All the Other Stuff

All the Other Stuff, Detroit, Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics

Take Off Eh?

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Hey you hosers wanna thrown me a vote?

We got the bacon, eh?

Many of you might recall the fictional Canadian brothers from the “Great White North” sketch on Second City Television.  Bob and Doug McKenzie drinking beer and sporting some crazy tooks, right?  Then there is Rob Ford, who is interesting enough in real life to have attracted the non-stop attention of late night variety shows for the last two years.

???????????????????????Now imagine if they were running for office .. in the united states.

What if I told you that a for real Canadian resident was on the ballot for a Michigan congressional seat?

Meet Jim Casha PO Box 308 Norwich, ON N0J1P0 Jim served in Lansing

welcome to bizarro world.

as an aside..  This gives me a laugh out loud.  Former 8th congressional district candidate from Lincoln Park, now running for the 1st?

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All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Elections

…by the company they keep.

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Chairman B.S. and the rest of Team-“r” might want to pull back on the mutual admiration society they kludged together and reach for a bottle of Maalox®.

Things aren’t shaping up too well in the fantasy world they created for voters this November.

On second thought, skip the Maalox® and go straight to the Prilosec OTC ®.

So what happened now?

{Continued below the fold}

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All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Philosophy, Rent Seeking, Republicans

License Of Looters

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The problem is not the expense of the tools, but the tools themselves.

hammerI have frequently argued that the problem with campaign finance is not the ability of donors to support candidates, but rather the destructive hammer that government wields.

Full disclosure, as we have argued on these pages is critical.  The process out in the open encourages good behavior, and provides a limiting effect on pandering to financial interests by politicos.  Even the amounts even being less important to the argument. Saying:

We DO agree that limits should be removed from campaign finance. We agree that limiting to an arbitrary amount can impede free speech and political expression. What is considered a fair contribution into the process is a completely subjective matter that can only be resolved by the person who is willing to contribute into that process.  A person’s individual priorities and where a subject reaches a level of importance are hardly the providence of external assignment.

The full argument making the point that ‘effect’ of the contributions  being known, lessens the harmful power of the influence.

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All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Republicans

Study: 40% of Michigan Families Can’t Cover Basic Survival Expenses

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Huge Decline in Wages for Michigan’s Working Families

Pay Falls for Low-Wage Men yet Women Still Far Behind,” found that real wages of Michigan workers have fallen by more than ten percent since 1979 for broad sections of the working class.

Hourly pay for low-wage workers of “prime working age” in Michigan fell 13.4 percent between 1979-2013, while pay for mid-wage workers of prime age fell 12.7 percent.

The collapse of wages in Michigan also illustrates president Obama’s and Governor Snyder’s “insourcing” policies, which involves pushing for lower corporate taxes and lower living standards and wages for workers in order to make American cities “attractive” for business. Snyder Obama Meet

Speaking at a Milwaukee factory in 2012, Obama celebrated the results of his and Snyder’s “bailout” policies in Michigan as a model for the rest of the country: What’s happening in Detroit can happen in other cities.

Declining work rates, stagnant wages, the rise of female-headed families, inferior education, and the arrival of millions of “immigrants” with poor education and low skills are little engines pushing up the poverty rate.

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All the Other Stuff, Cronyism, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy, Rent Seeking

Franchise Envy

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The power of government can be instructive AND abusive.

When an operation hosted in publicly owned property is as successful as what might be considered only in ‘wildest dreams,’ it is then eyed with a lust that is found only within the failure of bureaucracy.

baseball1I’ve seen it first hand.  In Grand Traverse County in 2010, a highly successful  baseball program run by veterans was quite literally confiscated, and taken over by the landlords.  An empire building, bureaucratic strategist, coupled with a misunderstood management glitch in the popular 62 year old program opened the door to it being taken over by the county.

The PRIVATE program which began more than a half century earlier by veterans building ball fields was summarily sequestered because the landlord didn’t like the way ‘management’ of the program was operating.  The county board was convinced to back a parks decision to take the program away from the vets, and the participation dropped by 30%.

In the end, a newly elected county board (including myself) in the beginning of 2011 convinced enough of the old to give it back.  In the end as well however, we should note that it was a government entity (the parks department) trying to justify its existence, (programming beyond rental of properties) show a profit (a stated argument during the takeover) and be a controlling authority.

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All the Other Stuff, Democrats, Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Republicans

Oh & BTW – Convention Edition

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Though many may be casting a protest vote, it won't likely be for Mark Schauer

Schauer-xBad guys is just plain bad guys.

We police our own, but fact of the matter is that Democrat Mark Schauer had the biggest campaign finance violation and fine that Michigan has seen to date.  In 2007 former RM editor and operator Nick DeLeeuw noted the unmitigated gall of Schauer, and the 22 counts of his election violations:

“Here’s how it worked.  Schauer decided to go ahead and raise a bunch of illegal campaign cash.  He received illegal money from Democrats including Carl Williams, Alexander Lipsey, Bob Schockman, Gretchen Whitmer, Mickey Switalski, Buzz Thomas, Liz Brater, Mike Prusi, Gilda Jacobs, Glenn Anderson and Mark Slavens and then pitched in $187,000 himself.  Mind you, the limit is $20,000.  

Once the Democrats realized they’d been discovered each of the folks who currently serve in the legislature went ahead and asked for refunds.  Essentially they said “oops, our mistake, don’t punish us for it!”  Prusi, Whitmer, Switalski, Brater, Thomas, Slavens and Jacobs all took their illegal cash back, essentially admitting they’d been caught with their hands in the cookie jar and trying to make things right (well after the fact).

But no such change of heart from Mark Schauer.  When he breaks the law he stands by his criminal activity!  And he stands by his man, too.  Ken Brock, the anti-Semite who’s racist comments drew the ire of everyone in Michigan except Mark Schauer, was the Senator’s treasurer on this particular money laundering operation and signed all of the papers.  “

The scheme was noted and investigated.

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All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy, Republicans

Weekend Reading Assignment

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logo-sphereThere is so much going on; much of which deserves a spot here but takes time to chronicle.

Current Michigan Gems?

Watchdog Wire – Did Frank Foster Lie To His Constituents? Going Negative on a challenger?  Mr Foster seems genuinely scared.  Liars Lie.

FedUpUSA – Oh, So Free Water Is Next? Crazy. Just shows how completely dumbed down the spawn of progressivism is in Detroit, and in this state, and elsewhere.

Activist Post – Michigan Dept of Agri Forces Farmer to Dump 248 Gallons of Organic Milk and Break 1200 Free Range Eggs Food.  They are throwing away FOOD. Government oversight is so beneficial is it not?

The Complete Patient – Food Dump Meant To Send A Message. Indeed it is. Another look at the story above.

Say Yes To Wes Blog – A Victory in the Supreme Court. Wes Nakagiri’s take on the Supreme court ruling and his opponent’s positions.

 

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