Category: michigan

The Detroit Free Press rips Governor Rick Snyder a new one

It is very good, trust me:

Click here for Editorial: A failure of leadership: Snyder’s about-face on right-to-work betrays voters —Detroit Free Press 

Quote:

Two years ago, a newly elected Rick Snyder told the Free Press editorial board he was determined to be a new kind of governor — a pragmatist focused like a laser on initiatives that promised to raise standards of living for all Michiganders.

And until last week, we believed him.

For two years, we supported Snyder as he took painful steps to restore Michigan’s fiscal stability and confront a crisis in which plunging tax revenues and mounting obligations to retired workers threatened to cripple the state’s cities and school districts.

[…]

 But we also indulged many compromises Snyder maintained were necessary to advance his pro-growth agenda. And when ideologues on the right and left mounted campaigns designed to hamstring state government by limiting its authority to raise revenues, regulate labor relations, and fund critically needed infrastructure, we joined the governor in opposing them.

In short, we trusted Snyder’s judgment.

That trust has now been betrayed — for us, and for the hundreds of thousand of independents who voted for Snyder with the conviction that they were electing someone more independent, and more visionary, than partisan apparatchiks like Wisconsin’s Scott Walker or Florida’s Rick Scott.

Last week, in an abrupt about-face Snyder’s defenders said was born of his frustration with organized labor, the governor unleashed a legislative blitzkrieg that seems certain to bring a bill barring closed-shop contracts to his desk next week.

[…]

Snyder’s closest brush with candor came when he suggested that his endorsement of right-to-work was less than voluntary — a decision “that was on the table whether I wanted it to be on the table or not.”

But that is less an excuse than a confession that Michigan’s governor has abdicated his leadership responsibilities to Republican legislators bent on vengeance.

What reasonable person now believes that Snyder has the will or the wherewithal to deliver Michigan, or even his own party, from the failed politics of division?

Michigan voters who provided Snyder’s margin of victory in 2010 feel betrayed, and they have every justification. If he was ever serious about being the governor who brought Michiganders together, Snyder has just sent himself back to Square One.

I suggest you go read the rest of that; this spells out exactly why I have basically decided to say to hell with the Republican Party and the Conservative movement as a whole and now just call myself an independent. My family comes first; and this jackass declared war against them, namely my Dad.

Least anyone should think I was kidding

I have updated my header photo to show my feelings about Michigan Governor Snyder’s war on my Father.

In case anyone wonders:

  • The left photo is the logo for UAW local 22 in Detroit, which is my Father’s local.
  • The center is a 1950’s Cadillac which was taken in the plant at the Clark street  plant in southwest Detroit sometime in the 1950’s.
  • The left is the UAW logo.

Please, do not get me wrong; I am all for businesses and capitalism. But when Republicans begin to embrace fascism, which is what this little move by Governor Snyder was, that is when I have to sign off.

I still consider myself an Independent voter; and this Indy’s vote is up for grabs come 2014 and 2016.

When the Conservative movement and the Republican Party want to come back to reality; we’ll talk. Till then, they can go jump in the lake.

I am my Father’s son and I will not sit idly by and allow some crony capitalists and corporatist pigs screw him over. Not in this lifetime.

I might not be an Obama fan; But I am not a fool.

 

This is pretty much spot on

This is from a progressive blog, but man is she ever right:

I don’t really care why Snyder folded; the problem is that he did. Now Lansing has triggered all kindsa turmoil that we coulda shoulda avoided. Here are just a few of the ramifications of what one shitty nerd did yesterday:

1. Snyder ruined his own reputation as a moderate. Mind you, those of us who pay attention already knew he was a right wing loon. Now everyone else finally knows too. Here’s hoping we see no more of those bullshit editorials by the NYT on how Mr Snyder breaks the mold. I’d like to say I toldja so but if you are receptive to that message then you are already kicking yourself.

2. Snyder demonstrated that his “word” is worthless. We all know the difference between what he said and what he did. ’nuff said.

3. Snyder has cemented his legacy as a Dictator Governor. Removing local governments, pepper-spraying protesters, locking people out of the Capitol. Detroit will probably riot again. Rick Snyder brought us civil unrest.

4. Snyder’s agenda will stall. Though since he’s never been honest about what’s on it, this may be hard to measure.

Those are just some of the consequences to Snyder. I’m not making any predictions on his re-election, though I am pretty confident that he just lost. Here are some of the consequences for the rest of us:

1. People are going to get their asses beat in union shops. Say what you want about union thugs, I know you will anyway. But if you join a union shop and you take union benefits and let the union people take all the risk and you refuse to help, someone is going to fuck with you. If you understood the history of labor, you would understand the violence. If you don’t like it, you’ve got the freedom to work at a non-union shop. Sayonara, leech.

2. Discrimination against union members will increase. Union busting shops will offer better wages and benefits to the folks who refuse to pay union dues. Some of the right wingers will use this as evidence that unions aren’t needed, but that’s because they’re stupid. Once the union goes away, so will the incentive to offer perks.

3. Recalls will begin. Targeted recalls against House and Senate members will begin as soon as possible. That’s not me organizing them; there were already talks underway. The interesting thing about recalls this time is that the people who generally do not support them are actually in favor of them now. I predict we will take out 2 House members and 1 Senator, and we will take over the legislature in 2014. Some of those House seats we might not be able keep because they’ll be in Republican territory, but a conservative Democrat might be able to hold them. (Snyder will not be a target of a recall)

4. Gerrymandering reform will begin this decade. If you have to lie about your intentions and lock people out of the Capitol, you know you are going against the wishes of the people. The way to fix that is to fix the gerrymandering system that allows the Republicans to keep control of our government even though they are the clear minority in the state.

