[baystater]

Mich. Stares Down 2nd Govt. Shutdown in 3 Years - ABC News

OK. So not the greatest news coming out of Michigan right now, with this whole (possible) state government shutdown issue. And yeah I'm sure a lot of the people of Michigan are pick up a paper or perusing the headlines on the Internet and saying to themselves................WTF! And I'm sure a lot of them are pointing fingers at various local, regional, and state officials and programs that are to blame for the looming crisis and screaming bloody murder about them........but....then..............that's it.........that all they do........complain.................there is no really offering of ideas or ways resolve this or any other issue that is effecting the state.

Now with that said. I like to think that the good people on city data are on a higher level of cognition and can "think" there way out/around this tough issue facing the state. I'd also to think that most people on CD realize that still, "We the people" elect our local/state officials/governments and that "the People" can still get the ear (either through phone calls, email, snail mail) of those local and state officials and possibly sway decisions effecting the state.

Now with this in mind. I would like to ask the good people of city data.
If you were to send an email/letter/or make a phone call to your local/state officials/government, What would be your suggestions/ideas be to solve the current crisis? What policies/incentives/taxes/etc. etc. need to be implemented to help the state weather the current storm that Michigan is in?

Actually........I know some of you guys are very proactive and have probably already have done something similar to this. So let me ask you guys. What did you say in you letters/emails/phone calls to you local/state government officials? And if you did get a reply back from those official. What type of response did you receive?


OK guys thank for reading my long post. And I look forward to your reply to this subject.

Baystater.

[malamute]

Well according to Bernanke and Obama, the recession is over so it cannot be business as usual.

Taxes will only drive out the hard working types who don't want to pay such high taxes and obviously have choices.

Cuts have to be made, the state cannot spend and spend and spend money that it doesn't have, and you have to look at where cuts should be made. Cutting police and services that help everyone isn't the way to go. Cutting programs that "benefit" only a few but really don't benefit them long term because they keep them dependent is smarter.

[Sparrow_temp]

Well, it should be illegal to use the 1.5B from the Feds to simply delay the inevitable another year and cover the budget gap. This was not the intent of the funds. The State has to either cut spending or raise taxes. I think most people would prefer them to cut spending but it'll never happen. The Democrats have most of their constituents receiving benefits of some type and the Republicans have most of their constituents paying the taxes. Tax increases will hit Republicans more; spending cuts will hurt Democrats more. This is not universally true but believe that it is generally so.

Another problem is that a lot of the programs that the majority of people would have no problem in eliminating completely are never even brought to the table in the negotiating process. Some are constitutionally protected and some are simply written in to law. Others simply are pet programs of powerful people so are not considered. In the end, the government will make some type of compromise of budget cuts and tax increases along with 1-time fixes and pat each other on the back for a job well-done until the same time next year. I'd prefer to see the government completely shutdown for weeks if it would make them actually fix the fundamental problem that we have more government than we can pay for.

[MI-IRISH]

look at the bright side,if they shut the govt. down,the shmucks in lansing will have to put any more damage they do the people and state on hold