State Rep. Brian Calley’s most recent column in the Hastings Banner is another reminder of what’s wrong in Lansing.
I was told by former Banner Editor David T. Young that when he was approached by newly-annointed State Representative Brian Calley about running a column that Calley assured the Banner, which previously had refused to run columns and articles from politicians because they too often were campaign propaganda, that the column would be non-partisan and stick to informing readers of what was happening in Lansing. At first, Calley stuck to his promise, but like everything else he says, that vow was issued with forked tongue and slowly but surely we see the real politician poking out from behind the gleaming white teeth and the humble, aw shucks prose of the supposedly simple man sent into the lion’s den who reports back weekly on how awful and partisan the process is- and by some coincidence it’s always the Democrats’ fault.
Calley’s newest column proceeds to convince us that the horrible state budget stalemate is the fault of House Democrats and the Democratic Governor as he compares the state budget negotiations to going out to eat with your wife and watching another married couple argue. As usual, he’s got it all wrong as he hides behind his supposedly bipartisan persona while he sticks to the party line, he says one thing but then does another.
Citing the fact that not ALL Democrats are voting for the proposed tax increases to fix an almost $2 billion structural hole in the budget, mostly caused by massive and continued tax cutting in the 90s (and then obviously made worse by the cyclical downturn in fortunes of the “Big 3” US automakers and not due to the phantom menace of high taxes since Michigan ranks in the middle of tax burden and at the very top for reliance on auto manufacturing), our State Representative informs us that the Republicans are merely innocent bystanders unable to help along the process and held victim to the bickering Democrats who don’t agree on a solution. This is not the whole truth and nothing but the truth and Calley knows it, he just doesn’t expect or want YOU to know it.
I won’t disagree with everything Calley says, but much of it is partisan spin with just enough truth to convince those not following along at home. While it’s true House Democrats haven’t supported the Governor the entire way (thank goodness one political party still believes in allowing it’s members to dissent and actually represent their constituents as opposed to
enforcing solid party discipline and marching in “lock step”... or is that goose step), the real problem is that at every turn the State Senate which is controlled by the Republican Party has refused any measure that would close the budget hole and pushed the crisis to the brink in a game of chicken. Remember that despite getting less votes across the state in the combined Senate races, the GOP ended up with control because of redistricting much like a President can gain the White House despite losing a popular vote (and yes, this is the way the system works and I use it only to point out that more voters elected to give control of the state economy to Democrats and that the state GOP should understand this in regards to their negotiating position). Senate Leader Bishop has stubbornly refused any tax increase despite the Republican Party not having enough votes to do anything but be a road block to any real compromise, Bishop has continually and doggedly done everything to stand in the way of any real solution, instead offering only meager cuts in spending to departments that have already faced year after year of cuts of increases less than that of the rate of inflation- a defacto cut by any measure.
Also remember that it is a Republican former state legislator who has threatened and organized a well-funded and coordinated recall campaign for anyone in Lansing who dares to vote with the people and patch up the gaping budget hole with the increases in revenue that will end this yearly madness of last minute budget stop gap measures and quick fixes once and for all. This recall threat and the obvious stance of the Republicans which is to try to force Democrats to push through a tax increase with ZERO support from them (an impossible task given the GOP control of the Senate) has forced 8 Democratic members of the House to refuse to vote either way without some measure of bipartisan support, but yet there is NO Republican willing to cross party lines to vote for a tax increase and so we still have no deal less than a week away from a government shutdown. Democrats rightfully smell the GOP trying to shirk their responsibility to deal with the mess and know they are going to be left holding the bag. Why should the Democrats act like the responsible adults who get stuck cleaning up the mess just so the GOP can use it as a bludgeon against them in the next election?
And so now some are calling for half measures to move the goalposts and put off the big decisions for another day- something which the Governor has said she will not allow. While some in Lansing are trying to do the right thing and face up to their responsibility, our State Rep. Brian Calley takes the tough stand and declares his support for.... more of the same. How disappointing and yet how predictable, and the whole reason we're in this mess.
In his tenure in Lansing, Calley has become a pro of coming to town and donning some “dungarees” and fresh-out-of-the-box sneaker and walking among us common folk, shaking hands & kissing babies and telling us what we want to hear. He writes his weekly column as if he were Jimmy Stewart, aghast at the awful partisianship in Lansing while he votes straight party line and does everything he can to ingratiate himself to leadership to further his attempts to move up the ladder and take the next step to State Senate. If you hate career
politicians then you might want to know that Calley has said to confidants that he never wishes to go back into banking and has made it known his eyes are on the prize- a cushy seat in the State Senate which is surely no more than another stop along to bigger and better things and many more years making a nice living from the government his philosophy constantly demeans and diminishes.
Where Calley’s dishonesty becomes most apparent is his lack of acknowledgement of the role the state GOP has played in all of this. Even IF House Democrats ALL voted for a tax increase would Senate Majority Leader Bishop allow ANY Republicans in the Senate to vote with Democrats and pass a tax increase? If you think so I've got a bridge across the Straights of Mackinac to sell you. Democrats only control 2/3rds of the process and without ANY Republicans willing to muster the fortitude and political courage to pass the solution the people of Michigan understand is needed then NOTHING gets done. So, instead of blaming the Governor and the House Democrats, maybe Calley should have used the time he took to write his partisan screed this week and called up Mr. Bishop and told him to quit standing in the way of a solution.
As long as the Republicans in Lansing are in the majority in the Senate they can effectively block any budget deal so to blame Democrats for the lack of a deal is not wrong, it’s a blatant lie and I’m calling Calley out on it. Instead of blaming the people who’ve proposed as REAL solution to our problem how about Mr. Calley remember all his talk of bipartianship and
actually follow his own suggestion. Instead of offering partisan spin, Mr. Calley should offer the cold hard truth to his constituents even if it hurts his obvious career ambitions. All of us get up and go to work and do our jobs without complaining, maybe it’s time for our highly paid “welfare cases” in Lansing do the same... or maybe next time they come to us asking for our votes we’ll tell them they’ve taken enough of our money and done too little to earn another paycheck. Maybe instead of whining about how mean-spirited and partisan everything in Lansing is, our State Rep. should stand up and cross party lines and do what’s right.
