ACHTUNG: The following is not a “fair and balanced” story. It is an editorial by the editor.
“Don’t pee on my shoes and then tell me it’s raining.” — Me
There were good and bad things I saw and heard at Wednesday evening’s special meeting at City Hall on Michigan’s roads.
First the good
I want to express my appreciation to Republican 101st District State Rep. Jack O’Malley for taking the time to put together a meaningful program. It’s too often that politicians show up for photo ops in which they had nothing to do with what is being celebrated, they just showed up to have their picture taken. (Consult State Rep. Mary Whiteford and Senate Sen. Aric Nesbitt beaming for the cameras while Hopkins Marine Laura Velderman was honored for graduating.)
O’Malley and his late arrived sponsor, State Rep. Steve Johnson, were responsible for a thoughtful, if flawed discussion about an issue the governor hammered to get elected.
O’Malley spoke to only a few dozen citizens, virtually all of them over 50, so it didn’t seem like common shameless publicity seeking.
Furthermore, O’Malley was candid and correct in his assessment against term limits, rightly pointing out that it has created an awful system in Lansing where lobbyists and bureaucrats outlast lawmakers.
Now for the bad
I personally objected to O’Malley’s “feel-good suggestion,” prompted by a comment from now former Gov. Rick Snyder, that 87% of legislation has been done through bipartisanship. Horse hockey.
Not only do we live in a horribly divided nation, Michigan has been run almost exclusively by the Republican Party in the last 23 years, excepting when Jennifer Granholm was an eight-year lame duck governor from 2002 to 2010. Even more partisan is that since the Tea Party takeover in 2010 until last January, the GOP had owned the House, the Senate, the Governor’s chair, arguable the Supreme Court and the Secretary of State and Attorney general positions.
This data prompted Leighton Township resident Steve Shoemaker to ask then State-Rep. Kenneth Yonker why Lansing hadn’t fixed the roads when the significant majority seemed to be on the same side.
Yonker, after hemming and hawing, declared that such legislation takes time.
To which Shoemaker replied, “It didn’t take you as much as 24 hours to pass the Right to Work law.”
Fast forward to the program Wednesday evening when local activist Mary Ortiz asked O’Malley why all departments endured 3 percent budget cuts while Secretary of State was saddled with 15%. He admitted it was because the State Legislature doesn’t like Jocelyn Benson.
What a demonstration of bipartisanship!
I personally took umbrage with the perky, positive comment about bipartisanship, noting that for at least the most recent four years, the Michigan Senate had 26 Republicans and 12 Democrats. Rep. Johnson claimed the 87% included votes in which a majority of Dems agreed. A majority among 12?
So O’Malley spent most of the evening outlining his plan to “fix the damn roads.” I agree that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 45-cent gas tax increase won’t get any traction, so we must explore alternative ideas. His essentially takes the sales tax on gasoline (paying at the pump) and earmarks it for roads only.
Some critics maintain he’s robbing Peter to pay Paul because that sales tax revenue goes to schools and local governments. O’Malley insists the schools be made whole with a guaranteed state aid payment increase, but he didn’t say much about local governments, which depend heaviest on state aid for revenue.
Furthermore, when Proposal A was passed with such a huge majority in 1994, the plan was to increase the state sales tax from four to six cents on the dollar while reducing local property taxes. Well, it lasted for 25 years, yet too many schools are still pleading poverty.
Fixing the damn roads is a tall order for Whitmer and the State Legislature. Too many politicians do not do the bidding of their constituents by honoring voters’ wishes, but instead do as they are told by their rich donors and corporate interests. Therefore, it’s difficult for us to trust them.
Our political system is badly broken and it will remain so until somebody has the guts and the peoples’ will to eliminate or reduce money’s influence.
“The love of money is at the root of all evil.” — The Apostle Paul