New York Times | Liberals and Trump New York Times To the Editor: Re Are Liberals Helping Trump? (news analysis, Sunday Review, Feb. 19): Liberals are not to blame for the movement of moderate conservatives into the Trump camp. Rather, it is these moderate conservatives' defensiveness that keeps them ... |
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Liberals and Trump - New York Times
Michael J. Reitz, Guest Writer 11:15 p.m. ET Feb. 25, 2017
The Michigan State Capitol building on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016, in Lansing.(Photo: Elaine Cromie/Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo
Donald Trumps election unsettled many people. Hundreds of thousands of people are protesting his presidency, appointees and policies. And here in Michigan, Republicans control the governors office and both chambers of the Michigan Legislature. If you find yourself in the political minority, take heart.
There are a number of proposals lawmakers may tackle that all voters could support ideas that would especially benefit Michigans neediest residents.
Here are five ideas to consider:
Eliminate barriers to jobs:The best anti-poverty program, by far, is a good job. Work provides resources, yes, but it also gives a person a greater sense of worth, dignity and purpose. Do you remember your first job? Chances are it was tough, low-paying and something you wouldnt want to do again. But I bet you are grateful for it and can recite many lessons you learned in the role. Giving people a clear path to a job is a noble and life-affirming task.
The State of Michigan requires a license for more than 200 occupations, which affects more than 20% of workers. (Compare that to the minimum wage, which applies to only 1% of workers.) Installing wood floors, laying concrete, painting a wall, siding a house these all require permission from a government agency. The states licenses are usually accompanied by high fees and costly training. The result? We prevent people from obtaining meaningful work.
Improve the states school-ranking system:In January, the Michigan School Reform Office announced that 38 academically struggling schools could face closure after three straight years of low achievement. This announcement understandably ignited concerns.
While accountability is critically important, the manner of evaluating schools could be improved. The states Top-to-Bottom ranking merely assesses schools based on average student test scores.It fails to take student poverty into account. As a result, schools that are demonstrating growth in spite of socioeconomic hurdles can be unfairly penalized.
Promote criminal justice reform:An effective criminal justice system achieves public safety while maximizing resources. Michigan incarcerates more than 43,000 people and spends $2 billion each year on corrections. Prison sentences and prison stays here, which exceed national averages in length, consume ever more money. The state could improve how it collects and manages data to help researchers and policymakers better understand rehabilitation, prisoner re-entry and recidivism; bills in the Senate will do this.
Michigan has 3,100 criminal statutes on the books. The Legislature could reduce the likelihood that you unwittingly commit a crime by repealing outdated or duplicative laws.
If you are suspected of a crime, the police can confiscate your cash and property without an arrest or conviction. Lawmakers should protect individual property rights by banning forfeiture without the conviction of a crime.
Give citizens a tax cut:Lawmakers should reconsider a bill that would roll back the personal income tax. This would let taxpayers keep their own money and do more to boost the economy than the states costly corporate-welfare giveaways. Families can make better decisions about how to spend their money than lawmakers and bureaucrats who try to lure companies through subsidies, credits and targeted tax cuts.
Shine the light on government actions:One of the lessons from the Flint water crisis is that open government is good government. Michigan is the only state with a law that specifically exempts the governor from its Freedom of Information Act. The Legislature is also exempt from FOIA. As a result, documents and communication within those branches of government are not available to the public.
Its time to extend FOIAs requirements to the governor and the Legislature. As the law explains: The people shall be informed so that they may fully participate in the democratic process.
Casting a vote in a presidential election is a great privilege and right, but one need not wait until 2020 to practice civic engagement. There are real opportunities in 2017 to promote and advance ideas to help the people of Michigan.
Michael Reitz is the executive vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland.
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5 ideas liberals and conservatives could agree on - Detroit Free Press
Then at the Screen Actors Guild awards a succession of winners, including William H Macy and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, took turns to lay into Mr Trump.
Eyes will be on the award for best foreign language film after Asghar Farhadi, director of The Salesman, was caught by Mr Trumps travel ban.
Should he win, Mr Farhadi will not be present to receive his award. But his absence will not go unnoticed.
Its going to be the most political Oscars for a number of years. When people were talking about it a few months ago, they thought it would be a race issue, said one Hollywood insider.
Now agents are unleashing their stars to say what they will. They are telling their clients they are not going to lose anything.
Another Hollywood observer, Tim Gray, features awards editor of Variety, predicted an interesting night.
I dont think it will be three hours of Trump-bashing, he said.There are 24 awards recognising everyone such as visual effects people, I dont think they will use it as a political forum.
I do expect some vague homilies. But if there are three or four attacks, that will light up the internet.
La La Land, a wistful musical telling the story of an aspiring actress and a jobbing musician, is expected to scoop a raft of awards, having earned 14 nominations - an achievement matched only twice before.
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Donald Trump supporters to boycott Oscars in protest against 'Limousine Liberals' - Telegraph.co.uk
Photo from Hans van Baalen Twitter
Key European Liberals on Saturday decried the arrest of Liberal Party (LP) Sen. Leila de Lima on what they said were politically motivated drug charges, vowing to rally European Union and global support for the release of the lawmaker, who described herself as the first political prisoner under President Duterte.
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats Europe (Alde) Party is deeply concerned about the arrest of the Liberal Party Sen. Leila de Lima in particular and the deteriorating human rights situation in general, said Hans van Baalen, Alde President and Liberal International president of honor.
The Philippines, under the leadership of President Duterte, is turning rapidly into an illiberal state, where there is no respect for the law whatsoever, Van said in a statement issued in London by Liberal International.
The LP is a member of Liberal International, the world federation of Liberal and progressive democratic political parties.
Van Baalen said he had written the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, in order to see what action the European Union can take to free De Lima.
Liberal Internationals human rights committee chair Markus Lning, formerly Germanys commissioner for human rights, promised to push for De Limas release and called on Mr. Duterte to respect the rule of law.
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European Liberals slam De Lima's arrest - Inquirer.net
The WA Liberals have committed $500,000 for five floating fishing platforms in the Swan and Canning Rivers if re-elected, and have also promised a specialist primary school program for gifted students.
Premier Colin Barnett said the platforms, which would be funded through the Recreational Fishing Initiative Fund, would be popular among young families and people with disabilities.
"We will also invest in the re-stocking of recreational fishing species, such as river prawns and mulloway, in the Swan and Canning Rivers as part of a $1 million commitment to build stocks of key recreational fish species in our rivers and oceans," Mr Barnett said.
"Recreational crabbing in the Peel Harvey estuary will also receive a boost from a re-elected Liberal led government with a commitment to buy out up to half of the 10 commercial crabbing licences operating in this important waterway."
The Liberals have also promised to expand specialist programs in some high schools and create a $5.8 million Primary Scholars Program at four schools to encourage excellence in science, technology and maths.
Mr Barnett said academically gifted primary school students would have access to education ranging from learning coding skills and robotics to advanced engineering.
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WA Liberals make fishing, school pledges - NEWS.com.au