Cronyism

Gotta Give Fatboy Some Credit

Just some.

Read all about it here.

Now a brief reminder of our Michigan Automobile Dealers Associations’ schwantz-swallowers.

Don’t blame me, I didn’t vote for any of them.

You Betcha! (15)Nuh Uh.(1)

Costly Energy has a Face: Tsaritsa Brader

Go here to read the 8 page Executive Order all for yourself.

For an insight to what all that ^ means, here’s where the idea for the video below originated.

Well, that was a 2003 Mitt, not the 2012 chameleon who y’all just elected his niece as party chair. Yep. 40% in under 10 years.

Congratulations, Boobus Michiganderus.

Camacho 2016!

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Ugh, work is stupid!

Let’s all take a break.

Just when you thought that the Three-ring Circus that tries to pass itself off as “leadership” couldn’t make an even bigger ass of themselves than they already have done to date, they just turn around and surprise you.

Same cast of characters. Same city.

And another example of ungrateful children pretending to be mature adults wasting your hard earned money.

{Click below to find out who they are and what they have done this time}

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$hocking?

Wee bit busy today so, here’s one for you from Mr. Spencer.

Bill Package Includes Elimination of Energy Choice

Do read.

Yep. More central planning. Snyder and Calley’s costly Green Energy mandate with 100% government bureaucrat control was mentioned here at RightMi.com two days ago.

OABTW, isn’t it nice that this *new* majority in Lansing is still carrying Howard “screw you” Walker’s water, too?
two-headed-snake

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

You Betcha! (21)Nuh Uh.(3)

Where’s The Bridge?

Questionable MDoT Database Compromises Auditor General's Bridge Inspection Performance Audit

Jefferson Rouge BridgeThe Michigan Office of the Auditor General released its overdue performance audit of MDoT’s Bridge Inspection Program Friday afternoon, just in time to miss last week’s news cycle. Weekend news reports focused on bridge inspection frequency, but there is a more fundamental question which should be answered first: Are the MDoT bridge records which were audited complete and correct?  Even remotely so?

The Federal Highway Administration collects bridge data from the State DoT’s and other sources to create and maintain the National Bridge Inventory. It is supposed to list all American bridges which have roads running across them or below them, along with ownership, identifiers, and condition data. Condition data is given as a number from 0 (failed) through 9 (good beyond current standards). These numbers then get converted into the descriptors you read in the press, such as ‘structurally deficient’, poor, good, etc.

The MOAG performance audit is replete with statistics derived from MDoT’s bridge inventory database which show – no surprise – that some of Michigan’s bridges are in poor shape. You can see MOAG’s statistics as of April 30th, 2014 in the audit or go to a searchable database of individual bridge data across the entire country, as of 2012, brought to us by Alexander Svirsky of MassRoads.com.

A first pass at the MOAG bridge inspection audit involved looking at the worst condition category of bridges, those rated 0 or 1 for failed or imminent failure. Going through the Wayne County owned bridge summary on Page 51 of the new MOAG audit, I was heartened to see that Wayne County has no condition category 0 or 1 bridges. But there are at least two zero condition category major bridges in Wayne County across the Rouge River, so let’s say I am experiencing a little cognitive dissonance just now.

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And in Other News… Water is Wet

Happen to notice this gem of true Romney/Rockefeller Republicanism in the Twitter feed sidebar? Unfortunately, with most focused on Snyder and Calley’s annually increasing $2,000,000,000 tax hike ‘wants’ on May 5th, pragmatic clown Nolan pumping our legislators to ram through Bolger’s Wholesale fuel tax hike boondoggle with same ratchet mechanism, which much to our disappointment this guy breathed new life in that false premise of throwing $1.2B more at a deeply flawed MDOT, and the looming Wayne County bailout. Did I forget to mention Snyder and Calley’s costly Green Energy mandate with 100% government bureaucrat control? Yes, that too. Well, here’s another one of Snyder and Calley’s latest big government central-planning ‘wants’ is deserving some attention, too.

happy-snyderIn an interview that aired Monday on Michigan Public Radio Network stations, Snyder said it will be a “huge issue” if Michigan residents are no longer able to qualify for the incentives [wealth redistribution]. He said U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, is leading discussion of a possible congressional solution if the tax credits are denied.

Short of that, Snyder said he would ask the Republican-controlled Legislature to make Michigan’s a state-run exchange.

