Tag: Constitution (page 3)

The Michigan lawmaker sponsoring a bill authorizing red light cameras has made a U-turn on the issue.

Rep. Wayne Schmidt, R-Traverse City, who chairs the House Transportation Committee, last year co-sponsored a bill that would have banned red light cameras. This year, he sponsored a bill that would have brought red light cameras to traffic intersections across the state.

However, Rep. Schmidt said he has chosen not to move the red light authorization bill forward because of concerns he says he now has about traffic cameras and privacy issues.

Concerns about privacy?  Sure it is.  At testimony, Rep. Peter Pettalia spelled that all out for Wayne.

Manufacturers of red light cameras have a reputation for heavy lobbying in state capitols. It is not clear if sponsors of the bill have received any campaign support from red light camera manufacturers. Contributions do not have to be reported until the end of the year in an off-election year, according to the Michigan Secretary of State's office.

Traverse City and Traverse County have been under financial pressure from unfunded pension liabilities, and revenue from red light cameras could provide some relief. However, Traverse City Manager Jered Ottenwess said he is not aware of any interest in installing the cameras.

All but one of the eight co-sponsors on the red light camera bill are Democrats from the Detroit area.

I suppose it's not a good day to be a Show Pony in the 104th with further political aspirations.

Justin Amash

Lt Gov @briancalley stood w/ me from day one when I decided to run for Congress. He's a great friend & ally, and I'm honored to support him.

11:47 AM - 26 Aug 2013

How do you like them apples, Wes Nakagiri?  TEA folk?  Yessirree, 'ol constitutional Justin just face-wedgied all those opposing Snyder's Obamacare Medicaid Expansion by palling around with the deciding vote.

"The emergency manager has met with the White House and members of the state's congressional delegation, and these meetings focused on how the federal government can assist in Detroit's restructuring," said Orr's spokesperson Bill Nowling in an email message. "At each of those meetings it was made clear that a federal bailout is not a possibility."

Let that sink in.

Nobody is interested in bailing out LBJ's "model city" Detroit.  N-O-B-O-D-Y.  Sure, the Congressional Black Caucus has gone whining to race-baiter-in-chief, president Odowngrade², with JoAnn's "bring home some bacon" meme, but that narrative is as common as the sun rising in the East.  Besides, preezy Soetoro's agenda is already booked with making this entire nation look like Detoilet, so, how in the Hell can he bail out Detoilet?  Barry can't.  All of D.C. knows that bailing out Detoilet is opening Pandora's box.  Think Killadelphia isn't just around the corner on going teats up?  Think again.  It is poison for the Democratic Socialist Party in 2014 as much as implementing Obummercare is, and completely lethal for Hillary PUMA's in 2016.  Don't even go there about BJ and Mrs. Secretary Benghazi - they know damn well they've got damage control issues on their hands.

Working w/ my good friend @briancalley to welcome new Rs to @MIGOP who care about limited government, economic freedom & individual liberty.

Really, Justin?  Working with those trying to implement Obamacare entanglements in Michigan, isn't exactly what I would describe as a Republican value.

A Schizophrenic Elephant

(Excerpt)

Every now and then, a Republican Party leader must feel tempted to stand up and say. "Folks, you've got us wrong. We don't really stand for any of the things that you think we do. We like small business, in theory. But we like big business more. That's about all we have in common. Also we're still against Communism, not that it matters anymore. But we're fine with having a lot of government agencies. We created most of them. And we like abortion and gay rights. We're also on board with Global Warming, illegal immigration and some international law."

That rarely happens. It rarely happens because that Republican Party is the one that was nearly consigned to oblivion in the first half of the last century. And as the Romney campaign showed, running on a platform of nothing but big business is not very inspiring. If Romney had actually been honest about his views, instead of dressing them up to win  the primaries, he would have done even worse in the general election.

REST

Personally, outside of Sen. Ted Cruz, maybe a couple others in the House, and the Sarahcuda dabbling around the fringe of GOP, I don't see it as worth saving.

The bizarro side of the world is wondering what you might be up to, but we have less tolerance for the games.  Don't play on their turf, because at some point you will realize all the friends you brought with you are gone. A realization of the truth will make short work of this:

"Consistency and the state constitution demand that Attorney General Bill Schuette fight to protect the pensions of Detroit retirees from being downsized in bankruptcy court. It's Schuette's job to defend state laws, and he can't pick and choose which ones he fights to protect.

Schuette filed Monday to intervene in the bankruptcy proceedings on behalf of pensioners.

The move puts him at odds with Gov. Rick Snyder, who supports Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr's position that retirees will have to sacrifice along with other creditors to resolve Detroit's $18 billion debt."

The Michigan Constitution has many things that need to be enforced, but Article 9 Section 24 cannot be used in this case. The average Joe can tell you that Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 of the US constitution says so.

"Both state legislation and state courts tended to use debtor-creditor laws to redistribute money from out-of-state and urban creditors to rural agricultural interests. Under the Articles of Confederation, the states alone governed debtor-creditor relations, and that led to diverse and contradictory state laws. It was unclear, for instance, whether a state law that purported to discharge a debtor of a debt prohibited the creditor from trying to collect the debt in another state. "

The constitution of the US is primary. Federal bankruptcy law which is derived from specific mandates it is absolute under this example.

Dr Benishek, you may not have realized it, but the minute that fat digit put its pressure on my breastbone and the words "We don't control the spending" came out, you lost a hell of a lot of respect and support from this concerned (and informed) citizen.  I have thought long and hard on how to broach this subject since our convention discussion.  Could it be that you do not understand your role as a congressman, and the powers vested in you and the house of representatives?  Perhaps you still do not understand that the power of the purse is yours, but Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 is clear.

"No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time."

"The Appropriations Clause is the cornerstone of Congress's "power of the purse." It assigns to Congress the role of final arbiter of the use of public funds. The source of Congress's power to spend derives from Article I, Section 8, Clause 1. The Appropriations Clause provides Congress with a mechanism to control or to limit spending by the federal government. The Framers chose the particular language of limitation, not authorization, for the first part of the clause and placed it in Section 9 of Article I, along with other restrictions on governmental actions to limit, most notably, executive action.