Other View: Andy Dillon's fair plan

Opinion

July 31, 2009

Anonymous The Record Eagle Fri Jul 31, 2009, 10:00 PM EDT

Michigan House Speaker Andy Dillon ...is on the right track.

Dillon ... outlined a plan to overhaul health care for government employees that could save the state as much as $900 million a year.

... (I)t would align the health care benefits of Michigan government workers with those of other states and consolidate the state's hundreds of different plans into one. ...

Dillon correctly noted that government, university and school employees in Michigan generally receive better and more expensive health care coverage than their counterparts in other states and those in the private sector. ...

Unfortunately, Dillon's plan already is running into opposition ... (the) Michigan Education Association ... (said) "these half million people he's talking about are taxpayers, too. All he's talking about is shifting costs to them."

... That is not at all an unfair burden to place on government workers, many of whom might also be able to keep their jobs because the state will have $900 million in additional cash to help it avoid more layoffs.

Midland Daily News

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Opinion

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Letters to the editor: 02/11/2012

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Letters to the Editor: 02/10/2012

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Feb 10, 2012 7:24 am
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Other View: Not the time for 'right-to-work' fight

Michigan's Legislature should follow the lead of Gov. Rick Snyder and avoid staging an ugly confrontation over right-to-work legislation.
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Feb 9, 2012 7:24 am 1 Photo
Letters to the Editor: 02/08/2012

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Feb 9, 2012 7:24 am
Op-Ed: Komen decision set precedent

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Feb 9, 2012 7:24 am 1 Photo
Op-Ed: Reform falls on deaf ears

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Feb 9, 2012 7:24 am 1 Photo
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Numbers show economic gains; more is yet to be done

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Feb 8, 2012 7:19 am
Forum: HopeLine gives phones to needy

If you received a new phone for the holidays, you can easily turn your old device into a lifeline by recycling it or putting it in the hands of someone who needs it.
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Feb 8, 2012 7:19 am 1 Photo
Letters to the Editor: 02/08/2012

Honor basic concepts; You don't have to yell
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Feb 8, 2012 7:19 am
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Bertha Vos switch will work if Montessori gets home

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Feb 7, 2012 7:18 am
Forum: Moving can't be only autism option

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Feb 7, 2012 7:18 am
Letters to the Editor: 02/07/2012

Calling us to account; A healthier alternative
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Feb 7, 2012 7:18 am
Monday, February 6, 2012
Cheers: 02/06/2012

To Elnora Milliken; the late Cliff Merrick; city commissioners; the Traverse City Planning Commission; photographer Mark Lindsay; the Herbert and Grace Dow Foundation; and Marty Dagneau Bates and her terrier Tully.
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Feb 6, 2012 7:39 am
Letters to the Editor: 02/06/2012

Continued ...
Feb 6, 2012 7:39 am
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Our view: Battle of Acme may be over

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Feb 5, 2012 7:14 am
Jack Segal: Ending the war in Afghanistan

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Feb 5, 2012 7:14 am
Letters to the editor: 02/05/2012

Don't want to pay more; Burgers still dominate
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Feb 5, 2012 7:14 am
Jack Lessenberry: Overcoming the Morouns

Americans are justifiably outraged whenever a lawmaker is caught taking bribes or misusing public funds. But what do you suppose the voters' reaction would be if it were discovered that one very rich family was trying to buy off the Legislature solely for their own financial gain? What if that family spent millions on what amounted to legalized bribes to successfully block a project that virtually every corporation in the state agreed was essential to Michigan's economic future? We are talking about the family of Manuel J. "Matty" Moroun, the 84-year-old billionaire who owns the aging Ambassador Bridge.
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Feb 5, 2012 7:14 am
George Weeks: Granholm has new gig

Over the last half-century, most Michigan governors upon leaving office have gone into or sought another form of public service. The last one, Democrat Jeniffer Granholm, is blazing into the public light with a sprightly talk show gig on California-based national cable TV.
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Feb 5, 2012 7:14 am 1 Photo
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Another view: U.S. budget needs work

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Feb 4, 2012 7:14 am
Another view: Words of a weasel

In his Missourinet blog this week, Bob Priddy (news director for the Missourinet, a statewide radio network) took state legislators to task for rhetoric and tossing about phrases such as revenue enhancement. Priddy relates that it was Theodore Roosevelt, recalling a friend in 1879, who would have called phrases such as "revenue enhancement" weasel words.
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Feb 4, 2012 7:14 am

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