Michigan Economic Development Corporation: Fill & Download for Free

I'm a little surprised that US cities happen to be in the argument, by the same token, Germany at its peak and transition mirrors that of the US. I can think of no better candidate than Detroit - a city, and state for that matter, anxious for its 2.0. Geographically they are have similar latitudes and climate, economically both represent artifacts of past national greatness, and academically they host the finest universities in the world.Artists and other members of the pure creative class have taken advantage of many abandoned properties and created new use situations for other relics of Michigan's glory days. To the other commenter's mention of the state financing artists/creatives activities, the state of Michigan via Michigan Economic Development Corporation and private initiatives like Bizdom U show a willingness from establishment players to invest in good work that produce a unique future.US citizens are still reluctant to jump on the Detroit bandwagon, though eventually its appeal will become undeniable.

I think start-ups (especially in web technology, biotech, and alternative energy) could play a vital role in driving innovation and generating jobs. Michigan already has great universities for research and they also produce talented graduates who often leave the State in search of careers. Just in the past year, many Venture Capital and Private Equity firms have formed and there is a few incubators/accelerators such as BizdomU for getting together entrepreneurs and providing mentoring necessary for getting the startups going. More support from the State and governor would also help, especially in cooperation with the MEDC (Michigan Economic Development Corporation).

As a conservative, what's your opinion about the GOP lame-duck efforts in North Carolina, Michigan, and Wisconsin to undermine the incoming Democratic governors?I think it’s a bad idea.[1]A core principle of Democracy, which serves to hold public servants accountable to the will of the people, is the peaceful transfer of power to the winner of elections- and this action on their part amounts to withholding it. As a conservative, I worry when I see politicians contravene core principles of legitimate governance- not only are they breaking with a long history of functional democratic norms, it tells me they aren’t willing to be subject to the principles by which they derive their authority.That’s the behavior of a party not committed to democracy- it is the behavior of one that knows it can’t win in a straight democratic contest, and wants to win anyways.No one is really bothering to hide the purpose of this lame duck legislation: to continue the Republicans’ hold on state government, even at the expense of core democratic principles like respect for the separation of powers and majority rule. The legislation would nullify the decision-making of Wisconsin’s voters, who rejected Republicans for every statewide office in the November midterms.The lame duck legislation would, for example, prevent Mr. Evers from fulfilling a campaign promise to take Wisconsin out of a multistate lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act. It will also diminish the governor’s control over the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, a scandal-ridden public-private agency created by Mr. Walker to foster job creation, by giving the legislature an equal number of appointees to the board as the governor and revoking the governor’s power to appoint the board’s chief executive. ~[Opinion | Wisconsin Is About to Make a Huge Mistake]It tells me that they’re more interested in bending the state to their will than they are to serving the people of it. As a conservative, I don’t like to see radical efforts of this sort that subvert democracy, separation of powers, and vacate the election of no small amount of its consequences in terms of what voters voted for. I think it shameful, abusive, and undemocratic. Those engaged in it, in my view, have shown themselves unworthyIn Wisconsin, where Democrats earned more votes in all races than Republicans did, the Republicans nonetheless took home 63 of 99 state legislative seats. When the GOP vote (using power derived from gerrymandered districts) to take away the incoming Governor and DA’s powers, they seek to deny those officials the ability to (among other things) challenge the means by which the retain legislative power. This is nakedly about keeping control of WI’s electoral systems not just for 2020, but (because it is an apportionment year) for the next decade- and it’s being done with power derived not from legitimate voter support, but stolen from majorities:In other Wisconsin news today, the state posted the official 2018 Assembly election results. It's a beautiful gerrymander. Dems got 190,000 more votes but Reps got 63/99 seats. Key is assuring many GOP districts get just over 50% of vote even in a bad year for the party. pic.twitter.com/WEOvpr4EUD— Barry Burden (@bcburden) December 4, 2018The results on their face show a legislative majority that does not command a majority of voter support, and their actions show that they know it. What they’re taking out of the hands of the Governor’s office, they arrogate to themselves- and what they’re taking away is the ability to affect apportionment or anything else to do with why the state is among the most-gerrymandered in the country.Events in Wisconsin aren't getting enough national attention. Not only are Republicans trying to emasculate a new elected Democratic governor, they're doing so to empower a legislature they will control only due to gerrymandering 1/ https://t.co/28rtwXriHZ— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) December 4, 2018In the broader context, Wisconsin isn’t an island- similar maneuvers are underway or have taken place in other states that promise to be swing states in 2020. It fits into a pattern in which the GOP decline to participate in democracy as if the results were the will of the electorate. That they won only by virtue of technicality, one they contrived themselves and fight tooth and nail to defend, says they’ve abandoned good faith participation in democracy and will do what they must to keep power.It’s worth remembering that the last apportionment year was 2010, and by virtue of their ability to draw the maps and pick their own voters, the GOP have been over-represented legislatively at the state and federal level ever since- and this, in turn, has given them the ability to pack the state and federal courts and SCOTUS. 2020 is another apportionment year, and it looks very much like the efforts underway in WI, MI, SC, PA, and OH are all about tipping control in those states, which will play pivotal roles in that year’s presidential election.As a conservative, I think the GOP is doubling down in a direction that cannot be sustained democratically. Extreme maneuvers like this (pulling the power they gave their governor away when he lost to a Democrat) reveal that their commitment is to their own power, not to serving the will of the electorate.Their actions show that in the face of having lost electoral majorities, their only true north is their own power. David Frum crystallized it here to describe what’s happening as the GOP give up on pretenses that the will of the electorate matters:The Republican Party has a platform that can’t prevail in democratic competition. This is one of the big themes of this book, and why I think this situation is so dangerous. When highly committed parties strongly believe [in] things that they cannot achieve democratically, they don’t give up on their beliefs — they give up on democracy. ~[David Frum on why Republicans chose Trumpocracy over democracy]This direction does not bode well for the future of America as a viable democratic republic. As a conservative, I worry that this behavior reveals the Republican party to have given up on democracy, that it has long been only pretending to care about what the voters want as a means by which to participate in bad faith in elections.I am reminded just now of the following quote:Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. ~[John F. Kennedy]History tells us what this might mean, and it isn’t pretty.Footnotes[1] Opinion | Wisconsin Is About to Make a Huge Mistake