Tag: Fred Upton (page 5)

They just don't know when to stop.

Saul has his weekly "musings" propaganda letter out, and of course he feels the need to include further repudiation of the truth.  First he makes the point he is a family man with mouths to feed so we feel sorry for him if/when he gets his corrupt rear tossed from the party mechanism, then he goes into the Romney inevitability meme. THEN states the obvious and points out how dangerous Obama is, so we rally together with him, and finally drops the straw man "Operation hilarity" bomb:

From Democrat/Liberal Activist Joe DiSano "Operation: Hilarity."

The do-gooders and progressive purists will wring their hands at those among us who helped Rick Santorum win 7 of Michigan's 14 Congressional Districts. They will tell you our efforts were misguided and unproductive. Some will even say our efforts were unethical and an example of dirty politics. They may be right on that last point.

Our efforts may have been dirty and unethical. I don't think so, but I suppose honest people can debate that. What is undeniable is the effectiveness of the efforts of progressives and Democrats to help deliver delegates to Santorum.

Through our campaign of 80,000 robo-calls, 200,000 emails, several radio and TV appearances and countless print mentions leading up to primary day, a list of just under 14,000 Democrats pledged their support to Rick Santorum in the GOP primary.

Look to the results in Michigan's sprawling 1st U.S. Congressional District. Santorum won the district by less than 1 percent or 790 votes. Our list of Democrats in the 1st U.S. Congressional District had 800 voters agreeing to support Santorum. Look at the 13th U.S. Congressional District, where Santorum won by a margin with 1,535 votes. Our robo-call program alone identified just fewer than 1,300 Democrats willing to hold their nose and vote for Santorum in the Wayne County-based 13th CD. That doesn't include people activated by our email blasts or media appearances.

At the least, our efforts in Michigan moved the delegates from the 1st, 7th and 13th U.S. Congressional Districts to Santorum's column. We denied Romney the clean sweep he'd expected.

The Dems I know voted both ways.  And as I pointed out previously, the Snyder win by actively pursuing Democrats and independents in the 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary only got a "stfu," and "you don't know what you are talking about." and "It didn't happen.", by the same folks who now cry foul. And frankly, most of the presumed crossover Dems FEAR Santorum far more than Romney on two levels; Ability to beat Obama, and Governance.  

via FoxNews.com

Wind farms in the Pacific Northwest -- built with government subsidies and maintained with tax credits for every megawatt produced -- are now getting paid to shut down as the federal agency charged with managing the region's electricity grid says there's an oversupply of renewable power at certain times of the year.

The problem arose during the late spring and early summer last year. Rapid snow melt filled the Columbia River Basin. The water rushed through the 31 dams run by the Portland, Ore.-based Bonneville Power Administration allowing for peak hydropower generation. At the very same time, the wind howled leading to maximum wind power production.

Demand could not keep up with supply, so BPA shut down the wind farms for nearly 200 hours over 38 days.

Read more (with video)

Radio ads in Southwest Michigan are touting the supposed fiscal conservatism of Congressman Fred Upton.  The ads praise his work on the "Supercommittee" and claim that Upton was picked because "he's a tough conservative", instead of his insider connections.  Of course, the supercommittee didn't accomplish anything, though the fact that they didn't raise taxes can be seen as a victory.

The ads are run by an outfit called "Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility".  Who are they?  Their FEC filing lists the people sharing control and Stephen Linder and Jeffrey Timmer. They are both also listed as owners of the Sterlling Corporation, a major Republican political consulting firm in Michigan. The group had previously run ads in 2010 (presumably) attacking Gary Peters, Mark Schauer, and Gary McDowell.

MCFFR seems to be a "SuperPAC" that is not required to disclose its donations.  The organization does not appear to have a website.

But voters didn't give Republicans a mandate to drag the state to the far right on contentious social issues.

And yet last week, the Legislature sent to the governor a bill banning public employers from offering domestic partner benefits. It strips local communities and school districts of the right to shape benefit packages that make sense for their workers, and places Michigan outside the mainstream of current employment practices.

Exactly what "mainstream" would Mr. Finley be referring to?  Governor Moonbeams' bankrupt California?  Harry Reids' foreclosure epicenter Nevada?  Stanley Ann Dunhams' Hawaii?  C'mon Nolan, there are only 7 other Democratic Party controlled states left to hold up for your "mainstream" meme.  Mr. Finley, should also note the State of Wisconsin is smack in the face of his next double-down on the Michigan Legislature.

Jack Hoogendyk says he is considering run against Fred Upton in 2012 Republican primary

Jack challenged Upton in 2010 and scored 43%, which greatly exceeded expectations.  Upton has a long history of nonconservative votes and scores only 72% conservative according to the American Conservative Union.

Jack got essentially no help from national conservative groups in 2010. This is particularly ironic given the furor that erupted among national conservative groups a few months later when he was up for the chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

This year, the Club for Growth is considering supporting Jack Hoogendyk in another bid against Fred Upton.  I suspect this a warning to Upton not to support any bad deals on the Supercommittee.  It remains to be seen whether they will actually support Jack.

Club for Growth Encouraging Upton Primary Challenger

The Club for Growth is considering supporting a primary challenge to Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) next year.

Club spokesman Barney Keller said the conservative organization is "impressed" with former state Rep. Jack Hoogendyk, who is considering challenging Upton for a second time in 2012.

"The club met with Hoogendyk today and came away impressed," Keller said. "We're taking a look at the race."