Jason

Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy

Don’t Say We Didn’t Tell You So

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The fallout from Michigan's prop 2 is clear as milk.

Prop 2 was a disaster in the making.

Controlling the process was never going to be neutral, and clearly the control would be in the hands of whichever party controls the elections, the questionable Jocelyn Benson.

We have pointed this out in the past with a series of videos, and now the outcome draws near.  The Michigan Republican Party in trying to ascertain the nature of the process being designed by our current Secretary of State for the NEW Gerrymandering schemes is being stonewalled with ridiculous FOIA fees. From the Detroit News:

The Secretary of State’s office estimated it would cost $45,904 to process an initial Freedom of Information Act request that sought “a vast amount of information” from the department, Chief Legal Director Michael Brady told the Michigan GOP in a June 7 letter.

The state used a “conservative” labor estimate to calculate a $10,049 fee for a “narrowed, but still very broad” second request, Brady said in a separate letter denying a Republican Party appeal.

All they want is an unadulterated explanation from documents addressing the process being formulated from the Sec of State.

Real transparency.

And as many who are familiar with FOIA might know, the cost is supposed to be premised on the labor rates of the lowest paid clerical workers who can perform the task.  This suggests one of two possibilities; that the clerical workers in the state are grossly overpaid, OR that Benson’s office isattempting to keeps it’s motivations and early planning from the people of the satet for political reasons.

One or the OTHER.

 

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Michigan

Miss Michigan

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Beauty stripped of her title because of Misogyny

Apparently the empowerment of women hits a dead end under certain conditions.

Beauty queen Kathy Zhu has apparently taken too many ‘liberties’ with her status representing the mitten state.  Submission required, truth telling forbotten.  From PJ Media:

On Thursday, 20-year-old Miss Michigan Kathy Zhu shared a screenshot of Miss World America organizers notifying her that she had been stripped of her title and her ability to compete in the beauty pageant.

“Miss World America’s State/National/Chief Director accused me of being racist, Islamophobic, and insensitive. They stripped me of my Miss Michigan title due to my refusal to try on a hijab in 2018, my tweet about black on black gun violence, and ‘insensitive’ statistical tweets,” Zhu tweeted with screenshots of emails from the organizers.

MWA Michigan State Director Laurie DeJack wrote, “It has been brought to the attention of Miss World America that your social media accounts contain offensive, insensitive and inappropriate content, and in violation of MWA’s Rules and Conditions, specifically the contestant requirement of ‘being of good character and whose background is not likely to bring into disrepute Miss World America or any person associated with the organization.'”

The Miss world organization will likely regret this.

Read the rest.

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Detroit, Government Incompetence, Michigan

When Property Rights Become A Concern

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Its all about control.

Want to see a perfect example of big government thinking?

It’s exposed when defending the little guy becomes suspect, because the advocates for said ‘little guy’ endorse/embrace the constitution. Joshua Akers, an assistant professor of geography and urban and regional studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn just cannot grasp the motivations of those who would defend the downtrodden.

Akers has issue with a constitutional defense legal firm Pacific Legal ..taking on a constitutional property rights case.  Because they might use it for their own ideological (constitutional) ends. Not making this stuff up, and from the Detroit Free Press:

Akers, who has written extensively on the nonprofit, contends the suit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court is a Trojan horse, less concerned with the constitutionality of the annual tax auction and more focused on using the court system to bolster property rights and solidify language around the Fifth Amendment, which prohibits private property from being taken for public use without just compensation.

And because that isn’t enough?

“This seems pretty great — you’re defending the little guy from government overreach. But in the end, what’s lost is the ability to regulate the usage of property. The ability to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of those living around the property,” said Akers explaining that while some homeowner could benefit from this, by and large, it is the wealthy, politically connected and big industries that win.

And there you go.  Big industries win when a homeowner gets to keep her house.

Read the rest   And consider how much better off we would be if we stopped feeding the beast and defunded these destroyers of our individual freedoms.

 

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Michigan Politics

Independence Day – The Declaration

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Happy Independence Day Michigan.

