Proposal 15-1 died as it was supposed to, but there is still work to be done.
Assume ‘gloat mode,’ then get back to work.
If anyone thinks it ends here, they have forgotten the lesson of 2013 when we eased up pressure, (if only temporarily) and the governor slammed us with Medicaid expansion. In fact, when looking at the way things happen with this progressive mess in Lansing, scales put it this way to me directly:
“The gross underestimation has only brought a hike in the State Income Tax, Medicaid expansion, retirement pensions being raided, Common Core, 300+ Ghey *marriage* licenses, a quarter of a billion to the Ilitch’s ice rink who vote Democrat, a Detoilet bailout for the DIA, a recapture of control of the state Party via his pal Baird from Chicago and the Rockefeller-wing Romneys, a monolith of a Health Department, a NAFTA Bridge, a cousin with furniture contracts, more slightly faster Amtrak railcars, driver licenses for illegal alien anchor brats, a H1-B visa center operating out of his MEDC, the launch of moonslime Day at the Capital, Boji payola buildings, no-bid Medicaid contracts with moonslimes, a pending abomination of energy policy waiting in the House and Senate, and this goddam ballot proposal, of which, you notice the Nerd ain’t wooing anybody who falls within the Right side of the political spectrum, yes?”
His point can be taken to the bank.
And it will earn interest.
In fact given that many in the state have forgotten half of these things, its amazing we can keep up. The full time legislature has unfortunately required a match with full time activism, and frankly some of us are getting tired. Its bad enough fighting the progressive disorder in places we expect, but the party many of us relate to based on a reasonable platform has been corrupted by a progressive disorder as its flag bearer.
Its enough to make one easily sympathetic to CS’ overt pessimism; It can be quite contagious.
The defeat in this case is of the caliber that marks the disgust Michigan taxpayers have for those who would think of them as ‘farm animals.’ NO NEW TAXES is clearly written upon the end of this boondoggle which by all measures had a little something for everyone. The Christmas tree package crafted by lame legislators and pushed at a cost of $10,000,000.00 of taxpayer money by a lame progressive governor has apparently found its ‘Grinch.’
So now we all settle on our hands and pretend we’re done, right?
No way.
This abuse of Michigan’s electorate with its lies and promises that had no basis is only over as long as our legislature does not resurrect other failed financing schemes that come at a cost. As long as the cause of our road conditions are not properly recognized, we will continue to experience substandard driving conditions. As long as ‘transportation dollars’ are siphoned for subsidies to trains, paths, smart streets, and cities that cannot manage their already bloated budgets we will see the MDoT and local municipalities cry poor.
And as long as the governor thinks we are sated, you can count on additional dollars being sought from somewhere. CS’ pessimism is earned and warranted.
We laugh for now at the folly of those who tried to foist such treachery upon us. They have earned the embarrassment delivered in spades by the voting populace, but we cannot expect so much to be different when so many of the same players are still in the game.
Its only just begun.
Count on it.
(22)Nuh Uh.
(1)
Now that Proposal 1 has been TROUNCED, as we knew it would be - It is time for the MILeg and MIGov to concentrate on JUST fixing the broken Roads, NOT more $$$ for "Transportation Fund" and all the excess it entails. NO MORE GENERAL FUNDING TAX INCREASES... Our Roads, like our Schools, need REAL REFORMS not just more money thrown at them and Patrick Colbeck and a few other Legislators are the only ones demanding we look at how and for what we spend our money on to Fix Michigan Roads. Many in Lansing, Government's in general, only solution to anything is a TAX INCREASE! It's time for Government to actually review and FIX AN ACTUAL PROBLEM rather than just throw money at it. The Governor, and far too many Legislators, want to put money into the General Transportation Fund; which would mean more money on Bike Paths, Road Landscaping, and yet more diverted to subsidize Mass-transit also; whereas those I support want more money to go to ONLY FIXING BROKEN ROADS (and not even toward more new Roads), for which the Price-tag is actually far less.
FIX IT, DON'T DEMAGOGUE IT!
Joseph Lenard
@JLenardDetroit
Wyandotte, MI
Pessimism? Ha! I remember a time when I was a curmudgeon. You'll get there one way or another, Hoss.
Haven't lost my glasses yet...
Based on the unofficial results from the Michigan Secretary of State (current as of 08:49:59 this A.M.), Proposal 15-1 failed by a margin of 349,813 "yea" (~19.93%) to 1,405,716 "nay" (~80.07%), a difference of 1,055,903 votes cast (Δρ ≈ 60.15%). So far as I can tell, every single county voted to flush this turd, as they rightly should have.
According to the BallotPedia reports, as of last Friday, the Safe Roads YES! PAC had accumulated $9,049,010 ($7,212,438 spent), while the four-PAC alliance opposing the proposal had raised a combined total of $519,138 ($168,455 spent).
Let that sink in a minute . . . in spite of being out-fundraised by roughly 17-to-1, and outspent by roughly 43-to-1, the ad hoc alliance of Keith Allard, Tom McMillin, Paul Mitchell, and John Yob managed to work together long enough to spike this piece of sausage by a roughly 4-to-1 margin last night.
I've often said that one of the core problems of Michigan's constitutionalist insurgency is that they either don't understand or willfully ignore the concept of "the enemy of my enemy is my ally," and flatly refuse to ever work with anyone who has at any point violated their ideological platform. (Of the legion of examples, the two applicable ones are Paul Mitchell and John Yob.) And this morning I thank God that the Michigan Sales Tax Increase for Transportation Amendment was so obviously bad that the insurgency's typical intransigence wasn't a problem.
But moving forward from this is going to be a different story. As I opined almost three weeks ago, the Tea Party movement has let its philosophical ideology and its electoral end goal get out of balance, relative to each other. Current opinion is that the 2016 election cycle is going to be the tipping point, which will determine once-for-all whether the tea types have any political credibility left, or whether they're going to be no more than an interesting historical footnote.
Once again, the inertia of decline has been temporarily stopped. However, the reason that full-time activism is still necessary is that inertia is still on the side of the progressive-socialists. And until the constitutionalist insurgency figures out how to coordinate an effective political offensive, that basic reality isn't going to change.