The Bain Report: “Articles that Affect You and Your Family” for May 10, 2010

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Speaker credits movement with forcing politicians out
Charles Barger, the main speaker at the event, said the tea-party movement has set its sights on career politicians. Mr. Barger greeted the crowd by saying “welcome to being part of the largest leaderless movement in America,” a reference to the hundreds of tea party rallies being held across the nation Thursday.
 
Bill would put all Charter Teachers into State Retirement system
Some in the Michigan charter public school community are keeping a wary eye on a proposal to require all charter school teachers to join the state retirement system. While MPSERS needs to be reformed, forcing charter teachers into the mix as a way to boost membership would not help, Naeyaert said, and also would take away an element of choice from both teachers and public school academies.
JOURNAL OF THE SENATE [April 14, 2010]
The following bill was read a third time: Senate Bill No. 1227, entitled A bill to amend 1980 PA 300, entitled The public school employees retirement act of 1979.
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows:
Roll Call No. 181 Yeas—22Allen Garcia Kuipers Richardville Birkholz George McManus Sanborn Bishop Gilbert Nofs Stamas Brown Hardiman Pappageorge Switalski Cassis Jansen Patterson Van  Woerkom. Looks like they are trying to fix the problem on the backs of Charter School Teachers?
 
Michigan’s debt to federal government for unemployment claims: $2.8B and counting
Unemployment extension pending in Senate would help estimated 100,000 Michigan residents whose benefits set to expire by year’s end. Michigan has been borrowing from the federal government to pay out unemployment insurance benefit claims since mid-2008, when its own trust fund became insolvent, and now owes the feds $2.8 billion.
 
Windmills Power Controversy on Great Lakes
What’s 410 feet tall, makes a humming sound and could be at a location near you soon? Answer: Wind turbines — an alternative source of power that is creating a stir on both sides of the state. Wind turbines are as tall as a 40-story building and 50-plus turbines will be clustered together in each field. Many of the questions residents have concerning financial and environmental impact have not been answered. Russ Harding, former director of Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality and current director of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s Property Rights Network, said the turbines would be a “huge visual intrusion.” And wind power is not efficient, Harding said. You can thank our own Senator Richardville for voting in favor of using our tax dollars in government subsidy’s for this endeavor! Allow the marketplace to determine economic feasibility. The only place for government is to monitor and encourage public opinion to regulate public safety and environmental quality, and properly enforce the will of the people.
 
Local Governments Lost $1.7B Because of Lehman
Lawmakers say Lehman Brothers’ historic collapse cost school districts and local governments millions, forcing many to make major cutbacks. Looks like they are trying to continue federal bailouts by injecting more money into Wall Street companies through fear tactics using the education system and the school districts as leverage for justification.
 
Jason Allen: Career Politician Wants Stupak’s Seat
Jason Allen is a forty-seven year old career politician from Michigan’s Grand Traverse County who became active in Republican politics while still in high school.  Some speculate he aspires to become governor of the state someday, which might explain his ‘hands-across-the aisle’, bipartisan mentality and willingness to cater to special interest groups and snake oil salesmen with deep pockets. Sound like another politician we know right here in Monroe County? Senator Richardville comes to mind!
 
State Sen. Jason Allen, R-Traverse City, mum on Campaign giving
Who contributed $75,000 to two accounts a mystery? State Sen. Jason Allen, the Legislature’s leading fundraiser, won’t comment on campaign finance reforms proposed by members of his political party and won’t reveal who contributed more than $75,000 to two accounts he created. Between 2003 and 2005, Allen, R-Traverse City, raised more than $600,000 in political contributions in five funds he controls. He said he supports more transparency for state campaign financing, but he hasn’t taken a position on any specific proposals. Like any of them would! They don’t want their constituents to see they are playing both sides of the fence all for personal gain and not what’s in the best interest of their constituents!
 
Granholm: High court nominee not have to be judge
WASHINGTON – Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a potential candidate for the Supreme Court, thinks it’s a smart idea for President Barack Obama to consider someone who isn’t a judge now. I guess she would being as she’s term limited and on Obama’s short list!
 
Republicans suffering for 2008 bank bailout vote
Some of Congress’ staunchest conservatives voted two years ago to prop up the nation’s banking industry. At the time, they saw a threat to American business. Now the emergency is their own political survival. They should be! The Republicans started this bailout mess and the Democrats with Obama at the helm just took it to a higher level!
 
Will the VAT Lady Sing?
A cultural battle is under way in America, a battle between, “the culture of dependence and the culture of independence.” The culture of dependence is the belief by American liberalism that government can make better decisions for people than people can make for themselves. The U.S. has now created the largest government spending increases, takeovers, and regulation expansion in the past 65 years, since the end of World War II. It is going to get even worse, as the President’s budget plans to spend $45 trillion in the next 10 years, a 70% increase in spending over the last 10.
 
Health law’s heavy impact
Under the new health care bill – did you know that all real estate transactions are subject to a 3.8% “Sales Tax”? Governor Granholm of Michigan is trying to add a 5.5% sales tax to all estate sales, if that passes, when a homeowner sells a $200,000 home in Michigan they will be paying a $7,600 Healthcare tax to the Federal Government and a $11,000 sales tax to the State of Michigan, plus a transfer tax of $8.60 per thousand, $1,760, for a total of $20,320 in taxes. If you think real estate sales and foreclosures are bad now, just wait and see what happens in 2014.
 
THE NEXT TIME YOU HEAR A POLITICIAN USE THE WORD “BILLION”
The next time you hear a politician use the word “billion” in a casual manner, think about whether you want the “politicians” spending YOUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases. Click link below
 
Zero – Obamacare’s links to conservative ideas
President Obama recently told Matt Lauer, anchor of NBC’s “Today” show, that his highly partisan health care law borrows ideas directly from The Heritage Foundation’s health care reform playbook. This is utterly false. As Heritage health policy analyst Bob Moffitt explains: The Obama health-care law “builds” on the Heritage health reform model only in the sense that, say, a double-quarter-pounder with cheese “builds” on the idea of a garden salad. Both have lettuce and tomato and may be called food, but the similarities end there. 
 
Romney to endorse Rubio over Crist for Fla. Senate
Is Romney just pandering for the Tea Party votes? Looks that way!
Romney’s PAC is contributing the maximum $5,000 allowed to Rubio’s campaign. In 2006, Romney flew to Tallahassee as head of the Republican Governors Association with a $1 million check to help Crist’s run for governor.
 
Obama will grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants
Fresh off his health care reform victory, President Barack Obama will quickly move to overturn the DOD’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy prohibiting sodomites from serving openly in the US military. He will also move to grant amnesty for millions of illegal aliens. These are Obama’s next two agenda items, as he attempts to fulfill his campaign promise to “remake America.”
 
CIA Columbia Obama Cover Up
Hon. James David Manning says Barack Hussein “The Long Legged Mack Daddy” Obama was a C.I.A operative who used Columbia University as a cover to go to Pakistan in 1981 when the CIA and the Mujahideen worked together against the Soviet Invasion. Obama supplied arms, logistics, and money using his Muslim background. Wonder if this has anything to do with nobody that went there ever heard of him during his so called time at Columbia? YouTube – CIA Columbia Obama Cover Up  For more information click the link here.  CIA Columbia Obama Cover Up
 
Bill Would Shun Obama Birth Certificate Requests
Hawaii lawmakers are moving closer to passing a measure allowing the state to ignore repeated requests for President Barack Obama’s birth certificate. If there was nothing to hide why make a big deal of it as to pass legislation? What about the sign in Kenya that says welcome to the birth place of Barack Obama? I guess the Kenya government is part of the so-called “birthers,” who claim Obama is ineligible to be president.
 
Debt panel leaders say everything is on the table
WASHINGTON – The leaders of President Barack Obama’s bipartisan debt commission say everything is on the table, from tax increases to spending cuts, as they prepare this week to begin meeting. Can you say TAX HIKE?
 
Chris Dodd’s Financial Legislation Troubling
Despite all the limited government rhetoric you’re hearing from the Republican Party these days, it appears that Senate Republican leaders, including Richard Shelby, are more than ready and willing to work with Chris Dodd to empower the Fed, add more layers of federal bureaucracy to our economy, and set the stage for future crises. For all the talk of “change” in D.C., our elected officials are following the same tired old script: if the federal government created the problem, the only solution must be to give it even more power.
 
Dick Morris Reveals Bombshell on Waco and Janet Reno
Dick Morris: “It’s never been said before” …Janet Reno to Clinton: “If you don’t appoint me, I’ll tell the truth about Waco”. On Hannity tonight Morris said that Clinton HAD to reappoint Reno to a 2nd term or she said she would tell the truth on Waco… He wouldn’t say what that was. Reno Told Clinton She Stays On or She Blows Whistle of the Waco
Disaster.
 
We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate Thomas Jefferson
 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
Posted in: Bain Report

The Bain Report: “Articles that Affect You and Your Family” for May 3, 2010

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Remember Republican Ed Gaffney?
He’s the one that was term limited then crossed over on his way out to vote for Michigan’s largest tax increase in the states history in 2007 with the Democrats.  After that Governor Granholm gave him an appointment as head of the LCC at an annual salary of $90,000 plus per year. Payment made for services rendered! Well, he made a campaign donation to Senator Richardville in 2009 cumulative of over $3,200.00. All of our incumbent politicians are in bed together.
 
Richardville co-sponsors Bill to Authorize Unionization of home personal providers
Senate Bill 731 is to empower the state to unionize 42,000 individuals hired by elderly or disabled Medicaid recipients to provide personal care services in their homes. These providers are not employees of the state, so the bill uses the legal device of creating a shell government “employer” that would transfer some $6.6 million in Medicaid money annually to the SEIU union (considered the “union dues” for these workers). The bill would also recognize in statute a “Michigan Quality Community Care Council,” which would create the shell corporation “employer” through an “interlocal agreement” with three counties.
Note: A Mackinac Center lawsuit is pending regarding a similar arrangement imposed on home day care providers without the statutory authorization that this bill would provide.
Sponsors  Jason Allen – (primary) Roger Kahn, Bruce Patterson, Raymond Basham, Valde Garcia, Tony Stamas, Judson Gilbert, Martha Scott, Dennis Olshove, Irma Clark-Coleman, Michael Switalski, Gilda Jacobs, Mark Jansen, Deborah Cherry, Randy Richardville, Patricia Birkholz, Gretchen Whitmer. 
 
Analysis of Michigan Film Subsidies
Two Years, $117m – and No Film Job Growth
It has been two years since Michigan’s film subsidy program became law, which is sufficient for it to have gotten off the ground and had some measurable impact on the state’s economy. According to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of September 2009 (the most recent month available*), there were fewer people employed by the film industry in Michigan than before the subsidy program began. The film subsidy program was signed into law on April 7, 2008. In that month there were 5,867 jobs in Michigan’s “motion picture and sound recording industries,” the industrial classification that most closely fits the target industry for the program. By last September these jobs had fallen to 5,290, a 9.8 percent decline. Yet another thanks to our Senator Richardville for his vote on this subsidy that is a huge waste of taxpayer money! Is this really the type of representation we here in Monroe and the State of Michigan expect and deserve? I think not!
 
