LSJ Blogs: Capitol Journal by Scott Davis

Voting in Lansing, under the influence?

 There’s never a shortage of outrage about medical marijuana in mid-Michigan

Most recently, Sen. Rick Jones, a Grand Ledge Republican, and Attorney General Bill Schuette are up in arms about a recent voter registration drive by a Lansing medical marijuana dispensary, Your Healthy Choice. Those medical marijuana patients who signed up to vote in the upcoming city elections would receive a half gram of marijuana or a “medible” free from the dispensary.

So far, that seems harmless. No different from the voter registration drives I’ve seen where an organizer might give away a free hot dog.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. The same web site promoting the voter registration drive and free marijuana also endorsed a slate of city council candidates for election.

Jones, a fierce critic of medical marijuana and dispensaries, cried foul

“Giving away free marijuana to influence voting is outrageous and must be stopped,” Jones said in a statement.  “I will be working with the attorney general on whether additional legislation is needed.”

Schuette said his office is reviewing the matter.

After the criticism, the dispensary quickly took down the web page promoting the event. Dispensary officials said they merely wanted to educate their clients about the upcoming city elections and were not trying to use marijuana to influence votes.

I'm all for trying to get more people to the polls. But generally speaking, offering a gift to someone while endorsing a candidate strikes me as vote buying.

 

Expecting clean races for 2012? Think again

One has no doubt that both Democrats and Republicans are preparing to wage the most clean, ethically pure campaigns in 2012 to win or keep Congressional seats since Jesus ran for student council.

Still, if you have a chance to link your opponent to an accused sexual predator, why not do it?

The National Republican Senatorial Committee apparently couldn’t help itself when it recently took the low road by linking Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow to U.S. Rep. David Wu, an Oregon Democrat who is accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward a young girl.

This week, Wu indicated he would resign his post due to the scandal.

“Throughout this disturbing situation Senator Debbie Stabenow has remained silent, perhaps because she wants to keep the campaign contributions she received from Mr. Wu,” the NRSC stated.

Jahan Wilcox, NRSC spokesman added: “Given the very serious nature of the allegations against Congressman Wu, and his support for Debbie Stabenow’s political career, it’s time for Senator Stabenow to return the money Mr. Wu gave to her campaign.”

According to the NRSC, Wu gave Stabenow’s campaign a whopping $1,000 contribution.

At last check, Stabenow had assembled a $4 million war chest for her re-election bid.

Something tells me Stabenow is not keeping silent because she cares about a measly $1,000 contribution.

Is Snyder recall effort working? It's anybody's guess

Michigan’s biggest, most recent experiment in pitch-fork raising is nearing a critical juncture.

The group attempting to recall Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has until Aug. 4 to collect at least 806,000 valid signatures to call for a recall election, and organizers of the effort say even they are unsure how many signatures have been collected.

Unlike past professionally run ballot measure efforts, this is a loosely organized, grassroots effort that is relying mostly on volunteers to gather petition signatures.

Organizers are encouraged by the number of blank petitions being requested by volunteers, but have no idea how many are being filled with signatures, or whether volunteers will mail them to organizers by Aug. 4.

If the petition effort is successful, it will set some kind of new record. Most statewide petition efforts cost $1 million or more, but organizers say they have raised $25,000 so far.

Hey petitioner, stand in this tiny space here. And eyes front!

You may not agree with the platoon of people collecting signatures across Michigan to force a recall election for Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. But I would think nearly everyone would agree they have to right get the signatures.

This is America, right?

In Genesee County, that right seems a little fuzzy. County officials recently confined signature gatherers to a small square in a 135-acre park in Fenton Township and barred any solicitation after 6 p.m.

I can certainly understand a private mall kicking a petitioner to the curb. But a taxpayer-funded public park?

We can always count on the American Civil Liberties to chime in on this kind of free-speech violation. This is no exception. The organization has filed a lawsuit against the Genesee County Parks Department to force it to end the practice.