Brian Calley comes to town and says he’s for your local domestic violence shelter, more funding of mental health treatment, and whatever else he thinks you want to hear but then he goes to Lansing and votes party line in favor of a rabid right wing agenda of tax cutting government down to the size it can be drowned in a bath tub until our schools are failing and bridges are falling down. I wouldn’t mind Mr. Calley being such an anti-tax idealogue, I just wish he wouldn’t lie about it. I also wish he and his cohorts would do their ONLY constitutionally-mandated job and PASS A BUDGET instead of putting it off for another day. When it comes to fixing the budget mess, there's no better time than right NOW!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Pass the budget, not the buck
President Harry Truman is known for the sign he placed atop his desk in the Oval Office, reminding everyone that "The Buck Stops Here." If only the politicians in Lansing were as willing to take responsibility...
An October 1 deadline draws near. By that date the Michigan House and Senate will have needed to pass the state budget with the signature of the Governor or the state faces a government shut down. The Attorney General has decreed that absolutely no money can be spent without a balanced budget signed into law. As of now the state is almost $2 billion short of making ends meet. Lansing, so far, has yet to deal with the situation and mostly what we've seen so far has been grandstanding and theatre, more of the same.
The Republican-controlled Senate has time and time again insisted that the state's budget should be balanced through spending cuts and have rejected several plans and compromises to deal with the budget shortfall through revenue increases. A last desperate measure by Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop to pass the buck and make the voters decide was foiled last week, and so here we are, right where we were so many months ago when I last commented on the situation. Frankly, I'd put off saying anything else, assuming that the "paid professionals" in Lansing would finally come to some resolution. Especially since the best solution has been sitting on the table for quite some time.
In a previous post here, I called for the legislature to roll back a small portion of the Engler income tax cuts for at least a temporary period of time. Since then many others have come out in favor of the same method for putting our state budget back in the black. Other plans have been floated but none is as elegant or as easily wiped away, should more prosperous times return. Raising the sales tax or adding a new service tax were both equally flawed solutions and harder to do away with.
Though, to be honest I doubt any tax increase will be temporary. Michigan's financial situation is not just a product of "lean times" or a temporary manufacturing downturn as much as it is a product of continued and excessive rounds of revenue cuts as part of a deliberate "starve the beast" mentality among right wing conservatives in the state and the result of the lust for globalization among the country's rich elite who lobby Congress for trade deals that cut the American worker off at the knees and move production to foreign countries, robbing us of our ability to pay our mortgages or our taxes.
Michigan's attempts to to transform itself from an auto manufacturing state to whatever comes next won't be quick or easy, but it also cannot be done without an investment in education and infrastructure. Both have been slowly rotting away as the people have been sold the snake oil of lower taxes and smaller government which come at "no cost" much like those "no interest" and "no money down" home loans. Those little tax refund checks sure feel good but they don't last. Meanwhile, the state is failing to educate it's workforce and it's citizens while the roads and schools crumble. It's time to quit passing the buck and deal with the mess we've created.
Some would say that it's foolish to expect that common sense will rule and that people will see how the "feel good now" tax cuts of the past created this mess and that it's time to own up to our collective responsibilities. Then again, outside of a small and timid group of corporate puppets and timid bureaucrats in Lansing, most people I talk to seem to understand the need to own up to our responsibility to properly fund schools, roads, health care, etc. But yet, the interest groups are already threatening to recall politicians who vote for tax increases, and timid politicians who cling to their cushy jobs and look to take the next step up the ladder of sucking on the public teat are feeling the heat. So, it's fair to ask if we expect politicians to make the tough and correct choices, isn't it time for the voters to do so as well?
For too long citizens have returned to office the very politicians who traded the milk cow of American industry for the magic beans of a Flat Earth. We've voted the guys who offered prosperity without cost and glory without sacrifice. I have no doubt that whatever form the final budget takes in Lansing, there will have to be some form of increased revenue (even the Senate conceded as much when it offered only a meager package of cuts which fall far short of the $2 billion needed). When the time comes, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth as anti-tax, anti-government special interests threaten recall and primary challenges. We can only hope that our elected representatives belly up and do what's right. But when our time comes will we support the ones who were responsible and wise or will we once again support the short term solutions and the easy answers?
I ask the lawmakers in Lansing to do what's right and pass the budget, then I ask for the voters of Michigan to support them when they show courage and make them accountable if and when they pass the buck.
An October 1 deadline draws near. By that date the Michigan House and Senate will have needed to pass the state budget with the signature of the Governor or the state faces a government shut down. The Attorney General has decreed that absolutely no money can be spent without a balanced budget signed into law. As of now the state is almost $2 billion short of making ends meet. Lansing, so far, has yet to deal with the situation and mostly what we've seen so far has been grandstanding and theatre, more of the same.
The Republican-controlled Senate has time and time again insisted that the state's budget should be balanced through spending cuts and have rejected several plans and compromises to deal with the budget shortfall through revenue increases. A last desperate measure by Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop to pass the buck and make the voters decide was foiled last week, and so here we are, right where we were so many months ago when I last commented on the situation. Frankly, I'd put off saying anything else, assuming that the "paid professionals" in Lansing would finally come to some resolution. Especially since the best solution has been sitting on the table for quite some time.
In a previous post here, I called for the legislature to roll back a small portion of the Engler income tax cuts for at least a temporary period of time. Since then many others have come out in favor of the same method for putting our state budget back in the black. Other plans have been floated but none is as elegant or as easily wiped away, should more prosperous times return. Raising the sales tax or adding a new service tax were both equally flawed solutions and harder to do away with.
Though, to be honest I doubt any tax increase will be temporary. Michigan's financial situation is not just a product of "lean times" or a temporary manufacturing downturn as much as it is a product of continued and excessive rounds of revenue cuts as part of a deliberate "starve the beast" mentality among right wing conservatives in the state and the result of the lust for globalization among the country's rich elite who lobby Congress for trade deals that cut the American worker off at the knees and move production to foreign countries, robbing us of our ability to pay our mortgages or our taxes.
