And now, a word from our sponsor

by: Eric B.

Fri Jan 28, 2011 at 11:55:26 AM EST

Many thanks to them, especially now, with some additional costs to operate this site coming due.

They got in on our current rate structure, and have line up another week in the near future. We've also got preliminary approval from someone else who's locked up all of March. So, if you want to support this site and tell the MichLib readership about something or someone you think is worth introducing them to, act now. Starting Monday, sponsorship rates go from $15 a day to $25, from $80 a week to $100, and from $300 for the whole month to $360.

A fistful of bad news: Rock 'em, sock 'em robots edition

by: Eric B.

Thu Jan 27, 2011 at 15:56:30 PM EST

I was working the copy desk one night, and after going to the back to take some page negatives back to the camera room came back to my cubicle to find the little light blinking that announced a phone message. I dialed into the system, and it was a reporter who'd gone to a meeting and had returned. This was not a particularly bright person, but I was still amazed when I actually heard what I have since deduced was the reporter's mental faculties momentarily shutting down. It was either that, or I was hearing the physical manifestation of what happens when the hemispheres of one's brain detach and then slowly and painfully fuse themselves back together. Then, whatever malady had forced the reboot passed, and the reporter fnished the message. True story.

By the way, after I was laid off, they apparently never removed me from the office phone system (probably because the IT guy got whacked the same day). As of two months ago, if you called (989) 779-6054, you could still leave a voice mail for me.

Onwards!

*--Stephen Henderson writes actual nuts-and-bolts journalism about the raging controversy over the Detroit water system. Macomb's water guy opposes Oakland's attempt to seize control of the system.

*--Fred Upton's miraculous change from sober moderate to screaming Tea Party nutjob has left people puzzled. Meanwhile, Dave Camp is pushing for more free trade pacts ... you know, the kind of free trade pacts that tilt the competetive playing field towards other countries and have added pressure for American companies to reduce wages and lower environmental standards.

*--The Dem LGBT caucus to hold an anti-bullying meeting in February.

*--Remember the other day when we learned that Kim Meltzer said that Kim Meltzer was wrong for saying that Leon Drolet had introduced legislation that would lead to perverts fondling small children in parks? We're reminded that Kim Meltzer and 9th Congressional District Chairman Glenn Clark walked hand-in-hand.

*--The Jackson Citizen Patriot likens Jennifer Granholm to Matt Millen. By the way, the CitPat was the paper that once endorsed censorship of library books that made angry the easily offended. I could let that one drop, because the controversy is 20 years old, or I could keep alive political memory.

*--Remember Gene Clem? He's the Tea Party activist who wanted to let Tea Party activists teach history despite having no credentials to do so. He also backed Robert Shostak for GOP state chairman. In doing so, he's enraged another of his tribe, who regards Shostak as nothing more than a Democrat because he's given money to people in both parties.

*--Henry Payne declares war on Dow Chemical because it's leveraged federal grant dollars into making marketable alternative energy products, and also the space program, which he says produced nothing of value for the commercial market (those communists at the Black and Decker company appear proud to have gotten something of value from helping put a guy on the moon, and an entire Wiki article dedicated to spin-off technology that Henry Payne apparently opted not to look at). Meanwhile, Troy Reiminck in the MLive borg wonders if Henry Payne was on to something in saying that because Jennifer Granholm gave a State of the State with similar themes if the wheels aren't about to come off the American economy. It's been a fixture on MLive this week, matter o' fact. Guys, let me draw some lines for you ... Henry Payne contributes to the National Review, scribbles for the Detroit News, and has occasionally worked with and/or for the Mackinac Center. These aren't people who independently arrive at conclusions. They share and steal them from each other, and everyone is okay with this arrangement because it's essentially just a giant echo chamber. It's been going on like this for the last decade ... but thanks for starting to clue in.

*--Remember those ads last fall that essentially just repeated "Jocelyn Benson ... Soros, Soros, Soros. Jocelyn Benson ... Soros, Soros, Soros." And, we were led to believe that it all involved technology improvements to expand the ability of the American people to vote? Online voting, now coming to a democracy near you. Soros, Soros, Soros.

*--Daniel Howes stumbles across something in the Wall Street Journal's editorial page that blames unions for everything, and decides to share. This is the same Howes that once blamed unfunded pension liabilities on greedy unions.

*--The DSO strike talks hit a snag. Quick, someone alert Daniel Howes!

