Prosecutors propose prolonged punishment

According to this story in the Muskegon Chronicle, West Michigan prosecutors are coming out of the woodwork to loudly oppose Governor Granholm's proposal to release thousands of non-violent offenders from state prisons, saving the state $262 million dollars in 6 years:

Gov. Jennifer Granholm and legislative leaders asked the Council of State Governments to review Michigan's criminal justice system and recommend cost savings. Those savings could be realized by reducing Michigan's prison population from nearly 48,500 inmates down to around 43,500, the report said.

Suggested legislation endorsed by key Republican and Democratic lawmakers would require the release of inmates who have served 120 percent of their minimum sentence, unless the parole board determines they pose a "very high risk" of committing new crimes.

The new law would not apply to current inmates nor to felons serving a maximum term of life for offenses including murder, rape, kidnapping, armed robbery or carjacking.

In other words, the worst offenders would stay behind bars where they should be and only a small amount (5,000 out of 48,500) would be eligible for early release. Mostly, the prosecutors just want to sound tough so they win their next election and don't really seem to mind that Michigan is once again facing a budget shortfall that could wipe out the types of programs that are built to actually prevent crime. In fact, the plan actually beefs up those programs. According to the Freep article on the study:

Also included in the group’s potential remedies are beefed-up law enforcement and crime lab capabilities, and increased training and job placement for offenders and disconnected young people.

So, now we get the hysterical prison industrial complex saying that the "early" release (even though they will have served 120% of the minimum sentence) of these prisoners will jeopardize public safety and those same people will offer no remedies in fixing the state budget or the economy other than casting blame at the people who have in fact been making the tough decisions. The answer to public safety isn't to lock everyone up. The answer to patching yet another budget hole isn't passing tax cuts and building more prisons. The answer isn't to listen to a bunch of politicians who can make a name for themselves by sounding tough and taking the easy path to popularity. We need adults who can quit grandstanding and picking on society's bogeyman to pad their resumés and win reelection.

This all reminds me of a quote from the quotable H.L. Mencken:

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

All-inclusive invocation

I just talked to someone tonight who still had their Christmas tree up and since this is my first post of the new year I guess I can't make fun of the Hastings Banner for still having it's Seasons Greetings header up on their web site. I didn't even realize their web site was up and running! So, here all of this time I could have been link blogging to the paper of record for Barry County and I didn't realize it. According to the Banner, it's seems the first order of business of the new Barry County Board wasn't to deal with public health and safety, it was to tend to their spiritual needs.

Having an invocation at future meetings was part of the discussion during the reorganizational session. Newly elected County Commissioner Mike Bremer brought up the subject, asking board members whether they wanted to have an invocation at future meetings. Bremer read a sample invocation to the board. Callton said to include an invocation during a meeting does not require a vote by the commissioners. Callton said he will include an invocation, after the pledge of allegiance, on the next meeting agenda and will give Bremer the opportunity to give the invocation.

Perhaps, Mr. Bremer's request to say grace before meetings was sincere but I seem to remember the last time that sticky wicket reared it's ugly head, a former commissioner threw it out at a meeting in the midst of a political campaign to try to separate himself from an opponent he was trying to paint as too liberal. When this stuff comes up, even if it's brought up in a sincere, humble and tolerant way, it almost always gets used eventually by those who simply need a cheap and easy way to gain re-election. Let's hope this isn't the case no matter what the intent.

This year is full of challenges in West Michigan and across the country. Let's not get distracted by fights over who's invisible friend is stronger than who's when there is more serious work to attend to.

2008- Leftovers (part 1)

I think going forward it would do us well to take a look back at things left unsaid, and those little items that made mention but were lost in posts that may have been on a different subject at the time.
A perfect example of loosing the forest through the trees is the sudden loss of interest in what plagued our state at the beginning of the primary season. Disenfranchisement of voters through a system that allows that a few select states will always be allowed to kill candidacies before other states may have a say. I think this antiquated system must go, and I have to chuckle at those Republicans that mocked the Democrats during this years primary for what can only be described as inter party turmoil. The GOP base must realize that McCain held advantages through this system that led to his nomination. Only now after the General Election are conservatives beginning to say that they were forced to back a candidate they would not allow to speak for them previously, and since.

