Don't leave home without it

Well, it seems like sometimes Fulton Sheen remembers his check book and sometimes he doesn't. Fulton's campaign finance statement shows him to be a generous guy when it comes to his friends. Who are Fulton's friends? Some of his friends are the so-called Citizens for Traditional Values for whom Fulton Sheen coughed up $100 as an event sponsor and another $200 as a reception sponsor. Fulton's friends also include Allegan County Right to Life for whom Representative Sheen ponied up another $120 as a table sponsor for the southern group's dinner and $140 for the northern end's festivities (two groups? what did they have a civil war?). Fulton also contributed $256 in order to sponsor two tables at the Michigan Prayer Breakfast. Allegan County's state rep. also coughed up $100 for an ad in the county GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner program and another $30 to a county GOP picnic, plus $10 for tickets to a meeting and $20 for a reception for his county Republican Party. Sheen also bought himself a $150 stay at the Grand Hotel on scenic Mackinac Island for the state GOP conference dinner- but I guess he was just doing his part to stimulate the tourism industry!

So, why didn't Fulton think he needed to pay his way when it came to supporting a worthy cause like Habitat for Humanity? Why did he need to be badgered into pledging to send a "check in the mail" for a meager $50 (half of what he paid to advertise in his county party's Lincoln Day program)? In case you wondered, tickets to the Allegan Habitat dinner that Fulton didn't have the money to buy were a whopping $8! No wonder he couldn't afford it, he guy only makes $79,650 a year (plus benefits and travel)! We're still waiting to hear if he sent his check for $50...

Freeloading Fulton- Will he keep his promise?

Sometimes a good explanation of why people dislike politicians gets dropped right in your lap. Such was the case Friday night for one of my sources who went to a fund-raising dinner for Habitat for Humanity. 88th District State Rep. Fulton Sheen of Plainwell, the Republican recently touted as gallantly shepherding the Single Business Tax bill through the House, made an appearance at the dinner, not to eat or support Habitat, but to shake hands and kiss babies in the early stages of an election year. Sheen was as adept in the practice as Brian Calley, his near-clone who is seeking to win this fall in the neighboring 87th District. Christine Blanco, coordinator of the dinner, confronted Sheen after he worked the room for about an hour, telling him it's very bad manners to show up at a charity dinner only to promote your own chances of being re-elected to an $80,000-a-year job with the very best in free health care benefits. She asked him to at least have the courtesy to buy a dinner or make a donation like everyone else. Mr. Sheen informed her he didn't have his check book with him, which meant he arrived at the dinner without any intention of breaking bread with Habitat supporters or making any donations.

"I left my check book at home?" Isn't that the excuse you'd give some panhandler on the street and not the organizer of a charity dinner you decided to show up at in order to schmooze for votes? Of course, when you are used to lobbyists buying you a free lunch (or taking the free lunch at taxpayer expense) maybe you get used to not carrying around money like us working slobs do.

Now if you or I were to appear at a busy restaurant, not to eat or pay for a dinner, but to chat with the patrons to promote ourselves, we would get the boot a lot sooner than an hour and hear more than a few choice words from the owner or manager. That's pretty much what Sheen did in his solid portrayal of a slick, slimy, selfish, self-absorbed state rep interested not in helping a worthy charity, but instead in his re-election effort. Christine Blanco finally extracted a promise from Sheen to send Habitat a check for $50. Stay tuned as to whether or or not he wrote that check...

Brian Reynolds, one of the candidates for State Representative in the adjoining 87th District, has promised if he wins he will give back $10,000 of that $80,000 salary to Habitat, an announcement greeted by his detractors as grandstanding (we must assume that means their candidate will probably be taking the entire the $80 grand and putting it in their bank accounts- or using it to pay back their campaign finance committee's loans). It ain't grandstanding if Mr. Reynolds actually keeps his promise. We're still waiting to see if Sheen will keep his...

Tomorrow is "Joe Day"

In honor of Joe Day we will share with you a little tidbit from Battle Creek's Joe Schwarz- one of the last true Republicans who doesn't put party allegiance ahead of principles. I don't entirely agree with him but at least he stands by his beliefs and doesn't put party before country like so many of his colleagues. Schwarz recently spoke to some Marshall high school students and had this to say:

"(Convicted Republican Congressman) Duke Cunningham is in jail, he belongs in jail. He betrayed his family, he betrayed his country and worst of all, he betrayed himself...I have no sympathy for him whatsoever."