Senate OKs State retirement proposal
On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled State Senate approved a watered-down plan to encourage 46,000 state employees and teachers to retire to save the state money. Key changes include removing a pension sweetener and a provision that would cut vision and dental benefits for eligible employees who don’t retire. “I see no savings there. I see no reason to pursue it,” Griffin said of the Senate bills. “The point was to get some of the higher-priced people to take a retirement and now there is no reason to take it. (The pension sweetener) is gone and that was the only incentive to go. Who do they think is going to take it?” Senate Republicans say that passing the retirement plan is crucial because its savings are linked to a Senate budget that cuts state aid to schools by $118 per pupil. Without retirement reform, schools might face more cuts, Republicans say. Our Republican controlled Senate continues watered down legislation by trying to make cuts on the backs of our educators. Did we expect anything different from our representatives but meaningless legislation? But, they can’t seem to cut their own salary and benefits! Click here to see how your Senator voted. Senate Roll Call 181 – Michigan Votes Nice!
 
Black Holes and Plankton Research Get Stimulus Spending
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — the federal stimulus program that Congress approved in 2009 to help jump-start the economy was supposed to be for shovel-ready construction jobs. Not here in Michigan! There was an $835,000 Michigan State University study on the ecology of plankton, a $440,000 University of Michigan study on galaxies with black holes and a $322,000 Eastern Michigan University study on languages of the Arctic. This raises a serious question about the stimulus program’s approach to solving Michigan’s economic woes. It just puts money into the pockets of well-paid academics who have almost total job security, It does not put unemployed people to work.
 
State Employee Pay Grows 25 Percent Above Inflation
The average state employee compensation package costs approximately $93,039. Inflation-adjusted wages and benefits have increased 25 percent since fiscal 1999. The figures include the value of all benefits from state-paid retirement contributions to dry cleaning allowances.
 
Cash for Appliances Program Starts
The federal cash-for-clunkers program is so passe. Now the government is playing rebates-for-refrigerators and money-for-washing-machines. Last summer’s federal program fueled vehicle sales and jump-started the sputtering auto industry by enticing customers to trade in their gas guzzlers. Now retailers are hoping for a similar boost from another government program that will offer rebates of up to $200 for energy-efficient appliances.
 
“Green” Energy Sources are Costly
Is green the new black? That’s what many Washington lawmakers would like us to think. What Obama won’t tell us is that these “green” energy sources are costly—not just in dollars, but in existing American jobs. Do we really want to emulate the European countries that have already gone that route? “Spain already has a clean-energy economy, with thousands of wind turbines and solar panels covering the landscape. It also has 19 percent unemployment, nearly twice the U.S. level,”
 
Big Government in Pictures
Federal spending is unsustainable, yet government continues to spend money faster than it can tax it from you and me. As a result, America is facing record deficits. Will the American sheeple keep voting the same one’s back in expecting a different result as to fix the problems they created?
 
Bailout Has Been Good for Wall Street, Not Main Street 
The federal government’s $700 billion bailout program has helped big banks but hasn’t done much for the little guy, a key official said Tuesday. While the Troubled Asset Relief Program, as the plan is called, is “getting Wall Street back on its feet, it is not meeting its goal of getting Main Street back on its feet,” TARP Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky told the Senate Finance Committee.
 
U.S. Debt to Hit $20 Trillion in Decade
America’s fiscal picture is even worse than it looks. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office just projected that over 10 years, cumulative deficits will reach $9.7 trillion and federal debt 90 percent of gross domestic product. The financial outlook for the United States is frightening. The CBO projects the size of the federal debt to increase by nearly 250 percent over 10 years, from $7.5 trillion to a whopping $20 trillion.
 
Arizona Governor Signs Tough Immigration Law
PHOENIX – Gov. Jan Brewer ignored criticism from President Barack Obama on Friday and signed into law a bill supporters said would take handcuffs off police in dealing with illegal immigration in Arizona, the nation’s busiest gateway for human and drug smuggling from Mexico.
 
33 Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out To Be True
Conspiracy Theories of the most shocking are modern conspiracy theories that turned out true after thorough investigation by our society.  Some through congressional hearings, others through investigative journalism.  Many of these, however, were just admitted to by those involved.  These are just 33 of them.
 
The Cow and the Ice Cream, an explanation of how Obama Won The Election 
From a teacher in the Nashville area
Every time Barack Obama opened his mouth he offered ice cream and 52 percent of the people reacted like nine year olds. They want ice cream. The other 48 percent know
they’re going to have to feed the cow and clean up the mess. Remember, the government cannot give anything to anyone that they have not first taken away from someone else.
 
Banks Blowing Up the Economy
I read two interesting thoughts last weekend. The first is from legendary 18th-century economic god Adam Smith — father of free-market thinking — who wrote this on the topic of regulating banks. Exertions of the natural liberty of a few individuals, which might endanger the security of the whole society, are, and ought to be, restrained by the laws of all governments, of the most free as well as of the most despotical. The obligation of building party walls, in order to prevent the communication of fire, is a violation of natural liberty exactly of the same kind with the regulations of the banking trade which are here proposed. Some say banks are making lots of money and paying themselves accordingly, but that’s their right. That’s capitalism. We encourage it. We cherish it. But as Adam Smith mentioned more than 200 years ago, it isn’t capitalism if the misbehavior of a few bankers “endanger the security of the whole society.” And that’s exactly what happened in 2008. It wasn’t capitalism. It was banks blowing up the economy. And a few of us are praying it’ll soon end.
 
Goldman Sachs fined with defrauding investors tied to subprime mortgages
Some analysts were busily questioning the motives of the Securities and Exchange Commission, after the agency leveled the charges Friday morning. Today’s SEC announcement and conference call (which did not allow analysts or investors to ask questions) was a well-timed, and perhaps not coincidental, effort to sway some on-the-fence Republicans to support a tougher financials bill that the White House has been lobbying for Barclays Capital’s.
 
Obama “Consumer Protection Czar” Linked to Goldman Sachs Mortgage Scandal
Harry Reid has threatened to start forcing the Democratic financial overhaul bill through the Senate early next week. The bill would create yet another new bureaucracy, the “Consumer Financial Protection Agency” with the power to impose new government regulation on millions of financial transactions. President Obama’s rumored pick to run the CFPA is a Treasury official with a disturbing history of ties to shady lending, bank bailouts, and massive donations from subprime mortgage billionaires.
 
Obama Suggests Value-Added Tax May Be an Option 
So much for the people making less than $250,000 getting taxed! President Barack Obama suggested Wednesday that a new value-added tax on Americans is still on the table, seeming to show more openness to the idea than his aides have expressed in recent days.
 
Enough with the value-added tax (VAT) talk already
Some liberals in Congress want to pay for their massive new spending with a value-added tax, a sort of national sales tax on the price of goods at each stage of production. While popular in Europe, such a tax is a bad idea for the United States. And a significant number of lawmakers and even White House officials seem to agree.
 
Power of the Free Market – The Pencil
Milton Friedman uses a pencil to explain how the operation of the free market promotes harmony and world peace.
 
Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state 
Thomas Jefferson
Posted in: Bain Report

The Bain Report: “Articles that Affect You and Your Family” for April 26, 2010

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Richardville Votes Against Putting Workers First
“Richardville’s vote today dealt a serious blow to Michigan workers who need a job,” said Mark Brewer, Michigan Democratic Party Chair. “Thanks to his actions, it’s more likely that someone can cross over the border of Ohio, Indiana, or even foreign countries to take jobs away from the people of Monroe, Jackson, and Washtenaw counties.”
 
Richardville works with Democrats to raise your Electric Bill
“Secures monopoly for DTE and Consumers Power”
State Energy Law Results in 11 Percent Utility Rate Hikes; DTE Chairman and CEO’s Salary Rises 2% to $7 Million. Comprehensive energy reform will bring modest rate increases to customers, but doing nothing is the most expensive option. Those were words of Rep. Frank Accavitti D-Eastpointe, and Sen. Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, in the LSJ on Sept. 7, 2008, as they defended the Legislature’s work to rewrite state energy law. The same legislation Accavitti and Richardville were defending last year also places limits on competition. No more than 10 percent of DTE’s or Consumers’ customers can get their power from competitor firms. For 90 percent of the market, it’s the big utility or bust.
 
Monroe County Middle College a New School Experience
Let me see if I get this right? Michigan is struggling with education budget cuts but our tax dollars can fund this endeavor. In essence we the taxpayers are paying for college credits for other peoples children. To top that off our Republican lead Senate voted to cut per pupil funding with our own Sen. Richardville voting in favor of these cuts! It’s also ironic that his wife Sarah Richardville was appointed Dean of Students at a salary of $65,800 per year. Let’s even go a little bit farther in this endeavor in that this is in conjunction with Mercy Memorial Hospital where Sen. Richardville’s mother Glenda Kinnon has an affiliation with said hospital. Seems like a real cozy arrangement to me all on the backs of the taxpayers.
 
GOP flirts with Tea Party disaster
The Tea Partiers are already feeling betrayed. They’re fed up with politics as usual, especially deal making and double-talking. So, they will eventually reach their tolerance limit when they scrutinize the hypocrisy shown by Republicans who claim the fiscal responsibility mantle. From Washington to Lansing, the GOP is trying to play both sides of the fence. They tell the Tea Partiers that they hate big government, but their actions belie their words.
 
State should modify arbitration law for police, firefighters
Our legislators should take another look at the state law, now more than 40 years old, which provides for compulsory arbitration of conflicting demands of local governments and their police and fire unions. Sen. Richardville recently offered an amendment that passed the Senate for Public Act 312 that put the detriment to the local municipalities to the benefit of Union Interest.
 
Another year for top State Education Superintendent
The Michigan State Board of Education voted to extend state Superintendent Mike Flanigan’s contract by a year, until 2013. He volunteered to reduce his salary by the equivalent of two hours per pay period. Flanigan has been state superintendent since 2005. He is now paid $183,994.72 a year. While two hours per day pay cut isn’t much and only a symbolic gesture compared what the citizenry has had to endure at least it was more than our current legislators did when they cut benefits for incoming freshman lawmakers but not their own!
 
