Editorial

By JANET NIELSON Under the leadership of President Barack Obama, the debate about the future of America’s health care system is off and running. Unfortunately, a speech he gave to the American Medical Association on June 15 suggests that the president may be misinformed regarding the practical implications of some of his reform proposals. Obama argued that if costs and premiums can be brought under control, coverage can be made universal. Every person of goodwill shares these goals. The specific proposal he’s offered, however, … [Read more...] about ‘Obama-Care’s’ unintended consequences

THE RICH LOWRY COLUMN By Rich Lowry The cap-and-trade bill passed the House of Representatives shrouded in a fog of willful ignorance and calculated irrationality. No one could be sure what he was voting for — not after the 1,200-page bill had a 300-page amendment added at 3:09 a.m. the day of its passage. The bill is so complex and jerry-built that even its supporters can’t know how, or if, it will work. And it’s metaphysically impossible for someone to know whether the motivating crisis, impending planetary doom, will ever … [Read more...] about The Waxman-Markey travesty

Late last month, the Michigan Senate voted to cut off funding for the Michigan Promise Scholarship, which provides as much as $4,000 in college tuition for students who have graduated from the state’s high schools. The vote in the Republican-dominated upper chamber was 19-17, and was largely along party lines. Kalamazoo’s Sen. Tom George was among those voting to kill the program. A spokesperson for George emphasized that the senator, who hopes to win the GOP nomination for the 2010 gubernatorial election, understands that there … [Read more...] about Legislature should protect Michigan Promise

By JACK McHUGH   Recall 2007? The Michigan Legislature had appropriated more spending than tax revenues could accommodate, and it wanted to do the same in 2008. Legislators dithered all year in denial and in a GM-like failure to undertake transformational reforms. In a sloppy finish, they imposed $1.4 billion in business and personal income tax increases, notwithstanding what was then “just” a one-state recession.   Well, 2009 could be a repeat, perhaps ending in a revision of the Michigan Constitution to permit a … [Read more...] about

https://downriversundaytimes.com/2009/05/27/811/

THE RICH LOWRY COLUMN By Rich Lowry   Why complain about the financial crisis? By liberalism’s standards, it has been a swift sword of economic justice, working to equalize wealth more rapidly than any policy short of summary execution of the rich.   Why settle for raising tax rates on capital gains from 15 percent to 20 percent, when capital gains can be eliminated entirely? Why trifle with the tax treatment of compensation at hedge funds, when funds themselves can disappear into oblivion? Why increase the estate tax, … [Read more...] about A Blow for Income Equality

We fully understand that Michigan’s struggling economy is not providing an ideal time for an enormously expensive program to revamp our state’s rapidly deteriorating infrastructure.   But Michigan can’t afford not to do it.   Another of many negative reports was issued last week, this one by the American Society of Civil Engineers/Michigan. It was more of the same. The report gives D grades to the condition of the state’s public transit, storm water and drinking water systems, electric grids and dams. Aviation, energy, … [Read more...] about State’s infrastructure initiative is encouraging

By RUSS HARDING   Gov. Jennifer Granholm made the right policy call in announcing her decision to return wetland permitting to the federal government. The announcement was met with heavy applause as she delivered her State of the State address, but since that time there has been much criticism of the proposal from environmental groups and from members of both parties in the Legislature, including Sen. Patty Birkholz, R-Saugatuck Township, chair of the Senate Natural Resource and Environment Committee. Opponents claim that … [Read more...] about Governor makes right call on returning wetland permitting to feds

THE RICH LOWRY COLUMN By Rich Lowry   The debate over the just-released Justice Department memorandums on interrogation techniques ended as soon as they were dubbed the “torture memos.”   Forevermore, they will be remembered as the legal lowlights of a “dark and painful chapter in our history,” as President Barack Obama put it.   Rightly considered, the memos should be a source of pride. They represent a nation of laws struggling to defend itself against a savage, lawless enemy while adhering to its legal … [Read more...] about The case for the ’torture memos’

As we approach graduation day, Lansing lawmakers should be doing their homework on how to get more of Michigan’s young people in caps and gowns. Prohibiting a child from throwing away his or her future at the tender age of 16 would help.   A bill in the Senate Education Committee, chaired by Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, would raise the minimum age for a student to legally drop out from 16 to 18. The legislation has been introduced before but has failed to get the hearing the measure deserves. Yet it’s common knowledge that … [Read more...] about Keep students on graduation track

By JAMES M. HOHMAN   Michigan has been in trouble for a long while now. The state is going on 37 months at the top of the unemployment charts. But there's been no clear theory as to why we're in trouble. That's important because it tells us how we're going to fix the problems.   So it's disheartening to hear Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm state, "We've lost over 600,000 jobs as a result of the restructuring in the auto industry." In other words, it's all the auto industry. Michigan just needs to ride it out and we'll grow … [Read more...] about There’s more to Michigan than the auto industry