Democrats

Democrats, Firearms, Liberty, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Republicans

Dingell and Upton Will Introduce Federal Gun Confiscation Legislation

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Soviet Justice Comes To America

RINO Rick is playing coy with his impending school safety proposal, refusing to say whether Extreme Risk Protection Orders – now rebranded as ‘red flag laws’ – will be part of it. U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell has no such qualms. The Wicked Witch of West Bloomfield announced yesterday that she intends to introduce federal Extreme Risk Protection Order legislation based upon Indiana Code Title 35, Article 47, Chapter 14 (IC 35-47-14). She claimed on Fox News Live that West Michigan Congressman Fred Upton, a Republican, will be a co sponsor.

Indiana Code 35-47-14 establishes procedures for law enforcement to seize privately held firearms from individuals deemed ‘dangerous’. An Indiana law enforcement officer can petition a circuit or superior court for a warrant to “search for and seize a firearm in the possession of an individual who is dangerous”. Or the Indiana law enforcement officer can just go ahead and both search for and seize firearms in the possession of any individual; then at his leisure submit a written statement to the circuit or superior court with jurisdiction, declaring the individual to be dangerous ex post facto.

An Indiana law enforcement officer can declare the individual to be dangerous on his own accord, or rely on the declaration of a third party informer. The law enforcement officers and informants are not required to prove any qualifications in court. The law enforcement officer and the informants are unchallenged. Their assertions alone transform an otherwise legal activity – private firearms possession – into a crime.

Indiana Code 35-47-14 claims that this is legally sufficient probable cause, but is it?

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Conservative News, Democrats, Detroit, Elections, Firearms, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Republicans

Is Congressman Mike Bishop Abandoning The Second Amendment?

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And the rest of the conservative agenda?

Michigan 8th District U.S. Congressman Mike Bishop’s campaign website has been scrubbed updated to remove any mention of the Second Amendment from its Issues page. Or anything else remotely controversial in the conservative agenda. His new campaign website Issues page has a bunch of anodyne pablum, but no mention of firearms:

His new, Second Amendment free, Issues page

His previous, 25 September 2017, Issues page:

2nd Amendment
Supporting our 2nd amendment right to bear arms, Mike Bishop championed right-to-carry legislation, received A/A+ rating from NRA and is personally a gun owner with a CPL.

The Rochester Republican has not made any public statements indicating changes in his position on the Second Amendment, but the update of his campaign website speaks volumes.

Bishop faces no opposition in the August 7th Republican Primary, but tough Democratic opposition in the November 6th General Election. Chris Smith, a labor-backed professor at MSU’s School of Criminal Justice, and Elissa Slotkin, an Obama Administration DoD appointee, are both running. The winner of this Democratic primary match up is expected to be well funded in the Fall.

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All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Elections, Government Incompetence, Liberty, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Pensions & Retirement Benefits, Republicans

And the real difference here is?

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Sitting down and catching up on my reading and talking head shows, I’m quickly reminded of the shallowness in today’s society when I’m watching things that clearly aren’t what they appear to be on the surface.

I’ve caught snippets of the “organic” and “student-led” anti-gun protests in DC and Detroit.

Pretty impressive for something that by all accounts was organized by a bunch of high school students.

From the professional stage and media system all the way down to the smallest details like the printed lanyards/backstage passes to the “I call BS.” & “I will vote” pins/stickers, it’s not too shabby.

But, I’ve attended more than a few high school drama productions in my time.

Those kids put plenty of heart and certainly a lot of effort into their sets and performances…but nothing even remotely like I saw on TV. That was light-years beyond the skill sets of those kids…especially when done in the span of about one month!

And then you have the democrats making another go a tipping the elections in their direction. Their ideas aren’t working, their candidates are uninspiring (unless you like getting free things), so they’re changing things up.

Much like the similarly “organic” Voters Not Politicians, their latest attempt is a group called Promote the Vote, which much like VNP, certainly has a lot of democrats behind the scenes pulling the strings.

But that’s just crazy talk, they’ll respond.

This is a legitimate extension of the outrage from the electorate…or some other silly nonsense along those lines.

Silly nonsense now being spewed forth by a certain political party which had lost its way long ago…and apparently never correctly learned the lessons from history.

{More about who they are below the fold}

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Conservative News, Democrats, Firearms, Michigan, Pensions & Retirement Benefits, Republicans

Michigan Gun Control Update

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Extreme Risk Protection Orders and Very Expensive Virtue Signaling

Above the fold headlines in both Gongwer and MIRS today suggest that RINO Rick is launching an intense effort to secure passage of Representative Robert Wittenberg’s HB 4706 and HB 4707. These bills create a new category of judicial proclamation – ‘Extreme Risk Protection Orders’ – which direct police to confiscate the firearms of anyone who is denounced to a Michigan court “without written or oral notice” to the victim. These ERPO bills have been rebranded as ‘red flag laws’ after the Parkland, Florida high school shooting. Both of Wittenberg’s bills received their first reading (of three) last year and were languishing in the House Judiciary Committee. No longer.

