Some see the likely passage of healthcare reform as a victory for everyone except the people. Why? There are two big issues from my perspective. First, the orignal bill is about 2,000 pages long and there have been 478 Senate ammendments offered against this bill. Who has a clue what it actually says now? And have our Senators actually read the damn thing, cover to cover? I think not; certainly, neither of my Senators have confirmed to me they have. Second, what Article of the US Constitution grants the Congress authority to mandate citizens buy private health insurance? I don’t think any of them do.

On several occassions, I’ve asked my Senators, Carl Levin (D) and Debbie Stabenow (D) these same questions. So far all I’ve received is boilerplate responses about why they support healthcare reform in general. Neither has responded about the Constitutionality of the bill nor whether they’ve read the entire bill—in its current incarnation, mind you—not to mention if it will actually cut costs and save money.

The Senate voted for cloture on the healthcare reform bill strictly along party lines: 58 Democrats and 2 Independents for, 40 Republicans opposed. In his remarks on the early Monday vote, Pres. Obama said:

Frankly, I’m confused. It seems to me Congressmen being in bed with the American Medical Association and other bribes, such as Sen. Levin’s donations from non-profit insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield, played a large role. In fact, those 478 Senate ammendments are nothing more than maneuverings to buy votes, just like when Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) bought out Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) for that 60th vote. The American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association both support the bill, even if they have issues with parts of it. Interestingly, both point to insuring an additional 30 million citizens as their reason for supporting the bill. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t these two of the largest special interest groups regarding healthcare?

So, it seems, it’s just business as usual and the taxpayer be damned. Michigan’s two Democrat Senators voted in favor of cloture. See how your Senator voted on Roll Call 385. But, the, you already know: Democrats, for; Republicans, opposed. So much for a bipartisan healthcare bill.

Here’s what I told my Senators yesterday:

A Quinnipiac University poll found most voters oppose the healthcare reform bill, according to results released today. The poll found 53% “mostly disapprove” of the plan and 56% disapprove of Obama’s handling of the matter. Overwhelmingly—72-23 percent—they disapproved of using public money to pay for abortions.

Today, the Senate held its 60-39 majority to shut off debate on Majority Leader Harry Reid’s version of healthcare reform. The next hurdle is tomorrow’s vote to limit debate on the bill to no more than 30 hours. This would put the final vote on the bill at around 7 PM Christmas Eve.

While using maximum times to delay votes on the bill, Senate Republicans caved in to a final vote 11 hours earlier, assuming the Democratic caucus maintains it’s 60-40 lead for Wednesday’s vote. With this expected result, the Senate will pass its ammended HR 3780 on healthcare reform before most of us are done with coffee on Thursday.

Even if it might not matter, have you told your Senators how you feel on this issue? You better, right now; we’re just two votes away.

Much manuevering, slight of hand, shifting loyalties, and backroom deals have gone into the current state of the Senate’s healthcare reform bill. With the on again, off again mystical 60-vote majority Democrats have been seeking, all the changes make the current Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections, which both sides cite to support their cause, irrelevant. A series of concessions—bribes, really—secured Sen. Ben Nelson’s (D-NE) commitment as the 60th vote for the bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) called Pres. Obama with the news as he winged his way back from Copenhagen on Carbon Footprint One. As his pound of flesh, Nelson extorted additional abortion restrictions and another $10 million for Nebraska Medicaid expansion.

Nelson’s not the only ransom demander, however. Some more prominent hostage-takers include Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Michigan’s senior Democratic Senator, Carl Levin who worked to exempt non-profit insurers from an excise tax. This move cuts the bill’s projected revenue by about $3.3 billion, just one example of why the CBO needs to reassess the bill’s financial impact. Levin’s graft includes $48,000 in donations from Blue Cross Blue Shield, one of the country’s largest non-profit insurers. My response to my two Senators’ “we have to pass this” boilerplate emails:

Everyone should have the chance to read the bill, like Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) wants to read it before a projected Christmas Eve vote. But Majority Leader Reid and his Democrat cronies don’t want the bill read. Never mind the shape-shifting hodge-podge was crafted out of the public view in closed door session.