"I am going to support John McCain (for president.) ... Though he is putting people into place, he will wait until after the 2006 election before he will say whether he will run. I believe if he runs, he will serve just one term. If you don't have that hanging over your head, you make stronger decisions."

On Iraq: "They think we're losing control in some part of the country so the numbers need to go back up. The historians will decide whether we were correct in going in. I think maybe the Harry S. Truman doctrine of containment may be a better way. But don't think when we're out, our problems will be over."

"I will not vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. I believe it is a woman's choice. It should not be made by some gray haired, middle aged man like myself. If you can carry the baby to term, it will be taken care of. The decision is yours to make. I'm not crazy about abortion but I will never vote to overturn Roe v. Wade."

"I supported Michigan's DOMA because it's the state that marries you so a state statute is appropriate but I don't support a state constitutional or a federal amendment that bans gay marriage. You do not make social policy in the Constitution."

Thanks to the little bird who supplied me with these great quotes- you know who you are!

Is this why he quit?

Earlier we commented on rumors that Mark Doster decided against continuing his bid for the 87th state house seat. And now in this week's Hastings Banner (March 23, 2006) we read this:

Mark Doster, administrator of the Southwest Barry Sewer and Water Authority, is up for a big increase in salary in only his second year on the job.
The Sewer and Water Board was given a proposal Monday afternoon to increase Doster’s salary by 22 percent, up to $30,500 from his current $25,000 a year, a pay raise of $5,500.
In addition, Doster will receive an additional $4,066,52 in fringe benefits in the proposal, making his total package worth 38 percent more than the position now pays. Doster will pay 30 percent toward his total benefit package or $1,742.80 of the $5,809.32 total cost. He will also receive $300 a year for dental.
Doster was hired in January 2005 for the 20-hour-a week position.

Over $30,000 for a 20-hour-a week job might have factored in the decision to drop out- along with not having had a chance in hell of winning. Actually a guy who manages an almost 40% raise for a part time job seems like the perfect candidate to join the bozos in Lansing (that's sarcasm in case you didn't catch it, folks).

87th District race- update

Rumors abound that Mark Doster is no longer running for Gary Newell's open seat. If true, it's not much of a surprise and it probably won't have much effect on the race.

As always, we rely on readers like you to help supply us with up-to-date info so please drop us a line if you have any hot tips, and thanks for reading. Also, the site's stat counter shows an amazing amount of traffic for a blog that mostly deals with small town politics. Be sure to spread the word and tell your friends and neighbors and we'll keep trying to entertain and inform.

Pitchforks and torches?

It's conventional wisdom that people don't show up for meetings unless they are mad. The Barry County Chamber of Commerce sponsors a monthly meeting between constituents and their state and national reps (or their low level staff flunkies, anyway). From all accounts the meetings tend to attract a small handful of people usually concerned with some particular problem they need somebody to listen to. That's why I found this little gem tucked at the end of the story on the city council meeting in the latest issue (March 16, 2006) issue of The Hastings Banner pretty interesting:

Heard a report from (Hastings Mayor Bob) May about the monthly Legislative Coffee program that took place that morning at the County Seat restaurant. “It was the largest turnout we’ve had in many months, and hopefully there will be a larger crowd next time when it is held at the MiddleVilla Inn,” said the mayor.

I take this as yet another sign that the natives are getting restless and are showing up to give their elected leaders an earful. With problems mounting everyday the state and national government still spends their time grandstanding on hot button issues and doing the bidding of special interests. The coming election is sure to spell doom for many incumbents who may be surprised to find themselves swamped by a tidal wave of voter disgust. While gerrymandering will surely dampen the number of seats that are ripe for a handover, there still exists a good chance that voters will make it known they want to "throw the bums out." Whether certain politicians are saavy enough to ride that wave or get buried by it remains to be seen.