Primary post-mortem

"While the country and the Republican candidates talked about the state's issues (which was the intent of those in the state who forced the change), the Democratic candidates were nowhere to be found. What followed was an absurd one-sided discussion which mostly focused on the same George Bush voodoo economics that hasn't worked and never will- and certainly not the cure for what ails us."

As for the Democrats, I fear that Pol's comment may very well explain how the recent conversation dealing with bridge loans to automakers was easily hijacked by GOP talking points meant to blame the workers in the UAW for the folly of executives in the auto industry. Without the firm footing of knowledge brought on by a vigorous primary campaign in Michigan, the Democrats gave conservatives the upper hand when trying to explain the difficulties we are having here, and what caused them.


The subject comes up again, while discussing the popularity numbers for our Governor.

Not as unpopular as they would have you believe

"I'd say that all in all this isn't bad news for Granholm who has taken the brunt of round after round of budget battles with belligerent opponents who can't accept defeat at the ballot box as a sign that the public is not with them in their quest to restrict investments in state infrastructure and education, as well as getting the blame for the economic downturn which was caused by the failure of the Big 3 to nurse itself away from production lines raking in vast profits making gas-guzzling SUVs before the price of oil rose and dried up their profits, leading to massive job layoffs in a state already hit with the effects of trade deals without sufficient worker and environmental protections to level the playing field."

A prediction could have been made at this moment that Republicans were not going to fare well in the coming general. Consistently being shown as the party of obstruction will have an effect on it's popularity.

Lights Out

A chance to discuss the Obama plan to rebuild infrastructure. Something the Granholm administration has pushed for the state for some time. It is clear to me that this will be something that will not be on the back burner in months to come. It is a great chance to help ourselves build our way to a better tomorrow. I am hoping that while much of this infrastructure re-building is done through works projects, that there will also be something in it for the companies that they may help grow and adapt to what will likely be one based on green technology. Let's face it, if I am to ever get my electric car I hope to be able to utilize the power grid in such a way as not to overtax it, and wouldn't want Pol to have to endure another three day weekend without power:

"I'm taking my chances with this post since many of you regular readers might be among those without power, but for those with some juice feel free to share your story about how you made it through the weekend. Enjoy your weather-related 3 day weekend... and give some sort of thanks to the crews working 'round the clock to get everything back up and running even as you wish they could do it even faster."

Another on the list of things to do is a suggestion by Pol that I hardly believe would bother either party, or the electorate as a whole in Barry County:

That's Debatable- Sheriff's edition

"While it makes sense for the Republican Party to host their own primary debates, I still would prefer to see the debates sponsored by the local media and/or a consortium of local civic organizations especially when it comes to the general election- at least when we manage to get a slate on candidates running on both sides of the political fence. "

Such a move would likely save some party money needed in the battle for election, but also free up the possibility of third parties to be more of a factor in coming local elections. Cries of bias will always be around, but they will not have as much weight if outside forces were to gain control of the agenda during debates.

This brings to close the first part of our feast, but stay tuned as the meat, and potatoes are yet to come.

Union Busting!

Thom Hartman is one of those people that can cut through the bull like a laser through butter. He was on Countdown recently to discuss the GOP's opposition to helping the Big3 automakers. As has been proven this has nothing to do with the amount of money asked for, or the viability of these corporations. It is purely revenge for the unions backing the Democrats in past elections, coupled with their vile hatred for organized labor.

Via Crooks and Liars (video cafe):

We have gone, when Reagan came into office we were the largest exporter of manufactured goods and the largest importer of raw materials on the planet. And the largest creditor. More people owed us money than anybody else in the world. Now just twenty eight years later we're the largest importer of finished goods, manufactured goods, exporter of raw materials which is kind of the definition of a third world nation and we're the most in debt of any country in the world. This is the absolute consequence of Reaganomics.

Making bail

The news since Election Day has been mostly filled with talk of the next administration which is akin to following the pre-season in sports. Well, as many Michigan residents may know the Lions went an undefeated 4-0 in pre-season and have yet to win any games in the regular season (0-12 as of now). For that reason, I've pretty much been ignoring most news lately.

