Nope. Not a crook, move along pedestrians. Thanks for volunteering us all for your cause, Lt. “conservative voice” inside the Snyder administration™. Lord knows how Brian and his family love to promote the spirit of collectivism.
Not to mention Medicaid expansion and fuel tax hikes.
OABTW, 75 days and counting, Lt. “conservative voice” inside the Snyder administration™.
Lots more to that than is being allowed to meet the public eye.
(12)Nuh Uh.
(0)Busy weekend so, short and sweet.
Natural Gas to Wind Energy: You’re Nothing Without Me
Been saying it for years, “so, when you going to cut off its gas supply?” All should go brush up on this stuff before we all get stuck with more of it. A good starting point can be found here, and here.
“Alternative energy, let us never forget, is just that: an alternative to energy.” — James Delingpole #epa #gop #tcot
— forever banned (@forever_banned) June 3, 2012
Yep. Now, add this monolith of government control in the pipeline, which has already spawned it’s new Tsaritsa, and if this outrageously schemed package of theft and redistribution embedded with fraud passes on May 5, I am relatively sure that I will be putting my place on the market before others figure out that they cannot give away a house in this state due to the exorbitant cost of living expenses from higher taxation reinvented by a Republican governor with every lever of power in Lansing, dominated by the same Party.
I certainly don’t relish the idea, however, I’m tired of being fleeced by those sent to Lansing.
(19)Nuh Uh.(0)Proposal 15-1 continues to invite negative response from Republicans in Northern Michigan.
Tom Backers offers reasons to say no, while Snyder Shill David Waymire talks about “Fairy dust and Unicorns.”
(15)Nuh Uh.(0)Reining them in simply because you cannot outspend them, anymore.
And then, there’s… this thing.
Know what else? Madonna was absolutely correct about her recent “provincial” remark.
(12)Nuh Uh.(0)Uh-oh. A major red flag for consumers should be indifference to us facing what could be the second highest sales tax in the nation on May 6.
As part of Proposal 1, the May 5 ballot issue that would raise the state’s sales tax [16.7%] from 6 percent to 7 percent, commercial truck registration fees would rise between $100 and $1,000 per vehicle, depending on gross weight. The plan also would end a gradual reduction in registration fees — averaging $40 a year — granted on new passenger vehicles during the first three years of ownership [and loss of federal itemized tax deduction].
The higher fees for commercial trucks would immediately raise $50 million a year, while the fee change for new passenger vehicles eventually would raise an additional $125 million a year.
The extra fees on commercial carriers would be on top of a stiff diesel fuel tax hike also connected to the plan. Despite that, Michigan’s leading trucking association supports the governor’s roads proposal.
“We’re comfortable with the package, but we’re not out there waving the flag,” said Walter Heniritzi, executive director of the Michigan Trucking Association, which has represented motor carriers in the state since 1934.
Truth be told, Mr. Heniritzi is a small lobby player in this matter so, his go with the flow mentality should be no surprise. He knows whatever is levied onto the trucking industry is passed along to the consumer. The big players will survive, and the smaller operations will go away or, be consumed by the big corporations as they have historically.
Think not? Well, let’s talk for a moment about Prop 1’s “stiff diesel fuel tax hike” for a moment, shall we?
(16)Nuh Uh.(0)Opposing proposal 15-1 are the overtaxed citizens from BOTH sides of the spectrum.
Photo from actual Traverse City Protest.
It could possibly be an unusual gathering April 15.
Given the fact that most conservative Republicans and the left-of-center Democrats agree that the May 5th proposal is an unmitigated disaster, its possible they might actually walk side by side at 11AM in Front of the Traverse City Post Office on Tax Day. If one watches the polling results, follows through by reading the comments on the major media pro 15-1 shill attempts, one might walk away thinking the only the political class centrists are the ones who really really want this garbage.
Holding breath on working together? Not entirely.
However, what a treat it would be to shove this bad medicine down the throat of the cronyist Snyder and his milquetoast minions. The mantra of there being “no plan B” is worn out already. Putting taxpayers into a corner might elicit thoughts of the wolverine that is threatened once this play is done. Higher taxes hurt the left as much as the right, and passage of this boondoggle is a constitutionally guaranteed increase of taxes every single year.
Where: In front of Traverse City Post Office on Union and State St.
