w 4A - Monday, December 10, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com che ihi an a3 4& Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com TIMOTHY RABB JOSEPH LICHTERMAN and ADRIENNE ROBERTS ANDREW WEINER EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. FROM THE DAILY Righlt-to -work won't wo rk Consequences for unions may be dire After the defeat of Proposal 2 - which would have enshrined union rights on the state constitution - on the November ballot, state Republicans smelled an opportunity and decid- ed to push through legislation that would make Michigan the 24th right-to-work state. The circumstances of this legislation can be described as shady, to say the least. Protesters outside the Michigan Capitol were sprayed with mace last week. Some were locked out of the building on the grounds that it was "at capacity," a claim that was later shown false. This controversy surrounding the protests outside the State Capitol underlines the controversial nature of the right-to-work legislation itself. De fend the DIA Art isn't for e this may phemy com tory of art major whose mother worked for the Saint Louis Art Museum, I truly believe that some people will never find the deep connection to visual expres- sion that many of us enjoy. This by no means allows those individuals1 cultural importance if they only see it as of the human exp less of which categi Michigan residentsi land and Wayne c to defend the cult Detroit and protect inga tax millage tos Detroit Institute of The DIA has struggles throughoi due to hard econom with a gradual loss Some claimthatthe cial model is brok museums rely on ment, others depen public funding. Th nately, has neither. claimed this past s to a lack of funds,t facing a graduals operations. They p age to provide $2: institute while cho age taxpayer in M and wayne countie years. To incentivi the residents in al would receive unli to the institute. On age passed decisivel Wayne counties wk by a slim margin in] However, the DI deliver. Last Thur veryone. Though Macomb residents sued the insti- ound like blas- tute, claiming they were denied free sing from a his- entrance to the "Faberge: The Rise and Fall" special exhibit. Officials from the Michigan Taxpayers Alli- ance, the group that filed the suit, claim the DIA has reneged on its agreement to the tri-county taxpay- ers. According to the Detroit Free Press, the plaintiffs are demanding that the DIA no longer collect any admission fees from those residing TIMOTHY in Macomb County and award the BURROUGHS plaintiffs the amount they are due for a breach of contract, along with paying court fees. to overlook the The Michigan Taxpayers Asso- e of fine art, even ciation is an organization based in a historic record Macomb County, "dedicated to stop- erience. Regard- ping the state from increasing taxes ory they fall into, from any segment of Michigan citi- in Macomb, Oak- zens." The association was the main ounties decided oppositional force to the DIA mill- ural heritage of age this summer. Leon Drolet, MTA the arts by pass- chairman, stated "as homeowners upport the ailing receive their property tax bills with Arts this August. the new DIA tax, theyare finding out faced financial they have been deceived." The day ut the last decade after the lawsuit was filed, Annmarie iic times coupled Erickson, DIA executive vice presi- of state funding. dent, released a statement disputing institute's finan- the charges, claiming "throughout en. While some the millage campaign, the DIA was a huge endow- clear that free admission would not id on significant apply to all DIA activities and that e DIA, unfortu- visitors would still need to purchase Museum leaders tickets to programs such as Brunch ummer that due with Bach, films at the Detroit Film the institute was Theatre and special exhibits (such as shutdown of all the one in question)." iroposed a mill- The MTA has already rallied many 3 million to the to support their cause. Opponents arging the aver- of this summer's tax millage have :acomb, Oakland joined in, adding that the campaign s $15 a year for 1 run by the DIA was misleading and ze the proposal, dishonest. They tricked residents 1 three counties into supporting an unfair, unneces- mited free visits sary tax increase. Aug. 6, the mill- However, this is far from reality. y in Oakland and Not only was the DIA explicitly clear hile only passing about only general admission being Macomb County. covered, the MTA lawsuit is only a A allegedly didn't bitter attempt to further antagonize sday, a group of the institution after voters failed to bar the tax millage. The MTA claims on its website that "every dollar the government takes, that is not abso- lutely necessary, is theft." This blind, absolutist mentality has led the alli- ance to oppose the DIA in a mis- guided attempt to protect taxpayers. They've encouraged a few residents like plaintiff, Simon Haddad to tell sob stories and give interviews about being denied free access to the DIA to gain attention and sympathy for their cause. This manipulation of the truth is drawing additional flak for DIA executives and supporters who are simply trying to protect one of Detroit's cultural centers. The Detroit Institute of Arts is a cultural landmark. The MTA - along with many other anti-tax raising organizations - frequently oversimplifies issues and looks solely at the bottom line when passing judgment. It is impor- tant to not join the other extreme and blindly support proposals that require tax increases, but to con- sider the entire implications of an issue. If the DIA was to fail, Detroit would lose a cultural landmark that draws tourists, educates and inspires thousands of local residents. It has been the center of Detroit's revival by sponsoring shows from local artists and documenting the city's recovery. The Michigan Taxpayers Alliance should accept its loss from this summer, drop this petty lawsuit and move on to protecting taxpay- ers instead of attacking Detroit icons such as the DIA. - Timothy Burroughs can be reached at timburr@umich.edu. 4 As one of the most unionized states in the country, the workers of Michigan have a vested