Just when it seemed the news could not possibly get any worse for Michigan, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that the state's median income has, for the first time, dropped below the national average. The agency also found that household earnings - a bit more than $46,000/year - are 12 percent lower than they were seven years ago.
The news, which comes amidst record unemployment, home foreclosures, energy prices, and job loss, compelled the state's leading conservative voices to publish curt editorials about the state's lacking political leadership and sense of urgency. The Detroit News called for a "Marshall Plan" to revive the state's economic crisis. While the Grand Rapids Press urged candidates in the 2006 election to focus on the bold changes "the state must make in tax policy, labor climate, education reform, utility infrastructure, government reorganiztion and regulatory burden."
The two editorials, appearing in print on the same day, are the latest indication of the consensus sweeping the Great Lakes state about the immediate need to retain and attract modern companies, retrain the workforce, and rebuild crumbling cities.
