early but it looks like State employees are going to work today.
- MuskegonChronicle: Shutdown Averted with Tax Increase. A few Repubs voted for the tax increase (2), even more voted for immediate effect and now they are whining that it's a bad deal.
- B4MI: Michigan Saved from Bishop's Slash and Burn. Bring out your dead! The heavyweight from Flint knocked out the Hair Gel Honey in 10 rounds. The real winner? The people of Michigan.
- MPR: Impact of Income Tax Hike. I'm going to pay somewhere around $200 - $225 more in income tax this year. That's roughly $4.32/week. I can live with that. How about you?
Make a Joyful Noise ("Non Budget News") - ConservativeMedia: Michigan Political History Society to Honor Former Governor Jim Blanchard.
- DailyKos: Elizabeth Edwards Across The Street. She came. She charmed. She raised a bucketful of money.
- MITF: Development News. Yes, Michigan. Good people are doing good things.
Today's Quote: It is better for civilization to be going down the drain than to be coming up it. (Henry Allen) It's been a very long week and I am weary. If I've overlooked a relevant story, put it in the comments please and know that all errors are Mike Bishop's fault. Go forth. Do good. Talk amongst yourselves.
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Sun Sep 30, 2007 at 23:21:37 PM EDT
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I'm probably in the minority here, and if I get troll-rated out of existence I guess that's my cross to bear. But I'm rooting for a shutdown, and a lengthy one at that.
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Sun Sep 30, 2007 at 20:53:25 PM EDT
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According to the MSU Budget website, word has come down from University officials that if a partial state government shutdown should occur, Michigan State University will remain open. The statement reads:
Shutting down is not an option because even a temporary shutdown would have an adverse impact on student schedules and the completion of graduation requirements. In addition, a shutdown would disrupt critical research and risk significant long-term loss to potential findings.
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Sun Sep 30, 2007 at 06:23:23 AM EDT
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The possibility of a government shutdown has us all thinking about how life would be without these services. Services we take for granted.
If we get a product or service from a corporation we expect to pay for it. Yet we are unwilling to pay for vital government services. It is time to be RESPONSIBLE!
So far this year we have seen cuts and reforms. The only responsible action now is to raise taxes.
I can't afford to not have my taxes raised.
_________________
Madden
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Sun Sep 30, 2007 at 01:58:10 AM EDT
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This may seem like heresy coming from a democrat, but I thought I'd throw this out for discussion in the middle of Michigan's budget crisis.
It seems to me that parts of our network of public university educational institutions and the public support for them in the state are in need of reform and reorganization.
While the public university systems in Michigan probably have some well deserved autonomy in governance from decisions of the State Legislature in governance, I'd like the public and taxpayers to consider that maybe we ought to re-organize major portions of our public university system in Michigan.
First, I think that the largest, most prestigious major research institutions are fine the way they are. By those institutions I mean University of Michigan, Wayne State University, Michigan State University and Michigan Technological University.
It is all of the other public university entities that really ought to be re-organized. By these I mean EMU, WMU, NMU, Lake Superior State, Grand Valley State, Oakland University, CMU, Ferris State, Saginaw Valley State....did I miss any other state supported universities?
First, look at all of the administrative expense at maintaining all of these institutions, all of which compete with each other for state funds. All will duplicate executive functions, boards of control and many other types of administrative expenses.
Next, all of these institutions are maintaining competing academic departments and educational specialies. While there is wide geographic diversity in the system and general higher educational emphasis for a liberal arts education needs to be maintained throughout the system, do we really need to repeat all of the academic specialties everywhere?
Why not create a single Michigan regional university system under a single board of control and a single administrative structure? You would have something where there would be academic specialty planning over the entire system.
There is no need, for example, to maintain every academic university specialty at every one of these regional university sites in a better organized system of a regional university system. Want to study environmental science, for example??...then go to the unit where that is an academic priority.
Transfer of academic credits and movement of students throughout the entire system would be made simple and easy.
What do you think about this, Michigan?
