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! (11)Nuh Uh.(0)

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Democrats

Just in From the Party of Eatin’ Ain’t Cheatin’

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Mr. Julianna Smoot has an important announcement.

Lon Johnson, Michigan Democratic Party Chair. “We’re very much looking forward to hearing from President Clinton on how Democratic leaders can continue to work to create opportunity for all [undocumented Democrats to be on Obamacare].”

“President Clinton has been a lifelong champion of the middle class [shift to China], and I’m excited to welcome him to Michigan next month [unlike that half white dude],” said Senator Debbie Stabenow.
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clinton-and-obama

You Betcha! (11)Nuh Uh.(0)

Michigan Politics

Who, precisely, is putting snark ahead of education?

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**** This is a cross post of a recent MCT article I think fits the RightMI vibe ****

Seems like a liberal nerve was struck by a recent MCT post illustrating the insanity of the Detroit Public School district plan to create an urban farm at an abandoned school campus. Via MCT:

Detroit Public Schools officials plan Thursday to announce details of a project to turn the sprawling site at the corner of Van Dyke Road and I-94 into a 26.9-acre urban farm.

The announcement will come as part of a real estate developers conference on what to do with Detroit’s dozens of vacant former school buildings.

The school district plans to build eight hoop houses and start growing vegetables on the new Kettering Urban Agricultural Campus in 2014, with later phases to include food processing and distribution to students and the community, officials said Wednesday.

As pointed out here @ MCT this effort is a colossal waste of time and sure money loser for the school district. Given the district’s chronic academic under achievement and the fact Detroit Public Schools have their very own Emergency Financial Manager, you would think most people understand the school district needs to get the basics under control before embarking on an urban farming boondoggle. If you thought that, you would be wrong.

Via MCT Twitter Feed:

“Education should proceed snark.” Really?

How about financial responsibility to taxpayers before embarking on a “hip, green” boondoggle? Or, more importantly, how about teaching children in your district to read and perform basic math before wasting time growing carrots at an abandoned school?

In case you are unaware of the scope of the Detroit Public School district failure to its students, here are a couple of eye-opening statistics outlining 8th grade student performance in math:

  • The percentage of students in Detroit who performed at or above the NAEP Proficient level as 3 percent in 2013. This percentage was not significantly different from that in 2011 (4 percent) and in 2009 (4 percent).
  • The percentage of students in Detroit who performed at or above the NAEP Basic level as 24 percent in 2013. This percentage was not significantly different from that in 2011 (29 percent) and in 2009 (23 percent).

DPS student performance in reading is just as poor:

  • The percentage of students in Detroit who performed at or above the NAEP Proficient level was 9 percent in 2013. This percentage was not significantly different from that in 2011 (7 percent) and in 2009 (7 percent).
  • The percentage of students in Detroit who performed at or above the NAEP Basic level was 46 percent in 2013. This percentage was not significantly different from that in 2011 (43 percent) and in 2009 (40 percent).

Detroit Public Schools (complete with an Emergency Financial Manager in tow) should reconsider their ‘urban farm’ pipe dream. When only 9% of their 8th grade students are considered at a ‘proficient’ reading level and a staggering 3% are considered at a ‘proficient’ level in math, failing to focus all their time and resources on the children in their classrooms is shameful.

So, who precisely, is putting snark ahead of education?

You Betcha! (9)Nuh Uh.(0)

Detroit, Michigan, Michigan Politics

Federal Judge Nullifies First Amendment

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JUDGMENT

The Court in this matter has issued its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. In accordance therewith,

IT IS ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that judgment be and is hereby granted for plaintiffs and against defendants.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that defendants are hereby permanently enjoined from enforcing the Michigan Marriage Amendment and its implementing statutes, as they conflict with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

.

Look this decision didn’t really surprise me.

No, it wasn’t because of the other decisions around the country.

Personally, I didn’t feel that they were relevnt to what was being decided here in Michigan.

What did catch my attention though, was this little blurb I found when reading up on the background of this case.

“Judge Bernard Friedman encouraged two Detroit-area lesbians who are raising three children to file a legal challenge to Michigan ban on gay marriage.”

Hmmmm.

Why would a judge, someone who is supposed to be impartial, be advising someone appearing before him to expand the scope of the case they are bringing?

Personal agenda, perhaps?

Stay tuned.
You Betcha! (11)Nuh Uh.(4)

Conservative News, Cronyism, Democrats, Elections, Michigan Politics, Rent Seeking, Republicans

“Take a Vote, Not a Vacation”

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Remember the last time you heard those infamous words blasted in the Mitten? I do. We all ended up with Snydercaid Expansion. How did that work out? Well, now we have a Speaker of the House walking back on his $25 fee per insured vehicle he brazenly sneaked in to fund Snydercaid Expansion that he and SML Richardville, knew damned well was unfunded within a House proposal of allegedly lowering vehicle insurance rates, which coincidentally, the insurance industry is lobbying for just as they did with “no-fault” decades prior because… it would keep rates low.

OK, so? Where is this post going, CS?

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You Betcha! (14)Nuh Uh.(2)

Michigan Politics

Michigan’s Fictitious Budget Surplus, Our Roads, What to do with a so-called $1.3 Billion Surplus?

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Lawmakers at Work Pothole MoneyThe projected multi-year $1.3 billion dollar surplus will give lawmakers something to ponder. While the governor has proposed yet again taxing the citizenry, us common folks for the $1.2 Billion he says are needed for our roads.

The legislature, bless the hearts was so kind in allocating a paltry $215 Million out of this $1.3 Billion so-called budget surplus (Taxpayer Money) to repair the potholes that quit frankly are beyond repair. So I guess that is to tide over the problem till after the elections so they can pass a gas tax and vehicle registration fee increase without immediate election year repercussions!

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Michigan Politics

Minimum wage hikes may please crowds, but they kill jobs

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As Michigan’s economic comeback gains steam and the dismal decade of staggering job losses becomes just a bitter memory, along comes a group of people with good intentions – but terrible ideas – who would take Michigan backward. A coalition called Raise Michigan is launching a legislative initiative petition drive to raise Michigan’s minimum wage to $9.50 an hour. It’s a crowd-pleasing proposal for sure. The trouble is that it’s also a job-killing one.

Now let’s stipulate that academic research on the subject of how minimum wage increases effect employment levels are rather equivocal. It’s surprising that a subject that’s received this much attention has research findings that are so unclear. But let’s put that aside, because there’s actually little that studying minimum wage increases in the 70s, 80s and 90s can tell us. We’re simply in a different time.

Never has it been easier or more cost effective to substitute automation and self-service for employees. We see it all around us.

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Michigan Politics

The Looting Continues Unabated

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pure-somethingThere is an explanation I have always used for my sincerest dislike of the MEDC, its mission, and how it takes advantage of the taxpayer for political payoff.

“If a business owner finds it necessary to take taxpayer dollars to start, maintain, or expand their enterprise, then that business model is already in trouble.  If there is no NEED for the money to survive, then it is simply a matter of theft.”

Its hard to be any clearer than that.

Any politico who uses the term “Jobs created” when discussing the MEDC grants, is trying to justify the stealing that must happen first, and is central to the MEDC program. In the history of subsidizing business, one would think that the predictions of ‘job growth’ with accomplished results would speak for itself.  In fact,  one might think such mechanisms insofar as they are touted, would make the news at least once a month if not weekly as a raging human interest success worthy of celebration.

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You Betcha! (13)Nuh Uh.(2)