*--Today in grime and punishment: Kwame allowed to review DVD evidence, embezzlement charges dropped against ex-Highland Park finance manager, and Craig DeRoche cleared of gun charges because of the Second Amendment. Meanwhile, an entirely different judge threw out Rocky's defamation suit against Gary Peters and Mark Brewer.

*--Smell the regionalism, non-Detroit water system style. And, does the Lansing State Journal publish stuff like this just to enrage Bill Ballenger?

*--Mixed grades for the MEA's agenda.

*--Jack Lessenberry on the incredibly stupid idea to allow people to carry guns into bars. Again, if we're talking about guns right now, what we ought to be talking about is how to keep them out of the hands of the mentally ill.

Coming Monday, new rates for sponsorships

by: Eric B.

Thu Jan 27, 2011 at 13:58:59 PM EST

I've been talking about new rates for sponsorships since, like, before the new year. Its time to stop talking and just pull the trigger. $25 for the day, $100 for the week and $360 for the month. That is reflective of a few things, like that it's more time and energy intensive to change the thing constantly for day sponsorships, that our weekly package is most popular and that the thing isn't always filled. So, for a week, you basically cover the site's monthly bills and after that help cover the time required to administrate and manage. That's all beyond the issue of getting paid to write content, which I guess is a fringe benefit to doing that other stuff.

The new rates will become effective Monday, so if you'd like to set up a sponsorship under the current rate system ($15 per day, $80 per week, and $300 per month), contact me at ebaerren@michiganliberal.com before Monday. And, there are some added expenses related to the site coming up in the next week that otherwise are coming out of my own pocket, so it would be greatly appreciated during this winter heating bill season.

What dod you get in return? The ad up and to the right, front page posts announcing your support, my personal thanks, and the knowledge that if this site really is one of the big influencers in state politics that you are making that possible. Plus, I'll send you a digital image of a ham sandwich, and we all like ham sandwiches, don't we?

Domestic partner benefits for public employees

by: Eric B.

Wed Jan 26, 2011 at 16:03:44 PM EST

Remember, when benevolent overlord Rick Michigan was talking about attracting young talent by making Michigan a great place to live?

The Michigan Civil Service Commission voted 3-1 today to extend health care benefits to the domestic partners of thousands of state employees, ...

Huzzah! A glorious new day of freedom is upon us! All hail the glorious rule of our most generous overlord!

Oh wait, you say that sentence wasn't finished? Where'd the rest of that sentence go? Here it is:

... despite objections from the administration of Gov. Rick Snyder that the state can’t afford them.

Oh my.

Dear benevolent overlord Rick Michigan, Michigan is already about as unattractive as a state can get for attracting young, intelligent talent who also happen to be homosexual. I mean, we changed the whole constitution just to make this state more hostile to them. Thing is ... most of the youngin's today have among their friends at least one person who is overtly gay, and when they see a state that is unfriendly to them, it probably doesn't appear terribly inviting to them, either. So what say we make with a little extra green to undo the damage to Michigan's competitiveness in terms of livability in the middle of the last decade?

Too stupid to breathe

by: Eric B.

Wed Jan 26, 2011 at 13:46:13 PM EST

So, we've got this budget deficit of almost $2 billion, which will undoubtedly require cuts from all manner of state services, including very probably community mental health, because the idea that we might increase revenue to properly fund government (and keep stable what ought to be a stablizing influence on the economy) is, well, not terribly popular. So, we're probably going to see cuts to community mental health, which will probably mean that more poor people with mental problems won't be able to get help or at least the help they really need.  So, they'll continue to be poor and have untreated mental health issues.

So, what do we do in the face of that?

LANSING - Legislation to do away with the list of places where concealed weapons are banned in Michigan – including churches, arenas and bars – was introduced today in the state Senate.

Sen. Mike Green, R-Mayville, the bill’s sponsor, said the restrictions, enacted as part of a controversial change in concealed weapons law a decade ago which made licenses easier to obtain, are cumbersome and unnecessary.

Oh, so while we're cutting mental health services we're also going to make it easier for people to obtain and carry around firearms. He's got a point ... mentally ill people who shouldn't obtain firearms but who do because it's easier to get a gun than mental health assistance have never caused any problems.

Update! ... We go to Jeff T. Wattrick on a related matter.

As more details emerge about the criminal activities of Lamar Moore, the man who shot four police officers at Detroit’s 6th Precinct, it’s all the more likely Moore was a seriously sick individual. The problem is that casual diagnosis comes after the fact.

