Can Michigan afford to shed another 50 jobs? Michigan Republicans think so. As they prepare to kill off the Michigan film tax credit, the Detroit Free Press reports that a Livonia film studio, Maxsar, has already hired 50 people and plans to have 100 employees by the end of the year.
That's Michigan talent, not California talent. Fifty Michigan people who didn't have to move away from their families to get work, whose pay checks are being spent at Michigan businesses and to pay Michigan taxes.
But the supposedly business-friendly Republicans are preparing to drive those jobs away.
According to the Free Press:
"Like others in the industry, Martinez is waiting to see whether changes will be made to the film incentives. Rumors about the demise of the tax breaks have already caused headaches for his business, generating fear among employees and investors.
"'We cannot make the investment to buy (the buildings) until we know the tax credit is stable,' the Northville resident said. 'If they are going to change the law, tell us now. We need some stability.'
"If the tax breaks are eliminated or scaled back significantly, Martinez said, at least half the studio's 50 employees would leave Michigan."
So that's what happens when Republican rhetoric meets reality. Michigan jobs go elsewhere.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
A Reagan Memory People Like to Forget
There's been plenty of happy-talk remembering of Ronald Reagan this month, the 100th anniversary of his birth.
But people seem to be suffering from selective memories, especially when it comes to the tax cuts, which were supposed to have ignited the economy without ballooning the deficit.
But after Reagan's tax cuts passed, Michigan's unemployment rate didn't go down -- it hit 17.5 percent. Some boom.
Haven't seen that in any of the celebratory coverage.
But people seem to be suffering from selective memories, especially when it comes to the tax cuts, which were supposed to have ignited the economy without ballooning the deficit.
But after Reagan's tax cuts passed, Michigan's unemployment rate didn't go down -- it hit 17.5 percent. Some boom.
Haven't seen that in any of the celebratory coverage.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Michigan Looking Good in Super Bowl Ads
Michigan companies took advantage of the Super Bowl to put themselves on a big stage, and none more so than Chrysler.
Chrysler's spot featuring Eminem and the new Chrysler 200 Sedan was spectacular. The visuals built to a nice climax, the "Imported from Detroit" tag. And what a contrast to that wimpy, generic ad for BMW, bragging about making cars in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Nice that a foreign country has hired some locals to put their cars together. Chrysler's message was we design them here from the ground up. And we have for a long time.
Chevrolet's ads also were impressive. The pickup ad was clever, the ones for the Chevrolet Cruze, especially the one featuring the Facebook status update app, marks the car as appealing to young people. The ads definitely show that General Motors finally has moved away from its stodgy advertising of the past.
Ford's ad on the Focus race is one I'm not sure about. I didn't learn a lot about the product, but if it succeeds in drawing people to the website to follow the race, it could pay big dividends down the road.
Overall, I was a little overwhelmed at all the ads for movies about being invaded by aliens that seem to be on the verge of being released. I got tired of all the Fox promos for the network's shows. The Doritos commercials were a little creepy. Bud Light's commercial featuring the dogs at the party was cute.
And the game, yeah, that was really good, too.
Chrysler's spot featuring Eminem and the new Chrysler 200 Sedan was spectacular. The visuals built to a nice climax, the "Imported from Detroit" tag. And what a contrast to that wimpy, generic ad for BMW, bragging about making cars in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Nice that a foreign country has hired some locals to put their cars together. Chrysler's message was we design them here from the ground up. And we have for a long time.
Chevrolet's ads also were impressive. The pickup ad was clever, the ones for the Chevrolet Cruze, especially the one featuring the Facebook status update app, marks the car as appealing to young people. The ads definitely show that General Motors finally has moved away from its stodgy advertising of the past.
Ford's ad on the Focus race is one I'm not sure about. I didn't learn a lot about the product, but if it succeeds in drawing people to the website to follow the race, it could pay big dividends down the road.
Overall, I was a little overwhelmed at all the ads for movies about being invaded by aliens that seem to be on the verge of being released. I got tired of all the Fox promos for the network's shows. The Doritos commercials were a little creepy. Bud Light's commercial featuring the dogs at the party was cute.
And the game, yeah, that was really good, too.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
I Won the Lottery!
I won the lottery and I didn’t even know it. I realize that happens all the time – people buy a ticket, forget about it, and then discover days, weeks, or months later, that their numbers came up and they go cash in. But this is different. I won the lottery and I’ve been reaping the benefits day in, day out for decades now and never realized it.
I won the lottery. Not the Mega-Millions that only has drawings a couple times a week and then pays you for just 20 years.
No, I won the lottery the day I was born so many years ago today. I won the birth lottery, the one in this country that says, if you’re born white, you automatically win, you are at the top of the heap in terms of privilege in our society. And I was born white, purely by chance, through no effort of my own. That’s why it’s a lottery, a game of chance and not skill.
The black intellectual and leader W.E.B. DuBois had a name for this idea that being born white, or considered white by other whites, had value. He called it "the wages of whiteness." Books have been written about how "the wages of whiteness" were defined and paid out in everyday life throughout our nation’s history. Southern states were particularly good at keeping the masses of whites dirt poor but making it clear that although they were poor, they were still white and therefore better than others. Elsewhere, immigrant groups, such as the Irish, had to prove they deserved the wages of whiteness because whiteness isn’t just about skin color, but about being labeled white by those who matter – people who are already white.
