Lobbyists will have major role in Snyder Administration

For all the rhetoric about reinventing Michigan and that it won’t be politics as usual in Michigan with the election of Rick “Chief Executive Outsourcer” Snyder as Michigan Governor, his choices for key positions in his administration are signaling that it is politics as usual and that lobbyists will have an increased role.

He has turned the clock back 8-20 years with even more appointments of former staffers from the Engler Administration and lobbyists. On Monday he announced that former Engler staffers Michael Gadola would be his legal counsel and Geralyn Lasher his communications director. Lasher served as deputy press secretary and Gadola deputy legal counsel and director of the Office of Regulatory Reform under Engler.

The Outsourcer has shown an early preference for lobbyists, and he appointed one of the most tenured and powerful Lansing lobbyists as his Chief-of-Staff, Dennis Muchmore. That position is arguably the most important post in any administration because they control access to the Outsourcer.

Muchmore is the founder of the multi-client lobbying firm of Muchmore, Harrington, Smalley and Associates. He was also the former Executive Director of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs.

So far, all six of Snyder's major appointments have ties to Engler or are experienced Lansing hands. In addition to the three appointed yesterday, Snyder also has named House Speaker Andy Dillon D-Redford, as treasurer, former Lt. Governor Dick Posthumus as a senior adviser on legislative affairs and Bill Rustem, president and CEO of the think tank and lobbying firm Public Sector Consultants, as director of strategy. Only the appointment of Blue Dog Democrat Dillon is an out of the box pick.

This comes on the heels of a report by the Associated Press (AP) that lobbyists will have more sway in Lansing; something that has been on the rise since term limits.

According to the AP, “lobbyists could play a bigger role next year as an especially large class of freshmen lawmakers and a governor-elect with little previous political experience take office.” It also reported the nonpartisan Michigan Campaign Finance Network says Michigan lobbyists reported spending $17.8 million on public officials' meals, travel, lodging, gifts and tickets to events the first seven months of 2010. Last year, lobbyists spent at least $32.1 million. Secretary of state Figures show the state had 2,783 registered lobbyists last year, 500 more than in 1999.

Ironically, one of the first encounters the Outsourcer had with the so-called bipartisan Freshman Caucus last week was sponsored by lobbyists. The event was held at the lobbying firm of Karoub Associates and sponsored by the Detroit International Bridge Company, which owns the Ambassador Bridge and Nora Moroun, wife of bridge owner Manuel "Matty" Moroun. The bridge company has had a very large presence in Lansing the past year as they fight to keep their monopoly on the aging 84-year-old bridge; the busiest international border crossing in North America.

The Chief Executive Outsourcer will now have Dumb and Dumber in his cabinet

It appears newly elected Michigan Gov. Rick “Chief Executive Outsourcer” Snyder must love the Michigan film credits because his favorite movie star is one of the biggest proponents of the credits, Chelsea’s Jeff Daniels, starring in “Dumb and Dumber.”

You will recall that early in the campaign the Outsourcer told his hometown “newspaper,” that the creation of Michigan Business Tax (MBT) and the 22 percent surcharge in 2007 was “like Lansing went to the video store and rented ‘Dumb and Dumber.’” Then in August he appointed one of the Republican authors of the alleged “job killer,” State Rep. Brian Calley, R-Portland, as his running mate.

Today in Ann Arbor the Outsourcer is set to appoint the Democratic author of the MBT, current Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, D-Redford, to an unnamed job in his administration. The only question that remains is which one is dumb and who is dumber: Dillon or Calley?

I applaud the Outsourcer in seeking a little diversity in his cabinet by appointing a Democrat, but many people have told me they don’t believe Dillon is a real Democrat. He lost the Democratic Gubernatorial nomination to Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero in the primary, but Dillon never endorsed Bernero after the primary, which is the norm.

Perhaps this is why. Or perhaps it could be a reward for helping turnover control of the House to Republicans on his watch.

Dillon has never been a favorite of Republicans, and they pulled out all the stops in an attempt to recall him in 2007, even using fraud to place it on the ballot. However, it was rejected by voters. Republicans launched a number of recall attempts back in 2007 against Democratic state Representatives who voted for revenue increases to keep the state government going and avoid a shutdown. Only the one for Dillon made it on the ballot, but they used fraud to accomplish it.

The Outsourcer is also continuing his practice of appointing former members of the Engler administration to his team, and he is expected to announce that former Republican Lt. Governor Dick Posthumus will advise him on legislative affairs. Posthumus was Engler’s second Lt. Gov., but he lost his own bid for Governor in 2002, losing to currant Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

November looks good for Democrats

Like every other political junkie in Michigan, I’m still digesting last night’s primary election results, but for the most part I am a happy man because most of the candidates I supported won.

I haven’t posted recently because I was busy campaigning over the weekend, and those candidates I worked for – soon to be Senator-Elect and former Rep. Hoon-Yung Hopgood, D-Taylor, and Congressman John Dingell, D-Dearborn – won their races.

I was elated to see Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero win with such a big margin – 59 to 41 percent – and I am even happier to see who he is running against, chief job outsourcer Rick Snyder. That certainly proves teabaggers are a fringe group. One Livingston County rightwing blogger had this headline in a pre-primary post: “No Rick Snyder for governor. Anybody in the primary but Rick Michigan.”

