Looks like a study was just completed by the non-partisan Senate Fiscal Agency.  The Associated Press is reporting:

Gary Olson, the director of the Senate Fiscal Agency, told a senate committee that Consumers Energy customers would see an increase of more than $200 next year if the bills, which were approved by the state House last month, were signed into law.

That doesn't include the rising cost of coal, he said.

No problem.  We're all pretty flush here in Michigan these days.  Especially the 7.2% of would-be workers who can't find a job.  An extra $200 spike to fund a Big Energy takeover... no sweat.

Although I can't help but wonder... if Consumers jumps $200, what's DTE going to do?

Perfection is impossible.  On that we can all agree.  There's never going to be an elected official, a representative, a pundit or a politician with whom we agree 100% of the time.  No misconceptions here.  That's just reality.  That's faction and it's older than the Federalist Papers.

It's a reality we recognize on a large scale here in the United States.  It's one of the reasons we form political parties.  We acknowledge that we aren't going to agree on everything every single time but there are a lot of things on which we will agree and it's better to join together to accomplish what we can than to be defeated as individuals.  

Why not move forward on the 80%, right?  But there'll always be that 20% of issues on which we disagree.  Human nature.  Diversity of thought.  Whatever.  There's freedom to disagree and, frankly, the way the left has gone off the deep end these days there's an especially large amount of room for disagreement in the GOP because the alternative is freaking scary.  But freedom to disagree doesn't mean "free reign."  There are limits.

Read on...

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We've even got Kwame Kilpatrick telling the truth and fessing up that yes, indeed, he was the ugly girl in the red dress, though why he denied it so voraciously for an entire new cycle remains a mystery.

The advancing...

As speculation mounts that the UAW's nearly three-month long strike of American Axle has dragged on only to drag IN General Motors the automaker is now happy to oblige.  They're getting soaked by the mounting losses in production stemming from the contract impasse and are now offering $200 million to coax the big labor bosses into accepting a deal.

The Detroit News reports:

The offer comes 10 weeks into a strike that has cost GM, American Axle's largest customer, more than $800 million and 100,000 vehicles of lost production. About 30 GM factories are idled or partially shut down by a parts shortage created by the walkout.

GM has long suspected the UAW was using strikes and threats of walkouts at GM plants as added leverage to draw the automaker into the fray, according to several sources familiar with the talks. The UAW is striking two GM factories that make some of the automaker's hottest vehicles -- the Chevrolet Malibu sedan and Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia crossovers -- and the union has threatened walkouts at several more plants in recent weeks.

Apparently the extra cash would help pay for or supplement buyout and buy-down offers designed to keep American Axle afloat.  Get this... the Michigan company offered workers $140,000 to step away from the job or $90,000 to take a lower wage.  If the regressisphere was right when they were arguing that the new wage offer was on par with a burger flipper's salary, shoot, I'd get my application in at BK yesterday and jump all over that $140,000 pay day.  

Of course we know that the lefties were hardly interested in accuracy when they were making those arguments and it's not nearly that cut and dried.  But if this GM cash boosts that 140K towards the 150 or 160 range... wow.  I love Burger King.

The evaporating...

Remember yesterday's news that Chairman Mao Brewer and his Red Michigan Democrat State Central Planning Committee had taken a break from their latest Lenin recitation to agree on a concept that might seat Michigan's delegation to the national convention?  Yeah, so much for that.

Read on...

Don't forget, those meetings kick off in Grand Rapids TODAY!

WHO: Sen. Mark Jansen, R-Gaines Township, chair of the MBT Impact Assessment Subcommittee; additional committee members; and interested parties.

WHAT: The MBT Impact Assessment Subcommittee will convene hearings in four cities across the state to gather input from taxpayers on the impact of the Michigan Business Tax and suggestions for its improvement.

WHERE: Davenport University
Richard M. DeVos & Jay Van Andel Academic Building (near M-6 at Broadmoor)
Meeting Rooms A and B
6191 Kraft Avenue S.E.
Grand Rapids

WHEN: Thursday, May 8
3 p.m.