Michigan's attempts to to transform itself from an auto manufacturing state to whatever comes next won't be quick or easy, but it also cannot be done without an investment in education and infrastructure. Both have been slowly rotting away as the people have been sold the snake oil of lower taxes and smaller government which come at "no cost" much like those "no interest" and "no money down" home loans. Those little tax refund checks sure feel good but they don't last. Meanwhile, the state is failing to educate it's workforce and it's citizens while the roads and schools crumble. It's time to quit passing the buck and deal with the mess we've created.
Some would say that it's foolish to expect that common sense will rule and that people will see how the "feel good now" tax cuts of the past created this mess and that it's time to own up to our collective responsibilities. Then again, outside of a small and timid group of corporate puppets and timid bureaucrats in Lansing, most people I talk to seem to understand the need to own up to our responsibility to properly fund schools, roads, health care, etc. But yet, the interest groups are already threatening to recall politicians who vote for tax increases, and timid politicians who cling to their cushy jobs and look to take the next step up the ladder of sucking on the public teat are feeling the heat. So, it's fair to ask if we expect politicians to make the tough and correct choices, isn't it time for the voters to do so as well?
For too long citizens have returned to office the very politicians who traded the milk cow of American industry for the magic beans of a Flat Earth. We've voted the guys who offered prosperity without cost and glory without sacrifice. I have no doubt that whatever form the final budget takes in Lansing, there will have to be some form of increased revenue (even the Senate conceded as much when it offered only a meager package of cuts which fall far short of the $2 billion needed). When the time comes, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth as anti-tax, anti-government special interests threaten recall and primary challenges. We can only hope that our elected representatives belly up and do what's right. But when our time comes will we support the ones who were responsible and wise or will we once again support the short term solutions and the easy answers?
I ask the lawmakers in Lansing to do what's right and pass the budget, then I ask for the voters of Michigan to support them when they show courage and make them accountable if and when they pass the buck.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Nine Won One more time...
When I wrote my last post to this blog a little over a month ago, I guessed that the blaring news headlines of a new rock solid set of charges against our much-maligned Barry County 911 director would likely vaporize into little more than the newest chapter of the long saga of The Wall of Blue - the system that Mr. Nystrom has used time and time again to attack his accusers and shield himself from the prying eyes of the public. Last year I wrote my first post on Director Nystrom's ability to avoid punishment for his many misdeeds and here we are today with some still not realizing that the very illegal or unethical payments Mr. Nystrom is accused of making to his dispatchers is part of that Wall. How ironic is it that the very people we are supposed to call when we are being robbed are the ones who are picking our pockets?
Very simply for those who still can't grasp the basic facts in this case: Why would anyone rat out the guy who's been giving them taxpayer money that they hadn't earned and weren't entitled to receive? How many of those people would go public, knowing that not only would they likely have to pay that money back but that they'd also have to answer why they took it in the first place? Why did those payments take place in a manner not exactly legal or ethical when there would have been almost no objection from any quarter had they been necessary and well-earned?
That Nystrom's defenders have no answers for any of those questions leaves me convinced that the taxpayers of Barry County just got screwed again. It's in many ways similar to the way Scooter Libby obstructed justice by lying before a Grand Jury in the CIA leak case and then got his sentence commuted by the very forces his lies were helping to protect- how do you prosecute a case when all the witnesses are willing to lie and their lies are condoned by the people in power that they are protecting?
I find it almost surreal that most of Nystrom's defenders have used the line that he personally didn't benefit from the misuse of public funds- as if stealing from someone is OK as you long as you don't keep the money. Is it much of a stretch to understand that those payments are obviously part of his system of favors and punishment that the director has used to keep his Wall intact? While there is no doubt many incorrect allegations have been hurled at the director, it's also true that men and women of reason have to be able to separate unrelated arguments, and the truth or falsehood of the most recent allegations have nothing to do with past incidents, investigations and cover-ups.
The real problem here is that the public has been robbed not just once, but twice. First, Nystrom took money (correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen very few people argue- even Nystrom himself- against the actual charges but instead they choose to dismiss it as just being nice to public employees who worked hard to keep us safe which has nothing to do with Nystrom's guilt or innocence but makes a neat way to deflect attacks without really mustering a real defense) which was not his to spend on dubious overtime expenses which had no reason to exist "off the books" other than to serve as hush money and to protect his personal fiefdom. Second, Nystrom has received a generous payoff which is his own hush fund, given to him by his long-time enablers on the County 911 Board- the very people who should have discovered the misappropriation of public money and DONE SOMETHING about it! This smacks of yet another corrupt crony Christmas gift which seems to be a proud tradition in local politics. I'm not sure what is more offensive- the bribe to go away quietly or the fact that so many prominent figures are forcing us to eat this turd and tell us how good it tastes!
That the voters have been let down by their elected leaders is the real story. Once again, instead of doing what was right, Nystrom and the 911 Board have failed in their duty to wisely use taxpayer money for the greater good. Nystrom's payments to dispatchers could have been done through legal and ethical means, but they weren't and he should have to face consequences for those actions instead of receiving an early retirement gift and a loud and boisterous defense from his pack of enablers who hide behind talking point as if they were members of the Bush administration- how many more times do we have to hear any complain about our County 911 system countered by the old saw that "we have the best system in the state." Talking points work best when they confuse the issue and distract people from the real matter.
Finally, it seems like we've been most let down by a County Prosecutor who I warned was not up to the job from what I saw in the election campaign. Prosecutor Evans led with his chin and got sent to the mat. Whatever his motives or reason for going public with the case when he chose, it now appears obvious he wasn't ready to press charges. He now seems to be hinting he and the Sheriff will not sign off on the deal, which has been called a golden parachute in the local paper's editorial. I have no sympathy for Prosecutors who choose to try their case in public- it's one of the reasons voters sent a previous prosecutor packing. Evan's opponent likely lost because she was seen as too close to the corrupt system voters were already tired of. But if Evans is unable to effectively manage a case of public corruption then what good is he? Perhaps the biggest lesson from all this is that sometimes people just aren't up the job and that being incompetent is perhaps just as bad or even worse than being corrupt.