The governor's race is a good example: Granholm could turn the tables on DeVos and make him look like the politicial players he's pretending he's not while she runs against a legislature that is beholden to the ideas of the Mackinac Center which benefits from the wealth of politically-involved billionaires like Dick Devos and their fat cat friends at the expense of the average taxpayer and working stiff who just might be waking up to the fact that over a decade of tax cuts, tax cuts, and more tax cuts have left us in a serious budget hole and with crumbling schools and roads while the rich laugh their way to the bank- or to their broker to invest in another company sending our jobs to India and China. On the other hand, Granholm will surely lose if she allows DeVos to pretend to be the outsider (contrary to reality- since his wife was state party chair for the GOP and Tricky Dick was one of the leading figures in the failed fight to get you to give your tax dollars to private Christian madrasas at the expense of public schools in order to provide more of that magical elixir of "competition" that will supposedly solve all of our woes) and if she lets Dick DeVos pin the pain and problems of average voters onto her while continuing to delude them into thinking that all our economic woes can be solved with more and more tax cuts. It will at least be an interesting chess match to watch unfold in the coming months... stay tuned!

Gunboats on the Great Lakes?

According to the CBC the U.S. will be installing machine guns on Coast Guard vessels on the waters of the Great Lakes. Those pesky jet skiers may want to stear clear...

Here's a taste of the article...

"For the first time since 1817, U.S. Coast Guard vessels on the Great Lakes are being outfitted with weapons – machine-guns capable of firing 600 bullets a minute.

Until now, coast guard officers have been armed with handguns and rifles, but the vessels themselves haven't been equipped with weapons.

The War of 1812 saw violent battles on Lake Erie and Lake Huron between U.S. troops and British forces, which were largely composed of militias from Britain's colonies in what is now Canada. After the war, the United States and Britain – and later Canada – agreed to demilitarize the Great Lakes waters.

The Rush-Bagot Treaty of 1817 allowed each country to station four vessels, each equipped with an 18-pound cannon, to safeguard the Great Lakes.

The antiquated treaty has recently been reinterpreted because of U.S. concerns about customs violations, human smuggling and international terrorism."

At what point do we realize, like the proverbial chicken in the boiling pot, that we are experiencing a creeping fascism that is slowly replacing our democratic republic with a totalitarian police state? Oh wait, they said it's to fight terrorism? I guess that means if I don't support this then I'm siding with the freedom haters. In that case, maybe we need to get serious and have some mini nuclear subs patrolling the waters off South Haven and Saugatuck. When does it end...?

Tubbs to run for Barry County Board?

So just who is Donald Tubbs, and why is he going to run for a seat on the Barry County Board of Commissioners?

Donald Tubbs is co-owner, with his wife, April, of the Adrounie House Bed & Breakfast near the corner of Broadway and State Street in Hastings. He is a member of the Hastings City Council, First Ward. Inside sources say he will run for the First District seat on the Barry County Board of Commissioners, representing all of the City of Hastings, which now is held by Donald Nevins. He's been showing up rather often lately at County Board meetings. Why? Is it because the annual wages are nearly quadruple the paltry $2,300 a year the city council members get? Is it because there are nice health care and retirement benefits as part of the package? Is it because you get a lot of per diem pay for showing up at committee and commission meetings, which would be a piece of cake for Tubbs, who lives right across the street from where most of the meetings would take place? All of the above have their advantages. But don't rule out the fact that some on the County Board would like to see Nevins canned, just like so many tried to get rid of maverick Emmet Herrington a few years ago. Nevins is not a "team player" desired so much by Chairwoman Clare Tripp. Nevins had the audacity to hook up with Hoot Gibson in engineering night meetings once a month rather than the morning sessions that virtually no one from the public could attend. If this is true, then what are the chances Hoot Gibson will be targeted by the same gang in his re-election bid? Don't be surprised if Ken Neil, hell bent for revenge, decides to try to win back his old seat after the upset in August 2004. Perhaps if Tubbs and Neil get back on board, the County Board members once again will all start thinking alike again and they'll be singing "Happy Days Are Here Again" in January 2007.

Deadline for filing is two months away. Stay tuned.

Patty Birkholz home free?

So, is no one going to run against Patty Birkholz this year? You'd think Terry Geiger would at least seek a rematch of the primary race in which Birkholz used a dirty, last minute attack on Geiger's drunk driving conviction to seal the deal (to make it worse, Birkholz did this knowing of her own home wrecking past which I will surely dredge up if she chooses to run again which seems certain). But it seems Geiger has dissolved his campaign finance committee and is nowhere on the radar. It seems Patty doesn't have too much in the bank to defend against a primary or general opponent having only about $10,000 cash on hand. Wouldn't you think more people would be lining up for a job that pays nearly $90,000 a year?