Monroe Republican Party Welcomes Mike Cox, other’s at Lincoln-Reagan Dinner
Mr. Cox, who said being the attorney general was the best job he’s ever had. The Livonia native said he now has his sights set on the governor’s seat. Civic Duty is supposed to be about representing the citizens not a career job feeding off the public trough, lobbyist and special interest! Is this the type of representation that the Monroe Republican Party endorses? This candidate carry’s way to much baggage as to represent the citizen’s of Michigan.
Scandal Involving Attorney General Mike Cox Grows
Several affidavits filed this week directly contradict statements by Attorney General Mike Cox regarding an alleged party at the home of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. In 2002, it was widely reported that a party at Manoogian Mansion featuring 27 year-old exotic dancer Tamara “Strawberry” Greene abruptly ended when the mayor’s wife returned home and began assaulting Greene. Greene was later shot to death. After a brief investigation in 2003, Cox dismissed accounts of the party as “urban legend.” Yet in a sworn affidavit, former 911 dispatcher Sandy Cardenas, says she sent police to the Detroit mansion to investigate a number of disturbance calls one fall night in 2002.  Cardenas states that within hours of these calls, 911 tapes were removed by a Detroit police officer from internal affairs. “You don’t take tapes out… unless they don’t want people to know something,” Cardenas told The Detroit News.
 
Foreclosure rates surge, biggest jump in 5 years
A record number of U.S. homes were lost to foreclosure in the first three months of this year, a sign banks are starting to wade through the backlog of troubled home loans at a faster pace, according to a new report. RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday that the number of U.S. homes taken over by banks jumped 35 percent in the first quarter from a year ago. In addition, households facing foreclosure grew 16 percent in the same period and 7 percent from the last three months of 2009.
 
America Becomes a Two-Class Society
Income tax day, April 15, 2010, now divides Americans into two almost equal classes: those who pay for the services provided by government and the freeloaders. The percentage of Americans who will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009 has risen to 47 percent.
 
A tax-day protest at Loranger Square – Monroe, Michigan
“The government is well overspending its bounds,” said Rick Rountree a 55-year-old Air Force veteran said. “There are certain powers enumerated in the Constitution. The government is really over-reaching with health care, taxes, cap-and-trade and the bailouts. I didn’t spend 20 years in the military to see my country go down the drain. I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The (politicians) take the same oath, but they are trampling all over the Constitution.”
 
Soros Warns of Market Crash
Railway porter-turned-billionaire financier George Soros delivered a stark warning that the financial world is on the wrong track and that it may be hurtling towards an even bigger boom and bust than in the credit crisis. While I totally disagree with what this man stands for he makes a point.
 
Bad news for Social Security recipients
Millions of older Americans and disabled workers will likely not see an increase in their social security checks next year. The trustees who oversee Social Security are projecting there won’t be a cost-of-living adjustment for the next two years.
 
Initial jobless claims increase unexpectedly
The number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits rose last week, a sign that jobs remain scarce even as the economy recovers. The Labor Department said Thursday that first-time claims increased by 18,000 in the week ended April 3, to a seasonally adjusted 460,000. That’s worse than economists’ estimates of a drop to 435,000, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
 
Perfect Storm of Voter Distrust in Government
Think it’s just in Washington? Think again! Distrust is at the local and state levels as well. The Republicans should be plenty worried as the polls show that with registered voters the highest overall level of distrust is 86 percent. Those who identify with the Tea Party movement describe themselves as angry and will make a huge impact come election time! Conservative Republicans are sick in tired of Republican in name only representatives (RINOS) who pander to the Unions, Special Interest, Lobbyist, and Big Organizations for block votes and campaign contributions. The voice of the common citizen is not heard and the precinct delegates mean nothing to the Republican Party!
 
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner Just Doesn’t Get It
I try very hard to give the folks running our government the benefit of the doubt. It’s very difficult, and I realize that it’s probably futile in the end, but I do it anyway. On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner provided fresh support for the devil on my shoulder, who tells me to just assume that most government officials have precisely no clue.
 
The U.S. Is Buried in Debt. But If You Think It’s Bad Now, Just Wait
This country is in piles of debt. Projections for how much more we could load on in the coming decades are downright nightmarish. You think it’s bad now? Just wait. It’s obvious that big changes are in store, but progress (or even the hope of it) is painfully absent. Eventually, Stein’s law — if something can’t go on forever, it won’t — will prevail, and we’ll be forced to fix the problem. How we’ll do so is the trillion-dollar question. There are only three ways to end runaway deficits: cut spending, raise taxes, or allow deliberate inflation.
 
Should You Worry About the Budget Deficit?
Want to increase your stress level? Just view the Congressional Budget Office’s federal budget deficit forecast for the next decade. Between 2009 and 2019, the CBO estimates we’ll rack up a cumulative $9 trillion deficit.
 
Republican Gov. Charlie Crist is considering running as an Independent
Typical of the status quo Republican politician about to lose power. Remember Republican Arlen Specter who jumped to the Democratic Party when the polls showed he would lose re-election? If Governor Crist believes he cannot win a primary then the proper course of action is he drop out of the race and wait for another day, Rob Jesmer of the National Republican Senatorial Committee wrote in his e-mail. This isn’t about representing the people in the minds of these statists, it’s about representing one’s self as with the majority of politicians!
 
Bunning Statement Opposing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke
“I have always believed that when you fail at something in life you lose and when you succeed at something in life you win. It’s just that simple. Ben Bernanke’s term as Chairman of the Federal reserve has been a failure and that is why I am opposing him today. YouTube – Bunning Statement Opposing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke “Not only was Chairman Bernanke asleep at the switch leading up to the current financial crisis, but the policies he has implemented have done nothing to solve the problem. In fact, I would argue that his policies will only serve to create more problems for our country down the line. He has been printing money at a break-neck pace in order to bail out his fat-cat buddies on Wall Street and he has turned the Federal Reserve in to an arm of the Treasury Department, while at the same time providing no real answers as to what his end-game plan is. Written Statement below.
 
Congressman Dingell and Senator Richardville Link Exposed
At the April, 15, 2010 Tea Party in Monroe, Michigan, a speaker talks about bad representation out of a couple of our so called elected leaders here in Michigan.
 
I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious
Thomas Jefferson
 
Posted in: Bain Report

The Bain Report: “Articles that Affect You and Your Family” for April 19, 2010

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Great analogy of Richardville representation in Milan News-Leader letter to the editor
“Richardville panders to Monroe Chamber of Commerce”
In the Monroe Evening News article “State senator warns legislators,” state Sen. Randy Richardville, speaking to the Monroe Chamber of Commerce, portrays himself as part of the solution, not the problem, by putting the blame on his fellow legislators. This is right out of the Democratic playbook of Gov. Jennifer Granholm, placing the blame on former Gov. John Engler for Michigan’s problems.
Milan News-Leader letter to the editor
 
Phone Propaganda the Promise Scholarship fund?
What if the State had never gotten any Tobacco money? How would they have funded the things for which they raided the Promise Scholarship fund? Richardville simply let the older sibling get away with buying the party goods (endless gov’t programs designed to win the favor of the people come election time).
 
Scandal Involving Attorney General Mike Cox Grows
Several affidavits filed this week directly contradict statements by Attorney General Mike Cox regarding an alleged party at the home of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. In 2002, it was widely reported that a party at Manoogian Mansion featuring  27 year-old exotic dancer Tamara “Strawberry” Greene abruptly ended when the mayor’s wife returned home and began assaulting Greene. Greene was later shot to death. After a brief investigation in 2003, Cox dismissed accounts of the party as “urban legend.” Yet in a sworn affidavit, former 911 dispatcher Sandy Cardenas, says she sent police to the Detroit mansion to investigate a number of disturbance calls one fall night in 2002.  Cardenas states that within hours of these calls, 911 tapes were removed by a Detroit police officer from internal affairs. “You don’t take tapes out… unless they don’t want people to know something,” Cardenas told The Detroit News.
 
IRS Is Picking on the Little Guys — And Losing Money By Doing It 
The IRS has increased audits of small and midsize businesses, and has decreased its audits of massive corporations, according to a recent study by Transactional Access Records Clearinghouse, a research group at Syracuse University. Maybe they are reorganizing their efforts to go after ObamaCare non compliance folks?
 
U.S. Bank Profit ‘Imbalances Are Re-Occurring’ that fueled the credit crisis
Record low U.S. interest rates are boosting the profitability of financial companies, creating the same kind of imbalances that fueled the credit crisis, according to Jim Reid, a Deutsche Bank AG strategist in London.
 
Can Health Care Reform Possibly Control Costs? 
Health care operates as a “cartel” not in the sense of a formal organization like OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) or the criminal activities of drug cartels, but in the informal sense of a small group of companies that dominate specific markets and thus wield significant political and pricing power within those markets. The health care reform bill does little to challenge this power. Indeed, it’s a sign of the medical industry’s enormous political power that the bill overlooked some of the biggest reasons for the high cost of American medicine.
 
Fed Shouldn’t Reveal Crisis Loans, Banks Vow to Tell High Court 
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled March 19 that the central bank must release the documents. A three-judge panel of the appellate court rejected the Fed’s argument that disclosure would stigmatize borrowers and discourage banks from seeking emergency help.
 
How other Countries vote in the United Nations against the United States
The link below are the actual voting records of various Arabic/Islamic States which are recorded in both the US State Department and United Nations records.
 
Is Wall Street Underestimating the Inflation Threat?
Wall Street, stop dreaming. Fund managers are increasingly embracing a scenario of low inflation and interest rates accompanying a sharp economic recovery. But this rosy vision could quickly vaporize if all the liquidity injected into the financial system starts driving up prices.
 
Overheated Oil Prices May Threaten Economic Recovery 
With crude oil prices sloshing around at $85 a barrel, a new reality may be setting in that could threaten the recoveries of the world’s major economies, according to the International Energy Agency’s monthly oil market report, which was released Tuesday.
 
Bernanke’s Exit Plan May Fall Through the Gap
What is it that no one can see, hear, smell, taste or touch, yet everyone knows is there? Answer: the output gap. In common parlance, the output gap is the difference between what the economy can produce and what it is producing at any given time. The fact that we can’t measure the first with any degree of accuracy and are still revising the second 30 years after the fact has never shaken the faith of those relying on the output gap to gauge future inflation.
 
What do Social Security and Madoff have in common?
To support the notion that Social Security resembles a pyramid scheme, I compared the SSA and the Madoff fraud case. Here’s where they share common ground:
 
U.S. reverses stance on treaty to regulate arms trade
The United States reversed policy on Wednesday and said it would back launching talks on a treaty to regulate arms sales as long as the talks operated by consensus, a stance critics said gave every nation a veto.
 
Small Businesses React to the Health Care Reform Bill
In 2014, organizations that have 50 or more employees and do not provide affordable health coverage to employees could face penalties of up to $2,000 per full-time employee. “It is a mistake to think the health care bill will only affect individuals making over $250,000 annually. “Additionally, the 40% excise tax amount is assessed on insurance companies if their premiums exceed $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for family coverage. It is indexed at a 2% increase in subsequent years. Thus, if insurance companies are prevented from passing on costs in the form of higher premiums, then their only other option will be to drive coverage to the least costly area. The family doctor will have been long gone, replaced by under-staffed, over-utilized clinics where waits for elective procedures will be months and years rather than days and weeks. Physicians already discouraged by the high cost of education will continue to suffer a decline of new professionals exacerbating the delivery of timely and quality medical services.”
 
