Prop 1 went down in flames

OK, so that's that. For good or for bad, Prop 1 went down in flames.
While I did vote Yes in the end, I did so only grudgingly, and have no ill will whatsoever towards anyone who voted No. It's done.

Now, there's three things which could happen:
1. Nothing. The GOP legislature has proven themselves damned good at doing that. The roads will continue to fall to shit.
Odds of happening: About 10%...and under the circumstances, "Nothing at all" may prove to be the BEST scenario going forward.
2. A sensible and fair solution: Making corporations start paying a reasonable share of taxes again.
Odds of happening (at least before January 2017): HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!
3. Schools, the poor, the elderly and other critical safety net services get slashed even further, continuing our progress towards Michissippi. The roads get partially repaired, but with a lot of corruption and kickbacks along the way, resulting in a lousy job being done at twice the fair price.
Odds of happening: 90%.
I'm not saying this to make No voters feel bad...because the GOP-held legislature would very likely have STILL slashed things to the bone even if Prop 1 had *passed*. In my view this was a lose/lose situation, which is why I've remained pretty quiet about it until now: There was, in my view, no "right" choice here; both of them sucked eggs.
Either way, no matter how bad you thought things were before, just watch...and pray that the voters of Michigan FINALLY wake the fuck up.

Charles Gaba

Riots in Baltimore

What rioters in Baltimore have done is wrong, criminal, and inexcusable, and should be punished.

But, who is the real blame? These rioters are responsible for their actions, but shouldn't constant negative influences, throughout their lives by family, community, and government share the cause of the results?

It certainly is not one group or one individual, who contributed to this mindset. Whether we deny it or not, we are all partially at fault, we have all contributed to this malaise that is tearing away the fabric of our country, and yet not a daily discussion. Evidently, if you don't talk about it ,it doesn't exist.

Is it our judicial system that has taken away the voting rights act, and allowed various states to implement draconian actions when it comes to casting a ballot for minorities, mostly black, making a right and duty difficult to exercise, rendering many,many minority voters politically impotent?

Is it our justice system that allows those few malcontents and racists in law enforcement agencies to do unmitigated harm in minority communities in our country, without fear of challenge or punishment for their deeds? Or the fact that many of these agencies continue on their inept path, never considering change until challenged by the abused citizens, or the Federal government?

Is it those white conservative legislators who have not passed a single youth summer's job program in six years, and yet demand increases in budgets for defense? What they have done by not funding summer youth job programs is to deny young people, both black-and-white, mostly minorities, the experience of learning responsibility in the workplace and to earn the money they need. Many of these same white legislators obtain summer jobs for their own children from their political networking, while totally ignoring the plight of low income youth.

These same legislators reduced funding for education from 2008 through 2013, depriving our children, many of them minorities,of the opportunity for self-improvement, self esteem, and pride. Yet, they found funding for many projects that would appease their constituency.

It appears that a small minority of white (sometimes not) law enforcement officers, in too many incidences, and in too many cities, abuse their power concerning the black community, as well as to other minorities, without fear of discipline.

You don't have to be a liberal to recognize both blatant racism and the innocuous appearance of racism that still exists in our country today. I do not defend, and will never defend those guilty of this destruction by rioting, I've only tried to remind others that deprivation of certain rights enjoyed by most but denied to a large segment of our society helps contribute to the type of lawlessness,

Jerry Soble    Orchard lake, MI