Sports

Cronyism, Economy, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Part Time Legislature, Rent Seeking, Republicans, Sports

Sausage Making

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Regional 'payoffs' still ignore proper role of government.

Cronyism is now everywhere.

I have written at the beginning of Snyder’s terms that he was the guy who essentially brought the neu-cronyism to Michigan.  He invented the current form, and served as its first overlord.  Money spent in ways that used to invite constitutional challenges, now routinely passes through the sieve of Lansing into favored projects and could be expected to always get the blessing of the governor.

I doubt the new governor will do anything but enhance it’s reach as she attempts to cajole lawmakers from the ‘other side’ to embrace her sure-to-be bizarre mechanizations that raise the cost of government further.  Sadly, it is a Republican legislature that continues to make this kind of thing happen:

$10M In Sports Funding Coming: Is Indoor Traverse City Sports Complex Next?

By Beth Milligan | Dec. 29, 2018

$10 million in state funding is headed to northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula to create a regional sports commission – an initiative that dovetails with an effort by Traverse City Tourism to explore opening a year-round indoor sports complex in Traverse City.

Governor Rick Snyder signed off Friday on two supplemental spending bills totaling $1.3 billion for numerous projects throughout the state, including road upgrades, contamination clean-up, and education initiatives. The bills – approved earlier this month by state lawmakers – also include funding for community projects throughout Michigan, including $10 million to establish the Northern Michigan Regional Tourism and Sports Fund and to create a Great Lakes Sports Commission.

…

… Traverse City Tourism hired a consulting firm earlier this year to conduct a feasibility study on whether there is a need for such a facility in the area, how much it would cost to construct, and if it would be financially sustainable. The firm’s results are expected in January. But Traverse City Tourism President/CEO Trevor Tkach says preliminary findings “prove there is enough demand to run a cash-positive business if the facility gets built.”

Maybe “cash positive” means profit?  Maybe, maybe not.

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All the Other Stuff, Sports

#Silverdome

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Apparently, things don't always go as planned.

Found this morning on Twitter:

And a winner

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Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Rent Seeking, Sports, Taxes

Battles of the Lower Depths in Detroit

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Davis et al v. Detroit Downtown Development Authority et al; U.S Eastern District of Michigan Case Number: 2:17-cv-11742

Eastern District of Michigan U.S. District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith ruled on June 19th that Detroit’s Downtown Development Authority can issue $34.5 million in bonds to pay for the relocation of the Detroit Pistons basketball team to the new Little Caesar’s Arena. The Judge’s ruling rejected arguments that the eventual use of school tax money to repay these tax increment finance bonds violates Detroit residents’ constitutional and statutory right to vote on a school tax money diversions.

Judge Goldsmith’s ruling denied Robert Davis‘ and D. Etta Wilcoxon’s motion for a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order in their lawsuit against the Detroit Downtown Development Authority. The Judge said the plaintiffs did not establish the need for an emergency injunction. The Judge politely neglected to mention that Robert Davis was sentenced in the very same Eastern District U.S. District Court to an 18 month Club Fed vacation for stealing $ 200,000 from the Highland Park School District in 2014. Mr. Davis should still be on probation for this minor peccadillo.

One complication here is that the tax monies being diverted are not those of the current Detroit Community Public School District, but rather those of the legacy Detroit Public School District which was reduced to zombie status last year in the DPS bailout. Is the old DPS really a school district today, or just a financial entity? The Detroit Community Public School District is a near bankrupt ward of the State of Michigan that won’t receive any Detroit property tax revenues until the legacy DPS district debts are paid off. No one alive today will live to see that.

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All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy, Rent Seeking, Republicans, Sports, Taxes

Um yeah, about that Detroit Pistons move…

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Normally, sports doesn’t have much to do with politics here in Michigan.

Only in this case, what is happening behind the scenes should be of concern to everyone living in Michigan.

Hint: Think politicians being generous with other people’s money.

{Continued below the fold}

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Conservative News, Democrats, Flint Water Fiasco, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Religious Freedom, Sports

Never Let A Crisis Go To Waste

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Flint Lead Remediation Effort Morphs Into An Attack On Hunting, Target Shooting, Fishing, And Even Churches

brian-calley

Michigan’s elites have clearly not absorbed the lesson of November 8th, yet.

