Casperson: Still room for reform in Michigan

• ESCANABA — State Rep. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, said government spending and programs need to be looked at closely.
• Casperson issued a statement after Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s 2008 State of the State address Tuesday night.
• “There’s been a lot of talk about reform in government and we’ve only been able to scratch the surface. I think we really need to take a serious look at that in the coming months on the regulatory side of it and on the tax side of it.
• “Something I’ve learned in being around Lansing for five years is that doing the same thing over and over again is not working, especially in Michigan with our economy.”
• Casperson said government agencies need to be looked at again.
• “My hope is that this year we can look for meaningful changes that can be made in what the government is doing. Everything involved with spending and programs needs to be looked at so the government can step up and lead by example. That might mean revisiting every state government agency and eliminating those that are outdated and cutting bloated, expensive hierarchies.” [more here]