Not to worry; it will be Virg in November. Let the speculation about his running mate begin. I’m nominating House Majority Floor Leader Kathy Angerer, D-Dundee. The anti-choice Democrat will bring in the Andy Dillon supporters.

I see little difference between the last GOP Gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos and Snyder. Like DeVos, Snyder sent jobs to China, and well as Mexico, while the head of Gateway Computers.

I spent last Sunday walking in the Monroe County Fair Parade for Dingell. Monroe is my hometown, and because I still have lots of friends and family there, I volunteer there often. After the parade I did a three-hour shift in the Monroe County Democratic Party booth, which was really a tent. I was wearing my distinctive red, “Team Dingell” shirt when this goofy looking guy came into the tent and introduced himself as “Dr. Rob Steele,” and he was the "guy who was going to retire John Dingell.”

Apparently, it really was teabagger Republican candidate and Ann Arbor-area cardiologist Rob Steele. It caught me off-guard that he would seek out a confrontation, so the only witty come back I could come up with was “in your dreams.” He went on about how it was time for Dingell to retire then tried to make conservation when he noticed the hat I was wearing said “U.S. Navy retired.” I just told him to move on. I was so suspired by the arrogance that I was caught off guard.

It was only after I found out a little about him that it was cleared up. He is a teabagger who seeks confrontation, and he is a doctor. Like Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw, who is also a cardiologist, he appears to be a little arrogant.

The other Congressional candidate I volunteered for, State Sen. Hansen Clarke, D-Detroit, unseated incumbent Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick for the seat in the 13th Congressional District with a resounding 48-39 percent win. It will be nice to see someone with some real passion and above reproach ethics in that seat.

I feel much better about the race for the other two competitive Congressional seats. U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, will again get the opportunity to beat extremist Republican and loser Tim Walberg in the 7th District.

U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, will face perennial loser and sacrificial lamb Andrew Raczkowski in the 9th U.S. House District.

Locally, I was disappointed to see Teabagger Republican Joe Hune win in the 22nd Senate District, I guess that proves Republicans will vote for name recognition, no matter how extreme and wacky their positions are. I can’t wait for the debate when he goes against someone who really knows the issues, like Democratic candidate Chuck Fellows.

I also can’t wait for November.

Matty Moroun spreads cash to GOP allies

Republican billionaire benefactor and Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun was busy distributing campaign cash to those willing to stand up for the billionaires and against 10,000 Michigan job and oppose the much-needed planned Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) bridge over the Detroit River between Canada and Windsor.

In an effort to keep his monopoly on the 81-year old Ambassador Bridge, Moroun has spent lots of money on mostly Republican politicians that has earned him the loyalty like that of State Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt. In a Detroit Free Press article called “Matty Moroun spends big on politicians: Dishes donations amid bridge fight,” it reports “Moroun and his family have doled out more than $110,000 in political contributions to Michigan candidates and committees since the beginning of the year.”

The article shows Morouns spent his money on most -- but not all -- of the gubernatorial candidates from both parties, as well as a lobbyist-run committee in Lansing that in turn contributes to Republican campaigns and causes. That’s one reason why not a single Michigan House Republicans voted yes on legislation clearing the way to build the DRIC bridge and authorize Michigan to enter into a public-private partnership with Canada and a private sector developer/financier to build the DRIC bridge, and why Senate Republicans are trying to kill it in committee.

According the Free Press, “the Morouns gave to all of the Republican gubernatorial candidates except former Gateway computers head Rick Snyder, who supports DRIC as long as Michigan taxpayers aren't on the hook. U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra -- who has since said he favors a public-private partnership to build a new span -- received four $3,400 contributions worth a total of $13,600 on May 5. Attorney General Mike Cox, who has more concerns about DRIC, received the same on June 25.”

But Mike Bouchard appears to be the new Cropsey, and he got the lion’s share of the Moroun cash.

“On top of the $10,200 he received on the last day of 2009, the Bouchard Victory Fund received $13,000 in May. And Capitol Affairs PAC, which is run by former Bouchard staffer and lobbyist Robert Kennedy, has received $35,000 from the Morouns since the middle of May. The PAC has contributed to several funds committed to electing Republicans, as well as giving about $34,000 to Bouchard's gubernatorial run and another $34,000 to a committee called Friends of Mike Bouchard -- which according to the filing is a fund for his re-election in 2012 as Oakland County sheriff.”

Most troubling, at least to me, was that the Morouns also gave “two $3,400 contributions to Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor. His rival, House Speaker Andy Dillon, didn't receive a donation. Dillon supports DRIC; Bernero opposes it.”

“Also of note, two of Lansing's most vocal opponents to DRIC received contributions:” Republican State Reps. David Agema of Grandville received $1,000, and Paul Opsommer of DeWitt got $1,500.

Millions already spent on TV ads in gubernatorial campaign is chump change compared to Amway guy cash

Despite seemingly incessant political TV ads from Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidates attacking each other, television advertising is lagging far behind the pace of Michigan’s last two gubernatorial campaigns, according to Rich Robinson of the non-profit Michigan Campaign Finance Network.

In fact, five candidates and one nonprofit organization have spent $3.3 million so far, with Republicans “Manoogian” Mike Cox and Rick Snyder accounting for 79 percent of that total. Snyder’s television advertising started three months before any other candidates this year but his spending has slowed dramatically over the last month, as has his support. Since Memorial Day, Cox has outspent Snyder, $634,726 to $161,030, although Snyder has spent more overall, $1,4 million to $1,1 million.

