Killer deserves to fry
I don't usually favor the death penalty for a number of reasons, mostly because of the possibility of killing the wrong man.
But I'm so angered by the murder of 15-year-old Jamar Pinkney Jr. that I'd be happy to see the killer end his own life twitching in an electric chair.
All murders are gruesome, but there are degrees of horror. This one rises to the top level. Jamar was marched naked from his Highland Park home and, police contend, shot in the head after begging for his life.
His father is charged with the crime.
Only a monster could kill in such a cold-blooded fashion. There ought to be special penalities for this sort of crime, particularly if there are witnesses whose identifications hold up in court.
If the suspect is convicted, why should the people of Michigan be stuck with the bill for feeding and clothing him, not to mention connecting him to cable television and giving him the best health care?
Mammogram flap offers reform preview
Women got a preview this week of what ObamaCare will look like.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task force, a federal panel of doctors and scientists, concluded that mammograms shouldn't be routine until age 50. Currently, women are advised to start the annual breast cancer screening exam at age 40.
The American Cancer Society is outraged at the finding, saying it will lead to fewer breast cancer screenings and a higher death rate. The task force's findings influence decisions by insurance companies and Medicare on whether to pay for services, and this report may make it tougher for women under 50 to get their insurers to pay for mammograms. Panels like this one will become the norm under government-controlled health care.
The panels will decide what treatments are appropriate and who should get them.
Expect dust-ups like the one the breast cancer screening recommendation triggered to become common place.
State is too snooty about job attraction
It might surprise those one in seven Michigan residents who are looking for work that the agency charged with bringing jobs to Michigan is picky about what kind of jobs it goes after.
Veteran Lansing commentator Tim Skubic writes at domemagazine.com that he got a curious response when he asked Greg Main, who runs the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, why the state isn't more actively pursing alliances with China.
"It's not a top priority," Main told Skubic, who says that's "because China is not into what Michigan is looking for, i.e. energy technology. ... (E)nergy is not China's bag right now."
Last week at the Detroit Economic Club, Kauffman Foundation President Carl Schramm criticized Michigan and other states for targeting specific industries rather than building a climate that appeals to job creators across the board.
The MEDC should order a copy of that speech. Michigan's unemployed don't care what color a job is, as long as it comes with a paycheck.
Buy insurance or go to the gulag
How's this for a nifty little provision of the health care bill passed by the House last weekend: If you don't buy a government-mandated insurance policy, you could go to jail.
Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, is calling attention to the provision that calls for up to a five-year jail sentence and $15,000 fine for those who refuse to buy insurance.
Interviewed by ABC News, President Barack Obama didn't back away from the harsh penalty for noncompliance, but instead made the false comparison to mandatory auto insurance policies.
The obvious difference is that you don't have to buy auto insurance if you choose not to drive. There are no opt-outs in the health insurance bill.
There are no exceptions, even for those rich enough to pay for their own health care.
Says Camp: "This is the ultimate example of the Democrats' command-and-control style of governing -- buy what we tell you or go to jail."
Obama's health care reform is looking more and more like the product of a totalitarian regime.
Hoekstra digs for Fort Hood answers
Rep. Peter Hoekstra has jumped right into the middle of the Fort Hood massacre, and that's where he ought to stay until he gets some answers.
Hoekstra, the Holland Republican who is the ranking minority member of the House Intelligence Committee, is demanding documents from the CIA and other intelligence agencies to determine how much they knew about the shooter, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, and when they knew it. So far, the agencies are refusing to deliver.
But reports suggest Hasan may have contacted the al-Qaida terrorist group at some point, and that intelligence gatherers were aware of it.
If true, it raises the question of whether the Army was alerted and, if so, why Hasan was allowed to remain on active duty. Was the military hypersensitive to being accused of profiling, since Hasan is a Muslim? Are other officers who exhibit signs of radicalization or instability treated the same way?