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Sat Sep 29, 2007 at 15:59:18 PM EDT
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(The Senate is tied up in parliamentary knots, but it sure looks like a deal is trying to be passed - promoted by lpackard)
5:30 a.m. Fearing the mighty Pingree, the House is now gone at ease until 8 a.m. Senate still in recess. Hail Michigania. 5:28 a.m. Governor-Generalissimo Hazen Pingree seizes control of the liveblog feed. 4:48 a.m. Senate is back, SB 796 is given immediate effect, sent on to the Governor. Now back in recess. 4:27 a.m. Senate back again, third time's the charm? Recessing briefly (probably some more arm-twisting before the vote). OK here we go.. 21-17 the conf committee report is adopted, but not given immediate effect. SB 419 is concurred in but also not given immediate effect. SB 420 concurred in, didn't try for a vote for immediate effect. SB 421 is concurred in, same. Recessed for now. 4:06 a.m. Senate is back, trying again on 418. Everybody is looking tired, stumbling over words. It still doesn't pass, 18 yeses, 17 nos, 3 non-voting. Back to recess. (It's kinda interesting to see the senate stumbling now, after watching days of the house not managing to pass the income tax bill). 3:55 a.m. Now the House is standing at ease at the call of the chair. 3:37 a.m. Senate in brief recess, maybe to unsnarl itself. 3:19 a.m. Now the Senate is back. SB 418 (info here) has the state employees piece removed, conf committee report adapted. This is a part of the public employee health pools package. But then reconsidered, and not adapted. ??? HB 5257 (fees for corps) passes easily. HB 5258 easily passes. 3 a.m. House roll call done. There are still guests in the gallery? Must be truly dedicated. Now voting on HB 4185, explanation here. Passes unanimously. SB 796 also passes with no dissent. SB 1 (explanation here) passes. None of these are tax bills. SB 419 (explanation here) is concurred in. SB 549 (explanation here) passes, this is a part of the public employee health pools package. Now considering HB 4800 (explanation here) , this is about pension double-dipping for govt employees. Changes concurred in. Now working on SB 632 (this is a series of bills on gov't efficiency), it passes easily. Now working on SB 395 (explanation here), also easily passes. And SB 396 (explanation here), also passed easily. They're moving through these bills like there's a government shutdown hanging over their heads or something. Now SB 397 (info here) passes. And SB 398 (info here) is being considered, and passes. Guess these folks want to go home tonight. That's all of that series. 2 a.m. Twas the night before absolutely-positively-I-mean-it-this-time D-Day and all through the House, not a creature was stirring.. Ok, actually it looks like a few people are stirring. But no news. Something must be going to happen though, or the Senate and House would have cleared out already. Right? Bueller..? 1:39 a.m. All quiet on the western front. 12:25 a.m. Looks like the House is waiting for HB5194 to come to the floor. Time for board (bored?) games! How about Clue? Or maybe Life? 12:12 a.m. Meow! Over in the Senate, Alan Sanborn is offended by fellow Republican Roger Kahn's prayer - he wanted to offer a "no vote" statement to it. Guess I shoulda paid closer attention, it even seems to have flummoxed Senator Thomas. Now recess at the call of the chair. 12:10 a.m. In the House, it's Roll Call time. The Board is mostly green with about a dozen legislators MIA. Wonder where Agema is... oh wait, he's hunting wabbits. Sheepy wabbits in Wussia.
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Sat Sep 29, 2007 at 15:37:17 PM EDT
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It's 3:19 pm and there's no action going on in the house floor even though they're technically in session. Lady TaeKwonDo and I will be here as long as her bladder allows.
They're having a roll call right now. The only member from Ingham County present is Rep. Mark Meadows (D-East Lansing). Only 24 members total are present.
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Fri Sep 28, 2007 at 16:44:48 PM EDT
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There's been lots of talk and speculation of how ugly things are really going to get when the State Government shutsdown on Monday, Oct. 1st.
All I can say is Ouch.
From the Governor's office (listed alphabetically) - AGRICULTURE: All Department of Agriculture activities will stop during a government shutdown, except livestock vehicle inspections at the Mackinac Bridge, which are required to maintain the Upper Peninsula's Tuberculosis-free designation for cattle. During the shutdown, food safety inspections, recall effectiveness checks, gas pump inspections, animal disease monitoring, and migrant labor camp inspections will stop; agriculture export and cattle movement permits will not be issued; and horse racing will shutdown. Exports from Michigan to foreign countries would essentially cease should state government shut down. Commodities affected include dry beans, logs and lumber, nursery stock, grain, fruits, and vegetables.
THE COURTS: The Michigan Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals will continue to operate with a limited staff to handle emergency matters.
