Archive for December, 2011

Dan Calabrese

I wrote a few weeks back that I haven’t watched any of the Republican presidential debates thus far. That surprised a lot of people who assume a) I’m a political junkie who can’t get enough of this stuff; and b) I’d be glued to the set rooting for my friend Herman Cain.

The truth is that it was excruciating for me, even when Herman was soaring in the polls, to watch him go through this game show/beauty pageant of a contest. For those who don’t know, I have been the syndicator of Herman’s newspaper column for six years (yes, he still writes it every week, and did so throughout his campaign). So I got plenty of opportunities to talk to him regardless.

If I wanted to know how he was doing, I could ask him. I didn’t need to see him up on some stage answering Wolf Blitzer’s idiot question about whether he prefers Elvis or Johnny Cash.

The hardest thing about seeing a friend of yours run for president was not the scandalous allegations, although that was hard. It’s just that the allegations were so absurd for anyone who knows him, they were honestly more a source of amusement than anything else. Thinking of Herman fooling around on Gloria or grabbing some woman’s crotch in a car – it was like trying to imagine Kwame Kilpatrick taking responsibility for something. You just couldn’t.

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Jocelyn Benson

Republicans in the Michigan Legislature are on the right track with a proposal to reform the state’s election recall laws. Current laws are too vague and establish virtually no standards for why a lawmaker can be recalled. But the proposed reforms – while they are a step in the right direction – go too far in taking away certain voter discretion.

Accountability is the very heart of a democracy.  Without it, voters are devoid of any real opportunity to ensure their elected officials are serving their interests.

That’s the idea behind giving voters the power to recall an elected official in the middle of a term. It’s a chance for citizens, unhappy with the job performance of their chosen representative, to yank them from office and replace them with someone more dutiful.

But in Michigan, one of 19 states that allow citizens to recall their officials, the current law is too vague and needs to be amended.

It allows a recall attempt for any reason, including a false one.  This is what happened recently in Grand Rapids, where Democratic State Rep. Brandon Dillon recently faced a potential recall based on a false claim.  Petitioners sought to recall Dillon because, they said, he voted against House Bill 4408.  In reality, Dillon supported the bill, which called for an investigation into unemployment fraud.

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Herman Cain

You’re not defeated as long as you never stop fighting. And while my presidential campaign is suspended, it’s important to remember that my pursuit of the presidency was only a means to an end. As long as the end is achieved, victory will be at hand.

My incredible army of supporters, whom I can never thank enough for all they have done so far, have not labored in vain. The real prize is still ours for the taking.

I did not want to become president just for the sake of being president. I’m perfectly happy with what I’ve accomplished in my life and I don’t need the ego boost. Rather, I sought the presidency because our nation has some big problems to deal with, and it’s clear that our political class has neither the will nor the ability to solve them.

For that very reason, I was not surprised that I was viciously attacked once I rose in the polls. I was surprised by the nature of the attacks. Me, a womanizer? I would never have thought they’d come up with that one. But I knew the establishment would not like the idea of my success, because I will not get along by going along like so many do. I will not kick the can down the road to the next generation of leaders, because our problems are serious and they need to be solved now.

That threatens people who know there may be a political price to pay for enacting solutions that will work, and would rather wait things out and let someone else take the heat. That would not have been possible during a Cain presidency.

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Jake Davison

The Occupy Wall Street “movement” claims 1 percent of the nation has 40 percent of its wealth. That may be true, but it’s also true that roughly 15 percent of the nation has roughly 85 percent of the character traits, attitudes, self-discipline and higher personal expectations (which you might also call snobbery) that put that wealth in their pocket.

I’m willing to admit that the top 2 percenters through 14 percenters may have benefited from some luck, or marriage, or wandered into a safe trade (such as information technology, government middle management or Michigan public school administration) without much intentional self-sacrifice. In fact, some people actually get paid to spout their personal political opinions in newspapers and on web sites.

Odds are, the more money an American earns (not inherits), the less lazy, fat, broke and spendthrift they are. By “odds are,” I also mean “in general” and “with certain exceptions” and “if this has not been your experience, I’m not calling you a liar.” I can’t prove it and you can’t prove I’m wrong, but I’d be happy to bet $10,000 on it.

But the poor grew up with certain disadvantages, you say. People born rich tend to remain rich, the poor stay poor and those in the middle have a hard time getting out of the middle. Yes, thank you for making my point for me. This rule of “behavior begets your bank account” does not just apply to the unkempt, morbidly obese, slack-jawed welfare recipient who takes her four out-of-control children to the Rent-A-Center to lease a couch and the party store for “groceries.” It applies to the working and middle classes as well.

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Gregory D. Lee

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is demanding that “night raids” conducted by U.S. and NATO special forces operators be stopped. He proclaimed during a speech to the country’s Loya Jirga that he was set to end night raids, home searches and detentions by coalition troops before endorsing a strategic agreement that outlines the structure for continued American presence after most international combat forces leave Afghanistan in 2014.

Earlier this year, while an Army reservist on active duty on a special assignment to the Special Operations Command Europe, I deployed to Afghanistan to specifically look into the “Rule of Law” phase of our counterinsurgency strategy, which in part includes so-called “night raids.”

The strategy is straightforward. The goal is to stand up Afghan security forces and make them capable of enforcing their own laws to bring terrorists, insurgents, drug traffickers and other criminals to trial for their illegal activities. The key to the strategy is to allow the Afghan security forces to take the lead and demonstrate to the populace that a strong central government in Kabul is providing for its security.

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Dan Calabrese

Here’s something that’s happening in a certain state:

The Legislature has instituted a 3 percent tax on salaries, which applies only to certain people. The courts have declared the tax illegal, but the administration is appealing the ruling. While the case is on appeal, the state is continuing to collect the tax and deposit it in escrow accounts while it waits for a ruling from the state Supreme Court.

The opposition party in the Legislature is demanding that the administration drop the appeal and return the money to the taxpayers. It says there is $500 million in the escrow account.

So! Which state’s Democratic governor is trying to keep collecting a tax that’s already been ruled illegal? Which state’s brave group of Republican legislators has stood up for the rights of taxpayers, who are having money taxed from them in spite of the legal problems associated with the tax?

Ha! It’s a trick question!

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Robert Laurie

Rochester, MICHIGAN – Against a theatrical backdrop of Ebenezer Scrooge’s counting house, fat cat filmmaker Michael Moore donned his finest sweatpants and took the stage at Oakland University Wednesday night before hundreds of adoring fans. That the school had recently played debate host to what he called “eight Republican crazies” was an irony not lost on the Icon of Occupy. Billed as a reading, lecture and “Here Comes Trouble” book-signing, Moore’s 90-minute, expletive-laced address was actually an exuberant tour of the Michigan filmmaker’s ideology.

While his audience already knew what Moore believes, the best parts of an evening organized as part of his “Here Comes Trouble” book tour may have been a surprising willingness to admit the failures of his elected fellow travelers. Michael Moore is terribly disappointed in the Obama Administration, admits that the youth vote has abandoned The One and fears that he may be the ultimate Crony Capitalist.

Oh, yes – one more thing. Moore also has a deep disdain for a web site called The Michigan

View.com, and would like you to know that he doesn’t own a $2 million mansion on Torch Lake. In fact, he says he’s never even seen the house that he and his wife own, according to Antrim County public tax records, Antrim County officials, local real estate agents, local contractors and neighbors.

Okaaaay.

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