Tag: lobbyists (page 2)

With regard to HB4717 that passed out of committee 9-5 a little while ago:

"I would like to address those who have decided to support Governor Snyder wish to pass HB 4714. I would also like to acknowledge those who took the time to respond to my initial email both pro and con. I have been following Lansing for 31 years only to be frequently disappointed in the representation. I am aware that sometimes your job is difficult. I am also aware that you are sent to Lansing to represent your constituents. It seems that too frequently, government is at odds with that representation and the costs, as a result, are detrimental to good government and harmful to the taxpayer.

While you may choose to support the governor over the citizens of this state, you must also accept the fact that you may be the focus of those who oppose and elect you. Should any of the groups who oppose your decision start to feel the negative effects of that decision, you can rest assured that they may seek other groups to come to their assistance. The legislature recently passed a law to make it more difficult to remove officials through recall. Once again, not serving those who elected you but your own interest. I suggest that before you decide such a life changing decision for Michiganders that you could become the object of their frustration. I am not proposing this, but wish you to be aware. In http://home.comcast.net/~bogaert/Opinion.pdf you will see that the groups can work together to remove the legislator who most egregiously has worked against them.

Obamacare is not a small issue. You must realizes anything you can do to hinder its implementation will help save us from a disaster waiting to happen. For those who say "it is the law of the land" remember Rep. Nancy Polosi's comment that "we must pass it to know what is in it". If that is how you think laws should be passed, you represent no one not even yourself.

Respectfully,
Rose Bogaert, Chair
Wayne County Taxpayers Association, Inc.

By golly, you don't take marching orders from that extremist old tea party right? No worries buster.  Never were any "marching orders".  Only a little faith in a conservative whom it was thought could recognize right from wrong. I hope the soul of the party finds its new home bright and lively.

Snyder will not win in 2014.

According to this source:

"On reliable information from inside the GOP caucus the plan is to vote out of committee Tuesday for passage on the floor Wednesday or Thursday Michigan HB4714, medicaid expansion. The bill seems to be changing by the hour but not necessarily for the better. The current version does set up an exchange and REQUIRES enrollment in a plan whether a person is eligible or not: "Sec. 105c. The department shall provide a process by which individuals may apply for or renew medical assistance eligibility through a website from which the department shall enroll individuals in the appropriate health care program without regard to the specific program for which the individual applies." This provision and others are dependent upon waivers from the Obama Administration, or requires the state to SEEK such waivers, but does defeat the proposal if they do not succeed. THIS BILL LOOKS LIKE IT HAS BEEN DRAFTED BY HEALTH INDUSTRY LOBBYISTS WHO WILL SELL SOVEREIGNTY FOR SHORT TERM INCOME."

You know the drill.

In the next two weeks there will be incredible pressure by lobbyists who fail to understand their industry has an end in sight if they are successful in convincing Michigan legislators to expand government for their own particular purpose.  Our legislators who remain outnumbered also are being led by the corruptive influence of a governor who has his own agenda.

Raw footage here.

Sure sounds exactly like a Canadian owned US taxpayer funded DRIC "payday", ToughNerd.  Ya, zero Michigan tax dollars are involved too.  LOL  What a $42M joke so far.  And, "Free money," ToughNerd?  That sounds just like these Progressive folks.

Watch some of the economic development possibilities in Caesarea!

How much more of a problem, then, if the men and women drowning their sorrows in the middle of the day are the folks voters elected and sent to Lansing specifically to FIX this state's problems?  

This Thursday morning, while moms and dads across Michigan tighten the family budgets, hunt for jobs and worry about how they're going to put food on the table, 2010 Gubernatorial candidate and current Lieutenant Governor John Cherry, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and state Senator Hansen Clarke will be taking "unbelievable," "inappropriate" and "tone deaf" to disturbing new levels.

The Lansing Democrats will be getting liquored up with special interest pals and high-dollar donors at an open bar event they are describing as a "Mid-Day Fun-Raiser."  Support a "two hour moratorium on dry political fundraisers," they encourage via an email invitation obtained by RightMichigan.com.  

The event is scheduled to begin thirty minutes after the Michigan Senate is gaveled into session this Thursday.  

We've already learned this week that tens of thousands of Michigan jobs will disappear and Friday stands to be one of the most important days in the history of Detroit's automotive industry.  No sense letting THAT stop a good time when there are lobbyists to schmooze and martinis to sip, though.

So many questions come to mind.  

Will Lieutenant Governor Cherry and Senator Clarke register their attendance in the Senate during roll call and then make their way over to the open bar?

Will Cherry and Clarke return to the Senate chamber after having spent the morning and early afternoon imbibing with lobbyists, special interest friends and big dollar donors?

Will John Cherry and Hansen Clarke be driving themselves or are they planning on using a designated driver?  And will the taxpayers foot the bill?

Which other House and Senate members, staffers and Democratic Party big-wigs will be inebriated by half-past one in the afternoon?

And maybe most importantly the day before General Motors submits to the government a last-gasp reorganization plan with hundreds of thousands of Michigan jobs on the line... In what freaking universe does the state's number two guy, a candidate for the highest office in the land, think it's a good idea to waste away the work day partying, booze in hand with lobbyists?

At the helm, on the clock and getting hammered.  If THAT doesn't scream "leadership" I don't know what does.

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...