Slotkin's Motives

Some folks .. even on the right had a concern with Mike Roger’s former National Security influence and connections. To…

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Cronyism, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Proposal 15-1, Rent Seeking, Republicans

Snyder’s Not A Political Guy

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gas-tax-hike-snyderRight?

Some amazing things have happened over the last couple of years.  A transparency bill that had 100% support in both houses was vetoed; likely because of its implication of deals going down with Canada on the international trade crossing.  The only other way besides political pressure to stop an override of the veto would literally be a gun to the head of our legislative leaders; and we know that didn’t happen did it?

Somehow, his legislative lapdogs (Bolger and Richardville) still pushed through (against caucus desire) the medicaid expansion which has an even more threatening effect on Michigan’s treasury.  Again, seeing no open coercion, it seems he was able to get his way quite easily.

Now in lame duck, all bets are off for a couple of moves that are sure to keep the crony friends of Rick Snyder rolling in dough.  Randy Richardville has moved forward on a monster GAS-TAX increase that will stuff the wallets of a lot of contractors, put steam in train engines, and make all the bike riders ‘complete’ly happy.  I don’t even need to drop the links on those; you know we’ve talked about it before.

But what pray tell might be the payoff for Richardville?  What might he see for his part in sticking it to the taxpayer of Michigan? Well certainly he has been shtooping us for the love of shtooping, right? But I would wager that if the interviews for the following happened last Wednesday as they were supposed to, I’ll bet you can guess what happens next.

Lets lay it out there.   There is an open district judge position in Novi. Over 30 people applied for the gubernatorial appointment, which is expected this month. On Wednesday the governor’s office was interviewing the five finalists. They are:

  • Marsha Kosmatka
  • Beth Hand
  • Gary Klein
  • Lori Fitzpatrick Timar
  • Margaret Scott
Guess which one is Randy Richardvilles special friend?  Here is a clue: It AINT the guy, and she doesn’t even live in the judicial district (psst ..I think she lives over in Birmingham)
Of course..  I could be proven wrong. The clock is a ticking, and there are so many more Michiganites waiting to be screwed.

 

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All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Republicans

McMillin Farewell Remarks

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Tom McMillin would have been an outstanding congressman.

Though we have some incredible voices joining the Michigan legislature this upcoming session, we will be losing one that is unique and irreplaceable. Tom McMillin has been a stalwart conservative voice in Lansing, has put his himself out in front to keep taxes low, fight the crony capitalism that seems to be the force majuere of our executive branch, and lead in the DOMA battle.   Much of it knowing the battle was lost before it began.

We will miss him as the true representative of appropriate governance, and a fine example of the best this state has to offer.

Thank you Tom.

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All the Other Stuff, Michigan

Michigan Stinkchips

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toastedYeah..  I can get domestic once in a while.

And as we all know,  tis the season for Chex mix. And I don’t know about you all out there, but the garlic chips usually used are expensive (usually about $3-4 a bag) and they are too darn thick.  With the upcoming additional taxes on gas, we need to make our economies where we can. (Yeah, I threw politics into a recipe – This ain’t Martha Stewart’s page)

So here is a way to make that particular part of the recipe for your mix, that is tasty, flaky, and costs about a buck to make.  (it makes a great snack too!)  It was surprisingly better tasting for me (seriously, I had my doubts) than the typical chips used for chex mix, and I can see it used as a movie snack, croutons, or whatever.

So lets do this.

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Cronyism, Detroit, Michigan, Opinion, Philosophy

Constantine is Giving us our Wings

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Not sure if others noticed this in the Detnews.com yesterday, however, while our strabismus AG rummaged about his archaic footnotes of legalese, and even citing back to his Democratic Party predecessor as to somehow absolve an end to justify a collectivist means – there is this.

Macedonian_MafiaOlympia keeps all revenue, including concessions and parking, and any naming rights deal. In an earlier interview with The Detroit News, Christopher Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings Inc, defended the way the arena was paid.

“A public-private partnership is the only way any of these type of projects work in an urban environment,” he said.

He pointed out that while The Palace of Auburn Hills was paid for by private owners, the key difference is it’s an isolated venue in the suburbs.