interest in this legislation. The argu- ment at the core of the right-to-work debate is whether or not workers should be required to join a union in their industry. Almost all right-to-work states are states in the South or Southwest and passed their right-to-work legislation decades ago. The most recent state to pass such legislation was Wisconsin after extreme contention, and Gov. Scott Walker faced a recall election as a result of the legis- lative battle. Currently, 23 states have right- to-work laws that allow workers to opt out of union membership, including both the dues and the benefits of membership. Efforts to make Michigan's debate more civil than Wisconsin's were unsuccessful. Pretend- ing that the Capitol building is at capacity sim- ply to keep protesters out is ridiculous. Lying and misleading protesters for whatever reason is unacceptable. Though the bill receives almost universal Republican support, six Republican state representatives and four Republican state senators refuse to support the bill, citing their party's expedience as a primary concern. Evidence regarding the claim that right- to-work will increase economic growth usually isn't favorable. The Economic Pol- icy Institute, a liberal think tank based in Washington D.C., published an analysis of economic growth in Oklahoma that was con- ducted over the past decade. The state, which introduced right-to-work laws in 2001, has seen jobs in the highly unionized manufac- turing sector fall. This is consistent with opponents who insist that passing this legis- lation will result in a net decrease in wages for both union and non-union members in their respective industries. Furthermore, union membership in Michi- gan has declined significantly over the past six decades, according to the Detroit Free Press's interview with Michigan State Eco- nomics Prof. Charles Ballard. This means that the economic impact of the legislation will be minimal, if not negligible - it will only accel- erate an already established trend. Hopefully, the chaotic circumstances surrounding the passage of this legislation will be rectified and right-to-work's consequences for the state's unions won't be too dire. I 4 CONNECT WITH US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER Facebook.com/MichiganDaily @MichiganDaily Falling off the fiscal cliff a EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Kaan Avdan, Sharik Bashir, Barry Belmont, Eli Cahan, Jesse Klein, Melanie Kruvelis, Patrick Maillet, Jasmine McNenny, Harsha Nahata, Timothy Rabb, Adrienne Roberts, Vanessa Rychlinski, Paul Sherman, Sarah Skaluba, Michael Spaeth, Gus Turner, Derek Wolfe CONNOR CAPLIS VWPOINT fStand up for fairness. Mark Bernstein, a newly elected mem- ber of the University of Michigan's Board of Regents, campaigned on the slogan "Make Col- lege Affordable." However, for some students who've lived in Michigan the majority of their lives, affordable University tuition is a foreign concept. The University is denying in-state tuition to undocumented students who know Michigan as their home and have graduated from the state's high schools. After earning admission by merit, the steep price of out-of- state tuition, which is nearly $25,000 more per year than the tuition paid by in-state admits, effectively prohibits potential students from accessingthe higher education they deserve. The University prides itself in enrolling the leaders and the best. However, its residency policy says otherwise. The UM American Civil Liberties Union Undergraduate Chapter seeks to reform this disturbing policy. The ACLU strongly supports the efforts of the Coalition for Tuition Equality and its efforts to advocate fair tuition practices for all students. An undocumented student is typically brought to the United States at a young age with his or her parents and played no part in his family's choice to immigrate. Michi- gan is where these students have grown up and where they call home. In total, there are currently an estimated 11.2 million undocu- mented immigrants in the United States. Undocumented immigrants represent a diverse section of the American population. They come from all parts of the world, fre- quently to flee oppression or economic hard- ship and explore the opportunities presented in America. Yet the University's tuition poli- cies are barriers that prevent undocumented Americans from realizing their dreams. In most senses, undocumented Michigan residents are faced with the same set of gov- ernmental obligations as any other Michigan resident. They are subject to the same laws, send their children to the same schools and pay the same taxes that all Michigan residents pay. In 2010, according to the Service Employees International Union, state and local taxes paid by families headed by undocumented immi- grants totaled $141,662,286 in Michigan. Their taxes, in part, finance the University, yet out- of-state tuition prevents them from benefitting fairly from those taxes. In a legal brief supporting the DREAM Act, federal legislation that remains in political limbo, the ACLU cites tuition equality as an effective policy to help undocumented Ameri- cans contribute productively to the American economy. The brief applauds states that have adopted tuition equality and asserts, "... a well- educated population leads to increased earning power which then generates higher income, sales, and property taxes. This in turn stimu- lates economic growth for all participants in the states' economies, while increasing the nation's competitiveness in the global econ- omy." The benefits of tuition equality extend beyond deserving undocumented students to society as a whole by producing a well-educat- ed, productive and highly skilled workforce. In 2010, the California Supreme Court upheld a widely adopted form of tuition equality, which requires qualifying students to attend a California high schoolfor at least three years. California adopted tuition equal- ity in 2001. Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Utah and Washington are in another group of 12 states with similar pro- visions. The University needs to adopt tuition equality to ensure that these talented, undocu- mented students have equal access to the high- er education they deserve. The ACLU Undergraduate Chapter of the University of Michigan is a partner in the Coalition for Tuition Equality - a collec- tion of student organizations on campus that fight for in-state tuition for undocumented students. We believe that tuition equality is a fundamental right that the University of Michigan is denying undocumented Michi- gan residents. To get involved in CTE, you can attend the rally for tuition equality this Thursday, Dec. 13 at 3:30 p.m. in the Kuenzel Room of the Michigan Union. I'm proud to attend a college that is so vocal for its promotion of diversity and social justice on campus. We must continue to push for what is fair, what is right, and what is just. Tuition equality will bring the University closer to pro- viding students who merit admission an equal opportunity for abright future. Connor Caplis is an LSA sophomore. ne of my friends (let's call him Bill) loves talking about stocks, entrepreneur- ial ideas and politics with me. Bill is one of those guys who is always thinking of a new busi- ness idea and someone you just know will make it big one day. Although a few of Bill's business PATRICK ideas are ques- MAILLET tionable, the vast majority of them are solid and well thought out. Over the weekend, Bill and I were hanging out with some friends when he asked for my opinion on a new investment he was planning to make. His plan was to short sell U.S. Treasury bills. For those of you who may not know, short selling is used by traders who believe the share price of a stock, or in this case a Treasury bill, will decline. With- out going through all the economic details, short selling U.S. treasury bills is basically like betting against the American economy. Bill said he had been watching the fiscal cliff talks, or lack thereof, and couldn't help but believe that a compromise was unachievable and that America would be tossed off the fiscal cliff. Traditionally, those who bet against America usually lose. Even after America's credit rating was downgraded two years ago, inves- tors still flocked to U.S. treasury bills as an economic safe haven. I tried telling Bill this age-old "rule of thumb" but I couldn't help get- ting a little depressed about the very distinct chance that his invest- ment strategy might actually work. Without massive compromises from both sides, our economy may be in some serious trouble. In 21 days, America falls off the proverbial "fiscal cliff" unless an agreement is reached. Both Demo- crats and Republicans appear to be holding fast to their principles as the clock keeps ticking down. Whether they want to or not, everyone in Washington needs to be prepared for some pivotal changes. First off, taxes on the wealthiest Americans must go up. Government revenue is at a 60-year low, making it impossible to justify the extension of tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 per- cent of Americans. Also, let's not for- get the tax rate for millionaires and billionaires will rise from 35 percent, the rate set by President George W. Bush's tax breaks, to 39 percent, the rate that was set during President Bill Clinton's tenure. This isn't class warfare, and it certainly isn't social- ism. Returning the tax rate for the wealthiest Americans to that of the 1990s - a time of massive economic growth - is the most logical way to begin raising government revenue to where ithas to be. In order to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, the Demo- crats are going to have to compro- mise on a social program spending cut. The age of eligibility for Social Security benefits must be raised from 65 to at least 67. I'm sorry Mom, Dad, and every other fellow liberal, I know it seems like I've betrayed you. But people, we need to face the facts: Republicans simply won't agree to tax raises unless we give them a social benefit cut. Men and women who retire today at age 65 can expect to live on average to 83 and 85, respectively. The original purpose of Social Security was to support those who retire at 65 for a decade, not for two. If life expectancy rises as much as it has, why shouldn't the retire- ment age be slightly raised?- Also, with an enormous aging population, the entire program seems to be on the brink of bankruptcy. Without a serious change, our parents will bankrupt Social Security and leave us with nothingto depend on. Most importantly, America needs to drastically cut its defense spending. In 2011, America spent $695.7 billion on national defense. This is not only the most expen- sive defense budget in the world, but larger than the next 12 nations following us combined. Ever since 9/11, American defense spending has been out of control. Unfortu- nately, increasing military spend- ing is just like gaining unwanted weight - it's a hell of a lot easier putting it on than losing it. Washington needs to compromise to prevent calamity. If politicians act to reduce this mammoth budget, they're threat- ened with losing their campaign support from huge corporate donors such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and various other defense contractors. America has become a military empire with more than 662 foreign bases in more than 38 other countries. Yes, cutting defense spending may result in the loss of jobs, particularly some employees of the corporations listed, but with- out drastic cuts American defense spending will never be curbed and will continue to rise uncontrollably. These three proposals are far from unique and, will certainly not cure our fiscal problems alone. Instead, they should be considered stepping stones for compromise. Without a serious agreement, particularly in these three fields, I fear that Amer- ica may be driven off the fiscal cliff. Sorry Bill, you're a good friend, but I pray that your bet is wrong. - PatrickMaillet can be reached at maillet@umich.edu. CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and viewpoints. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while viewpoints should be 550-850 words. Send the writer's full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.