Unless Michigan gets serious, who would choose here?
by
Dave Lambert
on Wed 30 Aug 2006 06:10 AM PDT
Daniel
Howes
Detroit News
8/30/06
It’s
politically incorrect to ask Michigan
politicians whether the state's image as a labor viper pit is an impediment to
a) some kind of turnaround or b) new investment, especially in manufacturing. They'll
stare straight ahead. They'll shuffle their feet. They'll offer a weak
"no," as Gov. Jennifer Granholm often does, and then change the
subject because hinting otherwise invites retribution. But, given the labor
muscle flexing going on all around us, how can Michigan-as-labor-hotbed be good
for Michigan-as-economic-basket-case? …
… Lest labor's knee-jerk
defenders detect a veiled call for Michigan
to become a right-to-work state, it isn't. The last thing this place needs is a
fight that makes the current campaign over affirmative action look like
kindergarten. But I have a suggestion: Get real. Be it where Detroiters school
their kids, which airline Michiganians fly, whose cars Americans buy or whether
investors invest, everyone has choices -- and all they're getting right now is
another reason to choose anywhere but Detroit or Michigan.
The entire article can be found at… http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060830/OPINION03/608300374/1001/BIZ