A Transcription from the national archives.

 

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

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All the Other Stuff, Liberty, Michigan

Queue Up That Zoning Ordinance Claim

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The US Supreme Court clarifies that a constitutional violation is complete at the time property is taken.

As a property rights advocate/activist, I am beyond thrilled.

Local governments be forewarned, the path to pursue when property owner’s constitutional rights have been violated has just been shortened.  Zoning ordinances which have grown to be nearly as large as the worlds largest fungus might now face appropriate challenges in venues that serve as constitutional protectors.

The Supreme Court Of The United States (SCOTUS) has smashed a ‘takings’ precedent, and in doing so has made it easier for property owners beset with zealous planning and land use prohibition to clarify more immediately where a constitutional line is drawn.  From the SCOTUS blog:

In its long-awaited opinion in Knick v. Township of Scott, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday that plaintiffs alleging that local governments have violated the takings clause may proceed directly in federal court, rather than first litigating in state court. The opinion overrules a 34-year-old precedent, Williamson County Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank, triggering a sharp dissent and another debate among the justices about the meaning of stare decisis. The majority opinion also rests on a reading of the takings clause—that a constitutional violation occurs at the moment property is “taken,” even if compensation is paid later—that may have consequences beyond this case.

The takings clause of the federal Constitution provides: “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” This takings case arose from a dispute between petitioner Rose Mary Knick and the township of Scott, Pennsylvania. Knick has a small graveyard on her property, and the township attempted to enforce against her an ordinance requiring such properties to be open to the public during daytime hours. Knick alleged an unconstitutional taking, but a federal court dismissed her suit because she had not first sought compensation in state court.

The 34-year-old precedent was not all that it upended.

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Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion

So Then Nessel Kicked Herself In The Coconuts.

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Dana Nessel's most important issue sets new tone on AG opinions.

Who knows?  She may have coconuts.  We aren’t supposed to consider such things as impossible anymore, right?

But Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is certainly committed to her true passion. One might think that she might wish to respect the office she holds, if only to protect her own opinions going forward.  Clearly, that is not the case.

Using federal government activity to upend a legitimate AG opinion barely a year old, Nessel puts perhaps every opinion of her own in jeopardy.  It also points out how completely political the AG’s office has become.  From the State Ministry Of Propaganda:

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Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy

Hating Evil

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Do some churches willfully ignore their mission to fill seats?

A few days ago, I wrote a prayer.

My suggestion that hate is addictive does not mean we cannot oppose the ideas of those who mislead us.

Clearly, there are areas in which the Christian can focus negative energies battling the subversion of our cultural norms.  The further away we get from traditional family and positive standards of behavior, the easier it becomes to allow others to become our life surrogate. Government easily fills the vacuum left with an absence of the standard core of mother and father.

We know how well that works.

But where is the Christian at risk?  We attend our churches, express our faith in Christ, and depending on which congregation it is, may find ourselves listening to nonsense.  The pastors and church leaders too often overlook or misrepresent the teachings of Christ so as not to offend those who fill the seats for each service.

Many speak to the desired message instead of that which is clearly laid out in the bible, often offering excuse for what is clearly sin and an offense to God. Why? Because we are to love.  The implication that we be permissive and forgiving of acts that are biblically abominable.

A friend puts it this way: “The Heart is the door in which the devil steals our souls.”

On April 27, 2019 the MICPAC hosted several pastors and conservative thought leaders as part of it’s event.  Pastor Christopher Thoma speaks to this topic.  With conviction.

Enjoy.

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Michigan, Philosophy

Headlee History

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One of the most impactful tax limitations in Michigan history.

For decades, or rather for FOUR decades, we have enjoyed protections from over taxation.

At the April 27, 2019 MiCPAC event, Patrick Anderson & Norm Hughes discuss Richard Headlee, the history of Headlee legislative efforts, and the impact on Michigan’s ability to abuse the taxpayers.

Enjoy, and plan on attending the MiCPAC next year.

Or  check out the 2019 UPCPAC event June 14

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