Congress transforming U.S. into deadbeat nation. Good job!

Many people in Michigan disagree with Gov. Rick Snyder’s business tax reform and pension tax plans that he pushed through the Republican-controlled Legislature. But stuff has gotten done. A state budget has been passed months early for the first time in decades

That’s how government is supposed to work.

What’s happening in Congress now is nothing but a disgrace. Unless the nation raises its debt ceiling Aug. 2, the country basically runs out of money.

It has no way to make Social Security payments. It can’t pay wages for prison guards in federal prisons or its soldiers overseas.  It can’t make interest payments on its debt.

The United States officially becomes a deadbeat nation, with the downgraded credit rating of a Third World nation. And the nation’s federal government goes dark.

The only thing holding up progress on raising the debt ceiling is pure ideology. To get elected, many House Republicans foolishly signed a pledge saying they would never consider a tax increase under any circumstance.

President Barack Obama has tried to work out a compromise budget reduction plan containing 75 percent spending cuts and a 25 percent in tax revenues, mostly through closing tax loopholes. Republicans are calling any closure of loopholes a tax hike, and they have refused to budge: In a recent interview, Republican House Speaker John Boehner refused to even say the word "compromise" when discussing negotiations, despite repeated prompting.

In other words, it has to be entirely the Republican way, or the nation goes down in flames. Even though Democrats  control the Presidency and the Senate -- and should rightfully have a voice.

Compromise has always greased the wheels of democratic government. Without it, the machinery comes to a grinding halt.

If the United States is not willing to pay its debts or govern responsibly, then it deserves the shame of being a deadbeat nation. And future generations can bear the burden of higher interest and borrowing costs due to an abysmal credit rating.

A new law that legislators would kill for

Lawmakers are clamoring from both sides of the aisle to address what they see as the latest outrage – a person accused in a 10-year-old East Lansing manslaughter case who may get off scot-free.

Both State Rep. Mark Meadows, an East Lansing Democrat, and state Sen. Rick Jones, a Grand Ledge Republican, expressed dismay over the 10-year statute of limitations for manslaughter in Michigan. Authorities recently announced they had a suspect in a 2000 manslaughter case, but can’t prosecute the case because the statute of limitations for manslaughter has expired.

Jones wants to review the law in the Senate Judiciary Committee that he chairs, and Meadows has introduced a bill to allow prosecution within 10 years of authorities identifying a suspect – not merely within 10 years of the crime.

Meadows, a former assistant attorney general, has even offered to testify at Jones’ committee hearing.

A gesture of bipartisanship: Many voters would happily wave a limitations statute on that offer.

Unemployed people may not respond to this blog

State Rep. Jim Ananich, a Flint Democrat, has introduced legislation to end a fairly despicable practice: The refusal by some companies to consider anyone for a job vacancy who is currently unemployed.

How do we know the practice exists? Some companies have no shame about it: They put it right in the job ad: “Unemployed persons will not be considered for the position.”

Some free-market advocates likely will pipe up to say: Shouldn’t companies have a right to hire who they want? Unemployed people are by nature deadbeats, right? Who wants a deadbeat in the office?

I’m not sure that stereotype is ever true. And it sure isn’t true in today’s Michigan economy, which has had bragging rights to the highest or near-highest unemployment rate in the nation for several years.

Many hardworking people, through no fault of their own, lose their job. And even when the playing field is level, it can take many of them several months, or more than a year, to find new employment.

But when the playing field suddenly is not level – when companies arbitrarily refuse to consider unemployed persons for a vacancy – all hope is lost. These unemployed persons can’t even get their foot in the door to present a resume and show their qualifications; prospective employers are slamming the door in their face because of a demographic characteristic.

That’s discrimination, pure and simple.