Has Scott Brown turned out to be a blessing in disguise for congressional Democrats?
But barely three months into his tenure, Brown has fallen out of favor with his onetime Tea Party backers, and is starting to looking like something of a silver lining for Democrats. In a no-less symbolic moment, Brown declined an invitation to appear at a Tea Party rally in Boston this week headlined by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
 
Conservatives in Nevada want Republican Sen. Ensign to quit
Michigan has it’s own Republicans that are hurting the Republican Party in their controversial past and liberal leanings as far as conservatives are concerned! The Michigan Republican Party is in trouble because of these aforementioned types it might let the Democrats take control!
 
Waxman Calls for Baseball Ban on Chewing Tobacco Use
Here they come! What’s next, chewing gum because you might choke on it? This madness by the Socialist left big government has got to stop! Major League Baseball and the players’ union should “take action to end the use of smokeless tobacco by big league players,” said Representative Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, at the start of a hearing today.
 
Obama Not Meeting Americans Expectations on Issues
Americans’ ratings of the job President Barack Obama is doing in three key areas are much less positive than their expectations were for him shortly after he took office. Americans give Obama the best review for protecting the environment and the worst for making America prosperous.
 
Michigan’s Dem. Rep. Stupak announces retirement
Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak Announces His Retirement After Health Care Controversy.
That’s it screw us then leave! Flanked by his wife and other supporters, Stupak said he made the decision within the last 36 hours not to seek a 10th term and he is choosing to step down because he thinks he has achieved his goal of universal health care. I bet he got a nice Cadillac Bonus Plan for his vote for his retirement!
 
Up North Grass Roots verus Michigan GOP Establishment
In 1992 poor decisions made then by a state Republican establishment alienated many of the district’s grass roots “true believers,” opening the door for a former one-term Democrat state Representative, who won and went on to an 18-year Congressional career.
 
“Those who trade liberty for security have neither”   John Adams
 
 
Posted in: Bain Report

The Bain Report: Articles that Affect You and Your Family for April 12, 2010

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A Sobering View Of Macro Economic Reality
In 2001, we had a recession, right? We recovered, right? Are you sure? Remember when I said “we will have a Depression” – that given what the government did in 2001-03 timeframe it was inevitable? We’re in one now! Clink the link below to see the facts.
 
Richardville votes to Transfer Road Tax money to other purposes
Passed on October 20, 2009, to reduce the amount of infrastructure project spending from the transportation economic development fund by $12 million in the Fiscal Year that ends Sept. 30, 2009, and another $12 million in the next fiscal year. House Bill 5073 diverts this money to other state spending. To the public Senator Richardville claims the problem with our roads is the formula of  Public Act 51 and how the money is allocated. With 25% going toward administrative fees and other subsidies such as public transportation; buses, etc., now he votes in favor of playing the old shell game by transferring yet more road money to other state spending. Political double speak applies to this Senator from Monroe! 
 
Surveys Show Tea Party Goes Beyond the Fringe
(April 5) — Tea party supporters are pointing to a couple of new surveys as proof that the movement speaks for mainstream America. “This just goes to show that the tea party movement really is a grass roots movement and opposition to it is manufactured by the Democrats and their comrades in the media.”
 
New Fuel Economy Standards Arrive Just as Oil Prices Spike 
The cost of filling up at the pump has been edging up in recent weeks and is likely to get even more expensive. On Monday, crude oil futures rose to the highest levels in 18 months to about $86.60 a barrel, as investors reacted to more positive economic news. And with the summer driving season right around the corner, there’s little reason to expect gasoline and diesel prices will ebb anytime soon. With new regulations, which take effect beginning with 2012 model year vehicles, will require that manufacturers achieve the equivalent of 35.5 miles a gallon  and the new rules will result in higher vehicle prices in dealers’ showrooms and at the pump as well.
 
Senator Richardville Teases Senator Gretchen Whitmer (D) East Lansing
Ever since Maxim rated State Senator Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) Number 8 on its World’s Hottest Politicians list this month, she’s been getting a lot more attention on the Senate floor. It seems her colleagues, especially a certain Sen. Randy Richardville (R-Monroe), can’t resist teasing her. Click link below to read article scroll down!
 
Health Care Reform: Small Business Winners and Losers
LOSERS: Small businesses such as those in the tanning business will need to impose a tax of 10% for indoor tanning services starting immediately. This 10% increase in cost could result in fewer customers. This will happen across the board for the most part and be passed on to us the consumers! It’s a Tax hike no matter how you spin it!
 
Senator Richardville voted not to revise the “teacher tenure law” to fire bad teachers
Richardville voted not to revise the “teacher tenure law” to allow a teacher to be fired or demoted for consistent ineffectiveness. Under current law it is very difficult or impossible to fire a teacher. Senator Richardville voted with the Democrats and was one of only four Republican Senators out of 22 Republican Senators in the Republican lead Senate who have taken money from the Teachers Union to oppose this Bill!
 
Greenspan: If CBO Numbers Wrong, Obamacare Disastrous
Former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan warns the economic impact of the new healthcare reform law could be disastrous if the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) projections prove inaccurate.
 
Richardville votes to increase licensure fees on nurses
This is just another of the many tax burdens that Senator Richardville consistently advocates for the citizens of Michigan. Increasing the fees for those that are working and keeping people healthy will only drive up the cost to the taxpayers. The medical fields are so short of personnel and now he is trying to fix the budget on the backs of those that are working. Same with the Carpenter Licensure Bill he voted for to the benefit of Union interest! This Senator is all about raising taxes, fees, mandates, subsidies, and over regulation. 
 
Five things to know about the Tea Party movement
The Associated Press reviewed Tea Party operations in almost every state, interviewing dozens of local organizers as well as Democratic and Republican strategists to produce a portrait of the movement. Five key things learned in the states.
 
Kilpatrick works for you, but she touts herself on your dime
Congressman John Dingell did the same this year with a mailer paid for by the taxpayers! The 14-page glossy brochure mailed last week to constituents of U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, a Detroit Democrat, reads more like campaign literature with three pages of testimonials, a letter touting her reign on the House Appropriations Committee and LOTS of pictures. But it’s an official document, prepared and mailed at taxpayer expense.
 
Michigan Supreme Court to weigh Cox’s removal from case
Are they all in the same rabbit hole? The Michigan Supreme Court announced this morning it will consider whether to overturn an appellate court decision to remove Attorney General Mike Cox as prosecutor in a case against a former Wayne County judge accused of allowing perjured testimony in a drug prosecution. The court said it will hear arguments on whether Cox should be disqualified because he earlier defended former Judge Mary Waterstone in a federal civil case arising out of the same circumstances.
 
Michigan motorists hit with $18 insurance hike
Starting July 1, 2010 Michigan motorists will pay $143.09 for each vehicle they insure. Auto insurance rider to rise nearly $20 for each vehicle they insure to the Michigan Catastrophic Claim Association (MCCA). The assessment is the largest since the MCCA was created in 1978.
 
Too Green, Too Soon? Renewable Power May Destabilize Electrical Grid
Boy, that was fast. Only five years into the world’s renewable energy push, many utility companies are so concerned about grid instability that they’re saying they can’t accept any more electricity from intermittent sources of power. Translation: Solar power only runs in the day time and can’t re relied on for so called “baseload” capacity. Wind power primarily produces current at night and, likewise, can’t be relied upon for baseload capacity. Geothermal, meanwhile, is perfect for providing baseload. But geothermal projects take an excruciatingly long time to build out. And then there have been the recent spate of earthquake scares around geothermal sites.
 
Retail Stores Closing Doors First Quarter Roundup 2010
Announcements continue to roll in from retailers that have decided to close stores, slow expansion plans or cease operations altogether. Click link below to see the list of store closings.
 
Small Businesses React to the Health Care Reform Bill
In 2014, organizations that have 50 or more employees and do not provide affordable health coverage to employees could face penalties of up to $2,000 per full-time employee.
 
Federal Court Strikes Down the FCC’s ‘Net Neutrality’ Authority 
In a dramatic ruling that’s sending shock waves from Washington, D.C., to Silicon Valley, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission lacks the legal authority to enforce its “network neutrality” principles.
 
Russian arms sales to Venezuela may reach $5 billion
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that an arms sale agreement made to Venezuela may reach $5 billion while commenting on his visit last week to Caracas. The deals include a $2.2 billion seven-year loan that Moscow extended to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez last year.
 
Life of the Party, Tea Party attitude shared by most Americans
You see, most voters agree with the tenets and activism of the Tea Party movement. They think ObamaCare will be disastrous and want it repealed and replaced with a real reform plan. They think taxes are too high, not too low. They think the federal government’s massive operating deficits and its nearly $100 trillion in unfunded entitlement liabilities are not an economic stimulus, as liberals apparently believe, but represent a clear and present danger to American prosperity and to representative government itself.
 
Associated Press: Tea Parties are “A Lot of Noise” and “No Muscle”
The Tea Party movement won’t have an impact on congressional elections in November, is “a lot of noise, no muscle” with popularity that “thins out” outside the rallies, according to an Associated Press analysis of the movement. “I don’t think they (media) understand what we are doing,” said Wendy Day, founder of Common Sense in Government. “They don’t get it. I bet the media and the political elite feel much like England did in 1776. That something was brewing and they didn’t understand it so they discounted it and ignored it.”
 
“In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress.” — John Adams
 
 

 

Posted in: Bain Report

The Bain Report: Articles that Affect You and Your Family for April 5, 2010

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Protesters greet Dingell at Monroe Chamber Luncheon
More than two dozen protesters, some carrying signs, waving American flags and shouting slogans, greeted U.S. Rep. John D. Dingell’s arrival at a Monroe County Chamber of Commerce legislative luncheon Thursday. 
 
Arbitration Bill ‘Hollow’ Without Amendment on Public Act 312
Many GOP senators didn’t respond to requests for an explanation why they wouldn’t pass Senator Patterson’s amendment. The offices of Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, and Senate President Pro Tempore Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Richardville’s office did say the senator voted against Patterson’s amendment. Senator Richardville’s amendment, Passed in the Senate on February 10, 2010, to amend PA 312 which benefits Unions to the detriment of local municipalities! Senator Patterson’s amendment would have required the arbitrator to consider the financial ability of the community to pay and other general financial considerations when making their determinations. “How can elected officials call themselves fiscally responsible and yet vote down an amendment that requires the consideration of affordability as paramount?  Ignoring cost can only result in a tax increase for Michigan’s voters.”
  
State Representative Tom McMillin advocates Part Time Legislature
Michigan State Representative Tom McMillin (R-Auburn Hills) has introduced legislation to make Michigan’s legislature part time. However, it has been buried in the Committee on Government Operations since introduction.This is but one of many conservative pieces of legislation he has proposed. This is exactly the kind of Republican representation that we as conservatives can and will stand behind. Rep. Tom McMillin Introduced 2009 House Joint Resolution DD (Establish part time legislature and cap salaries ) to place before voters in the next general election a Constitutional amendment to replace the current full time legislature with a part time one that would only meet for 90 consecutive days each year, would cap legislators’ annual salaries at 25 percent of the private sector average pay, and would cap the amount appropriated to run the legislature at 1 percent of the state general fund.
  