But that’s chump change compared to what the Amway guy – AKA Republican Dick DeVos – spent in 2006 trying to by the governorship. At the end of June in 2006, DeVos had already spent $7 million despite the fact he did not have a primary opponent. The Michigan Democratic Party had spent $2.3 million for gubernatorial television advertising over the same period. The two parties spent nearly $13 million by the time of the primary election in 2006.

Among the other Republican candidates, Mike Bouchard has spent $98,000, including $48,000 in the last month. All of Bouchard’s spending has been on cable. ”Twitter” Pete Hoekstra’s television spending has been limited to $5,470, all on one Sunday in May.

The remaining advertiser on the Republican side is a group known as “Americans for Job Security.” AJS has spent $273,000, all in the Grand Rapids market, for ads attacking Hoekstra. The ads appear to be synchronized with the Cox campaign.

Local television stations pulled the AJA ads after Hoekstra's lawyers complained the ads were false and misleading. The Cox campaign has denied any connection, but with Cox’s troubles with the truth it’s pretty clear he is behind them.

On the Democratic side, Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, D-Redford, has spent $335,380. Dillon has spent $282,880 on broadcast outlets in Detroit. The remainder of his spending has been on cable. Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero have not purchased television advertising.

The candidates have not filed a complete campaign finance report since year-end 2009. Their next reports are due on July 23.

The Michigan Campaign Finance Network (MCFN) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that conducts research and public education on money in Michigan politics.

Drolet’s pig pinned

Republican Michigan Senate candidate and teabagger Leon Drolet continues to have ethical problems, and last week he finally got caught.

Those of us having the misfortune of having witnessed some of the fake, Astroturf Republican rallies disguised as teabagger events have seen the large plastic pink, pig Drolet brings to these events on a trailer. It is clearly a political sign, but nowhere is there a disclaimer on the pig as to who paid for it. Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer filed a complaint that Drolet ridiculed, but the Michigan Secretary of State agreed with Brewer.

She has ordered Drolet to put a disclaimer on his pig immediately or he will face penalties.

“There’s no doubt Leon Drolet will squeal like a stuck pig because of this decision,” Brewer said. “Drolet continues to think he is above the law. Violating the Michigan Campaign Finance Act is just his latest offense.”

The Secretary of State ruled Drolet must put a disclaimer on immediately and that disclaimer must read, “Paid for by” and be “followed by the full name and address of the person or committee that paid for the communication.”

Drolet - a former Republican state Representative, Macomb County Commissioner and executive director of the so-called Michigan Taxpayers Alliance (MTA) - headed up the recall effort against House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford, in 2007 because Dillon voted for a tax increase to avoid a state government shutdown. That eventual unsuccessful effort was ripe with corruption, and it led to the arrest and convention of two Drolet cohorts who forged signatures on the recall petition.

The Capitol lawn will be a busy and diverse place during SOS speech

The Capitol lawn in Lansing will be a busy place on Wednesday evening when Gov. Jennifer Granholm gives her final State of the State address, and a very diverse group of people will gather to express their opinions.

Soon to be convicted felon and Republican Senate candidate Leon Drolet, head of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance, is co-sponsoring a protest on the lawn called the "State of the Citizens" address. According to subscription only Gongwer, the group plan to “place 148 folding chairs on the lawn - one for each member of the Legislature - and invite them to attend their event instead of Ms. Granholm's speech.” This group is nothing but a thinly disguised teabagger group, so only a few extremist Republicans will take that invitation, if any. It should be even less when you consider that the House and Senate are actually in session during the speech.

You will recall that the so-called “Michigan Taxpayers Alliance” tried to recall Democratic lawmakers who voted to increase taxes in 2007 to avoid a government shutdown. They failed on almost all fronts, but they managed to recall Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, D-Redford, but voters soundly rejected it when it made it to the ballot. However, they had to use fraud and deceit to actually get it on the ballot, and at least two members are facing fraud charges because of it.

The co-sponsor with Drolet’s group is a group headed up by extremist Republican teabagger Wendy Day, who also happens to be a member of the Howell Public School Board. The fact is both group falls under the teabagger umbrella, known for their racist rhetoric and signs.

But the extremist teabaggers will be joined by a couple of liberal groups. A couple of groups called the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice and The Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions will be there also. They will be protesting against foreclosure, evictions and utility shutoffs.

Also getting a permit from the Michigan Legislative Council for Wednesday evening for a rally is a group called “Tears for the Mentally Ill and Disabled.” They will apparently be protesting the lack of funding for the mentally ill, who end up going to our jails and prisons costing taxpayers even more money.

It should be a very interesting evening on the lawn and in the House chambers.

Drolet says a little corruption is no big deal

Republican Senate candidate Leon Drolet called the corruption filled 2008 recall effort against House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford, on the level because only two signature takers were indicted for fraud.

Michael Bastianelli, 28, of Westland and Harvey Robinson, 39, of Redford were arraigned back in December in 16th District Court in Livonia on two felony counts of uttering and publishing and making false statements related to recall petitions during the Dillon recall attempt. On Friday, Bastianelli pled guilty to a felony charge of uttering and publishing. He had forged the signature of Redford's fire chief on a petition form.

