Jack Lessenberry from Michigan Radio

Three years ago, when I first heard about Governor Rick Snyder’s plans to create a special district for Detroit’s failing schools, I was enthusiastic.I knew Detroit’s schools were a mess. I knew that the bureaucracy, the teacher’s union, and obstinate refusal to change were all part of the problem.Something different was worth a try.And so they invented and chartered the Education Achievement Authority, and gave it 15 of Detroit’s worst schools. The experiment began two years ago.Nobody really expected miracles. At least nobody should have. These were schools with terrible records, and students with terribly disadvantaged backgrounds.Since then, there have been possibly some small signs of improvement, at least as measured by test scores. Governor Snyder now wants to expand the EAA statewide. The state House of Representatives has passed legislation to do just that. The proposal is before the state Senate.But it is clear that expanding the EAA now would be a colossal mistake.The EAA is a total failure in terms of administration, honesty, transparency and staying within a budget.Its chancellor, John Covington, probably needs to be fired immediately.An investigation published in today’s Detroit News confirms rumors I’ve been hearing for a year.Covington, who is driven around by a chauffeur in a special vehicle, charged nearly a quarter of a million dollars on district credit cards, largely so that he and his staff could jet around the country to a series of pricey conferences.When they happened to be in town, they bought nice new furniture for their offices.This happened, by the way, at a time when underpaid EAA teachers were being forced to use their own money to buy books and paper.There is a heroine in all of this; my own state representative, Ellen Cogen Lipton, D-Huntington Woods. "What I began learning turns your blood cold. I think they are breaking the law." - Ellen Cogen Lipton Lipton grew up in modest circumstances in Alabama, and was a science teacher herself before going to Harvard Law School. Last year, when she tried to get some basic information about the EAA, she was met with condescension, stonewalling and arrogance.Eventually, after spending nearly $3,000 of her own money on Freedom of Information Act requests, Lipton told me she found many of the district’s claims just didn’t add up. She also has raised disturbing questions about the authority’s funding sources and hidden cost overruns.She told one interviewer, “what I began learning turns your blood cold. I think they are breaking the law.”Covington and other EAA officials seem to think they are accountable to nobody.Despite all this, Governor Snyder is still bizarrely determined to expand this statewide.State Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, who is trying to shove the expansion through the state Senate, told the Detroit News that while it isn’t clear whether the EAA is successful, “to sit there and do nothing doesn’t seem like the right thing.”Perhaps he’s never heard that insanity consists of doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.Today’s news and Ellen Lipton’s diligent investigations make it clear that, at the very least the Education Achievement Authority needs a complete overhaul and housecleaning before we should even think about expanding its reach.

Two years ago, voters in a suburban Detroit congressional district were stunned to learn that their congressman, Thaddeus McCotter, had failed to qualify for the primary election ballot.Anyone running for Congress needs to submit 1,000 valid signatures to get on the ballot.Turned out his staff had illegally and clumsily photocopied old petition signatures, instead of collecting new ones. McCotter not only retired, but abruptly quit before his term ended.That left just one name on the GOP primary ballot: That of Kerry Bentivolio, known informally as “Krazy Kerry,” a reindeer farmer, Santa Claus impersonator, and failed high school teacher.Bentivolio is now a congressman, and establishment Republicans are spending millions to try and dislodge him in this August’s primary.Now, it seems something similar has happened to John Conyers, a Democrat who has represented Detroit in Congress for half a century. Most of the signatures he submitted seem to have been collected by circulators who weren’t registered to vote.One has a criminal record and is a wanted fugitive. It seems very likely that Conyers will not be on the ballot this year.If so, it seems that the only name on the Democratic primary ballot will be that of The Rev. Horace Sheffield, a longtime Detroit clergyman with a reputation of his own. Sheffield got his picture in the papers twice in February. Once when he announced for Congress, and once when he was booked on domestic violence charges.Sheffield’s spokesman, the equally notorious Adolph Mongo, was then paid by John Conyers to collect petition signatures. No, you can’t make this stuff up.By the way, this district is so Democratic, Abraham Lincoln couldn’t possibly get elected as a Republican. So unless Conyers, or someone else, mounts a successful write-in campaign, Sheffield may well join Krazy Kerry in Congress.There has to be a better way. The Detroit Free Press is offering a solution that is well-intentioned, but just plain dumb. The paper suggests that both former Detroit Council President Ken Cockrel and Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon launch write-in bids.Now, it is true that either of those men, Cockrel especially, would be a far superior choice. However, if both of them were to run as write-ins, it would ensure neither would win.What we need instead is a mechanism whereby, in such cases as these, names can be added to the ballot after the filing deadline.One state once did something like that with presidential primaries. The secretary of state added anyone thought to be a potential candidate, and it stayed there unless that person asked that their name be removed.That might actually be a better system than depending on petition signatures. There may have been a time when excited neighbors went door to door with clipboards to send Mr. Smith to Washington. Today, however, what we usually have is Mr. Longtime Incumbent paying a political consulting firm to collect signatures.Voters deserve the best choices possible for Congress. They often aren’t getting them. What I have suggested may not be the best way of dealing with a situation like this. But it would be a whole lot better than what we have now.

