Slotkin Rebuttal???

LOL. Fail Bot. Elissa Slotkin will respond to President Donald J. Trump’s Joint Address to Congress tonight. Senator Slotkin stands…

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The Fly

Thrown together for your amusement/entertainment. From the perspective of a fly on the wall in Lansing. You Betcha! (15)Nuh Uh.(0)

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Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Elections, Fees, Flint Water Fiasco, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Part Time Legislature, Proposal 15-1, Rent Seeking, Republicans, Taxes

Bureaucratic Capture In The Flint Water Fiasco, An Echo Of Proposal 1

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Snyder Steudle Image 1Governor Snyder went way out on a political limb supporting Proposal 2015-01. By the time this limb broke off at the polls on May 5th, his only remaining allies were MDoT, MITA, and Michigan’s nitwit media.

MDoT’s Director, Kirk T. Steudle, P.E. received lavish, flattering coverage in our nitwit media throughout the road funding proposal campaign. The Transportation Asset Management Council, an MDoT tool, packaged an avalanche of lies in glossy pamphlets for public consumption. An entirely fictitious Washington think tank, TRIP, used inside MDoT information to issue even more incredulous lies. Governor Snyder parroted these titillating lies thoughout his Proposal 1 media campaign. He was entirely comfortable promoting the agenda of his ‘technical experts’.

Pre SB 571 campaign finance law allowed us to watch MITA spend $ 5.4 million supporting this turkey, more than half the total spent by Safe Roads Yes! The Michigan Infrastructure and Transporatation Association is ostensibly a bunch of independent, competitive contractors. Somehow a fractious bunch of competitors planned and executed a well coordinated – if entirely devious – political campaign.

How did they coordinate?

How did this presage the Flint water fiasco?

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Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy

Inside Michigan Officially Falls On Its Side

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On the left side.

Susan Demas has hardly ever pretended to be fair or balanced, much less a fan of conservative or GOP causes in the state. Her liberal bent was often on display in her distorted reporting style, so when Bill Ballenger sold the subscription based newsletter he founded in 1987 to her it seemed to many, that the end had come to his labor of love.

Demas’ statement upon taking the successful newsletter Inside Michigan Politics on its last ride was

“Inside Michigan Politics is the gold standard for political journalism in Michigan.  I look forward to ensuring that IMP continues its tradition of fair and non-partisan reporting and analysis. Most of all, I look forward to the opportunity of working with Bill, who has been a friend and mentor to me for many years.”

A friend indeed.

She fired him for having an opinion that was not in line with her view of the Flint Water crisis.

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Democrats, Detroit, Fees, Fees, Flint Water Fiasco, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Rent Seeking, Republicans, Taxes

Headlee Evasion Caused Flint’s Water Quality Fiasco

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Water is Money Image 6You probably think the water which comes out of the taps in your house is for drinking and washing. You would be wrong. Michigan drinking water is first and foremost a mechanism for Michigan politicians to evade limits imposed upon them by the Headlee Amendment. You probably think Michigan water systems have quality as their top concern. You would be wrong. Michigan water departments are directed to maximize revenue by their political masters. These unfortunate facts are the genesis of Flint’s sorry water quality.

Michigan’s lefties and the ignorati in our media have fabricated a popular history of the Flint water situation which begins with Governor Snyder and his emergency managers on 25 April 2014, the date Flint started drawing its drinking water from the Flint River. Craven emergency managers appointed by Governor Snyder plotted to poison Flint residents to save a few bucks. The truth is rather different.

The history of this calamity actually begins in 1978, when the Headlee Amendment to Michigan’s Constitution was passed by outraged Michigan voters.

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Michigan, Opinion, Part Time Legislature

How Did We Ever Survive Without THIS?

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From the still shaking-my-head dept.

Melanin content might soon have its own do-nothing department.  ‘Racial justice’ warriors found their champions in our legislature, as the Michigan Senate found thirty-four willing huzzahs beating out the two belligerent harrumphs on 2015 senate bill 90.

Passed 34 to 2 in the Senate on January 14, 2016, to create an “Office of African-American Affairs” in the state Department of Civil Rights, and a government African-American Affairs Commission consisting of 15 political appointees who have “a particular interest or expertise in African-American concerns,” with the mission of developing “a unified policy and plan of action to serve the needs of African-Americans in this state”

Ok.. but what about section 26 part 2 of the Michigan Constitution?

