Tag: Friends

Snyder is straight up serious in taking care of his health lobby friends. He is not going to quit, or roll over as along as he thinks he can 'turn a few.' Some good information on the status of the expansion of the medicaid/welfare state in Michigan is always available if one pays attention.  To wit, Jack Hoogendyk says:

"The governor of Michigan has not given up on his quest to expand Medicaid. He succeeded in getting HB 4714 through the house in June. He hit a roadblock in the Senate. Since they failed to take a vote on 4714 and went on recess, the governor has been on a statewide tour in an attempt to whip up support in the general public. A special work group has been assigned to find "substitute language" in the bill that can get the needed votes for passage. Rumor is, they are on their 9th version of the bill.

The Senate is not scheduled to meet again until August 27th. Many members have left town to go on vacation so, it is highly unlikely that there will be any action before that time. Here is what I know from a VERY reliable source: 19 members of the Republican caucus are "solid NO" on Medicaid expansion. If you do the math, that is half of the senate. If a vote was taken today and it was a 19-19 tie, the lieutenant governor would then have to cast the tie-breaking vote. You know what he would do."

This scenario is NOT impossible, but at this point not likely, unless some fence sitters indicate they will deal.  

In a way, one might actually be able to gauge the integrity of their state senator by what that senator does, and what deals are made in exchange for a yes vote.  For the most part, sides have been chosen.  The fence sitters are either A. Waiting for a better deal/promise from the governor, or B. are truly conflicted as to the real cost/benefit of the equation presented them.  

And perhaps the latter reason could encourage a little more resolve from some constituents.  In fact, having heard in the last week that Tom Casperson might be leaning the humpty dumpty route and favoring the Snyder Medicaid plan, perhaps some clarification calls to the honorable Upper Peninsula State Senator are in order? As always we encourage the most respectful dialogue with our legislators and their office personnel. And as Casperson has been a strong A21 opponent, it might help to point out that Medicaid Expansion is undoubtedly part of the A21 plan.

 " How blind is a 'blind trust'?"

Or perhaps should we ask instead, how is that "blind trust" in the calculations provided working for ya'll.

I've only been able to pop in and look a couple times today, as its been a tight schedule up north here.  So light for stories, yes, but not so light on the comments, and the tension level has peaked.

Occasionally, there are some who take things a little too personally.  It makes then angry.  Then they lash out, sometimes forgetting all the others in the room.  Of course maybe you cannot see all the others in the room, even though they hang on every word you say.

Do we have some dueling words from time to time?  Yes.  Do we disagree on any numbers of issues? Yes, AND when this happens, we make our best case so as to advance our perception of the truth.  Sometimes we even learn to understand someone else' position a little better.  That is a good thing, and allows us to understand each other a bit more.  Its a good thing, and allows us to find solutions that have a more solid foundation, and are less likely to fail.

This is not the KOS.  

Comments here ought not have the sulfur content I am seeing.  The yellow dust is flying, and its acceleration is unacceptable.  Let the lefties keep the self destructive hyperbole and vitriol for their own downfall. When I see it here, it breaks my heart.

"Although we fell short of the number of signatures required, the results are unprecedented in recent Michigan history," said Charlie Owens, NFIB State Director. "Critics who are dismissive of our efforts would do well to consider this fact in light of ongoing efforts that will continue through the elections in November."

Owens said that most ballot petition drives use paid petition signature gathering firms, spend millions of dollars and have a much longer time frame than this effort. "The average petition drive has six months to gather signatures and spends about $1.5 million. "We had about 11 weeks and spent about 2 percent of that amount and we still managed to obtain a record number of signatures," said Owens. "This is a battle, not the war; we will carry on with this fight in the courts, with legislation and at the ballot box in November."

The NFIB was the only state business organization to participate in the petition drive. They at least tried.  So did a great many of us in a great many parts of the state. My own count nowhere near the efforts of some others even locally.  One NFIB member brought in a couple hundred by herself, and that was in a first time of signature gathering.  Others in the 912 groups and Tea Party organizations worked hard as well.  And even those who felt it was too much of an uphill battle gave it a shot, not because they thought it would happen, but because it was worth it.

We have truly committed citizens who are willing to spend their time on those things that matter for our country.  THEIR time.