LSJ Blogs: Derek Melot is Just Asking

Don't forget margin of error

I’m going to risk a dip into the world of polling. I hope Mark Grebner isn’t reading.

The Rasmussen poll that’s drawn media attention does not really tell us who’s leading the Democratic race for governor. And Pete Hoekstra’s lead in the Republican primary could be just a whisper.

Yes, it’s that old “plus or minus” thing.

If opinion polls are to rule ...

My Tuesday column on the health-care bill has prompted mail from bill opponents, who make a variety of charges that have been lodged before.

One that I find fascinating is the linkage between polling and how Congress is supposed to vote. If I may summarize the argument, since polls showed a majority or plurality (depending on the poll) opposed, it was wrong for Congress to pass the health-care bill and the companion fix bill.

I had cause to check pollster.com’s summary of polling on the subject. As of yesterday, the rolling average showed 50.4 percent opposed to the health bill and 42.1 percent in favor. So, let’s say, for the sake of argument, that a majority of voters didn’t want this bill at the time it was passed.

How would this not be 'terrorism'?

The only mention of the word “terror” I can find in the Associated Press story on the Michigan arrests is “David Cid, executive director of the Oklahoma City-based Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, said there has been a resurgence in the past year or two of ‘domestic militancy’ similar to what was seen before the Oklahoma City bombing.”

So, why aren’t we calling these people terrorists, or at least alleged terrorists? We know the government never makes mistakes on the people it seizes. Every detainee ever held in Guantanamo is/was a terrorist, right?

So much spent

Had CSPAN on this morning while feeding the dogs and I heard this figure: $1 trillion spent in Afghanistan and Iraq.

$1 trillion.

It staggers the mind.

Will consolidation save us?

The consolidation of public agencies has become one of those accepted good things that everyone needs to back. But what if the assumption — consolidation saves money — is wrong?

The Chicago Tribune (hat tip to reader Tom Goodwin for the link) has a story about how Illinois is seeing school districts consolidate, but not saving money. An expert quoted in the story noted that when two districts become one, a new teacher contract is needed and the practice usually is to adopt the higher of the two pay scales. Politicians also may underestimate what new transportation or administrative costs may arise.

Crime rates low, and too high

This headline, “Homicides hit 40-year low in St. Petersburg (Fla.)” got me to thinking about Lansing’s homicides.

St. Pete’s had 11 homicides in 2009, which seems to have caught many in that city of 245,000 by surprise. I asked crack LSJ crime reporter Kevin Grasha what the 2009 figure was for the city of Lansing.

Yep, 11. And that does not include a homicide in Lansing Township that occurred one block over from a city line, he told me.

So, should we Lansing residents buy bars for our windows because our 2009 homicide count was as high as that of a city twice our size?

What's the line on repeal again?

What is this, role reversal theater? First, congressional Democrats show party discipline — or enough of it — to pass a health-care bill. Now, Republicans can’t get their talking points straight. Case in point:

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox is part of a bid by Republican attorneys general to seek court repeal of the health-care bill. He told the AP, it’s an “unprecedented overreach by Congress and the President.”

Contrast that with what Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn said Monday: “There is non-controversial stuff here like the pre-existing conditions exclusion and those sorts of things ... We are not interested in repealing that. And that is frankly a distraction.” (UPDATE 11:23 a.m. 3-25: Cornyn's back in line -- "Some media outlets have misrepresented my position on repealing and replacing the President’s $2.6 trillion health care bill. Make no mistake about it: I fully support repealing this Washington takeover of health care and replacing it with a bipartisan bill that lowers the cost of health care.")

Shorter week means longer weekend

Now that he has everyone’s attention. Mayor Virg Bernero may have shook up the city budgeting process Monday with his plan to convert the city to a four-day work week and impose a 10 percent pay cut on non-emergency city workers.

Council Vice President Kathie Dunbar said she’s been speaking to city employees and the reaction she’s hearing isn’t as bad as you might think.

Stadium deals impress, puzzle

I think congratulations are in order for the Lansing Lugnuts and the city’s entertainment authority. In the toughest economy of a generation, they somehow increased the revenue from advertising rights at the former Oldsmobile Park.

The city’s annual share goes from $100,000 when General Motors had the naming rights to the park to $129,000 per year, with the money coming from Cooley Law School and Jackson National Life.

Spokane, what a view

While out covering the MSU Spartans in the NCAA Tournament, staff photographer Rod Sanford took some free time to snap pics of Spokane itself and post them to his facebook page. I have posted one here, but the series, alas, is not on the lsj.com site at this time.)

The photos of Spokane Falls -- right in the middle of downtown Spokane -- are stunning.

I was surprised to discover that Spokane is, in size, pretty much like Lansing-East Lansing.

Spokane itself has 202,000 people to Lansing’s 113,000, but the two metro areas are almost even (Spokane MSA of 462,000, Lansing-East Lansing MSA of 454,000). You think of NCAA tourney sites as being the province only of big cities, but there you go.

Household incomes are close, too, with Spokane at $41,588 and Lansing at $38,101 (data drawn from city-data.com).

I don’t think I have a point here, other than I hope Spokanians ... Spokanites ... Spokans ... appreciate how cool it is to have such a water feature in the middle of town.