During the past election campaign, candidates were asked to name a leader of the opposite party that we admired. Bill Milliken’s name sprang immediately to my mind. A gentleman of civility and bipartisanship that accomplished so much for Michigan, he deserves to be remembered by Democrats and Republicans alike, although it’s doubtful he would be allowed in today’s GOP.
Jack Lessenberry writes in the Traverse City Record-Eagle, Nov. 23, 2008:
'Remember the 1970s, when Michigan was a prosperous state, our public schools were widely praised and there was a fair amount of bipartisanship in government?
'Those years are sometimes known as the Milliken era, and last Tuesday night, dozens of former officeholders, journalists and admirers packed Laurel Manor in Livonia to pay tribute to William Milliken, a Republican who was the longest-serving governor in Michigan history. The event was sponsored by the Michigan Political History Society. Among those who spoke was Democrat Frank Kelley, who was the longest-serving state attorney general in U.S. history.
'When it was his turn to speak, Milliken, now 86, sounded the themes that had marked his administration, including returning civility and common decency to politics. Quoting one of his heroes, Judge Learned Hand, he also said that "term limits have been a disaster" for government in Michigan, a view widely shared.'
We can hope that the 21st Century will bring us again the civility and bipartisanship of Bill Milliken. Perhaps it is audacious to hope that Barack Obama will lead the way to a new kind of politics and Congressional and Michigan politics will follow but I am feeling very audacious.
Showing posts with label Jack Lessenberry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jack Lessenberry. Show all posts
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Lessenberry: Term Limits Helping Lobbyists Run Rampant
In his appearance Thursday night (May 8, 2008) at the Howell Opera House, well-known Michigan journalist Jack Lessenberry pulled no punches in describing the problems facing our state and placing the blame for them.
Term limits, lobbyists, and certain Republican policies are harming the state, Lessenberry said.
As Lessenberry explained it, term limits have caused gridlock and excessive partisanship in the Michigan Legislature by assuring that our state is run by people who know little and have their eye on the next job. Term limits are the delight of lobbyists because inexperienced legislators are dependent on lobbyists who know how the system works.
Last year's budget boondoggle hurt both parties, he said. That's the bright spot, in Lessenberry's view, because it's unlikely that members of either party will be willing to look so bad again.
As an example of the effect of term limits and lobbyists, Lessenberry pointed to the service tax, which was proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in 2007 to help balance the budget. The Legislature responded by placing the tax on every business that didn’t have a lobbyist. That left small businesses like ski lift operations, phrenologists, masseuses, and fortune tellers (no sympathy here, they should have seen it coming) to be taxed. The unfairness of this caused the Legislature to repeal the tax.
Lessenberry also cited the case of using the tobacco settlement funds to plug the hole in the budget. The state lost a half billion dollars because the Legislature didn’t have the courage to raise the income tax. To a Republican legislature, all tax increases are bad and all tax cuts are good.
Furthermore, Lessenberry said, Michigan prisons are overflowing because of the Republican idea of punishing criminals for minor drug crimes with a policy of "put them in and throw away the key." The result is a prison population that has skyrocketed to 51,000 today from 13,000 in 1982. Worse, it costs more to incarcerate a person than it would to send them to Harvard. Michigan spends more than any other state on incarceration while it cuts funds to higher education.
Lessenberry predicted that the year 2010 will be a year of great change. Not only will 31 out of 38 state senators be term limited out, as well as the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general and others, but the ballot will ask the voters of Michigan if a new Constitutional Convention should be summoned.
Usually, LivingBlue likes to link to media coverage of events, but the Livingston Press and Argus didn't bother to cover Lessenberry.
Term limits, lobbyists, and certain Republican policies are harming the state, Lessenberry said.
As Lessenberry explained it, term limits have caused gridlock and excessive partisanship in the Michigan Legislature by assuring that our state is run by people who know little and have their eye on the next job. Term limits are the delight of lobbyists because inexperienced legislators are dependent on lobbyists who know how the system works.
Last year's budget boondoggle hurt both parties, he said. That's the bright spot, in Lessenberry's view, because it's unlikely that members of either party will be willing to look so bad again.
As an example of the effect of term limits and lobbyists, Lessenberry pointed to the service tax, which was proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in 2007 to help balance the budget. The Legislature responded by placing the tax on every business that didn’t have a lobbyist. That left small businesses like ski lift operations, phrenologists, masseuses, and fortune tellers (no sympathy here, they should have seen it coming) to be taxed. The unfairness of this caused the Legislature to repeal the tax.
Lessenberry also cited the case of using the tobacco settlement funds to plug the hole in the budget. The state lost a half billion dollars because the Legislature didn’t have the courage to raise the income tax. To a Republican legislature, all tax increases are bad and all tax cuts are good.
Furthermore, Lessenberry said, Michigan prisons are overflowing because of the Republican idea of punishing criminals for minor drug crimes with a policy of "put them in and throw away the key." The result is a prison population that has skyrocketed to 51,000 today from 13,000 in 1982. Worse, it costs more to incarcerate a person than it would to send them to Harvard. Michigan spends more than any other state on incarceration while it cuts funds to higher education.
Lessenberry predicted that the year 2010 will be a year of great change. Not only will 31 out of 38 state senators be term limited out, as well as the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general and others, but the ballot will ask the voters of Michigan if a new Constitutional Convention should be summoned.
Usually, LivingBlue likes to link to media coverage of events, but the Livingston Press and Argus didn't bother to cover Lessenberry.
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