Drolet - a former Republican state Representative, Macomb County Commissioner and executive director of the so-called Michigan Taxpayers Alliance (MTA) - headed up the recall effort because Dillon voted for a tax increase to avoid a state government shutdown. Drolet claims he only met Robinson once, and he also claims he had nothing to do with the fraud because he hired a company to collect signatures.

Even more incredible, he told subscription only Gongwers that he disputed criticism that “the recall effort was rife with fraud. If anything, that only two people out of 200 workers were charged vindicates the integrity of the campaign.”

Say what?

He went even farther and said the committee that sought Dillon's recall should be repaid by Bastianelli. He’s using the GOP strategy that if you’re going to tell a lie, you might as well go big.

"This was two guys out 200," Drolet told Gongwer. "No, I don't believe it does (taint the campaign) anymore than one person can go and sign the name Mickey Mouse on a petition and taint the whole petition.”

That’s the same situation with the favorite Republican boogieman, ACORN, who are under fire because a few workers collecting voter registrations forged them because they were paid for each one. But ACORN was a nationwide effort with thousands of workers. Drolet’s crooked recall took place in one single township. The claim that Drolet didn’t know anything about it is ridiculous.

He is either lying or he is a poor administrator who had no idea what was going in something he was in charge of. Considering how small an area he was in charge of that, it’s clear he knew what was going on.

Not only that, but the State Police began investigating in May 2008 after receiving 499 complaints of documented forgeries and nearly 2,000 additional suspected forgeries, indicating a widespread campaign to commit fraud. Again, for Drolet to claim he did not know what was going on is ridiculous.

Charges of carpet bagging and political operatives surround the 11th District Senate race

The race in the 11th Senate District just got a little more interesting; Capitol Newsletter MIRS is reporting that Rep. Kim Meltzer, R-Clinton Twp?, has hired John Yob’s Strategic National to run her campaign.

Yob is the youngest son of long-time Michigan National Republican Committeeman Chuck Yob, but Yob the younger already has a reputation. He served as the national chairman of the College Republicans while a student at the University of Michigan. That’s the same position some of his heroes sprang from, the kings of dirty tricks, Karl Rove and Lee Atwater.

Yob also ran Terri Land’s successful Michigan Secretary of State campaign, the most partisan SOS in Michigan history. He also served as the deputy national political director for the unsuccessful McCain presidential campaign.

It was that connection that ties Yob to one of the Republicans’ more dirty tricks. You will recall in the fall of 2008, the Michigan Messenger broke the story that Michigan Republicans planned to challenge voters at the polls whose homes are in foreclosure. Only the publicity stopped them. While other state SOS addressed the issue, Land refused to address any questions on the matter.

Ironically, Meltzer has been the point person in the House fighting any attempt to increase voter turnout and make it easier to register and to vote. I guess she knew she was running for the Senate.

But she already has her problems in the right leaning 11th Senate District in Macomb County, and she has been accused of being a carpetbagger. Apparently, Meltzer moved from Clinton Township to a rented home in Macomb Township on Oct. 31, which allows her to run in the 11th District Senate race instead of the 10th District held by term-limited Democrat Mickey Switalski.

The 11th is held by term limited Republican Alan Sanborn, the most conservative member in the Senate, and it is considered a safe Republican district. In fact, the race has drawn some real rightwing tools. In addition to Meltzer, former state Rep. Jack Brandenburg is in the race. It would be polite just to call him an extremist.

Also in the race is former state Rep. Leon Drolet. He has led the “tea parties” and a crooked recall of Speaker of the House Andy Dillon. This is a guy who has never held a job in the public sector. It remains to be seen if he will stay out of jail long enough to even run.

The recall was accomplished with fraud and deceit, out-of-state money, illegal petition gathers, cash for signatures and illegal campaign contributions. Two men have already been charged with felonies over it, and it remains to be seen if the long arm of the law will reach to the people running that fraud, like Drolet.

Dillon recall accomplished with fraud

It took a little while, but apparently the law has finally caught up with Leon Drolet and the fraud he used in the recall attempts back in 2007 against primarily Democratic state Representatives who voted for revenue increases to keep the state government going and avoid a shutdown.

Drolet is former Republican state Representative, Macomb County Commissioner and executive director of the so-called Michigan Taxpayers Alliance (MTA). All the recalls fell by the wayside except the recall of Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, D-Redford, but it was accomplished with fraud and deceit, out-of-state money, illegal petition gathers, cash for signatures and illegal campaign contributions. Although it actually made it on the ballot, voters soundly rejected it.

However, today Michael Bastianelli, 28, of Westland and Harvey Robinson, 39, of Redford were arraigned in 16th District Court in Livonia on two felony counts of uttering and publishing and making false statements related to recall petitions during the Dillon recall attempt. They were released on $20,000 personal bonds. A preliminary hearing is set for January 5.

Subscription only Gongwer reported “Bastianelli allegedly forged petition signatures, while Mr. Robinson allegedly paid homeless people at a Detroit shelter to sign the names of residents living in Mr. Dillon's (D-Redford Twp.) district, said Attorney General Mike Cox spokesperson Nick DeLeeuw,” a former blogger. DeLeeuw was singing a different tune back before the 2008 election when he said, “This is exciting stuff. Rose (Bogaert) and Leon did a great job fighting the thugs, the criminals, the powers-that-be (Miles Handy) and the courts to give voters in Andy Dillon's House district the choice to recall him this November.”