Dangerous Projects in Public Schools;  Recruiting Kids for Obama’s Agenda
Obama is using the public schools to recruit a private army of high-schoolers to “build on the movement that elected President Obama by empowering students across the country to help us bring about our agenda.” We now know that Obama’s “agenda” is to move the United States into European-style Socialism. This sounds a lot like Michigan Senate Roll Call 689 that Mr. Reach across the aisle, Senator Randy Richardville (R) Monroe voted in favor of doing energy audits of the homes of students to Revise “green schools” criteria. Passed in the Senate on December 10, 2009. Especially encouraging is the fact that the kids, having been propagandized, are then instructed to lobby our government for… whatever.  Obama and ACORN could wish for no more than that.
 
How Michigan can improve Teacher and Student performance
When Michelle Rhee, Washington, D.C.’s school chancellor, laid off dozens of teachers last fall, she did so in a way that is unheard of in Michigan: by their job performance, rather than seniority. She has fired low-performing teachers in chronically failing high schools. And she has implemented a new teacher evaluation tool, 50 percent of which is based on teachers’ impact on student learning.

 

Republican led Senate, committee approve plans to cut $118 per pupil – Senate plan would again cut school funding in 2010
The Senate, with mostly Republican votes, approved a $12.6-billion school funding plan that would reduce basic state aid to all school districts by $118 per pupil. The plan assumes $480 million in savings for schools by forcing tens of thousands of teachers into retirement and requiring those still working to pay 3% more of their salaries toward their retirements. But they can’t cut their own benefits only for incoming lawmakers.
 
Wind turbine factory breaks ground in Monroe
The firm was lured to Monroe with a buffet of incentives at taxpayer expense! Mr. Viciana said he also commended Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who attended Tuesday’s groundbreaking with setting the tone in this state for what is happening here today. And he thanked state Sen. Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, for his “vision” in helping the project become a reality.  Senator Richardville was the only Republican attending the ceremony. U.S. Rep. John D. Dingell, D-Dearborn, David Lloyd, director of the office of brownfield and lands revitalization for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, State Rep. Kate Ebli (D) Monroe, and Dr. David Nixon, MCCC president rounded out this Democratic photo shoot.                                                               
 
Canada’s gaining tax appeal
Ottawa — In a clear indication that Canada is starting to be considered a low-tax place to do business, Tim Hortons Inc. announced Monday plans to shift its base of operations from Delaware to Canada for tax purposes. In Canada, the federal corporate tax rate is headed to 10% in 2012. In the United States, the top corporate tax rate is in the mid-30% range. As a result, the U.S. now has about the highest combined corporate tax rate, second only to Japan among industrialized countries.
 
Immigration Reform – “Amnesty” for Illegal Immigrants and a Biometric ID Card for Virtually Everyone Else!
Right now, freedom-stealing statists Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), banding together with other statists from both parties, are scheming to sneak a massive power grab into a new “immigration reform” bill. That’s right. Instead of controlling the border and enforcing the rule of law, these statists want to control you.
 
School Board Continues Fight to Ban  Teacher’s “God” Banners
Ann Arbor – In a closed-session meeting held on Monday night, the Poway Unified School District board in San Diego, California, voted to appeal the ruling of Federal District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez that held school officials violated math teacher Bradley Johnson’s constitutional rights when they ordered him to remove two patriotic banners from the walls of his classroom because they referred to “God.”
 
OBAMA WANTS TO AMNESTY MILLIONS OF ILLEGALS TO MAINTAIN POWER
Barack Obama began his next major move to radically remake America – starting millions of illegal aliens on the path to amnesty and citizenship. While the House was voting on Obama Care, tens of thousands of illegal aliens and their supporters rallied in Washington, D.C. Addressing them by videotape, the president declared, “I have always pledged to be your partner as we work to fix our broken immigration system, and that’s a commitment I reaffirm today.” The system “broke” when Washington stopped enforcing our immigration laws and winked at millions of illegals that streamed across our borders every year. Now, the president would “fix” the problem by granting millions of border-jumpers into citizens who doubtless will return the favor by becoming Democratic voters.
 
AT&T will take $1B charge due to health care overhaul
AT&T will take a $1 billion non-cash accounting charge in the first quarter because of the health care overhaul and may cut benefits it offers to current and retired workers. The charge is the largest disclosed so far. Earlier this week, AK Steel, Caterpillar, Deere and Valero Energy announced similar accounting charges, saying the health care law that President Obama signed Tuesday will raise their expenses. On Friday, 3M said it will also take a charge of $85 million to $90 million. Don’t think for a minute that this cost will not be passed onto we the taxpayers! 
 
Obama To Take Over Control of College Textbooks
This one slipped past my radar in August of 2009, but apparently Barack Obama signed the Federal Textbook Act (Download .pdf file) that made provisions for the federal government to take control of the pricing and availability of the text books in our institutions of higher learning (at least the ones that take federal funding).
 
Tea Party Unveils Planks
You won’t find many surveys that involve over 365,000 respondents, but that’s how many online forms were completed to determine the top three planks of the tea-party movement’s platform released Thursday as part of the new “Contract From America.” Click the link below to read the planks.   
 
Beatty got $100K from Kilpatrick civic fund
This rabbit hole just keeps getting deeper and deeper! A nonprofit run by Kwame Kilpatrick’s family paid more than $100,000 to a consulting firm formed by Christine Beatty after she resigned as his chief of staff during the text message scandal.
 
Kilpatrick’s family to be deposed
A judge has ordered the wife and father of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to answer questions in a civil lawsuit tied to the fatal shooting of a stripper. The family of Tamara Greene claims Kilpatrick and others stifled a probe of her 2003 death. Greene, who danced as “Strawberry,” was rumored to have performed at a wild party at the mayoral mansion in 2002.  
 
Right to Life of Michigan PAC rescinds Stupak endorsement
On Wednesday, March 24, the Right to Life of Michigan Political Action Committee notified U.S. Representative Bart Stupak that his endorsement was rescinded. In a letter sent to Rep. Stupak, the RLM-PAC qualified how the endorsement criteria was no longer met. 
 
New Domestic Army Hidden In The “HealthCare” Bill
Now when we finally get to find out what’s in it and whoa, Nelly!   Was this ever brought up during the debate, by anybody?  What is it that suddenly made this necessary?  This is the PATRIOT ACT all over again.   And some comatose folks wonder why the thinking portion of the population get exercised by the circumventions of the Federal government.
 
Muslin’s exempt from ObamaCare
If you are Muslim you can opt out of the Obamacare health care reform laws with no penalties. Isn’t this nice. If you are of the Muslim religion, you don’t have to give all the new Obamacare healthcare reform regulations and penalties another thought. Because the concept of being compelled to participate in such a healthcare program offends Islamic sensibilities, Muslims are specifically exempt. As a matter of fact if you are Amish, American Indian or a Chistian Scientist you do not need to participate or pay the taxes associated with healthcare reform. That means not having to be forced to buy healthcare insurance, not paying the taxes or the penalties if you don’t get it. Nice!
 
Guam as seen by GA representative
We must feel sorry for the citizens of DeKalb County, Georgia with the representation they are receiving from Hank Johnson who makes $174,000 a year as a Congressman. Could you imagine anyone paying him one-tenth that in the private sector? This is not an April Fools Joke, this is for real!
 
But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.
John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, July 17, 1775
 
 
Posted in: Bain Report

The Bain Report: Articles that Affect You and Your Family for Mar. 29, 2010

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John Dingell has a protegee here in Monroe
John Dingell supports the entire left wing agenda of the Obama administration. How is it that a Republican would praise a politician for keeping his snout in the public trough 53 years is truly breathtaking? By the same token, no one should be surprised by Randy Richardville’s actions. He has never aligned himself with true conservatives.
John Dingell has a protegee here in Monroe

Time to Vote out the Incumbents?
Only way we will have Real Change and True Representation!
This is not only a Washington problem but here in Michigan as well. To many lawmakers interested in what’s best for themselves and their Party and not their constituents who they are supposed to represent. Personal careers, power and re-election is first and foremost on their agenda. They pander to the Lobbyist, Special Interest, and organizations that benefit all concerned except us, We The People! Please visit the site below to see just a couple of such representatives that fit the bill. Please leave a comment in the GuestBook.
Time to Vote out the Incumbents?

P.O.P. *New Political Party*
This party is dedicated to vote every incumbent out of office in the next elections. If you’re Democrat, vote Democrat. Just don’t vote for the incumbent. If you’re Republican, vote Republican. Just don’t vote for the incumbent. We need to send a message to all politicians, that we’re tired of their B.S. If the country votes out all the incumbents, the new incoming politicians will get the message. This especially applies to Michigan elected officials at the local, county, and state levels!
P.O.P. *New Political Party.* | The Citizen

Amtrak’s Waste Is Being Rewarded
More taxpayer money given to dismal failure
Labor costs alone exceed all passenger-related revenue and on-board food and beverage costs are twice as great as revenues. Amtrak’s debt now stands at nearly $4 billion. Amtrak has been getting blank checks for the past 30 years and is near bankruptcy. Amtrak’s management says it needs $1.2 billion to continue operating next year and we’re giving them this amount. Revenues are declining faster than costs, leading to operating losses exceeding $1 billion annually. These losses are projected to grow by 40 percent within 4 years.”
Amtrak’s Waste Is Being Rewarded

The Wyoming Firearms Freedom Act: Nullification with Teeth
Wyoming has cast the first stone, and has passed a nullification act with teeth. In particular a federal agent is guilty of a felony if he attempts to enforce federal gun laws that contradict state laws. The penalty for transgression is up to $2000 in fines and up to two years in jail. It will certainly be interesting to see how all of this plays out.
The Wyoming Firearms Freedom Act: Nullification with Teeth « Craig W. Wright

Are Michigan schools poised for new race to the bottom?
Michigan schoolchildren took a double kick in the gut Thursday — and so did their state’s chances to be a viable competitor for 21st Century jobs. The first blow came when the U.S. Department of Education revealed that Michigan would not be one of the 15 states selected to compete for $4 billion in school improvement funds up for grabs in the federal grant competition known as Race to the Top. Less than an hour later, state legislators added insult to injury by refusing to fund the wide-ranging school reforms they authorized late last year in an effort to improve Michigan’s chances to snare RTTT money.
Are Michigan schools poised for new race to the bottom? | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Is Health Care a Right?
A very interesting article that cuts to the chase. Healthcare may be a right but free healthcare at someone else’s expense is not! That’s not how a Republic works nor is it written in our constitution. To take from a free man and give to another without consent is just plain wrong.
Walter E. Williams : Is Health Care a Right? – Townhall.com

