Of Course She Didn't Vote For It

Every Michigan representative, Republican and Democrat alike voted on a bill to fight organized retail crime and cargo theft and impose more severe sentences on the criminals performing those acts.

All except one that is.

You guessed it, the rep who voted against it was, of course, Rep Rashida Tlaib (D-Dearbornistan).

 The Detroit News:  Michigan lawmakers join push to cut cargo theft, gift card scams

All but one member of Michigan's U.S. House delegation — progressive Detroit Democrat Rashida Tlaib — supported the CORCA bill when it passed the chamber in May.

"I voted against this bill because it would vastly expand the power of Trump’s Department of Homeland Security to surveil and criminalize our communities," Tlaib said in a statement.

Too many of her constituents are criminals and she clearly doesn't like the idea of cracking down on international criminals that she supports, and not leaving these large scale thefts in the hands of soft-on-crime local prosecutors that slap them on the wrist as they steal billions from law-abiding Americans.

Beydoun: Follow The Money

The Detroit News:  Republican senator wants U.S. DOJ to probe Whitmer's ties to Beydoun

Michigan Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt asked the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday to investigate Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's connections to businesswoman and political donor Fay Beydoun.

On May 6, state Attorney General Dana Nessel charged Beydoun of Farmington Hills with 16 felonies, alleging Beydoun had misused a $20 million taxpayer-funded grant 

Well, the money trail is certainly there and it all point to Beydoun heavily investing in Democrats. 

Beydoun gave heavily, as in tens of thousands of dollars to Democrat politicians and political organizations.  Including $10,500 to the Michigan Democratic State Central Cmte (D), Over $7,500 in multiple donations over time to Gretchen Whitmer's campaign coffers directly and another $7,500 to her campaign committee.

That kind of money buys access.

Its not just that politicians can be bought its how cheaply they can be bought.

That roughly 15k in direct contributions to Gov Whitmer and her campaign helped get Beydoun a $20 million dollar grant that she promptly misused.  

Heckuva return on political corruption, that.

In Between Her World Travels, Social Media Shows, And Planning To Run For President

Someone might want to remind Gretchen Whitmer that she is still (unfortunately for us) governor of the state of Michigan.

The Detroit News: 'Big Gretch out?' Michigan needs a governor who's still in.

Then again, she may do best running away from her record here rather than running on it.

The results of her governorship makes that rather clear.

In Michigan under "Big Gretch" Whitmer, literacy and education scores have declined,  economic growth has gone down, and yet the state budget has steadily increased by 57% during her term in office, far in excess of the rate of inflation.

Now at $88.1 billion compared to the $56 Billion before she came into office, the budget now spends almost $9,000 per resident of this state. Even worse, it now spends around $21,487 per each and every one of the 4.1 million Michigan taxpayers actually paying for it - and not much to show in results for this excess and excessive spending either.

Michigan Democrats Against Securing Elections

Compare and Contrast:

The Detroit News: Proposal requiring proof of citizenship to vote falls short votes in Michigan House

and

NPR: Michigan election review finds 16 non-citizens likely voted in November 2024 presidential election

We've gone from Democrats in the state saying:  No non-citizens are voting in our elections, our elections are totes secure;

to Democrats now saying, well, at least one non-citizen voted in the 2024 election, and his ballot counted, but it's not a real problem;

to Democrats now saying at least 16 non-citizens voted in the 2024 election but it's still super rare and just fine;

One can expect Democrats to start saying it is just fine and dandy that non-citizens are voting any day now.  

Given that you can vote in  Michigan with no ID at all, using an affidavit claiming you're a citizen,  and you can vote with just a student id card - which does not establish citizenship in any way, it's a rather clear and unnecessary vulnerability. Combine it with motor voter registration, and its an open door for non-citizens to vote in this state, and other shenanigans.

But, Michigan Democrats won't close the loophole. Instead, they consistently vote against measures to prevent that happening.

Funny, that. 

Interesting Move By Detroit Mayor Duggan

The Democrat Mayor of Detroit Mike Duggan is making a rather interesting move.

He just announced he will be running for governor.

As an independent candidate.

The Detroit Free Press: Mayor Mike Duggan aims to bridge division in gubernatorial run as independent candidate

From a lifetime as a stalwart Democrat and member of the Detroit Democrat Machine  - albeit as a highly effective and competent member of same, he's now dropping the "D" from his candidacy.

I wonder if he figures the Democratic Party has a rather tarnished image right now and he'd rather run from it than run with it.

Or it may be a matter of DEI Democrat politics, which may mandate a person of color rather than competence make the gubernatorial run.