When: 11 am till 1 pm or as long as you can. April 15th tax day (Depending on size we may walk to the Parkway and Union St.) Appropriate signs please.
If you are in the area on April 15 at 11AM, join 15-1 opponents to say NO to higher taxes.
(26)Nuh Uh.(1)As we go forward, these tools will be made available for a spot check on the Governor’s priorities.
This chart represents most of the Michigan spending based on Rick Snyder’s 2015 budget. The only section missing is the $5 million spent on the executive office. The amounts shown here represent the TOTAL spending in any one area. Additional charts showing more complete breakdowns of moneys spent and the sources will be made available as there is time. The chart will also be modified to note the changes from the time Snyder took office in 2011 all the way through the 2016 desired numbers. (click on the image to enlargen)
Note the significant increases in the community health (medicaid expansion), Treasury (MEDC, revenue sharing) and school aid areas.
(15)Nuh Uh.(0)Well, yesterday’s, as I just noticed today but, it is noteworthy: Click here.
You see, once one moves past what I call Chuck’s cutesy outhouse-genius mentality of telling wondering tales, it all comes down to the $116,000,000.00 baked into Proposal 1 that Chuck & Co. would like to get their hands on for Rick Snyder’s perpetual Detroit bailout and his Utopian moving of chattel schemes.
There are many viable Plan B options in the works, and we all know that. The end.
Ps. we all should thank our lucky stars for term limits. Moving to a part time legislature is way past its needing, too.
Pps. does one wonder why Chuck is so sensitive about protecting the insurance lobby sitting on $18 Billion without ever opening up their books for audit?
Just sayin’…
(22)Nuh Uh.(0)Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank Questions BLS State Level Employment Data Revisions
Kurt Weiss at the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget (DTMB) reported on March 25th that Michigan’s February 2015 seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 5.9% from January’s 6.3% figure. This was followed on April 2nd by the DTMB release of non seasonal adjusted employment data for February 2015. This quite large one month drop is great news for Michigan workers, if it indeed reflects our labor market. But does it?
Twelve Month Discrepancies Between Seasonally Adjusted and Unadjusted Data Differentials
The DTMB Michigan non seasonally adjusted (NSA) employment report for February 2015, at the bottom of page 6, showed that Michigan’s civilian labor force declined by 33,000 workers over the twelve preceding months. But the seasonally adjusted (SA) employment report for February 2015 at the top of page 2 showed that Michigan’s civilian labor force increased by 7,000 workers over the same twelve months. The growth of Michiganders employed over the same twelve month period also shows a 5,000 worker NSA/SA discrepancy: 101,000 not seasonally adjusted versus 96,000 seasonally adjusted. And the shrinkage of Michigan’s unemployed worker population over the same twelve month period shows a 46,000 worker NSA/SA discrepancy: 134,000 not seasonally adjusted versus 88,000 seasonally adjusted.
Valid seasonal corrections should produce twelve month differentials which agree with comparable item non seasonally adjusted differentials over the same twelve month period. Here we have a 0.85% discrepancy in Michigan’s total civilian labor force, a 0.1% discrepancy in civilian employment over the same twelve month period, and a 12.5% discrepancy in the shrinkage of Michigan’s unemployed worker population over the same twelve month period.
How did this happen?
The DTMB turns its employment data over to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics for X-13ARIMA-SEAT seasonal adjustment. BLS also adjusts underlying data periodically for changes in the Michigan population estimates of the U.S. Census. The two (SA and NSA) February 2015 DTMB employment reports both reflect substantial BLS revisions undertaken in early 2015. A note at the top of page 2 in the DTMB February 2015 SA employment report:
Note: The data in this release reflects recently revised historical estimates. Seasonally adjusted labor force estimates for 1976-2014 for Michigan and 1990-2014 for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn MSA were revised. Previous published data should be replaced with this new series. In addition, seasonally adjusted payroll job data was revised for 2010-2014. For newly revised data, please contact DTMB at 313-456-3090.
The DTMB February 2015 NSA employment report bears a similar note on its first page noting that it was also subjected to substantial revisions.
So Michigan’s employment data has been subjected to substantial revisions at BLS which produce seasonal adjustments that do not cross check against comparable item non seasonally adjusted data over the most recent 12 month period.
(16)Nuh Uh.(0)
