Tag: House (page 3)

Liberals just don't get it.

When government does something, it has an impact. Tax something? You get less of it. Subsidize X? You get more of it. Similarly, when government imposes additional costs on an economic activity, the activity dries up or becomes more expensive.

Such is the case with the state legislature here in the Enchanted Mitten. Today's Macomb Daily reports that the Michigan House has passed a bill that would impose a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures.  As reported previously:

"The state legislation would provide a 90-day redemption period for those facing imminent foreclosure. If the homeowner submits to financial counseling offered by state or federal housing experts, they would then enter into negotiations with their lender. The mortgage company would be required to attempt to seek some middle ground -- a loan modification that could prevent the impending mortgage default."

Ah, the genius of our elected officials. Take a contract between two willing parties in which one of them is not performing and force the other -- the one who put up the money in the first place! -- not to utilize its contractual remedies for at least 90 days, while the balance due continues to grow. As I said, genius.

Read more.

Good reform package used as opportunity to provide lifetime benefits

Earlier this morning Clydes Dale mentioned in another post a story he'd heard on WJR about Michigan Democrats and a vote to grant themselves lifetime benefits.  

In economic times like these I sincerely wish even the most extreme left wingers had the sense to avoid big-government bureaucratic protection schemes like this but alas... they don't.  Not even the so-called moderates.

House Democrats yesterday forced a package of bills through the Michigan House that do indeed guarantee lifetime benefits for state lawmakers.  Worse yet, they snuck it into otherwise important legislation.  But take this as a positive sign and early high marks for the Elsenheimer-led Republican Minority... Republican Representatives were quick to cry foul!

"One of the top issues we're hearing from our local governments is their call for help dealing with unfunded liabilities and saving money," said Rep. Jim Marleau, R-Lake Orion. "That is the intent of this legislation and should be the focus of these bills, not guaranteeing benefits for state legislators and bureaucrats."

The House yesterday approved a bipartisan package, House Bills 4071-9, to create a mechanism for the state and local governments to pre-fund retiree health benefits for public employees retired from the state, Legislature, Judiciary, State Police and public schools or from local units of government. A provision added by Democrats in committee would guarantee lifetime health benefits for public employees, including legislators.

"It is unfortunate that this opportunity for real reform to improve the state of Michigan has been mucked up by special interest paybacks and partisan politics," said Rep. Chuck Moss, R Birmingham.

The House Republican Caucus previously introduced HB 4080 to stop lifetime benefits for lawmakers beginning with the current sophomore class of lawmakers.  They've been trying to stop lifetime legislator benefits for years now.  Last term Democrat Robert Dean introduced legislation to protect lifetime benefits for himself and his colleagues and this year we get this monstrosity.

"Ending lifetime benefits is an important move to put the citizen's Legislature more in line with Michigan citizens who are forced to make sacrifices every day to get by," state Rep. Brian Calley. "I am disheartened by today's move in the wrong direction. If the state can't even balance our own books, why are we cementing such an unnecessary perk for six years of service?"

"Two weeks ago we voted to cut our salaries, and that was the right thing to do and today we voted to give ourselves lifetime health benefits," said Rep. Tonya Schuitmaker. "If that's not the definition of hypocrisy, I don't know what is."

It is, Representative.  It is.

The GOP House minority continues to sponsor and introduce legislation, to work behind the scenes and to try to figure out some sort of positive solution to this tax-hike / budget mess.

We rarely hear about that in the MSM.

Being a member of a legislative minority makes it tough to garner headlines. But they're working hard and they're trying to make a difference.

This week I spoke with Macomb County's freshman Representative Peter Lund.  I should note, this interview was conducted prior to yesterday's budget announcement.

Interview after the break...

That said, when one aspires to public service one necessarily sets oneself on a pedestal and voluntarily offers to live by a higher standard.  That's why the slightest personal foibles in elected officials draw such intense scrutiny.  And, frankly, they should.  

If you're going to make heavy taxpayer funded bank and have run for and won a position where you don't only influence laws, ordinances and public policy but you help write them, darn it all, you'd better live by them.

Late last year Representative Kevin Green was arrested for DUI.  The man was stripped of two committee assignments by Democratic Speaker Andy Dillon and was marginalized in what had to that point been a spirited pursuit of his own caucus's top leadership position.  He became the poster boy for irresponsible public servants in Michigan and the consequences that can and should befall them.  

Andy Dillon was right in how he handled the Green situation.  Frankly, I wouldn't have minded if he'd gone a little further.  We'll see now, though, how Democrats in the legislature and in Macomb County handle one of their own in an even more serious situation.