If voters want to take their anger out on anyone over this, how about the 911 Board which has always defended Nystrom, instead of doing their job to protect the public from waste, fraud, corruption and abuse? I'd suggest starting with Nystrom's loudest defender, Hastings Township Supervisor Jim Brown. This Brownie is not doing a "heckuva job" since he's loudly trying to tell us what a good deal we got. The only way it would be a good deal is if Brown himself resigned or if the sensible voters of Hastings Township started making some noise about their elected official's involvement in defending the misuse of public funds. I know there's a remedy for when elected officials shirk their responsibility to the public, do you recall? Hastings Township voters are in a unique position to have their voices heard on this issue and they should let Jim Brown know his days of defending the misuse of their money are over.
And should anyone still be confused- acquittal, or lack of prosecution, does not equal innocence. Since OJ Simpson never got convicted does that mean he didn't kill two people? Ken Lay never served a day in prison but he's still known as the guy who defrauded Enron investors. The people who see the lack of prosecution as evidence of innocence need to understand that there is no connection between the two, except that it's one more sign the Wall of Blue is still holding strong.
Very simply for those who still can't grasp the basic facts in this case: Why would anyone rat out the guy who's been giving them taxpayer money that they hadn't earned and weren't entitled to receive? How many of those people would go public, knowing that not only would they likely have to pay that money back but that they'd also have to answer why they took it in the first place? Why did those payments take place in a manner not exactly legal or ethical when there would have been almost no objection from any quarter had they been necessary and well-earned?
That Nystrom's defenders have no answers for any of those questions leaves me convinced that the taxpayers of Barry County just got screwed again. It's in many ways similar to the way Scooter Libby obstructed justice by lying before a Grand Jury in the CIA leak case and then got his sentence commuted by the very forces his lies were helping to protect- how do you prosecute a case when all the witnesses are willing to lie and their lies are condoned by the people in power that they are protecting?
I find it almost surreal that most of Nystrom's defenders have used the line that he personally didn't benefit from the misuse of public funds- as if stealing from someone is OK as you long as you don't keep the money. Is it much of a stretch to understand that those payments are obviously part of his system of favors and punishment that the director has used to keep his Wall intact? While there is no doubt many incorrect allegations have been hurled at the director, it's also true that men and women of reason have to be able to separate unrelated arguments, and the truth or falsehood of the most recent allegations have nothing to do with past incidents, investigations and cover-ups.
The real problem here is that the public has been robbed not just once, but twice. First, Nystrom took money (correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen very few people argue- even Nystrom himself- against the actual charges but instead they choose to dismiss it as just being nice to public employees who worked hard to keep us safe which has nothing to do with Nystrom's guilt or innocence but makes a neat way to deflect attacks without really mustering a real defense) which was not his to spend on dubious overtime expenses which had no reason to exist "off the books" other than to serve as hush money and to protect his personal fiefdom. Second, Nystrom has received a generous payoff which is his own hush fund, given to him by his long-time enablers on the County 911 Board- the very people who should have discovered the misappropriation of public money and DONE SOMETHING about it! This smacks of yet another corrupt crony Christmas gift which seems to be a proud tradition in local politics. I'm not sure what is more offensive- the bribe to go away quietly or the fact that so many prominent figures are forcing us to eat this turd and tell us how good it tastes!
That the voters have been let down by their elected leaders is the real story. Once again, instead of doing what was right, Nystrom and the 911 Board have failed in their duty to wisely use taxpayer money for the greater good. Nystrom's payments to dispatchers could have been done through legal and ethical means, but they weren't and he should have to face consequences for those actions instead of receiving an early retirement gift and a loud and boisterous defense from his pack of enablers who hide behind talking point as if they were members of the Bush administration- how many more times do we have to hear any complain about our County 911 system countered by the old saw that "we have the best system in the state." Talking points work best when they confuse the issue and distract people from the real matter.
Finally, it seems like we've been most let down by a County Prosecutor who I warned was not up to the job from what I saw in the election campaign. Prosecutor Evans led with his chin and got sent to the mat. Whatever his motives or reason for going public with the case when he chose, it now appears obvious he wasn't ready to press charges. He now seems to be hinting he and the Sheriff will not sign off on the deal, which has been called a golden parachute in the local paper's editorial. I have no sympathy for Prosecutors who choose to try their case in public- it's one of the reasons voters sent a previous prosecutor packing. Evan's opponent likely lost because she was seen as too close to the corrupt system voters were already tired of. But if Evans is unable to effectively manage a case of public corruption then what good is he? Perhaps the biggest lesson from all this is that sometimes people just aren't up the job and that being incompetent is perhaps just as bad or even worse than being corrupt.
If voters want to take their anger out on anyone over this, how about the 911 Board which has always defended Nystrom, instead of doing their job to protect the public from waste, fraud, corruption and abuse? I'd suggest starting with Nystrom's loudest defender, Hastings Township Supervisor Jim Brown. This Brownie is not doing a "heckuva job" since he's loudly trying to tell us what a good deal we got. The only way it would be a good deal is if Brown himself resigned or if the sensible voters of Hastings Township started making some noise about their elected official's involvement in defending the misuse of public funds. I know there's a remedy for when elected officials shirk their responsibility to the public, do you recall? Hastings Township voters are in a unique position to have their voices heard on this issue and they should let Jim Brown know his days of defending the misuse of their money are over.
And should anyone still be confused- acquittal, or lack of prosecution, does not equal innocence. Since OJ Simpson never got convicted does that mean he didn't kill two people? Ken Lay never served a day in prison but he's still known as the guy who defrauded Enron investors. The people who see the lack of prosecution as evidence of innocence need to understand that there is no connection between the two, except that it's one more sign the Wall of Blue is still holding strong.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall
If you live in Barry County or if you've been reading this blog, chances are you know a little bit about the controversy over our County 911 Director, Charlie Nystrom. Nystrom has been charged with wrong doing in the past but nothing has ever seemed to stick. Today, Nystrom was placed on one week of administrative leave due to Prosecutor Tom Evans alleging Nystrom gave several 911 employees overtime pay which they were not entitled to to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money.
