Carl Levin is starting his 2008 reelection campaign early

From the newsletter of Saul Anuzis...

Senator Levin launches a web page for his re-election two ½ years before he is even up….I think he’s getting a little worried…a little early! Things are changing in Michigan and the Michigan Republicans are getting ready to lead the way!

http://www.carllevin.com

Check out this page:

http://www.carllevin.com/news/2006/04/16/americas-10-best-senators/

Carl Levin: The Bird-Dogger

No one would accuse Carl Levin of looking like Hollywood’s version of a U.S. Senator. He’s pudgy, balding and occasionally rumpled, and he constantly wears his glasses at the very tip of his nose.

Levin, 71 and first elected in 1978, says he considers congressional hearings a critical part of his job, spending as much as 20 hours prepping for each one so an evasive witness won’t outwit him. The former civil-rights lawyer is known for forcing embarrassing admissions from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and other Bush Administration officials through his precise questioning. “You’ve got to be very blunt and truly listen so you know when the b.s. is flying,” Levin says.

[Except when Democrats are pouring it into the whirling blades... No one slings bullshit like a Democrat! ]

Although admired by many Republicans for his diligence, Levin rarely sides with them. He opposed the Iraq war, and as the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, he has become one of his party’s leading voices in criticizing President Bush’s conduct of the invasion, arguing that the Administration didn’t have enough troops in the early stages and, more recently, hasn’t focused enough on training Iraqi troops. But his carefully researched, thoughtful remarks carry great weight with his colleagues. “Nobody in the Democratic Caucus says anything on national-security issues without talking to Carl Levin,” says a top Democratic Senate staff member.

[Carl is VERY pro-illegal alien. Forget "Rule of Law", Carl is very "Rule of Pander". When an issue of citizen workers versus illegal aliens comes up, the citizens lose every time with Carl as they do with every other hard core leftist Democrat. Carl has morphed over the years from a civil rights lawyer to a hard core socialist ACLU type.]

Where is the IRS? Millions disappear into...

Thanks and a salute to Saul Anuzis "That's Saul Folks!"

Where is the Grand Jury investigation into the disappearance of millions of political dollars?

Jenny just made millions go away with no accountability? I can not believe that the IRS or the US Attorney General is uninterested.

How is any of this possible?

Where is the MSM outrage? If a Republican did this, there would be an organized lynching party.

Some interesting side questions...

Who are the Partners?

What favors and politicians did they purchase (aside from Granholm)?

Michigan Independents miffed at having to declare party affiliation

Thanks and a tip 'o the derby to Saul Anuzis "That's Saul Folks!"

From an editorial at the Flint joUrinal...

permalink:
The fLINT joUrinal

GO to the listed URL above to read the editorial...

My commentary:

Awwww poor pointy headed inane liberal pseudo-intellectuals...

[Flint joUrinal excerpt: Independent (Michigan) voters particularly should be upset over the plan that would make them declare publicly at the polls whether they want a Republican or Democratic ballot. (in the August 8th primary election) This is a step backward for Republicans who for years put the Democrats to shame by allowing all comers in their presidential primary, risking that nonparty members - even Democrats - might produce outcomes not in line with the GOP's base.]

I guess these "independents" do not understand that if they do not want to declare as a Republican or a Democrat in the August 8 Primary Election, maybe they should see what other party best suits them and vote in that party's primary election.

What?

[] Green Party

[] Libertarian Party

[] American Communist Party

[] Etc.

...are not having a primary? Your party picks were made the day after the previous election?

Then why should we allow you to anonymously stack the deck for us? You helped fool everyone into thinking that John McCain was the Michigan GOP choice last time and he is only favored by the Yobs and a few other McCainiac toadies! He is a wacko RINO who shows signs of a seriously unstable personality disorder. He is not the type person we would want to have control of the "Football". When McCain makes that big jowly smile he does radiate a charisma though. Fortunately it has a very short half-life.

Tell ya what... go hold a "Gloom and Doom-fest" somewhere and get the MSM to cover it. Many of you normally vote Democrat anyway. Or better yet, go back in your closets until the day before the general election so you can be as clueless as you normally are. Most independents can not tell you who is running on what ticket unless they acquire a poll piece the day of the election. The general election on November 7th is open and independents can vote any way that blows their hair back as long as it is legal and either absentee or at their registered polling location.

[The italics inserted in the excerpt are comments of mine, not of the Flint Jourinal editorial author.]

Run, Newt, Run!

Thanks and a tip of the hat to Saul Anuzis "That's Saul Folks!" blog...

original article permalink: National Review

Run, Newt, Run!

Gingrich 2008?

By Rich Lowry

The casual TV viewer has probably noticed two things during the past few days — there’s a war in the Middle East, and Newt Gingrich is commenting on it.

Gingrich has been a ubiquitous analyst on the war — ubiquity being one of the tireless, outsized former House speaker’s favorite qualities. In between appearances in his role as a commentator for the Fox News Channel, Gingrich announced on Meet the Press that we are in the midst of World War III. A few days later, Hezbollah declared that it welcomed World War III, nicely capturing the moment: Simultaneous with its shooting war with Israel, Hezbollah is in a war of words with Newt Gingrich.

[Click the permalink above to read the full article]

[The democrats would love to try to smear Newt, but their darling is far worse than anything that Newt did. I hope that Newt does decide to run in 2008.]