$20 million for Pure Michigan tourism ads OK’d by House
LANSING — The State House approved $20 million on Thursday for the popular Pure Michigan tourism advertising campaign, with $13 million to come from a new tax on car rentals at airports. The Senate has already approved another $9.5 million for the campaign from the state’s budget. Tourism businesses have called on lawmakers to spend $20 million and preferably more on the Pure Michigan campaign. More taxpayer welfare for the tourism industry. If it’s such a great revenue stream why doesn’t the tourism industry businesses fund it themselves? After all they will benefit the most! Why should the taxpayers foot the bill for private business who gain the most?
$20 million for Pure Michigan tourism ads OK’d by House | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Why Are We Bankrupt? Here’s Exactly Why
You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much? Click link below!
Why Are We Bankrupt? Here’s Exactly Why

Conyers Is the Wrong Guy To Chair Judiciary Committee
Another funny thing hap­pened in what House Speak­er Nancy Pelosi promised would be “ the most ethical Congress in history.” Monica Conyers, the wife of House Judi­ciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, pleaded guilty last year to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit bribery that prompted her to resign from the Detroit City Council. Well, surely the wife of the Judiciary chairman knew what she was doing when she pleaded guilty. Just as surely, Conyers can help pay his wife’s legal bills. He makes too good a living to stick taxpayers with the tab for a bogus appeal.
Debra J. Saunders : Conyers Is the Wrong Guy To Chair Judiciary Committee – Townhall.com

Kick All The Incumbents Out
Not just at the Federal level but the State level as well! Look at Michigan for example. We have had the same State Representatives and Senators that not only brought Michigan to shambles in recent years but has raised taxes, created more regulation, and has been unable to fix the problems we face. It’s high time that we vote “ALL INCUMBENTS OUT” of office and try new creative thinkers to get the job done!
The Kick Them All Out Project – Imposing our undeniable will on the government through the power of our votes!

Fox News Poll: 68% Say Vote Out All Incumbents
If American voters only had the following two choices on the ballot — keep all current lawmakers in office, or get rid of all incumbents in office — what would they do? 68 percent of voters would oust all incumbents, while 20 percent would keep all lawmakers in office. Monroe County and the State of Michigan voters wake up it can’t get any worse! This is not just a Washington problem, it’s a State problem as well!
FOXNews.com – Fox News Poll: 68% Say Vote Out All Incumbents

Repeal European-style welfare state HealthCare
I write to reassure our supporters, the conservative movement, and the American people at large that The Heritage Foundation will do all within its power to keep this issue alive in the public square and make the intellectual case for the repeal of this act. We will bring all our resources to bear on behalf of those who believe America is and will always remain the Land of the Free.
MyHeritage.org: Email – MyHeritage.org: Repeal

Dingell: A great day for all
U.S. Rep. John D. Dingell, D-Dearborn, hailed passage of the health-care reform bill, which he was lead sponsor of in the House. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday had a gavel Rep. Dingell lent her. But during a photo op before the vote, she was wielding a three-foot-long, five-pound gag gavel that Rep. Dingell had presented to her earlier in the day. He said the gavel was given to him “by my friends in Monroe County” and he told Rep. Pelosi that during the vote on health reform “if they get out of order, this will bring them back.”
Dingell: A great day for all – MonroeNews.com

Bedford Township Parks millage back on the ballot
BEDFORD TOWNSHIP — Bedford Township voters will yet again decide on a tax to maintain its parks. The voters turned this down in 2008, but I guess everybody is doing much better now and can afford it? Trustee Paul Francis said the tax money generated from the request could be used for operational and maintenance expenses. “We still have to care for the parks like mow grass,” Mr. Francis said. This Township is TAX happy! Let’s see, we have the proposed road tax, now the park tax, what tax is next?
Parks millage back on the ballot – MonroeNews.com

February Existing-Home Sales Fell for the Third Straight Month
WASHINGTON -Sales of existing homes fell for a third straight month in February, pushing sales down to the lowest level since last July. There is concern the fragile housing rebound is faltering, making it harder for the overall economy to recover. The weakness in sales depressed prices with the median home price dropping almost 2 percent from a year ago to $165,100.
January existing home sales drop 0.6 percent – DailyFinance

With Healthcare Law Finished, Democrats Turn Their Attention to Cap-and-Trade Tax
With the battle over healthcare reform won, President Barack Obama’s allies in Congress are turning their attention to climate change legislation — and drawing opposition from both sides of the issue.
Newsmax – With Obamacare Now Law, Democrats Turn Attention to Cap-and-Trade Tax

Is this the ‘change’ voters believe in?
Obama persuaded a deeply divided Congress to pass sweeping legislation remaking one-sixth of the U.S. economy. He did it in a hypermedia world in a hyperpartisan city that he barely knew, that most people detest. He did it without most Americans supporting the plan. With health care, “he’s forcing change that people don’t want against their will.” And, a backlash is possible if Obama is emboldened to push other big measures that divide the country, like immigration reform and cap n trade.
The Associated Press: Analysis: Is this the ‘change’ voters believe in?

Fed Loses Secrecy Suit, Considering Options
In a supplementary brief filed by the Fed Board of Governors, the cartel also argued that since the New York Federal Reserve Board was basically a private institution, it was not obligated to comply with FOIA requests. “The FRBNY is not an establishment of the executive branch because it is a corporation whose stock is privately held,” explained the brief, also noting that it “is overseen by a board of directors the majority of whom are privately appointed” and that “none of the stock of the FRBNY is government-owned.”
Fed Loses Secrecy Suit, Considering Options

States Launch Legal Challenge to Health Care Law
The ink from President Obama’s signature was barely dry when attorneys general from 14 states filed papers in federal court today challenging the constitutionality of the newly-signed health care bill.
States File Lawsuit Against Health Care Law

“In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress.” — John Adams

Posted in: Bain Report

The Bain Report: “Articles that Affect You and Your Family” for March, 22, 2010

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State red-faced over $9M tax break for scam artist
OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK HERE IN MICHIGAN
This is really special. Michigan can’t balance it’s budget and keeps crying poor. Yet, Michigan Economic Development Corporation is giving $9.1 Million in tax breaks to a convicted embezzler and scam artist. This is a perfect example as to abolish the Michigan Economic Development Corporation as it is a waste of taxpayer money that could be spent elsewhere. Republicans called for investigations into how a felon duped a state agency. So I guess when the Republicans voted to approve these tax breaks they didn’t do their homework! Now that’s representation for the people!
State red-faced over $9M tax break for scam artist | freep.com | Detroit Free Press


Attorney General Mike Cox: Urban Legend or Urban Cover Up?
It’s one thing for an attorney general, who is supposed to be an “independent chief law enforcement” officer, to state he doesn’t believe he has enough information to continue an investigation. But it’s another thing entirely when he crafts a defense for the accused. Attorney General Mike Cox in the Manoogian Mansion party investigation went beyond getting out of the way. He threw Kwame Kilpatrick a lifeline in 2003 by starting the “Urban Legend” defense. Now, important new information may soon be coming to light regarding Cox’s handling of the investigation of the murder of Tamara “Strawberry” Greene. Greene is alleged to have attended a now-infamous party at Manoogian Mansion in 2003 thrown by then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Urban Legend or Urban Cover Up? «


Concerns Over Labels on Census Forms
GROSSE POINTE WOODS, Mich. (WXYZ) – People living in the Grosse Pointes and Harper Woods say they’re concerned that their census forms say they live in the wrong city. The forms, which arrived this week, say they live in Detroit. They say their concerns are heightened because the pre-census mailings they got last week were addressed correctly.
Concerns Over Labels on Census Forms || WXYZ.com | WXYZ-TV / Detroit | Detroit News, Weather, Sports and More


Cash for Clunkers Spent $3 Billion to Save $375 Million
The calculations that show the economic failure of the “Cash for Clunkers” government sponsored program was a waste of taxpayer money. So, the government paid $3 billion of our tax dollars to save $375 million. The government sponsored program, we the taxpayers spent $8.57 for every dollar saved. With that I’m pretty sure the government will do a great job with health care, though.
Cash for Clunkers, not just a Failure, but a Failure of Governmental Magnitude


How much welfare is enough?
The left plans to continue its assault on welfare reform by extending the welfare spending increases established in last year’s “stimulus” bill. Fortunately, The Heritage Foundation’s welfare expert, Robert Rector, continues to play an important role in the debate. Rector, who was chiefly responsible for the groundbreaking welfare reforms of 1996, testified that the U.S. is already expected to spend almost $1 trillion on means-tested (i.e. “welfare”) programs next year. This is roughly a 50 percent increase since fiscal year 2007.
MyHeritage.org: Email – MyHeritage.org: How much welfare is enough?


Census Bureau spends millions on pre-Census letter
This past week, you probably received a letter from the Census Bureau saying another letter would arrive next week with the Census form. But the Census, in a typical case of government math, says spending the $85 million is actually saving taxpayers money. The “pre-census” letter set’s off alarms of wasteful government spending.
‘Pre-Census’ Letter Called Wasteful By Some – News Story – WNEM Saginaw


Greece’s crisis could presage America’s
WASHINGTON — Greece is a financial basket case, begging for international help. Is America heading down that same road? Many of the same risky financial practices that now imperil the Greeks were at the center of the all-too-recent U.S. meltdown. Lying politicians, massive debt, corrupt banks…..I don’t want to be alarmist but the governmental corruption that set Argentina’s collapse in motion appears shockingly similar to what is going on here in the USA.
The Associated Press: Analysis: Greece’s crisis could presage America’s


Federal pay ahead of private industry
Federal employees earn higher average salaries than private-sector workers in more than eight out of 10 occupations, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data finds.
Federal pay ahead of private industry – USATODAY.com


Tea Party’s and 9/12 Project, What Are They Really About?
People all over the country are doing amazing things today. These are people who up to a year ago, thought that voting, paying taxes and taking care of family was enough. Today, we see people taking an interest in what their school boards are doing, attending city and county board meetings, reading the bills and instructing their legislators before they vote on them. Instead of just paying taxes, people are now looking at what the tax money is being spent on and then holding their politicians accountable.
Hello Michigan: Tea Party’s and 9/12 Project, What Are They Really About?