Congressmen don’t stay on the job forever, though it sometimes seems like it.This year will be the last for Sen. Carl Levin, D-MI, first elected in 1978, and Rep. John Dingell, D-MI, the all-time longevity champ, who has represented a Detroit-area district since 1955.Their retirements, while momentous, weren’t very surprising. Indeed, Carl Levin announced that he wouldn’t run for reelection more than a year ago. Far more shocking was the sudden decision by two mid-Michigan Republican Congressmen to bow out.Both Rep. Dave Camp, R-MI, and Rep. Mike Rogers, R-MI, had safe seats, a fair amount of seniority, and are youngish men by congressional standards. Yet within the last few days, both said they wouldn’t run for reelection.That set off something of a mad scramble.Candidates have to file petitions to run no later than two weeks from today, and for the last few days both districts have been filled with people trying to run, and others trying to decide.Some are definitely in, such as former State Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, who Rogers endorsed as his heir apparent yesterday. State Senator Joe Hune is apparently trying to decide. What most of the candidates on the fence are struggling with is money. In Camp’s district. State Senator John Moolenaar is in, as is Republican financier Paul Mitchell.Others are still on the fence.Running for Congress is a pretty big deal, from a lifestyle standpoint, not just a political one. Members have to live in two places, which is never easy if you have small children.You are always on the go and have to struggle to satisfy different constituencies, but what the media seldom reports is that these hassles aren’t the real reason some people won’t run.What most of the candidates on the fence are struggling with is money. Can they get the money needed to make a competitive race?And these days, the amount of money needed to get elected to any seat in Congress is astronomical – and obscene.Congressmen make $174,000 a year for a job that last two years.Do you know what it costs to get there? Last year, the average successful candidate spent $1.6 million, but Michigan is more expensive that most states.Though Dave Camp has a safe seat, he spent more than $3 million to win reelection four years ago. Mike Rogers spent $1.8 million. I'm not suggesting that most candidates are guilty of overtly criminal behavior. It is just that in my experience, people who give you money almost always want something for it... This year, whoever wins those seats will spend more, because they will also have primary challenges. The cost will go up in Rogers’ Lansing-area district because it is at least possible that a Democrat could win.Those sums are more than ridiculous; they are to me, a sign that our entire system is broken, and corrupt.I’m not suggesting that most candidates are guilty of overtly criminal behavior. It is just that in my experience, people who give you money almost always want something for it, whether that means fixing your car or casting a vote. Everybody in politics understands this.If that isn’t corrupting influence, I don’t know what is.We now live in a world where a decent person can no longer be elected to represent us without being bankrolled by the superrich. If that doesn’t worry you, I don’t know what would.