We need to hold our elected representatives accountable to us, not special interests or the biggest contributors. Tell them how you want them to vote.

At least 60 Senators don’t plan to vote consistent with the public’s wishes. According to two recent polls, most think healthcare reform will cost them. An ABC News/Washington Post poll says 53% expect higher costs while only 37% expect improved healthcare. Another survey found 75% didn’t expect the bill to help them, 85% say they’ll have higher taxes, and 80% think the bill will increase the deficit, according to the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll. In fact, most Americans oppose Obamacare.

Feed Your ADHD has a great open letter to Senators. It’s a long read, but it captures most of the key issues and links them with the Senate’s representational failures. It ends with this:

HT: motorcitytimes.

Once again, everyone in Lansing said Michigan’s legislature would reach agreement on education reform by the end of the day yesterday. The chicken-little media claimed if they didn’t Michigan would lose out on a chance at about $400 million in Federal money from the Race to the Top education stimulus program. State Rep. Doug Geiss (D-Taylor) had this to say:

Apparently Geiss hasn’t been paying attention to what’s been happening this week. In fact, legislators went home last night without voting. Seems they spent most of the day waiting for the bills to show up. It’s been a week of high drama and fingerpointing.

After a week of rosy predictions and failure to deliver, what’s next? Why more adversarial politics, of course. The State Senate decided midnight tonight is the deadline. If the bills don’t pass both houses today, Senators won’t come back until Dec. 31st. Conversely, House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford) is willing to say in session until then to pass the legislation.

No matter what happens with school reform legislation, this year’s state budget is still not resolved. And the politicos say they want to have next fiscal year’s budget settled before campaign season sets in. I think I have a better chance of winning the lottery. And the same old jokes out of Lansing aren’t funny anymore.

Yesterday, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) lamented the legislature wouldn’t restore funding for K-12 education and Promise scholarship grants before the end of the week. That’s when the second-highest paid state legislature in the country begins its Christmas break, which lasts until mid-January. Never mind the State House, under Speaker Andy Dillon’s (D-Redford) supervision—leadership doesn’t really seem to apply—took most of the summer off when they should have been working on the budget. Which brings me to one of the more bizarre things Granholm has said. In case you’re not aware, Michigan’s budget battle for FY-2010 still isn’t done. Granholm hopes it can all be settled before election season. She said:

Is Granholm even on the same planet as the rest of us? “Look how quickly they have responded to the Race to the Top opportunity.” I hate to point out the Race to the Top concept came out in February and the program was formally launched in July. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think starting to work on the required legislation in December (4+ months later) really fits my idea of quickly.

The Race to the Top Phase I application is due Jan. 19th. For those not selected, Phase 2 applications are due June 1st. But, before that, there’s a Jan. 11th State Fiscal Stablization Fund deadline. We’ve not heard anything about that in the media. I don’t know if Michigan will meet the Jan. 11th deadline, but politicians are only talking about the Jan. 19th deadline. State Education Superintendent Mike Flanagan said he’d stop the application process if lawmakers didn’t pass the necessary bills. In his early December testimony, Flanagan said:

As holiday break looms for Michigan’s legislature, how are we doing? Surprise! He said, she said. Deadlocked over charter schools and blaming the other party. Michigan’s legislature is the most pathetic, blamethrowing bunch of nincompoops ever in recorded history! They all need to be shit-canned next election, no matter what they’re running for.

No budget, no education, no excuse. No re-election to anything

President Obama met with Democratic Senators today to wag his finger at them and tell them to pass the Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-NV) healthcare reform bill, which has been gerrymandered by a few weeks’ back room deals. I still don’t get the sense of urgency politicians have put behind this at this time. Healthcare delivery and costs has been an issue as long as I’ve been politically aware, but now it has to be fixed before the end of the year? Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sees it this way: “We won’t get another chance for a long time to do something this significant.” What makes December 2009 the critical point in the future of healthcare?