The upshot ... this is the time to make sure that mentally ill people get help instead of guns. Later is the time to worry if people's Constitutional rights are really being violated by asking them not to pack heat in church (also, if you have to bring a gun into the House of God, it seems likely that you may not be entirely clear on the whole Prince of Peace thing).

A fistful of bad news: State of the Union edition

by: Eric B.

Tue Jan 25, 2011 at 12:22:09 PM EST

That sneaky Muslim fellow from Kenya, I'm told, will be broadcasting some of his sneaky Kenyan propaganda through mind control rays through something sneakily called a television signal tonight. It's a horror unleashed upon the American public not seen since he told school children on the first day of school to make education a priority and study hard. I'm also told that if you don't watch, a second signal piggybacked on the first one will activate nanorobots injected into your body through the ink on the Census forms we all filled out a couple of years back, and these will turn your brain into a thick goo before causing your head to explode. Not me. I ripped out the receptor implant and plan to hack into the signal and tell people to wake up and fight the Matrix!

By the way, anyone else catch Tim Pawlenty's presidential run ad? Think anyone thought to tell him that we were only able to land on the moon because of massive investments in scientific research and through a government agency and at a time when the top marginal tax rate was well above 50 percent? We live in sad times.

Onward!

*--Tim Walberg and Mike Rogers want Obama to think about nothing but jobs tonight. That's good, because Rogers has "launching endless invasive investigations designed for no purpose than undermining Obama on national security" and Walberg has "demanding impeachment because Obama hasn't shown his long-form birth certificate to Rush Limbaugh" taken care of.

*--I'm sure everyone has heard about this by now, but it's big, pink, and oily, so we have to take notice ... Jennifer Granholm is headed to California. Skubick presents in wry fashion. Response to her (many) who'll complain that she made a mess and then left after dumping it in someone else's lap: Quit being stupid.

*--Remember that big oil spill last summer? Well, it's all gone and you don't have to worry about it. In fact, according to Magic Frank, the place is probably better off now, 'cause -- you know -- that which does not kill us... Turns out that it'll take both time and money to finish doing the job. Good thing the real culprit here, according to Magic Frank, was the EPA and not Enbridge.  By the way, the Enbridge disaster was cited by Nebraskans protesting this pipeline. Why am I linking to this article rather than the one where Enbridge is mentioned? I am in absolute love with the Ugly American comeuppance expressed in the subhead: "Texas landowners who say they resent being pushed around by a foreign company." It's even better that it involves Texas.

*--Oh, Senate District 10 Republican primary, how I miss you.

*--Speaking about that sneaky Kenyan's propaganda blitz tonight, a pair of brothers from the Metro Detroit Blob will be on hand as policy shelf knick-knacks to prove that there's gold in them-thar green. Meanwhile, he's also sending the message that this is all about jobs with him, since this is a sign that we'll get no serious climate change legislation in the next two years, which is certainly stupid but it will also make happy the scientifically illiterate Republican base, so there is that. It also runs counter the advice of James Hansen, but it's not like he knowns anything about climate or atmospheric physics or anything. Related ... Saugatuck Township wrestles with windmill rules, and there's a study that if we really put our noses to it, we could get 100 percent renewable energy by 2030. On the other hand, the same basic scientific principles behind how coal is used to generate electricity may be behind one of the planet's great mass extinctions, and what could be cooler than that (the fact that coal might help cause a second, perhaps?).

*--The Masters of the Universe to meet. By the way, I just have to ask again ... aren't these many of the same people who were business leaders when the state's economy tanked? If so, don't they share in some of the blame in the state's failure? If so, why should we have any faith that these are the people to put the state back together (here, we meander off to David Brandon, one of their kind, who left a company that since has been in the middle of a massive public relations campaign to convince the public that their product does not, in fact, suck).

*--Ford holds edge among likely car buyers. Daniel Howes writes that the competition may be hampered by instability in leadership.

*--Debbie Stabenow breathes easier as more signs point to Saul Anuzis running for Senate. If this pans out, I wonder if Stabenow will start circulating screen shots of Saul's old blog posts that are filled with bizarre word choices, incomprehensible diction, odd strings of exclamation points, and questions that answer themselves but that are not, in fact, intended to be rhetorical. Then again, appearing to be semi-literate is probably not as much of a drawback to the electorate as one would hope.

*--Were we just talking about Texas, the most obnoxious state in (forcably adhered to) the Union? Why, yes we were. Different tack, though. While our legislative leaders appear headed to building state government on the Texas "ideology before common sense" model, it turns over Texas was tops in papering over deficits with stimulus bucks. What happens with the spigot gets turned off, and states that followed Texas' lead are standing around, puzzling over how to bridge deficits? Well, don't expect help from Eric Cantor with either bailouts or bankruptcy. Folks, it just doesn't get any stupider than this.

