MI Legislators Go To Budget Boot Camp

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Michigan is experiencing a budget crisis. We are in a single state recession and officials are projecting an $800 million budget deficit. In an effort to save face, lawmakers got together for a “budget boot camp.” They went over a 160 page report detailing what the state spends money on and how much is being spent.

After going over the details of the report, they got together in small groups to discuss possible resolutions. What did they come up with? Something profound, of course. They concluded that we have a budget crisis and that we must either:

A. Raise taxes
B. Cut spending
C. Do a little bit of both

Nothing like stating the obvious!

Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, Republican, says that officials have to “reinvent state government, find ways to become more efficient, more streamlined.” Representative Tom Pearce, R-Rockford, says that it is his hope that the congress will review what services the state provides, consider their results, and make cuts wherever needed.

Sure, the state could do a pro/con analysis of their current programs where they would decide to trim the services that are performing “above the bar” while cutting (or throwing more money at) those programs that are “failing.” Problem lies with the fact that cutting programs, even those that perform as well as a quadriplegic valet driver, is about as easy as finding a three-legged ballerina.

Another problem lies with the fact that this approach is purely utilitarian. It doesn’t deal with the most fundamental question of whether or not it is the state’s responsibility to provide any given service. Then again, questioning the legitimacy of the state’s right to get involved in virtually anything it desires is tantamount to political suicide.

In the end, what we have are a bunch of people stating the obvious, ignoring the fundamentals and putting forward patchwork proposals that are the economic equivalent of someone expecting a band-aid to stop the bleeding of an amputated leg.

Welcome to the Real World

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Senate Republicans want to cut business taxes in Michigan by $290 million. Predictably, the left opposes the notion while the right insists that it will fuel our decaying economy.

Summer Minnick, the vice president of the Michigan Municipal League, thinks this is a really bad idea. "It is like telling a family that they cannot buy groceries because they have food in their kitchen," she said. She went further by comparing the loss of this revenue to a slow starvation.

Well, Summer, this is how it works in the real world. Maybe you have never experienced serious debt. I have. My wife and I have endured seasons where we were forced to embrace the luxury of Ramen and hotdogs. If we already had food in the fridge then there was no reason for us to spend a single penny on more. Contentment, Summer, was not an option. It was a harsh reality.

This was a life for a family a couple thousand dollars in the hole. Michigan is looking at a $800 million budget deficit! If families like mine have to suck it up and brace ourselves for difficult times while bearing the burden of a couple thousand in the red, why would the state not do the same when looking down the barrel of $800 million?

Welcome to the real world, Summer.