Woe is Michigan

I know it's bad everywhere, but seriously.. what is going on with my state?

Again, before I begin, a disclaimer: I really do love it here. The lakes are amazing, the UP is one of the most beautiful places ever, the hunting & fishing are great (this is very important to N), we have great sports teams (except for the Lions, but no one counts them anymore), & we have some amazing bits of architecture & history (important to a preservation dork like me). N & I are really committed to our home state (especially since N actually works for the state).

But here's the thing-- this state is corrupt. Not corrupt in a "we can make it work" Chicago kind of way, but in a "f*** you, what can I get out of this" non-functioning kind of way. Detroit is sinking absurdly fast. No area has had more people leave it in the past 5 years other than the neighborhoods affected by hurricane Katrina. The decimation of Michigan's biggest city is only slightly better than a massive natural disaster the size of which hasn't been seen in this country in nearly 100 yrs. Ouch. Kwame Kilpatrick (who first embarrassed us by wearing enormous diamond earrings & lime green suits on national TV after his election as mayor of Detroit) was just released from jail. Not only did the man admit to lying to federal investigators, but he stole money from an already severely impoverished city, gave plumb jobs to his high school buddies & family members, and is also under investigation for allegedly killing a hooker. (Did I mention he threw million dollar parties involving all kinds of hookers & craziness at the Manoogian mansion? Yeah...) Oh, & Kwame's mistress is also serving time for her role in a Whistle blower cover-up that deprived some of the few honest cops left in Detroit of their retirement & pay. & far too many city council members (including the council president) are under federal investigation for accepting bribes from a city contractor. You just can't make this stuff up... it's like some kind of horrid true-life soap opera.

We're also in horrible debt. We have the largest state legislature in the country. Yup, it's not California, it's not New York, it's Michigan. & they're one of the highest paid legislatures (clearly they deserve it for doing such a fabulous job.... or maybe they deserve it just for hoodwinking the citizens of the state into thinking we needed such a d***n big legislature.) We have the worst unemployment rate in the nation. People with 20 years experience line up by the hundreds for part time jobs with no benefits. We have the highest per capita violent crime rate in the nation & our governor keeps talking about further cuts to our state police. Almost every other house on our street is in foreclosure, & we’re considered to be in pretty good shape compared to other areas.

Despite all this, it seems like as long as the people at the top are getting paid, no one gives a sh**. Yeah, the governor & legislature just gave themselves a 10% pay cut (after consistently voting for pay raises prior to this), but when you make well over 6 figures, how bad is that 10% really going to hurt you? & they want to extend the cut to all state employees, most of whom make far less. When you make 50k a year & they chop off 10%, it hurts. A lot.

What gives? Why are we allowing this to happen?