*--No, we're going to repeal the job-killing, America-smothering MBT right now, this very second without a second's consideration of the consequences. That's how we do things in America. Worrying is for pansies. If something bad happens as a result, I'm sure we can fix it by dropping bombs on brown people.

*--If I understand something corrently, revenue sharing might soon take the form of carrots and sticks to more efficiently deliver services by local government. Jennifer Granholm suggested doing that back in 2007, and she was laughed off stage by not only Republicans, but most of the state's major media outlets. If, instead of laughing at her and calling her names, we'd have done it, I wonder if we might today have a smaller deficit as a result. Yeah, I know, it's her fault for failing to properly sell an idea that was so obvious it was at the time practically chewing on our necks. Speaking of local governments, I'm sure this is related to the weekend's super cold snap, but it will cost money to fix the broken water pipes that ended with a boil order for the people in Westland. Infrastructure ain't just roads and broadband Internet, people.

*--Ann Arbor Schools is looking for new ways to generate revenue. Thanks to Proposal A, they're options are limited. We could tweak Proposal A to broaden their options and restore stability, but that would mean not pressing the campaign to marginalize teachers unions. So, the small government, socialism-hating Republican Party would rather just finish things and start making decisions about local labor markets from one centralized locations. That sounds an awful lot like actual socialism, but ... well, there's unions to bust!

*--Mayor Virg gives a State of the City address. No word yet on rebuttal from the other party, Carol Wood and that local curmudgeon who got mad that other council members are not, in fact, retirees and have things to do. By the way, Mayor Virg went on Fox News last week to do some shouting on behalf of the UAW.

*--You can now rate comments on the Freep's website, just like you've been able to do here for five years (the difference being, I imagine, is that there you'll get troll rated for using facts, no words in all caps, and no strings of exclamation marks). They also promise that soon you'll be able to sign up for a Freep smartphone app, which you've been able to do here for the last eight months. Know what this reminds me of? That time in 2006 they opened an unmoderated forum during the gubernatorial debates and were so surprised that it immediately turned into a giant flame war they published a story on it.

*--Betty Weaver speaks.

*--Just askin' here, but do you suppose the author of this letter would have a different opinion of the outflow of people from Michigan if couched in terms that uprooting families and forcing them to leave behind neighborhoods and communities they grew up in and helped create is an economic necessity so that we don't degenerate into a permanent welfare state? My guess is that he just hates environmentalists and can see nofurther than that.

*--Hey, I make a list. Even in far-clung corners of the Empire like Alexandria, Va., they've heard of my mighty exploits! I have no idea who these people are, and they forgot an "e" in my last name (since it's also the first letter of my first name, I'm rather attached to it). I'm sure it's a scam of some kind, that when I go out for a run here in a few minutes, I'll come home to find the place cleaned out in exchange for the privilege of being thusly named (on the other hand, the print copy has all the appearance that when confronted with a small hole that would look clunky if filled with a fill ad, the editor pounded his fists on his desk, and proclaimed, "Get me the name of the first blogger you come across!").

Michigan Dashboard - Sorehead Edition

by: Buster Vainamoinen

Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 18:28:53 PM EST

Of past conduct and the Howell School Board

by: Eric B.

Mon Jan 24, 2011 at 10:39:48 AM EST

Interesting report on AnnArbor.com about the A.G.'s investigation into Andrew Shirvell's conduct. Last summer, this became a big issue for a few days and whether it the point at which it became appropriate to fire civil servants for political advocacy became a thing for a minute. Leon Drolet even revealed, at some point, that he was tangentially involved and wondered whether a mental illness was involved. Nut 'graf:

“Employees should not be fired solely for exercising their protected First Amendment rights, irrespective of how unpopular their speech might be,” according to the report, authored by Douglas Bramble, director of the office of human resources, and Thomas Cameron, bureau chief of the Criminal Justice Bureau. “However, AAG Shirvell’s conduct in violating office policy, borderline harassing behavior, inappropriately using state resources and evasive - sometime false statements given at the Disciplinary Conference, are factors which support our recommendation for his termination.”

So, there you have it. He wasn't fired for off-the-job advocacy, but because he allowed his off-the-job advocacy to make him a lousy civil servant. By the way, this has spin-off potential.

And there was the Feb. 3 e-mail to Drolet. Shirvell promised he would never engage in such conduct again after he was confronted, the documents show.