5. The right to steal law will be repealed. We’ll have this fight all over again, and we’ll win. And it will be easier because we’ll be in the majority.

via And the republican party accelerates its decline into nothingness.

Spot on….

Heh: GM’s electric car sales plummet, GM blames “inventory issues”

I hate writing stuff like this because my Dad is a GM retiree. Sad However, the truth is the truth and the truth is, General Motors is lying out of their rather large derrieres. Hee hee

The Story via The Detroit News — which is, by the way, a Conservative/Libertarian biased Newspaper:

The Chevy Volt. A $39,145 green energy boondoggle that no one can afford to own. Except for Barack Obama’s rich liberal friends.

Sales of Chevrolet’s Volt fell in November, following the vehicle’s best sales month in October, while less expensive electrified vehicles gained ground on Chevy’s range-extended plug-in hybrid.

Chevrolet sold 1,519 Volts in November, a 33 percent rise over the same month a year ago. But that was only about half the record 2,961 vehicles sold in October and 2,851 in September.

Don Johnson, U.S. vice president of Chevrolet sales and service, attributed the fall in Volt sales from its record-setting tally in October as an inventory issue, felt particularly hard in California.

“Dealers are just clamoring for more,” he said of the California market, where GM sells about 34 percent of Volts and where it recently had just an eight-day supply of the vehicle. Inventory is now up to 23 days for California and about 60 days for U.S. supply, which Johnson described as “ideal.”

Volt sales through 11 months this year totaled 20,828.

Now for the real reason sales of the Chevy Volt have truly dropped:

It’s difficult to tell whether expiration of favorable sales incentives also led to the fall in Volt sales. Without special incentives, the Volt costs $39,145 before a $7,500 federal tax credit. That’s more expensive than the base prices for Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius plug-in ($32,000), Ford Motor Co.’s C-Max Energi plug-in ($32,950) and Nissan Motor Co.’s all-electric Nissan Leaf ($35,200)

Talk about burying the lead on that story! The truth is that this is what happens when car manufactures seek money for the United States Federal Government and then proceed to capitulate to the demands of a left-wing socialist ideologue, who would rather strangle the US economy in favor of a green energy boondoggle. Basically folks, what this means is that you and I, the American people; are on the chain; not only for rescuing a failed auto company, but also a failed green energy automobile that was priced so high, that the average American could not even afford to buy the silly thing.

My friends, elections have consequences and this here is one of them. My Father will now most likely lose his pension, when GM finally does fail. All because General Motors could not bear the thought of going through a managed bankruptcy. Instead GM went to the hog trough of the United States Government and invested in a green energy boondoggle, which now, as it seems is another idiotic failure.

Please, for the sake of Liberty, next time; vote different.

Detroit: Swirling the drain

Hey, um, America? Want to see what you will look like in four years? Look here:

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Detroit’s bond rating today deeper into junk status, citing uncertainty after the repeal of Michigan’s emergency manager law and a rising risk of municipal bankruptcy or default in the next 12-24 months.

Moody’s said Detroit’s inability to enact reforms meant to stabilize its finances was complicated by uncertainty after state voters repealed Michigan’s emergency manager law, Public Act 4, on Nov. 6, weakening state oversight of the city’s finances.

The ratings firm noted Detroit’s “precariously narrow cash position,” with Mayor Dave Bing’s administration warning that it will have to put potentially thousands of city employees on furlough Jan. 1 to avoid running $5 million short on cash to meet payroll.

The city’s program management director, William (Kriss) Andrews, has said Detroit is not at risk of missing debt payments, and he believes the city will be able to manage the cash crisis with furloughs and other cuts yet unidentified.

via Detroit’s bond status downgraded even more by Moody’s | City of Detroit | Detroit Free Press | freep.com.

Sad thing, but this is what happens, when progressives run a city into the ground.

(Via Dateline Detroit)

UPDATED: FOUND!: Local Story: Have you seen this kid?

Via the Detroit Free Press:

Police in Clinton Township are searching for a 15-year-old emotionally impaired teenager who has been missing for a week.

Dakota Strine has run away before, according to police and his mother, Kelly Rowland, 39. But Rowland said he’s never been gone for this long.

“We’ve always found him within an hour. But he’s been gone over a week, including missing a holiday,” she said.

Clinton Township Police Capt. Richard Maierle said Friday that Dakota lives with a guardian near his mother’s home in the area of 15 Mile and Kelly roads. He said the teenager went to take out the trash Nov. 16 and didn’t come back.

Maierle said Dakota may have run away and could be at a friend’s house.

“We have no indication whatsoever that he’s been in any physical harm or was abducted or anything like that,” Maierle said.

Here is his physical description:

Dakota is 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs 158 pounds and has light brown hair and hazel eyes. Rowland said he was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans and black and blue tennis shoes.

If you happen to run across the young man, you should really do the following:

Anyone with information should call Clinton Township police at 586-493-7900.

I do these kind of posts as a public service to the community around here. I will be praying that these people will find their son. Not being able to find a kid is a nightmare, and I would not wish it upon anyone.

Update: Fox 2 Detroit is reporting the following via Facebook:

BREAKING NEWS: 15-year-old Cody Strine of Clinton Township has been found unharmed. Police confirm that he is safe and back with his family right now. Stay with FOX 2 as we learn more about this story’s happy ending!

Thank goodness! 😀