754 search results for "prop 2"

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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Cronyism, Michigan Politics, Republicans

The Final Grift: A ‘Lame Duck’ Anecdote of Republican Cowardice

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Lame duck session is one of the most fascinating and illuminating times within our government. It is a period when all pretenses of our democracy are jettisoned and a mad cash grab takes place as term-limited legislators secure employment and other benefits in smoke-filled backrooms with lobbyists. It rips off the facade and exposes government for the cruel, soulless machine that it truly is.

Few watched the late-night session that went past 3AM last week when the worst bills were being rammed down our throats. I tuned in to watch the after-hours con job the next day on the Michigan Legislature website as I was sleeping at the time. The fact that the proceedings took place in the dead of night begs the following questions: What are the optics of using the midnight hour to push the lousiest bills forward? What does someone who is less politically inclined think of Republicans after the media reports on these shenanigans? And is it any wonder why we took it on the chin during last month’s mid-term elections?

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Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion

It’s A Serious Cracker

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Drug names are bad M'K?

There is nothing as seriously addictive as alcohol.

After watching two of the closest people to me drink themselves to death, one might think I would find drinking jokes to be offensive.  At least if I was a liberal, politically correct, over-sensitized, whiny baby, perhaps. I don’t however. Humor has truths that can make us uncomfortable, but speak a different language.

I cannot get over the overblown, yet seriously pathetic apology for using the cultural name of [methyl (1R,2R,3S,5S)-3- (benzoyloxy)-8-methyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1] octane-2-carboxylate], or “Crack” for a french fry.  It boggles the mind that anyone would so care about such a mild reference to something that is addictive, yet still, with any sense of propriety can still run an establishment that caters directly to those who suffer from the worst form of addiction, namely alcoholism.

This video is as priceless as it is pathetic and revealing of the cowardly culture we are backing ourselves into.

All is not lost however.  Visit the video page itself, and enjoy the commentary while it lasts.  If the snowflake who made the video is consistent, he will run from this video even faster than he did the ‘insensitive’ name for a deep fried potato.

H/T scales.

You Betcha! (14)Nuh Uh.(0)

Michigan

So Far So Good

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Court of Appeals AFFIRMS Arena Authority Preemption

I mentioned ‘Preemption’ the other day.

Apparently, last week the Michigan appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that preemption is indeed still a thing. It cleared the air that ‘authorities’ which are a subdivision of government fall under the State’s Act 319 of 1990, but also properly noted that the lessees CAN enforce their own rules with regard to publicly owned arenas, etc.

Several years ago, the Lansing center folks booted a bunch of open carry guys from the Republican convention which was awkward, because well ..Republicans are supposed to be pro second amendment, right?  No more, unless the MI GOP SPECIFICALLY issues a no firearms rule for its conventions, right?

Good job, and well done to our brothers at Michigan Open Carry and Michigan Gun Owners Inc..

Until the next challenge.

You Betcha! (12)Nuh Uh.(0)

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

Lansing “Protest” scheduled for tomorrow.

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Just a friendly heads up from several snitches of mine.

The Michigan People’s Campaign is planning to “lobby”(/protest?) in Lansing on Tuesday at the Capitol Building beginning at 9:00am against the changes made to the Michigan paid sick leave law that Legislature essentially “short-circuited” by passing prior to the election earlier this year.

No word on why the Michigan Legislature couldn’t do the same with Proposal 2, I can only surmise that they just like losing, but I digress.

If anyone has any business up in Lansing tomorrow, again, just a friendly reminder to watch yourselves around this crowd.

Progressives tend to get a little bit hostile when they don’t get their way.

‘Nuff said.

You Betcha! (6)Nuh Uh.(2)

Detroit, Fees, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Taxes

So What Then?

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Can we expect our constitutional officers to do their jobs appropriately after this year?

What priorities will the new attorney general of Michigan bring to bear on the populace?

It sure as hell won’t be protecting citizens from an over reaching government. Except perhaps for those areas where ‘protecting’ means extending ‘rights’ that don’t exist outside of social norms.

All cultural ills aside, what about Michigan’s firearms protections?  What about keeping local feelings about whether or not it is appropriate to be able to defend oneself with a pistol?

Preemption in Michigan has always protected Michigan gun owners from the overtime efforts of ordinances, rules, restrictions, etc.  Theoretically, it provided protections for firearms possession by those with a CCW even in school environments up until the Michigan Supreme Court screwed the pooch.

The law still provides protections however, and the municipalities run by even the shadiest left wing whack jobs cannot even prevent firearms from being carried into council meeting environments.  That is, unless they are held in a bar or (now) a school.

But in January, priorities change.  The Democrats were able to elect the slate they have been pushing for 8-12 years, and what might have once been a state that respected law and order, will now revert to governance by emotion and fear mongering.

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2018 Michigan Gubernatorial Race, Conservative News, Elections, Michigan Politics, Republicans, State Convention

MIGOP Wins!!!