Gas Prices got ya down?

Thanks and a tip of the derby to Saul Anuzis for the link to this Editorial at Detroit News

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Editorial: Stop the panic over higher gasoline prices

Governor chooses empty gestures over helping motorists

Gov. Jennifer Granholm can't have it both ways -- she complains about windfall profits on gasoline but gladly accepts the windfall sales taxes the state is getting from Michigan motorists.

She and other lawmakers should stop the panicky election-year sloganeering.

Fuel prices rise and fall according to supply and demand. There's not a shred of evidence that price increases reflect anything other than that age-old dynamic. [continue]

[ed: They always ignore how EVERY station increases prices with the precision of a synchronized water ballet swim team, usually on Thursday evening. The prices go up together, but randomly drop at separate rates. The writer has one thing correct... the government has a larger portion of the cost of a gallon of gasoline than they let you know about. It is currently somewhere in the range of $1.50+ per gallon in federal and state taxes, fees, surcharges, and any other label to soak a few more pennies out of you here in Michigan. Another thing that they do not let you know about... the fuel companies DO have a monopoly. If you were to begin making your own ethanol or methanol and start using it as motor fuel, it would be a violation of the law because the government is not getting any taxes or surcharges from your fuel. This monopoly is why the oil companies do not complain much about the taxes. They know that we are in thrall to them and must pay whatever usurious charges they set or not go anywhere.]

Breakthrough for GR, West State [GOOD NEWS for a change!]

[Thanks and a hat tip to Saul Anuzis "That's Saul Folks!" for the link to this item.]

from mlive.com and Grand Rapids Press

[This is a great beginning, but what we need is a rail transit system similar to what is used in Illinois and Wisconsin. There are passenger trains running from Milwaukee and suburbs south to Chicago with intermediate stops. A system like this from Big Rapids to Grand Rapids with stops in the various small burgs (Howard City, Sand Lake, Cedar Springs, Rockford) could work very well and would cut down a lot of auto traffic once the line is established. It would require some local shuttle services at each end of the line but that is just details.]

Breakthrough for GR, West State

Sunday, April 23, 2006

The transportation deal reached in Lansing on Thursday re-starts two projects that West Michigan sorely needs: completion of the U.S. 131 freeway to the south and development of a Grand Rapids rapid-transit system.

The task now is to keep the two on track and moving. Although these are long-term improvements, with far to go on each, there must be a sense of urgency about them.

The biggest regional gain is Gov. Jennifer Granholm's reversal of her earlier shelving of plans to complete the U.S. 131 freeway to the Indiana border. U.S. 131 is West Michigan's most important north-south artery, running from north of Cadillac to south of Kalamazoo and connecting the major industrial hubs. But south of Kalamazoo, just north of the village of Schoolcraft, U.S. 131 drops from a freeway to a 24-mile-long rural road, complete with local traffic, stop lights, 90-degree turns and two busy rail crossings -- one of them halting cars and trucks 20 to 35 times a day.

or many years, shippers and business owners in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and elsewhere in West Michigan have been appealing for a remedy. Douglas Rothwell, a former state economic development director, said the lack of a U.S. 131 freeway link to the Indiana Turnpike "definitely has hurt Grand Rapids." Freight traffic must find other, indirect freeway routes south. In an increasingly time-oriented manufacturing climate, the situation is sure to become a yet larger hindrance in recruiting employers to Grand Rapids and the region.

The "no build" designation that was applied to the U.S. 131 project last fall by the Granholm administration thus was a door slammed, a major regional economic setback. The new agreement between the governor and legislative leaders -- mainly Senate Majority Leader Kenneth Sikkema, R-Wyoming, and House Speaker Craig DeRoche, R-Novi -- puts U.S. 131 back in the Department of Transportation's Five-Year Plan and commits $31 million now to

road design and right-of-way acquisition. West Michigan lawmakers -- state and federal -- along with Ms. Granholm need to continue to push and not let this important economic development project again fall into the political weeds.

The other major gain last week isn't just for Grand Rapids rapid transit but for the health of the surrounding area. Intelligent transportation planning can't be limited to automobiles. Light rail nationwide has been a key to the health of metro areas, encouraging living in cities and enabling people to easily move in and around them.

The Grand Rapids project -- whether light rail or street car or similar service -- is in its early stages. U.S. Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, obtained a $14.4 million federal grant for planning. To be eligible for the money, all Grand Rapids had to do was get a small change in state law to make possible a long-term, voter-approved local millage. Ms. Granholm in December vetoed legislation to provide that opening because nothing similar was provided for the Detroit area. A new Grand Rapids bill -- sponsored by Rep. Jerry O. Kooiman, R-Grand Rapids -- ought to go ahead now. Included will be wording to assist Southeast Michigan if ever that region comes up with its own rapid-transit effort.

The new agreement also gives Ms. Granholm a go-ahead to pump $400 million of federal and state funds into county and city roads over the next two years. Lawmakers very rightly insisted, and got, controls to assure equitable statewide distribution of the projects.

This was a bipartisan intersection of interests. Ms. Granholm gave ground; so did the Legislature's Republican leaders. The combination will move Michigan ahead. West Michigan will share in that progress, while needing much more of it.