I’ve talked before about the sweetheart deal that the City of Detroit gave Mike Ilitch in connection with the new hockey stadium and entertainment complex being built in downtown Detroit.The city is giving Ilitch’s Olympia Entertainment all the land they need, absolutely free. The taxpayers are also kicking in most of the cost of the project.In return, the city gets nothing – not one dime of the parking or pizza or ticket sales revenue.When asked about that, spokespeople for both the emergency manager and the city council muttered something like “they wouldn’t budge.” When asked about that, spokespeople for both the emergency manager and the city council muttered something like "they wouldn't budge." We knew that before, but last week, details surfaced of an equally outrageous deal between the city and the 84-year-old pizza billionaire regarding the old stadium, Joe Louis Arena.Here’s a little background.Thirty-five years ago, the taxpayers built “The Joe” for the Red Wings, to prevent them from leaving town.Detroit did need a new hockey arena then. The Red Wings were playing in an ancient red-brick structure in a bad neighborhood, and there was a real threat the team might move to Pontiac.While the city paid for the Joe Louis Arena, it continued to own it, and got about a $7 million share of the Red Wings’ proceeds every year.Many have forgotten this, but the Joe was also where history was made and Ronald Reagan nominated for president in 1980. True, that was a long time ago.When the hockey team leaves for the new arena, probably three years from now, the city will still own the Joe. But, incredibly, Detroit is being asked to give up the right to use it.Here’s what Olympia Entertainment is insisting on: Under a deal currently before city council, Detroit would have to tear the arena down, and the government would have to pay the costs of doing so. And until that happens, the city is to be forbidden from holding any money-making events at the arena. The Ilitch family wants to have a total monopoly on everything from tractor pulls to concerts. The Ilitch family wants to have a total monopoly on everything from tractor pulls to concerts.Not only are the taxpayers not to be allowed to compete, they have to tear down the stadium they built and paid for.In fact, the Michigan Strategic Fund’s board already has voted to make $6 million available to destroy the Joe. However, the city of Detroit does have to pay that money back.Where is Detroit supposed to get it?Well, the idea is that the city will redevelop the site, and tax revenues will flow in.That might happen. Downtown Detroit is seeing a renaissance of sorts, but the whole concept sounds a little bit like Laffer Curve, leap of faith economics to me.Incidentally, there is one other piece of this.Detroit was believed to be owed as much as $80 million by the Red Wings, under a clause splitting cable TV revenues. Olympia wants council to accept $5.2 million instead.I’m not an expert on religion, but I find any cult that makes huge sacrifices to placate a sports team owner ridiculous in the extreme. What I don’t know is why everyone is so irrationally afraid to stand up to Ilitch. In the name, that is, of common sense.

 Newspapers, even big-city newspapers, are in a sorry state these days.Thanks largely to the Internet, their circulation and advertising revenue has been in free fall, with the result that they have far less staff than they once did.There are also fewer papers than there used to be.Washtenaw County, outside of Ann Arbor, is home to a collection of fascinating and picturesque little towns like Manchester, Saline, Dexter, and Chelsea. Each had its own thriving weekly newspaper: The Saline Reporter, Dexter Leader, and Chelsea Standard.Years ago I did some consulting for the local company that owned those papers and learned that no matter how physically close these places might be, the good people of Chelsea did not want Dexter news in their paper, and vice-versa.Times are different now.Those papers are now owned by an out-of-state branch of a venture capital outfit which is famous for showing little understanding of or interest in local concerns. This week, it announced it was merging all these papers into one common amorphous one called “Washtenaw Now.”Whatever they say, you know there will be less coverage, especially distinctly local coverage. I would bet on a revived Chevy Corvair before I’d bet on Washtenaw Now.However, we may be suffering more from the decline of our big metropolitan newspapers.True, they still cover sex scandals like a blanket. You can read volumes today about Wade McCree Junior, a Wayne County Circuit judge with a famous name.The Michigan Supreme Court removed him from the bench yesterday, saying, with remarkable understatement, “that there is not much, if anything more prejudicial to the actual administration of justice than having a sexual relationship with a complaining witness (and) attempting to use the prosecutor’s office as leverage against this now ex-mistress by concocting charges of stalking and extortion against her and then lying under oath about these matters.”Okay, that’s fascinating — but not especially relevant to most of our lives.Far more important to most of us is what state lawmakers do.There are far fewer reporters in Lansing these days, which means citizens miss a lot.We know, for example, that higher education is far more important than ever. Still, yesterday, for example, a House Higher Education subcommittee cut the governor’s higher education budget by $5 million. In the old days, that would have been reported, and people would have the opportunity to make their feelings known before the budget was finally passed and it was too late.But try finding that in most newspapers.Another committee voted to close a legendary reform facility, the W.J. Maxey Training School.Meanwhile, our full-time state Senate wasted time on an utterly meaningless vote calling on Congress to call a convention of the states to pass a balanced budget amendment.These are the same people who can’t find the time to find the money to fix our roads. I know about all of this because I have access to an expensive private news-gathering service. What worries me is that the average person doesn’t know.If we really want a democracy in which informed citizens are making intelligent decisions, that should scare your pants off.  