“His supervisors immediately confronted AAG Shirvell, who admitted that he sent the e-mail from a state computer, but said he was ‘on the lunch hour’ and he sent it from his personal e-mail account. Both of his supervisors, Joel McGormley and Eric Restuccia, verbally counseled him that this was an unacceptable use of state resources and to never engage in this conduct again.”

The office of the state's attorney general, at least last year, regarded public computers (and associated network infrastructure) to be state property and use of said property by employees subject to scrutiny by supervisors and management.

This is bad news for the Howell School District teachers' union. Chet Zarko's former business partner wants the state Supreme Court to rehear their request to get e-mails sent by the union to members using school-owned computers. I think the Supreme Court ought to turn down the request because the court already has a reputation among the state's legal community for reopening old cases and overturning precedents for sometimes incoherent, inconsistent reasons, and they need to reverse that or else the court's reputation for activism will just get worse. But, because some of the justices campaigned on overtly activist platforms, and because a chief cause of the court's reputation for instability was elevated to the position of chief justice, I don't think that'll happen. I think they'll reopen the case and I think we can predict how it'll turn out without using so much as a Magic 8-Ball.

The solution is a legislative one. The current legislative majority was crafted in part on a platform of greater transparency in government, and they ought to pursue that by making it clear that any e-mail sent from a public computer is subject to transparency laws. While they're at it, they ought to also end exemptions for legislative offices and completed internal law enforcement investigations regarding officer misconduct. On the other hand, you may regard their interest in transparency mostly related to just heaving out raw budget data onto the web, which can then be used by half-informed activists to create mischief hectoring state employees with charges of waste and abuse that turn out to either be entirely unfounded (and based on flawed understanding of how government finance works) or distorted.

GOTV - Part 10 - Semi-Pro Volunteers

by: Grebner

Mon Jan 24, 2011 at 00:39:13 AM EST

Today's post isn't mainly about GOTV, but a necessary excursion into typology of volunteers.  

One measure of failure of our GOTV methods is treating all volunteers more or less interchangeably:  hand them a list and a stack of flyers, and send them out to cover their precinct.  Whether they're a 16-year-old novice, or a retired state representatve makes no difference.  We don't have time to coddle them, or inquire into their abilities or preferences.  What drives us is the need to cover a certain amount of territory, to pass out a certain number of leaflets, to make a certain number of phone calls, and everybody is treated as equally valuable in advancing those objects.

Which means we waste more effort and talent than we put to productive use. 

Goat Killer: Give me permission to use your money to do my job

by: Eric B.

Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 16:00:00 PM EST

The Goat Killer has arrived upon a novel suggestion (which, for a change, doesn't involve people carrying firearms) for the Legislature to end its reliance on one-time fixes, budget gimmicks, and fund raiding to fix our roads. He wants to change the Constitution so that the Legislature can raid a citizens' trust fund.

A new legislative session is under way, and Rep. David Agema (R-Grandville) recently tipped his hand by playing a risky card, banking on a Republican majority in the state House.

Agema decided to go after the Michigan Natural Resource Trust Fund, one of the state’s most important and valuable conservation funding programs.

...snip...

“It’s getting to the point where the state of Michigan will own the state and the people won’t,” Agema said.

What he's proposing -- so that all that negative energy and talk about gas tax hikes will just go away -- is, in order to promote ownership of state assets by the people rather than state government, is to in effect turn ownership of a peoples' trust fund over to state government so they can fix roads.

By the way, we all remember how the Goat Killer got his nickname, don't we? He knocked off the 2007 budget vote to hunt goats in Russia, and became outraged that Andy Dillon counted his as absent when he refused to cancel his trip. That guy, the one who placed shooting foreign animals over state of Michigan business, is the same one who wants to make it more difficult for the state to purchase farm land for people to use.  Anyone care to guess what one of the top problems deer hunters complain about in the Lower Peninsula? Lack of public access to huntable land.  This isn't just a trust fund manager asking the fundee for permission to spend everything in the fund to pay to update his office, this is a big game hunter who wants to put in a bind hunters who can't afford big game safaris on other continents.

A fistful of bad news: Conference championship edition

by: Eric B.

Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 14:16:03 PM EST

I recall fondly today a conversation I had with my brother a few years back during the spring. I told him that I'd just gotten back from a Tigers game and that it looked like they might contend for the post season that year. My brother asked me why I was cheering for the Tigers when I ought to be rooting for the Steelers. A, I told him, it was the spring and four months after the Super Bowl and three months before the preseason games started, and B, different sport. My brother didn't miss a beat. "You should be rooting that they make a great offseason acquisition," he said. Most of you, I assume, are rooting for the Jets today, and probably have kidded yourself that it's about Ben Roethlisberger. It's not about that. It's success envy.  My guess is that after the Steelers win the Super Bowl, they show all you little people what's what by going Galt for a while, probably at least until August, or more if the lockout becomes a reality. That'll show you.

One last item of interest here ... It's both super cold and sunny today, so the snow looks especially brilliant. Some of you will be unable to go outside without sunglasses because of the glare. That glare is produced by the albedo effect. That sun reflecting off the snow and ice will in short order also be leaving the atmosphere (well, much of it) and take its heat energy with it. Remember when we last heard from Mean Old Nasty Albedo Effect? It was last week, when we noted the latest scientific research that said that melting in the Arctic had reduced the albedo effect there more than anticipated? Right, what's happening outside today is a good example of what is happening less up in the Arctic, leaving that heat energy that once escaped to hang about a bit in the atmosphere ... anyone care to guess what it's a-doin'?

Onward!

*--Nolan Finley is the latest News' columnist to declare that our benevolent overlord Rick Michigan can't be put into a nice little box. Unlike Magic Frank, however, this doesn't appear to confuse Finley so bad that he needs to pull at the shirt tails of an older boy to get an explanation. Economic development leaders also weigh in, if by economic development leaders you mean Doug Rothwell and a newspaper columnist.

*--More from the DSO strike. And more.

*--Jill Alper and John Truscott discuss health care repeal in the latest edition of their Freep feature. Tangentially related, expect health care cuts here at home. When this starts coming down the pike, expect those clowns at Michigan Liberal to complain that Brian Calley wants to expand autism health insurance coverage for private insurers while also helping the administration cut assistance for people with autism who get health care coverage from the state.

*--Roger Martin again presses the point that we've studied private-public pay and benefits and found no substantial reason to soak public sector employees. The Mackinac Center responds by calling for centralizing economic decision making in local labor markets. And, what's a little honest-to-God socialism when you've got labor unions to demonize?

*--The Freep wades into metro Detroit's water system. Har, har, har. I slay me.

*--Whooping cough on the rise in Livingston County. Parents who opt out of vaccines blamed, which let the disease work its way back in.

*--Peter Luke says there's revenue to be had, for anyone who wants to look for it.

*--For S's and G's, I give you the Party of Reagan.

*--Finally, someone ought to explain the difference between fiscally conservative and stingy to Tim Walberg.

Shill another day...

by: Eric B.

Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 10:23:19 AM EST

Let's return to the issue of item pricing with a simple question ... in years past, we were told that we couldn't adopt a public smoking ban at this time because it might ultimately cost some people their jobs. Where are those people with that same argument right now. Oh yes, those are mostly people who weren't against the smoking ban because they particularly cared about jobs. They just didn't want to be told that they could no longer smoke in  public.

Interesting item to follow up on Frank Kelley's new turnaround on item pricing. What would be the most effective way to turn the argument around? Get the guy who for years was the most defiant opponent of repealing item pricing and get him to come out in favor of it. Such things always generate headlines, accompanied by shakes of the head and, "Well, if Frank Kelley is finally in favor of this..." There might be good reasons why Frank Kelley is now in favor of repealing. And, those good reasons might have more to do with Ulysses S. Grant and Benjamin Franklin than technology advances. From a different angle.

Lobbying behind the scenes is one thing, but Frank Kelley put his good name behind this in a very public way. I'm not saying that his conversion is mostly based on being paid, but this is a lot like Bob Barker coming out strongly in opposition to spaying and neutering after being seen taking a burlap sack with a dollar sign on the side of it from a notorious dog fighting ring operator.

Update! ... Der Skubenfuhrer this morning.

The new governor has reopened a can of worms that has been on the shelf, if you'll pardon the pun, since 1970.

The grocery folks never liked it it in the first place when then Attorney General Frank Kelley pushed the law.  It forced them to put a price on each and every item in the store.

...snip...

Ole Frank loved it. Let's just say the local supermarket folks did not when they were caught red handed.

He then goes on to point out that he's now against that which provided him with so much political hay, back in the day. Skubick, to his credit, doesn't fall for the obvious, cheesy "Nixon goes to China" element to this, and adds the flip-flop stuff below the reality that this will very probably become law with or without Kelley's support.