Who are the thugs again?

Drolet, of course, denies knowing the pair, telling Gongwer that “he met Mr. Robinson once when he turned in some signatures. Mr. Robinson was working for a petition signature collection firm, Mr. Drolet said. However, he did not recognize Mr. Bastianelli's name.” Right.

“This is an indictment of Leon Drolet,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer in a press release. “The Drolet-led recall now has two people charged with felonies – proving Drolet may even stoop to breaking the law in order to get what he wants.”

The State Police began investigating in May 2008 after receiving 499 complaints of documented forgeries and nearly 2,000 additional suspected forgeries, indicating a widespread campaign to commit fraud. Still, the measure went on the ballot in November of 2008.

“These arrests are also an indictment of the entire recall effort against Speaker Dillon,” said Mark Fisk, partner of Byrum & Fisk Advocacy Communications, the lead consultant for Dillon in the anti-recall effort. “Drolet and the recall supporters used forgery, fraud, and deception throughout the recall campaign. Thanks to the Michigan State Police, the criminals are being punished and these tactics continue to be exposed.”

Livingston County Republicans breach the public trust

As expected, Livingston County’s state Legislative delegation is toeing the Republican line on the budgets cuts that will devastate the state, but the comments of Rep. Bill Rogers, R, Brighton, are becoming screechy.

Just minutes after that the House adjoined on Tuesday after a marathon session that lasted until almost 9 p.m. where a modest revenue increase was approved, Rogers’s staffer sent out a press release blasting the increase.

The House approved a physician Quality Assurance Assessment Program (QAAP) that assesses a 3 percent tax on doctors. Revenue collected from doctors would be matched with Federal funds bringing in $2.70 for every $1 the QAAP raises, and those matching funds would be used to increase Medicaid reimbursement to doctors, bringing them up to Medicare standards. The Department of Community Health budget just approved last month cut the reimbursement rate by 8 percent, putting hospitals in danger of going into bankruptcy and causing some doctors to stop treating Medicaid patients.

But Rogers told the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus that the increase is "a stunning breach of the public trust" that would make it harder to live and work in this state. Please.

If you want a stunning breach of public trust, how about telling high school students that if they do well on the MEAP test they will earn the Michigan Promise scholarship, but once they are enrolled in college, we take it away. That is a breach of the public trust.

He then said he was "outraged" by the proposals, which he said were introduced in "the 11th hour under the cover of darkness." He can be outraged all he wants, but the 11th hour charge is what’s really outrageous. The proposal has been around since late July.

According to the article, Rogers and Rep. Cindy Denby, R-Handy Township, both said the proposals broke an agreement between state House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, to balance the budget without raising taxes.

Simply not true. Dillon made the deal without the agreement of this caucus, and they both left out the second half of the agreement: Republicans would support supplemental appropriations bills to restore some of the cuts. Dillon said all along he would look to safeguard K-12 education, college scholarships, local police and fire protection and health care for children and seniors.

State employees are overworked and underpaid

LANSING -- Michigan State University economics Professor Charles Ballard dispelled the myths that the public employee system in Michigan is bloated and that state workers are overpaid and have Cadillac health care benefits.

Ballard recently conducted a comprehensive study on the wages and benefits of state employees on behalf of the unions representing state employees, and he testified on Tuesday before the 13-member House Public Employee Health Care Reform Committee assigned to examine House Speaker Andy Dillon’s, D-Redford, plan to pool all public employees in state, including public school teachers. Dillon claims it will save the state up to $900 million a year.

The first myth he dispelled is that the system is bloated. The fact is state employees are dong more with less.

“We have a reduction of 11,000 workers, which is a reduction of 18 percent since 2001,” Ballard said.

Ballard earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University, and he has been on the faculty at MSU since 1983. He has served as a consultant with the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Health & Human Services, Treasury and with research institutes in Australia, Denmark, and Finland. He is the author of two books, “Michigan at the Millennium” and “Michigan’s Economic Future.”

Ballard said state employees earn less than those in the private sector, especially those state workers with advanced degrees.

“As the skill level goes up, when you are talking about engineers and attorneys, public employees earn significantly less,” he said.

Ballard also dispelled the myth that state workers get Cadillac health care befits. The fact is they pay higher than average costs for their health care benefits. In fact, most state workers and their families have seen their health care costs double in the last couple of years.

“What I emphasize is that they are not as good as they once were,” he said. “They have made significant give backs.”

Ballard, who has spent more than 20 years looking at Michigan’s tax and budget process, said the tax revenue system is outdated. He said raising taxes made headlines in 2007, but the next day taxes were cut that didn’t make headlines.

“Our tax revenue system is broken,” he said. “To try and fix the budget with just spending cuts is irrational and draconian.”

Bishop emulates Yogi Berra

LANSING – Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop’s, R-Rochester, actions on the current Michigan budget remind many of the words of a famous philosopher when he said, “It's like deja-vu, all over again.”

Bishop has already been called out by veteran Capitol correspondent Tim Skubick for speaking out of both sides of his mouth and saying one thing to the press and another in the closed-door budget negotiations between the Governor and the Speaker of the House. He loves to play to the press and the public, and he seems to do it the year before the election so Republicans can campaign on it. In 2007 his draconian budget cuts would have cost some 600 state employees their jobs. He has been campaigning for Attorney General from the Senate floor for the past two years.