It seems the bill’s fate is up to the whims and fancies of Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CN). You know, the guy who ran for Vice President as a Democrat, but is now an Independent, but went to the White House with the Democratic Senators this morning. Did I mention, while running for Vice President, he kept his Senate seat, just in case? Believe it or not, he did the same in 2004 in an unsuccessful bid for a Presidential nomination. Besides his annoying, whining talking style, why would anyone want to puff up this guy’s head?

After meeting with the Senators, Pres. Obama said he was “cautiously optimistic” the bill would pass. Besides Lieberman and independent Bernie Sanders (VT), Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) is a potential holdout. That means Michigan’s Senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, both Democrats, are expected to vote for the bill, no matter it’s final wording or costs.

Here’s the rub. I emailed both Levin and stabinow, asking if they had personally read the bill. I said if they had not, they must vote no. Levin hasn’t yet responded. His functionaries usually send out their form emails after the vote is done. Stabinow’s office sent me a form email that did not answer my key question: has she personally read the bill? The email went on to acknowledge my opposition, which was only ancillary to whether or not she read the bill, and spouted her rhetoric of healthcare is a right. I might also point out that neither has addressed my question of constitutionality. While I don’t necessarily disagree with Debbie, healthcare is not included in the Bill of Rights. And I don’t think there’s anything in the US Constitution permitting the Feds to require me to buy health insurance.

So, I think it’s time to email, phone, and/or fax your Senators and let them know how you feel on this issue. It’s obvious to me that Michigan’s Senators can’t even be bothered to answer my questions. That tells me they’ve not read the bill. And, as I told them before and will tell them again, if you’ve not personally read it, you have to vote no.

Just in time for Christmas, two Hazel Park firefighters deliver a used ambulance and donated protective gear to Villa Elysia, a poor town outside of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. The US military transported the ambulance under the Denton Program which allows private donations to be moved when space is available. Mast Ambulance, of Kansas City, donated the ambulance and Novi donated the protective gear.

Fire Chief Ray DeWalt and Firefighter Kyle Rowinski use their vacation time and pay their own expenses to travel to Villa Elysia, the hometown of former Tigers pitcher Roman Colon. Now playing for Kansas City, Colon is a friend of DeWalt’s and went with the firefighters when delivered a retired fire truck in April. Rowinski said:

Hazel Park became Villa Elysia’s benefactor when the best offer the city could get for its 20-year old pumper was for scrap. While looking for someone to donate the fire engine to, DeWalt’s friend Colon said his town had never seen a fire truck.

The firefighters found their way through the bureaucracy to get the engine delivered to Santo Domingo. They met it, drove it to Villa Elysia, and taught the locals how to use it. From that experience, Rowinski said he would always remember the townspeople’s gratitude.

Now Rowinski is seeing his next phase come true. And more.

I’ve long felt the solution to Detroit’s problems—and any urban core, for that matter—is to ensure quality education. That’s the foundation for a quality workforce and productive members of society. Thus, money spent on education is money invested in the future of society. This point came to a head Tuesday with the announcement Detroit Public Schools test scores were the lowest ever recorded on the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests, a prestigious nationwide program.

In fairness, this is the first year Detroit Public Schools participated in the NAEP tests. But that doesn’t meant they’ve done well with Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) tests, either.

There’s no doubt Detroit Public Schools need immediate help. Detroit’s NAEP scores “are only slightly better than what one would expect by chance as if the kids had never gone to school and simply guessed at the answers,” said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Washington-based Council of the Great City Schools, which represents large urban school districts. Casserly added:

Detroit schools emergency financial manager Robert Bobb blamed principals and a failing curriculum. Noting that two action plans have largely been ignored by the Detroit School Board, he added:

The problem goes beyond Detroit Public Schools and its school board, however. Successful schools have a lot of parent involvement, which Emergency Financial Manager Bobb² is calling for. Detroit Parent Network Executive Director Sharlonda Buckman yelled, “they can’t read; they can’t count!” at a public meeting, saying parents should be irate their tax dollars aren’t educating their kids. The challenge for Detroit is parents who may be functionally illiterate. Nonetheless, parental involvement is a key to success.

