Tag: Tourism

The Disney blockbuster "Oz: The Great and Powerful" opens tonight. The film cost the studio about $200 million to make, but Michigan taxpayers chipped in substantially for the production through the state's generous film subsidy program. In fact, the state paid more per taxpayer than the average price of a movie ticket - Michigan residents should be seeing the film for free.

Michigan has 4.5 million individual taxpayers, and the state gave the film studio $39.7 million to shoot in Pontiac. That works out to a subsidy of $8.82 per taxpayer while average ticket prices nationwide are $7.96.

The subsidy was granted in 2010 when the program refunded up to 42 percent of Michigan expenses to film makers - essentially a check from the treasury to Hollywood studios. The program expired, but the Legislature, dominated by Republicans, overwhelmingly decided to keep it around.

Despite "conservatives" who claim to not like the government picking winners and losers and "liberals" who say government shouldn't benefit large corporations and big business, Michigan politicians continue to spend taxpayer money on the program. The state has budgeted $50 million  this year with political leaders on both sides of the aisle pushing for more.

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What total crap.  Lansing could only find a way to free up 29% of the monies for maintaining our waterways in comparison to what Hollywood ripped off on one movie filmed in a mismanaged broke-ass city with an EFM.  You read that right.  $11.5M, and STEALING $8.7M from projects already underway to pay for dredging.

The Governerd's half billion dollar piggy bank?  Hands off.  Damn near $40M in our tax dollars sent to Disney with assets totaling $74.8 Billion?  No problem.  The Water Wonderland?  Take a hike.

Michigan State Senator Proos talks about dredging as it relates to water use tourism, and the dollars flowing in from it. Concerned about a boating traffic 'shutdown' he notes the economic costs of our great big bathtubs filling up with silt.

Detroit News

The state Senate is considering taking $30 million from Michigan's rainy day fund for emergency dredging of harbors and waterways this year to relieve shallows that threaten the state's boating industry as a result of historic low levels in the Great Lakes.

That proposal was unveiled Tuesday as part of a broader set of options for dealing long-term with the recurring need to dredge the state's 90 recreational harbors that cater to recreational boating. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers use federal funds to maintain appropriate depths in commercial harbors handing 100 million or more tons of cargo per year.

Lawmakers portrayed it as a quicker and more robust alternative to Gov. Rick Snyder's call for $22 million in emergency funds that would be used to address the problem in the current budget and $8 million the following year. That was included in the governor's budget plan.

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The article goes on to state that MDOT's budget may be tapped.  Perhaps, that's not out of the question considering how many boats I see filling up at gas stations paying road tax.  Well, at least the ones not using Rec Gas, and Off-road Diesel like I do, anyway.  Better question is where in the Hell has all the registration fee monies gone?  Has anyone actually sat down and looked at the Watercraft Fee Schedule?  It's got-damn obscene.  Add insult to injury, the article glosses over reviving a local tax grab scheme too.

"Everything is on the table," said state Sen. Geoff Hansen, R-Hart, who is taking the lead in the effort.

I don't know about you, but I believe just about everything that either government or any politician tells me. Lock, stock, and barrel.

The state House of Representatives recently passed a plan sponsored by [Gary] McDowell that will grow Michigan's tourism industry by re-investing in the highly successful "Pure Michigan" promotional campaign. Every dollar invested in out-of-state advertising generates more than $40 for Michigan businesses and nearly $3 in revenue, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

As bad news goes, that's pretty rotten... for taxpayers.  It means that in spite of 2007's record-shattering $1.5 billion Democratic tax hike, state spending is still so bat-crap crazy that the government can't pay its bills.

According to the Associated Press its only going to get worse, too.

Republicans, who said the 2009 and 2010 pay raises should be frozen, said there must be more urgency in dealing with a shortfall that could reach $1 billion in the budget year that started in October if revenues continue coming in $100 million a month less than anticipated. The state also is facing a potential $1.4 billion deficit in the next budget year.

Granholm plans to use $313 million of federal stimulus money to balance this year's budget.

Thank goodness for the House Republican minority.  Seriously.  They were at the state Capitol yesterday making a radical suggestion... cut costs!  On top of suggesting a 5% across the board spending cut in each state department, the conservatives are suggesting that while elected officials look to give back 10% of their own salaries next year, its time to ask the rest of the bureaucrats to do the right thing and give back 5% of theirs, too.

There are currently 52,000 state employees and according to Lansing insider publication MIRS, 72 of them actually make more money than any member of the legislature.  We're talking six figures.

I can't speak for every state employee.  Heaven knows there are probably thousands who work hard and are dramatically under-compensated for their time, skills and efforts.  I am saying, though, that in all of my years in and around the Capitol dome I've only met a few of them.  

Now, raise your hand if you've lost a job completely or had to give back part of your salary in the private sector.  (Why are so many of you raising BOTH hands?  You don't get extra credit for that extra hand.)

And, lets be honest, when the choice is between lay offs and a 5% pay cut, giving back a little bit of that bureaucratic cash suddenly looks a little more inviting.  Don't' believe me?  Ask our friend at the Ann Arbor News.  They learned yesterday that their paper is going "buh-bye" while the Saginaw News, Flint Journal and Bay City Times dramatically scale back their own operations.

Folks at papers in Muskegon, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids got off relatively "easy" with pay cuts.

More and more readers are turning to the internet, blogs and the new media to get their news and information.  Its no wonder after the partisan sham that was Election 2008.  All but the staunchest far-left whacko will admit that the mainstream media was and continues to be solidly in the tank for Democrats at just about all levels and they're starting to pay a steep price for their political hackery... they've lost the public's trust.

Just so happens you can find exhibit 8,304,284,111 in this morning's Ivory Tower.  

Everyone understands that the FREEP is the state's "liberal newspaper."  (As if any of them aren't.)  But wow.  

If reporter Ellen Creager and the editor responsible for her headlines try to carry any more water for the Granholm - Cherry administration ahead of the 2010 elections they're going to throw out their backs and give themselves a hernia.

Check this out... Ellen's headline this morning reads: "State tourism outlook: Thumbs-up?"

Really?  Awesome!  Maybe I was wrong about Jeff Daniels all this time. Except, no, I made a mistake and I actually read Ellen's column.

Michigan tourism is likely to drop slightly this year, but travel experts say they are seeing promising signs that things are starting to look up for the state's third-largest industry.

A new analysis by Michigan State University, released Monday, said tourism is expected to drop 3% to 4% this year after sinking 6% last year. But one of the authors, Donald Holecek, warned against "irrational pessimism," saying that even if business travel stays in the doldrums, leisure travel should hold up well.

OK, let me get this straight.... Tourism was down 6% last year despite "Pure Michigan's" incessant advertisements here IN-STATE.  Tourism is expected to be down 4% THIS year.  It is MARCH.  There are still more than 9 months and a week ahead of us.  There are ZERO estimates for when or even if tourism will actually pick up again but based on the numbers we do have we know it won't be any time in the near future.

I'm missing the "thumbs-up."

Is it where one member of the panel... one... says we shouldn't be pessimistic? What did all of the other members say?  They didn't make the report.  Nothing they uttered was printed.

That couldn't possibly be because their statements didn't fit the pro-Granholm-Cherry media template at the Ivory Tower, could it?

Nah.

And then these guys wonder why no one reads them anymore.

Reminds me of the classic Cold War account of an experimental car race in the Soviet Union.  The morning after the race the headlines in Moscow told readers:  "Russian car finishes second; Americans second to last"

Yeah, sure, only two automobiles competed in the race, but for some reason that part of the story was never printed.