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Tag: merit pay

Michigan liberals publicly hope the President fails

By Nick, Section News
Posted on Thu Mar 12, 2009 at 07:31:11 AM EST
Tags: Merit Pay, MBT, surcharge, bipartisanship, deficit, tax revenue, Obama (all tags)

Apparently common sense is a little too radical for Michigan liberals, including the strike-first extremists who head up the MEA. The Grand Rapids Press reports this morning that lefties in the Great Lakes State now officially want President Obama to fail and yet, strangely, I can't find an editorial anywhere bemoaning or criticizing them for their aggressive lack of unity. Odd.

See, this week the President suggested that good teachers be rewarded with merit pay. Perform well, produce results above and beyond by-the-book expectations in your classroom and you get a bonus. And just because he's a nice, fair, equitable guy (allegedly) he won't even cut the salary of teachers who might be better served in another career field.

No downside. All upside. Free money for exceptional performers.

Alas, the Michigan Education Association directly and publicly opposes President Obama, saying they aren't interested unless everyone gets free money.

And I don't know if you've noticed but there really isn't that much extra money floating around these days. In fact, quite the opposite is true.

According to the Detroit News, state revenues have plummeted since a series of disastrous tax hikes literally altered consumer behavior here in Michigan.

Read on...

(700 words in story) Full Story

Manic Monday: Job losses, entrenched bureaucracy and... Merit Pay?

By Nick, Section News
Posted on Mon Feb 16, 2009 at 07:49:53 AM EST
Tags: Granholm, Cherry, unemployment, Obama, merit pay, Ford, MEA (all tags)

Another week, another 1,200 Michigan moms and dads out of work. At one company.

That's the word from this morning's Detroit News, reporting on the evaporation of more than a thousand white collar "jobs of tomorrow" at Ford Motor Credit. Not manufacturing jobs, not line workers, not the sort of jobs that require a strong back and a hearty work ethic... rather, jobs that deal with numbers and largely require a good chunk of post-secondary education.

Not that those folks will be lonely, though.

Since it began the current restructuring campaign at the end of 2005, Ford has cut 60,500 jobs in North America -- including 13,200 white-collar jobs and 47,300 hourly blue-collar positions.

Or as they say in English... "ouch!"

Not that they're hurting everywhere, mind you. The Lansing State Journal reports this morning that Ingham county business were relieved to hear that Governor Granholm's proposed state employee job cuts were coming in the Department of Corrections and not the bureaucracy. All of those Lansing area shops and eateries depend on the red tape brigade to keep the paychecks coming. In other words, they're in an awfully good place right now.

There are about 14,100 state employees who work in Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties; nearly 11,000 of them work in Ingham County.
The state now is the largest employer for Ingham County, and many of those employees work in the downtown Lansing area, where they do some of their shopping and dining.

BUT... and stop the presses... in honor of President's Day I've actually found something to embrace about President Obama and his federal administration.

Read on...

(1 comment, 719 words in story) Full Story