“The Palace gets all the revenues from parking, concessions, retail,” Ilitch said, pointing out that those sources of revenue are key to the financial success of a major venue.

Did you catch that? Out in the boonies of alleged sparse populous, a billionaire with his own money, is to house his own business with rightful privilege to any and all revenue gained from his ancillary services provided to his customer.

Now, contrast the above with the “urban environment” festooned within a bailout, and the opulence of guaranteed populous in a 143 sq mile boundary, it is unequivocally noted by said li’l Caesar, that not only is what is his, his – what is ours is also his too.

Added bonus to us outside the bowels of “urban environment“?

The state reimburses schools for diverted money.

Well, golly gee. Thanks a lot for that, too!

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Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Rent Seeking, Republicans

So You Want To Buy Something?

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I have lost some big sales in other states because of ‘Amazon Laws’ in the past few years.

Its an amazing thing that happens when your cost of doing business in a state goes up by 10%. (Michigan will be 6%) You lose customers, they pay more, or you eat the costs.  The first option is of course the worst of the three, but when profit margins range between 15-20%, 10 points represents at least HALF the profits, and can be discouraging to even attempting to sell.

California has some of the most used shipping ports, so its natural that many warehouses are located there. It also has quite a large population.  Our business has historically sold more to California customers, than those in Michigan. But a few years ago, I was notified by one of my suppliers who drop ships for me in that state, that unless they had an exemption form on file for the customers, they would have to charge an additional 10% for the product to cover THEIR tax liability; CA Sales tax being 8% and an additional 25% tax for assumed mark-up.

I had a choice.  I could in some cases ship product all the way here, then ship all the way back, and salvage a few pennies, OR I could simply find a supplier for similar product in other state warehouses willing to ship to California.  The unnatural commerce that had to evolve (and quickly), wound up raising the cost of doing business.  It raised the cost and in some cases slowed service for the customers in California who were STILL expected to report their ‘USE tax.’

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Michigan, Michigan Politics, Rent Seeking

Crush The Little Guy.

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Bills 4202 and 4303 are designed to do just that.

Every layer of regulation has a time cost.  Never mind that (PER THE LAW) our business already collects sales tax from those who buy retail in Michigan. The big box stores want us to go through enhanced reporting requirements and spend additional time in the entire process of collecting tax as a service to the state.  This form of rent seek is commonly used to suppress competition.

Kowall and Verheulen or anyone who votes for this are the enemy of the ‘small e-tailer.’

Period.

Kowall-Verheulen-Taxers

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Conservative News, Michigan, Opinion, Philosophy

Thank you, Rep. McMillin

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I hate to see Tom, leave.

To the rest of the MI-GOP’s RTL-MI endorsed, dunces touting their *pro-life street cred* in Lansing, take your seat on Nancy Pelosi’s abortionist sofa.

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/05/31/girl-scouts-join-planned-parenthood-at-huge-pro-abortion-conference/

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/02/17/Girl-Scouts-Threaten-Legal-Action-Against-Critical-Pro-Life-Groups

The biggest problem I see for Michigan, is that it is full of Michiganders. For the state where the Party of Lincoln was born – that is sad but, Truth.

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Michigan, Michigan Politics, Philosophy, Republicans

Credit Where Due

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Ilegal_AliensMichigan is a border state.

We have also been blessed with planned migration of illegal children, and causing what I believe to be an outbreak of disease we have not seen in decades.  Then taking the immigration action the fraud-in-chief has perpetrated into account, its about damned time we do something as a state to fight back. Its not like we haven’t been encouraging it, right?

Yup, Its bad enough our congressional delegation hasn’t done JACK.  But I guess a limit was finally reached in Lansing.  From an Attorney General’s Office release:

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette today joined a lawsuit brought by attorneys general and governors from 20 other states to challenge the President’s recent unilateral executive order on immigration.

“America deserves a hopeful immigration policy. Throughout our history, America has provided a beacon of hope across the world. But the President’s unilateral executive order on immigration, bypassing Congress, is constitutionally flawed,” said Schuette.

The States’ complaint was filed by Texas in Federal District Court and was immediately followed by a request for a preliminary injunction. The multistate coalition includes Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Good start.

Read the States’ motion for a preliminary injunction filed on December 04, 2014, HERE.

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