But he knew in 2007 that House Democrats would have to be the adults and do the right and responsible thing and introduce tax increases to avoid the brief government shutdown we had in 2007. He had hopes to use that to help win back the House in 2008, but it fail miserably because voters saw through the sham.

But he is at it again this year. Last week, according to subscription only Gongwer, Bishop mouthpiece Matt Marsden said the Republican caucus is open to discussing tax changes, but not general tax increases, and that the House would have to act first on any such measure.

Gee, I wonder when we head that before? Of course the House will have to do the responsible thing and again take the heat for Republicans. Somebody has to be the grown up.

House Speaker Andy Dillon. D-Redford, responded without the help of a mouthpiece, saying “They made the same demand in 2007 and also dictated what was acceptable which led to the disastrous Michigan Business Tax surcharge that is hurting businesses across the state. Any budget solution is going to have to be worked in a bipartisan way and both chambers - including the State Senate - are going to have to shoulder responsibility, not just seek ways to avoid them."

Marsden is paid well to be snarky, rude and misleading, and he doesn’t miss a beat; dismissing the comment as “more typical Dillon rhetoric." He said unlike the House, the Senate has passed budget bills that are balanced and that available revenues could support. "We're out there with what our proposal is, like it or not," he said.

The Senate plans to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and middle class, and among the cuts the Senate has approved and are being roundly criticized include cutting Medicaid services, such as chiropractic, adult dental, optometric services and some community mental health funding; eliminated the Alzheimer’s Outreach Program; eliminated the $4.7 million for the state’s 78 Child and Adolescent Health Center (CAHC) Program sites; $18 million in cuts from the Healthy Michigan Fund and a 8 percent cut to Medicaid providers; eliminated the Michigan Promise Scholarship; a $110 cut in the per student foundation grant, eliminated School Readiness grants and Early Childhood funding; and a 12 percent cut to local revenue sharing.

Lansing insiders are aware of Bishop’s incompetence

Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, took the biggest dip in approval ratings from Lansing insiders in a survey conducted by the subscription only Capitol newsletter MIRS and EPIC/MRA last week.

The Capitol insider's survey was e-mailed to well over 1,000 lawmakers, lobbyists, association executives and executive branch officials over a three-week period that ended last week. The last one was conducted two years ago, and Bishop received a 59 percent positive job approval rating. However, this past survey gave him the biggest downward swing with only 28 percent who now think he's doing a positive job. That cannot bode well for his bid for Attorney General. The fact that the GOP Senate caucus has blocked any meaningful legislation and his refusal to compromise to accomplish anything has a lot to do with the rating.

His counterpart in the House, Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, D-Redford, received a 43 percent overall positive job approval rating.

In a demonstration that the buck stops at the top and the person in charge gets the blame, Gov. Jennifer Granholm received a dismal rating of just 16 percent. But the good news is that 80 percent of the insiders believe Lt. Gov. John Cherry will be the Democratic nominee for Governor next year.

The Republican side is very muddled, but Attorney General Mike Cox is the leader with just 24 percent. In second place was Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land with 17 percent, along with Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, who has said he is not a candidate. U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, was in third with 16 percent.

Doctors grill Dillon and Bishop on why there is no workplace smoking ban

LANSING -- On the day the House Regulatory Reform Committee reported out House Bill 4377 that bans smoking in most workplaces, including bars and restaurants, those Legislative leaders responsible for dragging their feet on this important public health issue got an earful from those who see the devastating effects of smoking and deadly secondhand smoke.

House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, were two of seven Legislatures on a panel Wednesday at the Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) Leadership Conference, and despite some pressing concerns facing physicians in the state, such as state public health dollars being cut, Medicaid reimbursement rates getting cut another 4 percent, talk of individual health care reform and Blue Cross/Blue Shield increasing and a possible “physicians tax” on the horizon, the hot topic was the smoking ban. In fact, subscription only MIRS reported the two leaders were “grilled” on the subject.

Even Dillon’s announcement that the bill had moved out of committee just minutes ago did not appease the angry physicians. According to MIRS, one speaker told the legislators that “she's tired of hearing in incremental updates about how a bill is in this chamber or committee, or whatever. She said it's been a year since legislative leaders addressed MSMS and the bottom line is that nothing has changed. Smoking is still allowed in bars, restaurants and casinos while Ohio, Wisconsin and an increasing number of states along Tobacco Road can manage a smoking ban.”

MSMS Past President Michael Sandler urged the lawmakers to just get it done with an impassioned speech, and he said there are no roadblocks or reasons not to get it done.

“This is not a partisan issue. Just get it done. You've got a study from (former Senate Majority Leader and current Public Sector Consultants analyst Ken) Sikkema that shows you don't lose money,” he said. “If you have to have an exemption or two, fine. This is something the Legislature can do that won't take budget wrangling to get done. Please. You'll look great."

Bishop has the biggest roadblock, only allowing a vote on a bill with no exceptions, and he has refused to compromise. That has been his cover to kill something 70 percent of Michigan residents support but he doesn’t.

Another medical report points out harm caused by deadly secondhand smoke

We already know secondhand smoke causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, dementia and non-fatal diseases, such as asthma, inner ear infections, major depression and other afflictions in non-smokers, but there may also be a link to breast cancer.

