Last year, while talking to a Republican activist, Mike Bouchard commented that he would "trade anything" in exchange for making Michigan a "right-to-work" state.

Put aside for a moment the outrageous overstatement (they're not trading it for an income tax increase, that's for sure), it did tell me how badly Republicans want it. But it also showed how volatile the issue is.
Of course right to work would prohibit making union membership a condition of employment.
This came up during the Republican gubernatorial primary, when Mike Bouchard put on a full court press to push for right-to-work legislation.
While the majority of GOP candidates support the concept, Pete Hoekstra for one aggressively objected to the idea, saying it would cause "all-out war" in the Legislature, and could paralyze the Legislature.
Twenty-two states currently have right-to-work laws on the books, mostly in the southern and western United States.
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While the governor has sent the signal that a service tax proposal is on the back burner until further notice, those in the human services and other communities pulling for more new tax revenue were not happy with the news.
Karen Holcomb-Merrill of the Michigan League for Human Services also admits, however, that the votes aren't there for the idea, but hopes they will be during the lame duck session.
But that hope may be futile.
If the pundits' predictions of a big GOP year in the November elections are correct, it will mean the chances of approval will go from nearly impossible to impossible.
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It occurred to me during this past Father's Day, while we have a day for fathers, mothers and grandparents (which even has its own website), we don't have a permanent, annual, national Children's Day observation.
While some have argued that every day is children's day, that sounds like a cop-out.
Small, isolated efforts to have a national Children's Day have popped up since the mid-1800s, mostly stemming from churches and church organizations—but failed to gain momentum.
During that time, many other countries, along with the United Nations, have recognized an annual Children's Day.
But why doesn't the United States? I hope it's not because others beat the U.S. to the punch in having one.
It's not too late. If we can use state taxpayer dollars to fight in court to revive a National Day of Prayer (it's tied up in court following a judge's ruling and Attorney General Mike Cox has entered the fray to support the day), we should at least support a national Children's Day, I would think.
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If it taught us anything, the recent flap over the Tea Party in Michigan, where a retired UAW shop steward gathered (apparently, as of this printing) enough petition signatures to put a Tea Party on the statewide ballot, taught us that politics is no different than the cutthroat world of business (where all is fair unless it's illegal) and probably worse.
The Tea Party people for months have told me, and I'm sure many others, that they're "not a party with candidates, or a specific agenda."
Obviously, someone saw the opportunity, as a group was promoting a name (product) in the media (Tea Party) and gaining much political wealth with it, but never bothering to worry that someone else could just walk in and take it.
Example: For years we've watched as organizations not savvy in Internet doings have finally decided to start their own website, but then realized they've been thwarted by someone else who (much earlier) registered the URL and now owns the rights to it.
Incidentally, the original tea partiers have staked out a URL, teapartyhd.com, as well as teaparty.org. They've even apparently acquired the new URL suffix .tv (dot tv) with www.teaparty.tv, which when visited, seems to take users to their established website.
So they're ahead of the curve in the Web world, even though the former Canadian rock group, The Tea Party (which has nothing to do with the tea party movement, instead it's named after Allen Ginsberg's hash sessions of many years ago), still has the teaparty.com URL.
In the meantime, frustrated original Tea Partiers, at a recent state canvassers meeting, called the petitioned Tea Party a fraud. While that could be true, it's not true in a legal sense—or else there'd be some nasty notes from lawyers by now, threatening legal action.
In this case, a ballot-recognized Tea Party, sincere or not, could pose difficult consequences for Republicans in some races in November, as it will steal votes from GOP candidates and not Democrats. We'll wait and see on that, since you have to have candidates on the ballot to mean anything.
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The state is warning citizens about scam artists contacting senior citizens in what they say is an attempt to obtain personal information or money, in exchange for receiving a Medicare rebate check.
The Michigan Office of Services to the Aging warns that the one-time rebate checks that are going to eligible individuals when they reach the Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage gap are being mailed out automatically.
Any effort by anyone seeking personal information or a fee in exchange for the check is a scam, according to officials.
Some of the scam artists are seeking Social Security or even bank account numbers in exchange for the rebate check.
The DHHS and OSA are urging Medicare beneficiaries not to provide personal information to anyone representing themselves as a "Medicare" or "government" worker if contacted by phone, mail or in person in exchange for a $250 Medicare rebate check, according to Sharon Gire of the Office of Services to the Aging.
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Noxious weeds are not just a problem in populated areas, which is why the governor has signed a bill into law allowing townships to enact ordinances to control and eradicate noxious weeds in a subdivision.
A noxious weed is often a non-native plant that grows quickly, can kill livestock and can injure humans.
Currently, however, government control of the matter is restricted to communities over 5,000 in population.
Under the law, a township could take action if an owner of property has failed to get rid of the noxious weed problem, especially in areas where noxious weeds have become a problem in and around vacant or abandoned homes.
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For years, school teachers in Michigan have complained about being short of school supplies and then having to dig into their own pockets to buy enough of them to serve the classroom. Now some state lawmakers are proposing some help.
Legislation in Lansing would allow a teacher to claim a special state tax credit of up to $500 ($1,000 for joint return) for school supplies. A specific list in the bill says what is and what is not considered a school supply, including books, computer programs and art supplies. Teachers of course would probably rather not have to buy any of their school supplies.

		Rob Baykian is director of news and operations at the 67-station Michigan Radio Network. He has been covering the Capitol since 1981.