The question I have is why the state's media -- and this got play in the straight news sections -- continues to let such obvious apparently conflict of interests (the Wal-Mart lobbying connection, and reports that Wal-Mart has been lobbying Rick Michigan to do away with this with all the vigor of a hummingbird on speed) to go not only unexplored, but entirely unmentioned?

Update 2 (the it's late, but I'm up late and half-drunk edition) ... How did no one see this coming? Booggerman* presses the "Well, if Frank Kelley endorses it, maybe it's not such a bad thing" argument.

*--A few years ago, Ron Dzwonkowski wrote a column where he said that if you swapped one letter, you could turn blogger into boogger, except that he was looking for a word with one less "g." I know, it's petty to keep bringing it up. It was, like, years ago. The problem is that it's my experience that this breed very rarely learns its lessons and mostly just -- in the face of criticism -- operates below the radar.

A fistful of bad news: Cabin fever edition

by: Eric B.

Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 13:47:07 PM EST

We're in day two of this winter's Deep Freeze. You probably don't need to hear that if you live in Michigan. In fact, hearing that might instead fill you with a red hot rage towards me. That's good, let that red hot rage keep you warm until Monday morning, when things start to warm up.  Until then, snuggle up to a nice warm bottle of whiskey and try not to laugh too much at the rest of us sinners who work weekends. We will not be mocked!

Onward!

*--More news that November's election of benevolent overlord Rick Michigan has had positive repercussions ... GM to add more jobs in Flint. The bad news is that union ranks continue to thin. Yes, I know, unions are evil and corrupt and full of mafiosos. The problem is that there is tremendous strength in organizing and standing together. Once the corrupt Wall Street traders who nearly killed global finance a couple of years back have us broken up and suspicious of one another, the public good is easier to chop up and sell off by portion. Speaking of labor issues, ongoing talks at the DSO appear to have broken down.

*--Saul Anuzis to try to take Spence "The Workhorse" Abraham's route into the Senate, coincidentally taking out the Democrat who took out The Workhorse. Rocky wants another shot at Gary Peters. Maybe. But, don't we already have enough intellectual lightweights in Congress (hint: Tim Walberg just looks confused)? Meanwhile, Jack Lessenberry thinks John Dingell's early annoucement has much to do with redistricting.

*--Benevolent overlord Rick Michigan wants to see local leaders do more with less. (Psssst, dear benevolent overlord Rick Michigan: You may have to take on some entrenched local government interests on this one.)

*--The state's political press continues to pretend that "economic gardening" is something new that benevolent overlord Rick Michigan invented all on his-own-self. And, that our universities just suddenly discovered that they could set up incubator programs for young entrepreneurs. No sir, they might be good and Rick Michigan might be supportive of them, but both concepts were introduced in the state over the decade leading up to the benevolent overlord Rick Michigan's bloodless coup d'etat last November(1).

*--Mark Hackel makes a splash. More here, and more here.

*--We're probably in for some dark days when it comes to a woman's right to choose without the unsolicited opinions of people unknown to her. More on the annviersary of Roe v. Wade. Remember as you go forward from today, life does not begin at conception. Life is a continuous process that started billions of years ago and has not since ceased. To think that something could be defined or contained by a single organism that carries the code of life and itself only created by the collision of two living cells is God-based hubris.

*--Frank Kelley does a 180 on item pricing.

*--Health care now a matter for shouting at the state level.

*--Corruption!

*--This ought to have the Birthers out, shouting and waving Zip-Loc baggies around again.

1.--No, I don't think an election is the same thing as a bloodless coup d'etat. Good criminy but you people take the wrong things too seriously.

And now, a word from our ... awww nuts

by: Eric B.

Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 11:54:03 AM EST

Originally, I was going to use a photo of the kid firing a rifle as the background for the pic off to the left. I've got this darling one of him with a lever action .357 rifle he shot at his grandfather's house last summer. He's got his eye goggles and his ear muffs and I snapped a photo with my old phone from the front of the barrel as he was looking through the sites for the first time (the rifle was unloaded). When we were finished, he helped his grandfather tumble the brass. While he was doing that, a frequent reader and comment contributor gave me a call and sounded appalled at the idea of us rustics not only armed but also reloading ammunition. So, it seemed like a poor choice for a post about our sponsorship program (Yes, I know ... Gabby Giffords, but I'm pretty sure that we've gotten to the time when we can enjoy happy memories of teaching our children important safety lessons, even if they involve firearms). So, instead, I picked that photo. I was also going to write in Comic Book Sans, but I saw someone making fun of it on Facebook the other day, and God knows I'm such a delicate flower that the idea of being mocked for a font choice would have led to a personal collapse and week-long binge of cough syrup and over-the-counter Benedryl.