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The Michigan GOP Establishment achieves its objective…

The Michigan GOP Establishment achieves its objective…

2010 was a benchmark year for conservatives…”Flip the House” was the Tea Party battle cry, and Nancy Pelosi handed the House gavel to John Boehner…The ensuing MIGOP convention saw Dave Agema elected to the RNC over establishment Saul Anuzis, and the establishment held off a serious challenge to the party leadership by defeating the conservative challengers for the State Chair by 71 votes…The “Old Guard” realized they had a significant problem, and set about to to correct it almost immediately…They infiltrated Tea party groups around the state, neutralizing conservative efforts by gaining control of county and regional Tea Party groups, and rendering them mostly harmless…They packed the State and District Committees with a many establishment types as possible, and began changing the rules, or ignoring the established rules to secure their advantage…Voice votes at conventions were used against conservatives in place of ballot votes the establishment knew they would lose…

Conservatives that managed to get elected to offices within county GOP parties became targets also…Our precinct delegates that nearly stole the State convention were also on the establishment hit lists…The CD1 Chairmanship was rigged to elect Jesse Osmer over Adrian Pelousse by a single vote, the establishment pulled out all the stops in that instance…Party and District rules were ignored, slates were printed on the pencils used to mark ballots that were illegally collected and tallied…Elected officials that owed their office to the conservative movement betrayed the very people that put them there…The list goes on, and for most of you reading this, you know these are the facts…because you were there…Even local politics became tainted with the establishment purge…After helping several candidates for the Kalkaska Commission win their seats, and turn a 5-2 Democrat advantage into a 4-3 GOP Commission, I (and others) was literally blackballed from my own County party…Funny how now and again I still get asked for help…

In 2010 we gave them the US House, we gave them Snyder and both houses in the State legislature, in 2016 we gave them the Senate and Donald Trump…In return they gave us higher taxes and a utility monopoly in Michigan, the perpetuation of ObamaCare, and now recreational pot, bureaucratic redistricting, and no fault absentee voting…Soon to come are the National Popular Vote, and the destruction of the Constitution via a Convention of States…The more Republicans we elect, the more they act like Democrats…The result was predictable, and secured November 6th…With the conservative purge nearly complete, they gave us ballot proposals that only served to attract Democrat votes, and a candidate for Governor guaranteed to lose, not to mention giving the US House BACK to Nancy Pelosi…

Yes, the establishment won…Funny, I don’t see anyone celebrating…

God help us in 2020…

You Betcha! (10)Nuh Uh.(0)

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

Well, that didn’t take long to go back to their old ways.

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Another chapter in the quest to rewrite history that progressives cannot accept.

When Gov. Snyder and Michigan Republicans bailed out the Detroit Public School System and City of Detroit a few years earlier, many posters on this site (myself included), warned everyone that it wouldn’t take long for inept & corrupt former political structure to reassert itself when the time presented itself.

Well, guess what?

{More information after the fold}

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Liberty, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy

So, What Do We Do Now?

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We’ve been here before – recently – how we respond will make a difference.

Since Christmas 2016, I’ve posted a grand total of three opinion pieces on this site, which is a very far cry from my usual pace; blame the weird hours of my current work schedule. The interesting thing about working “dawn patrol” is that I get to spend a great deal of time paying attention to my newsfeed. Many credible political pundits, whom I follow on that newsfeed, are referring to last week’s elections outcome as a “split decision” on a national scale. Fair enough. But here in the “Great Lake Effect State” (lots of snow on the ground last weekend), we’re armpit deep in something that isn’t snow.

The Michigan Republican Party seems to be the structurally weakest it’s been since the immediate aftermath of the Milliken Administration (circa 1983), a “rule of empathy” majority now holds the state’s Supreme Court, and an underinformed electorate has just enshrined systemic election fraud into the state’s constitution. Oh, and just in case it matters, the Libertarian Party of Michigan promptly lost their brand-new “major party” status, due to election underperformance. As with the other time something similar happened this century, the key question ought not so much be, “What happened?” as it ought to be, “What are we going to do about it?” . . . because that second question is the one that we must answer if we’re going to accomplish anything constructive going forward.

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Michigan Politics, Republicans

Rick Snyder Republicanism Died an Ugly, Well-Deserved Death in Midterms

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Image result for snyder calley schuette

We have all been licking our wounds for this past week, but the time has come for serious introspection about where we are going to take the Michigan GOP in the years to come. We cannot afford another electoral disaster in 2020 because that could easily surrender the Presidency back to the radical left whether it’s Hillary, Pocahontas, Biden, Kamala or whoever else taking the reigns.

While we were fortunate to keep the Michigan House and Senate, last week’s election was especially catastrophic because of the passage of the proposals. In particular, Proposals 2 and 3 will allow Democratic control over the entirety of our state government. By surrendering control over redistricting to an “independent” commission (please note that Bernie Sanders and the ACLU are technically “independents”) and making it easier for felons and morons to cast votes, the writing is on the wall for what Michigan will become in the upcoming decades. We all hope that the Republicans have lawyers working overtime on challenges to these amendments, otherwise Michigan will pretty much inevitably become California at some point.

Let’s not beat around the bush. Last week’s nightmare happened because of the top of the ticket. Bill Schuette felt he was entitled to this position, and it showed on the campaign trail. Because Schuette did such a lousy job during his run for Governor, we have literal Soros activists serving as Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State now. We have an LGBT Attorney General who will use her power to punish Christian conservatives and obstruct the President’s agenda. We may ultimately lose the state for good, and the blood is on Schuette’s hands for all of this.

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