Duggan has been regarded by many as corrupt but highly effective - which is pretty much the best you can expect or ask for when it comes to a Democrat Mayor of Detroit. Indeed, Duggan is, quite simply, the best mayor Detroit has had in decades.

We'll see if his surprise shift to independent and dropping of the Democrat brand works in his favor.

Green On Blue: Pressures Build In The Democrat's Shaky Coalition

Arabs in Michigan are rather unhappy with Biden right now for not protecting Hamas.

So much so, that progressive squad member Rashida Tlaib (D-Dearborn Gaza) is now calling on Arabs in Michigan to not vote for Biden in the primary but instead vote uncommitted to show they're not happy that Biden is not doing their bidding to protect Hamas.

After all, Dearborn is indeed known as the jihad center of America, and with good reason.

The Detroit Free Press: Rep. Rashida Tlaib urges Michigan Democrats to vote 'uncommitted' in protest against Biden.

If Tlaib is heeded and the Arabs around here sit the November election out instead of voting Democrat, this could get interesting.

Nobody Cares Because The Bad Orange Man Is Out of Office

Charlie Duff asks a rather prescient question in the Detroit News today:

LeDuff: COVID deaths climb; does anyone care?

LeDuff notes that COVID deaths are higher this year in Michigan from June 2021 to June 2022 than the last year of lockdowns from June 202 to June 2021, yet there is interestingly no urgent action from our dear governor. 

There's been no call for lockdowns, no arbitrary high-handed restrictions from on high, no restaurant shut downs,  no orders for masking in public.  Nothing.

Yet more people have died from or with Covid than before.

Of course, some of these deaths may be back-filling and accounting and reporting for the nursing home deaths that were under-reported when Governor Whitmer ordered nursing homes to take in Covid-positive patients, but that won't account for all of it. 

We will note the true scandal in all of this was that nursing homes accounted for over 37% (likely much more once the true number is known) of all Michigan Covid deaths, and the state then undercounted at least 42% or more of those deaths.

I guess the fierce urgency to destroy the economy and immiserate the population is for some strange reason no longer so urgent.

He asks the rather important question:  

Is there an acceptable death rate in Michigan, now that Gretchen E. Whitmer — and not Donald J. Trump — is up for re-election?

Funny question, that.

Gov. Whitmer's Proposed Vote Buying Spree

The State of Michigan is currently flush with cash - both from state tax revenue being up and lots of that sweet, sweet Biden money. So, since an election is coming up, it's time for her to buy votes with taxpayer money.

The Detroit News:  Whitmer urges $500 rebate; House, Senate push $2.6B in tax relief

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer asked legislative leaders to consider sending $500 rebates to residents. . . . Revenue estimates for the current and coming fiscal years are expected to come in $4 billion to $5 billion higher than the state predicted in its last January estimate — a surplus not accounted for in current budget plans.

If you read the article, the Demas are proposing to target these $500 checks not to every resident but to lower income ones only as "inflation releif paymentrs" - so the plan is for relief provided by tax-payer money and debt from a Democrat Governor for the inflation caused by a Democrat President's policies. Not to mention giving out another $500 to be spent is itself inflationary. Awesome plan.

Quick question governor- Whatever just happened to the Governor's urgent need for money to "fix the damn roads" then? 

She was all for a tax increase to do that, but now that a tax increase isn't needed as the budget is fat on federal money, she wants to not channel it to "fix the damn roads" but instead hand it out to buy votes.  Of course, shes against a broad-based relief like a state income tax cut to provide relief to those who are paying into the system whose money made the surplus occur in the first place.

November can't come soon enough.

Gov Half-Whit: I'll Play Politics And Sue - Though There Is No Actual Case

In election years politicians do dumb things. Gov Half-Whit offers no exception to this rule, and if anything, proves it.

Here, our dear Governor Whitmer, ready to burnish her Democrat and Feminist credentials has filed a non-justiciable lawsuit. As a lawyer she should darn well know it 

Justiciability requires that there be an actual case or controversey in order for a court to make a decision.

You can't sue and ask the court to decide a hypothetical, you have to have a real actual conflict or actual wrongdoing violation, or real threat of penalty or sanction in order for a court to rule.

Gov Whitmer knows this, she is, after all, an attorney but she doesn't care.

The Detroit News: Great Lakes Justice Center to represent 2 county prosecutors named in Whitmer's abortion suit

Whitmer's lawsuit filed earlier this month challenging a 1931 ban on abortion came in anticipation that the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that enshrined abortion as a constitutional right.