While some would say Detroit’s corruption is the problem, there’s no doubt Bobb² has cracked down on corruption in Detroit Public Schools. Thus, throwing more money at the problem isn’t necessarily the solution. In fact, based on data from National Center for Education Statistics, Detroit Public Schools spends 50% of its funds on instruction in 2007, ranking 491st in the state. That’s above the average of 46% spent by Rochester, Pontiac, and Plymouth-Canton. It’s more than Ann Arbor’s 39% and Royal Oak’s 33%. Detroit ties with Wayne-Westland and is just below Hazel Park, Bloomfield Hills, and Dearborn at 52%. So the problem is not a question of money. Rather, it’s a question of commitment to the children.

Gov. Granholm (D) and Michigan House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford) both claim education is an important issue and vital to Michigan’s future. Yet both rolled to education funding cuts by Michigan’s Republican Senate. In fact, Granholm cut even more. How does that square with education, especially higher (college) education, as the solution to Michigan’s future relevance? Looks like the Democrats don’t truly believe, to me.

Still, Michigan—well, at least the Senate—is hustling to cash in on some $400 million in Federal funding. To date, the Senate has passed four school reform bills, all largely along party lines. These include:

• S. 0925—Public school academies: 23-12-2 (For: R-21, D-2; Opposed: R-4, D-9; Excused: R-1, D-1)
• S. 0965—Alternative teacher certification: 36-0-2 (For: R-25, D-11; Opposed: 0; Excused: R-1, D-1)
• S. 0981—Restructure failing schools: 28-8-2 (For: R-22, D-6; Opposed: R-3, D-5; Excused: R-1, D-1)
• S. 0981&msash;Collective bargaining in failing schools: 23-12-12 (For: R-21, D-2; Opposed: R-4, De-9; Excused: R-1, D-1)

As for Michigan’s House, they have voted on two measures so for.

• S. 0981—Restructure failing schools: 78-28 (For: R-22, D-56; Opposed: R-21, D-7)
• H. 5596—Alternative teacher certification: 79-27 (For: R-41, D-38; Opposed: R-25, D-2)

So, the Senate has approved 4 measures to secure additional Federal funds while the House has only acted on one of them. What’s up with that? I thought the Dems were the pro-people, pro-education party. Never mind that Gov. Granholm cut per pupil funding as part of Michigan’s budget fiasco. Never mind that Michigan House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford, agreed to Senate cuts to the budget, including education.

If we’re going to fix education, especially in Detroit, politicians need to stop the showmanship. Instead, they need to walk the talk, putting the money, oversight, and attention where it needs to be. Shell games and partisan politics won’t cut it any more.

School funding is definitely a concern in Michigan, especially after the State Senate and Gov. Granholm cut per pupil funding. In fact, Granholm says more cuts are coming. Detroit northern suburb Berkley wants to shift costs to a bond proposal. The district plans to ask voters to approve a $169.1 million bond issue for energy and maintenance improvements. The measure includes a new middle school and administrators expect to save $2 million from the annual operating budget.

Berkley schools are pretty good, rating 8 out of 10 and the district made adequate yearly progress, except at the high school. I bring this up because the bond proposal doesn’t pass the common sense test. The district wants voters to indebt themselves for $169.1 million dollars to save about $2 million in yearly operational costs. Now, although these are big numbers, my elementary school math tells me the breakeven point is 84-1/2 years. And Berkley says they need the bond because the district’s 11 buildings average 65 years old. So, let’s see. Return on investment is almost 20 years longer than the current age of buildings? There must be something really simple that I’m missing here.

Small potatoes in the big scheme of things, but why is this question going on a special election February 23rd? Why didn’t Berkley Schools’ brain trust figure this out, put it on the ballot for the general election last November, so they could save Berkley voters some money? That’s what annoys me about school millage votes. They hold special elections and they keep holding them until the voters get tired and pass the millage.

Not to throw stones at Berkley’s glass house, but if the primary emphasis of the bond measure is to cut energy costs, why didn’t the district hold its hands out for Stimulus money? They could have cut the $2 million from operational costs without asking Berkely residents for a single dime!