An international panel of researchers convened by the University of Toronto and chaired by the university's Neil Collishaw, M.D., found after its review of several recent studies and meta-analyses that exposure to secondhand smoke was causally linked to breast cancer in premenopausal women. It’s unbelievable that with all of these studies on the negative effects of secondhand smoke piling up, the workplace smoking ban in Michigan was delayed.

It’s ironic that Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, D-Redford, is the one who threw a monkey wrench in the works. Publicly he has said he supports the ban, but he is the one holding it up. He also said back in January during the swearing in of the members of the 95th Michigan Legislature that one of his goals was to pass a workplace smoking ban before the Legislature breaks for the summer next month.

But he is the one stopping it. It is the advocates of the working smoking ban, two-thirds of Michigan voters, that got Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop to finally allow a vote last year, and they are now directing their attention to Dillon. I have defended him numerous times, but it’s time for him to do what he said he would do. Call him today at (888) 737-3455 or email at andydillon@house.mi.gov and tell him to do the right thing.

Don’t let Bishop off the hook. He can act on Senate Bill 114 at any time. He can be reached at (877) 924-7467 and senmbishop@senate.michigan.gov. It’s ironic that he wants to be the Michigan Attorney General to protect the citizens, but he refuses to protect the almost 80 percent of Michigan residents who do not smoke from a health hazard that without a doubt causes harm and kills.

Another roadblock thrown up in the quest for clean and healthy air

Just when you think you have seen everything certain members of the Legislature can do to thwart the will of the people to enact a workplace smoking ban that has the overwhelming support from both Michigan residents and lawmakers, the House Regulatory Reform Committee has found a new one.

After reversing an earlier plan to table voting out a bill until the summer, the Committee met Wednesday to vote out a flawed bill that exempted casinos, but Chair Bert Jobson, D-Detroit, pulled a fast one and tabled a vote at the last minute, saying he wants to work out a compromise between House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester.

Gee, I thought that was what a confrere committee was for.

All this does is give Bishop more cover to kill this bill. He only allowed a vote last session after intense pressure from supporters of the bill. Johnson also used the old excuse that the Legislature cannot do two things at one time, saying work can’t be done on the smoking ban because the budget is the priority. How can 148 people work on the budget deficit, and the function of committees is to work on a variety of issues.

Last session the House passed a bill that exempts casinos and the Senate passed a version with no exceptions. The conference committee could not reach - or refused to reach - a compromise between the two versions and the bill died.

According to subscription only MIRS, “Johnson said he was not told what to do by the leaders, but since the smoking ban was going to have a "negative economic impact," it was better to hold back any vote.”

Please show me any proof of "negative economic impact.” That is simply not the case, and study after study from the 35 states that have a ban prove that.

This is simply a cop out, at best. We need to pass something, no matter how flawed, to get the ball rolling and force people to act.

GOP using Astroturf partisan political rally disguised as a “tea party” as a fundraiser

We already knew the April 15 rallies were partisan Republican political affairs with plenty of anti-Obama hate speech thrown in, so it should come as no surprise that right-wingers are using the Astroturf rally organized by Washington, D.C. lobbying groups as a fundraiser.

Former GOP state Representative and head of the so-called “Michigan Taxpayer Alliance (MTA)” Leon Drolet is using the occasion to send out a fundraising email. The MTA is co-sponsoring the Lansing event along with the extreme rightwing Washington, D.C. lobbying group “Americans for Prosperity,” and Drolet is also asking people send a check to his Macomb Township home.

As you may recall, Drolet’s 15 minutes of infamy came in 2007 when he tried to intimidate lawmakers from voting to keep the state government going and avoid further harmful spending cuts when the budget faced a $1.8 million deficit. After much blustering and threats to go after Democrats who did the right and courageous thing and voted to keep government open, he only managed to gather enough signatures to place a recall on the ballot against House Speaker Andy Dillon.

However, it was accomplished with fraud and deceit, out of state money, illegal petition gathers, cash for signatures and illegal campaign contributions. Once it got on the ballot, voters soundly rejected it. Drolet, who has never had a job in the private sector, was seen around Lansing and in districts represented by Democrats hauling a large, model pink pig.

What was the benefit of that sham? According to the pig man:
“Battling to recall the House Speaker wasn't cheap - the Michigan Democratic Party and the Speaker spent well over a million dollars to fight the recall.”

I don’t know if that is true, and since Drolet said it, its suspect. However, is that a reason for people to attend the allegedly nonpartisan Astroturf “tea party?” To send him money to campaign against Democrats?

Then the man who has never had a job in the private sector took his standard shot at government employees that has become a standard GOP refrain.

“Just last week, the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the average public employee is paid $39.25 an hour in salary and benefits - $11.90 an hour more than comparable private-sector citizens. Benefit costs for government workers cost $13.38 an hour compared to $7.98 for private-sector workers. Who is serving who? “

He, of course, provides no reference, but even worse, he is comparing apples to oranges to smear dedicated state employees. Private sector employees include minimum wage, low skilled workers, but most state employees are not entry level, and the majority of them hold college degrees. In fact, if you go to the Michigan Civil Service web site, 80 percent of the jobs listed have this education requirement: “Possession of a bachelor’s degree in any major.”

Not to be out done in taking advantage of the Astroturf, GOP campaign event, RNC Chair Michael Steele sent out his own letter to make some scratch. Steele sent out a mass email urging people to send a tea bag to Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, and while you are at it, he hopes “you will also take this opportunity to make a secure online contribution of $25, $50, $100, $500 or $1,000 to the RNC today.