Here are the headlines:

Gongwer

Snyder Preparing Gun Control Proposal

MIRS

Snyder Considers Waving The Red Flag; Sheriffs Want Cops Back In Schools

These stories are behind a paywall, but RINO Rick’s spokesperson Tanya Baker floated a trial balloon on AP three days ago. The Democrats have been all in for a while, so whether ERPOs come to Michigan will be determined by the Republicans in the Legislature soon.

Here is the problem: Some clown you hardly know can petition a judge to issue an ERPO which orders the police to seize your firearms, CPL, knives, baseball bats, golf clubs, etc. You only find out that an ERPO has been issued when the police break down your door to effect the seizure. You have no opportunity to contest the initial issuance of an ERPO in front of the judge. It is a bolt out of the blue. The police get to throw your valuable collector firearms into a dump trailer willy-nilly without any responsibility for the condition or safekeeping of your property. You, the restrained individual, then have 14 days to file a counter action. Good luck with that.

Stalinism meets civil forfeiture.

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2018 Michigan Gubernatorial Race, All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Democrats, Detroit, Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Republicans

Going where other Republicans fear to tread – Follow up

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Let me start off by being honest here.

For 75% of the candidates speaking last weekend at the Michigan United People’s Governor Forum, I could’ve very easily just stayed home and wrote this piece out and included their responses even before they made them. They are ridiculously simple to predict and I would’ve easily gotten it pretty darn close to what they actually said with no one being the wiser.

I WOULDN’T do that because that’s not the kind of person that I am.

I also didn’t go to hear what those 75% had to say (although to be fair…some of what those other candidates actually said and how they said it was significantly far more concerning than even I would’ve initially suspected…more on that later).

I went to hear only one person.

Specifically, I wanted to see how he handled himself. More importantly, would he “modify his message” to placate the hostile masses.

Let me just say that what I saw should change your mind (if you haven’t already) regarding this particular candidate for Michigan Governor.

I’ll also get to why I waited this long to post this.

{And those answers are below the fold}

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2018 Michigan Gubernatorial Race, All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Democrats, Detroit, Elections, Liberty, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Republicans

Going where other Republicans fear to tread.

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“My son, we're pilgrims in an unholy land.” - Professor Henry Jones (Sean Connery) “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

Admit it.

You’ve got to hand it to Sen. Pat Colbeck credit on this one.

It’s one thing to take on the party kakistocracy and challenge not only their hand picked heir apparent to the Michigan Governor’s Office, but the wanna-be as well.

This is taking up a notch.

Honestly, more like two or three given the venue and locale.

Curious as to what this just might be?

Then click below to continue.

{Continues after the fold}

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All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Elections, Government Incompetence, Liberty, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Taxes

Another nail in the coffin.

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It’s amazing what falls under the radar in the local news.

So recently, Oakland Co. Exec. L. Brooks Patterson announced that he will not be supporting the RTA tax when it come up again on the ballot again this fall.

The response was very predictable. The leeches and parasites (aka Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Wayne Co. Exec. Warren Evans) threw a hissy fit that a.) they weren’t notified in advance, b.) they felt that they already had an agreement in place to jam it down Southeastern Michigan Taxpayers Throats, and c.) the RTA would collapse like a house of cards because the cost to Wayne County would be too great.

The sycophants of the leeches and parasites in the local media (read: The Freep) threw an equally unimpressive temper tantrum..using the same talking points.

Well, guess what?

Macomb County got into the act as well (and it doesn’t look too good for the RTA tax).

{More below the fold}

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Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Elections, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics

Why Wasn’t Nassar Stopped In 2014? Or In 2016?

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Quid Pro Quo, Again

Dr. Lawrence Gerard Nassar’s molestation of young girls dates back to the 1990’s and at least 14 of his victims reported him to various figures of authority at MSU over the intervening years. In 2014, one of those authority figures finally took a Nassar victim seriously enough to report him to MSU’s Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives. OIII was the MSU bureaucracy then responsible for investigating Title IX discrimination complaints. That accuser also reported the incident to MSU’s police department two months later.

The MSU Title IX investigation was a whitewash. The author of the report, Kristine M. Moore (currently MSU’s Assistant General Counsel) went so far as to issue two reports – a more truthful one to Nassar and another, abbreviated version to the victim. At some point in 2014, recently departed MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon was informed of the circumstances and did little or nothing. Nassar continued to molest his female patients; at least 12 more before he was finally arrested.

Some time in 2015, MSU’s campus police department finally made a criminal referral to the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office. Stuart Dunning III’s office did nothing, perhaps because he was just too preoccupied with his much beloved prostitutes. And his subordinates were perhaps too busy covering for his wretched behavior. In March 2016, the Ingham County Sheriff arrested Dunning and his lawyer brother for pandering. Dunning plead out and resigned from office.

Ingham County Circuit Court judges selected Gretchen Whitmer, a current Democratic candidate for Michigan Governor, to serve out the remainder of Dunning’s term. Whitmer averred that Dunning’s distractions did not affect any ICPO case and immediately signaled her virtue by establishing a new domestic violence unit within the ICPO. You are allowed to be skeptical.

