Damn Robocalls

I don't get most robocalls anymore since my land line is almost strictly a fax machine. However, when these damn robocalls get out, I usually hear about it. I got a call about 30 minutes ago from one woman, probably retired, who has gotten three robocalls from "Republicans" in two days. One of the calls mentioned "Livingston County" which is why I got the call. She originally thought LCGOP was behind these calls. We wern't, but only political die hards differentiate between the different parties. If people hear "Livingston County" and "Republican" in a call, it's reasonable to assume that it was us.

As long as I'm chair of LCGOP, I'll authorize robocalls over my dead body. It is not a secret about how I feel about those damn robocalls. These robocalls have been ringing about 9AM, which is way too early for anyone retired or working night/afternoon shifts. The fact that there's three in two days makes things even worse. 

One of those calls is the same one that has been harassing other voters in Joe Hune's district.

Hune not behind Medicaid expansion ‘robo-calls’

 

 

LANSING, Mich.— Sen. Joe Hune today urged residents not to let special interest groups hijack their voices and opinions.

Hune, R-Hamburg, recently mentioned that his office has received an innumerable number of phone calls from constituents that were transferred to the office from ‘robo-calls’ they had received regarding Medicaid expansion. However, many of them do not understand the phone calls they are receiving and some seniors are even mistaking it for changes to Medicare.

 

“These robo-calls appear to be intentionally misleading!” Hune said. “These calls prompt you to press one to speak to our office or it automatically transfers you. Either way, many are mistaking it for being originated by my office. I repeat that we are not responsible for these calls.”

Interest groups have launched a campaign that automatically sends phone calls to many of the Michigan Senate offices recently.

 

“I apologize to my constituents who are receiving robo-calls from shadowy interest groups scripted to sound as if it was coming from our office, which is not the case,” Hune said. “Aside from these calls being very persistent to homes in my district, many of my constituents don’t know who called them or why, and are confused by the automated statements made before they are transferred. These robo-calls are a product of questionable, pro-Medicaid expansion groups that don’t have the residents of the 22nd District’s best interests at heart.

 

“Those interested in the Medicaid expansion issue should do exactly what I am doing: research the issue and come to a well-thought-out conclusion.”

 

Hune said “We always welcome the comments and concerns of our constituents. If they have questions on Medicaid expansion, they should reach out to my office at 855-JOE-HUNE.”

The other call was about joining someone for pizza. I'm not sure who it was referring to. The lady hung up before it got to that point and called me.

Whoever is behind these robocalls to put it bluntly needs to shut the hell up. They aren't helping matters and are making us all look bad.

Harold Melton - 5th Candidate in the 47th District (HD-47)

In the July 4 Cohoctah and Fowlerville Parades, a 5th candidate jumped into the race and made it official. Harold Melton, a longtime activist and 2012 candidate, is running again.

Here's Harold's statement he sent to me.

My name is Harold Melton from Howell Township. I am running for State Representative from the 47th district. I want to share some of my back-ground with you. Born in Detroit, I’ve been a resident of Howell for 20 years. I am a supporter of Right to Life as well as a Christian family man. I have been married to my wife Karen for 41 years. I’m the father of three grown children, and a grandfather of seven.

I am not your typical politician. I have always been a working man, starting as an equipment installer for Western Electric and then becoming a welder. I’ve worked hard to become a commercial pilot, entering road construction to pay for my aviation training. I learned a lot about following a process over time, becoming certified as a Commercial Pilot on different aircraft. I have served as a Charter Pilot and First Officer on a DC6 Airliner. I took my studies to the next level and began to teach as an FAA Certified Flight Instructor.

I am a strong proponent of the 2nd Amendment. It tells us that "a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." As an NRA Certified fire-arms instructor, I have taught many classes for the Concealed Pistol License, helping citizens "keep and bear Arms" in a responsible fashion. I believe the United States Constitution and State Constitution are the law of the land, to be respected and upheld.

I am a conservative and have been all my life. I’ve been a Republican ever since I realized that the Republican Party stands for a small central government and individual rights. Unfortunately, not all Republicans conform to that wisdom, and that is why I am in the race for this seat to represent you in Lansing.

