Grazed and Confused

Detroit's response to goats exposes bigger problem

By Jarrett Skorup | June 10, 2014

In the midst of the city going through a bankruptcy, talk of a Detroit turnaround is in the air from Gov. Rick Snyder on down.

And while the emergency manager and bankruptcy process are making solid strides toward fixing the city's fiscal mess, it is in the other ways of governing that Detroit needs to improve if it wants to retain and attract residents.

This shows up prominently once again in its recent treatment of a group of goats brought into the Brightmoor neighborhood to clear up weeds and unwanted vegetation. It took only one day for officials to evict the animals with nary an explanation.

This isn't surprising. Detroit has more rules, regulations, mandates and delays preventing people from living their lives than anywhere else in Michigan.

It isn't so much this specific ordinance that is the problem. Detroit joins many municipalities around the state in banning farm animals within the city limits. It is the fact that an insolvent city at the top of several national crime statistics that cannot keep the lights on is spending time and effort focusing on regulatory rules that seemingly result in no harm to anyone.

Detroit has licensing rules well beyond that of other cities. Its permit and inspection costs make it extremely difficult to run a profitable (legal) business. And the infamous "Operation Compliance" where the city looks to shut down 20 companies a week that don't comply with all of these specific rules. Statements from city officials show these are largely a short-term revenue grab.

Enticing people to come and operate businesses is what the city needs to do and it can do so at no cost to taxpayers. That's why a complete overhaul of Detroit's regulatory regime is probably the most important thing it can do now to turn itself around. There has been some promise — like a partial embrace of the ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft — but this is an area where the mayor and council need to use a hatchet, not a scalpel.

In the meantime, it is private enterprise looking to pick up the city's slack. Volunteer "mower gangs" and friendly goats are working to eliminate blight in some of the worst areas. The city doesn't need to do anything but get out of the way.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.

Politics Prevailed With Michigan's Minimum Wage Increase

Event today will discuss ways to mitigate the harm caused by the forced wage mandate

By Michigan Capitol Confidential Staff | June 10, 2014

Republican control of Michigan’s government didn’t prevent a minimum wage increase and an increase in taxes may be coming to fix Michigan’s roads.

That’s left many wondering whether the GOP got outmaneuvered or was painted into a corner to prevent a minimum wage ballot initiative that would have been worse.

It was both, combined with plenty of politics, wrote Joseph Lehman, president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, and Michael LaFaive, director of fiscal policy at the Center, in a recent Wall Street Journal column:

Careful economic analysis did not lead the Michigan GOP to hike the minimum wage. Instead they implemented a two-pronged political strategy that local observers will be arguing about for years. Republicans didn't just pass the plan, they passed it with large enough majorities to implement it immediately, and for one very specific reason: to undermine a ballot initiative that would have increased the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, indexed to inflation, including the same higher amount for tipped workers.

The second part of the equation, they wrote, is that Gov. Rick Snyder "reportedly secured a promise from Democratic leaders that in exchange for the $9.25 minimum wage the minority party will supply votes for a $1.5 billion increase in the state's fuel taxes to repair roads and bridges."

So taxpayers get hit twice. And it’s happening without any attempt from the GOP-controlled Legislature to rein in spending on programs that have proven to shift tax dollars at best, and waste them at worst. Lehman and LaFaive continued:

For instance the state still lavishes $50 million in direct cash subsidies on movie makers and another $250 million in support of the state's corporate welfare programs. Privatizing some prison facilities could save tens of millions, according to our research at the Mackinac Center. But the difficulty of cutting special-interest spending is so great that even a large tax increase seems preferable to the GOP.

GOP legislators could take a cue from their Democratic counterparts and go on the offensive, Lehman and LaFaive wrote.

In doing so, taxpayers might be put at the top of the list of considerations rather than the special interests.

The Mackinac Center is hosting a discussion about how to mitigate the damage caused by the increase in the minimum wage at noon today in Lansing. James Sherk, senior policy analyst in labor economics with the Heritage Foundation, is the keynote speaker. To watch the event online, click here.