Tag: fire

Automatic wage increases, a term that can only be associated with those on a government paycheck, are actually being considered in a bill sponsored by 'Republicans.'  HB5097, as the Mackinac Center reports, will exempt certain PA312 of 1969 covered employees from PA54 of 2011.

".. House Bill 5097, which has 23 co-sponsors, would exempt law enforcement and fire department employees from the law. Specifically, the exemption would apply to employees who are covered by Public Act 312 of 1969, which is a compulsory arbitration law.

Perhaps next, they might propose an automatic wage increase for farmers?  Without the heroic acts of farmers none of us might eat! What about plumbers? Fighting fire without water wouldn't work too well.  How about auto makers, etc.. ?

According to Mackinac there are 18 Republicans co-sponsoring the legislation.  Reps: Kevin Cotter, Hugh Crawford, Kevin Daley, Jeff Farrington, Frank Foster, Ken Goike, Nancy Jenkins, Eileen Kowall, Ken Kurtz, Andrea LaFontaine, Matt Lori, Lisa Posthumus Lyons, Mike McCready, Rick Outman, Peter Pettalia, Wayne Schmidt, Pat Somerville, and Dale Zorn.

Five Democrat Reps: Vicki Barnett, Paul Clemente, Brandon Dillon, Tim Greimel, and Henry Yanez.

In any other state, that sort of paragraph could either be really great news or a portent of something down right rotten.  In a state governed by the Granholm - Cherry administration for the better part of a decade we tend to lose that first option pretty quickly.  Sure enough...

Michigan's population is dwindling, and fast.  We knew that.  We learn each year that we lead the nation in outbound moves.  United Van Lines doesn't mean to punch us in the gut, they're just reporting their own numbers, but it happens again and again.  

Since 2001, migration has cost Michigan 465,000 people, the equivalent of the combined populations of Grand Rapids, Warren and Sterling Heights -- the state's second-, third- and fourth-largest cities.

Population loss of that magnitude is so rare that its impact has never been studied. But The News' analysis discovered some sobering trends:

Those leaving Michigan are the people the state most needs to keep -- young and college-educated. The state suffered a net loss to migration of 18,000 adults with a bachelor's degree or higher in 2007 alone -- the equivalent of half the staff of the University of Michigan crossing the state line.

In other words, those jobs of tomorrow and that whole diversification of the economy that the administration has been trying to engineer via tax increases, increased regulation and more overseas family vacations than you can shake a stick at just plain hasn't materialized.  To the contrary... the folks who aren't working are multiplying and staying put while folks who already HAVE jobs are beating feet and making a mad dash for the Indiana border (I refuse to entertain the notion any of them exit via Ohio).

Read on...