The Astroturf and misnamed “tea parties” should be well intended after the way Faux News has been playing it up and doing promo after promo advertising where their “unbiased” hosts will be present. Plus, almost 60 million people voted for Republicans in November, but the good news is almost 70 million voted for President Obama.

No matter how many people and rightwing hate groups show up tomorrow, they will continue to be in the minority. A recent Gallup poll finds that 61 percent of Americans say they regard the income taxes they have to pay this year as fair.

I guess we will see the other 39 percent tomorrow.

Dillon says House can’t address more than one issue at a time

Apparently, Michigan House and Senate leaders can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.

At the start of a much-needed two-week spring break, House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, are saying the workplace smoking ban will be shelved this spring to concentrate on the budget, according to the Detroit News. How 148 people can work on a budget at the same time is beyond me, but that’s the excuse.

Although Dillon has never been stingy on allowing a vote on the smoking ban – allowing a vote twice last session - unlike his counterpart in the Senate, he is not keen on the ban. This bad news comes on the heels of three week of testimony and two field trips on the smoking ban – the last hearing being April 1 – by the House Regulatory Reform Committee.

The ban has the overwhelming support of Michigan residents. Just last month, EPIC-MRA of Lansing released a poll that showed two-thirds of Michigan voters favor a smoking ban in all workplaces, including Detroit’s casinos.

The leading proponent of the smoking ban, Sen. Ray Basham, D-Taylor, chided the leadership for their inability to address more than one issue at a time.

“I'm OK with multi-tasking," Basham told the Detroit News. "When 3,000 people are dying in Michigan every year from secondhand smoke and smoking-related diseases are costing us billions a year for health care, we should find time to deal with this."

The fact is this bill has been in the Michigan Legislature for the past 11 years. Now, you don’t have time?

The science on the damages of secondhand smoke is undisputed: secondhand smoke kills. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified secondhand smoke as a Group A carcinogen containing 4,000 chemicals, including 43 cancer-causing chemicals. In Michigan alone 3,000 people die each year from secondhand smoke.

As for costs, it cost cash-strapped businesses more to delay joining the other 35 states with workplace smoking bans. Smoking directly results in more than $2.65 billion in annual health care costs in Michigan, of which more than $881 million is born by the state Medicaid program. In fact, each household spends $597 annually in state and federal taxes due to smoking-caused government expenditures. Smoke-free worksites would eliminate these extra health care costs and would do so with virtually no implementation costs.

Furthermore, by creating a smoke-free work environment, business owners can eliminate a variety of associated costs, including higher health, life, and fire insurance premiums, higher worker absenteeism, lower work productivity, and higher workers' compensation payments. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates the cost savings of eliminating secondhand smoke in the workplace to be between $35 and $66 billion a year. Given the state of Michigan's economy we really can’t afford not to go smoke-free.

To his credit, Dillon has allowed vote and committee work on the workplace smoking ban. Bishop has done nothing, and he only allowed a vote on the ban with no committee hearings last May. As expected, it passed. He has been dragged kicking and screaming to do the right thing by the pressure of public opinion.

People are getting restless, and talk of an expensive ballot proposal is building, especially if lawmakers continue to shirk their duty to protect the public health.

Call and write Andy Dillon and Mike Bishop and ask them to do the right thing and support what the majority of Michiganders want; now, not this summer.

Dillon can be reached at (888) 737-3455 or andydillon@house.mi.gov
Bishop can be reached at (877) 924-7467 or senmbishop@senate.michigan.gov

Senate Republicans offered the opportunity to be fair and help the budget shortfall

Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, called out Senate Republicans on Tuesday to put their money where their mouth is and sacrifice and makes some cuts to help make up the $1.5 billon projected budget shortfall.

Last week Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, introduced an anti-state employee resolution that urged state employees to either work on President's Day or take the day off as an unpaid holiday in light of the budget situation, and Whitmer asked George what he had sacrificed to balance the budget. Today, she gave him and Senate Republicans the opportunity to sacrifice.

She plans on introducing a resolution calling that would mandate that all Senate caucus and member offices, regardless of party, have the same overall compensation and expense levels. This proposal stands to save taxpayers $3 million by eliminating the current disparity in the budgets for Republican and Democratic Senators. Democratic offices would receive the same amount of money as Republicans.

“As we find ourselves facing yet another large budget deficit, we should be looking at every way we can cut costs and verify that taxpayer money is being spent properly,” Whitmer said. “Individual Senate Republican office budgets are almost $100,000 more than those of Senate Democrats. This proposal would take the $3 million that the
Senate Majority currently has in excess of the Minority and put it in the State’s General Fund to help turn our economy around and fund essential state services to help Michigan families.”

Under Senate rules, Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop sets the budget allotment for each office, and that includes money for employees, postage, mailings and other expenses. Bishop has chosen to give Republican offices more money and benefit packages for five employees, and Democratic offices have packages for just three employees. Now, an office can also choose to use their budget from another area to hire a part-time hourly employee, but they receive no benefits. Republicans have a 21-16 lead in the Senate, with the seat vacated by Democrat Mark Schauer’s election to Congress still vacant.

When Democrats took control of the House in 2006, Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, D-Redford, gave each office, regardless of party, the same amount of office allotment and two benefit packages. Democrats enjoy a large 67-43 advantage.