The lawsuit names 13 county prosecutors, seven Democrats and six Republicans, who may be called on to enforce the 1931 law in counties where abortion clinics are present. 

Note the issue - it's filed in anticipation of the law being restored, the Federal case has not been heard yet, so the 1931Michigan ban is not currently operative and thus cannot be litigated as there is no real case or controversy.

Note also how she doesn't name all Michigan county prosecutors and interestingly enough, the Democrat prosecutors she sued have all agreed to not enforce the ban - nice collusion there, eh? (which again, cannot even be enforced yet).  

Whitmer weirdly filed in Oakland County Circuit Court rather than the court of claims and is trying to jump it straight to the Michigan  Supreme Court.

Even stranger, she's the Executive of the State trying to overturn a law passed by the Legislature and a Prior Executive, as defunct and non-enforceable as it may be. Funny how she's not trying to preemptively and properly overturn it legislatively, neh?

Both the Oakland County Circuit Court and Michigan Supreme Court should dismiss this case out of hand as its non-justiciable, frivolous, and untimely.  The courts should sanction her for this kind of political grandstanding and knowingly bringing such a quite frankly BS case before the court.

No Surprise There - Michigan's Democrat AG Won't Investigate Dem Gov Over Nursing Home Deaths

To absolutely no one's surprise, Michigan's Attorney General Dana Nessel has announced she won't investigate Governor Half-Whit for her actions in causing the deaths of thousands of Michigan nursing home residents by ordering those nursing homes to take in coronavirus positive patients.

The Detroit News: Attorney General Nessel won't investigate Gov. Whitmer's nursing home policies

Sadly for the Dems, Gov Half-Whit lacks a sexual abuse scandal to get rid of her as is the case with Cuomo and his killing of thousands  of nursing home patients in New York with the same order.

On the plus side, the new Republican Macomb County prosecutor is calling for such an investigation and appears poised to carry one out.

The Detroit Free Press: Macomb prosecutor wants to review COVID-19 nursing home deaths for possible crimes

Of course, should a Republican retake the governorship or the Attorney general position, the Democrats have now set a precedent for criminal investigations and prosecution of governors for acts they may or may not have committed once they leave office.

Michigan's Democrat AG Prosecuting Political Enemies - What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

So our current rather partisan Democrat Attorney General Dana Nessel has decided to file criminal charges against former Republican Governor Rick Snyder over the Flint Water Crisis.

The Detroit News: Michigan plans to charge ex-Gov. Snyder in Flint water probe

Let's of course disregard how the damage in Flint was caused by the combination of factors: a rapacious Detroit Water board, local Democrats making decisions, decisions of state level bureaucrats, and bureaucrats at the EPA that advised the state and city with an erroneous and insufficient additives standard, leading to a breakdown of the protective coating in lead pipes and causing the crisis.

In short, Snyder, whatever his faults, and there were many, was not the main cause of the Flint water crisis by a long shot.

The problem of course is prosecuting your political opponents can easily backfire and this will be a bad precedent to set. Aside from the chilling effect to prevent Republicans from running for office lest they win and then get prosecuted for acts that occur during their administration, there's a flipside to this decision.

After all, the next Republican AG, to remain consistent with this precedent, must prosecute our current Governor Whitmer for her criminal negligence, if not reckless indifference causing death.  

After all, by her very hand she directly ordered nursing homes to take in those infected with Covid - those executive orders are signed by her with no layer of bureaucrats or anyone else issuing those orders.  Her issuance of that order and doubling-down on that order led directly to the deaths of thousands in those nursing homes - far many more than died or were harmed in Flint. 

Are the Democrats really stupid enough to play this game?  Do they think they will never be out of power where their own precedents can be turned against them? Stay tuned to find out.

Update:  Well, they are charging Snyder with willful neglect of duty, and the former state health director with involuntary manslaughter.   If anyone doesn't think that Both Gov. Whitmer and her Department of Health head Dr. Khaldun can't be charged with similar charges for their actions in terms of Covid and nursing homes once control of the executive branch flips they're kidding themselves.     Real nice precedent you're setting here Dems.

Some Woke Cases Apparently Will Get Fast-Tracked, While A Much More Vital One Languishes

The Michigan Supreme Court will drop everything and take up a case of a juvenile sentenced by a good judge to a juvenile facility due to her violation of her probation conditions.

The Detroit Free Press: Michigan Supreme Court reviewing case of teenager incarcerated after not doing schoolwork

Again, she wasn't incarcerated for failing to do her school work, she was incarcerated for violating terms of probation for her theft and assault convictions, with a key term of that probation being she does her school work. In general, being on probation is a state of grace, and if you fail to abide by the terms of that probation you get sent to a facility, in this case Children's Village, to complete your sentence or until the judge decides you can get another chance. This isn't exactly a new nor a surprising thing.

