State Bank Bombast

In a recent debate in the Michigan Senate on the state bank concept, Senator Tom George of Kalamazoo trotted out all the usual suspects in his denunciation of the state bank: the bank would have to borrow money to get started, the bank would make only high risk loans, Michigan citizens would be on the hook for the bank’s debts, blah blah blah.

We can use this argument against the formation of any bank or against the bailing out of large banks, i.e. Citibank, Bank or America, Chase—you know, the ones the fund the campaigns of George’s masters in Washington.

Needless to say, George misses the major advantage offered by a state bank—recycling interest payments back to the state instead of off loading them Wall Street to fund the coffers of the Democratic and Republican elites. Currently, the public institutions in our state are paying billions of dollars in interest each year and most of this money leaves Michigan. Wouldn’t it be nice to have this money for our roads, bridges and schools?