I believe we need to reduce taxes everywhere we can. To start with, I want to repeal the Senior Pension Tax, and then I will move to convince the Legislature to put some areas of our wealth off limits to taxation. We must limit where the State can tax us. I believe that is the only way to stop the spiral of ever-increasing taxation. Let’s face it, if the State can’t get the money, they will have to cut spending. We can all see that Congress never seems to have enough money. It has to stop somewhere.

I want you to vote for me in the Primary Tuesday, August 5th, 2014, and make me the Republican nominee. Vote for me again on Tuesday, November 4th, 2014 and send me to Lansing. I won’t let you down.

This is now a five way race, and I've heard that two more may be running. It's tough to predict that type of an election. Anything can happen when this many run.

The travesty of the George Zimmerman Case

People have asked me why I oppose the death penalty. I don't think it's cruel and unusual punishment or unconstitutional. I do have a major problem with executing innocent people. There are also too many glory hound prosecutors out there who will do anything to make a name for themselves in high profile cases. Mike Nifong is the posterboy for that. He's not the only Mike Nifong out there. Angela Corey is another. How many prosecutors out there are of that ilk? Not all are, but there's enough out there to be alarmed.

This was not a fair trial, and still the verdict was not guilty.  Luckily Zimmerman had two very good attorneys in Mark O'Mara and Don West. O'Mara especially.

The jury made the proper verdict in the George Zimmerman case. There was no case for the prosecution. The George Zimmerman case should not have gone to trial. It went to trial because the media pushed a narrative. The narrative was that a racist white dude stalked and shot and killed Trayvon Martin because he was black and the supposedly evil "stand your ground" law allowed it. That was bullshit for several reasons.

1. Zimmerman wasn't white. The media assumed he was because his last name is German or sometimes Jewish. Zimmerman was mixed and part Peruvian. That lead to the agenda driven media then calling him "white-Hispanic." If his name was Jorge Lopez, this case would have not gone to a special prosecutor.

2. By all accounts, Zimmerman didn't have a racist bone in his body. He mentored blacks. He and his wife took two black kids in his home who had no place to go. He took a black girl to prom. That doesn't fit the media created narrative. Some media outlets and Nancy (Dis)Grace said that he said "F'ing coons." Outside of actual raccoons, I haven't heard that term in 25+ years, and that was on an old 50's era TV show. Who the hell says that anymore? The prosecution then said that he said "punks" instead. Punks were referring to those who were breaking into the homes. NBC also altered the 9/11 tape making it sound like Zimmerman thought Martin was suspicious because he was black. They are now facing a defamation lawsuit. The media did everything in their power for a conviction and can't handle the fact that they didn't get their way. TS.

3. This was not a stand your ground case. This was a strictly self-defense case. Zimmerman waived the stand your ground hearing. Those that blame Stand Your Ground are those who are following the media narrative and divorced from reality. Zimmerman was already on the ground when he fired.

4. The evidence showed that Martin threw the first punch and that Martin was on top of Zimmerman slamming his head on the concrete sidewalk for 45 seconds before he was shot. The evidence also showed a 4 minute gap where Martin could have gotten out of there. He didn't go home. He had a lot of time to avoid a confrontation. It didn't happen. I can speculate to reasons, but I'm not going to do that here because they aren't proven, much like the prosecutions case (which wasn't just not proven but disproven).

You now have the police, original state attorney (Wolfinger), and now a jury all agree that no crime was committed.


Was Zimmerman guilty of anything? I'd say bad judgment, but certainly not criminal conduct. He probably should not have gotten out of his car. There's also nothing illegal about getting out of his car, nor following Martin (unless he chased him down and attacked - and the evidence did not show that).  This wasn't murder, or even close to murder II (Depraved heart). There was certainly reasonable doubt for manslaughter as well. The prosecution even tried to sneak in murder III/Child abuse as a kitchen sink attempt at the end. Even the prosecution friendly judge said no to that.

The prosecution hid evidence and did not cooperate in discovery. O'Mara said that he's never filed motions to sanction the prosecution teams in his career. He's filed six of them. It took 6 months to get Zimmerman's injuries. He didn't have enough time to get the evidence on the cell phone which he got right before trial. This was the type of stuff Nifong did. After the trial, Corey still called Zimmerman a murderer, which is unprofessional as an attorney to say the least (and actionable). The evidence hiding and disrespect for the verdict by the state attorney is absolutely reprehensible and is the worst part of this whole case. This wasn't about justice. This was about a politician as state attorney trying to make a name for herself.