In previous instances, Nystrom has been accused of much but there was always a lack of solid proof, a "blue wall" of defenders and a feeling that the accusations from some were nothing more than a combination of personality conflicts, sour grapes and small town politics. However, if the allegations presented by Evans and Sheriff Dar Leaf turn out to be true, Nystrom's critics will finally be vindicated.
In the past Nystrom has personally tried to defend himself on this blog and the Barry Home Companion in the guise of "Truthseeker," often by accusing me of being part of the local paper which has been a fierce and unrelenting critic of Nystrom, even after he was cleared of other allegations in a probe by the Michigan State Police. Nystrom used the investigation's result as a way to portray himself as the victim of a witch hunt conducted by the paper and this blog.
However, the State Police probe was discounted by many in the community due to Nystrom's close ties to many State Police, including former post commander and current 911 Board Chair Ron Neil. In fact, when the 911 board allowed Nystrom's lawyer access to his office, it conveniently was Neil who was allowed to escort him. It's amazing to me that no one else on the board saw the potential for mischief and forced someone more impartial to take part in the visit. I can't help but wonder if once again the wall surrounding Nystrom will protect him and keep the truth from coming out.
Despite the media coverage I can't help but feel like I've seen this film before. The allegations once again sound grave but Evans has yet to press any charges and hints he may not, despite his calling this a case of "embezzlement." At this point, despite having gone public with the inflammatory charge, the investigation has only interviewed a mere 2 of 11 dispatchers. Eyewitness accounts from today's meeting has said that Evans and Leaf were less than convincing in their presentations. Could it be that once again critics of Nystrom have gone public with their allegations without enough evidence to convict?
I'd like to think that this time the people responsible for defending their claims will have the weight of evidence on their side. And this time, I'm hoping that those who've spent so much time defending Nystrom finally decide to do right by the citizens of this county, who deserve to have their public officials be watch dogs in the use of tax dollars, not using it to pay off their buddies and buy their silence. The most recent allegations against Nystrom could be the final crack in the Wall of Blue or All the King's Men just might find a way to fix their boss and return to business as usual.
In previous instances, Nystrom has been accused of much but there was always a lack of solid proof, a "blue wall" of defenders and a feeling that the accusations from some were nothing more than a combination of personality conflicts, sour grapes and small town politics. However, if the allegations presented by Evans and Sheriff Dar Leaf turn out to be true, Nystrom's critics will finally be vindicated.
In the past Nystrom has personally tried to defend himself on this blog and the Barry Home Companion in the guise of "Truthseeker," often by accusing me of being part of the local paper which has been a fierce and unrelenting critic of Nystrom, even after he was cleared of other allegations in a probe by the Michigan State Police. Nystrom used the investigation's result as a way to portray himself as the victim of a witch hunt conducted by the paper and this blog.
However, the State Police probe was discounted by many in the community due to Nystrom's close ties to many State Police, including former post commander and current 911 Board Chair Ron Neil. In fact, when the 911 board allowed Nystrom's lawyer access to his office, it conveniently was Neil who was allowed to escort him. It's amazing to me that no one else on the board saw the potential for mischief and forced someone more impartial to take part in the visit. I can't help but wonder if once again the wall surrounding Nystrom will protect him and keep the truth from coming out.
Despite the media coverage I can't help but feel like I've seen this film before. The allegations once again sound grave but Evans has yet to press any charges and hints he may not, despite his calling this a case of "embezzlement." At this point, despite having gone public with the inflammatory charge, the investigation has only interviewed a mere 2 of 11 dispatchers. Eyewitness accounts from today's meeting has said that Evans and Leaf were less than convincing in their presentations. Could it be that once again critics of Nystrom have gone public with their allegations without enough evidence to convict?
I'd like to think that this time the people responsible for defending their claims will have the weight of evidence on their side. And this time, I'm hoping that those who've spent so much time defending Nystrom finally decide to do right by the citizens of this county, who deserve to have their public officials be watch dogs in the use of tax dollars, not using it to pay off their buddies and buy their silence. The most recent allegations against Nystrom could be the final crack in the Wall of Blue or All the King's Men just might find a way to fix their boss and return to business as usual.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Death by Diet Coke?
I was going to send this link via email to a circle of friends and family, knowing most of them would probably ignore it among the mass of jokes and cute pictures and "male enhancement" emails clogging up their in boxes and then I realized that I should reward the regular readers of this site awaiting a new post.
Anyway, I hate to join the latest health scare panic as I usually find that the stories don't hold up to their initial promise, but this latest disturbing health study seems part of a pattern to me...
(snip)
The FDA has become a joke and whether it's Chinese food unfit for animal or human consumption or killer pharmaceuticals released without proper testing (at the same time they tell you that you can't get them from Canada because it might not be safe or that if you smoke pot you are a dangerous criminal who will end up stupid and forgetful).
Maybe it's time to write your Congressman or one of your two Senators:
Yes, it seems as if they want to make the companies themselves responsible for their own testing. The reason we have an FDA is because we know what happens when companies are in charge of overseeing the safety of their own products without government "interference" and "over regulation." Anyone remember the Ford Pinto's exploding gas tank?
In the 1970s Ralph Nader warned of and tried to do something about the fact that airlines needed to strengthen their cockpit doors as a means to help defend against plane hijackings, a warning which went unheeded due to the airlines' insistence that such a regulation would be burdensome to the industry. Anyone care to "connect the dots" there? If our government would have insisted on public safety maybe the public wouldn't have had to write a $15 billion check after 9/11? Also, we likely wouldn't have started a bogus invasion of a foreign country, leading to a bloody and costly occupation.
We now a see a pattern of a political philosophy that sees government as the problem when in fact, in the case of food and drug safety, it's the lack of government that is a problem. Without rigid regulations, stiff inspections and serious penalties for failure to meet a proper standard, we will continue to have to take our lives into our own hands when we sit down at our dinner table or when we pop a pill.
