As any one who has drank from the fountain of knowledge that is the column called Don’t Rush Me can attest, I ain’t the brightest firefly in the night sky. Those who thirst for wisdom and higher insight rarely have their need sated from reading what I lay down with my trusty keyboard.
So, what you’re about to read is not to inform you about the ins and outs of the lamest (ever) proposal to come out of Lansing. Nope. I’m just gonna? come out and say Proposal 1, to be voted on by Michiganians of every stripe and color May 5 . . . in a word, sucks.
In two words, it sucks a lot (okay, so I lied, that was more than two words, sue me). And, the marketing campaign to scare folks to vote ‘Yes? is almost as bad as the actual proposal. In every ad I have heard or seen, the message is: This proposal sucks, but if you don’t vote for it, you will let those jive turkeys in Lansing continue to do nothing about our deteriorating roads.
How’s that for a good reason to amend the Michigan Constitution with a ‘Yes? vote for spending an extra billion or so dollars, every year forever?
Oh, and by the way . . . as the cost of food, gas or anything we buy goes, up the amount of our taxes increases, too.
Hot damn!
One thing to really turn me off on this proposal was when I heard this Prop 1 will make sure those companies who do road work, stand behind their work with warranties. On the surface this all sounds peachy-keen and wonderful. But, then I thought, ‘Hey, that means this is not the case now!?
The state has let contractors do their work without sufficiently making sure the work quality is up to snuff — and because of that we have schmacking fracking crap for roads.
What the heck?!
Just like our smart phones and computers are planned to be obsolete within months of being new, it’s almost as if our roads are designed and maintained to fail, too. Instead of getting the most bang for our buck, we get banged as much and as often as we can for our bucks.
Thank you, Lansing! May I have another?
Think about this. Our state, Michigan, is the state that put the country on wheels and we have the worst roads in the nation! Who is minding our interests? Obviously, not those who should be — our elected officials. Instead of working hard and making tough decisions, the lily-livered Lansing types do not want to stand up for anything.
Most likely, you have already read more thoughtful, insightful analyses of Proposal One (It would increase sales tax from 6 to 7 percent, raise the fuel tax and increase vehicle registration taxes and also hike the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit.). Therefore, you know the big money raised up front does not automatically and quickly go to improving our roads.
So why vote for a proposal to fix roads that doesn’t automatically and quickly fix the roads?
Me no comprende? (No hablo espa’ol, either).
This proposal and the sad state of our roads is the result of a legislative body that is broken. It is full of legislators who are not leaders; who bow to their party lines and who dare not be bold. I say, once we Michiganians vote down this sorry excuse for legislative action, we think about opening up the state constitution to make some changes. It is time to get rid of term limits and it is time to make our already part-time legislature, really part time.
Let’s think about this, as the eighth most populous state in the union (9.91 million) Michigan has the fourth highest paid legislature — $71,685 a year with a $10,800 a year expense account. The highest paid legislators are from California ($90,526); Pennsylvania ($84,012); and New York ($79,500). Those state’s population are: California (38.8 million); New York (19.378 million); Pennsylvania (12.79 million). I hoped on-line and found that info at National Conference of State Legislatures website, (www.ncsl.org).
What do we get for our money? I’ll tell you: ‘leadership? that brought you Prop 1 and the worst roads in the country.
Term limits seemed like a good idea at the time, but now we have no statesmen and women. As soon as a legislator gets trained, they are term-limited out. The only folks with any experience who stay in Lansing are staffers and lobbyist. So, who do you think runs the state?
I do not like the idea of opening the state constitution, but, I believe needs to be done. And, while I could vote for Prop 1, I will not.