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Tag: legislative malfeasanceBy Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
As a general rule, I really don't give so much as one airborne rodent derriere what my critics think of me. This is especially so given that, to paraphrase Pierre S. du Pont IV, critics aren't required to be consistent (assuming that they're even required to know what they're talking about in the first place). And since the specific critic in question can't seem to move past his standard M.O. of schoolyard-style insults and misleading vividness fallacies, where he doesn't engage in outright argumentum ad hominem, I'm even less inclined to personally give a damn what he thinks.
That having been said, with regard to a couple of bills that were reported out of the House Tax Policy Committee back on Wednesday (2013 House Bill 4202 and 2013 House Bill 4203), the critic has at least one valid point that, as a matter of professional integrity, I really ought to address.
(1018 words in story) Full Story By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
I grew up as the second of six siblings. My parents were absolute geniuses at molding natural sibling rivalry into six sets of well-honed competitive instincts. We were taught that if someone's keeping score, then winning's important, and you either play to win (within the rules of the game) or don't bother playing; full-contact euchre is a regular event at family get-togethers. We also were taught how to be both considerate winners and gracious losers, and that once the final score is on the board, you shake hands, go have a beer, and get over it. My three now-adult children were taught the same concepts, as were most of my two-and-a-half-dozen-or-so nieces and nephews (including the in-laws).
It would appear, however, that the GoverNerd never learned the same lessons. If you can tolerate listening to all of the logical fallacies and factual misrepresentations, the money quotes start at about 5:01, 11:17, 21:47, 22:24, and 23:19.
(55 comments, 2257 words in story) Full Story By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
We're a shade under two weeks from the sesquicentennial of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1st thru 3rd). And as I was mulling over what I've learned about the Michigan Senate Republican Caucus this week, one track of my mind started comparing what's expected to happen on the senate floor today to the final Confederate assault of the battle, popularly referred to as "Pickett's Charge." Without overly belaboring the analogy, I think it appropriate.
(2 comments, 662 words in story) Full Story By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
According to the Michigan Campaign For Liberty:
"Urgent: getting this information to activists depends on folks sharing this. Please help. And I've provided it below, along with some additional intel.
(7 comments, 3197 words in story) Full Story By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
As House Bill 4714 (2013) was rapidly transitioning from "read a second time" to "substitute H-3 adopted and amended" to "placed on third reading" to "read a third time" to "placed on immediate passage" to "passed; given immediate effect" . . . yes, transitioning just that quickly (the proof starts on page 24 of House Journal # 59) . . . I was in conversation with, among others, Dara Bailey (Vice President & National Vetting Director of iCaucus National). She offered to commit national resources to help the liberty-minded network in Michigan do what needs to be done to visit political punishment on every single legislative turncoat next summer. All that we need to do as a statewide movement is to use Joanie's screencap of 2013 House Roll Call # 241 as a motivator to set aside our nationally infamous internecine squabbling, and work as a cohesive machine toward a larger goal.
(8 comments, 5420 words in story) Full Story By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
It's by now quite obvious that there are wayyy too many people occupying either publicly-elected office or party-elected internal office that still don't understand a key concept of the liberty movement, grassroots conservatives, and tea party network (committed to principled cause first, and loyal to a political party only to the extent that the party serves the purpose of the cause). The arm-twisting associated with the passage in the House of 2013 House Bill 4111 (which still sits "on the table" in the Senate, according to Thursday's calendar), and the heavy-handed bifarceisanship and lobbyist nonsense that we're seeing leveraged in an attempt to accomplish the passage of 2013 House Bill 4714, (which, as of Thursday's House calendar, has been reported to the House floor for a second reading) seems to indicate that some politician paper training is still in order.
(2 comments, 1181 words in story) Full Story By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
First off, let me remind all of my readers that the very fact that 2013-HB-4111 is still sitting on the Senate Schedule means that Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville can call it up for a vote the second he thinks that the grassroots aren't looking (assuming that he has the whip count necessary to ensure passage). So we need to keep the pressure on our state senators (by all lawful means, including face-to-face discussion when possible) until this Trojan Horse is at least referred to a committee. However, we also need to keep in mind that the progressives aren't stupid, and will take advantage of our focus to accomplish other things while we're not watching "the other hand," and so in addition to raising a royal stink about the alleged party of smaller government caving to the single biggest expansion of federal government intrusion in our lifetimes, we must keep our other eye on everything else that's going on in Lansing while we're at it.
You may remember me mentioning a couple of weeks ago that the grassroots are just a tad ticked at 29 "republican" squishies who caved on House Roll Call 11 and brought this state one step closer to what is perhaps the single biggest government intrusion into private lives that I can recall in my lifetime. While I'm not going to go into too many technical details here, I will say that one particular organization isn't screwing around.
(1250 words in story) Full Story By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
Let me start by saying that it's not even certain right now whether the Senate vote will or won't be taken today on 2013 House Bill 4111. Yes, the vote is on today's senate schedule (backup copy available here), just as it was yesterday (for which I also have a backup copy). Yet a press statement from Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville plainly stated that there would be no vote this week at all. I translate that as Richardville knowing that he currently doesn't have the votes to pass this thing. If that's true, then it would mean that the coordinated outrage of the liberty movement grassroots, directed both at calling our state senators and also apparently at flooding the phone lines at the Michigan Republican Party Headquarters, had the desired immediate effect.
Nevertheless, Michigan Votes indicates that the bill was forwarded directly to the Senate floor as soon as it was reported over from the House, and Joanie Fabiano is pretty sure that a deal has already been brokered to make the vote happen, so I guess we need to stay on our senators about this . . . and I think that's a good idea anyway.
(12 comments, 1310 words in story) Full Story
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