Dems got a spanking on voter ID lawsuit

Thanks and a hat tip to Saul Anuzis "That's Saul Folks!"

Dems got a spanking on voter ID lawsuit

IndyStar.com

For a 126-page legal document, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker's recent ruling to uphold Indiana's new voter ID law is downright entertaining.

The ruling has it all -- outrage, humor, put-downs.

Unfortunately for Indiana Democratic Party officials, most of it is aimed at them.

The Democrats and their fellow plaintiffs didn't just lose their lawsuit challenging the voter ID law. They took a legal spanking.

The spanking begins on Page 2, where Barker points out that the lawsuit "is the result of a partisan legislative dispute," but that Democrats "failed to adapt their arguments to the legal arena."

She says their arguments are based "on little more than their own personal and political preferences."

It gets better.

Deeper in the ruling, Barker mocks Democrats for their "apocalyptic assertions of wholesale voter disenfranchisement." She scolds the party for making such allegations while not producing "a single piece of evidence of any identifiable registered voter who would be prevented from voting."

"In contrast to any reliable, specific evidence," Barker wrote, "plaintiffs assert that they know of people, or know of people who know of people, who claim they will not be able to vote."

For the record, that sentence as much as any other in the ruling makes clear the disdain Barker has for the lawsuit.

Even so, Barker continues, criticizing Democrats and the other plaintiffs for sins such as "dramatic overstatement," "sweeping political arguments" and a "feeble effort."

My favorite part of the ruling comes on Page 96, where Barker compares the Democrats' argument to a "wet Kleenex prank," in which "a soggy wet tissue mass is thrown against the dorm wall to see if it will stick."

I'm not a legal scholar, but I'm pretty sure a judge has never before called a lawsuit a "a soggy wet tissue mass."

Barker, though, seemed most bothered by the suggestion by Democrats that nearly a million registered voters could lack the type of ID the new law requires, such as a driver's license.

She calls the claim "utterly incredible" and said she lacked "the time and space to discuss the numerous flaws" in it. If you accept the math, she writes sarcastically, the combined number of voters with and without licenses "represents an incredible 123 percent of Indiana's entire voting-age population."

Barker, who was appointed to the bench by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1984, smacked Democrats for "this bonanza of hitherto unaccounted- for individuals." With all those people, she said, finding one who would be hurt by the law should have been easy.

Democrats, not surprisingly, are fighting back. National Chairman Howard Dean says Barker's ruling will hurt many potential voters.

"She will go down in history as one of the largest disenfranchisers in our state's history," state party Chairman Dan Parker said.

Is Barker a disenfranchiser? I don't know. But she sure can write an entertaining legal opinion.

Matthew Tully's column runs on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Reach him at (317) 444-6033 or via e-mail at matthew.tully@indystar.com

[Thank you Matt... this was very entertaining and informative! To Der Fuhrer Dean, the only disenfranchisement is that Democrat dogs, parakeets, residents of non-existant addresses, and the deceased that will not be able to produce a valid ID. If this spreads to all 50 states it could be a little more difficult for Democrats to produce ballots on demand. Motor-Voter is not what it used to be. Time for Democrats to start lobbying for punch cards to produce hanging chads again. Maybe they can come up with tractor trailer loads of absentee ballots. All other types of fraudlulent ballots are being closed off. I was being a little facetious about the paper ballots... guess what? Here is a lefty blogger calling for just that: The blog is called "Who Hijacked Our Country". After all the Democrat vote fraud that has been exposed, dual registrations between New York and Florida - voting local down south and absentee to New York... those Democrat Snowbirds. The dimpled chad fraud scheme... there was no way to make a dimpled chad without placing several paper ballots in the voting machine at the same time. Other wise they just punched out. In Detroit they register dogs and residents of vacant lots as Democrat voters.]

Photo id law is fair...

Anuzis, photo id, Ruth Johnson

Photo id law is fair...

Photo id law is fair... [from the Michigan GOP Blog... go to the link above.]

Should Michigan require driver's license to vote?

Using identification is part of life and ensures integrity in elections

F or the first time in history, every Oakland County voter this year will cast their ballot using exactly the same voting machine.

While there may be initial challenges, having a consistent process will help ensure integrity in our elections -- exactly what lawmakers intended with the 2002 Help America Vote Act. Faith in our electoral system is critical.

That is why it is difficult to understand the criticism about enforcing a Michigan law that requires voters to provide a driver's license or state ID card at the polls.

The only problem with using the drivers license as an ID is that it is available to more than just legal voters. I do believe that we have illegal aliens in this state with Michigan drivers licenses. We need a Michigan law making it illegal to issue a drivers license to any but a LEGAL immigrant or US Citizen who is a resident in Michigan.

Thanks and a tip of the hat to Saul Anuzis "That's Saul Folks!" blog.

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, e-mail the coalition and let them know at what level you would like to participate.

Stabenow - Abramoff connection grows!?!

From the MiGOP blog "That's Saul Folks!" - Trackback

New revelations surface in Abramoff probe

WASHINGTON - A Republican Party official and Jack Abramoff’s lobbying team bluntly discussed using large political donations as a way to pressure lawmakers into securing federal money for a tribal client, according to e-mails gathered by prosecutors.

The e-mails detail how Abramoff’s team worked to leverage assistance from the White House, Congress and the GOP to get a reluctant federal agency and a single Republican congressional aide to stop blocking school construction money for the Saginaw Chippewa tribe. The e-mails were obtained by The Associated Press.