Anyway, I hate to join the latest health scare panic as I usually find that the stories don't hold up to their initial promise, but this latest disturbing health study seems part of a pattern to me...
Caution: Some soft drinks may seriously harm your health
Expert links additive to cell damage
By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Published: 27 May 2007
A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.
The problem - more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse - can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.
(snip)
Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer because when mixed with the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it causes benzene, a carcinogenic substance. A Food Standards Agency survey of benzene in drinks last year found high levels in four brands which were removed from sale.
Now, an expert in ageing at Sheffield University, who has been working on sodium benzoate since publishing a research paper in 1999, has decided to speak out about another danger. Professor Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, tested the impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA in the "power station" of cells known as the mitochondria.
The FDA has become a joke and whether it's Chinese food unfit for animal or human consumption or killer pharmaceuticals released without proper testing (at the same time they tell you that you can't get them from Canada because it might not be safe or that if you smoke pot you are a dangerous criminal who will end up stupid and forgetful).
Maybe it's time to write your Congressman or one of your two Senators:
After all, if you're not testing for it, it's easy to say there's no problem since it hasn't been caught. I'm sick of poisonous products being pumped out for corporate profit without regard to the many lives affected. Our current system has failed to protect the public and it's because we've handed the keys to our country over to people who only care about their own bottom line and have managed to gut the FDA's power to properly inspect our food and drug supply:The FDA normally inspects about 1 percent of all food and food ingredients at U.S. borders. It does tests on about half of 1 percent.
And official vigilance has been going down — for two reasons.
First, food imports have increased dramatically, from $45 billion in 2003 to $64 billion three years later.
Second, the "food" part of the FDA has been getting smaller.
Earlier this year, lead-contaminated multivitamins showed up on the shelves of U.S. retailers. And this spring, vitamin A from China contaminated with dangerous bacteria nearly ended up in European baby food.It's bound to happen more often. Hubbard says the agency is overwhelmed by the rising tide of imports.
"When I came to the FDA in the 1970s, the food program was almost half of the FDA's budget. Today, it's only a quarter," Hubbard says.
Experts say the FDA has about 650 food inspectors to cover 60,000 domestic food producers and 418 ports of entry.
The agency plans to close nearly half of its 13 food-testing labs.
Yes, it seems as if they want to make the companies themselves responsible for their own testing. The reason we have an FDA is because we know what happens when companies are in charge of overseeing the safety of their own products without government "interference" and "over regulation." Anyone remember the Ford Pinto's exploding gas tank?
In the 1970s Ralph Nader warned of and tried to do something about the fact that airlines needed to strengthen their cockpit doors as a means to help defend against plane hijackings, a warning which went unheeded due to the airlines' insistence that such a regulation would be burdensome to the industry. Anyone care to "connect the dots" there? If our government would have insisted on public safety maybe the public wouldn't have had to write a $15 billion check after 9/11? Also, we likely wouldn't have started a bogus invasion of a foreign country, leading to a bloody and costly occupation.
We now a see a pattern of a political philosophy that sees government as the problem when in fact, in the case of food and drug safety, it's the lack of government that is a problem. Without rigid regulations, stiff inspections and serious penalties for failure to meet a proper standard, we will continue to have to take our lives into our own hands when we sit down at our dinner table or when we pop a pill.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
The bad idea that won't die
While a noble band of local folks have been waging a grass-roots campaign to try to stop a Super Wal-Mart from being constructed just outside the Hastings city limits, Hastings City and Rutland Township officials have been quietly negotiating a deal with the giant retailer. Citizens: Prepare thyselves for Wal-Mart’s presence near the corner of Green Street and Cook Road in Rutland Township. Back-room politics appear to be winning yet another battle in hyper capitalism’s war on the unwary working middle class.
Forget the fact that a horde of local citizens cheered when the Rutland Township Planning Commission voted unanimously in March against recommending Wal-Mart’s request for mixed use zoning to accommodate the project. Forget the fact the Rutland Township Board last month voted 4-3 in the face of public opposition to have another traffic study done, effectively delaying Wal-Mart’s request to get started on a "super" shopping center. Forget what you heard about the Super Wal-Mart plan being dead. Like a movie monster, this bad idea just keeps getting up again in order to continue scaring the villagers...
The crucial argument against Super Wal-Mart’s location selection has been the nature of Green Street, residential, too narrow and too close to a hospital that needs quick ingress and egress for emergency vehicles. The secondary argument against the world’s largest retailer is its awful habit of ruining small communities by sucking the life out of downtowns, forcing taxpayers to widen roads and provide infrastructure as a result of Wal-Mart’s mere presence and the retail giant’s penchant for locating just outside the city limits and in the adjacent township to avoid paying higher city taxes (in Hastings the levy is 16.2 mills, in Rutland, it’s one measly mill).
Several city and township officials, through private negotiations, apparently have cut off the traffic argument at the pass with a novel idea: Closing Green Street just to the west of Pennock Hospital and Fish Hatchery Park, thereby countering claims Green is too narrow and the hospital can’t absorb increase in traffic. Meanwhile, it seems people then could get to Wal-Mart from Cook Road and the portion of Green that runs from Cook east from the M-37/M-43 traffic light that was necessitated by the current existing Wal-Mart and paid for by taxpayer dollars.
I’ve always said one of the most important functions of government is to solve problems, and a few city and township officials seem to feel they’ve done just that. They’ve found a way to avoid potential costly litigation at the hands of the second richest company in the world, second only to Exxon/Mobil. And they didn’t get that way by just being the benevolent smily-face falling prices public relations fantasy baloney they’ve fed us for so long. They’ve gotten where they are by bullying backwoods rube governments with little courage and not enough knowledge or money to stand up to them. They’ve climbed to the top on the backs of poor Third World workers who ultimately are doing what many Americans used to do, only much cheaper and under conditions more foul than the sweatshops of late 19th Century America in the era of robber barons. They’ve used cut-throat tactics to sell their products for less and eliminate competition, which is supposed to be the cornerstone of the free market enterprise system.
