Michigan Politics

Michigan Political considerations.

One Does Not Have To Be Catholic

One does not even have to be religious or overly traditional ..

To see this as losing the culture war.

Satanic worshipers gather in an unprecedented way to demonstrate their foolishness. Detroit is already a perfect example of what happens when evil is portrayed as good, when force masquerades as charity, and now when ‘tolerance’ is used to usher in a perfectly harmless and ‘innocent’ way to throw off the ‘yoke of Christianity.’

These folks really have no idea of what they are doing.

H/T Church Militant

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2014 ACU Michigan Legislature Ratings

The American Conservative Union has long been the premier organization rating members of Congress on how conservative their voting records are.  Recently, ACU began rating state legislators on their voting records, and it just released its third ratings of the Michigan state legislature.  I will summarize the relevant information here.

ACU State Ratings 2014–MI

ACU rated 12 house votes and 13 senate votes from 2013 and 2014.  Ten of the bills are the same for both halves of the legislature. The most common topics for the state house votes were taxes (3 votes), spending (3), and regulation (3).  The most common topic for the state senate votes were taxes (4 votes) and spending (4).

ACU Michigan state senate ratings 2013/2014:
100%: Pavlov, Emmons, Moolenaar
92%: Colbeck, Brandenberg, Rocca, Robertson, Proos, Jones, Schuitmaker, Green, Booher
85%: Marleau, Hune, Jansen, Hildenbrand, Meekhof
77%: Pappageorge, Kowall, Caswell, Richardville, Nofs, Kahn, Hansen, Walker, Casperson
62%: Hunter
31-33%: Hopgood, Andersen, Ananich
23%: Bieda
15-17%: Young, Johnson, Gregory, Warren, Whitmer
8-9%: Hood, Smith

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The LGBTIQ-crowd tries to screw Michigan Taxpayers just one more time.

Okay, they played the legal lottery and won.

I get that.

I don’t have to like that, but I get it.

We have a Supreme Court Chief Justice whose mental state is seriously suspect. A fellow Supreme Court Justice who is apparently too concerned with “leaving a legacy” than actually following the letter of the law. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the judicial activism displayed by other SCOTUS Justices in preceding rulings (and these) on unrelated cases should also be a cause for concern for any Freedom-loving American. But that is better left for another discussion.

Now, the LGBTIQ-crowd wants to turn the screws just one more time.

Shakedown Flag

Expect to see this flying in Ann Arbor, Royal Oak, Hazel Park and Traverse City sometime soon…

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Bankruptcy Stalks the Guardian Building

Dead Man Walking JPEGThe ball is now in the Governor’s court, so to speak.  The report is not public yet, but the press release is out.  It only took the State independent review team 18 calendar days to figure out what everyone knows: Wayne County is in a ‘Financial Emergency’.  Here is the money shot from the Michigan Department of Treasury press release:

The team’s extensive report indicates that numerous conditions led to the determination that a financial emergency exists in the county. Those conditions include the following:

  • The county’s last four annual financial audits re­­vealed notable variances between General Fund revenues and expenditures as initially budgeted, as amended, and as actually realized. In addition, County officials underestimated actual expenditures in three of the fiscal years by amounts ranging from $16.7 million to $23.7 million.
  • County officials engaged in unbudgeted expenditures in violation of Public Act 2 of 1968, the Uniform Budgeting and Accounting Act.
  • Although there was agreement among county officials that existing de­tention facilities are inadequate, there is no consensus about whether to complete construction on a new jail or to renovate existing facilities.
  • According to the county executive’s recovery plan, unfunded healthcare-related liabilities were estimated to be $1.3 billion as of the last actuarial valuation with funding set aside for this purpose of less than one percent of liabilities. Healthcare-related liabilities represent 40 percent of the county’s long-term financial obligations.

The Governor now has 10 days to take one of five actions: do nothing, conduct another ‘neutral’ evaluation, arrange a consent agreement, impose an emergency manager, or file the County for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

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Why Did It Take So Long?

And how much taxpayer money has been lost to cronyism over the last 7 years?

kwamewoodWe’ve been lied to.

Michigan politicians have been telling us that the film credits were needed to compete with other states for years. Its just not so.

People in the industry have been remarking how successful other states have been by giving filmmakers taxpayer money to ‘create’ jobs in those states; all the while competing against Michigan’s excessive subsidizing of the vanity industry which HQs in Hollywood.

But the bottom line?

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Why telling it like it is should be a newsworthy event.

Why telling it like it is should be a newsworthy event.

I’ll be honest, the whole kerfuffle regarding the “Confederate Flag” hasn’t drawn very much interest for me because of the following reasons:

One, it’s not directly Michigan-related.

Two, it doesn’t affect me personally or anyone that I know (and I know quite a few people who fall into the category the race-hustlers are trying to round up on their side).

Three, I’m actually amused at the time spent distracting focusing attention away from real issues like disintegrating family structures, a education system whose outcome is criminal, cities which have devolved into war zones, the job situation (just to name a few), which are the direct result of actions taken by democrats (See: Cloward-Piven).

But someone sent me this video, and it…well check it out for yourself regarding one Kid Rock, a do-nothing group of “community organizers” (isn’t that a redundant description), their respective list of accomplishments…and the Confederate Battle Flag.

Yes, the content is “safe for work”.

 

 

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Michigan Unemployment Stands At 28.3%

Only 71.7% of working age adults (18-65) are employed in Michigan

283-not-workingIts true.

Yet some folks might not consider the actual ‘not employed’ number if going by articles which can be misread.  Yesterday’s CapCon headline reads:

“Number of People Collecting Unemployment in Michigan Plummets Nearly 90 Percent

  “There are 314,000 fewer people taking unemployment benefits than in 2009”

And it really sounds amazing!

Curiously, the hockey stick statistic starts at a time in 2009, two years before former governor Jennifer Granholm left office.  And Inquiring minds might want to know what happened in those two years; or perhaps the story of a comeback under ‘certain’ leadership might be altered?  Capcon notes:

There were 363,212 people collecting unemployment as of Jan. 24, 2009. That number dropped to 49,060 as of June 20, 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

“Michigan’s growing economy is putting people back to work,” said James Hohman, the assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “Fewer people on unemployment insurance is one of the added benefits.”

But it means little, if anything.

It is a disappointing attempt to demonstrate a strong economy without other supporting statistics.  (‘Because we say Michigan has a growing economy, it must. And one indicator that is dependent on many things – we don’t talk about – quite obviously reinforces that fact.’) It leaves out other relevant information, that tells another story.

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Feed Me!

Feed Me!

 

I'm hungry! What's THAT in your wallet?

I’m hungry! What’s THAT in your wallet?

Thank Goodness that we have the Republican Party doing such an exceptional job overseeing the way our road taxes are being spent.

I’d hate to find out what would ever happen if they didn’t follow through with their fiduciary responsibilities of making sure that everything was spent properly.

{Continued below.}

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Michigan Senate Republicans invoke “leadership” strategy gleaned from watching South Park.

Just when you thought that things couldn’t get any stranger?

I bet you’re wondering which strategy that is?

Well, wait no longer (Here’s a hint: We’re at Phase 1)

{Click below the fold for details.}

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