All this to say that we're currently without a sponsor. And, since we've got bills coming due here shortly, we could use a little help to meet those obligations to keep the site up and running. Rates are $15 by the day, $80 by the week, and $300 by the month. Those will change, probably by the first of February. In exchange for your support, you get space up and to the right in our sponsor box for not only a logo or photo of your choosing, but also sponsorship posts with said logo and link embedded so that your message reaches people who follow this site by feed, Twitter, email or smart phone app and don't visit this URL. Also, my eternal gratitude, if by eternal you mean until either I die or my mental faculties degrade to the point where I can't remember what happened last week and think that I'm being hailed from the bottom of a bowl of soup.

Contact me at ebaerren@michiganliberal.com for more information.

A fistful of bad news: Frigid Friday edition

by: Eric B.

Fri Jan 21, 2011 at 09:03:57 AM EST

I have to admit that I still haven't caught benevolent overlord Rick Michigan's State of the State speech from Wednesday night. How can I admit to such a thing and still call myself a political observer? Simple. The kid was over Wednesday night, and is more interested in sharks than politics. Meeting yesterday morning, followed by an afternoon of writing. Then, I went to bed early last nght. Luckily for us, this here Interents things makes video and audio and text available long after the words have stopped echoing. While you're reading this, I'll be taking in Rick Michigan in all his glory.

Onward!

*--We now make it official. Every website in the state of Michigan has now linked to benevolent overlord Rick Michigan's new Internets dashboard.

*--Dawson Bell asks, can Rick Michigan succeed where so many have in the past failed to get rid of item pricing? Here's coverage from The News, top loaded with more cliches than you can shake a stick at. The Livingston County Press & Argus manages to do a story without talking to anyone who supports the law (of course), and ends with a business owner accusing his customers of fraud. Again, I'm just throwing this out there ... I use pricetags when shopping, and find it more frustrating when I can't quickly find how much something costs.

*--Everyone likes benevolent overlord Rick Michigan's support for DRIC. Except, maybe, the same general gang of obstructionists who hated it last time around. More coverage and a map! Coupla points here on the Republican Legislature: A. The guy on whose behalf they may try to hold this win-win up for just watched his favored henchmen jailed for an evening because they constructed in violation of the law. B. They have taken a position that is not only paid for, but elegantly anti-government. If DRIC goes ahead and creates 10,000 construction jobs in the short term, it will undermine every Republican complaint from the last two decades that government job creation doesn't help the economy. Just sayin'.

*--If you read Magic Frank's bewilderment over benevolent overlord Rick Michigan, you will see him use the word sperm and instantly want to claw out your own eyes. The mental association will linger for long, painful seconds.

*--Yesterday, K-zoo area economic development people got a high five from the new governor while Jack Lessenberry asks, "Where were you when he gave his first State of the State?" Tom Walsh of the Free Press wants to know why cars weren't mentioned in the State of the State.

*--David Holtz, of Progress Michigan, will be the guest on this week's Off the Record.

*--In Congress, Fred Upton's staff huddles with energy lobbyists behind closed doors, and we have our first sighting of Dan Benishek ... co-sponsoring a bill that would defund Planned Parenthood (along with names like McCotter, Walberg, Miller). Maybe someone ought to tell him that collatoral damage from this bill would be a health clinic in Marquette that while offering services like STI testing and womens' health services doesn't perform abortions.

*--Meanwhile, Sander Levin was in on a Congressional meeting with the Chinese president, and said Hu Jintao said his government needs to do better on human rights. Oh yes, John Dingell is going to run for another term.

*--Local governments continue to express fear about revenue sharing cuts, while Lansing residents could see a double-whammy of that paired with BWL rate hikes. The Nerd, by the way, digs regionalism. By the way, remember all that talk about how Texas was different, that it would withstand the coming shitstorm because it was soooo business-friendly. Well, they're a lot less recession proof and a lot more hamstrung by ideology. If I understand Glenn Beck properly, this is all the fault of universities suggesting that students apply for food stamps.

*--This is what happens when you treat an education like a money-making scheme.

*--Will we see mandated health care coverage for autism?

*--Report cards for parents?

*--Jack Lessenberry on guns.

P.S. *--Peter Sinclair links to a blog post where the House Republicans have struck upon a novel way to address climate change ... cut our share of funding for the IPCC. If you don't have to hear about a problem, you don't need to worry about it.