Some are trying to make this a "Republican" vs "democrat" thing. This ain't it. While Holder and Obama suck, they just ran their mouths. I'll turn my attention on them if Holder announces BS Civil Rights charges and puts on another thinly disguised "double jeopardy" show trial. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are who they are, but only have power because guilty white people cave into them.  The real powers were AG Pam Bondi, who appointed Angela Corey, and Corey herself who decided to bring the overcharges.


I also find it "coincidental" that Angela Corey filed this charges (without a grand jury) about a week before her election. What timing...... Corey needs to be removed from office by any legal means necessary. I don't know Florida law, but if she can be recalled by the people in her Jacksonville based district, she needs to be gone. At worst, she needs to lose re-election and then be disciplined by the Florida Bar. How many people got the same treatment Zimmerman did with less media attention? If these supposed "civil rights" activists want to find some real wrongs, they need to look and see other cases brought forth from Corey's office.

In order to restore faith in the justice system, there needs to be repercussions against the agenda drivers behind this. NBC needs a defamation lawsuit as does Nancy (dis)Grace. Angela Corey needs to be fired at minimum.


If that doesn't happen, then the lesson is that the justice system - at least in Florida - can not be counted on when needed. If the justice system becomes solely a "politically correct" justice system, then people will start going around the system with the return of frontier justice. That will lead to a Pandora's box of trouble.

Not guilty. Don West said that prevents this tragedy from being a travesty, but the travesty is that this railroading was attempted in the first place. 

Three Elections on August 6th 2013 in Livingston County

We have three elections coming up on August 6^th.  Don Parker, our County Commissioner in the 5^th District is facing a special election. Don is a solid conservative who has done a good job for us in both of his stints as county commissioner. One of the reasons our county always has a balanced budget and low taxes is due to Don Parker and the rest of our commissioners. He’s done good work and deserves to be retained. Since this is a low turnout special election, the rules have changed and we can not take this race for granted. If you are in Howell, Howell Township, or Cohoctah Township, we need your vote.

Livingston County did not become a great place to live by accident. It was due to voters making good choices in county leadership. In order for Livingston County to continue to be a great place to live and not follow some of the other changing communities in neighboring counties, we need to continue to elect good leadership, as we have in Don Parker.

In addition to the County Commissioner race, there are two millage/bond measures on the ballot. Those in the Howell Carnegie Library district will vote on a millage election. Those in the Whitmore Lake School District are voting on a bond issue. 

Language on the ballot:

Howell Carnegie Library:

Shall the limitation on the amount of taxes which may be imposed on taxable property within the Howell District Library District be increased in an amount not to exceed 4/10 of 1 mill ($0.40 on each $1,000 of taxable value) for a period of 20 years, beginning in the year 2013 and ending in the year 2032, inclusive, as new additional millage for the purpose of providing funds for Library purposes? It is estimated that 4/10 of 1 mill would raise approximately $820,000 when first levied in 2013.

Whitmore Lake School District:

Shall Whitmore Lake Public School District, Washtenaw and Livingston Counties, Michigan, borrow the sum of not to exceed $12,300,000 and issue its general obligation unlimited tax bonds therefor in one or more series, for the purpose of :

Partially remodeling, furnishing and refurnishing, equipping, and reequipping school facilities, acquiring, installing and equipping technology for school facilities; purchasing school buses; constructing, equipping and developing and improving athletic facilities and play fields; and developing and improving sites?

The following is for informational purposes only:

The estimated millage that will be levied for the proposed bonds in 2013, under current law, is 2.50 mills ($2.50 on each $1000 of taxable valuation). The maximum number of years the bonds may be outstanding, exclusive of any refunding, is 20 years. The estimated simple average annual millage anticipated to be required to retire this bond debt is 2.17 mills.

(Pursuant to State Law, expenditure of bond proposals must be audited, and the proceeds cannot be used for repair or maintenance costs, teacher, administration, or employee salaries, or other operating expenses.)