Michigan's Economy - Hope for the Future

It's no secret that Michigan's economy needs a lot of help. Recently I've heard a commercial from the MEA (Michigan Education Association) that says: "The MEA - Preparing our students for the jobs that Michigan needs."
Well, I can only hope the MEA means they're teaching the kids to speak Spanish or Chinese. That's what they'll need to get Michigan's jobs.
They really should be teaching a mandatory new course about "Real Home Economics." All students expecting to eventually get a job should learn how to balance a checkbook, understand the value and benefits of compound interest, and the costs of using a credit card and making only the minimum monthly payment.
Sorry for the digression - back to the economy. To get the state's budget back into the black we need to add sources of revenue. The legislators will never be able to make really meaningful cuts in expenditures.
We should take Nevada's plan one step further. Not only should we open state-run houses of pleasure, but the state should add to its sales of alcohol by selling other recreational drugs. Not only would the state government gain a huge amount of income, but by selling only to qualified, approved customers they could GREATLY reduce police and prison costs.
Potential customers could be required to get a license or permit, like the driver's license, with their picture on it. And they could charge a substantial fee for the license, too!
These new state drug stores could be located in the new, state-owned and run casinos they should build, too.

Campaign Finance Reform!

Why should non-voters control our government and its lawmaking?

It should be illegal for any candidate to receive a contribution from anyone other than a lawfully registered voter. Corporations not only cannot vote, they cannot have a conscience. By intentional design they are only interested in profit and self-perpetuation. Those are their purposes, and the public good is not included. Get corporations and any other 'legal entities' out of our lawmaking process!

The public owns the airwaves. Broadcast stations license the use of the airwaves from the public's representative, our government. Campaign air-time should be limited and provided cost-free to candidates. That would reduce campaign finance requirements considerably. They'd still have to raise money for chartering airplanes, limos, and paying office rent.

Health Care Reform?

Real health care reform, meant for its users rather than its creators, would be very different than the current proposals.

In my opinion, what we need is a completely separate, parallel system.

The first requirement is to firmly define what 'basic health care' really means, and exactly what medical care and services should be provided to everyone.

Once that is done, then establish publicly-owned clinics to provide only those basic services. Any elective surgery or other optional procedures would still be done by the existing commercial system.

The clinics would be staffed by people on a straight salary system, with no pay-per-procedure as in the current commercial system. In addition, I say that all the medical staff should be educated in dedicated, publicly-owned schools with specialized courses for this specific field. This is to avoid competition with existing medical schools. The medical practitioners in my proposed system would be something like the current Physician's Assistant, but with a different title.

Any educational institution could be allowed to teach the courses and grant the degrees but the course outlines, plans and curriculum would be nationally standardized and all graduates would be required to pass the same tests.

I visualize the new public system providing basic care such as vaccinations, pre-natal examinations, patching up cuts and setting broken bones after accidents, and so on. No fancy diagnostic technology beyond basic X-rays - no MRI's or CAT scans. Those are for the commercial system.