Tag Archive for Detroit

You DON’T say…

Apparently, the idea of picking up his wife and three children from the county morgue is weighing a little too heavily on the mind of one “Relentlessly Positive” Governor.

According to this mornings Detroit Free Press, Gov. Snyder has reversed course from his earlier ill-conceived decision to allow Syrian “refugees” into Michigan following the Islamic Terrorists attacks in Paris that have claimed at least 129 lives as of the latest count.

Gov. Snyder is quoted as stating, “Michigan is a welcoming state and we are proud of our rich history of immigration. But our first priority is protecting the safety of our residents.”

Better late than never. But in this case, no damage has been done through Gov. Snyder’s actions.

Naturally, this has the proponents of the original scheme up in arms over a “perceived” overreaction.

From the same Freep article, Maged Moughni, an Arab-American advocate said, “It’s doing what ISIS wants. … He’s just basically buying into what ISIS wants: Muslims against the West … Gov. Snyder is buying into the rhetoric.”

Again, the families of at least 129 victims of Islamic Terrorism have a different take on that.

Further down, Sean de Four, vice president of child and family services with Lutheran Social Services of Michigan had this to say,

“I certainly understand and appreciate Gov. Snyder’s desire to be cautious and put the safety of Michiganders first. But the State Department already uses an overabundance of caution in its screening of refugees before they gained entry into the United States. In fact, refugees spend an average of five to seven years in refugee camps being screened and background checks before access to any country.”

If I were Mr. de Four, I’d reexamine the validity of his argument.

Most people know that I don’t agree, with oh about 99%, of what Gov. Snyder rams through, mostly due to the fact that he doesn’t adhere to anything even remotely conservative when he does so.

This time around, and perhaps the very likely possibility that he might appear on a future casualty list himself directly due to the actions of those he blindly lets into our state, he finally gets things right for a change.

Let’s see how long that lasts.

ISIL Flag

Hopefully not coming to Michigan anytime soon!

 

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What HE Said.

Glenn urges Gov. Snyder to reverse call for Syrian refugees.

Michigan State Representative Gary Glenn has stepped out in front of this, and sends a message to our naive governor.

We called for this to happen earlier, and specifically from my own rep.  From a press release only moments ago:

glennMidland, Mich. — Michigan state Rep. Gary Glenn, R-Midland, in the wake of deadly terrorist attacks in Paris by Islamic extremists carrying Syrian passports, Saturday called on Gov. Rick Snyder to reverse his call to relocate Syrian refugees in the state.

“I respectfully urge the governor to act cautiously and conservatively to fulfill what in the sad reality of today’s world is the most fundamental responsibility of state government, to protect the public safety of our families and our communities here at home,” Glenn said. “We should not rush to offer an open door to the high-risk importation of individuals from a known hotbed of Islamic extremism who security officials say cannot be safely screened to identify and block jihadists masked as ‘refugees’ who’d love to bring suicide vests and grenades to Ford Field or Fisher Theatre or Great Lakes Crossing.”

Glenn disputed Snyder’s earlier assurances that Syrian refugees can be safely vetted to block terrorist threats, citing testimony last month by FBI director James Comey, who told the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee that “we can only query against that (data) which we have collected. And so if someone has never made a ripple in the pond in Syria in a way that would get their identity or their interest reflected in our database, we can query our database until the cows come home, but there would be nothing show up because we have no record on it. You can only query what you have collected.” (Video: http://www.wnd.com/2015/10/fbi-no-way-to-screen-refugees-coming-to-u-s/#ooid=ZqNGpjeDrxjmhlHEDNbae70T1uHSPvqj )

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One Does Not Have To Be Catholic

One does not even have to be religious or overly traditional ..

To see this as losing the culture war.

Satanic worshipers gather in an unprecedented way to demonstrate their foolishness. Detroit is already a perfect example of what happens when evil is portrayed as good, when force masquerades as charity, and now when ‘tolerance’ is used to usher in a perfectly harmless and ‘innocent’ way to throw off the ‘yoke of Christianity.’

These folks really have no idea of what they are doing.

H/T Church Militant

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Why telling it like it is should be a newsworthy event.

Why telling it like it is should be a newsworthy event.

I’ll be honest, the whole kerfuffle regarding the “Confederate Flag” hasn’t drawn very much interest for me because of the following reasons:

One, it’s not directly Michigan-related.

Two, it doesn’t affect me personally or anyone that I know (and I know quite a few people who fall into the category the race-hustlers are trying to round up on their side).

Three, I’m actually amused at the time spent distracting focusing attention away from real issues like disintegrating family structures, a education system whose outcome is criminal, cities which have devolved into war zones, the job situation (just to name a few), which are the direct result of actions taken by democrats (See: Cloward-Piven).

But someone sent me this video, and it…well check it out for yourself regarding one Kid Rock, a do-nothing group of “community organizers” (isn’t that a redundant description), their respective list of accomplishments…and the Confederate Battle Flag.

Yes, the content is “safe for work”.

 

 

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Unconstitutional: Great Lakes Water Authority Lease Violates Michigan Constitution

--- Absence of Enabling Legislation Clearly Violates Article III, Section 6 --- 40 Year Lease Period Clearly Violates Article VII, Section 30

GLWA Detroit Seal ImageFriday, the Great Lakes Water Authority board approved a 40 year duration lease of Detroit Water & Sewerage Department’s assets and operations outside of the city of Detroit. This approval passed by a 5 to 1 vote with only Macomb County’s representative on the GLWA board opposed. The terms of the lease subordinate the DW&SD to the GLWA, a new intergovernmental authority created out of the ashes of the City of Detroit’s bankruptcy by a Memorandum of Understanding.

