Archive for the 'Proposal 06-5' Category
Who Paid for Proposal 5? You Did!
We did some reseach on who backed Proposal 5 and, to our complete and utter lack of surprise, the far majority of the money came from the National Education Association, aka, the teachers union. How much? $3.4 million. If you’re a teacher, I hope you rest well knowing that so much of your dues money was wasted.
The Michigan Education Association contributed $496,000. All told, the teachers union funded Proposal 5 to the tune of about $4 million. That’s out of about $4.1 million total that was raised. There is no question as to who wanted this proposal to pass and who it would benefit.
But another interesting side note is how two publically-funded organizations, the Michigan Association of School Boards and the Middle Cities Education Association also contributed money. Both these organizations charge dues to school boards across the state. In other words, the taxpayer dollars we contribute to pay for schools are then paid to these two organizations as “dues,” and then those dollars were spent to back a proposal to extract even more dollars from us. Our own tax money was used against us. This should be criminal.
Posted by: GRPundit on Friday, 10th Nov, 2006
GR Pundit Election Wrap-Up
GR Pundit would like to express contentment with the outcome of the elections in Michigan this year. We have been in favor in a split government, that’s why we weren’t very big fans of a DeVos election. The re-election of Jennifer Granholm will ensure that continued split, with the addition of a Democrat-controlled State House. We just hope that the legislature and governor can get together and see the light about really turning Michigan around. Pet economic development plans won’t work – and when government picks economic winners and losers, we all lose. It’s time to make Michigan friendly to all businesses, not just a few that the governor likes.
As for the proposals, we are very pleased about how they turned out.
Proposal 1 – Ensuring that state park funds are actually spent on state parks – Passed
Proposal 2 – Banning racist hiring, admissions, and contracting practices by any unit of government in Michigan – Passed
Proposal 3 – Allowing morning doves to be hunted – Failed
Proposal 4 – Banning eminiment domain for economic development purposes – Passed
Proposal 5 – Setting up mandatory funding levels for K-16 education – Failed
We were most worried about Proposal 5 passing because it would have caused the most economic damage and would have done nothing but protect the bloated public education bureacuracy and continue the lack of accountability of education in Michigan. Now it’s time to lift the cap on charter schools – which cost less than traditional public schools and do a better job. Parents desperately want and need the choice.
Proposal 2, which we were also hopeful would pass, did so handily. Michigan, and any unit of government in Michgian, will no longer be able to engage in racist hiring, admissions, and contracting practices. We now have true equality in Michigan. Of course, groups such as By Any Mean Necessay (BAMN) have filed lawsuits trying to overturn the passage of Proposal 2. This just shows their complete contempt for the will of the people. In addition, their lawsuit invokes the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment in trying to argue that creating a color-blind government somehow creates unequal treatment.
Let the gnashing of teeth begin.
Posted by: GRPundit on Thursday, 9th Nov, 2006
Don’t Bankrupt Michigan – Vote NO on Proposal 5
Proposal five, which will be on Michigan’s ballot on Tuesday, is a union-sponsored and funded campaign to dramatically boost funding for teacher pensions. The proposal basically creates a madatory annual increase for school funding, based on the rate of inflation. However, what the proposal’s backers don’t tell you is that the majority of this money ($700 million in the first year alone) will go to teacher pensions, not the classroom. That money will either have to come from cutting other government services or raising taxes, because there certainly isn’t that much extra money in the state’s general fund. Voting yes on five does nothing more than line the pockets of the teacher’s union – none of the money is mandated to go to the calssroom. That’s why at GR Pundit, we’re voting NO on Proposal 5.
Posted by: GRPundit on Sunday, 5th Nov, 2006
