Monday, January 26, 2015

Upton Votes for Amnesty

While the majority of Americans, much less the majority of Republicans, are opposed to amnesty, the elites remain in favor of importing a new people.  Despite repeated attempts, amnesty has never made it through Congress due to public opposition.

Obama has been sabotaging immigration enforcement for years, and has more recently issued unconstitutional orders claiming to give legal status to millions of illegal aliens.  This is an attack on the Constitution and the rule of law.  So far, the response from congressional Republicans has been weak at best.  Some seem more sympathetic to their rich donors than their constituents struggling to find good jobs.

Recently the House GOP pushed a bill to defund Obama's executive amnesty.  Incredibly, 26 house Republicans voted to support Obama's unconstitutional attack on their own power.  The only one from Michigan is Fred Upton.

26 REPUBLICANS VOTE AGAINST BLACKBURN AMENDMENT TO DEFUND OBAMA’S EXECUTIVE AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS

Upton has been promising various leftist groups that he will support amnesty for several years now.  Too bad he won't stick up for the people who voted for him.

Previous:
Upton for Amnesty
Upton on Immigration
Upton on Invasion

Political Bites

A few short items:

Sentences we never thought we'd read:
Prior to the motion to elect Heppler, commissioner Stephanie Moore, D-Kalamazoo, made a motion to elect commissioner Dale Shugars, R-Portage, to the post.
Stephanie Moore's candidates for county administrator:
"I'm looking for wide enough reach to create a diversified pool of people of color and a hippy here or there, or something," Moore said.
Eric Cunningham selected for appointment to Kalamazoo City Commission

He was picked over several better-known contenders.  It isn't known yet whether he will run for a full term.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Pay for Your Own Buses!

Once again, the local transportation authority is trying to raise taxes for bus service in Kalamazoo County.

Major Kalamazoo-area bus routes could be eliminated as townships balk on millage request

Previous attempts to establish a countywide authority were shot down by taxpayers, with rural townships voting heavily against the system.  So the county commission authorized a district that excludes many of the more rural parts of the county.  The new district more closely matches the areas serviced by buses, but still includes some rural and suburban areas that wouldn't benefit from the service.  They would still have the pay, though.

This latest scheme has run into trouble, as several townships have opted out of the district.  Texas and Pavillion have opted out the one precinct that was included, and Oshtemo opted out the majority of the township, which is not serviced by buses.

The authority was planning to ask for a tax increase in May, but this has been pushed back to August to avoid competing with the sales tax hike on the ballot in May.

The main beneficiaries of the West Main route in Oshtemo are Meijer and WalMart (and their customers). Why can't these big corporations pay for their own bus service? This bus route is essentially a government subsidy to business. Would they really let this route disappear if it meant a substantial loss of business?

It isn't fair to the taxpayers to make them pay to support these businesses. It's particularly unfair to make people in precincts 3 and 9 pay for a route they won't use. (I suspect most people using this route are coming from Kalamazoo.)

WMU pays Metro Transit for its bus service. Why can't other businesses, KVCC, and large apartment complexes do the same?

Previous:
Bus Tax Plan
Bus Tax Never Dies
Bus Tax Zone
More Bus Taxes
Taxes on the Ballot
Tax Hike Plans
Future Tax Hikes?
They Won't Take NO for an Answer
Tax Eaters Are Never Full
The bus routes have been saved
Ax the bus tax
Tax increase for busing?

Saturday, January 03, 2015

Conservative of the Year: Dave Brat

2014 was a great year for Republicans, as the GOP won control of the US Senate, and picked up governorships and seats in the US House.  The results for conservatives, however, were more mixed.  The GOP establishment pushed aggressively against conservatives in primaries and won many of them.

The biggest conservative primary victory was Dave Brat's defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.  Brat was an obscure economics professor at a small college who took on one of the most powerful men in Washington.  Cantor had become a creature of Washington and grown distant from his constituents.

But Brat didn't just run against Cantor.  He ran on a platform of conservative populism.  He opposed amnesty and mass immigration, pointing out the harmful impact on American workers.  He also opposed corporate welfare and bailouts as a tool that the rich use to steal from average taxpayers.

Dave Brat created a successful template for conservatives to win primaries and general elections, while defeating one of the most powerful men in Washington.  He is 2014's conservative of the year.

Previous winners (including retroactive):
2013: Jeff Sessions
2012: Ted Cruz
2011: Scott Walker
2010: Jim DeMint
2009: Glenn Beck
2008: Sarah Palin
2007: Ron Paul
2006: Jerome Corsi
2005: Tom Tancredo
2004: John O'Neill
2003: Roy Moore
2002: John Ashcroft
2001: George W. Bush
2000: William Rehnquist

The Best of the Western Right: 2014

In 2014, this blog had 55 posts, which primarily focused on the 2014 election. Here are some of the best of 2014.

2014 Post-election Analysis
Conservatives Win in November
Michigan 2014 Election Results
Lessons from the Primary Election
2014 August Primary Election Results

2014 Fundraising Analysis
Michigan Pre-General Fundraising Reports
Michigan Post-primary Fundraising Reports
Michigan State House Fundraising
Michigan State Senate Fundraising

2014 Pre-election Analysis
2014 Michigan General Election Preview
2014 Michigan Primary Election Preview
2014 Michigan Congressional Races
2014 Michigan State Senate Elections
2014 Michigan State House Elections (general)
2014 Michigan State House Elections (primary)
2014 Kalamazoo County Commission Elections

Lorence Wenke: Not Libertarian
Lorence Wenke: DLTDHYOTWO
Terrorist Bill Ayers to Speak at WMU
Stephanie Moore's Rap Sheet