But it seems too many consumers examine only what’s right in front of them, the low price, while ignoring the man behind the curtain who hopes someday to be the only seller left standing so he can name whatever price he wishes. Some letter writers to the local newspaper call this process “progress” for Hastings and Barry County. I call it a giant step back into the early 20th century before Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Era put a stop to it.
So city and township officials seem to have found a way to let Wal-Mart in the back door. And they’ll probably tell us they were forced to, they couldn’t legally stop the world’s largest retailer. At the risk of invoking Godwin's Law, I sentence Jim Carr, Jeff Mansfield and a few other sellouts to study the story of the Munich Conference in 1938, when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain gave away the Sudetenland to Adolf Hitler, declaring “Peace in Our Time.”
And I challenge the many people who live here to engage in a serious boycott of ever buying anything at Wal-Mart. If your local elected officials won’t stand up for you, you’re going to have to resort to the only weapon you have left: “Vote with your pocketbook.”
And I challenge the readers of this blog to call up their local representatives and let them know that if they don't support local businesses and citizens, maybe those businesses and citizens won't support them when they run for re-election. Don't let Barry County join the race to the bottom we like to call "globalization." Don't let back door deals override the will of the people. And don't let the politicians forget that they can get "downsized" when they don't defend the working class that pays their salaries and votes them in or out of office.
And for any politician or citizen who wants to do the right thing and fight Wal-Mart, please click go to Wal-Mart Watch's BattleMart page.
Forget the fact that a horde of local citizens cheered when the Rutland Township Planning Commission voted unanimously in March against recommending Wal-Mart’s request for mixed use zoning to accommodate the project. Forget the fact the Rutland Township Board last month voted 4-3 in the face of public opposition to have another traffic study done, effectively delaying Wal-Mart’s request to get started on a "super" shopping center. Forget what you heard about the Super Wal-Mart plan being dead. Like a movie monster, this bad idea just keeps getting up again in order to continue scaring the villagers...
The crucial argument against Super Wal-Mart’s location selection has been the nature of Green Street, residential, too narrow and too close to a hospital that needs quick ingress and egress for emergency vehicles. The secondary argument against the world’s largest retailer is its awful habit of ruining small communities by sucking the life out of downtowns, forcing taxpayers to widen roads and provide infrastructure as a result of Wal-Mart’s mere presence and the retail giant’s penchant for locating just outside the city limits and in the adjacent township to avoid paying higher city taxes (in Hastings the levy is 16.2 mills, in Rutland, it’s one measly mill).
Several city and township officials, through private negotiations, apparently have cut off the traffic argument at the pass with a novel idea: Closing Green Street just to the west of Pennock Hospital and Fish Hatchery Park, thereby countering claims Green is too narrow and the hospital can’t absorb increase in traffic. Meanwhile, it seems people then could get to Wal-Mart from Cook Road and the portion of Green that runs from Cook east from the M-37/M-43 traffic light that was necessitated by the current existing Wal-Mart and paid for by taxpayer dollars.
I’ve always said one of the most important functions of government is to solve problems, and a few city and township officials seem to feel they’ve done just that. They’ve found a way to avoid potential costly litigation at the hands of the second richest company in the world, second only to Exxon/Mobil. And they didn’t get that way by just being the benevolent smily-face falling prices public relations fantasy baloney they’ve fed us for so long. They’ve gotten where they are by bullying backwoods rube governments with little courage and not enough knowledge or money to stand up to them. They’ve climbed to the top on the backs of poor Third World workers who ultimately are doing what many Americans used to do, only much cheaper and under conditions more foul than the sweatshops of late 19th Century America in the era of robber barons. They’ve used cut-throat tactics to sell their products for less and eliminate competition, which is supposed to be the cornerstone of the free market enterprise system.
But it seems too many consumers examine only what’s right in front of them, the low price, while ignoring the man behind the curtain who hopes someday to be the only seller left standing so he can name whatever price he wishes. Some letter writers to the local newspaper call this process “progress” for Hastings and Barry County. I call it a giant step back into the early 20th century before Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Era put a stop to it.
So city and township officials seem to have found a way to let Wal-Mart in the back door. And they’ll probably tell us they were forced to, they couldn’t legally stop the world’s largest retailer. At the risk of invoking Godwin's Law, I sentence Jim Carr, Jeff Mansfield and a few other sellouts to study the story of the Munich Conference in 1938, when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain gave away the Sudetenland to Adolf Hitler, declaring “Peace in Our Time.”
And I challenge the many people who live here to engage in a serious boycott of ever buying anything at Wal-Mart. If your local elected officials won’t stand up for you, you’re going to have to resort to the only weapon you have left: “Vote with your pocketbook.”
And I challenge the readers of this blog to call up their local representatives and let them know that if they don't support local businesses and citizens, maybe those businesses and citizens won't support them when they run for re-election. Don't let Barry County join the race to the bottom we like to call "globalization." Don't let back door deals override the will of the people. And don't let the politicians forget that they can get "downsized" when they don't defend the working class that pays their salaries and votes them in or out of office.
And for any politician or citizen who wants to do the right thing and fight Wal-Mart, please click go to Wal-Mart Watch's BattleMart page.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Tax cutting the trees down
I'm sure many people didn't give much though to a recent story about the city of Grand Rapids being forced to cut down dozens of ash trees due to the spread of the invasive pest, the Emerald Ash Borer but I think it's something you should pay attention to. Millions of trees are being killed by this pest but efforts to contain its spread were cut:
I'm sure some people will dismiss this as not a major news story but imagine streets lined with large, stately trees that the city of Grand Rapids is now going to have to replace:
Imagine the quality of life in those neighborhoods that will be lost, the higher heating and cooling bills due to the loss of shade and windbreak. These seem like silly concerns because our society often dismisses things that no one is able to package and sell in a sound byte. But also add up the tax dollars that need to be spent to deal with the problem and the loss of home value in the neighborhoods defined by streets lined with beautiful trees. Federal and state government should have been managing the crisis before it got out of hand but instead they passed it off to overwhelmed local officials and homeowners. Now communities all over are dealing with the problem and who knows how much money it will cost in the long run because government didn't wisely allocate its resources and people weren't willing to support the programs needed to avoid this problem.
