Of the fours speakers at the Westland, Michigan AMVETS Memorial Hall last night, the one that is most well known around the state is Jack McHugh, Senior Legislative Analyst, of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.Jack has been around the block a few times when it comes to the workings of Michigan's government. He understands that passion alone will not make efforts such as the Tea Party a success when it comes to changing government.
It is not so much about sending new people to Lansing as it is changing the behaviors of those who are already there... a big challenge.
Jack confided to me that this was the first time the presentation we saw had been shown and it was still a work in progress... probably subject to revision and refinement. His main point was that it was not necessarily the stated positions of a candidate or incumbent that was the key to change as much as understanding what really drives politicians and providing the right incentives to change their voting behaviors.
Jack has a plan which I won't reveal, but it is targeted and could be effective. It requires changing mindsets of elected officials from both parties about what is important to them.That's a big task. We've all witnessed the dramatic growth of the Federal government while the private sector has shrunken. We've seen the state governments resist fiscal reform despite loss of tax revenues, instead seeking new sources of revenues such as the "sales tax on services." Government, like unions, are focused on protecting their turfs rather than representing the people for whom they were elected to represent.
It's like a dog that won't stop barking until it is fed and you'd rather feed the damn thing thing than listen to it. At some point you have to change the incentive.