Gov’t May Seek More Authority on Vehicle Safety
Black boxes in vehicles? This will only increase the cost, more big government! The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is seeking 66 new employees.
FOXNews.com – Gov’t May Seek More Authority on Vehicle Safety


Credit card interest rates jump, approach record highs
Interest rates on new credit card offers rebounded to near-record highs this week after U.S. Bank raised rates on several cards.
Credit card interest rates jump, approach record highs – FOXBusiness.com


Retail gas prices spike as price of crude oil continues to rise
Across the nation, consumers watched the price of retail gasoline increase upwards of 10 cents in some markets. This reports led investors to believe demand is on an upward trend, causing crude oil prices to be influenced more by basic fundamentals than by the strength of the U.S. dollar, which has been the primary driver of prices in 2010. However, the dollar weakened towards the end of last week against the euro and helped crude prices accelerate.
Retail gas prices spike as price of crude oil continues to rise | retail, crude, oil – News – Santa Rosa Press Gazette


GOP Leader Resigns After Hot Tub Confession
Don’t think for a minute this is an isolated incident and confined to outside Michigan! There have been unsubstantiated and substantiated reports of philandering by our own leaders right here in SE Michigan including Monroe! Michigan gubernatorial candidate Mike Cox for example, In 2005, Cox held a press conference to announce that he had taken part in an extramarital affair in 2003, while serving as the state’s Attorney General. Cox only went public with the affair after trial lawyer Geoffrey Fieger allegedly threatened to expose it if Cox did not drop an investigation into Fieger’s alleged campaign finance violations.
Utah GOP Kevin Garn Leader Resigns After Hot Tub Confession – AOL News


The Costs to Local Taxpayers for Illegal or “Guest” Workers
Numerous studies have documented the fact that illegal immigrants are a significant fiscal burden on local communities. Because the burden is related to the low wages earned by this population and that is unlikely to change as long as the earnings do not rise more than inflation, any Congressional amnesty-type action that incorporates these foreign workers and allows or admits additional ones will not only perpetuate the fiscal burden, it will increase it.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR): The Costs to Local Taxpayers for Illegal or “Guest” Workers


Page after Page of Reasons to Hate Obamacare
Here are just a few very good reasons to hate Obamacare:
Page after Page of Reasons to Hate Obamacare


Michigan Economic Development Corporation
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) is a quasi-public agency of the state. For budgeting purposes, the MEDC is not officially recognized as a state agency. The MEDC is arguably the least necessary entity in state government. Its existence is based on several flawed premises and political considerations.
Michigan Economic Development Corporation [Mackinac Center]


Michigan’s Republican lead Legislature rated low by local officials
The people who run your cities, townships, counties and villages think Lansing is doing a pretty lousy job of running the state. The citizens think the same as well! Robert Cannon a Republican Clinton Township Supervisor said he blames the Legislature more than Granholm. The state reps and senators have let the state of Michigan down he said.
Michigan’s Republican lead Legislature rated low by local officials

Should we take partisanship out of all elections?
At least part of the problem in Lansing is that loyalty to political parties appears to trump service to constituents. Judges, school boards and some city councils are elected on non-partisan ballots. Taking the partisanship out of other elections in the state could be beneficial. It’s hard to imagine that it could be worse than what we now see — a bitter tug-of-war in which only those who buy into party dogma have a place at the table. We need elected officials who are more beholden to their constituents than to their state political party.
Should we take partisanship out of all elections? | livingstondaily.com | Livingston Daily

Deadline for election filing nears here in Michigan
The filing deadlines for the Aug. 3 primary and Nov. 2 general elections are coming up. Partisan and nonpartisan candidates for the August primary must file a petition by 4 p.m. May 11 as well as candidates for precinct delegate. Republican and Democratic candidates seeking office of state senator, state representative or county office may file a $100 filing fee in lieu of a petition. Candidates wishing to withdraw must submit a written notice by 4 p.m. May 14. Candidates without political party affiliation seeking a partisan office in the November general election must file a qualifying petition and an Affidavit of Identity by 4 p.m. July 15. Candidates wishing to withdraw must submit a written notice by 4 p.m. July 19.
Deadline for election filing nears – MonroeNews.com

Public Taxpayer’s to foot Monica Conyers’ Attorney tab
Use of appointed lawyer raises eyebrows
This much is known: Monica Conyers now has a court-appointed appellate lawyer, paid for by taxpayers’ dollars. The question remains: How could she be married to U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. — one of the longest tenured members of Congress — and unable to afford counsel? Her husband John Conyers made $174,000 salary last year as a U.S. Rep. and is one of the longest tenured members of Congress.
Public to foot Conyers’ tab | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

“That, as a republic is the best of governments, so that particular arrangements of the powers of society, or, in other words, that form of government which is best contrived to secure an impartial and exact execution of the laws, is the best of republics.”–John Adams

Posted in: Bain Report

The Bain Report: “Articles that Affect You and Your Family”

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Richardville’s amendment “Benefit’s Unions” to the detriment of the Municipalities
This amendment offered by Senator Richardville (R) Monroe to Michigan’s Public Act 312 increases the benefit to union institutional interests and places a burden on the local Municipalities. SB 1072 does not amend the Act in a meaningful way only transfers the burden to the already cash strapped Municipalities. SB 1072 fails to address a crucial piece of PA 312 — the local unit of government’s ability to pay. Nothing in this bill requires an arbitrator to consider first and foremost whether a community can pay an award. An arbitrator can say a community does not have the money to pay and yet still hand down an unaffordable award. Passed in the Senate on February 10, 2010 Senate Bill 1072 (Senate Roll Call 45)
The Center for Michigan » Local government efficiency: 2 steps forward, 1 step back

Secretary of State office to stay open
Friday, March, 5, 2010: “The Monroe Evening News” published a front page article on the “Temperance branch of the Secretary of State’s office will remain open.” This was complete with a bright red box surrounding the headline. I couldn’t help but notice that Senator Richardville’s name was prominently mentioned 3 times before sending the readers to page nine for the rest of the story. Once continuing to page nine Senator Richardville’s name was mentioned yet again before Representative Angerer’s name was mentioned. Wasn’t Representative Angerer the one who spearheaded this effort? Didn’t she call the press conference, introduce legislation, all for the benefit of her constituents? Then why would Senator Richardville’s name be mentioned 5 times in this article compared to Representative Angerer’s one? Is the Monroe Evening News part of the reelection committee for Senator Richardville? Sure looks that way! Representative Anger does all the work while Senator Richardville gets all the credit in print.
The House recently passed legislation introduced by Representative Angerer below:
Require the Secretary of State to establish written standards to follow before closing any branch offices (House Bill 5811).
Require the Secretary of State to maintain any existing offices in townships with at least 10,000 residents (House Bill 5686).
Secretary of State office to stay open – MonroeNews.com

Study: Some Michigan tax breaks not very effective
LANSING, Mich. — Some of Michigan’s targeted business tax incentives aren’t effective when compared to possible broader tax-relief alternatives, according to a study released Thursday. Michigan’s film industry credit refunds 40 percent to 42 percent of a company’s qualified expenditures, one of the nations most generous giveaways. This study shows the program, which could cost Michigan more than $150 million in incentives this year alone, leaves little to show for the taxpayer investment. Last year, film production companies used this provision to escape tax liabilities and acquire subsidies totaling $48 million. In future years, the tax rebate for filmmakers is projected to climb to more than $200 million! Senator Richardville voted in favor of this taxpayer subsidy!
The Associated Press: Study: Some Michigan tax breaks not very effective
Passed in the Senate on March 20, 2008 (Give subsidies for Michigan film production ) (Senate Roll Call 160) http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=271640

Owners walking away from homes, values erode
With more than 500,000 households in Michigan owing more on their mortgages than the homes are worth, thousands of Michigan residents are choosing to abandon their homes and walk away, even if they can afford to continue making payments.
Owners walk from homes, values erode | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

MEA’s sabotage kept Michigan out of Race to Top finalists
Its hard to argue with the White Houses decision not to include Michigan among the 16 finalists for the first round of federal Race to the Top education grants. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said repeatedly that heavy weight was given to applications from states where all parties were committed to reform. Place the blame for the loss of the much-needed grants squarely on the Michigan Education Association. It sabotaged the states application at every step.
Editorial: MEA’s sabotage kept Michigan out of Race to Top finalists | detnews.com | The Detroit News

Why Americans are so angry
Heather Gass always felt she had to suppress her conservative views, living as she did in the liberal San Francisco Bay area. A year ago that all changed.
Why Americans are so angry – Yahoo! News

Michigan Rolling in Dough? Gives Out Raises, Plus Millions in
Tourism Subsidies
Two votes in the state Senate on Wednesday, may cause residents to question how seriously lawmakers are treating the need to restrain government spending. The first vote was on a resolution rejecting a 3 percent pay hike for unionized state government employees. The total cost of the raise is $77 million. To be fair, a majority of Senators did vote to reject the pay hike, but not enough to attain the two-thirds supermajoo-thirds supermajority required on such measures. The second measure would spend $9.5 million on tourism subsidies in the form of advertisements paid for by taxpayers. The main beneficiaries of this subsidy are lobbyists and the owners of big resort hotels.
Pure Michigan, State Employee Pay Hike [Mackinac Center]

GM CEO Whitacre Receives $9M Pay Package
General Motors Co. CEO Ed Whitacre will receive a salary of $1.7 million this year, plus stock awards that will bring his total pay package to $9 million at a later date, the automaker said Friday. GM is 60 percent owned by the federal government and has received $52 billion in federal aid. The company plans to repay as much of the money as possible by issuing stock to the public, possibly as early as this year. Our TAX dollars at work?
GM CEO Whitacre Receives $9M Pay Package – ABC News

U.S. Posts Record $220.9 Billion Budget Gap In Feb
The February deficit was in line with analysts’ consensus forecast in a Reuters poll for a $222 billion budget gap but well above the $193.86 billion for the same period a year ago.
U.S. Posts Record $220.9 Billion Budget Gap In Feb – NYTimes.com

Detroit Socialist Explains His, Unions Agenda for Soviet States of
America
In Detroit, a chap representing the Che Guevara-loving, Mumia Abu-Jamal-supporting “FIST Youth” educated a crowd of about two dozen about the virtues of socialism. He also lectured on the Soviet Union, its roots and the glory days when the “peoples council” made all of the important decisions.
» Detroit – Big Government

The ‘looting’ of $11 trillion from the U.S. economy
But Zubi Diamond, author of the powerful new book, Wizards of Wall Street, says the agenda of Soros and other short sellers is clear. Their purpose, he says, is “to loot America and any foreign country which invested in America. Greece was one of them. Iceland was ravaged and annihilated.”
Organized crime: The ‘looting’ of $11 trillion from the U.S. economy

2 top Dems say tax hike vote might be necessary
LANSING — Two leading House Democrats said Wednesday that they would consider letting Michigan voters decide on a tax increase in August if the Legislature can’t agree on other ways to avoid deep funding cuts to public schools.
2 top Dems say tax hike vote might be necessary | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Ballots must be made available, court rules
The Michigan Secretary of States Office can’t refuse to show individual voting records from the states 2008 presidential primary to an East Lansing political consultant or anyone else, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in an opinion released Wednesday. By a 2-1 vote, the court said Mark Grebner of Practical Political Consulting can see whether voters took a Democratic or Republican ballot because they’re public records under the states Freedom of Information Act. The records don’t show which candidate a voter supported.
Michigan news in brief | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

First a Soda Tax, Now a Pizza Tax: The Food Police March On
Many pizza restaurants have suffered in recent years from wildly fluctuating commodities prices; meanwhile, cash-strapped customers increasingly have chosen to dine out in cheaper fast-food restaurants. An 18% tax increase on pizza and soda would be devastating to the industry. Pizza is about a $50 billion business in the U.S.
First a Soda Tax, Now a Pizza Tax: The Food Police March On – DailyFinance

