Government doesn't run like a business because politicians run government, not business executives. The business leaders of Metro Detroit don't want to run state government, but they would like to bring some common-sense business principles to the operations of the state.

That's what Detroit Renaissance is offering with the six-point reform plan it's given to Gov. Jennifer Granholm, House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester.

The principles do not represent a radical restructuring of state government. They are simply a handful of basic steps that any business facing a fiscal crisis would put in place without a second thought.

The group, made up of 50 of Metro Detroit's top chief executives, is asking that state spending be flat and funding for any new programs be offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget. Last year, the governor and lawmakers increased spending by more than $800 million, even though the budget was already deep in deficit, and then passed a massive tax hike to pay the tab.

No successful business would continue to increase spending while revenues were falling, without exploring all options for cutting expenses.

And that's another step the business leaders would like the state to take. They've outlined specific areas where the budget could be cut, including bringing Corrections spending in line with that of neighboring states; putting local government employees and public school teachers in the same health care and pension plans as state workers; eliminating binding arbitration for police and firefighters; tearing down barriers to consolidating municipal governments; requiring schools to find the most efficient means of providing noninstructional services; and reducing Medicaid spending.

Few of those ideas would affect services to the residents of the state. But they could potentially save billions of dollars.

That's money that could be used to make the business climate in Michigan more attractive. And that's the ultimate goal of the Detroit Renaissance initiative.

The recommendations were born out of frustration with a political process that has increased the cost of doing business in Michigan, when the goal should have been making total costs -- including taxes, work force, regulatory and health care expenses -- more competitive.

The business community felt badly burned last fall by the budget process, particularly by the fortunately short-lived attempt to levy a sales tax on selected services.

Now they want more of a voice in policy, and they should get it. Their recommendations would not feather their own nest, but would put Michigan on the road to recovering some of the tens of thousands of jobs that it has lost during the past decade.

Smart politicians weigh the impact of their decisions on the people who create the jobs and economic activity in a state. Michigan has a deficit of smart politicians.

So this attempt by the business leaders to contribute to the political process of fixing Michigan should be given serious consideration by policy makers.

These folks pay a lot of taxes and contribute a great deal of money to political campaigns. They also employ a large number of voters.

Ignoring their concerns and ideas would be a mistake by the Lansing politicians who so far haven't been able to come up with a reform agenda of their own.

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