Bringing Freedom to Afghanistan

Professor Abul Ahrar Ramizpoor was 9 years old when troops from the U.S.S.R. rolled into Afghanistan in 1979. He remembers standing with his family, feeding their small library of books one-by-one into the fire. They had heard stories of the Soviet Communists murdering “intellectual” Afghan citizens and Ramizpoor’s father wanted to keep his family safe.

Today he is married with two young children and works as a United Nations human rights officer. He has also started Afghanistan’s first free-market think tank promoting classical liberal values. more …

Michigan's Solyndra?

Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm made a deal with a group of wealthy and politically connected individuals in Oakland County to use state pension funds to guarantee $18 million they borrowed to set up a film studio in Pontiac, essentially making the pension fund the “co-signer” on the loan. more …

'We Found a Place Where Our Children's Safety Would Never Be An Issue'

The Michigan House Education Committee is considering lifting the enrollment cap on the number of families that can take advantage of publicly funded cyber charter public schools. No more than 2,000 students may enroll in these schools under current law.

Below is an interview with Brian Kevelin, a parent who sends his children to one of Michigan’s two cyber charter schools — Michigan Virtual Charter Academy. more …

Helping Districts Deal With Deficits

“Not only do you have that health care legislation sitting out there, you've got an emergency manager possibility for a district that has been in deficit for a while,” Van Beek said. “Having their members pay more for health care is far better than having an emergency manager come in and void their contracts or set them aside for a period.” more …

U-M Forced Grad Student Unionization Case: Court Approves One-Sided Hearing

Those opposing unionization of graduate student research assistants at the University of Michigan will be left out in the cold. That's the gist of an Michigan Court of Appeals ruling. more …

When Will Right-to-Work Come to Michigan?

Rep. Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, is expected to introduce right-to-work legislation in the Michigan House. Under such a law, employers and unions would be prohibited from negotiating contracts that require non-union employees to pay union dues.

With Indiana moving toward right-to-work status, the issue appears to be heating up in Michigan. more …

Commentary: Right-to-Work Will Keep Michigan Competitive

Indiana may soon become America's 23rd right-to-work state: Legislation is under consideration in both chambers of the Indiana Legislature, and Gov. Mitch Daniels said he will sign such a bill. Michigan may need to adopt such a law to better compete for jobs and talent. more …

BREAKING: Indiana House Passes Right-to-Work Bill — Measure To Become Law Soon

On a 54-44 vote, the Indiana House today passed legislation that would make Indiana the 23rd right-to-work state in the nation. The vote took place after House Democrats finally showed up for session Wednesday afternoon, ending their work stoppage over the issue. more …

Teacher Contract Specifics Part of Strike Action Plan?

In the East Lansing Public School District, the teacher’s contract states that their weekly pupil contact time is 25 hours and 25 minutes and teachers may not supervise lunch period or more than one recess a week.

In the Huron Valley district, elementary teachers may not have more than five hours, 21 minutes of daily instructional time. In the St. Joseph district, teachers may not be required to collect lunch or milk money. The Flint teachers’ contract requires a teacher’s day be 6 hours and 57 minutes. more …

Commentary: What a Right-to-Work Law Will Mean For Indiana

If Indiana state government passes a right-to-work law, and if the state’s experience is similar to that of the other 22 right-to-work states, the state can expect a variety of benefits. more …

Bay City Repeals Prevailing Wage Ordinance

Late last night on a 5-4 vote, Bay City commissioners chose to repeal that city’s prevailing wage ordinance, something no city in Michigan may have ever done, to our knowledge. A prevailing wage law mandates union scale wages on government funded construction projects, regardless of who wins the bid. more …

Teachers' Union Manual Shows How to Organize Illegal Strikes, Use Children During Bargaining

For more than two years, the Michigan Education Association has had a manual that urges its members to use students as propaganda in contract negotiations and also lays out how to organize strikes, which are illegal in Michigan. more …

Indiana Dems Lose On Right-to-Work and Run Again

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana's right-to-work legislation crawled a little closer to possible final passage Monday. Democrats showed up to debate the bill — offered and were defeated on their so-called “referendum amendment” — then walked out again. more …

Small Business Survey: Obamacare Already Killing Jobs

A just-released Harris survey of small business executives commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found that 74 percent say “the recent health care law makes it harder for their business to hire more employees.” more …

School District: Spending Up, Revenue Up, Red Ink Up — Wants More Money

Despite media reports of broken water fountains and boarded up windows at pre-schools, Highland Park’s per-pupil funding has increased from $9,670 in 2005-06 to $11,055 in 2009-10. Its per-pupil funding in 2009-10 was the 62nd highest in the state among 783 districts and charter schools. The district is still spending more than $2,000 per student than it was taking in for 2009-10.

“It does not appear to be a revenue issue,” said Michael Van Beek, education policy director at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “It appears to be a spending problem.” more …

Today May Be 'High Noon' Over Indiana Right-to-Work Bill

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana House Democrats are now saying they'll show up for work today.

If the Democrats keep their promise this time, the Indiana House would hold a debate today on a right-to-work measure. Basically, the debate would be the same one Democrats promised would take place last Tuesday — but then walked away from.

Grassroots Obamacare Hearing: The People Speak

On Thursday, the Michigan House Health Policy Committee held what reportedly will be its final hearing on a state Obamacare exchange before the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” in June. While previous hearings were dominated by special interests affected by the law, this one was for “regular” people, about 120 of whom showed up despite semi-blizzard conditions. more …

Indy Democrats Still Not Showing Up — Right-to-Work Standoff Drags On

INDIANAPOLIS — There weren't enough Democrats on the floor of the Indiana House at 9 a.m. Thursday to provide a quorum. Once again the House could not convene session and once again action on the measure (House Bill 1001) was prevented. A second attempt to convene took place later in the day but failed due to the lack of a quorum. more …

Some Tea Partiers Gunning for Republican Senate Majority Leader

Sen. Randy Richardville’s stance on "right-to-work" legislation appears to be at odds with most of the Senate Republicans who chose him for the leadership position. Past CapCon articles have noted other positions likely to put him on the opposite side of limited government Tea Party groups more …

Analysis: Michigan Cannot Grow Out of Pension Problems

Michigan’s major government pension funds are underfunded and will require billions for the foreseeable future just to begin catching up. But some argue that multiple years of solid investment growth will eliminate this problem. While nothing would alleviate pension problems like a few years of solid returns, it is unlikely that there will be sufficient growth to eliminate the problem. more …