The Macomb Daily reports that Macomb County Commissioner Irene Kepler (D-Roseville) was yanked from her car by police early this morning after stopping on the side of the road to make an intoxicated cell phone call.

According to the Ivory Tower she had earlier been the offending party in a hit and run collision.

In addition to her $34,000 a year salary courtesy of Macomb County residents, Kepler is employed as a staffer in Democratic Representative Harold Haugh's legislative office.  She is also a former intern with Democratic Senator Mickey Switalski and was named the Democrat's State of Michigan Legislative Intern of the Year.

Consistency would seem to demand Representative Haugh and House leadership take immediate action to send an entirely unambiguous signal that their staff is also held to the highest standards.  They represent their bosses in the district and at the HOB.  

Haugh would certainly be mortified if his staffer attended a public meeting while intoxicated.  Zero doubt what would happen to any legislative employee who showed up to work drunk.  How much more serious that his staff are pounding vodka, getting behind the wheel of a car, committing hit and run offenses and then getting booked on DUI?  

No one's probably going to die if Kepler shows up to the Rep's next Coffee Hour with booze on her breath but drunk driving claims thousands of lives every year.  

We'll see how the Democrats handle her situation in the House.  Suppose we'll also have to wait and see how things go at the Macomb County Commission.  No one there to punish the woman or to say enough is enough.  She's on her own.  

Will also be interesting to see the reaction from the regressisphere.  Last fall with the Green arrest, Michigan Liberal led the righteous outrage brigade, with my Off the Record sparring partner and very good friend </snark> Liberal Lucy carrying the "shame on you" banner herself.  

She wrote:

...When there's a repeated violation of that trust, by not just one, or two, but three different lawmakers, it makes it difficult for us, the tax-paying public to continue to uphold that trust and belief.

The public cannot be expected to maintain that trust and have faith that our government is truly working for us when a group of elected officials not only breaks the laws, but seemingly goes out of their way to flaunt their ability to do so.

Ball's in the Democrat's court.  Lets hope they do the right thing, that Miss Kepler gets the help she needs and then be thankful that no one was seriously injured as a result of her actions this morning.

Err, well, OK, not really.  But he did utter the words "taxes," "cuts," "pay" and "benefits."  So that's something.

Yesterday the Michigan House of Representatives got to work for the first time in the new legislative session and the Speaker of the House was reelected by his caucus members to a fresh two year term.  Because the last two years were so successful, I guess.  So what does the guy do?  He finds the cameras and microphones and tells the Capitol press corp that House Democrats are interested in cutting lawmaker pay, except they're constitutionally prohibited (true), want to cut lawmaker benefits, except they're constitutionally prohibited (not true) and that he wants to cut taxes except, you got it, he's constitutionally prohibited (again, a load of malarchy).

His tent pole of his fancy little tax cut proposal is creating a ballot proposal to ask Michigan voters to decide whether or not they want to approve a tax cut.  Senate Republicans called bologna sandwiches immediately, reminding the man that the legislature exists for a reason, and Dillon's response was to call for.... Yes, call for a repeal of the Democrats' hated, job killing MBT surcharge.  One teensy-tiny little problem with that... as the Ivory Tower reminds us, he already had a chance to do that this time last month!

Dillon also called for repeal of the 22% surcharge on the state's business tax -- a repeal approved by the Republican-controlled Senate in 2008 but not by the Democratic-controlled House.

Nice of him to call for the repeal today, though.  I'll take a gander at Michigan Votes and the new bills being advanced through the chamber by the end of the week but something tells me that repeal won't see a vote on the floor of the overwhelmingly Democratic House anytime soon.

Jobs will continue to die, business will continue to close their doors and families will continue to flee the state in search of brighter pastures.  Some folks, though, will find a job down around Battle Creek later this summer.  Only job requirement, qualms about swindling the last dollar out of desperate moms and dads in the most desperate times are strictly prohibited.  The Associated Press reports on a hiring spree about to begin at Michigan's newest casino.  1,500 new jobs running tables, working food service, opening doors and welcoming bleeding lemmings into a circle of sharks.  (What?  No, I'm not a fan of casinos... how could you tell?)  

But hey, 1,500 new jobs, right?  That's bound to create quite a stir.

Casino officials say they expect a lot of competition for the jobs, with a projected 20,000 applications. It's set to open late this summer.

20,000 applications for 1,500 jobs.  That's more than ten applications expected for every job.  Maybe if Dillon had done his job in December instead of TALKING about doing his job in January we'd be in better shape than we are.  Alas.

Good luck to everyone down in Battle Creek as they vie for just one of those "jobs of tomorrow."