Tag: Athens

But for now, reflect on this item from the inbox:

Yesterday, at the quarterfinal Class D girls basketball game between Athens and Plymouth Christian, a pretty cool thing happened.  Not something you might see all too often nowadays in fact.  The match was hard won by Athens, and their victorious jubilation on the court was equal to the disappointment in the heart of the fans of Plymouth Christian. The players shook hands through the traditional line up and then...

The cash-strapped city is offering an income tax amnesty program that runs through mid-February, Mayor Dave Bing announced Wednesday.

Starting Tuesday, those who owe income taxes to Detroit can pay them back without penalty. Anyone who hasn't filed an income tax return for 2011 and prior years may to participate.

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Typical Progressive logic.  Those who abide by the law pay consequence for those that don't, and the Progressives excuse the law breakers from their illegal behavior.

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

State Rep. Alberta Tinsley-Talabi took a Caribbean trip, campaign cash and a donation from a businessman while supporting his $10 million city pension fund deal, The Detroit News has learned.

Federal court records chronicle the trip and payments from indicted Georgia businessman Roy Dixon in 2007, when Tinsley-Talabi was a city councilwoman and trustee on the Detroit Police & Fire pension board.

The Detroit Democrat has not been charged in the widening, years-long federal probe of City Hall corruption and the city's pension funds that has resulted in two dozen convictions, including Tinsley-Talabi's former colleague, ex-City Council President Monica Conyers.

Tinsley-Talabi did not return multiple phone messages, but one former colleague said he's disappointed by the disclosure.

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Wasn't the Hathaway Family disappointed when caught, too?  Feh.  Whatever.  I asked before, and I'll state it clearly this time... Michigan's Socialist do not care as long as their agenda incrementally moves - Forward!

Maybe it started in college, working at Fulton Heights Foods where it turned out that everyone who instinct said was going to write a bad check or try to sneak out with steaks tucked under their shirts turned out to be every bit the crook you figured.  

Maybe it was all of those group-projects in school... burned too many times after convincing myself the under-achievers the teacher always seemed to assign my squad would actually show up the next day with their share of the work completed.

Heck, it was probably that fourth grade class Christmas party when my "Secret Santa," Carla Parker, wrapped and gave me used ChapStick (I wish I was making that up) while my friends were opening GI Joes and Transformers.  Freaking Carla Parker.

Lets be honest, though... what do raw steak thieves, lazy students and gift-wrapped garbage have on your average politician.  Did I mention that I'm a generous guy?

I am, though.  Or I try to be.  So when Michigan and Congressional Democrats prattle on and on about the need for lobbyist reform, for a new era of ethics and for transparency I want to take them at their word.  I trust the Democratic Party about as far as I can log-toss Mark Brewer but individually, I do the best I can.

Still, there comes a time when even the most gracious observer is left scratching his head.  How can someone like Michigan's Senator Debbie Stabenow, for instance, say the things she says and vote the way she votes (remember, this is a woman who voted to create a "Senate Office of Public Integrity") and then sit by while the husband who shares her home, and bank account, presumably, rakes in a half-year's income by working illegally as a lobbyist for a scandal-prone Detroit area developer?  And lobbying in favor of a project she made a point of opposing during her last bid for office?

Something just doesn't sit right.  Red flags pop out of every corner of this thing, as much as the bulk of the mainstream media would like to ignore them.  Bells and whistles, too.  It is obvious that the Senator understood what her husband was doing these past six months, so I'll ask the obvious question... what would motivate a twice-elected member of the United States Senate to cast aside all of her best rhetoric and surrender her moral high ground?

If it weren't for a lifetime spent watching Law and Order re-runs I wouldn't know where to start but the embarrassingly large number of hours spent watching the procedural has taught me one thing about detective work... follow the money.

Read on...

That's the reality Senator Debbie Stabenow has faced for the last six months as her husband, Tom Athens, made bank on the payroll of Democratic mega-donor and alleged lothario Jim Papas.  Unfortunately, despite the unending rhetoric about transparency and ethics in the Dem controlled Congress, the Senator who once voted to establish the Senate Office of Public Integrity chose to turn a blind eye to her husband's criminal actions, putting him, partisan election interests and the family bank account above Michigan residents and campaign promises.

Meanwhile, voters and taxpayers are left with more questions than answers...

How long has Senator Stabenow known her husband was breaking the law, making a living as an unregistered lobbyist?

How much money did Stabenow and Athens deposit into their family bank account as a result of the illegal lobbying?

Records indicate that Athens publicly lobbied Michigan lawmakers and at least one member of Michigan's Congressional delegation because he understood they were firmly opposed to green-lighting a hazardous waste well.  There are no records of official lobbying of the Stabenow Senate office.

Is that because Stabenow supports her husband's efforts to re-open the dump site despite her campaign pledges to the contrary?

Read on...