There are a lot of bewildered and dejected people in Michigan today.Most of all, perhaps, the 300 or so same-sex couples who got married last Saturday, after a federal judge overturned Michigan’s amendment outlawing such marriages. U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman ruled, as expected, that our state’s constitutional prohibition of such marriages was wrong.But unlike federal judges in other states where this happened, he did not put his ruling on hold till the appellate courts could rule, so there was a mad scramble for licenses and ceremonies in those counties where the clerks were sympathetic.Within a day, however, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay, and yesterday they made that stay permanent, at least until they rule on the case.That will take months, at a minimum. The court asked both sides to have their briefs in by June, after which they will invite oral arguments.That may seem like a long time, but by federal appellate court standards, that is almost lightning speed. However, if there is anything certain about all this, it is that whatever this court does will not be the final word.This issue is going to be decided by the United States Supreme Court."This issue is going to be decided by the United States Supreme Court. In the meantime, those folks who hastily married are left hanging. One of them, an East Lansing woman, was quoted as saying, “It was such a high on Saturday, but now it doesn’t feel so good. Are we married or aren’t we?”I sympathize with everyone else in her predicament. But far more important than my own view is that every survey shows that society has been dramatically moving in this direction. Though the U.S. Supreme Court does not have to bend with political pressure, it does, in a sense, “follow the election returns,” as the nineteenth century humorist Finley Peter Dunne’s Mr. Dooley said.Most legal scholars think, based on earlier decisions, that the only question is whether the high court will say same-sex marriage is a constitutional right, or leave that up to the individual states .But though I sympathize with the folks left in legal limbo, my sympathy is tempered by the knowledge that they should have seen this coming. It was clear from the moment the opinion was released that a stay would quickly follow. That’s what happened in cases in the eight other states where judges made similar rulings. If things play out in the way they normally do, eventually, these cases will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the justices will agree to decide the issue, perhaps bundling several or all of these cases together. Then, they will decide.That may not happen, however, till June of next year or perhaps 2016. Unless, that is, the court were to grant an expedited appeal. That would seem highly unlikely. The justices refused, after all, to do that with the Affordable Care Act.Normally, they prefer – as they should – to avoid anything that looks like a rush to judgment. Americans aren’t a patient people, and we are probably less so than ever these days.But my guess is that in this case, we may just have to be.

Well, here’s some news you’ve been waiting for.Two bills may soon be on the governor’s desk requiring suspicion-based drug testing for welfare recipients. The Michigan Senate has approved both, the House has passed one, and the odds are that they will smooth out any differences and send them on to the governor.Signing them would be the sort of thing politicians do in an election year.Indeed, it would make lots of people happy. Just think of all those lazy welfare chiselers, using our hard-earned taxpayer dollars to get high.Cutting them off is morally right, and will save the state money. So why haven’t those sniveling, lily-livered liberals in Lansing done this before?Well, they have, actually.[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "They also tried this in Arizona. There they tested 87,000 people. Know how many tested positive for drugs? One.", "style": "inset"}]]They passed a similar bill in 1999, which was struck down in the federal courts as unconstitutional.Lawmakers are hoping to get around that this time by identifying recipients for whom there is a “reasonable suspicion” of drug use.Well, doesn’t that make sense? Absolutely – if you ignore all the evidence.You might have been able to make a case for this, years ago, when we still had able-bodied adults getting general assistance welfare.Today, the rolls have vastly shrunk. Welfare is pretty much limited to poor parents with dependent children.We are talking about 31,000 people. According to a Senate Fiscal Agency analysis, the state would save less than $5,000 a year for every person kicked off welfare.That’s not exactly enough to fix the roads, but every little bit helps the taxpayers, doesn’t it? Well, probably not. The odds seem pretty good that this would cost the state more than it saves.That’s what happened in Florida, where they tested almost one-quarter of those getting welfare. Fewer than 3% of those tested positive for drugs.They also tried this in Arizona. There they tested 87,000 people. Know how many tested positive for drugs? One.By the way, those who would be tested all have children. What will happen to them if their parents lose benefits?State Sen. Vincent Gregory, D-Southfield, did manage to get the bill amended so that if a parent is kicked off, their children’s benefits will be paid to a legal guardian, but the House hasn’t yet agreed to that.Even if it does, that sets up one more expensive layer of bureaucratic proceedings.By the way, what do you think is going to happen to those few kicked off welfare?[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "I get a massive kickback in the form of a home mortgage tax deduction. Even if I get arrested for illegal drugs, nobody would even dream of taking that away.", "style": "inset"}]]Will they be more likely to clean up their act and get an executive position, or turn to a life of crime?Think about it.What this really is, of course, is a politically motivated attack on the poor, one with unspoken racial undertones.By the way, like most people with decent jobs, I am a welfare recipient, of a kind – as are most middle-class Americans. I get a massive kickback in the form of a home mortgage tax deduction.Even if I get arrested for illegal drugs, nobody would even dream of taking that away. After this bill passed, Sen. Gregory said, “I am continually frustrated by the priorities of this Legislature.” I think we all should be.

