Toon & text by John Auchter
March 11–17 is Sunshine Week. For us Michiganders, the timing may seem a little off. It is squarely in the hopeless stage of our long, gray winter — what’s this talk of “sunshine”? That’s just mean.
Nevertheless, the American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press use this week each year to promote the importance of access to public information. Sunshine is a symbol for our communities to have transparent access to what’s going on in our government. The tag line is: “It’s Your Right to Know.”
And certainly, when another state makes a play to draw a significant amount of Great Lakes water to outside of the Great Lakes basin, we have the right to know. Thank goodness we do know because the Scott Walkers of the world have proven over and over they are not inclined toward full disclosure. It’s not in their best interest (and their best interest is typically their only interest).
To be fair, Wisconsin is not the only state challenged by balancing economic development with environmental protection. We in Michigan are always grappling with how best to take care of our most valuable natural resource — fresh water: Should we let Nestle expand its bottled water operation? Should we allow a new potash mine to draw millions of gallons of groundwater?
Plus, it’s not like Michigan hasn’t gone down the dicey tax break path with solar panel manufacturing and batteries for electric cars. Truth be told, our own free market capitalist GOP governor made a “government picks the winners and losers” bid at Foxconn. But Walker and Wisconsin way outbid us. Way outbid. One could even say absurdly outbid.
So let ’em have it. We’ll see how viable LED screen manufacturing is in 25 years when their investment is scheduled to begin paying off. But let’s be suspicious about diverting water outside the Great Lakes basin to do it. Let the sun shine so we know what’s going on.
John Auchter draws cartoons. Lots and lots of them, each one better than the last. You can find them at auchtoon.com. You can also find his stuff on Michigan Public Radio’s website under Opinion.
1. Foxconn: Is the plant inside the Great Lakes Basin? If so, let them take it, treat it, and put it back. If not, make them move the plant inside the Basin.
2. Nestle: Only let them take the water if they agree to sell it only in Great Lakes states and provinces.
Genius, or simple-minded? You tell me.
How can we not agree with you?
Well, I mostly do. I think Nestle has enough business already. Why should we penalize those who have lived near there for years by negative impacts on their local water supplies. Why of course to put more money in the pockets of folks who do not live anywhere near there.
As for Foxconn (somehow that name seems to fit) I like your solution IF (big if) the water they put back is as clean as the water they took out.
Didn’t there used to be a rule in the forestry business that goes something like “For every tree you cut down, plant two.” The same should apply to all our natural resources.
The sun doesn’t shine on charter schools.
There was a series done by the Detroit Free Press a few years ago which investigated the charter schools in Michigan. It was very revealing, especially about the for-profit charter management companies and how these companies are not required to be transparent about how taxpayer money is spent (ie, how much actually pays for education rather than is paid to management). The for-profit companies refuse to detail how they spend taxpayer money, saying they’re private and not subject to disclosure laws. Betsy DeVos and her husband Dick have been supporting many of the abuses that are allowed by the charter school industry in Michigan.
By the way, I read in the news today that Betsy still has foot in mouth disease.
Okay, let’s start with the private schools that the elected representatives in Washington D.C.
send their children to. Those are private charter schools. Those “representatives” do not want their children to attend regular public schools. In their minds their children are special and need to be taught in these schools so they will not have to be rubbing shoulders with children that go to regular public schools.
All children of these elected representatives need to be taught in public schools.
Are there some charter school that are not good and have problems? Yes. Are there charter schools that are better than public schools? Yes.
Baltimore Public Schools has been running deficits for years. $115,000,000.00 or so in the hole.
Buildings need repair. And what does the mayor of Baltimore do? She is spending somewhere around $100,000.00 or more to send some children to a rally in Washington D.C. for gun control.
She is a democrat of course. Baltimore is a democrat run city. Funds to send children to a rally. But no funds to fix buildings that have no heat and leaking roofs.
And oldugly and others why a lot of people are trying to send their children to charter schools.
A lot of charter schools are doing well and are honest. The teachers unions do not like charter schools because the teachers in those schools are not joining the union.
Do you have data on charter schools? Because Betsey Devos doesn’t even know.