Tag: constitutional amendment

Does The Detroit News need treatment for this disorder? Well, read this blurb from today's editorial praising yesterday's Supreme Court decision that ruled against treating job applicants differently based on their race:

"Treating people differently on the basis of their race is both illegal and simply wrong. It's an easily understood concept...-- and the principle that racial discrimination is impermissible has been usefully reinforced."

Okay, now read what the same editorial staff wrote about the 2006 Michigan Civil Rights Initiative to ban race preferences in government hiring, contracting and university admissions:

"It's not a civil rights measure, far from it. It's a despicable piece of work aimed at blocking legal efforts to bring equality to the state's campuses. It ought to be soundly defeated."

But at least The Detroit News was consistent before the passage of MCRI. Here's what they said about California businessman Ward Connerly when Connerly was considering helping Jennifer Gratz, a bunch of young activists, and I launch MCRI back on July 8, 2003. Their editorial's headline was:

"So far, he's (Connerely) received a cold shoulder from state Republicans, whom he hoped to enlist in the campaign. The GOP rightly sees the potential for an affirmative action ballot initiative to further divide the state along racial lines and reverse the gains the party is making among African-Americans and other minorities.

It's not clear what Connerly hopes to accomplish...the divide in understanding between whites and blacks remains wide. Toss in a ballot campaign that pits the two races against each other and all hope for finally closing that divide will be lost."
(emphasis mine)

Today, the Detroit Free Press website posted an editorial that I wrote which proposes to cap government employee benefit costs and use the savings to dramatically cut taxes.

The Free Press editorial is HERE.

Below is the full editorial:

Michigan's government class - school, state and local government employees - is proving far more immune to our state's economic decline than private sector citizens. In fact, recent statistics demonstrate that most government employees are prospering compared to Michigan's long-suffering private sector workers.

According the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average government worker now makes $25.97 in wages and also receives lavish health care, retirement and time-off benefits worth an additional $13.53 per hour. Private-sector workers in the Midwest earn an average wage of $18.83 with benefits worth $8.09 per hour. The discrepancies remain even when private sector workers are compared to government employees performing similar jobs (government managers vs. private sector managers, private service worker vs. government service worker, etc.).

But there's even more good news for government employees.

A scant day or so from commenting on his desire to cut taxes, an opportunity presents itself.

Continued below the fold...