ENTER TEASER

There aren’t many who are neutral about the EAA, or Educational Achievement Authority. That’s the entity formed to improve Detroit’s worst public schools.For some, this experiment is an abject failure. Last year, through dogged persistence, State Rep. Ellen Cogen Lipton turned up lots of disturbing information about the EAA.That includes news that the authority borrowed millions of dollars from the cash-strapped Detroit school district, loans the authority then seemed determined to hide. Today, Lipton, a former teacher, calls the EAA “education deform.”There have been revelations that at least one-quarter of the kids in EAA schools have left. There have been wildly conflicting reports as to the learning atmosphere in the 15 EAA schools, as well as whether kids in them are making better progress.State Superintendent of Schools Mike Flanagan gave the authority a stunning vote of no confidence in February, when he canceled an agreement stipulating that the EAA would be the only agency that could operate failing schools for the state.Yet Gov. Rick Snyder has continued to strongly believe in the program and push for it to expand statewide. Yesterday, by a two-vote margin, the Michigan House of Representatives voted to do just that, allowing it to expand to 27 schools within the next two years.The senate is expected to quickly concur. Eventually, the agency will be able to operate as many as fifty schools. The governor was ecstatic. Critics were livid.Though it was mainly a party-line vote, the one Democrat who supported the expansion, State Representative Harvey Santana, said the agency may not be perfect, but that it represented progress, and added that nobody can deny that “children in the lowest performing schools need a better approach.”Well, there’s no doubt that the EAA hasn’t been all that it was cracked up to be, and that administrators have tried to hide some of the problems. Even some who support the EAA think that current chancellor John Covington may not be the right person to head the authority. On the other hand, there’s also little doubt that our lowest-performing schools are failing their students.And there’s no sign that the public schools can fix this. We will now have a chance to see if the EAA can be made to work better, and if it will work differently outside the city of Detroit.Assuming the senate makes no more changes, there are some safeguards in this bill that didn’t exist before.For one thing, there is an out. Before a school can be put in the reform district, it would have to be in the bottom five percent statewide for at least two consecutive years.And, the EAA will not be able to take over any failing school if the local Intermediate School District agrees to run it instead.What our lawmakers and indeed all of us now need to do is to keep a vigilant and non-ideological eye on all this over the next few years. We should demand accountability. Critics need to develop a realistic alternate plan – and the status quo isn’t it. What matters is fixing the schools and giving our children and our state a real shot at a future. By any means necessary.

There’s an old joke that says Republicans are the party in favor of local control, except when they aren’t, which is to say when local governments do something Republicans in the Legislature don’t like - for example, providing what they see as excessive health benefits to their employees.Now it seems that the GOP is also the party which is aggressively in favor of the free market – except when it isn’t. And it is often convenient to be in favor of regulation in favor of the public interest in an election year.None of this is to say that the Democrats don’t have contradictions of their own. But these days, Republicans control pretty much everything in Michigan politics; the Legislature, all the major state offices, and the state Supreme Court.And I have to say I am a little amused by the transformation of Attorney General Bill Schuette into a dedicated supporter of regulation.[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "Earlier this month, he filed criminal charges against two out-of-state oil companies for allegedly collaborating to fix prices to avoid bidding wars for oil and natural gas leases.", "style": "inset"}]]Earlier this month, he filed criminal charges against two out-of-state oil companies for allegedly collaborating to fix prices to avoid bidding wars for oil and natural gas leases.As outlined in an excellent story yesterday by Michigan Radio’s Lindsey Smith, when the state held an auction for drilling rights on public land four years ago, there was a bidding frenzy.The average bid per acre was more than $1,500, which meant a lot of money for Michigan. However, when the state held another public auction for drilling rights later that year, something dramatic changed. The average bid was only $35 an acre.Well, the Reuters news agency got copies of emails between top executives at the two companies, Chesapeake Energy and Encana Oil and Gas.Collaboration to fix prices is illegal.The emails suggest, however, that this is exactly what went on, and now, the attorney general is charging both companies with conspiracy and anti-trust violations.Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and the companies both vigorously deny breaking the law. But ironically, even if they are convicted, the maximum penalty is a fine far smaller than the amount they may have saved if they did in fact fix prices.And Attorney General Schuette is also launching an investigation into what his office calls “suspect business practices related to this winter’s unprecedented price hikes for propane.”We’ve been hearing incredible stories all year about people, who heat their homes with propane, a fuel which is a by-product of oil and gas refining. There are close to a million people who use propane, many in the Upper Peninsula.Some have had to pay thousands just to stay alive and warm this winter. Some have had difficulty finding propane at any price. One woman in North Dakota froze to death when she ran out.Michigan’s Consumer Protection Act says retailers may not charge prices “grossly in excess” of the norm.Now, the attorney general plans to investigate if that’s what happened.Schuette’s decision to go after alleged wrongdoers in these two cases is likely to be popular – probably far more so than his attempt to regulate same-sex adoptions has been.I wouldn’t say his actions in the propane and price-fixing cases are politically motivated, but it is, after all, an election year.