The other big story has been the proposed "bailout" of the "Big 3" sort of-U.S. based automakers. Sadly, the manner in which the issue is discussed is the same old sensationalism and sponsor-based propaganda. I'm pretty sick of politics because I'm tired of the same arguments from the same people. And here we go again, more Monday morning businessmen telling the Big 3 how they should be run which becomes a sort of sick comedy when it's a Senator who has helped run up the debt and the deficit. It's even funnier when it's a newspaper editor or publisher in a dying industry that is losing jobs faster than Detroit telling us how to run the national economy. Except it's not funny when people are losing jobs and homes and health care.

Now, Congress acts as if it's not responsible for the dire straights of the automakers when they approved tax breaks for people to buy large SUVs for their small businesses when a smaller vehicle would have done the job, failed to pass stringent fuel-economy standards or instituted some sort of price controls to keep gasoline prices at a rate which would allow alternative energy to compete or done away with the tax breaks for "Big Oil" which allowed them a competitive advantage. It's also obvious how much our reckless trade deals have other countries sell their products on our shores while sending the profits to their overseas headquarters.

While it's true the automakers contributed to the mess, it seems odd to hear them get blamed for what is American business 101: maximize short-term profit and to hell with everything else. We now live in a country where many seem to equate regulated capitalism with socialism so it seems funny to hear those same advocates of unregulated markets turn around and blame the Big 3 for doing what was in their shareholders best and most immediate interest- a central tenet of capitalism! I find it odd that a culture that celebrates money above all else suddenly wants to wag it's finger at an industry that pretty much followed those rules.

Of course, to hear some people tell it, the real villains are the money-grubbing workers who wanted to be paid well for back-breaking labor which most people won't subject themselves to.
In their warped world-view the UAW is to blame for all of this. Let me say this clearly: the job of the union is to advocate for the employees. When they negotiate wages and benefits they are out to maximize what their members receive. It is the job of the corporate representative to negotiate with the best interest of the company in mind. The CEOs signed off on every single deal. If they thought wages or benefits were too generous it is up to the CEOs to not sign the deals, period. In fact, since Reagan's election in 1980 unions have been under seige and on the decline, yet almost 30 years later they are still a convenient whipping-boy of the corporations and the media who would like to ignore all the free trade agreements and other deals which created the mess we're in.

But let's get to one of the biggest unspoken and underlying reasons for the mess we're in: other countries can make products cheaper because health care costs are killing American companies and crippling their ability to hire new workers even in good times. The idiot's answer is to gut the benefits. Everyone else can clearly understand that if we took away the need for companies to supply health benefits then they'd be free of that burden and workers would no longer fear leaving their jobs because of the fear of losing health care benefits.

In fact, I maintain one of the biggest strangleholds currently on the entrepreneurial spirit in this country is people scared to start their own business because they risk having to go without health care. Imagine if health care was guaranteed how many new businesses could be developed? Some workers aren't even allowed to work over 35 hours because the company would then be forced to label them as full time and pay benefits which means lots of people might have jobs but nobody can pay their bills and they don't have health care when they get sick (they go to the emergency room which costs more which we still end up paying for which forces health care costs up even higher).

The good news is that this is being discussed. The bad news is that the discussion is still controlled by the same people who's economic solutions are akin to a medieval doctor who's cure just might kill the patient sooner than the disease. It just reminds me: what's the opposite of a bailout? Drowning...

Governor to Obama Cabinet?

MLive carries an AP story speculating on Governor Granholm's future:

Granholm has made attracting wind turbine manufacturers and alternative energy suppliers a key part of her administration's economic development strategy. Now, some are speculating that could mean Obama might be interested in asking ask her to lead the federal Department of Energy.

The Canadian-born governor says she's ready to work with Obama as governor until her term expires in 2010, but hasn't ruled out leaving for Washington. She's also been mentioned as a possible U.S. Supreme Court justice if an opening arose.

Granholm is term-limited and this would be a perfect opportunity to find her next job and set up a successor. I've been saying for a while to anyone who would listen that Granholm would make a great Secretary of Energy given her focus on and knowledge of energy issues and how those issues affect the domestic auto industry. This would also give a successor a head start on a win in 2010 and help Democrats retain the governor's mansion (although a repeat run from DeVos would practically ensure that anyway).

EARTHQUAKE

This is what a landslide looks like....

Michigan 2004:



















Michigan 2008:



















Hat tip to Eclectablog