Ignorance reigns supreme in Lansing

The two headlines read:

“State chamber is neutral on sales tax hike to mend roads,” and

“House panel votes to end Michigan film incentives”

It’s hard to decide which to take on first, so we’ll go with the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which the Associated Press out of Lansing has said will remain neutral on the May 5 vote that would increase the state sales tax as part of a road funding plan.

It’s not the chamber’s job to remain neutral. Their job is to show leadership and offer an opinion and back it up, popular or not. It follows that if the chamber isn’t doing its job, particularly on the tough issues, then it should disband.

The chamber cannot pick and choose which issue it wants to weigh-in on. This is an important vote; everyone in Michigan will be affected by the outcome. This line from the AP story kills me: “If the chamber hadn’t stayed neutral, it might have spent millions advocating the proposal’s passage or defeat.”

That’s the way it goes. If you do or don’t believe in something these days, you embark on a costly path to support your decision. The chamber is an institution that is supposed to lead, not abdicate the throne when things get difficult. Remember this the next time the chamber asks you to support this or that issue.

As for the film incentives, Michigan’s House Panel, clearly a no-fun, rabidly ignorant bunch, voted this past week to end them as of Oct. 1.

The numbers speak for themselves on this one.

The tax committee says film incentive dollars blew a $325 million hole in Michigan’s budget. Actually, according to the Free Press, Michigan spent closer to $425 million on the incentives, which were introduced here in 2008.

What the tax committee is ignoring is this: the incentives generated $1.3 billion in Hollywood spending, in Michigan, on things like wages, sound and lighting technicians, lumber yards to build sets, carpenters and electricians and food and lodging.

So, let’s do the math. Michigan spent $425 to get a return of $1.3 billion. My father used to be a stockbroker – he’d take those figures any day of the week.

The latest film shot here, as we all should know, is “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.” It brought press from around the world to Michigan. When they got tired of reporting about the movie, they wrote flattering articles for their home papers on how Detroit’s comeback seemed to be real.

Remember? You can’t purchase that kind of press.

So rather than almost tripling our money, our wise House team shut the moneymaker down. That’s what passes for wisdom in Lansing these days.