Few remember this today, but 24 years ago, Bill Schuette, now Michigan’s Attorney General, gave up a safe seat in Congress in an attempt to defeat U.S. Senator Carl Levin.Mark Totten was a 16-year-old kid growing up in Kalamazoo back then. Had he been able to, he would have voted for Schuette. His family was solidly Republican.However, politics weren’t on Totten’s agenda then. As a teenager, his plan was to go to the seminary and become a Baptist minister. Totten went to a small Christian college in Ohio, but his views gradually started to change.Making the world a better place continued to be important to him, but he realized the Republican Party didn’t represent his values. Totten became a Democrat, and then did something astonishing.He was accepted simultaneously to one of the most exclusive law schools in the nation – Yale – and to Yale’s doctorate program in ethics. He then proceeded to get both degrees at the same time. Eight years ago he graduated, and worked as an assistant federal prosecutor in Washington, then clerked for a federal judge.But he realized he wanted to come home, and took a job as a professor at Michigan State University’s College of Law.[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "Mark Totten intends to score a historic upset and defeat Bill Schuette, who is running for his second term as attorney general.", "style": "inset"}]]This year, he turned 40. And this fall, Mark Totten intends to score a historic upset and defeat Bill Schuette, who is running for his second term as attorney general.And though the odds are against him, he thinks he has a better chance than the analysts think.“Being attorney general is my dream job,” Totten told me yesterday. “Not as a platform to run for governor, but to help keep the people of this state safe from both violent crime and economic crime.”Bill Schuette’s own attempt to unseat an incumbent long ago didn’t turn out so well.Levin beat him badly.Schuette then toiled in the Engler Administration, went to the State Senate and held a judgeship before finally becoming attorney general three years ago.There is a common belief in Lansing that Schuette is indeed positioning himself for higher office, probably governor in four years, and he is often accused of pandering to the far right.Totten, who is unopposed for the Democratic nomination, agrees with that, saying, “since day one, Schuette has used his office to serve his party, his patrons and his political career.”[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "Schuette will likely have a campaign fund in the millions. Totten, so far, has raised $175,000.", "style": "inset"}]]Yet to even many Democrats, his winning seems a near-impossible task. No incumbent Michigan attorney general has been defeated in more than 60 years.Schuette will likely have a campaign fund in the millions. Totten, so far, has raised $175,000. But the challenger counters by saying, “we’ve never had an attorney general like Bill Schuette.”Instead of spending vast resources trying to prevent same-sex adoptions, Totten said he would devote his energies to defending Michigan’s Consumer Protection Act – and lobbying for a stronger one.He wants to stop locking up minor drug offenders and repeal the law giving big drug firms immunity.What’s clear to me is that Michigan citizens ought to be aware of how important and powerful the attorney general’s office is, and I think Totten could make this an interesting and significant race. If he can somehow get the money and the media attention to do it.   

