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Paul Rifenberg - Tuesday, November 10, 2009   it's all about jobs Rate this idea:   Current Rating: 3.0 (180 votes cast) Creating employEES requires attracting employERS. Everything stems from that...more payroll and resulting disposable income to spend in our stores, dealerships, etc. More taxes generated to boost state revenue, schools, etc. It all starts with jobs. So one must ask themselves: If I were a factory, or commercial enterprise, what would it take to move to or expand in Michigan? The answer is always money. Give any NEW business that moves here or opens here a 3-5 year moratorium on ANY business taxes. No state income tax, no property tax, no single business tax, nothing, zero, nada. It doesn't reduce state revenue, because we weren't getting any anyway before they arrived. It reduces the strain on unemployment and Medicaid due to the influx of new gainfully employed people, who ARE paying taxes and spending their new disposable income. Ehen the mortarium ends, then we collect the other stuff.

Bob Jones - Tuesday, November 10, 2009   Green Routes for Agri-tourism Rate this idea:   Current Rating: 3.0 (235 votes cast) The concept of agri-tourism has been taken to a higher level with the Green Routes program that was founded in Minnesota and has now expanded throughout the northern Mississippi Valley. Promoting green concepts, farming, and a wide variety of local businesses, this proven concept is well suited to Michigan and its natural resources, central location, and entrepreneurial spirit. http://journeys.greenroutes.org/about.php

Eileen Peck - Monday, November 09, 2009   Tuition Tax Credits For Parents of K-12 students Rate this idea:   Current Rating: 3.1 (225 votes cast) Currently about 10% of Michigan's children are educated privately, which saves the Michigan taxpayers more than $730M each year in State Aid Funds. If we could find a way to encourage more parents to educate their children privately (either in private schools or by home schooling) we could reduce the number of children drawing on the State Aid fund and increase the number of dollars available per-child for public schools. By offering a tax credit of as much as $2,500 per student and shifting as little as 3%-5% of Michigan's students into private schools or home schools, Michigan could effectively make more money available for each student who remains in the public school system. By shifting even a small percentage of students, many public school districts would end up with more funds per-child. For example, if 30,000 more children statewide shifted to private schools, even taking into account the cost of the tax credit, we could make an additional $625,000,000 available for public education. If we don't make it easier for parents to educate their children privately, more parents will send their children to public schools and increase the burden on the already-strapped State Aid Fund. That in turn will reduce the number of public education dollars available per-child. When it comes to education, there's a balance to be struck and the State of Michigan doesn't leverage private schooling in support of public education.

Daniel E. Sloyer - Monday, November 09, 2009   High Speed Monorail Rate this idea:   Current Rating: 3.0 (202 votes cast) For as long as I can remember Amtrak has always shared track with slow moving stop & go freight trains. How can we expect reliable high-speed service with these urban obstacles? Not to mention the danger of a faster moving train at night. No, putting more money into upgrading & straightening track is the wrong solution to creating a truly ’high-speed’ transit. The solution, is a new minimal-stop service running the Detroit to Chicago corridor, using the I-94 interstate right of-way. And as long as we’re building new, let’s go with a 21st century design. Make it a semi-elevated monorail, very similar to what Walt Disney World has been operating for more than 30 years in Florida. It would be safer than a conventional railroad train, better insulated for our winter, fully electric, and easily able to obtain speeds of 100 - 150 mph. The track would have absolutely ‘zero’ intersections, and the interstate’s topography is already designed for these speeds, logically. Just as spacious as Amtrak, it would have passenger stops and parking lots at stations located directly on already-owned, interstate property. The savings on property acquisition alone would go miles toward financing track construction and vehicles, keeping project costs down. A monorail track could also be run in a lot more places than ordinary railroad track in urban areas, with a minimal need of snow removal, a 1‘ wide elevated track. Let’s leave the railroad to freight trains and take our passenger transportation to the next level, where we ’should’ be this century. One last note... How safe would you feel crossing a railroad track at a rural RR crossing on a dark night, ’even’ with warning lights & bells on, knowing you could get hit by a train going 3-4 times faster than Amtrak does now?

Gina Pederson - Monday, November 09, 2009   Optimize our strengths Rate this idea:   Current Rating: 3.0 (128 votes cast) We have great farming, fruit growing and an industrial base. Use our sugar beets and fruit surpluses to create a new industry. Take a page from France. They grow sugar beets, take them and the "taxable" portion of wine produced, produce alcohol, combine them with their locally produced fruits and herbs and make "eau de vie"--spirits flavored with fruit which they sell as aperitif or digestiv. Currently in Michigan, the only business I have noticed doing this is Black Star farms. Even small countries that produce fruits have plants to can/freeze and prepare the fruits for the 2ndary market (not fresh). We have shuttered manufacturing plants, a plethora of chemists and engineers and lots of factory workers and the Great Lakes for water. Why not create a flavored spirits industry? Traverse City farmers dump cherries because they overproduce the quotas set--I'd bet other fruit growers have similar problems. Create this secondary market for spirits, also for vinegars and more dried/canned/frozen and prepared food applications--and use our resources, our talent and our land to create prosperity.