Whither Michigan's Future? by Andrew McFarlane
It's been a while since we last looked in on what Michigan's elected officials have been up to. Unfortunately for all of us, the answer is "Not much."
Recently Michigan Radio's Jack Lessenberry interviewed Jim Weimken, the primary financial analyst for the state of Michigan at Standard and Poor, about Michigan's credit rating. In this informative interview, Jim says that Michigan is amidst the most important legislative session of the the decade and that accounting trickery and deadline moving isn't going to change our rating. In his accompanying essay titled Our Credit, Jack notes that Jim also said "Michigan's credit outlook could be revised to stable if the legislature passes a reform package and addresses the remainder of the structural imbalance in the 2008 budget."
It's no secret that Jack is one of the more liberal commentators in Michigan, but it's hard to deny his contention that the massive inaction of Lansing on issues like school funding are a sign of a failure to lead on the part of our elected leaders.
I find that it can be less painful if you listen to stuff like this if you do so while looking at scenes of Michigan sunrises.
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Yesterday Jack talked with Wayne State Professor Marjorie Sarbaugh-Thompson, who has been studying term limits. She identifies four unintended consequences: increased partisanship, short clock, increased political ambition and stronger ties to special interests who have become a source of information and guidance for the less knowledgeable term-limited legislators.
In his essay about term limits and the role they play in our ineffective government he writes:
Term limits need to be put in place for the Nations Senator's...3 and you're out! Fat cats like Levin and Kennedy need to go so fresh ideas can be put in place.
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