Those of you not fortunate enough to live in Paradise may be unaware that the State of Michigan has been mired in a recession for the past decade. Ten years of steady deleveraging from its industrial base has resulted in a shrinking economy, dwindling population, and steady erosion of property values and tax base. In fact, over this time, only two Michigan entities have grown, the unemployment rate, and government.
Until the national economy tanked last fall, Michigan was able to use the rest of the country as a safety valve. Unable to find work at home, Michiganders could, and did, go elsewhere in search of jobs. Ironically, the national recession struck Michigan harder than most. One would have thought that, having been shrinking and suffering for years, the state would have been insulated from the steep decline other states were facing.
Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Many companies, especially auto manufacturers and their suppliers, which were barely hanging on despite a growing economy, were pushed to the brink, or even over the edge, by the downturn. Now, even government has confronted the reality that it must contract. This in turn has generated an even greater crisis, for as everyone knows, the primary function of government is constant expansion.
Today the reality of the state’s economic woes have finally hit home. Even Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, known in some circles as the Alicia Silverstone of Elected Officials, has come to understand the futility of increasing taxes when everyone in the state is out of work. She is expected to slash $300 million from the current state budget. Cuts in Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals, a reduction of up to $40 million in revenue sharing for cities and townships, and layoffs and furloughs of state employees are among the draconian moves she will make.
Naturally, this will cause hardship for just about every public employee and administrator. Among those expressing concern is Alan Kilar, representative of UAW Local 6000, which represents 17,000 state employees. The UAW used to stand for United Auto Workers, but over the years the union has functioned in a manner similar to The Other White Meat Flu. First infecting the auto industry, the UAW has since spread to other industries, and even government, until a vast array of entities lie sick, dying, and even dead. No longer confined to auto workers, the acronym UAW today should stand for Unions Achieve Wreckage.
Kilar, viewing the economic wasteland which is the state and its government, made the following suggestion. "We’re hoping the government looks to the auto industry, where they cut upper management and asked suppliers to take a cut."
Only a UAW official could have the audacity to offer the domestic auto industry as a model for fiscal prudence. Yes, this is the same industry, once known as The Big Three, in which one component has already declared bankruptcy, and a second one is well on its way to doing so. This is an industry which has sealed its own doom by perpetually bending over backwards to comply with the UAW’s every whim, which has allowed itself to succumb to an unworkable business model designed and implemented by the very union advocating the industry as an object of emulation.