Tag: dillon

With glaringly pointed statements made very recently, some may call out-and-out threats, such as this made by Detroit Mayor Dave Bing this week, "If Detroit fails or doesn't make it or doesn't come back as soon as we would like it too, it's going to cost the state money anyway. It's you pay me now or pay me later," you may be asking yourself why the wait?

So what is the holdup?

Very well done and very powerful.

People are starting to wake up to the fact that the MEA represents the fourth highest paid teachers in the country. (in a state that ranks near the bottom for average wages otherwise)  Further, that the current contracts are time bombs.  Add to this, the public realization of what the MEA "re-packages" as insurance is  merely a BCBS policy with a 25% profit for the union built in reinforces a growing sentiment that this public sector union in particular is bad business for Michigan.

And THAT is bad news for the MEA.

So bad, they need a plug to stop the inevitable leak in the money pipe from Lansing to the highly paid MEA infrastructure.  Bad enough to look for a place to put a controlling hand that nods his head, and makes him bow, and has him sign on the dotted line when told.

In a year that will likely bring strong gains for conservatives and republicans alike, it appears there would be little gained even for name recognition by the bit players in the Democrat left.  Former treasurer Bob Bowman took one look at Michigan's finances, the party in power and said.. umm yeah.. I don't think so... From the Detroit News:

Bowman formed an exploratory committee last week but said in his statement he was compelled to do so because he had spent over $500 in considering a bid.

Bowman works in New York City and lives in suburban Connecticut but has a summer home in the northern Michigan community of Harbor Springs. He's also president of the Michigan Education Trust.

Received from the Michigan Republicans:

Lansing, MI--As Bob Bowman filed his paperwork for a Democratic gubernatorial bid, the Michigan Republican Party warns Michigan families to guard their wallets.

"Bob Bowman is a wall street carpet bagger who is responsible for the 38-percent tax increase on Michigan families under the Blanchard administration,"  said Michigan Republican Party Director of Communications Jennifer Hoff.  "He's just another Harvard Democrat like Jennifer Granholm--look where's she's gotten us.

Unless... we take the opportunity to reflect on the constitutionality of their voting records, and base a recall effort on their failure to abide by their oath of office:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

Detroit is in the eye of the storm...

Few government reformers have taken on a more impossible task than Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb, who is trying to restore fiscal and functional sanity to the national disgrace that is the Detroit Public Schools. Now, Bobb is being sued by a defiant Detroit School Board determined to protect the status quo that they created and have benefited from.

Kudos to Attorney General Mike Cox, who will defend Bobb against the School Board's retaliatory suit.

Detroit Mayor Bing, meanwhile, is facing a fierce, daily battle with Detroit's unionized city employees, who believe they should be immune from the City's 22% unemployment rate, plummeting population, and evaporating tax base. These unions are more highly compensated than employees in similar cities (according to a Detroit Free Press study), but they won't concede a penny in adjusted benefits or pay.

Meanwhile, in the suburbs...

Watch some of the economic development possibilities in Caesarea!