Abramoff’s team ultimately prevailed when the congressional aide was overruled, several lawmakers pressured an Interior Department agency and Congress itself set aside the money for the tribe. Lawmakers who helped got thousands of dollars in fresh donations from Abramoff’s team...

...Abramoff’s team turned to Congress, getting Michigan Democratic Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow to persuade their party’s leaders to request the money in a spending bill. Democrats controlled the Senate in 2002.

[The Democrats ARE a real ballsy bunch. They had hoped that no one would remember when they were the 1000 pound gorilla and how THE PARTY did things.]

Could the NY Times be more wrong?

trackback: "That's Saul Folks!"

NY Times: Internet as a political tool

Internet Injects Sweeping Change Into U.S.

WASHINGTON, March 31 — The transformation of American politics by the Internet is accelerating with the approach of the 2006 Congressional and 2008 White House elections, producing far-reaching changes in the way campaigns approach advertising, fund-raising, mobilizing supporters and even the spreading of negative information.

Democrats and Republicans are sharply increasing their use of e-mail, interactive Web sites, candidate and party blogs, and text-messaging to raise money, organize get-out-the-vote efforts and assemble crowds for rallies. The Internet, they said, appears to be far more efficient, and less costly, than the traditional tools of politics, notably door knocking and telephone banks...

...A Pew survey released earlier this month found that 50 million Americans go to the Internet for news every day, up from 27 million people in March 2002, a reflection of the fact that the Internet is now available to 70 percent of Americans.

Link to NY Times article

Well, they are partially correct. The error is that at this time, NOTHING substitutes for the personal touch of the confirming phone call to see if a voter is going to get out, and especially important is the face time of personal door-to-door contacts to make sure people are registered and motivated to go to the polls.

UAW: Delphi to shed 14 of its U.S. plants

Grand Rapids is only Mich. shop to survive, union says

Brett Clanton / The Detroit News

Top United Auto Workers officials say bankrupt Delphi Corp. may shed at least 14 U.S. factories, the latest sign of how bloody the restructuring of the nation's largest auto parts maker is becoming.

Hmmm... I wonder if they will keep the "rubber room" at the GR plant? With all this GM downsizing, are they going to reduce the price of the cars or does all the extra money from sales go to golden parachutes and monster pay increases for top execs? Inquiring minds want to know!

Debbie is still Dangerously Incompetent... part 2

Jenny don't change your number...

Oh! How true it is...

http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2006/03/oh_how_true.html

Sacrificing Saad on the Altar of Political Cowardice

[thanks and a tip of the hat to Saul Anuzis for this item of information]

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=13498

by Jan LaRue, Esq.

Even the best of men can take just so much. No nominee should expect that "his side" is going to hang him up as a political piñata and stand by while partisan hacks flail away at him. But that's what happened to Judge Henry Saad. [continue]

and from "That's Saul Folks!"

Even the best of men can take just so much. No nominee should expect that "his side" is going to hang him up as a political piñata and stand by while partisan hacks flail away at him. But that's what happened to Judge Henry Saad.

Democratic Sens. Carl Levin (Mich.) and Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) blocked Saad but not because he isn't qualified.

• Levin is still mad because when President Bill Clinton nominated a cousin of Levin's wife to the 6th Circuit, she wasn't given a hearing by the SJC.

• Stabenow got ticked after somebody forwarded a private e-mail that Judge Saad had sent to a friend expressing criticism of Stabenow for blocking his nomination.

And this comes from a woman who denounced the administration while standing on the Senate floor next to a sign reading "Dangerously Incompetent." Some temperament.

There should have been another line so the sign read "Dangerously Incompetent and Unstable"! Also see Dangerous Debbie

Republicans get the hot button issue they sought

Thanks and a tip of the hat to Saul Anuzis for his info on this story...

Article by Gary Gosselin Of The Oakland Press

Well, they've gone and done it. The state Senate has passed the elimination of the dreaded Single Business Tax, sending it back to the House for final approval, which is expected next week. Only problem is, the Republican majority have not replaced the $1.9 billion it generates, assuring Gov. Jennifer Granholm will veto it. But they accomplished their mission. No, not to get rid of the tax, silly. The mission is to generate a political hot button issue for Republican Dick DeVos to challenge Democrat Granholm with this summer and fall. And why so...(continue reading?)

This will highlight and emphasize how the Granholm policies have done nothing to reverse, let alone slow the economic slide that is consuming jobs in Michigan. Any union member who watches his job dissapear south and still votes for Granholm is dumber than a pile dog shit left by that proverbial yellow dog. Only a vast improvement in the business climate of Michigan will aid in keeping jobs here. Granholm has demostrated that she is not interested in making these changes and so this should be her last term in office. Maybe the Socialist Democrat party will have a patronage job available for her as a reward for being such a good party spear carrier. She is not a US born citizen so she can never aspire to the presidency. I should not say "never" because the socialists have ways of enactng constitutional amendments bypassing the legislature, the states, and all normal ratification procedures.

"Dangerously Incompetent" Stabenow chooses pork over Social Security...

"Dangerously Incompetent" Stabenow Chooses Pork Barrel Politics Over Protecting Social Security

Stabenow shows her populist rhetoric in Michigan doesn’t match her actions in Washington.

