Monthly Archives: May 2018

Michigan

UPCPAC June 8-9

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Upper Peninsula Political Action Conferences (UPCPAC)

Last call for the first Upper Peninsula conservative Political shindig.

 

Friday Night: June 8, 2018 Highland Golf Club, Escanaba, MI. 7:00pm (TICKETS HERE)

UPCPAC will host a meet and greet for candidates seeking election in the 2018 primary and general elections.

Please come out and cheer on your favorite candidate.

Undecided? This is the place to be! Come and meet local and state candidates. So far, confirmed candidates:

  • 110 State Rep. Candidates: Kirk Schott
  • 38th Senate Candidates: Ed McBroom
  • Mike Carey
  • Governor Candidates: Patrick Colbeck

Saturday Morning: June 9, 2018 Highland Golf Club 10:00am
The theme of this years event:  “Our Constitution: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”
UPCPAC brings togther knowledgeable speakers to help us understand our Constitutions rich history, the differing ways it is under attack, today and what our future may look like tomorrow because of it.

UPCPAC’s list of speakers include:

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All the Other Stuff, Michigan

Memorial Day 2018

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Some memories from today.

It was warm and humid.

As usual, it hardly stopped hundreds who gathered in Traverse City at the veterans memorial for the annual Memorial Day observance.  Veterans, patriots, and Gold Star mothers were present, all to honor the fallen in wars both recent and past.

I have never served.  My family and so many others have have been blessed in ways to have a military that has guaranteed certain freedoms.  So many have sacrificed it all for our country, but it has already been said more eloquently here.

Below is a collection of photographs from today’s gathering.

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Michigan, Michigan Politics

Sunday Sermon – Memorial Day

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Today's sermon

Hebrews 12:1-10

  • I’d like to share something I found on the internet:
  • It is the VETERAN, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.
  • It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
  • It is the VETERAN, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
  • It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us the right to assemble.
  • It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
  • It is the VETERAN, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote.
  • It is the VETERAN who salutes the Flag,
  • It is the VETERAN who serves under the Flag.
  • It is the VETERAN who rests under the Flag.

Did you notice those last three refer to our flag? We talk about our flag and we talk about the colors of courage – but did you know that when the Stars and Stripes were officially adopted in 1777 that the red, white and blue used for the flag had no particular meaning? Those colors did, however, have specific meaning in the Great Seal of the United States.

Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, while reporting to congress on the seal, had this to say: “The colors of the pales – the vertical stripes – are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence; Red, hardiness and valor; and Blue, the color of the chief – the broad band above the stripes – signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice.”

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Conservative News, Democrats, Detroit, Firearms, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Republicans, Taxes

Michigan Criminal Justice Reform: Too Much, Too Soon?

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Recidivism Is Worse Than We Have Been Told

Michigan has been at the forefront of ‘criminal justice reform’, which is newspeak for prison population reduction. In just a few years, Michigan has driven the MDoC prison population down 18%.  Democrats love criminal justice reform because it gets one of their major constituencies back on the streets, and voting. Republicans love criminal justice reform because it cuts prison spending, which has become a bottomless pit with all the various mandates. Both of these views are decidedly near term.
The question for non criminal Michigan residents is longer term: will crime rates rise as more prisoners spend less time incarcerated and more time in your neighborhood?

A study just released by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics undermines the case for criminal justice reforms intended to reduce prison populations. This study contradicts previous studies which showed much lower rates of recidivism, probably because it better tracks released prisoners who have moved to other states and also looks at a longer time frame.

This BJS study followed 67,966 state prisoners released in 2005, in 30 states, over the 9 year period following their release. This was a statistically representative sample (16.8%) of the 404,638 prisoners released that year in those 30 states. The BJS study included 2,603 Michigan individuals; sampled from the 12,177 releases from MDoC custody during 2005.

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Conservative News, Elections, Michigan Politics, Republicans, Taxes

House Speaker Tom Leonard’s Support of ‘Special Assessment’ Tax Hike Shows Leadership Unbefitting of an Attorney General

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Recently, I received an email showing all of the “conservative leaders” throughout the state of Michigan who support House Speaker Tom Leonard for Attorney General. This list of leaders assured me that Leonard’s leadership record in the House was impeccible and that he is a man who “truly understands our issues and stands up for our values.”

Then I saw that he voted for House Bill 5325 (HB5325), legislation that hikes property taxes on homeowners for the purposes of crony giveaways to well-connected private interests. This scam is called a “special assessment” and a similar scheme may be on a local ballot in your municipality in the near future. This fraud is now picking up steam because of Leonard’s actions.

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Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy, Republicans

Disgracing The Uniform

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An unnecessary urinating contest risks two primary frontrunners canceling each other out.

It’s a given to the point of predictability, in contested republican primaries, that eventually someone will defensively mis-invoke Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment. Naturally, this will require someone to explain that the intent of “thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow republican” is a prohibition against personal attacks, but that calling someone out on an accurate understanding of their actual record is always fair game. That said, I can honestly say that I never expected to have to explain one of the Ten Commandments in the context of a political campaign, nor that I would have to do so as a remonstration to a political attack that is not only blatantly personal, but also patently false (to the point of being willingly, deliberately, and knowingly deceptive).

