no third solution

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Category Archives: Michigan

Michigan May Repeal Blue Laws

October 17th, 2009

Politicians, or governments, will do anything for money. Michigan is considering allowing bars to stay open until 4 a.m. (they now must stop serving at 2 a.m.).  Also on the table is the repeal of our Sunday blue law, which makes it a crime to sell alcohol before noon on Sunday.

Michigan legislative committee has voted to let bars stay open until 4 a.m. if they pay a $1,500 fee to the state…

I imagine that for many bars, the $1,500 permit is a no-brainer. I worked for several years as a bouncer in college, and at we probably could’ve brought in enough revenue to offset the cost of that permit in a single night if we had an extra 2 hours. I hope it passes. If for no other reason than, if you’ve ever tried to go tailgating before a Sunday football game and you forgot to buy a case of beer on Saturday night, you’re totally out of luck.

The “serious reason” is freedom, but that’s a tough sell these days.  The State has no legitimate right to tell us when we can and cannot drink beers (or buy beers, for that matter) in the first place, but at least now they’re desperate enough to give us something back.

Of course, the political reason the legislature is considering relaxing the rules has everything to do with money, and nothing to do with personal freedom for individuals, which is unfortunate. Their backs are up against the wall, and now they’re trying to do everything they can in order to eke out incremental revenue from the rest of us. Most of the time that means more strictly enforcing revenue-generating laws: most traffic violations especially seat-belt laws would fall in to this category.

To me, if the repeal happens, it underscores how totally arbitrary most of these laws actually are, because 1) the State isn’t making revenue on the current system, and 2) if this is a public safety measure (I don’t believe it is) then it’s evidence that the politicians are more than willing to sell out your “safety” to make a quick buck.

UPDATE: About an hour after I posted this, I was informed that bars will still be required to stop serving alcohol at 2 a.m. Currently patrons must vacate such premises no later than 2:30 a.m., so this isn’t quite the incremental step towards “more freedom” than I had first assumed. Which is why I have the “no legitimate right to tell us when we can and cannot drink beers” argument.  Oh well…)

Modern Day “Robin Hood” Sentenced to a Year in Prison

October 7th, 2009

When banks get caught stealing from you, they get trillion dollar bailouts. If you get caught stealing from a bank, you’ll probably end up in prison like Patricia Keezer, a former branch manager at Citizens Bank (FKA Republic Bank) in Manchester, Michigan. Keezer, who claims to have given the money to needy clients, was recently convicted of embezzling approximately $340,000.

[S]he would give people $2,000 at a time for car repairs, mortgage payments and taxes. She commonly reversed bounced-check charges and other fees.

At least by deed, she appears to have borrowed from the legendary Robin Hood, who famosuly stole from the rich in order to give to the poor.  It’s possible that she squirreled the money away into an offshore bank account somewhere, and concocted the Robin Hood story in order to take advantage of whatever sense of decency and compassion remains in those public officials who go by the title of “Honorable” or “District Attorney”.

But there’s no evidence suggesting that she spent the money on herself, and one would presume that forensic accountants would be able to determine whether she siphoned the money into a secret account somewhere; I know that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but in this case, I’d say it’s far more likely that she did simply steal from the bank in order to help out some less-well-to-do folks.

The parallels with Robin Hood unfortunately end with the similarity of deed, since Keezer expresses remorse for her actions: something that my childhood version of Robin Hood—protector of the impoverished, champion of the poor and oppressed—wouldn’t dare.

Michigan Woman May be Fined for Watching Neighbors’ Children

September 26th, 2009

I’m glad to see that the reader comments on this WZZM story have taken a turn for the better. The article describes how Lisa Snyder of Middleville (MI) has been threatened with fines for watching her neighbors’ kids.

[The] neighborhood school bus stop is right in front of her home. It arrives after her neighbors need to be at work, so she watches three of their children for 15-40 minutes until the bus comes.

The Department of Human Services received a complaint that Snyder was operating an illegal child care home. DHS contacted Snyder and told her to get licensed, stop watching her neighbors’ kids, or face the consequences.

When I first read the story yesterday, I was taken aback by a few of the comments — although I should not have been so surprised by the outright rent-seeking. It’s also a modern-day witch hunt. Snyder will have to defend herself against whatever frivolous charges the State and the DHS dream up, all because some jackass accused her of running an unlicensed day care facility, despite all the evidence and common sense to the contrary.

Commenter msbean74 threw down the gauntlet:

I am a daycare provider and a mother of 2. I would only want the best for my children. I believe if you want to watch other peoples children you should be licensed. There is so much more done now to make sure that provider is safe. I mean we have to do finger printing, CPR, first aid, blood bourne pathogens.. This is all to make sure that we know what to do in an emergency and to know how to properly care for your children. We have to go through training every year. …

All I read is: We spent a lot of time and money to get this license which allows me to do a “job” (which any competent 14 year old girl is capable of doing), and to extract monopoly rents from my customers since, and also prohibits my customers from taking care of one another. Therefore, we the day-care industry believe that we are entitled to be compensated for this time, study, effort, and certification.

i don’t know this lady but i’m sure it was someone with a daycare license that reported her. this is our income and when unlicensed people are doing it, it takes from those who are licensed. everyone has their opinion on the topic but i still believe that [she] should should be fined

This is the pinnacle of “They’re stealing our jobs” selfishness, except in this case “our jobs” were practically never necessary to begin with; after all, people have been taking care of their own for only all of recorded history without the need for state-licensed day-care practictioners. Is it any wonder why people aren’t lining up to hire “licensed” day care providers to sit at the school bus stop?

The key here is how you define the term “watching children” because in reality, whenever children are around, someone is “watching them.” Should a “licensed” day care provider be present at all times and at all places where there are children?

For the sake of argument, I will accept that some level of security, certification, bond, etc., might be required for summer camps, full-time professional day-care services, after-school programs, etc., but it is absolutely preposterous, as a matter of practicality, to presume (as msbean74 must presume) that you could hire someone to come to your house for 15 minutes each morning. Insofar as a genuine need exists for licensing and/or certification of professional (i.e., for profit, primary-source-of-income) day-care providers (a point I am not willing to concede, but which I will entertain for the sake of argument), msbean74 would have a valid point.

But this isn’t about a bona fide day care facility; it’s no different than picking up your neighbors’ children from school or football practice, or allowing them to come over to your house and play in your backyard with your own children. It is no different.

I wouldn’t be terribly surprised to learn that people like msbean74 think these are also stealing their jobs and income. No, I would not be surprised in the least, if people like msbean74 supported laws that required only “licensed” child-taxi-drivers to pick children up from school or extra-curriculars. Or, laws that required “licensed” counselors be in attendance any time you have children in your house who are not your own.

If this is your idea of community, neighborliness, or responsibility, go ahead and include me out.

no third solution

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