Senate Passes $149 Billion Bill to Extend Jobless Benefits
The Senate has approved a $149 billion jobless bill that extends unemployment benefits for those who have been out of work for more than a year, as well as subsidies for unemployed workers to help pay employer-sponsored health insurance. Wonder what other pork is in this Bill?
Senate Passes $149 Billion Bill to Extend Jobless Benefits – DailyFinance

Monthly U.S. Debt Hits a New Record
News for the U.S. economy Wednesday, as the nations monthly budget deficit hit a record $220.9. Billion in February, the U.S. Treasury Department announced.
Monthly U.S. Debt Hits a New Record – DailyFinance

The News About Declining Foreclosures Is Misleading
Rather, as RealtyTrac’s CEO, James Saccacio, said in a statement, “This leveling of the foreclosure trend is not necessarily evidence that fewer homeowners are in distress and at risk for foreclosure, but rather that foreclosure prevention programs, legislation and other processing delays are, in effect, capping monthly foreclosure activity.” It is going to get worse before it gets better and you can take that to the Banksters!
The Good News About Declining Foreclosures Is Misleading

GMAC won’t repay $6.3 billion of bailout
The congressional panel overseeing federal bailout recipients estimates GMAC will never repay at least $6.3 billion of $17.2 billion in taxpayer aid and called on the Treasury Department to demand GMAC take drastic steps — including a possible bankruptcy for its troubled ResCap mortgage lending business.
Panel: GMAC won’t repay $6.3 billion of bailout | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Middle class to get hammered by taxes in ObamaCare
The tax would kick in on plans exceeding $23,000 annually for family coverage and $8,500 for individuals, starting in 2013. In the first year it would affect relatively few people in the middle class. But because of the steadily rising costs of health care in the U.S., more and more plans would reach the taxation threshold each year.
Middle class to get hammered by taxes in ObamaCare | United Liberty | Free Market – Individual Liberty – Limited Government

Pelosi, Democrats Abandon Pro-Life Lawmakers to Keep Abortion in Healthcare Bill
Another issue would impose a new excise tax, starting in 2018, on employer-provided health plans worth more than $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. The Senate had wanted a stiffer tax on such “Cadillac plans,” but the more labor-friendly House resisted.
Newsmax – Pelosi Abandons Pro-Life Democrats to Keep Abortion in Healthcare Bill

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
Thomas Jefferson

Posted in: Bain Report

The Bain Report: “Articles that Affect You and Your Family”

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Richardville Voted to cut per pupil education funding
The Senate voted 20-13, to pass HB 4457 school aid budget bill for fiscal year 2010 K-12 education spending.
http://www.charterschools.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=803&Itemid=21


State leaders faced with tough budget decisions
LANSING — If you thought last year’s budget fight was bad, it may look like a love­fest compared to what’s ahead. The deficit in the budget year that starts Oct. 1 is nearly as large as the one Demo­cratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and lawmak­ers were grappling with last year — $1.7 bil­lion versus $1.8 billion. And while Michigan was able to put $1.5 billion in federal recovery dollars into the current general and school aid funds, the amount next year could be as little as $395 million. In February 2009 the state Department of Education gave a $250,000 grant for the new Middle College being launched by the Monroe County Intermediate School District. This is fiscally irresponsible. Sarah Richardville the wife of State Sen. Randy Richardville (R., Monroe) was hired by the ISD board as dean of the new Middle College at a salary of $65,800 a year! Your TAX dollars at work!
http://www.freep.com/article/20100211/NEWS06/2110543/Michigan-budget-forces-Granholm–lawmakers-to-face-tough-decisions


Michigan Lawmakers vote to end the post-retirement health care insurance coverage provided to future legislators
Passed in the Senate (28 to 10) on February 24, 2010, to end the post-retirement health care insurance coverage provided to future legislators (those first elected after Nov. 1, 2010), but not for any current legislators. Under current law, former legislators who have been in office for five years get full health coverage beginning at age 55. I guess our good Senator Randy Richardville (R) Monroe didn’t deem it was in his constituents best interest as to offer an amendment to include current lawmakers in this Bill! Never the less, he voted in favor of it!
http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=465275


Senate OKs $9.5 million for Pure Michigan ads
LANSING — The state Senate approved $9.5 million for the acclaimed Pure Michigan television ad campaign Wednesday, but supporters said it’s not enough. The Pure Michigan campaign debate now moves to the House, where robust lobbying by the tourism industry is expected to boost the amount of state money for the ads.The allocation of our taxpayer money would be used better in the form of discretionary spending rather than for private industry who stand to gain the most not the taxpayers?
http://www.freep.com/article/20100304/NEWS06/3040461/1008/Senate-OKs-9.5-million-for-Pure-Michigan-ads?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+StatelineorgRss-TaxesBudget+(Stateline.org+RSS+-+Taxes+%26+Budget)


Senate Roll Call 72 Passed in the Senate on March 3, 2010
Authorize spending $9.5 million on tourism industry subsidies in the form of state ads paid for with tax dollars. The money would otherwise go into the state general fund and be available for other state spending. Previous tourism subsidies have been paid for with long term borrowing, pledging future tobacco lawsuit revenue to repay the debt.
http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=470164


Alice in Subsidy Land
This tumble-down the proverbial rabbit hole is the umpteenth “jobs” adventure Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Michigan Legislature have forced taxpayers to accompany them on. Not only have Lansing politicians’ stories of promised job creation grown predictable and tiresome, so has the naked reality of a tourism industry trying to boost its bottom line by feeding at the public trough.
http://www.mackinac.org/12148


Workers’ promised raise safe for now
After debate, Senate vote fails to cancel it
LANSING — The Senate failed Wednesday to get the needed two-thirds vote to block a 3% pay raise in October for unionized state workers. The raise will cost the state, which must erase a $1.5-billion deficit next year, $48 million.
http://www.freep.com/article/20100304/NEWS06/3040449/1320/Workers-promised-raise-safe-for-now


Michigan looses Billions in Federal Education Funding for “Race to the Top” program
The list of finalists will bring disappointment to dozens of other states such as Michigan, many of which spent millions of dollars on private consultants to compete for the cash under the administration’s $4.35 billion Race to the Top program.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704187204575101553383922336.html?mod=googlenews_wsj


White House policies: Homeland Security digging into all Internet communications, including the contents of emails.
The Obama administration lifted the veil Tuesday on a highly secretive set of policies Internet cyber-security. The White House’s new cyber-security chief, Howard Schmidt, announced the move to declassify the program in a speech at the RSA conference in San Francisco–his first major public address since assuming the post in January.
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/03/02/%e2%80%9ceinstein%e2%80%9d-program-disclosed-as-us-cyber-shield/


U.S. Senator Predicts financial meltdown
The US is heading for a debt-driven “financial meltdown” within five to seven years, according to Judd Gregg, the outgoing Republican senator for New Hampshire.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/35a94fba-2278-11df-a93d-00144feab49a.html?nclick_check=1


Payrolls Declined in February
Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) — Companies in the U.S. probably cut more jobs in February and the unemployment rate increased, indicating the labor market in the world’s largest economy is still struggling to rebound, economists said before a government report this week.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-28/payrolls-probably-declined-in-february-u-s-economy-preview.html


Commissioners OK a pay cut for next year
Oakland County commissioners unanimously voted themselves a 5% pay cut Wednesday night, but some of them won’t be around to see it. The 5% cut won’t begin until 2011 because commissioners aren’t allowed to change their rate of pay during their term of office. Since all 25 commission seats are up for election this year, the cut will begin Jan. 1 and last until at least the end of 2012. Several of the commissioners will relinquish their seats to run for higher office this year. Quite a contrast to the Monroe County Commissioners!
http://www.freep.com/article/20100304/news01/3040434/Regional-news-in-brief


Are Americans more dependent on the government?
One of the pernicious consequences of ever-larger government is the increasing dependence of the population on the government for their well-being and livelihood. To drive this point home, experts in The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis set out to answer the question, “are Americans more dependent on their government?” Their answer: Yes. According to this study all of the evidence points to even more rapid increases in dependency ahead, which well could threaten democratic government.” This is particularly true because America faces the pending mass retirement of the Baby Boom generation, as well as an increase in the number of people who pay no taxes whatsoever.
http://members.myheritage.org/site/MessageViewer?dlv_id=18121&em_id=13801.0


Barack Obama and the Democrats did not inherit the bad economy; they caused it and made it worse

Are you fed up with out-ofcontrol government spending and taxation? Are you fed up with the
government providing bailouts, not securing the borders and not drilling for oil in our own
country, which would hold down energy prices? Many U.S. citizens who embrace the
American way have engaged in “tea parties” recently. That’s a good start, but it is not enough.
http://www.uscitizensassociation.com/pdfs/USCA_Ad.pdf


Dollar, Market Headed for Collapse
Financial author Jim Davidson says the dollar, the economy, and the stock market are headed for collapse. “Any time the government prints money, it’s a threat to the people who produce wealth in the society.” “The history of the world is that you don’t become rich by printing money. Otherwise Zimbabwe would be the richest country on earth.” Our debt burden will ultimately collapse due to hyperinflation.
http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/davidson-dollar-market-headed-for-collapse/blog-269373/


Four more U.S. banks shut down
WASHINGTON, March 6 (UPI) — Regulators say they shut down banks in Florida, Maryland, Illinois and Utah, raising to 26 the number of U.S. bank failures this year.
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2010/03/06/Four-more-US-banks-shut-down/UPI-27441267895547/


Why the Fed’s Zero Interest Rate Policy May Be Dangerous
Is the Fed’s zero interest rate policy really good for the nation? Though Fed Chairman Bernanke has made it abundantly clear that he believes it is, the evidence that ZIRP is perniciously undermining the financial sector and the U.S. economy is increasingly persuasive. Perhaps rewarding savers and prudent lending is a better policy than enabling under-capitalized banks to gamble “free” ZIRP money on risky bets that end up being covered by U.S. taxpayers.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/why-the-feds-zero-interest-rate-policy-may-be-dangerous/19382480/


Another Rich Payday for Another GM Exec
GM announced on March 5 that it would pay Stephen J. Girsky, its new Vice Chairman for Corporate Strategy and Business Development, $5 million in compensation for this year. His base salary will be $500,000 and he will get $3,000,000 in stock.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/another-rich-payday-for-another-gm-exec/19386073/


House Passes $35 Billion Jobs Bill
Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-Ohio, said he asked businessmen at town meetings in his Rust Belt district whether they would hire people based on the payroll tax holiday. “Nobody raised their hands,” LaTourette said. “This is not going to create one job.”
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/house-passes-35-billion-jobs-bill/19384236/

A furious health care push _ but what about jobs?
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s furious, final push to get a health care bill passed threatens to shove aside the message he promised would top his list this year: creating jobs.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jKBwpZc8qy81o-B-_MyA00PMzlQQD9E99OE00

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence. It is force, and like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. – George Washington

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