And why couldn't we have just spent the money to deal with the problem in the first place? Because some people would cry about tax dollars being "wasted fighting bugs." I think they're just greedy, the same kind of greed that says a person with mental or physical problems should be forced to go out and earn a living instead of getting a "handout." The starve the beast and drown government in the bathtub crowd doesn't care about those that can't help themselves. They don't want to pay for mental institutions or welfare agencies, food stamps or Head Start. They don't mind taxes for roads, mostly torn up by the big trucks that take merchandise from one rich man's warehouse to another. They don't mind taxes to pay for big stadiums where they have luxury boxes. And they don't mind paying taxes for airports where they can fly their private planes. But taxes to fight bugs are a sign of bloated bureaucracy and if only we'd "trim the fat" we'd balance the state budget and everything would be fine.
Once again, I remind you of Howard Wolpe's famous words: "Read my lips, raise YOUR taxes." Feel good tax cuts are passed by politicians which mostly benefit the wealthiest Americans but then spend whatever it takes on a war without end or even a reason. We pass the burden down to the people least able to deal with it while the rich and powerful party away. They always cry "class warfare" whenever anyone brings up the widening imbalance between rich and poor in America and usually they manage to force people to back down. But change is coming...
The poor are finally waking to the fact that as they are told their kids' schools may have to shut early, luxury yacht owners can't find a slip for their million dollar toys. While people grumble yet pay their dues to the federal government, the rich hide behind tax shelters and then try to convince you they're being over-burdened. Well, that's too bad for them because I thought we "are all hurting" yet the rich are making more and more money every year while our services are being cut.
Sadly, most people don't seem to get it. I guess it's easier to blame the guy who's in between jobs or to shift the burden to the single mom who left her abusive boyfriend and now has to support her and her kid. Maybe it takes a little intelligence to think in the long term instead of seeking immediate gratification. Maybe it's asking to much for people to see the forest for the trees.
We've been seriously ignoring our long-term problems while relying on short term thinking and feel good solutions to complex issues. We can continue to ignore the warning signs: the dead trees, the potholes in the road, the closed school buildings and the workers headed out of state or we can understand that the paid lobbyists have bought our government and are going to keep squeezing as much money out of it as they can. Meanwhile, you wonder why they're closing schools and hospitals. But don't worry, this is just a story about a couple of dead trees...
In April 2003, the state cut down more than 15,000 trees in Wyoming as a part of a federally-funded eradication effort. But over the last two years, the feds cut funding for the program and by the time trees in Cascade Township were found with it last June, the state had already decided to concentrate their efforts on other parts of Michigan. That means local municipalities and property owners are on their own.
"They've left basically this side of the state to deal with the problem," said Public Works Director Patrick Bush.
I'm sure some people will dismiss this as not a major news story but imagine streets lined with large, stately trees that the city of Grand Rapids is now going to have to replace:
Heartwell said the city's 7,000 ash trees are at risk because of the invasive species of beetle whose larvae feed on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients.
"This is significant," Heartwell said. "It's going to change the face of Grand Rapids."
Last fall, the city unveiled a plan to replace all the city's ash trees over the next 10 years. The plan is expected to cost between $7 million and $12 million.
Imagine the quality of life in those neighborhoods that will be lost, the higher heating and cooling bills due to the loss of shade and windbreak. These seem like silly concerns because our society often dismisses things that no one is able to package and sell in a sound byte. But also add up the tax dollars that need to be spent to deal with the problem and the loss of home value in the neighborhoods defined by streets lined with beautiful trees. Federal and state government should have been managing the crisis before it got out of hand but instead they passed it off to overwhelmed local officials and homeowners. Now communities all over are dealing with the problem and who knows how much money it will cost in the long run because government didn't wisely allocate its resources and people weren't willing to support the programs needed to avoid this problem.
And why couldn't we have just spent the money to deal with the problem in the first place? Because some people would cry about tax dollars being "wasted fighting bugs." I think they're just greedy, the same kind of greed that says a person with mental or physical problems should be forced to go out and earn a living instead of getting a "handout." The starve the beast and drown government in the bathtub crowd doesn't care about those that can't help themselves. They don't want to pay for mental institutions or welfare agencies, food stamps or Head Start. They don't mind taxes for roads, mostly torn up by the big trucks that take merchandise from one rich man's warehouse to another. They don't mind taxes to pay for big stadiums where they have luxury boxes. And they don't mind paying taxes for airports where they can fly their private planes. But taxes to fight bugs are a sign of bloated bureaucracy and if only we'd "trim the fat" we'd balance the state budget and everything would be fine.
Once again, I remind you of Howard Wolpe's famous words: "Read my lips, raise YOUR taxes." Feel good tax cuts are passed by politicians which mostly benefit the wealthiest Americans but then spend whatever it takes on a war without end or even a reason. We pass the burden down to the people least able to deal with it while the rich and powerful party away. They always cry "class warfare" whenever anyone brings up the widening imbalance between rich and poor in America and usually they manage to force people to back down. But change is coming...
The poor are finally waking to the fact that as they are told their kids' schools may have to shut early, luxury yacht owners can't find a slip for their million dollar toys. While people grumble yet pay their dues to the federal government, the rich hide behind tax shelters and then try to convince you they're being over-burdened. Well, that's too bad for them because I thought we "are all hurting" yet the rich are making more and more money every year while our services are being cut.
Sadly, most people don't seem to get it. I guess it's easier to blame the guy who's in between jobs or to shift the burden to the single mom who left her abusive boyfriend and now has to support her and her kid. Maybe it takes a little intelligence to think in the long term instead of seeking immediate gratification. Maybe it's asking to much for people to see the forest for the trees.
We've been seriously ignoring our long-term problems while relying on short term thinking and feel good solutions to complex issues. We can continue to ignore the warning signs: the dead trees, the potholes in the road, the closed school buildings and the workers headed out of state or we can understand that the paid lobbyists have bought our government and are going to keep squeezing as much money out of it as they can. Meanwhile, you wonder why they're closing schools and hospitals. But don't worry, this is just a story about a couple of dead trees...
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