That's, like, totally NOW.  So if you're in the Grand Rapids area and you were planning on going, what are you doing still reading this?

The next week will see meetings at Oakland University in Rochester, Saginaw Valley State in Saginaw and The University Center in Gaylord.  

All that said, these aren't the first in this series.  House Republicans have been hosting roundtables the last few weeks.  While the Democrats and their big-manufacturing lobbyists in Lansing continue to paint a rosy picture about their new tax hike the message small and medium sized business owners hasn't been quite as glowing.  

Here's just a sampling of what's been said so far during the House GOP's traveling road show...

Read on...

As my husband, who was in Iraq in 04-05 and recieved the Broze Star and Purple Heart says, "You can't oppose the war and support the solders. We are the war."

Dillon, D-Redford Township, wasted no time in denouncing the (recall) effort as a distraction from the state's serious problems...

--Detroit Free Press, May 2, 2008

The commitment required to fight the recall is "growing now," said Dillon, a Democrat from Redford Township. "Up until now it's been a lot of money. But now it's time, too."

Time is a precious commodity for Dillon, who typically works 12 or 13 hours per day. In addition to regular House sessions, he's deep in discussions about how to change Michigan's energy policy and other issues that temporarily were sidetracked last year because of protracted budget and tax negotiations.

--Battle Creek Enquirer, March 5, 2008

Andy Dillon was distracted alright.  By margaritas and Cuervo.  

Lansing insider publication Gongwer reported last night what Rose discussed yesterday afternoon in her piece Getting Out of Dodge.  Looks like Andy Dillon traded in the ongoing budget process and appropriations gridlock of Lansing for the sun and surf of Mexico and residents in his home county just lost out on over one-hundred million dollars because of it.

The House floor yesterday saw a vote taken on SB511, a portion of the Capitol Outlay budget that would have spent $280 million on construction projects over the next handful of years.  Of course, that's money we don't have in the coffers these days so in essence it was a $280 million charge on the State's credit card.  

The Democrats like the idea.  The Republicans, God bless them, not such big fans.  

And why wouldn't the lefties love it?  The bill took care of Wayne County like nobody else, with nearly a third of the spending going to that one county.  Projects included...

University of Michigan-Dearborn Science & Computer Center Renovations. Cost $36,000,000 with the State share being capped at $27,000,000.

Livonia's Schoolcraft College - Public Safety/Homeland Security Classroom Building. This project is estimated to cost $15,000,000 with the State share being 50% or, $7,500,000. This project entails construction of a new facility to consolidate all of the college's public safety/homeland security training in one location.

Dearborn's Henry Ford Community College - Science Building Renovations. This project is estimated to cost $15,000,000 with the State share being 50% or, $7,500,000.

And so the board opened... Dems voting YES.  Republicans voting NO.  There'd been a few GOPers who'd gone along with the bill in the past but suddenly they weren't so sure and declined to back it.  But that shouldn't have been a problem.  The libs have more than enough seats in the House to move whatever they want.  Remember, you only need 56.  

Only one problem.  Andy Dillon is in Cancun.  Or Mexico City.  Or somewhere south of the border.  (By the way... so much for Pure Michigan, huh?  What's with the Democrat Speaker of the House outsourcing his vacation dollars to a low-wage work environment outside the United States?  Just asking...)

The board sat there.  And it sat there.  And it sat there.  55 votes.  Literally ONE vote short of passage.  ONE vote... Andy Dillon's vote... would have sent over $100 million to Wayne County.  Would have slapped $280 million on the State's credit card.  But Dillon wasn't there to cast it.

All that talk about the recall effort being a distraction and it's his time on the beach that costs his constituents nine figures worth of investment.  Go figure.  I don't begrudge the man a family vacation but if he's going to miss votes that result in the failure of his pet legislation he might want to go easier on the distraction hyperbole next time around.

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