Jack Lessenberry

Well, we’ve gotten past the so-called fiscal cliff, at least for now, and averted what might have been a disaster for our economy.

Soon, once everyone is back to work, you can expect to see a whole lot of attention paid to the economic disaster that is Detroit.

The state is reviewing the city’s finances, and the governor may soon name an emergency financial manager.

You’ll be hearing a lot about that as things move along. But there is another horrendous crisis destroying Detroit that we don’t talk much about. Black people are killing black people at a horrendous rate, and nobody seems sufficiently concerned. 

Well, it’s Christmas Eve, and if you are like me you are thinking, “I really should start shopping pretty soon.“

I was just kidding. After all, some drug stores do stay open past midnight. But whether and however you celebrate the holidays, it has been a fascinating year with a lot of surprises.

In this "week in review" political analyst Jack Lessenberry chats with Weekend Edition host Rina Miller about  some of the big regional news stories of the week.

They discuss the gun legislation that would ease restriction on where guns could be carried in the state.

Governor Rick Snyder vetoed the bill. But Lessenberry says the governor didn't veto the bill as a reaction to the Connecticut school shootings.

“The sponsor of the bill was told before Connecticut that the governor would veto it unless it allowed schools to opt out and the sponsor wasn’t willing to do that," Lessenberry says.

This week the governor approved legislation that would phase out the tax on industrial and business equipment. Lessenberry says Snyder thought the bill would help expand business in the state.

Miller and Lessenberry also talked about the slew of bills Snyder signed in Detroit. The bills would establish a Regional Transit Authority to fund and operate southeast Michigan’s fragmented transit systems;  create an authority to run Detroit’s troubled public lighting system; continue a downtown development district for a new hockey arena; and help Detroit’s Eastern Market get additional funds.

Governor Rick Snyder has signed so many momentous bills in the last week that some which normally might have gotten headlines have been almost overlooked. One was yesterday.

This is a new law that makes it harder to recall state officials, meaning to remove them from office by a special election before their term is over. There’s bound to be a lot of grumbling that this is anti-democratic, that the lawmakers did this to protect themselves from being removed by outraged citizens. 

Well, I am sure that may have been a motivation for some. But in fact, making recalls harder is a good thing. Good for democracy and our state, and will make it easier for lawmakers to do their jobs.

Here’s why. We already have a system of recalls -- it’s called elections. Officials serve short terms. House members have to run every two years. State senators and most other state officials, including the governor, every four years. Only judges serve longer.

In order for representative democracy to work, elected officials sometimes must make unpopular decisions. Washington did, Lincoln did, the Roosevelt’s and Reagan did. State legislators, ditto.

But in recent years, any time Michigan lawmakers have done something some faction doesn’t like, it’s been common to start hollering “recall.”

Whether or not you are from the Detroit area, you may well have wondered about the ongoing issue of the street lights.

There’s been constant discussion about the fact that at least half the lights never come on. This is not a great selling point for a city with a major crime problem.

So, why doesn’t Detroit just replace the lights? How expensive can new bulbs be? Well, it turns out that isn’t the real problem.

A few weeks ago, I talked to Glenda Price, a member of the city’s financial advisory board. She had just had a tour of the lighting department. She told me “the wonder is that any of the lights come on at all.” Some of the equipment is a century old.

Not only is it worn out, there is no way to get spare parts. So technicians jury-rig things, and cannibalize some machinery to keep other parts going.

But there’s only so much they can do. There’s hope now, however. Yesterday, Governor Rick Snyder came to Detroit to sign legislation allowing the city to appoint an authority that will be able to issue bonds, raise money, and fix the lighting system.

That was one of the less controversial results of the legislature’s now-famous lame duck session. Additionally, the governor signed a law making it easier for the Downtown Development Authority to help Mike Ilitch build the new hockey arena and entertainment complex he wants in the city.