"An iPod for every kid? Are they !#$!ing idiots?"

[Matt]

Friday, April 06, 2007

Editorial

An iPod for every kid? Are they !#$!ing idiots?

We have come to the conclusion that the crisis Michigan faces is not a shortage of revenue, but an excess of idiocy. Facing a budget deficit that has passed the $1 billion mark, House Democrats Thursday offered a spending plan that would buy a MP3 player or iPod for every school child in Michigan.

No cost estimate was attached to their hare-brained idea to "invest" in education. Details, we are promised, will follow.

The Democrats, led by their increasingly erratic speaker Andy Dillon of Redford Township, also pledge $100 million to make better downtowns.

Their plan goes beyond cluelessness. Democrats are either entirely indifferent to the idea that extreme hard times demand extreme belt tightening, or they are bone stupid. We lean toward the latter.

We say that because the House plan also keeps alive, again without specifics, the promise of tax hikes.

The range of options, according to Rep. Steve Tobocman, D-Detroit, includes raising the income tax, levying a 6 percent tax on some services, and taxing junk food and soda.

We wonder how financially strained Michigan residents will feel about paying higher taxes to buy someone else's kid an iPod.

That they would include such frivolity in a crisis budget plan indicates how tough it will be to bring real spending reform to Michigan.

Senate Republicans issued a plan a week ago that eliminates the deficit with hard spending cuts. Now their leader, Mike Bishop of Rochester Hills, is sounding wobbly, suggesting he might compromise on a tax hike.

We hope Bishop is reading the polls that say three-quarters of Michigan residents oppose higher taxes.

There are few things in the House budget outline from which to forge a compromise.

For example, Dillon says he would shift the burden of business taxes to companies that operate in Michigan, but don't have a facility here. The certain outcome of that plan is to drive even more businesses out of Michigan.

About all we see of merit is a call for government consolidation and a demand that state employees contribute more to their retirement benefits -- which is no more than House Democrats suggested for future state lawmakers a few weeks ago.

We find it ironic that the Democrats are proposing floating $5 billion in revenue bonds to pay for retiree health care, when Gov. Jennifer Granholm vetoed a nearly identical plan by Oakland County because it would cost the state money.

Instead of advocating cost-saving changes in public school teacher pension and health plans, Dillon suggests more study. There have been plenty of studies of the issue, with the conclusion being that hundreds of millions of dollars could be saved through reforms. Michigan needs action, not more study committees.

Dillon also proposes that the state cover 50 percent of the cost of catastrophic health insurance for everyone in the place, but once again doesn't specify a funding source.

Stop the stupidity. Michigan can't tax or spend its way out of this economic catastrophe.

The only responsible option is to bring spending in line with current revenues. The mission must be to expand the tax base, rather than to expand taxes, by crafting a budget that encourages growth.

We won't get there by wasting money on early Christmas presents for Michigan kids.

[Zip Goshboots]

"We hope Bishop is reading the polls that say three quarters of Michigan residents oppose higher taxes"
Republican "genius" at its best. I suppose that a tax cut for everyone making over 1 Mill per year would be just what the state needs?
I'm surprised that only 75% of Michigan residents oppose higher taxes. Wow, that is some kind of really enlightening poll. You mean people don't like paying higher taxes? WHO KNEW!!!
But of course, paying higher taxes sucks. Just close up all the schools, continue to let the roads and bridges decay, lay off about half the police and fire fighters, and oh, by the way, stop corporate welfare and farm subsidies.
That should fix your budget just fine.
"Buy an iPod for someone else's kid" well, dick brain, if YOUR little fuckheaded brat goes to school, someone else will buy him an iPod!
I mean, fuck the community, how the HELL does it affect ME ME ME?
Really, the iPod plan sucks, especially because most kids probably have them, and an X box, and their own TV, courtesy of maxed out credit cards and the parents of this age who buy their kids everything they see to shut them the hell up.

[Uncle Mxy]

I agree with the general sentiment. Our state legislature is filled with idiots, from both sides. Term limits insure that they won't accumulate institutional intelligence. Bishop and Dillon are part of the "Dumb and Dumberer" ticket.

The concept of provide ubiquitous access to 21st century technology for have-nots makes sense. Unfortunately, most every effort at a giveaway is fraught with technical and deployment challenges, never mind the politics.

FWIW, Granholm's vetoed tech toy giveaways proposed by Republicans state legislators in the recent past:

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=17031

[MikeMyers]

I have no idea what is going on. The governor is sleeping at the wheel and the legislature is filled with morons from both sides. Michigan needs new direction in a hurry or we will turn into Mississippi.

[Uncle Mxy]

Granholm's not asleep at the wheel, AFAICT. But, a big part of Granholm's problem is that fundamentally, she's not the leader of the Michigan Democrats in office the same way that Engler could led the Republicans. She'd only been big in state politics for 4 years prior to being elected Governor, where it was 20 years for Engler. You would think that a landslide victory for her would've fixed that, but no. The notion that House Democrats made up a distinctly separate budget propopsal from Granholm's is fucked up. Unfortunately, given term limits, I suspect that'll be true in perpetuity, no matter who the governor is next.

[Big Swami]

Ahh yes, another classy bit of rhetoric from the Detroit News Editorial Staff.

[Jethro34]

As an educator I can tell you that iPod's are contributing to delinguent behavior in schools, not helping kids be more technologically advanced.

I'm all for a tax hike, but use it to fund a better education in someway besides iPods.

Here's a novel idea, help make sure schools have things like, oh, chairs and desks before putting another distraction in a kids hands. How about keeping teachers around as well. Maybe classes with fewer than 40 students in them would help kids learn better.

If teachers could replace legislators for a few weeks our state would be much better off.

[Zip Goshboots]

Jethro:
My mid life crisis has been to quit a career (which was an accidental career, not a choice anyway), and go back to school to become a teacher.
I have been moved buy three books by Jonathan Kozol: Illiterate America, Savage Inequalities, and his latest: Shame of the Nation: The Return of Apartheid Schooling in America.
It isn't just politicians,but alot of parents need to see what their children are being thrown into.
Teachers have MY utmost respect, and that's why I want to become one when I grow up.
Anyway, you might check out those books if you haven't already.

[Fool]

Zip as a teacher would be strange, but almost definately fun.

[Zip Goshboots]

I had to wait until I was old enough to be able to resist, um, well, let me just say that now that I have two daughters who are 18 or so, I'm OK to just be happy to teach them about nouns and verbs.