§26 (2) The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.

And given that, it begs the question:

“What’s the point?”  What might this commission accomplish outside of the areas that government has business operating in?

Unless it is ALL ABOUT getting federal aid.

You Betcha! (19)Nuh Uh.(0)

Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Detroit, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Taxes

Oh, if that were only true.

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Jason beat me to the punch on the whole 2016 SOTS speech tonight.

I don’t like to admit it, but I’ll watch it (recorded earlier in the night) just so that I would have something to talk about later in the week whenever the subject came up.

Unlike Pres. B.O.’s SOTU, in which the best description I’ve heard of it so far was 45-minutes of clinical textbook narcissism on public display, Gov. Snyder’s SOTS speeches are a good indication of what tricks the CPA with the MBA has up his sleeve.

Just like Pres. B.O.’s SOTU’s where he references himself so many times, it practically has become a drinking game, Gov. Snyder also has a similar habit as well; and that is to project his guilty conscience on the rest of Michigan over {fill-in-the-blank} cause which inevitably involves the Michigan Taxpayer picking up the tab to assuage this guilt.

This year there will be no shortage of things for him to find for us to pay for: like the Flint Water crisis apocalypse harbinger of the end times situation justifying 15-minutes of relevancy for community agitators like Jesse Jackson, Michael Moore, Sam Riddle, etc.

Wayne County going bankrupt (Oh, where will the Wayne Co. BoC’s next check come from?).

Or maybe, the sudden widespread malady that is causing so many Detroit Public Schools to close due to “sickouts”.

That last one will be interesting because of all of the media exposure over the past several days.

Peeling paint. Falling tiles. Broken plumbing. Dead rodents.

Remind me again on why the City of Detroit stopped doing its job and inspected these buildings in the first place?

IMG_5859

Yep, some plywood, a padlock and a “No Trespassing” sign. Yessiree, this school building is now secure! Feel free to click on the image to better see the building securement. Never mind the missing sheet of plywood over the upper floor window. No one would EVER think about going through there.

Now, if Detroit had just a little bit of money to address this problem all will be well in the world.

I can pretty much guarantee that will be mentioned by Gov Snyder in some form tonight.

If only that were the truth!

{Unfortunate details below the fold}

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Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy, Proposal 15-1, Republicans, Taxes

Michigan State Of The State 2016

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stateofstate-winnerOh boy.

Last year’s spectacle included such lofty goals as improving third grade reading, talking about Michigan’s energy future, and a bit of in-your-face breaking the law. Certainly, there isn’t much that could be done to put such a performance to shame.

Unless something actually happened in the meantime.

I suppose we could expect him to talk up the miserable failure of the tax increase package which happened on May 5th. An 80-20 loss in these strange times must certainly be the new ‘winning’ formula.  Up is down and down is up, and obviously the citizens wanted it so bad they voted “NO.”  So a new roads tax package was crafted from ..the old tax package.

But, 2016 is going to be different.  I can feel it.  Things are looking up.  Well, of course we have to get by the Detroit schools issue. I know he will talk about making that a priority.  Maybe the impending doom in Wayne county finances? Perhaps the collapse of ‘Healthy Michigan,’ due to its incredible and unpredictable success?

Maybe it might be concentrated on all the good things that are about to happen to Flint?

Michael Moore may be calling for the guv’s head right now, but I guess he must not understand the new standards of bizzaro progressivism.  Truth is, Snyder is more personally responsible for poisoning the Republican party brand than he is any of the chilluns in Flint.  It was at RightMichigan where the original warnings  were issued for that anyhow.  But we couldn’t possibly have known how bad it could be.

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Michigan

Two More Conservative Events!

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MCC-MCUConservative Michigan activists will have no shortage of training and communications building in the next 60 days.

On Jan 29 at 6 PM to Jan 30 at 4 PM, the Michigan Conservative Coalition puts on inaugural “Battle Cry Michigan” event, ostensibly aimed at helping activists “Take back our party” at the Firekeepers Casino.

Saturday starts off with “State of the Party” addresses on both the national and local level. After lunch, which is included, you will hear from those who are fighting the battles and their winning techniques. You will be equipped to go back to your county and make a successful difference in bringing the Republican party back to its conservative roots.

Questions can be directed to battlecrymichigan@gmail.com   or phone 616-987-1124.