The Michigan’s Child Lead Poisoning Elimination Board issued their final report last week. Chairman Brian Calley and his team of 14 politicians experts were empanelled by Executive Order 2016-09 to demonstrate that Governor Snyder actually cared about the Flint children exposed to lead, by his previously empanelled team of professional incompetents experts. The CLPEB’s recommendations are a liberal wish list of expensive dreams mostly unrelated to the underlying cause of the Flint water fiasco: government incompetence.

But the CLPEB did put forth the effort to launch an attack on hunting, target shooting, sport fishing, and even religion. Recommended on page 22 of their final report:

Prohibit lead in fishing tackle, establish a fishing tackle trade-in program to encourage consumers and industries to transition away from lead-based tackle, and encourage further study of lead in fishing tackle.

Establish regulations to protect against lead exposures through the use of firearms by:

o Establishing an ammunition trade-in program.
o Establishing a wild game meat testing program for donated products.
o Developing a health education program and public education materials for lead exposures in hunting and wild game consumption.

Recommended on page 26 of their final report:

In post-1978 homes, dust, soil, and water testing should be conducted at the time of transfer of the property or upon the occurrence of some other reliable event, or whenever there are indications of a high-risk activity, such as stained-glass window work or ammunition reloading, being done in the home.

Here we have the elites punishing their subjects for the mistakes of the elites. Michigan government at its finest.

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Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy, Republicans, Sports

So What About The Big M?

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The 'progressive' left will leave no institutions standing when it is through.

msu-towerHas the left destroyed all of our traditions yet?

Perhaps not, though progressives cannot abide by any roadblocks to the ultimate agenda of ‘change’ toward their vision of a Utopian prison for all.  David French in The Left Is Weaponizing Sports, reminds us that it ain’t over till every institution has been destroyed, and the bonds that hold us together have been severed:

While the NCAA — as perhaps the peak representative of progressive hypocrisy and cheap virtue signaling — is an easy target, its action raises a much more significant concern. Simply put, there are not many cultural spaces remaining where Americans can meet on more or less neutral ground — where Americans of all faiths and political beliefs can meet, unite, and share a positive communal experience.

Our political polarization is but one symptom of our increasing Balkanization. When I speak, I sometimes challenge audiences to name one significant cultural force or trend that is binding Americans together, rather than pulling them apart.

The NCAA is being used as a weapon.

Which begs a great big question: “Aren’t we supposed to store weapons in a safe place?”

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Democrats, Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Sports

Dems Freaked Out Over Peters

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If Democrats Were Happy With Gary Peters To Replace Carl Levin, Then ...

Shane Battier Photo Courtesy of NBA.COM

Sometimes you have to read between the lines.

Probably little known to team Gary Peters, is that Lon Johnson was looking for a trade.  The Michigan Democrat Party seems to need a new power forward:

“.. “That was an amazing point in my career,” Battier said. “I was really nervous I was gonna be the reason we weren’t going to win a championship. I took it upon myself to say, ‘If we lose, it’s not going to be because I didn’t fight my ass off.’ I had to guard West, and he beat the hell out of me like he always does. But we somehow reinvented ourselves, and that was the birth of small ball.”

Battier is nearing retirement now, and he can no longer shoot, dribble, or defend like he once did. The Michigan Democratic Party recently called him to see if he might consider running to replace U.S. Senator Carl Levin, Battier said. He declined, but he’s closer to retirement than he is to the player who helped Miami unlock its identity. ..”

D’oh!

Rimshot!

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Conservative News, Detroit, Michigan Politics, Philosophy, Sports

Keeping ’em fat, Dumb, and Happy

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Interesting Opening Day snippet about the new “Enhanced Security” clustermuck at billionaire Ilitch’s taxpayer subsidized Amphitheatrum Flavium.

SheepleOthers, such as St. Clair Shores resident Scott Mitchell, came early to beat the wait.

“If it’s for our safety, I don’t mind it,” he said.
….

“I’m OK with it,” said Bryan Collison, 27. “Pretty much anywhere you go now you have to use these.”
….

Larry Dewey, 58, wasn’t worried about longer lines, either. Dewey has been to more than 30 Opening Day games and said the change wasn’t that big of a deal.

“Safety first,” the Rochester Hills native said. “Once everyone gets used to it, it will be just like any other game.”

Now, how did Franklin know that what he warned about would be Boomer and Millennial dolts? What a visionary Ben was. If one suspected otherwise one most certainly could assert that the indoctrination is being induced from elsewhere *cough*Public Act 396 of 2012*cough*.

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