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2018 Michigan Gubernatorial Race, Conservative News, Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics

Mackinac Center Interviews Pat Colbeck

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Michigan Gubernatorial candidate Pat Colbeck was interviewed earlier this year on a number of issues.

A couple of choice quotes:

Essentially the state has deemed it upon itself to play venture capitalist with taxpayer money to the tune of about a billion dollars. It’s about halfway split between MEDC and Michigan Strategic Fund. … I propose broad-base tax incentives that honor Article I, Section I of the Michigan Constitution, which means that our policies are meant for the equal benefit of all of our citizens.

Right now, with these venture capitalist approach to economic development, like the ones you mentioned, the only people that get the deals are the ones with the ears of the power brokers up in Lansing, … it’s turned into more of an “old friends and family discount” than something that benefits all the citizens of Michigan. It’s something that I’m vehemently opposed to.

and

Businesses thrive when you lower the total cost of doing business, which is confirmed if you click here and read this article. One of the major costs for businesses is the cost of government, and we can get into some of the other costs here down the road here, but health care is another one and energy is another one, and if you can lower all three of those costs, you actually create an economic development incentive package that’s not picking winners and losers; that applies to everybody equally.

When folks ask if it is possible for someone to represent ‘everyone.’ I say this last part is how its done.

The full transcript is available at Michigan Capitol Confidential’s site.

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Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Rent Seeking, Taxes

Quis Solvet? MSU Settles With Nassar Victims For $ 500 Million

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Michigan has the least elite elites in the nation

Who exactly is going to pay the $ 500 million that MSU just agreed to pay to 332 victims of Dr. Lawrence G. Nasser?

MSU says they can’t tap their $ 3 billion endowment, which was the focus of former President Lou Anna K. Simon (and why she wasn’t paying any attention to Nassar and Strampel).

This bleed will probably eclipse that of the Flint water fiasco. From the Detroit Free Press:

The settlement, which covers all 332 current claimants, will cost Michigan State $500 million. The school will pay $425 million now and hold $75 million in reserve in case other Nassar victims come forward.

MSU will now work on how it will pay the settlement, MSU spokeswoman Emily Guerrant told the Free Press.

Survivor attorney James White said this is a chance for the survivors to begin to move forward.

“I don’t think they can ever be made whole, but this is a step in the right direction,” he said.

The settlement was announced Wednesday, after the Detroit Free Press published news of the settlement, following two days of closed-door mediation sessions between lawyers for the university and the survivors.

Terms of the settlement are as follows:

• $425 million dollars will be paid to all current claimants

• $75 million dollars will be set aside in a trust fund to protect any future claimants alleging sexual abuse by Nassar

The settlement was approved by the MSU board in a conference call Tuesday night.

I underestimated the costs here by $ 25 million, when adjusted for the additional claimants who have come forward.

Strampel’s cases are not part of this settlement, so there is more bleeding to come.

This disaster is on the Democrats, exclusively.

Michigan has the least elite elites in the nation.

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2018 Michigan Gubernatorial Race, Conservative News, Elections, Liberty, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Republicans

Macomb County Gubernatorial Debate – June 7, 2018

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The Macomb County Republican Assembly will be hosting the first gubernatorial debate to be held in Macomb County in 2018.

Sen. Pat Colbeck, Dr. Jim Hines and LG Brian Calley are all scheduled to attend.

Citing yet another “scheduling conflict” AG Bill Schuette will not be attending this event.

The event will take place at Macomb Community College University Center on June 7th. Doors will open at 6:30 pm and the debate begins at 7:00pm.

The debate will be moderated by Charlie Langton along with Kathy Hoekstra and Nolan Finley.

Tickets for the event will be free, but there is a limit of two and must be reserved here first before attending. There will be no tickets available at the door.

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Michigan Politics

2018 Michigan Congressional Races

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Cross-posted at The Western Right, Right Michigan, and Red Racing Horses.

Michigan will see several interesting congressional races in 2018, with one open seat.  Michigan has 14 congressional seats.

There are several articles that analyze the general political leanings of the districts.

Michigan Redistricting: Congressional Map Passed
Republican Michigander Congressional District Profiles (Sidebar at right)

District 1 (Upper Peninsula, Northern Lower Peninsula) Safe Republican.
CD12: 48.1-47.6 CD14: 52-45 CD16: 55-40 McCain: 48.5 Romney: 53.5 Trump 57.9
Following the retirement of Dan Benishek, conservative retired general Jack Bergman defeated moderate state senator Tom Casperson and former senator Jason Allen 39-32-28 in the R primary. He defeated former Michigan democrat chairman Lon Johnson, a liberal who bought a small house in Kalkaska County, in the general. Veteran Matt Morgan is running for the D nomination, but may be disqualified because he messed up his petitions.

District 2 (Ottowa, Muskegon) Safe Republican.
CD12: 61-34 CD14: 64-33 CD16: 63-33 McCain: 50.4 Romney: 56 Trump 55.8
Republican former state rep. Bill Huizinga won a close primary in 2010 to replace Pete Hoekstra, and was easily reelected since then. He has generally voted a fairly conservative line. This remains the most Republican district in Michigan.  Robert Davidson and Nick Schiller are running for the D nomination.

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