“That raises the issue, should we be looking at a state exchange, and that’s a dialogue I’d have to have with the Legislature,” Snyder told MPR’s Rick Pluta.

MORE

Wouldn’t the Romney clan’s other Utah friends like Mike Leavitt, just love that? Cha-ching again! says those connected with BC/BS of Michigan. And, if one has read about Upton’s so-called “off-ramp” they’d quickly realize it’s just more of the same fixed market government overreach (yep, Ron Paul included) serving to illustrate how “R” is for reversing into a ditch when those with a “D” gladly drive off a cliff with the accelerator pedal mashed through the radiator. Is there reason why Rick Snyder is on the Top 10 List? You betchya.

And, it only gets worse.

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“Grand” Bargain the County Edition

via WXYZ

bailouts“Fitch downgraded $203 million in building authority bonds, $186 million in limited general obligation bonds and $51 million in stadium refunding bonds. … jail boondoggle that wasted $130 million and counting.

Wayne County has a structural debt of $50 million and $40 million more is needed each year to bring its pension system back – the underfunding accounts for about 70 percent of the long-term debt of $2.9 billion.”

Hmmm… bond issues, huh?

You Betcha! (17)Nuh Uh.(4)

It’s The Little Things

Like when a district superintendent mishandles a simple charter school arrangement to a point of incompetency.

That turn into the big things.

superintendent-inkedWhat happens when a failing public school government becomes financially envious of a successful charter operation it oversees?  It tries to take it over. That is the unspoken punch line in a story carried by Capital Confidential last year.

“Livonia Public Schools is the authorizer of Hinoki International School, but the school district now is moving to start its own Japanese magnet school in the same building used by Hinoki.”

In 2014, Livonia Public Schools used its power to put Hinoki charter school out of business by ending the school’s building lease one year before the charter authorization was to expire.  Hinoki, a Japanese immersion ‘magnet school’ was in a growth phase, and showed financial strength that appeared attractive to the struggling LPS superintendent Randy Liepa.

Spurred on by a disgruntled Hinoki principal, Liepa and LPS cancelled the lease for the immersion program, while at the same time used the exact same location to start a district run Japanese immersion school. This of course left Hinoki, (the successful school that was growing)  without a building. It also meant that the school would lose its charter authorization from the Livonia Public Schools in a 6-1 vote.

“Gosh, so sorry..  We really hate to see you leave..”

Hinoki did not operate for the 2014-2015 school year.

You Betcha! (12)Nuh Uh.(2)

Octogenarian who Aimed the IRS at Conservatives now Advises Businesses on Government Investigations

I guess the old saw holds true… it takes a crook.

Retired [Chose not to seek re-election] Michigan Sen. Carl Levin said Monday he is joining a Detroit law firm as senior counsel and will advise businesses on government investigations.

SudsBamaLevin, 80, who was the longest [self]-serving senator in Michigan history after serving [occupying] six terms, will join Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP in April as senior counsel, the law firm said.

The focus of Levin’s practice at Honigman will “include aiding corporations with internal investigations and crisis management; assisting corporations with social responsibility and compliance issues; and facilitating alternative dispute resolutions and mediations.” Levin will also serve as an advisor to the firm’s Government Relations and Regulatory Practice Group.

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As an asides, here is a fun piece of some Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn handiwork.

Yep. The old fart younger brother of Sander (where does Sandy live?) will be right at home in that cesspool of shysters.

H/t ‘featured image’ source here

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Michigan Roads – How Bad?

paser-1You are about to be buried in pseudostatistics and factoids purporting to demonstrate just how bad Michigan roads are. We have already demonstrated that the TRIP vehicle maintenance factoids fabricated by a devious road contractors’ business league are a complete fraud.

Now State of Michigan government entities are unleashing a wave of propaganda intended to drive your vote on Proposal 2015-01. Two State of Michigan government entities have prepared campaign flyers on behalf of Proposal 15-1 using Michigander’s tax dollars: MDoT and the Transportation Asset Research Council (TAMC).

Both MDoT and TAMC have spent years preparing slick pamphlets decrying the sad condition of Michigan’s roads, citing PAvement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER) data collected by TAMC with MDoT and local road agency help. These pamphlets claim that 30 – 40 % of Michigan roads are in poor condition. But are they really?

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