The wages of whiteness aren’t quite as high as they were even 50 years ago due to slowly changing racial attitudes, but they remain real. Since I was born white, I was born into a neighborhood that had far less crime and better schools, giving me a head start in staying out of trouble, finishing school, and going on to college. Since I don’t look Latino, no one has ever questioned whether I’m in this country legally. If Michigan passes the Arizona-style immigration law that the far-right fringe demands, I won’t have to worry about carrying my passport around to prove I’m a citizen because I "look American." Since I have white skin, shopkeepers won’t keep a little closer eye on me in their store than they would otherwise fearing I will steal something. Since I’m white, nobody gives me a second glance when I walk down the sidewalks of our community.
Yes, I know we have a president who is African American. But Barack Obama helps prove the wages of whiteness theory. Would anyone have questioned his citizenship had both his parents been white instead of only one? Would millions of Americans have bought into that nonsense?
I won the lottery, for sure. Everyday, I try to remember that I didn’t do anything to deserve it.
I won the lottery. Not the Mega-Millions that only has drawings a couple times a week and then pays you for just 20 years.
No, I won the lottery the day I was born so many years ago today. I won the birth lottery, the one in this country that says, if you’re born white, you automatically win, you are at the top of the heap in terms of privilege in our society. And I was born white, purely by chance, through no effort of my own. That’s why it’s a lottery, a game of chance and not skill.
The black intellectual and leader W.E.B. DuBois had a name for this idea that being born white, or considered white by other whites, had value. He called it "the wages of whiteness." Books have been written about how "the wages of whiteness" were defined and paid out in everyday life throughout our nation’s history. Southern states were particularly good at keeping the masses of whites dirt poor but making it clear that although they were poor, they were still white and therefore better than others. Elsewhere, immigrant groups, such as the Irish, had to prove they deserved the wages of whiteness because whiteness isn’t just about skin color, but about being labeled white by those who matter – people who are already white.
The wages of whiteness aren’t quite as high as they were even 50 years ago due to slowly changing racial attitudes, but they remain real. Since I was born white, I was born into a neighborhood that had far less crime and better schools, giving me a head start in staying out of trouble, finishing school, and going on to college. Since I don’t look Latino, no one has ever questioned whether I’m in this country legally. If Michigan passes the Arizona-style immigration law that the far-right fringe demands, I won’t have to worry about carrying my passport around to prove I’m a citizen because I "look American." Since I have white skin, shopkeepers won’t keep a little closer eye on me in their store than they would otherwise fearing I will steal something. Since I’m white, nobody gives me a second glance when I walk down the sidewalks of our community.
Yes, I know we have a president who is African American. But Barack Obama helps prove the wages of whiteness theory. Would anyone have questioned his citizenship had both his parents been white instead of only one? Would millions of Americans have bought into that nonsense?
I won the lottery, for sure. Everyday, I try to remember that I didn’t do anything to deserve it.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Where Were the Biggest Job Losses in 2010?
A lot of conservatives are hyperventilating right now about that intellectually dishonest comparison of private sector and public sector jobs that Rick Snyder put out earlier this week.
So they probably would be surprised to find out where the single largest loss of jobs occurred last year.
In government. Yeah, in government.
According to final employment statistics for 2010, Michigan lost 15,000 jobs in government last year, more than any other sector, including manufacturing. Here's what the AP said:
"Over the course of 2010, the biggest employment loss was in government, which saw 15,000 jobs disappear. Michigan also lost 5,000 jobs in financial activities, 3,000 in information, 2,000 in construction and 1,000 in trade, transportation and utilities during the year. Professional and business services also lost 1,000 jobs.
"During that period, Michigan gained 11,000 manufacturing jobs. Natural resources and mining, education and health services and other services each gained 1,000 jobs."
Didn't see that in Snyder's report. Guess it wouldn't help his cause any.
So they probably would be surprised to find out where the single largest loss of jobs occurred last year.
In government. Yeah, in government.
According to final employment statistics for 2010, Michigan lost 15,000 jobs in government last year, more than any other sector, including manufacturing. Here's what the AP said:
"Over the course of 2010, the biggest employment loss was in government, which saw 15,000 jobs disappear. Michigan also lost 5,000 jobs in financial activities, 3,000 in information, 2,000 in construction and 1,000 in trade, transportation and utilities during the year. Professional and business services also lost 1,000 jobs.
"During that period, Michigan gained 11,000 manufacturing jobs. Natural resources and mining, education and health services and other services each gained 1,000 jobs."
Didn't see that in Snyder's report. Guess it wouldn't help his cause any.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
How Many McDonald's Does the State Operate?
Rick Snyder's comparison of public sector and private sector pay is music to the ears of those who hate public employees -- the people who plow our roads, keep us safe, teach us children, staff our prisons and so on.
But while it sounds good, it's not an honest comparison.
By looking at the entire private sector, the report includes all the minimum-wage workers at fast-food restaurants and other low-skilled operations. The last time I checked, state and local governments didn't operate many of those establishments. I've never been in a state-owned McDonald's, for example.
Public employment is far more likely to require a college education or other post-high school education than many of the jobs in the private sector. Yet that wasn't taken into account.
That would have ruined the results, of course. A great example of deciding on the conclusion you want and working backwards from there. That sort of intellectual dishonesty isn't worthy of a governor.
But while it sounds good, it's not an honest comparison.
By looking at the entire private sector, the report includes all the minimum-wage workers at fast-food restaurants and other low-skilled operations. The last time I checked, state and local governments didn't operate many of those establishments. I've never been in a state-owned McDonald's, for example.
Public employment is far more likely to require a college education or other post-high school education than many of the jobs in the private sector. Yet that wasn't taken into account.
That would have ruined the results, of course. A great example of deciding on the conclusion you want and working backwards from there. That sort of intellectual dishonesty isn't worthy of a governor.
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