By the way, if you think that's too much for a basically part time job then maybe you should join the cause- Fire the Senate!

Legislators play while taxpayers pay

The Detroit News has a great article about our out of control state legislators who give themselves raises (2nd highest paid in the nation-almost $80,000 per year) while telling everyone else to tighten their belts:

State records reviewed by The Detroit News also show the budget for the Legislature has increased 14 percent since 2000, when the state's economy started the nosedive from which it has yet to recover. The state budget as a whole increased 11 percent during that time, mostly to pay for higher costs in health care for the poor and for prisons, roads and public schools.

By comparison since 2000:

State aid to universities has fallen 7.4 percent or $140 million, leaving parents and students to pay ever-escalating tuition.

State employees -- whose ranks have been thinned by 13 percent and now total 53,200 -- have agreed to forgo pay hikes, trade pay for annual leave and other concessions.

Revenue sharing to local governments during that span has plummeted by one-third, or more than a half-billion dollars. As a result, municipalities have been forced to cut back on essential services such as police and fire protection, road repair and garbage pickup.

Spending for the governor's office is down by 5 percent to $5.4 million.

Records show state senators and representatives and staff also spent about $650,000 between 2000 and 2005 in taxpayers' money for travel expenses -- some of it within the state, including to Mackinac Island -- and to attend conferences in Texas, California, Utah, Washington, Louisiana and Colorado.

Later in this article...
Gary Newell defends government waste!
Once again, he's only for small government when it helps you and not him:

Senators also get an operational expense account of more than $59,000 they can use for travel, mailing and other office expenses. That budget increases by about 2 percent a year, said Carol Viventi, secretary of the Senate. There has been a moratorium on state-paid out-of-state travel by Senators over the past several years. Senate staff has remained stable at about 300 salaried and hourly workers over the past five years.

There's no such moratorium in the House. Members can spend up to $5,000 on out-of-state travel approved by the speaker. For instance, 11 House members traveled to Seattle in August to attend the National Conference of State Legislatures meeting at a total taxpayer cost of $17,500.

Rep. Gary Newell, R-Saranac, spent $4,810 last year and his travel included legislative conferences in Lake Tahoe, Seattle and Grapevine, Texas. He said he attended those meetings to learn more about health care information technology, an area he's tackling in the Legislature.

"I go to see what other legislators have to say about emerging trends. I've introduced bills directly related to information I've gathered at these conferences," Newell said.

He said the Senate's out-of-state travel ban is shortsighted.

"In this era of term limits, it's hard enough to make contacts," he said. "I don't know how else you do it."

Apparently Newell has never heard of a telephone or Google. Instead he gets to spend your money while telling your kids they don't need after school programs or help with college tuition.

Please go to Fire The Senate and do your part to fix this mess.

Meet the 87th candidates- Brian Reynolds

At last we come to our final candidate (unless someone else joins the fun) in the 87th state rep. race.

Brian Reynolds deserves your support for 87th District State Representative.
The reasons are fairly simple:
While I've trashed the other four candidates, I find Reynolds clearly is the only one who has specifically laid out a couple of ideas that will benefit Barry County and Ionia County. His ideas, cooked down, are pro-jobs and anti-government waste and interference.
First, he is a supporter of the Gun Lake casino for two huge reasons — jobs and fairness. He believes approval of the Gun Lake Tribe's plans will result in a lot of new, good paying jobs. With the recent bankruptcy of Hastings Manufacturing, the closing of Viatec and Bliss Clearing Niagara just hanging on, jobs are a big deal in Hastings and environs. While others talk about bringin jobs to Michigan in the future, here is something that will actually help our local economy- which is why the West Michigan Mafia in Grand Rapids is totally against it.
Second, he supports the Unicameral Michigan campaign to abolish the State Senate, to downsize government and save taxpayers as much as $1 billion over 10 years.
So while candidate Brian Calley offers us more of what we've been getting for the last 16 years, tax cuts for the rich (and look where we are now), while candidate Susan Vliestra seems to think the only issues are guns and abortion, while candidate Frank Campbell goes around slapping backs and glad handing, and while candidate Mark Doster continues to be confused, irrelevant and clueless, Reynolds actually has some ideas that just might work for his constituents.
Looking like a cross between Santa Claus and Jerry Garcia, Reynolds isn't your cookie cutter politician telling you what you want to hear while raising money from big donors and PACs. He has fashioned himself as the real maverick among this quintet of hopefuls. Don't forget he engineered John McCain's presidential primary victory in the county in 2000 and he played major roles in building a new animal shelter and helping with the new library. Reynolds supports the Second Amendment people and he's opposed to abortion personally, but doesn't think it's any of government's business to intrude into personal, private decisions. Anybody who really doesn't like the way things have been going in Michigan and wants a change should vote for Reynolds. Anyone who thinks things are just peachy keen and we should stay the course should pick one of the other four. Brian Reynolds is our best bet to get somebody in Lansing that will shake things up and truly represent the people- what else could you ask for?