MiCPAC – Michigan Conservative Political Action Conference returns to its roots at the original location Saturday, February 27, 2016 at the Holt, Michigan, Capitol City Baptist Church. 9AM-5:30 PM.

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Democrats, Fees, Flint Water Fiasco, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Republicans, Taxes

Legionella Pneumophila

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Legionella Pneumophila Image 1aDo you remember reading any stories about a Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak in Genesee County during 2014 or 2015, or this year before last Wednesday? I don’t, and neither does Google. Nor do companies which specialize in tracking Legionnaires’ Disease. It was a real shock when Governor Snyder announced Wednesday that Genesee County had recently experienced 87 cases of this disease, 10 of which were fatal.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services quickly put up a ‘FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE’ web page describing two sequential Genesee County Legionnaires’ Disease outbreaks. A first outbreak from June 2014 to March 2015, followed by a second from May 2015 to November 2015. This web page provides a dead link to a June 2015 preliminary report and a live link to a May 29, 2015 dated summary of the report created by Susan Bohm of the MDHHS Communicable Disease Division on June 4 2015. The Bohm summary was then modified by someone on Wednesday January 13, 2016 at 3:21:26 PM. The Bohm summary only covers the first, June 2014 to March 2015 outbreak, not the subsequent May 2015 to November 2015 outbreak which was developing as her summary was being written.

Governor Snyder said on Wednesday that he had just become aware of this outbreak. You are expected to believe that functionaries deep in the bowels of MDHHS were not communicating with either the Governor or their own superiors, for six months. The Bohm summary specifically and painstakingly categorizes those victims of the first Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak who were exposed to Flint water. Flint water quality was a blazing issue at the beginning of June 2015. This report and the Bohm summary didn’t make it to the Governor’s office at the speed of light? No one in the Michigan government would lie to the public, would they?

The fundamental question here is whether the Genesee County Legionnaires’ Disease outbreaks are related to the coincidental Flint drinking water quality – or lack thereof. Governor Snyder and MDHHS say such a connection has yet to be made scientifically, but they are investigating. Marc Edwards, a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech said “that it’s not 100% sure” that the outbreak of Legionnaires’ is tied to the change to Flint River water, but the association “looks very strong.”

Professor Edwards agrees with Governor Snyder and MDHHS that, even if the Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak is associated with Flint River water sourcing, the risk is over now that Flint has returned to Detroit water. However Ms. Bohm’s summary declared the first June 2014 to March 2015 outbreak over, just as the subsequent May 2015 to November 2015 outbreak was developing.

Are outbreaks of Legionnaires’ Disease in Genesee County now history?

Did Flint’s October switch to Detroit water end the possibility of another outbreak?

Will corrosion control measures really suppress Legionella pneumophila in Flint water?

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Conservative News, Democrats, Detroit, Elections, Fees, Flint Water Fiasco, Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Republicans, Taxes

Chemistry, The Problem is C-H-E-M-I-S-T-R-Y

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Lab Rat Image 4Governor Snyder’s many attempts to deflect responsibility and and tamp down adverse media coverage of the Flint water situation are failing miserably. Snyder cannot make a public appearance without getting peppered with antagonistic questions about the circumstances behind the Flint water sourcing change. National International media are now all over this story, and their coverage is ugly. Democrats are having a field day promoting the ‘uncaring Republican’ meme. This story is going to really hurt the Republican Party’s 2016 Presidential nominee unless it is spiked quickly. Hillary Clinton is already using it.

Snyder’s ineptitude at handling the Flint situation, plunging from a deep hole into the abyss, also creates great risks for taxpayers across Michigan. We have already pointed out that skilled, predatory legal vultures are circling the Michigan Treasury. The torrent of adverse publicity will predispose any jury they impanel to hammer the State of Michigan financially. Now a variety of self-interested parties within and without Flint are proposing an avalanche of new, State-paid goodies for the citizens of Flint. These acts of contrition will be paid for by Michigan taxpayers who played no role in the Flint water situation and will not receive any benefit from a lavish expenditure of their hard earned dollars.

Snyder’s political career is over, but he will enjoy his remaining days living in well earned obscurity akin to his mentor Bill Milliken. You can safely bet that our accountant-in-chief will use his single real world skill to avoid paying the penance for his decisions. Michigan taxpayers, Republicans, and conservatives will take the big hit here.

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