Sometimes people chide those who go to conferences as just another way to go on a vacation. I was reading Crain’s Business blog today and found that at the Mackinaw Policy Conference (which is sponsored by Crain’s and the Detroit Chamber) this definitely is not one of “those” retreats.

Here is an excerpt from a posting by CJP. It holds no punches, and doesn’t care what side of the political isle you sit on.

What does it say about the political leadership in our state that they have allowed an acknowledged deficit to continue to grow, unchecked year after year without putting together a comprehensive strategy for balancing our budget?

As the Detroit News pointed out today, the Lansing leadership has been allowing the problem to accumulate for at least the past seven years spreading over the last two governors and several changes of legislative leadership. As the problem continues to grow, they keep looking for ways to avoid the tough decisions that so many businesses have been making to keep what is spent in line with what is taken in.

Clearly the mood on the island this week is that we’ve seen enough cobbling together a collection of dollar shifts, future revenue stream raids, accounting gambits and various sleights of hand that culminated in the latest budget agreement which bought time, but brought us no closer to a real solution. This past week’s agreement, which really just put the problem off until October, is just the last example of avoiding the real decisions that must be made.

The Governor to this point in time has mostly been content to trot out the specter of school aid cuts, Medicaid cuts and health and safety calamities if the Legislature fails to raise taxes. But we can’t tax our way out of this problem if we want a viable state to be left when we are done. It’s time to take a hard look at some of the programs in place that we simply can no longer afford and bring them under control.

Defined benefit pension plans, virtually unknown in today’s business world, can be replaced by defined contribution plans at levels which can be afforded by the taxpayers. Premium sharing, as well as competitive deductibles and co-pays, likewise bring about tremendous savings.

Speaker Andy Dillion, addressing the Chamber Tax Committee a month or so ago, acknowledged that no one in Lansing had the “appetite” to address these issues. In this case “appetite” clearly is a euphemism for “courage.”

Here’s a suggestion: If we face a deficit of $800 million, let’s initiate $400 million in savings – real savings, not just accounting gimmicks. Then we could look for $400 million in additional taxes. If voters see their government going for real savings, much as our Mayor has done in Detroit, they’ll be more receptive of the idea of additional taxes, at least temporarily, to keep from truly gutting critical programs in education, health, public safety, protecting the environment and other vital state services. But if they are asked to pay more while the people in Lansing refuse to make the kinds of decisions businesses are making all over this state, they are not going to buy that.

It’s a fairly simple problem. All it takes is vision and courage – commodities that sadly are in much too short supply in Lansing these days.

What will be very interesting is seeing if there are solid solutions that come out of these meetings.