CIVIL RIGHTS: All Department of Civil Rights activities will stop during a government shutdown. Residents wishing to file a discrimination complaint will be able to leave a message at 1-800-482-3604 with the details of their complaint. For purposes of meeting the 180-day legal requirement, the message will constitute an official notice of the intention to file a complaint. Residents calling Civil Right's Crisis Response Hotline to report a hate crime or bias incident may also leave a message, although they are encouraged to contact local law enforcement for immediate assistance.
The pain continues below...
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Fri Sep 28, 2007 at 07:38:09 AM EDT
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It's the final countdown! There. Now, you'll have that stuck in your head for the rest of the weekend. Enjoy your morning cup-o-links...
Countdown to Chaos
- Peter Luke: Deal may be near on breaking budget impasse. "The main elements of an agreement are there, with the details still to be worked out," said Sen. Mark Schauer of Battle Creek, the Democratic leader in the Senate. "My sense is that no one is stalling or delaying. I think a lot of progress was made today."
- BFM: Talks continue today, deal close?. Wizardkitten parses stories from the AP, MIRS, Freep, and the Detroit News.
- Charles Ballard: Raise taxes or cut spending to solve state budget crisis? Prof. Ballard makes the case that Michigan is not a high-tax state, and explains that restoring the income tax to its previous level of 4.6%, our tax rate would still be lower than the rate in 38 states.
- LSJ: Fraud is a crime, isn't it? Derek Melot says Legislators will have committed "fraud" by not passing a budget, and suggests towing their vehicles in the event of a shutdown.
- AP: A look at what a partial state shutdown might mean. A nice rundown of what services probably will (and won't) be affected by a government shutdown.
- ABC 12: State shutdown could force school closings. Looks like Saginaw schools will be shutting their doors if there's a shutdown. Looks like folks who do business with schools will be affected too.
- LSJ: Shutdown would jolt downtown: Local businesses could take hit with state workers not reporting to Capitol offices. No state workers in downtown Lansing = no business.
- Media Mouse: New Iraq Spending Request could Cost Michigan an Additional $12 Billion. This isn't directly related to the current budget crisis, but does anyone think this state can afford $12 billion on this pointless war?
- Michigan Messenger: Students rally to protest tuition increases. Kevin has details from Wednesday's student rally at the Capitol urging the Legislature to invest in education.
Odds & Ends
- WNEM: Michigan's Jobless Rates Drops In August. More headlines like this, please.
- Oakland Biz Review: Guest Opinion: Making it in Michigan. Daniel Luria, Research Director of the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, says an investment in alternative energy is one way to stimulate Michigan's struggling manufacturing sector.
- [con]serving Michigan: Michigan LCV to Legislature: No More Budget Cuts to DNR and DEQ! The LCV released a report yesterday showing just how drastically underfunded the DEQ and DNR are. You can read the study ?Losing a Legacy: Why Michigan?s Magnificent Places are at Risk? here.
- Michigan Messenger: Insurance rally brings out large crowd to urge fairness in insurance rates. Kevin has a great write-up on Sen. Martha G. Scott's rally at the Capitol on Wednesday for affordable insurance rates. I was there, and I can tell you it was quite an event. You think we've been waiting on a budget for a long time? Sen. Scott has been fighting to pass these bills for four years.
- CQPolitics Analysis: House Democrats Carry Momentum into 2008 Campaign. MI-07 and MI-09 are now both in the "Leans Republican" category. Let's turn those districts blue!
- Mark Maynard: dingell rolls out the gas tax. Mark takes a look at the general terms of his proposed carbon tax, which was released yesterday.
Drop your links in the comments section...
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Thu Sep 27, 2007 at 21:05:01 PM EDT
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Being that I am a constituent of Mike Bishop, I recieved his Legislative update in the mail yesterday. Curious time to mail the flyer, smack dab just before the the government is on the verge of shutdown. Since Mike put himself out there with this update, I'll offer my partisan critque of the flyer.
http://i136.photobuc...
The letter is pretty standard. Mike focuses on the Senate 'solving' earlier this year a $900 million deficit. I think the house and governor were also involved in 'solving' this budget problem. But, it also highlights that $900 million has already been cut into the budget, on top of the new pressures to cut another $1.7 Billion. That's is one tremendous gap to try and close by cuts alone.
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