A lot of people not in the Capitol loop in Lansing are asking me why the Legislature seemed to waste so much time fighting like children over how to solve the 2008 budget crisis.

The debate was a bizarre mixture of philosophical differences, name calling, finger pointing, “school kid stuff,” as former Senate Republican leader Dan DeGrow told me recently.

But these folks in Lansing weren’t fighting over who had rights to the school ball field. It’s much more than that.

In the last House elections, the Democrats won some seats that Republicans believe are theirs, and they’re bound and determined to win them back. And the Democrats are bound and determined not to lose what they believe are their hard-earned gains.

As a result, the “political tail” was wagging the “public policy dog” throughout the whole process, Michigan taxpayers notwithstanding. And that’s too bad for all of us.

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Part of the government reform-tax increase package approved in the early hours of Oct. 1 included a strange entry into the world of service taxes. In order to open the door to a 6 percent service tax, lawmakers devised a long list of “easy targets” that is, those businesses with little lobbying power in Lansing. The list ranges from tanning parlors and private investigators to fortune-tellers and children’s shoe bronzing services. On the list of exempt services from the tax were the bigger-moneyed marina businesses and golf courses.

The nonexempt list was supposed to focus on “luxury” or “discretionary” type services. But after the vote even the governor couldn’t keep a straight face when asked if she thought golf was an essential service. (Sure, I joked to myself, there’s food, shelter and golf. The essentials of life.)

The real reason golf was exempt of course was because it has a powerful lobby. I asked fortune-tellers if they have a powerful lobby. They don’t. And they don’t for see a day when they will.

By the way, just watch future legislatures, as attempts are made to include more services on the list of those subjected to the service tax. This is now a whole new world for fresh revenue sources in Michigan. Those in the world of golf and marinas and the like are safe now. But they may not be in years to come. There’s too much money to be had by the state.

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Here’s some news from the food safety front that we don’t always think about. There’s an impending shortage of “food animal” veterinarians in the state. These are the folks who go to the front lines in fighting things like noro virus and mad cow disease.

According to the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association, more than half of Michigan’s food animal vets are nearing retirement age. And in some areas of the state, the problem is especially serious. There are 25 counties in the state right now that do not have a food animal vet. And while the number of new vets coming into the industry is slow, the demand for the public health vets and food safety vets in the state will grow by 16 percent and 20 percent, respectively over the next 10 years.

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It's becoming the political Wild West.  I'm talking about political blogs, of course.

And if you're in the Capitol loop, you're not in the loop unless you check in with the must-see blogs each morning. State Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer said it's a regular part of his morning, along with the morning papers.

I call it the Wild West, because there are no rules with blogs. You can say pretty much whatever you want and don't have to back it up. Of course, they're not all like that, but it seems most are.

Republican Party Chair Saul Anuzis, who has his own daily blog, admitted that even though he has been a target of nasty bloggers, he believes the blogging world is healthy because it promotes public participation in the political and public policy arenas (alliteration not intended).

As an aside, Anuzis said that at this point the Democrat/liberal blogs appear to be winning the blogging wars right now in terms of the numbers of bloggers out there. But he believes that can change with time.

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The state's unemployment rate has certainly lagged, and the population is hardly growing in the state (compared with other states), but that's not the case for college enrollment, which has been increasing for a decade. The President's Council, State Universities of Michigan, said that from 1997 to 2006 total enrollment at four-year schools increased by 10.5 percent. Figures were even higher for community colleges, which often see enrollment increases when jobless rates increase.

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A new report from an environmental group said there are dozens of dams in Michigan that are considered high hazard and at least five dams in Michigan are considered unsafe. The group American Rivers also said there are thousands of dams in Michigan and only three dam inspectors. The organization wants Michigan’s congressional delegation to approve $200 million for rehabilitation and repairs.

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A state lawmaker is reviving an effort to allow gambling casinos in Detroit to effectively hire ex-convicts for certain jobs. Under the highly restrictive state law aimed at non-Native American casinos, no employees can have a criminal record. Rep. Steve Tobocman (D-Detroit) said hiring a waitress or janitor who may have had a criminal past does not endanger the integrity of the casinos. His bill would not affect jobs like cashiers, dealers, auditors and security workers. A similar bill passed the House last year, but it stalled in the Senate. Similar laws are already on the books in Nevada and New Jersey. Lawmakers should not forget, however, that the law was originally put in place as part of the effort to make the idea of Detroit casinos more palatable for a wary public.

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Time to vent about stolen laptops with sensitive information. The latest story involves the theft of a laptop from a car in Rhode Island that contained personal information, including Social Security numbers of more than 100,000 people.

This is not the first time this has happened.

Why are government employees, or any employees for that matter, who are responsible for sensitive information even leaving a laptop in their car in the first place? Maybe we need some tougher rules in place.

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A final note here on the passing of Jerry Lawler, who died in September after 38 years at the Capitol. Since the late ‘80s he had been executive director of the Michigan Capitol Committee. Jerry was always approachable, friendly and ready with a interesting story. He oversaw the enormous (and we sometimes forget just how enormous it was) task of restoring the Capitol, an effort that was nationally recognized. Jerry also had an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the Capitol, and was a great source for any stories I did that called for such knowledge. He was also a great help when the press corps (we had individual office space at one time) was moved from what is now the House Democratic Caucus Room down to the sub-basement when the restoration took place.

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