This deal was constructed as a lease to evade the 1963 Michigan Constitution‘s requirement, under Article VII, Section 25, for a vote of Detroit’s electors to approve the sale of any public utility. However, by constructing the deal as a lease, the City of Detroit is essentially granting a lease franchise covering the DW&SD’s water and sewerage operations to GLWA. The 40 year term of this lease franchise clearly exceeds the 30 year maximum permitted by Article VII, Section 30 of our 1963 Constitution:Michigan Constitution of 1963 Article VII Section 30
Merriam-Webster defines a ‘franchise’ as “ the right to sell a company’s goods or services in a particular area; also, a business that is given such a right”. Exactly the nature of the GLWA lease agreement with the City of Detroit. Should you doubt that the City of Detroit constitutes a ‘company’, Merriam-Webster defines a ‘company’ as “ an association of persons for carrying on a commercial or industrial enterprise”. Exactly what DW&SD has been doing for over 100 years.

State Representative Kurt Heise (R-20th) from Plymouth has challenged the establishment of GLWA under the 1963 Michigan Constitution’s Article VII, Section 28:Michigan Constitution of 1963 Article VII Section 28
Taken together with the 1963 Michigan Constitution’s Article III, Section 5:Michigan Constitution of 1963 Article III Section 5
it establishes our Legislature’s authority over intergovernmental units. But these two sections do not unambiguously grant the Michigan legislature exclusive authority over intergovernmental units, so there is probably legal wiggle room here.  Contrary to Representative Heise’s contention, a good lawyer could make a case that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court could establish the GLWA under Article VII, Section 28 and Article III, Section 5.

However…..

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We’ll show you!

You’d better not mess with Detroit! Or, you’ll get what’s coming to you!

The latest shakedown of Taxpayers in Southeastern Michigan took an interesting turn this morning.

Not because of its inaccessible meeting location at Waterworks Park in Detroit.

But, because of something that wasn’t expected during the meeting.

{Oh, you’re gonna love this…}

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Southeastern Michigan Water Fight

Last Act of the Detroit Bankruptcy Stumbles Behind a Wall of Secrecy

Water is Money Image 2The final Detroit bankruptcy plan established a 14 June deadline to reach an agreement transferring operating control of the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department’s (DW&SD) assets outside of Detroit to the newly created Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA). The State of Michigan, Detroit, Wayne County, Oakland County and Macomb County all signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) creating the GLWA late last year, subject to a 200-day due diligence period. Under the MoU, the City of Detroit would receive a $ 50 million annual lease payment from the GLWA while retaining full control of DW&SD assets and operations within the city. Erstwhile DW&SD customers outside Detroit were promised a 4% cap on annual water and sewerage increases for a 10 year period, which have been running above 10% per annum, in residential bills, in most Southeastern Michigan communities.

In point of fact, what has actually been occurring are secret negotiations over future tax increases across Southeastern Michigan. Water rates have become a surrogate form of incremental taxation. These negotiations will set tax fee increment rates for decades into the future. For taxpayers ratepayers who haven’t even been born yet. How are these negotiations going?

No one who knows is talking. Why?

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Tuesday Divertere – Detroit Is The Graveyard Of Socialism

Begging the question: "Why have Michigan taxpayers not been screaming bloody murder during the last bailout?"

Reality check.

Proposal 15-1 was likely cover for Snyder to get certain debts paid down so more of our resources could be poured into the failure that is Detroit. If it passed, it would have covered a lot of his issues including transportation (trains) infrastructure, existing bonds, and even a few more bucks for those schools that only know how to employ ‘effective teachers’

When will we stop tossing money into an open grave that seems to have unlimited capacity? From a few years back:

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Prop 1…Detroit’s ‘River’ of Opportunity

Prop 1 is for roads???...Hardly...

Detroit is deadDetroit’s ‘Core’ a ‘Common’ problem…

Being a ‘newbie’ senior citizen, I’ll have to rely on the ‘old school’ math, but…let’s at least try to sum this up, shall we???

We don’t have to go back too far, let’s just start with the Guv’s 2012 budget, and it’s expansion since then… http://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_state_budget_%282011-2012%29#Deal_negotiated

$47 billion for 2012, and now asking $53 billion…and an estimated $2 billion more each year in tax increases proposed in Prop 1…Just where is all this money going???…Let’s follow some (most) of it…I have…

Starting with the Detroit bankruptcy bailout, $195 million, our State tax money…We’ll try (try, that is) to keep a running total…Stay with me here, the ‘River” gets murky in some spots…http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/detroit-bankruptcy/2014/11/08/detroit-bankruptcy-timeline/18680129/…Speaking of rivers, let’s cross this one… http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/snyder-canadian-leaders-urge-washington-to-fund-dric-customs-plaza. The $550 million Canada has promised for the bridge construction is a loan, to be repaid from tolls, but that’s another story entirely…So Detroit has $195 million in State money to get itself out of Court…

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“All those in favor say ‘Aye’. Any opposed? Seeing none, the motion is approved.”

This is not the time for chutzpa!

If our elected representatives in Lansing are in need of any suggestions to “find” money to reallocate towards more important matters affecting Michigan, a local vote that was taken yesterday afternoon by an advisory committee would be my recommendation for a great place to start.

{Story continues below}

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