Engler wasted a golden opportunity

By Geoffrey N. Fieger / Detroit News 2/7/02

Gov. John Engler is completing his third term as the state's highest-ranking elected official.
 
   The sunset of the "Engler era" means the beginning of a new political day in Michigan. The legacy of the Engler administration may be debatable in some respects, but in significant areas there cannot be much legitimate argument -- only challenges for the people and the next governor. The facts suggest to me that the enduring legacy of John Engler will be of wasted opportunities, cruelty and mismanagement.
 
   Engler rose to power on a platform of economic and government "reforms." Granted, he has implemented economic "changes," but to what end? Eleven years ago we had a budget deficit. Today, after nearly a decade of unprecedented national economic growth, we face the prospect of a $1 billion budget deficit.

   Eleven years ago, we had an industrial infrastructure that supported a broad industrial base. Today, our roads and bridges are crumbling around an economic base that is vulnerable to any foul economic wind (Ford, Kmart, Jacobsons, to name a few).

   While Engler was governor, Michigan did prosper for a time. However, this occurred as the result of a boom in the national economy, not Engler's management. The fact that this most recent and predicable economic depression has produced an immediate negative effect on Michigan's economy exposes Engler's economic policies what they are: wasted opportunities.

   How else can one explain Michigan's immediate decline after a decade of economic boom? What was done to protect Michigan from predictable economic downturns during the decade of prosperity? We had a real opportunity for 10 years to make Michigan a workplace with a workforce capable of weathering national recessions. That opportunity was squandered.

   Today, state government has less accountability to the people than 10 years ago. At a time when funding for essential services is being slashed, the governor and his cohorts allowed themselves to receive executive-style pay raises and increased pensions. State income taxes are lower, but the much-touted "tax revolution" was ultimately exposed as a tax shift as fees, sales taxes and local government taxes greatly increased to make up for lost revenue. Real estate taxes are once again creeping up, and the next governor will face huge revenue shortfalls.

   When subjected to real scrutiny, Engler's policies on the economy, taxes and government accountability are an utter failure, and a disaster for Michigan's future.

   Eleven years ago, Michigan was know as a beautiful and compassionate state, and its government reflected those values. Under the guise of "reducing government regulation" and "privatization," government services and oversight were eliminated. The cost of these policies in terms of human suffering and damage to the environment has been immeasurable.

   The country is only now understanding the cost of GOP "conservatism" (i.e., no government oversight of corporate sponsors) as a result of the Enron debacle, but the citizens of Michigan have been paying dearly for 11 years. Engler has run Michigan exactly as Ken Lay ran Enron: through balance sheets of smoke and mirrors. The state was funded on a phony premise that the revenue would continue -- just like the false profit projections of
Enron.

   One example seems to capture the cruelty of the past decade. Twelve years ago, Michigan had a fine system of mental health facilities that provided compassionate and effective care for the ill. This system was dismantled with little regard for the impact on the ill and their families.
 
   Homelessness and jail populations increased as the mentally ill flooded the jails, where they are a much greater expense to taxpayers than receiving medical treatment. Indeed, Engler simply took millions of dollars out of human services and funneled hundreds of millions to construction cronies who build prisons.

   Engler's policies have not been confined to increasing human suffering. The Engler legacy includes the destruction of the Department of Natural resources and any meaningful enforcement of environmental laws. Wetland and scenic areas have been opened to developers, and oversight has virtually disappeared.

   Mobile home parks, golf courses and strip malls mark the ever expanding boundaries of sprawl. You don't have to travel to Northern Michigan to witness the spoiling of our natural resources. Raw sewage in Oakland and Macomb counties or toxic waste sites in Wayne County are a few Metro Detroit examples.

   The next governor will have the anti-political task of restoring meaningful state agencies and taking on the corporate interests who now have powerful political capital in the Republican Legislature.

   Perhaps the most frightening and enduring change attributable to Engler are his mass appointments of overwhelmingly white, male, so-called Federalist judges. Like the Federalists of old, these judges are politically motivated to protect the coffers of the most affluent interests, rather than protecting the rights of our most vulnerable citizens.

   The Michigan Federalist judiciary has earned a national reputations for undermining the jury system and the rights of individual liberties in favor of corporations. In Michigan, for example, citizens injured by a product with a defect or by bad doctors or hospitals have virtually lost their rights to sue for injuries. Jury verdicts in favor of plaintiffs are routinely reversed by Engler appointees to the bench. In Michigan's appellate courts, an injured citizen does not stand a chance.

   The next governor will have to restore some balance and integrity to the judiciary.

   In the end, the Engler legacy must be considered in the context of a booming national economy and with regard to its enduring effects. The recent economic downturn reveals the transitory illusion of his success, but the scars of trampled rights and broken hearts endure.

Geoffrey N. Fieger is a Southfield attorney and the 1998 Democratic gubernatorial candidate. Write letters to The Detroit News, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226, or fax to (313) 222-6417 or send e-mail to letters@detnews.com.