Lansing, MI -- U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) recently cast one of the deciding votes against a measure prohibiting Congress from spending the Social Security surplus on anything but retirees, deciding instead to side with Washington power brokers over Michigan’s working families and seniors.

[to read more - "That's Saul Folks!"]

UPDATE!!!

There is a new web site devoted to "Dangerously Incompetent" Stabenow. Check it out! Turn up the volume on your computer speakers too!

http://www.DangerousDebbie.com/

Senate Dems announce they're offensive...

...to any thinking person's sensibilities!

Political offensive targets Bush

By Rowan Scarborough

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

March 18, 2006

Senate Democrats have mapped a political battle plan for the March congressional recess that calls on lawmakers to stage press events with active duty military personnel, veterans and emergency responders to bash President Bush on virtually every one of his national security policies. [more]

[What is quite clear to me is that they are going to entice active duty military members into political acts when they are not supposed to be showing any partisan sway. There have always been a few leftists who served honorably (unlike Kerry) in the military that will step forward and parrot any lie the DNC lays out as talking points. They will only need one of each above listed category for the socialist old-media to puff up to a multitude. If they can find ten of each it will be proof (to them) that this country of millions has turned against Bush and the Republicans. Yeah Right! This also shows that the Democrats can only run a campaign of Massive Taxes, Character Assassination, Doom, Gloom, and Destruction. They are incapable of forming a platform of ideas that people will vote for. Their whole mindset is negative. We have been through over 40 years of their encroaching negativity. Why would we want more?]

FEC raises the stakes for blog bill - FEC... kiss here! (PG-13)

The Hill News

FEC raises the stakes for blog bill

By Elana Schor

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) yesterday postponed a controversial decision on subjecting Internet political speech to campaign-finance regulations, raising the stakes for today’s scheduled House vote on a bill that exempts all blogs, Web ads and other online communications.

If any God Damned gosh darned bureaucrats think they can violate my 1st Amendment rights of free speech, they can kiss my ass kiester!

Not on the left cheek, not on the right cheek, but right in the middle.

There... short, sweet, and to the point! I said before that I am not a politician! A politician might expound on the merits of a kiss to each cheek before zeroing in.

...NUFF SAID!

Will the service jobs flee Michigan next?

www.mlive.com

Up for the minimum, down for Michigan

Friday, March 17, 2006

The Michigan Legislature has done a major flip-flop on the minimum wage. In less than a week, the House and Senate have embraced legislation that will raise the minimum from $5.15 to $7.40 per hour in the next two years.

With manufacturing jobs leaving Michigan for more favorable business climates [and no help from our governor or senators], the call for a raise in the minimum wage went out. The legislature went along but what will the result be, a $10 burger at Wendy's??? Entry level jobs will be fewer and harder to find.

Last one out... turn out the lights!

50 States recognize God???

[ed: The Godless heathen Democrats are just plain WRONG! There is no seperation of church and state in the constitution! Here is my contribution to this message. The portion about the state preambles was lifted from Saul's blog.]

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...

[As seen above, the founding fathers declared that We The People have certain God endowed inalienable rights. We did not stop believing after that point and kick Him out. At least not all of us. Just certain members of the opposition party who have gone over to the belief that there is no god except for themselves.]

America's founders did not intend for there to be a separation of God and State, as shown by the fact that all 50 States acknowledge God in their State constitutions:

• Alabama 1901, Preamble. We the people of the State of Alabama, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution.

• Alaska 1956, Preamble. We, the people of Alaska, grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land.

• Arizona 1911, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Arizona, grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution...

• Arkansas 1874, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Arkansas, grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government...

• California 1879, Preamble. We, the People of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom

• Colorado 1876, Preamble. We, the people of Colorado, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of Universe.

• Connecticut 1818, Preamble. The People of Connecticut, acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy.

• Delaware 1897, Preamble. Through Divine Goodness all men have, by nature, the rights of worshiping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences.

• Florida 1885, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Florida, grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty, establish this Constitution...

• Georgia 1777, Preamble. We, the people of Georgia, relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution...

• Hawaii 1959, Preamble. We, the people of Hawaii, Grateful for Divine Guidance .. establish this Constitution.

• Idaho 1889, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings.

• Illinois 1870, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Illinois, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.

• Indiana 1851, Preamble. We, the People of the State of Indiana, grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to chose our form of government.

• Iowa 1857, Preamble. We, the People of the State of Iowa, grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of these blessings establish this Constitution.

• Kansas 1859, Preamble. We, the people of Kansas, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges establish this Constitution.

• Kentucky 1891, Preamble. We, the people of the Commonwealth are grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties...

• Louisiana 1921, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Louisiana, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties we enjoy.

• Maine 1820, Preamble. We the People of Maine acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of_the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity ... and imploring His aid and direction.

• Maryland 1776, Preamble. We, the people of the state of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty...

• Massachusetts 1780, Preamble. We...the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe ... in the course of His Providence, an opportunity and devoutly imploring His direction ..

• Michigan 1908, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Michigan, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom establish this Constitution.

• Minnesota, 1857, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Minnesota, grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings:

• Mississippi 1890, Preamble. We, the people of Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and invoking His blessing on our work.