MSU Campus Police Chief Jim Dunlap returned to the new, interim Ingham County Prosecutor – Ms. Whitmer – with his department’s referral of the Nassar molestation incidents. He got blown off by Whitmer and her chief assistant, Lisa McCormick. Dunlap was convinced that Whitmer’s office was not interested in pursuing the molestation charges because they were “much more difficult to take to trial” than the kiddie porn charges then being developed by the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan.

Whitmer and McCormick were entirely content to allow Nassar to be prosecuted for kiddie porn by the Feds, but both now claim they did not file molestation charges against Nassar because of ‘jurisdictional issues’.

Dunlap stalked off and contacted Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office that same evening. He wanted Nassar fully charged for all his offenses. AG Schuette had no qualms about going after Nassar. At the time, there were only 5 or 6 molestation complaints against Nassar, all of which arose from MSU. The Eaton County Twistar cases were developed after Schuette took over the prosecution. There were no ‘jurisdictional issues’ when Whitmer blew off Dunlap.

The rest is history. But is it the entire history?

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All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Elections, Government Incompetence, Liberty, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Taxes

Did we just dodge another huge bullet here?

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While I don’t agree with Oakland County Exec. L. Brooks Patterson on some things (okay…most things), kind of like a stopped clock, he finally got something right for a change.

According to The Detroit News, during his annual address to Oakland County last night, County Exec. Patterson came out whole-heartedly and unequivocally against the RTA Tax v 2.0.

 

Why should ANYONE be made to pay for something that they will not use?

No, the ballot proposal hasn’t officially been announced for the ‘18 General yet. My snitches tell me that they are still working out on how to best polish this heaping, steaming pile of bull droppings, without much success.

Good luck on that.

Citing the lack of hard facts from what those pulling the levers behind the scenes will actually do with the monies collected, much like one of the laundry-list of problems with the last proposal, County Exec. Patterson said this,

“… I can’t do it. I won’t do it,” he said to a standing ovation. “And I will never, ever betray the public trust I respect and represent.”

I should stress that County Exec. Patterson received a standing ovation from those in attendance during that particular portion of his speech.

This isn’t something that you get when, according to RTA tax supporters, people overwhelming support your plan.

Pay us so that we can placate the mass transit snowflakes by driving around town empty.

This should (hopefully, anyway), have some affect here in Macomb, where Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel is also having some serious difficulty signing off on this.

And did I mention that the roads here in Southeastern Michigan look like the 107th used them for light target practice?

Fixing them takes money, too.

I’m not going to add anything more at this time due to the fact that my considerable folder on these con-artists just got a little bit bigger, and I’d like to keep my powder dry…just in case.

I will be adding more when this story unfolds.

Stay tuned.

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Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Fees, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Republicans, Taxes

What Is Going On Here?

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Governor Snyder is attempting to resuscitate his reputation by benevolently raising your taxes.

Our ace Governor is not going quietly into the night as his governorship slides into the twilight zone. He launched two tax proposals last week which he touted as environmental initiatives. Neither raises enough funds to even remotely achieve his stated environmental objectives, unless the taxes he proposed skyrocket in the future. Both proposals are actually designed to expand our hopelessly inept (and periodically corrupt) bureaucracy. The environmental angle is just eyewash to sell higher taxes to the gullible. And those tax rates he proposes will skyrocket – bet on it.

First up is an increase in the current landfill tipping tax from $ 0.36 per ton to $ 4.75 per ton. Snyder claims this tax increase will raise $ 79 million for recycling programs. It won’t. The incremental revenue will be something less than $ 70.7 million, because 769,000 tons of solid waste from other states with lower tipping taxes will no longer be land filled in Michigan (pdf). Michigan landfills will suffer a 4.5% volume drop, which will be consequential. They will either curtail operations (read: lay off workers), cut workers’ wages or raises, and/or adjust tipping fees. Local units of government, which also collect revenue from their landfills, will suffer revenue losses as well. Environmentalists will applaud, but the trash is just being diverted to different land fills. There is no environmental benefit to playing musical chairs with garbage.

Governor Snyder implies in his press release that his proposed tipping tax increase will diminish Michigan’s solid waste imports from his Canadian buddies; the ones who are building his bridge. It won’t. Ontario landfill tipping fees start at $ 75 CAD per metric ton ($ 55 USD per short ton). Comparable Michigan landfill tipping fees are in the low $ 30 USD range. Snyder would have to raise the Michigan tipping tax by $ 25 USD, not the $ 4.39 he proposes, to materially reduce Canadian solid waste exports to Michigan. Keep in mind that the Canadians will ignore their transportation costs; they need to feed tolls to that fancy new bridge as cross border truck traffic otherwise declines.  Our Canadian neighbors didn’t pay for the Gordie Howe Bridge out of the goodness of their hearts.  It was cheaper politically than opening land fills.

A tipping tax which would actually impact Canadian trash exports would wipe out Michigan land fills and their workers. And all of our solid waste would be exported to other states, making Michigan many new friends across the Midwest. Yet tipping tax proponents will imply that the tipping tax increase will curtail Canadian trash exports to Michigan.

It won’t.

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