". . . Amending the Constitution with this proposal is not a wise way to reach that goal. Legislators and the governor, not a formula that is locked into the Constitution, should determine how public funds are appropriated each year.
"Roger Martin, a spokesman for Citizens for a Healthy Michigan, said on public TV last weekend 'you can't always trust politicians' to make the right decisions.
"Legislators and governors do indeed make mistakes -- as I believe they did in earmarking so much of the tobacco settlement money for college scholarships and other programs far afield from anti-smoking initiatives. But it's easier to correct mistakes through elected representatives in the legislative process than it is to undo a mistake written into the Constitution.
"[The Healthy Michigan Foundation episode is] an example of cluttering the Constitution and using it as a budget document to allocate public funds outside of the appropriations process to private interests to spend as they see fit."
My suggestion: A referendum declaring that Michigan declines to accept money from the tobacco companies and the damnable Tobacco Settlement. Let us abrogate this pact with the devil once and for all.