• Missouri 1845, Preamble. We, the people of Missouri, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness ... establish this Constitution ...

• Montana 1889, Preamble. We, the people of Montana, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty establish this Constitution ...

• Nebraska 1875, Preamble. We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom .. establish this Constitution.

• Nevada 1864, Preamble. We the people of the State of Nevada, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom establish this Constitution ...

• New Hampshire 1792, Part I. Art. I. Sec. V. Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.

• New Jersey 1844, Preamble. We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors.

• New Mexico 1911, Preamble. We, the People of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty

• New York 1846, Preamble. We, the people of the State of New York, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings.

• North Carolina 1868, Preamble. We the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those .

• North Dakota 1889, Preamble. We, the people of North Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, do ordain...

• Ohio 1852, Preamble. We the people of the state of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and to promote our common

• Oklahoma 1907, Preamble. Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty ... establish this ..

• Oregon 1857, Bill of Rights, Article I. Section 2. All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences..

• Pennsylvania 1776, Preamble. We, the people of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance

• Rhode Island 1842, Preamble. We the People of the State of Rhode Island grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing

• South Carolina, 1778, Preamble. We, the people of he State of South Carolina grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution.

• South Dakota 1889, Preamble. We, the people of South Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberties ...

• Tennessee 1796, Art. XI.III. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience...

• Texas 1845, Preamble. We the People of the Republic of Texas, acknowledging, with gratitude, the grace and beneficence of God. Utah 1896, Preamble. Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty, we establish this Constitution.

• Vermont 1777, Preamble. Whereas all government ought to ... enable the individuals who compose it to enjoy their natural rights, and other blessings which the Author of Existence has bestowed on man ..

• Virginia 1776, Bill of Rights, XVI ... Religion, or the Duty which we owe our Creator . can be directed only by Reason ... and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian Forbearance, Love and Charity towards each other .

• Washington 1889, Preamble. We the People of the State of Washington, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution

• West Virginia 1872, Preamble. Since through Divine Providence we enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the people of West Virginia reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance upon God ...

• Wisconsin 1848, Preamble. We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, domestic tranquility

• Wyoming 1890, Preamble. We, the people of the State of Wyoming, grateful to God for our civil, political, and religious liberties .. establish this Constitution.

After reviewing acknowledgments of God from all 50 state constitutions, one is faced with the prospect that maybe, just maybe, the ACLU and the out-of-control federal courts are wrong!

"Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants." - William Penn

US Senate Candidate Info...

Click the banner above to find more information of the Republican candidates for US Senator of Michigan.

Mike Bouchard

Keith Butler

Jerry Zandstra

The above information is listed by me - James Foley. I have not received any compensation for the space in the ether and on my hard drive that the above words and graphics occupy. My time is mine to use as I choose, and I choose to use it without having to ask anyones permission. Since this is still a free country and we are not yet the United Soviet States of Amerika I will continue to air my opinions.

2008 Internet Poll For FUN!!!

A Picture worth 1,000 words!!! - A MUST SEE!

Senator Stabenow (D-MI)
A Picture worth 1,000 words!!!

March 14, 2006 - Captured live from C-Span

[ ed: Thank You Debbie... we've known it all along, but never expected you to admit it in this lifetime! WOOOOHOOOO! YESSSssssss! High Fives all around]

Thanks to Saul Anuzis for this information.

Saul, this should be made into billboards all around the state of Michigan!

NO Articles of Interest 3-4-06

Anuzis, Articles of Interest 3-4-06

NO Articles of Interest 3-4-06

Sounds like a good day to catch up on all sorts of things! The Lansing HQ is shifting to a new building so everything is going silent for a day or so...

Jobs Bank....A Must Read

Anuzis, Jobs Bank...

Jobs Bank....A Must Read

Jobs Bank....A Must Read

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114118143005186163.html

Idle Hands

Detroit's Symbol of Dysfunction:

Paying Employees Not to Work

Cost Tops $1.4 Billion a Year As Layoffs Fill 'Jobs Bank';

A Dismal Facility in Flint

Mr. Mellon Takes a Long Nap

By JEFFREY MCCRACKEN

March 1, 2006; Page A1

FLINT, Mich. -- In his 34 years working for General Motors Corp., one of Jerry Mellon's toughest assignments came this January. He spent a week in what workers call the "rubber room."

The room is a windowless old storage shed for engine parts. It is filled with long tables, Mr. Mellon says, and has space for about 400 employees. They must arrive at 6 a.m. each day and stay until 2:30 p.m., with 45 minutes off for lunch. A supervisor roams the aisles, signing people out when they want to use the bathroom.

Their job: to do nothing.

This is the "Jobs Bank," a two-decade-old program under which nearly 15,000 auto workers continue to get paid after their companies stop needing them. To earn wages and benefits that often top $100,000 a year, the workers must perform some company-approved activity. Many do volunteer jobs or go back to school. The rest must clock time in the rubber room or something like it.

It is called the rubber room, Mr. Mellon says, because "a few days in there makes you go crazy."

The Jobs Bank at GM and other U.S. auto companies including Ford Motor Co. is likely to cost around $1.4 billion to $2 billion this year. The programs, which are up for renewal next year when union contracts expire, have become a symbol of why Detroit struggles even as Japanese auto makers with big U.S. operations prosper.