You may have wondered, especially if you didn’t grow up in this state, why some of us call ourselves Michiganians and some  Michiganders. Yesterday I heard from one gentleman who has strong feelings on the topic. He hates the term Michigander.He wrote to me, “Michigan Radio disserves the listeners every single time it utilizes the term Michigander. Regardless of the result of a recent popular opinion poll, the usage is just plain wrong.”He added that “Michigander is a derogatory term imposed on us,” by a freshman congressman from Illinois way-back-when.Well, it is always good to think about words and what they mean. But in this case, I have to profoundly disagree.I am a Michigander, I have always been a Michigander, and intend to always be one. And that’s because this is a word that is not only unique, but which has a rich history.Yes, it was indeed coined by a new congressman – but one named Abraham Lincoln. Nor was he disrespecting us as a state. He was poking gentle fun back in 1848 at a political opponent, Lewis Cass, who was pretty much the political godfather of Michigan.Cass was the Democratic nominee for President that year; Lincoln was a Whig. They disagreed on the Mexican War; Cass supported it, Lincoln did not. Though we today think of Lincoln as a marble statue, in his own time, he was famous for a sharp and sometimes biting sense of humor, and in a debate over the war, Lincoln said of Cass, “and there he sits, the great Michigander.”By the way, it wasn’t lost on anybody that Cass, who became quite corpulent in his later years, sort of looked and walked like a goose. But Lincoln, like most great humorists, could also be self-deprecating. In the same speech where he poked fun at Cass, the future president went on to make fun of his own military record. While Cass had served as a general in the War of 1812, all Lincoln could claim was a few months stomping about as a volunteer in a now mostly forgotten struggle known as the Black Hawk War. He told Congress: “If (Cass) ever saw any live fighting Indians, it was more than I did, but I had a good many bloody struggles with the mosquitos. It is certain I did not break my sword, for I had none to break, but I bent a musket pretty badly on one occasion.”Michigander, then, is a term coined by one of history’s greatest leaders about Michigan’s greatest early statesman. People in this state at the time don’t appear to have resented it.Michigan voted for Lincoln both times he ran for President. Cass lost his presidential election, but went on to distinction as senator and Secretary of State.Later, when the Civil War broke out the two men found themselves on the same side. Cass was a strong supporter of the union, and encouraged men to enlist in the Civil War.Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But Michigander has about as rich a history as any word. And I feel that if it’s good enough for Abraham Lincoln, it’s good enough for me.

During the long and agonizing Watergate scandal, the endless question was: What did he know, and when did he know it? That referred to President Richard Nixon, and the break-in and cover-up at the Democratic National Headquarters.In the end, it turned out Nixon had known a lot, right from the start, which is how he became our only President ever forced from office.Well, now people are beginning to ask: What did she know and when did she know it? Except the arena is not politics, but the auto industry, specifically, the reborn General Motors.This time, the chief executive is a woman, Mary Barra, the first woman ever to lead a major car company.Three months ago, many of us were stunned and delighted when she was appointed.General Motors had been the most insular, and male- dominated company in an industry famous for its narrow outlook.Barra seemed to have everything going for her.  She was an engineer who genuinely loved the cars themselves and understood how they were created. She had done everything from working on the factory floor to running a plant. She took over a company that had emerged from near-extinction, and which was again making billions.Yet, I had one nagging doubt.[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "In the past, other executives with that background have suffered from tunnel vision. Many thought that was a big part of what went wrong at what once was the world's biggest company.", "style": "inset"}]]Mary Barra has never worked anywhere else in her life. She worked for GM since she was a teenager. In the past, other executives with that background have suffered from tunnel vision. Many thought that was a big part of what went wrong at what once was the world’s biggest company.I thought it would be years before we really knew if she would be limited by her life of total immersion in GM. But now General Motors faces a crisis that threatens to overwhelm Barra’s career before it really gets started.Last month, GM announced it was recalling 1.6 million vehicles that may have faulty ignition switches that cause cars to stall and airbags not to deploy. The automaker admits they may have played a role in a dozen deaths. But an independent company that studies highway safety data, says the real figure is 303 deaths in faulty airbag crashes related to just two of the recalled models.And it is now clear that General Motors knew about this problem for more than 10 years. The company says there wasn’t enough evidence to order a recall until last month.Indications are that whatever reports were coming in to GM were bogged down in the automaker’s Byzantine committees.Barra has now hired a former federal prosecutor to conduct an internal review, but in Washington, which spent billions to save General Motors, there are indications of hearings by both houses of Congress and a potential criminal investigation.So far, Barra has been mostly silent. GM says she only learned of the problem a few weeks ago, which, if true, says something disturbing about the way that company still works.There’s something to be said for not speaking until you have the facts. But sooner rather than later, Barra is going to have to publicly address both the problem and the culture that kept it hidden.For her career may be at stake, and so could the future of an automaker which the public was finally beginning to trust again.