Those are important questions, and Hoekstra should keep banging on the door until all of the evidence is made public.
House Dems won't face budget reality
Democrats in Lansing will never get it -- we just can't keep pushing our budget problems ahead.
The Democratic-controlled state House passed a bill that would ease the impact of education funding cuts by borrowing some of the federal stimulus money held in reserve to ease next year's budget shortfall.
And then what to we do next year when the deficit remains, but the money is gone? Does anyone really believe tax revenues are going to grow to replace the borrowed funds? Keep dreaming.
This has been the strategy in Lansing for eight years: Kick the can down the road -- and it's why the hole gets deeper every year.
A much smarter approach would have been to make the unavoidable cuts over several years so school districts could have adapted to them.
We didn't do that, so now schools have to absorb a huge hit all at once.
Postponing that blow until next year doesn't do the districts any favors. We can't avoid reality any longer: We're out of money and must cut spending.
Laughter makes a return to City Hall
Raucous laughter was erupting from the green room when I walked into the WDIV-TV studios last week to tape Devin Scillian's "Flashpoint." Three new members of the Detroit City Council, Charles Pugh, Saunteel Jenkins and Gary Brown, were having a big time, enjoying each other's company.
I recalled a similar "Flashpoint" taping a few years ago with three members of the current council. They took to separate corners of the green room, barely acknowledging one another. For sure, nobody was laughing. The dour mood spoke to the culture of the current council.
And the laughter speaks to the culture of the new one. The five new council members share a rare collegiality rare in a political body today. I hope they hang on to their sense of humor. They are going to need every ounce of it as they help Detroit work through its crushing crisis.
Lansing's inaction makes roads more risky
Another fall-out from Lansing's failure to adopt common-sense, money-saving reforms is that our highways will be more dangerous this winter.
The state has told local road departments that they'll get less money for salting and clearing roads, and that keeping freeways passable will be the top priority. That means major secondary roads will get a lot less attention. That could be disastrous if the heavier snowfalls of the last two winters are repeated.
But it is a deliberate choice by Gov. Jennifer Granholm and lawmakers. They could have chosen instead to trim public employee pay and benefits to match the cuts being made in the private sector. They could have chosen to force efficiencies on local school districts and municipalities. They could have chosen to reform sentencing guidelines to control Corrections spending. They could have chosen to do any number of things.
Instead, they chose to place you and your loved ones in danger. Remember that if you find yourself in a snow bank -- or worse -- this winter.
Cash hoard reflects fears of Obama plans
One of the reasons job creation is lagging despite signs of an economic recovery is that the nation's big businesses are hoarding their cash rather than investing it to expand.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the nation's largest companies are sitting on nearly $1 trillion in cash, or roughly 10 percent of their assets, the largest stash of idle money in 40 years.
This is a symptom of the uncertain tax and regulatory environment created by the Obama administration and a Congress that is increasingly hostile to business.
Companies aren't going to invest money in job-creating ventures until they can gauge the impact of policies ranging from health care reform to climate change.
Similar cash stashing occurred during the Depression and for similar reasons. It prolonged that economic disaster and will prolong this one.
A lot of money is sitting in reserve that could stimulate an economic recovery far more efficiently than Washington's spending spree. But to encourage it off the sidelines, Obama has to scale down proposals that have businesses wary of the future.
FBI raid complaints are unfair
Muslim leaders are angry with the FBI for releasing transcripts that reveal the suspects in Thursday's raid of a Dearborn mosque advocated for the overthrow of the United States government and wanted to establish Islamic law in America.
The local leaders say the tapes are irrelevant to an investigation of a smuggling ring. Sorry, that doesn't fly. Motivation is always relevant. Hatred of the United States is what brought these people together and apparently what fueled their alleged criminal activities.
It's understandable that the Muslim groups are worried about being tainted by the suspects, who were mostly converts to the religion. But the FBI can't be expected to pretend their extreme religious beliefs had nothing to do with the charges.