While GM often blames "legacy costs" such as retiree health care and pensions for its troubles, its Job Bank shows that the company has inflicted some wounds on itself. Documents show that GM itself helped originate the Jobs Bank idea in 1984 and agreed to expand it in 1990, seeing it as a stopgap until times got better and workers could go back to the factories...

...In Flint, Mr. Mellon also sees change on the horizon. "I understand the Jobs Bank needs to have an end to it," he says over a beer at lunch in Flint's Caboose Lounge. "I mean, they've paid me like $400,000 over six years to do nothing, to learn to deal blackjack. But buy me out. Retire me with something like $2,000 for every year I worked. I need that because you know they're going to keep cutting our health care and pensions. You are so vulnerable in retirement."

Mr. Mellon recently arranged to do community service work at Freedom Temple, a Baptist church in Flint. He is installing motion sensors at the homes of senior citizens in a bad part of town. There have been 14 murders in Flint already this year.

"Now I can go out and do good church work and still get paid. I couldn't twiddle my thumbs any more in the rubber room," Mr. Mellon says. "I want to do some work."

[ed: Does anyone have any doubts about why a car can cost $35,000.00 (or MORE!) now? I was a teenager in the 1960s when a car might cost as much as $3,500.00 and that seemed to be a lot at the time.I certainly was not making anything like that working at the Big Boy restaurant at that time.]

The McCain "How Can We Fool'em" Machine is working...

Thanks for a heads up from Saul Anuzis. Looks like McCain took lessons from Slick Willie on "How Can We Fool The Public Today". This was the normal daily mode of operation in the Clinton White House and was in use daily there. I am guessing that the voters in South Carolina may be more gullible that most or are they just talking about the inner core party loyalists in S.C.??? I would sy that 2 years is too far out to call a lock for anyone. Who knows. By 2008, McCain could do something to convince me and I could be a McCainiac too!?!? Time will tell. First off we need to go to closed primaries! Eliminate the riffraff and get a little more honest view of where we stand.

Just How Liberal Is Debbie Stabenow?

Just How Liberal Is Debbie Stabenow?

from "That's Saul Folks!"

Washington, D.C. — Today the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) issued the following statement after a review of Senator Debbie Stabenow’s (D-MI) voting record by the non-partisan National Journal determined that Senator Stabenow is one of the most liberal members of the Senate:

“This report proves what Michiganders already know—that Debbie Stabenow is one of the most liberal Senators in the nation, and does not represent the views of the people of her home state,” said NRSC spokesman, Dan Ronayne. “Debbie Stabenow walks in lock-step with John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, and Hillary Clinton, not with Michigan values.”

According to respected political publication National Journal, Debbie Stabenow’s liberal score for 2005 is 86.3, making her the ninth most liberal member of the Senate, outranking nationally known liberals such as New York Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer and on par with Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.

(National Journal Website, www.nationaljournal.com, Accessed February 24, 2006)

And according to America’s oldest liberal organization, Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), Debbie Stabenow has higher liberal scores than Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, and is just as liberal as Ted Kennedy. [ed: they ARE experts at identifying their own ilk!]

Do you want to read more?

Thanks to Saul Anuzis for the info and for running such an informative newsletter and blog!

In Michigan Even The Dead Vote

From Holland to Detroit, votes were cast by 132 dead people; Detroit's voting records are riddled with inaccuracies, casting doubt on elections' integrity

In Mich., even dead vote

Lisa M. Collins / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Fred Douglas Henley would have been 75 years old when the city of Detroit says he walked into a polling precinct and voted on Nov. 8. Henley, however, died the day before the election, and his voting address long has been vacant and boarded up.

Blanche Credit died in 2003. But she's recorded as voting in November, too.

Then there's Michael Hollingsworth, whom the Detroit Department of Elections says voted at his precinct despite serving a life sentence for first-degree murder. And Jennifer Pinkerton is recorded as voting, but she lives in Westland.

It's impossible to say whether Henley, Credit, Hollingsworth and Pinkerton are names used by someone to cast fraudulent votes or whether they simply represent clerical errors. But a Detroit News review of voter and registration files, criminal and death records shows that Detroit's election records are so plagued with mistakes and inconsistencies -- including voter registry rolls packed with as many as 20,000 dead people and roughly 100,000 wrong addresses -- that the overall integrity of Detroit elections is in question.

The neatest and cleanest solution is the one that the Democrats will all sob and moan against:

The Picture ID!

Tim Skubick: Guv's mouth gets her in bind

Tim Skubick: Guv's mouth gets her in bind

Child protection claim puts Granholm in backpedal mode

By Tim Skubick

Talk about your double standard.

If former Gov. John Engler had misled the media on a story, he would have been convicted on the spot.

When that misdeed came from the current governor, she got a "Get Out of Jail" card.

• Fact: A 7-year-old boy's body was recently found near Lansing.

• Fact: Gov. Jennifer Granholm's Human Services Department had investigated parental abuse charges prior to the boy's killing.

• Fact: That department is understaffed with Child Protective Service caseworkers.

• Fact: The governor has "repeatedly" sought to beef up the ranks of those employees.

Facts Nos. 1-3 are accurate. But fact No. 4, uttered by Granholm, turned out to be dead wrong.