Instead of owning up to failing probation, the woke crowd is crying it's not fair the judge required her to do her homework, and such a condition of probation is clearly racist.

A quick clue - it is not. Every single case I've seen with a student placed on probation, one of the key terms of that probation is they stay in school and do their homework - this is not a racial thing at all but a very standard condition.

Note however, that in this case the convicted juvenile in question is Black, and she's thus being used as a BLM cause celebre and the woke-sters are lining up, including our Democrat-dominated Supreme Court, becuase its unfair to lock her up in children's village for failing to do her homework.

Interesting isn't it how the Supreme Court will drop everything and intervene and fast track such a case affecting a convicted criminal beyond normal procedures.

But for a case that affects the entire state, well not so much.

The Detroit News: Supreme Court won't hear challenge of Whitmer's emergency powers before Court of Appeals

The Michigan Supreme Court denied permission on Thursday for the Republican-controlled House and Senate to argue their case challenging Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency powers to the high court without first pleading their case to the Court of Appeals.

Yes, the Michigan Supreme Court will continue to slow-walk perhaps the biggest constitutional question this state has faced in a cengtury - Whether Governor Whitmer's use of the 1945 law and her establishment of a basically dictatorial executive ruling without any checks or balances from the legislative branch is constitutional - especially as it disregards the subsequent 1976 law on the same subject that specifically encompasses pandemics, and will probably continue slow-walking it until this pandemic is all over. But, for a minor BLMer who violated her parole, they'll drop standard procedure and rapidly intervene.

Curious, that.

Gov Half-Whit: Deny, Deny it Happened, Claim it's An Unfounded Rumor, Then Claim It's A Joke.

Following a similar pattern we've seen liberal politicians use before, Gov Whitmer had first claimed there wouldn't be any comment on the issue -

"We’re not going to make it a practice of addressing every rumor that is spread online," Whitmer spokeswoman Tiffany Brown said Monday

Then her staff flat-out denied that it had occurred.

Now of course, with proof coming out that it did indeed happen, she's shifted to claim it was a joke.

Deadline Detroit: Update: Gov. Whitmer Says Husband Was Joking About Special Break for Boat

So now she's trying to memory hole the whole deal - her going up north after telling the citizens not to, trying to put her boat in the water ahead of others after she had previously been ticketing citizens for using motorized boats and all the rest.

Expect an army of "spontaneous" reviewers to just happen to leave bad reviews at the Marina's social media sites - this just happens to happen whenever someone criticizes this Governor.

The Detroit Free Press: Whitmer says husband's boat dock request was bad joke: 'I wasn't laughing either'

If you really believe that after all the obfuscation and denials form the Gov that it was a bad joke and not a politician and family trying to throw their weight around -- Well, all I can say in that case is I've got a bridge connecting the Upper and Lower Peninsula I'm got available for sale to you for a very special price today, but only if you act now.

Game Of Vetoes: Michigan Governor Plays Budget Games

Michigan's Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer got upset when the Republican House and Senate here refuses to pass her massive tax increase. After first threatening to shut down the government, she backed away from that, and decided instead to only line item veto certain items in the Republican created budget.

And what interesting veto choices they are.

Whitmer campaigned and was elected on her promise of "Fix The Damn Roads".

So what did she just veto? Funding for roads.

Yes, really:

Whitmer vetoed $375 million in general fund spending targeted at road and bridge repairs, including repairs on four bridges that Whitmer recently visited and highlighted as in urgent need of repairs. She said the use of general fund money for roads hurts other priorities and is no substitute for a comprehensive road funding plan.

So instead of "Fix the damn roads" Its "Veto the damn road spending". You can't make this up.

Whitmer then went out of her way to try to make the most painful veto choices, harming many of her key constituents in areas such as Education and Mental Health spending.

She also took another swipe at education and free enterprise, ending tuition grants to any Michigan resident going to private colleges, but maintained it for public colleges - Michigan private college students scramble to replace scholarships cut by Whitmer

She also cut some public safety grants that keep sheriff deputies on the road, and tried to attack rural areas that are pro-Republican, because politics.

About the only useful veto she did was to veto the Pure Michigan ad campaign. This is a good thing, as the parodies are much better anyways.

So, we now know that not only is she ineffective at budget negotiations, she's petty and vindictive when she doesn't get her way, and she's petty and vindictive in a way that hurts Republicans but also her own core constituents and supporters.

That should work out really well for her come election season.