Recently I criticized the Legislature and State Senator Jack Brandenberg for wanting to roll back state income taxes. He has a bill to cut the rate from 4.25% to 3.9% over three years.For an average taxpayer, that would mean a tax cut of less than a hundred bucks a year. But it would leave the state with nearly a billion dollars a year less, when it already doesn’t have enough money to maintain the roads or provide other services.After this bill sailed through the Senate Finance Committee earlier this month, I said I thought it was irresponsible election year pandering.Later, Senator Brandenberg called me.He was warm, earnest, had a sense of humor, and said I had gotten it wrong. He wasn’t pandering in the least, he told me; this is what he genuinely believed. He said this stemmed from an agreement to roll back taxes going back to when Jennifer Granholm was governor.I thought his calling me took class, and it was clear he really does believe in this. Brandenberg has no need to pander; he is certain to be reelected this fall to a safe Republican seat.I told him I understood the appeal of a tax cut. But that I didn’t think we could afford it now, given the roads.To my surprise, he essentially agreed with me. He has heard from a lot of angry constituents, and said he could now live with putting pretty much all of the state’s current billion-dollar surplus into road repair.When I pointed out that even that wouldn’t do it, Brandenberg also agreed. He said we ought to fix the roads right, building them to last in the best way possible. He doesn’t dispute Rick Snyder’s contention that this would cost more than a billion dollars a year.But he doesn’t like the governor’s idea of paying for them mostly by raising gas taxes. He wants instead to get voters to raise the sales tax from six to seven percent, and use that money – he thinks it would be $1.2 billion – for the roads.But why the sales tax?I said I thought conservatives ought to like raising money from the gas tax, because it was, in a sense, a user fee; the more you drove, the more you pay.However, the senator told me candidly that this would hurt him badly. The main source of his income is an industrial supply delivery business he founded. The more gas prices rise, the more his costs rise. He thinks by raising sales taxes, we could at least capture some money from out of state visitors.Two guys named Jack, both exactly the same age, both neither starving nor rich, both knowing we need desperately to fix the roads. And yet seeing vastly different solutions.My guess is that they’d just buy fewer things in Michigan. But regardless, I found it fascinating that the two of us had so much and so little in common.Two guys named Jack, both exactly the same age, both neither starving nor rich, both knowing we need desperately to fix the roads. And yet seeing vastly different solutions.But we did agree that we’d all be better off if people spent more time talking to each other rather than at each other.The Legislature itself might be a good place to start.  

Well, yesterday the legislature approved a budget supplemental bill that includes more than two hundred million dollars in new money to fix the roads, and the politicians are congratulating themselves.Governor Snyder issued a press release praising this, and congratulating the legislature on “working together” and creating the “positive relationship” needed to pass this bill.Now if you think about it, what he said sounds pretty bizarre. Working together? Positive relationship? That’s the kind of language you use when two nations sign a trade agreement.These are the two houses in our state’s legislature. Their job is to work together for our good. And you’d think a “positive relationship” should be a piece of cake, since they are both controlled by Republicans. But in fact, there isn’t all that much positive in this bill. The road funding, while necessary, doesn’t address the major problem, and it isn’t clear whether this money will be allocated fairly.But the real scandal is this bill gravely endangers both infant health and our state’s future, and almost nobody is talking about it.Michigan is worse than most states in the nation in terms of infant mortality, which is a disgrace. We aren’t talking about a Detroit problem. Several small rural counties have some of the worst rates. Fortunately, we have a little-known jewel fighting this problem not only here, but nationwide: The National Institute of Health’s Perinatology Research Branch, at Detroit’s Hutzel Hospital.Most people have probably never heard of it, but it is a very big deal. It was brought to my attention by former congressman and State Senator Joe Schwarz, one of the few people who knows politics and who knows science. This is the NIH’s only center of its kind for endangered mothers and their babies.They’ve discovered a gel here that can dramatically reduce premature births. In one of our state’s genuinely shining triumphs, the government last year selected Hutzel and Wayne State University to receive a massive contract to continue this work. If there was ever a project of the sort our state desperately needs for the future, it is this.But last night Schwarz told me that the supplemental bill cut Hutzel’s funding, which had been less than seven million, in half. That throws away a lot more money, since Washington puts up two dollars for every one Michigan spends.What the lawmakers did clearly endangers prenatal health. But it also may endanger our state’s ability to keep this center in the future, and makes Michigan look even more like a rusting anachronism full of ignorant yahoos.Schwarz, himself a doctor, said “I fear that few members of the legislature know if, and almost none understand … what it does, what a jewel it is,” and how hard Wayne State works to keep it.But prestige aside, he wrote an op-ed piece in his hometown newspaper last week, in which he said, “the fact that more Michigan babies die before their first birthdays has deep implications.Surely there is no greater return on investment than saving the lives of Michigan women and their babies.” Tragically, the people we send to Lansing these days don’t seem to think so. Jack Lessenberry is Michigan Radio’s political analyst. Views expressed in the essays by Lessenberry are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.