The governor was dragged into the death of Ricky Holland the other day because there was a bureaucratic cloud hanging over his case. The question was very clear: Was she concerned that the lack of caseworkers may have resulted in little Ricky falling through the cracks? Or, more bluntly, could his death have been avoided?

The governor started out by saying she was calling for 51 new hires at Human Services. She assured reporters her administration was committed to protecting children and if there was a problem, it would be corrected.

It was a good answer ... but it did not match the question.

So the follow-up: Since she wanted to hire 51 new workers, didn't that suggest the agency was understaffed and that could have affected the Holland investigation?

Again, she declined to address that angle, but conceded: "There is no doubt we need added personnel in that department in those areas." Then, she stuck her foot in it: "And we've repeatedly asked for additional resources."

While she never said it, the implication was obvious: The Republican-controlled Legislature never coughed up the bucks, so new caseworkers were never hired.

It was a nifty move, which shifted any responsibility in the Holland case away from her and onto the backs of GOP legislators who write the budget.

The Associated Press published the interview and soon the GOP chair of the House Appropriations committee called the executive office. Rep. Scott Hummel, R-DeWitt, was direct: The governor had never "repeatedly" asked for anything.

Turns out Hummel was right, and so was the Republican leader in the Senate.

"The governor never asked for additional funding ..." and "to use the horrible tragedy of Ricky Holland's death to score some kind of leverage in budget negotiations is in poor taste and unacceptable," said Sen. Ken Sikkema, calling Granholm on her claim.

Adding salt to the wound, Sikkema also reported the GOP, without the governor's request, had added 14 workers two years earlier.

So, here you have the governor saying one thing that was wrong, totally unaware more workers had been hired. One could conclude somebody in the front office didn't know what was going on.

To their credit, the governor's folks issued a three-paragraph statement conceding "the administration has not asked for additional resources for Child Protective Services in the past."

The AP ran that story, too.

Amazingly, the concession hasn't made most of the media coverage. Go figure.

A.C.L.U. JOINS BATTLE AGAINST AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROPOSAL

A.C.L.U. JOINS BATTLE AGAINST AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROPOSAL

The American Civil Liberties Union, joined by other civil rights organizations, joined efforts Friday to keep the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative from the ballot. The groups argued in briefs filed with the Supreme Court that the Board of State Canvassers should have been allowed to investigate allegations of fraud regarding signature collection for the proposal to end affirmative action in the state. The issue has been certified to the ballot under order of the Court of Appeals, but opponents are seeking Supreme Court review of those orders (Michigan Civil Rights Initiative v. Board of State Canvassers, COA docket No. 130342). Several residents have testified in hearings before both the Canvassers and the Civil Rights Commission that they were told the petition would constitutionally protect affirmative action, not eliminate it. “Whenever significant allegations of fraud exist in a ballot campaign, the court must allow a state investigatory body the chance to determine whether those allegations have merit,” said ACLU of Michigan Executive Director Kary Moss. “Here, the Court of Appeals preempted any state agency from conducting an investigation when it ordered the Board to certify the measure.” The brief was joined by the NAACP Detroit Chapter, Detroit Urban League, National Bar Association, and ACCESS. MCRI, meanwhile, is still seeking contempt of court sanctions against the two Democratic board members for their votes that, despite the court order, initially prevented the issue from being placed on the ballot. And a spokesperson for the MCRI said the ACLU’s brief seems contrary to an amicus brief they had filed earlier arguing that comments between circulators and petition signers were protected speech.

These people who now say they were lied to, probably signed with an "X" and a witness, "Wah Wah Wah, I signed a petition and I was an ignorant, dumb bastard, wah wah wah!" They have the opportunity to read petition language before signing. At least every time I have signed a petition, I have read what I was signing beforehand. The real point of the whole exercise is that more than enough signatures were collected and the board of canvassers have certified the petition for the ballot, even though it was at the order of the court. Isn't this a strange turn of events? The Socialists usually depend on the courts system to get their way, and are now fighting the courts to get their way. They reliably lose at the ballot box, and can not get their way in the legislature so the courts have been their legislature of last resort for some time. Maybe they will start feeling suicidal next! If enough of them want to mass suicide, maybe we can get a special leave from prison for Kevorkian to assist them??? Where's Geoffrey Fieger? He ought to be weighing in on this! We ought to reserve some landfill space in anticipation of Socialist Democrat suicides.

Articles of Interest 2-24-06

Anuzis, Articles of Interest 2-24-06

Articles of Interest 2-24-06

Detroit News article...go here to read

Current spending levels skimp on fully funding our schools

by Justin King

For years, the Michigan Legislature has failed to adequately fund our schools. Recent per-pupil increases will do little to alleviate the budget issues of the state's schools.

The real problem stems from the slight of hand that has been happening for years... for every dollar of lottery funding for the schools coming in the front door, the legislature subtracts an equal amount from the "revenue sharing" out the back door. This frees up the money to be blown on projects elsewhere.

Port Security Issue - PLEASE READ!!!

I posted the article by Ann Coulter on the Port Sale and Security issue. Here is the Administration response by way of the state party chairman! I must say that the president has deeply disappointed me in his handling of this whole affair. He has caused an outward appearance of deep fractures in the party. I cleaned up the formatting from "That's Saul Folks!" for posting here. This one reads a little easier. - James Foley

New Math!!!