Ananich’s bill would make it illegal for companies to state in a job ad that it won’t consider unemployed people. That’s a step in the direction, but, of course, won’t end the discrimination. It will merely drive it more underground. Employers will accept the resumes of jobless persons and then blithely toss them in the waste can.

 Such is the ugly, entrenched nature of idiotic stereotypes.

One solution to help Michigan's poor: Not help them

Despite having one of the highest unemployment rates nationwide, Michigan’s safety net likely will soon get much thinner.

 The state Senate Wednesday approved new welfare limits – the strictest in the Midwest – that already have been approved by the House. The legislation would place a lifetime cap on recipients of 48 months for welfare benefits, and the limit would be retroactive.

According to the Michigan League of Human Services, most surrounding states have a 60-month lifetime limit. Indiana has a 24-month limit, but it applies only to children, unlike the Michigan legislation. Critics say 12,600 Michigan families will be cast off welfare Oct. 1.

The move would save the state about $77 million annually.

There are no worries though, according to State Rep. Kenneth Horn, a Frankenmuth Republican. He was quoted this week in the Saginaw News saying that “We have other ways that we help people who are struggling.”

One might think he was referring to aid from churches or other not-for-profit agencies, who some Republicans believe have almost miraculous resources (a few loaves and fishes to feed multitudes) to care for the thousands sinking deeper into poverty.

The second part of his quote, however, illuminates how Horn wants to help people who are struggling.

“This is to drive a strong work ethic and a strong will to get out of the system so we are doing the things that we can that other states have already proven worked,” Horn said.

In other words, you help a person by lighting a fire under their buttocks, and if they don’t move to find work, just add more wood.

Unemployment figures, however, suggest there are few jobs to get. No sweat.  Michigan lawmakers have plenty of wood.

Politics imitating (Seinfeld) art: No soup for you!

Opponents of Republican-backed cuts to Michigan’s social service programs will be employing a popular “Seinfeld” reference in a demonstration today at the Capitol.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

The Michigan Nurses Association will be sponsoring a mock soup kitchen, with the theme: “Gov. Snyder: No Soup for You,” as they “feed” soup to a diverse population on the Capitol lawn.

It’s a take off on the popular “Seinfeld” episode in which a character infuriates a “Soup Nazi” who runs a soup eatery and is banned from the establishment.

One hopes the organizers are not implying that Snyder himself is a Nazi. No good ever comes of such extreme comparisons, and as recently as Tuesday, a pair of LaRouchies set up camp in downtown Grand Ledge to compare President Obama to the Fuhrer.

And one hopes there will be jambalaya soup at the event, in case Newman shows up for a bowl.

The event begins at noon.

The LaRouchies visit Grand Ledge, towing an Obama-Hitler poster

People conducting business in downtown Grand Ledge Tuesday afternoon were treated to a most unusual sight.

Standing under an umbrella in the blazing hot sun, two young men  were poised outside the federal post office, handing out literature alleging that President Barack Obama and his backers were intending to stage a Hitler-like coup to take over the U.S. government. They were followers of ultra-right fringe leader Lyndon LaRouche.

 An Obama poster hung nearby depicting him mustachioed like the infamous Nazi dictator.

“He’s the reincarcation of Adolph Hitler,” insisted Armando Cutino, 25, of Redford.

While Obama likely doesn’t have a huge fan base in the conservative waters of Eaton County, the Nazi comparison didn’t seem to be winning a lot of converts to the LaRouche cause. Only a trickle of people approached the LaRouche volunteers during the noon hour, mostly out of curiosity.

“How dare you!” yelled one motorist, who pulled over to complain that the LaRouchies had no right to spread their message in front of a federal building.

Cutino maintained they have a First Amendment right to warn people about Obama’s move toward establishing a dictatorship. Those steps include the Congress passing Obama’s healthcare reform proposal and his sending troops to Libya without proper Congressional authorization.

Soon, a LaRouchie may come to a post office near you. Cutino said the two men are visiting several Michigan cities to spread their message this month.