Beyond the mathematics of the bond issue and its return on investment (or lack thereof), surrounding districts haven’t really made out on this type of venture. Consider Hazel Park Schools, which passed a similar measure in 2002. Since then, the district has closed elementary schools and plans to cut programs to balance the budget. So much for energy efficiency benefits to the operating budget.

The real problem with school funding is the amount districts have to pay for benefits, such as retirement. In most districts, it’s more than what’s spent “on books, buses, computer technology and building maintenance combined,” according to the Detroit News. As a result, short-term solutions become long-term issues. Hazel Park is offering early retirements to reduce the number of top-scale teachers, who make about $80,000. In their place? A retiree who gets about $50,000 and a new teacher who makes about $34,000. Net savings? How about minus $4k? No wonder Junior can’t add or subtract.

Our schools cannot continue to see increasing non-educational costs taking a bigger share of per pupil funding. At the same time people were denigrating the automakers and the UAW, Michigan teachers had similar benefits. What’s up with that? Never mind that State Sen. Wayne Kuipers (R-Holland) didn’t see a problem with the $2 million additional costs for schools. The magnitude of the problem varies by district size.

If we value education, let’s fund it. If we don’t, then we’re probably good. And we should continue to expect Michigan to slip further behind the rest of the US and the US to rank lower than other developed countries. Never mind that state education experts think this kind of smoke-and-mirrors game is “the right path.”

Update:

14 Dec 2009

According to data from National Center for Educational Statistics, Berkley spent 53% of its money on instruction, which is higher than Michigan’s average of 46%.

Different parts of Michigan got more or less snow in an early season storm, with southwest Michigan taking the brunt of it. Southwest Michigan benefits from the lake effect, which brings warmer moisture off Lake Michigan to the cooler land and, voila, you get snow.

On Friday, southwest Michigan got over a foot of snow. We get snow every year in Michigan. This is not new, but I’m always amazed by how many people are caught off-guard by the first snow. Hello! Are these people who are convinced global warming is real? Why else would they be driving like maniacs even though road conditions dictated otherwise?

There are common sense considerations for winter driving that some folks just don’t seem to get. These are the maniacs that don’t care about anyone else.

Unfortunately, most people aren’t prepared for the first snow. People think they’re better drivers than they are. But the weather usually conspires to prove otherwise. So, why do we go through this every year?

Detroit is the only major metropolitan area without a functional, integrated public transportation system. The city has its Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the suburbs have the Suburban Mobility Authority for Rapid Transit (SMART). Far from being smart, the two systems don’t coordinate services and SMART doesn’t even service all surburban communities. DDOT buses don’t venture out of the city and SMART buses follow DDOT buses to downtown, often stopping at the same stops. Case in point: it’s not uncommon to see 2, 3, or more buses in line along Woodward Avenue, a main thoroughfare to downtown.

While many are advocating regional transit, something which former Michigan Gov. John Engler (R) put years behind when he vetoed a bill as his last official act, it’s definitely an uphill battle. Today, Oakland County Commissioners decided to keep the local opt-out millage plan rather than adopt a county-wide millage. While some argue that recognizes local autonomy, it really doesn’t. It allows city and village councils to decide on behalf of their citizens rather than allowing citizens to vote.

The biggest problem is it stands as a large roadblock to developing a truly regional transit plan. Currently, Novi, which is home to many retail centers, does not participate in the SMART system. As a result, only people with cars can get to jobs there. If SMART buses went to the retail centers, the pool of available workers—and customers—would be much larger. That benefits both the city and the region.

And that’s the crux of metro Detroit’s problem. Until everyone can get beyond their parochial viewpoint and look beyond the end of their damn noses, the region is stuck in a kind of Groundhog Day that’s collapsing in on itself. We finally agreed to a regional authority for Cobo Hall, but we don’t really want regional transportation. Does that make sense? Not to me, but apparently we’re satisfied with the opt-out approach to transportation.

Sadly, even if the proposal had made it through the Oakland County Commissioners, County Executive L. Brooks Patterson likely would have vetoed the measure. So much for regionalism.