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