Republicans

Is Congressman Mike Bishop Abandoning The Second Amendment?

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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Stabenow Presser Turns Ugly

Stabenow: "No one must know how truly stupid I am.."

Apparently, Debbie Stabenow needs to have properly filtered outlets for election season.

Events open to the general public need not have any critical viewpoints present.  Yesterday her team had a man tossed by police for simply witnessing the ‘Auburn Goddess’ demonstrate her Oratory excellence.

United States Senator Debbie Stabenow had a tracker for the independent watchdog group ‘America Rising’ forcibly removed from a public press conference she was holding at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. The tracker was not asking questions or causing a disturbance. He was simply attempting to film the Senator’s remarks on prescription drugs. The event was open to the general public and he was thrown out simply for working for a group that the Senator does not like.

When asked for comment Michigan Republican Party Deputy Chief of Staff Sarah Anderson said the following: “A public servant such as Senator Stabenow should have nothing to hide when it comes to her remarks. Tactics such as these have no place in a free society and are unbecoming of a U.S. Senator.  Debbie Stabenow needs to apologize immediately.”

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And the real difference here is?

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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Yet Michigan Republicans Continue To Fund The Beast

Leftist indoctrination centers long on cash, yet short on real value.

Michigan’s state constitution does not specify a value when it mandates the support of our colleges and universities.

§ 4 Higher education institutions; appropriations, accounting, public sessions of boards.

Sec. 4.

The legislature shall appropriate moneys to maintain the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University, Eastern Michigan University, Michigan College of Science and Technology, Central Michigan University, Northern Michigan University, Western Michigan University, Ferris Institute, Grand Valley State College, by whatever names such institutions may hereafter be known, and other institutions of higher education established by law. The legislature shall be given an annual accounting of all income and expenditures by each of these educational institutions. Formal sessions of governing boards of such institutions shall be open to the public.

Shall appropriate moneys.

How much?  It could be $1 million each school, money for a truck, or other provision that ‘maintains’ in someway the universities and colleges in our state.  But instead, we punish our taxpayers, and frankly our social norms by paying nearly 2 Billion a year for that which kills our culture and promotes leftist ideology.

And Michigan has Republican dominated Legislatures and Executive offices. go figure.

The slide into values negative programming was so obviously nearly complete when we discovered the University of Michigan was spending $85 million of our hard earned resources to promote a false vision of diversity.

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Michigan Gun Control Update

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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Going where other Republicans fear to tread – Follow up

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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Where is Bill Schuette? Chasing Feral Ducks?

States Sue/ Contend Obamacare Unconstitutional - Michigan's presence in suit noticeably absent.

What a missed opportunity for a highly probable next governor!

Bill Schuette has failed miserably on two high profile United States Supreme Court cases already.  As simple as telling the federal government that the constitution still matters, and that Michigan invokes the 10th with appropriate and legal prejudice.  Defending Michigan’s Marriage LAW, and fighting the last Obamacare suit should have been easy work for any attorney/former judge/congress critter, but here we are years later living with the failure on those fronts.

And now another opportunity pops up, and the state attorney general is nowhere to be seen?

Cmon Bill!  It’s not as-if you are spending time going out and meeting the folks.  Get with the plan, and don’t take your current lead for granted.

Michigan needs better than this.

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February 26 Gubernatorial Townhall Forum In Traverse City

GOP town hall event

The stage is ready.

The candidates who are serious about reaching out and communicating with the public have been traveling the state holding town-hall events, and answering the questions on Michiganian minds.

Join the 2018 Republican Gubernatorial candidates lt.governor Brian Calley, State senator Patrick Colbeck, Dr. Jim Hines, and (invited – not confirmed) Bill Schuette as they offer their insight into better government and state management issues.

I will be the moderator.

Monday February 26, 7PM Traverse City.

Streeters Center 1669 S Garfield Ave, Traverse City, MI 49686

 

 

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Going where other Republicans fear to tread.

“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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What Is Going On Here?

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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