Follow the money

The campaign finance disclosures for the 87th state house race are a hoot. It sure seems our list of candidates likes to keep it in the family.
 
Brian Reynolds's finance filing, a very brief five-page affair, indicates that he has raised $600 thus far, $300 of which was from his brother and himself.  You might think that puts him way behind the 8 ball, fund-raising-wise, but some of the other candidates are in a similar boat...
 
Frank Campbell has asked for and has been given a waiver. This means he cannot receive or spend any more than $1000 in the entire election cycle.  That pretty much removes Frank as a serious contender, if ever he was.

Then if you look at Susan Vlietstra's 11 page filing you'll see that she has raised $2700, all but $100 of it from herself or her in-laws.  Not a bad chunk of change but not nearly as much as our early frontrunner...
 
The real eye-opener is Brian Calley's 65 page filing. The Portland politician makes a big deal of having a war chest of almost $30,000.  While it is true that he has several large contributions, they mostly are from his own pocket.  He lists cash contributions totaling nearly $20,000 from himself and his wife, in-kind contributions from himself of nearly $10,000. Another notable contributor is his parents who cut him a check for $1,000. Mr. Calley also seems to have used his banking connections to nuzzle up to the industry PACs who have cut some nice checks for which they will probably be handsomely rewarded should Calley end up winning the seat. Something tells me this guy's favorite character in "It's a Wonderful Life" is Mr. Potter...

Is he or isn't he?

I was going through the campaign filings of the 87th state house district candidates last night and found something quite curious. This page at the Secretary of State's website indicates that Mark Doster has filed to run as a Republican.

However, if you check his campaign finance filings, his first "Statement of Organization" lists him as a Republican, the "amended" statement lists him as an Independent, and the SOS now lists him as NPA (No Part Affiliation).

So, which is it?

Party poopers?

"That's Saul, Folks!" is the official blog of the Michigan Republican Party and it has a full list of state Lincoln Day dinner speakers. As you might expect "Tricky" Dick DeVos is featured at many an event, as are the sacrificial lambs sparring to go down in flames against Senator Debbie Stabenow, as well as AG Mike Cox.

However, the Barry County GOP is not on the list. My sources tell me the county GOP is arguing amongst itself over whether to invite Mike Cox to speak. It seems Mr. Cox has spurned the local party several times in the past and some would rather he not bother coming now that he is looking at a tough re-election fight given his public feud with whacky attorney Geoffrey Feiger and his admission of an extra-marital affair. Some have even suggested a walkout should Mr. Cox show up to speak (and collect checks for his campaign).

Meanwhile, the new party leadership seems to be AWOL at an important time. Having dumped their past leadership for daring to work with local Democrats on a bi-partisian set of reforms as well as feting former Democratic Party leader Jim Pino, the new Chair and Vice Chair seem to be missing in action. New leader Orvin Moore rarely shows for meetings and new Vice Chair Reka Holley who was decorated as County GOP Youth of the Year is too busy with her schooling in Lansing to do her job but yet hasn't bothered to step down and let someone else take over her duties.

The local Democrats might take advantage of such turmoil except they seem too busy fighting amongst themselves instead of working to defeat the Republicans. A splinter group of Progressive Democrats has split and has their own meetings and seems more interested in watching movies than working to get good candidates on the ballot and voters registered to get them into office. There's a lot of work to do to get the Democratic Party competitive in Barry County but griping about George W. Bush and Fox News won't get the job done.