John “Big John” Dingell—Looking Out for You, Me & Hundreds of PACs

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Tuesday September 21, 2010 · 11:31 AM PDT

2010/09/21 · 11:31

Yesterday, I got an email from Representative John Dingell’s campaign via the Washtenaw Democratic Party. The text from Washtenaw Dem Party Chair Stu Dowty is short and sweet. “This just in from Congressman John Dingell’s campaign. Can you contribute?”

You know, sometimes a teenager will plow through his ice cream, then look at his little brother’s scoop, longingly. In the parenting business, we call that having a “hollow leg.” If the teenager exerts pressure on the younger brother to give up his scoop to the appetite of the older kid, we call that a clear violation of the rules: Greed is not good, despite what the Gordon Gekko character, played by Michael Douglas, would have had us believe in the movie “Wall Street.”

A2Politico

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Saturday September 11, 2010 · 3:42 PM PDT

2010/09/11 · 15:42

According to the latest polling data posted to Politico.com, Republican Rick Snyder is killing Democrat Virg Bernero. Snyder's camp expects the gap to lessen over the next 50 days, but by how much is anyone's guess. Mark Brewer, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, and Virg Bernero have been sending regular electronic missives to their respective lists. The latest Brewer rant is that Snyder was responsible for outsourcing jobs while the CEO of Gateway. AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey refuted the "outsourcing" assertion in an extensive June analysis piece. According to a
piece published on August 26, 2010 in the Lansing State Journal, "The one bright spot for Bernero

A2Politico

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Wednesday September 08, 2010 · 6:33 AM PDT

2010/09/08 · 06:33

"Creating More Job Announcements Than Real Jobs": I couldn't have said it better myself. Oops, I did. And well before the conservative-leaning folks at the Mackinaw Center, and editors at the Lansing State Journal decided to jump on the bandwagon and actually wonder out loud how in the names of Charles Ponzi and Bernie Madoff it's possible to spend hundreds of millions of tax dollars on "job creation" programs and have a net loss of 750,000 jobs in our state.

Here at A2Politico, I've been questioning the claims of out-sized "job creation" and "job retention" "successes" made by the good old boys (and girls) at the local "job creation" front, Ann Arbor SPARK, for the past year. In response to this A2P post, a SPARK representative suggested in an email that I learn more about the good work SPARK does. I'd love to, so long as it includes recent 990 forms filed with the IRS, because I suspect folks at SPARK have been fibbing to Uncle Sam concerning the actual number of jobs created and retained.

A2Politico

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Thursday August 26, 2010 · 10:37 AM PDT

2010/08/26 · 10:37

A visit to Michigan Representative Gary McDowell’s campaign web site, and a casual observer comes away with the impression that Democrat McDowell is a folksy fellow who supports K-12 education, and is concerned with trade, healthcare and the right to keep and bear arms. State Representative McDowell, who was first elected to the Michigan 107th District House seat in 2004, wants to represent Michigan’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives—a seat vacated by U.S. Representative Bart Stupak.

On his campaign web site, McDowell stresses his background as a farmer. Visitors to the site read this: “For most of my life, I have started my summer by going out to our family’s fields and cutting hay — just as so many families here in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan have done for generations.”

A2Politico

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Monday August 23, 2010 · 10:22 AM PDT

2010/08/23 · 10:22

"Michigan is becoming the nation's ex," writes former Concentrate Media Gen Y blogger Katie Rose in a kerchief waving, not-so-tearful farewell/kiss-off to Ann Arbor. Off to a better job in California, Rose pens a blog entry in which she struggles to deal with her own decision to relocate from Google in Ann Arbor to a job at YouTube. Why she struggles with the decision would be a better blog entry, but nonetheless Ms. Rose struggles mightily and Concentrate Media, ever open to punctiliously promulgating blog angst from the Gen Y folks who allegedly trawl the site, duly posts the woman's "gut wrenching" decision.

Katie Rose spent her previous blog posts at Concentrate Media lecturing to the ether about exactly what Ann Arbor needed to do to make her life more scintillating, make her housing options more affordable and, generally, make her want to live in Ann Arbor.

A2Politico

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Thursday December 17, 2009 · 5:10 PM PST

2009/12/17 · 17:10

As I mentioned in a Tweet, I've been behind in my reading. I read more periodicals than should be legal, but there you have it. Among those periodicals is The New Yorker. I was reading an October 21st article about President Obama's economic advisor Dr. Lawrence Summers, when the piece suddenly veered toward Michigan and right into downtown Ann Arbor. The piece described a visit Summers made to Michigan and a meeting with Governor Granholm and her top economic advisor, Ned Staebler. Yep, that Ned Staebler, the one who is currently having holiday parties, cocktail parties, birthday parties, baby naming parties, bar mitvah parties and First Communion parties where attendees come together to deposit their cash and check-filled envelopes in party boy Ned Staebler's wishing well. If Staebler happens to be shopping at Hiller's when you're in the store, move quickly to the nearest exit, as your shopping excursion could turn into a "party," and you will be expected to pay $200 to be in the same building with the 53rd District House representative wanna-be.

A2Politico, always one to pick up on the current trends, is having a party soon. Sometime after I figure out how to deposit your checks. I digress.

A2Politico

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Wednesday December 02, 2009 · 7:27 AM PST

2009/12/02 · 07:27

On December 1st, Republican candidate for Governor Rick Snyder had this to say about Michigan’s career politicians, failing schools & school funding:

“Once again, career politicians in Lansing have been slow out of the gates. Michigan should not have waited this long to become eligible for the ‘Race to the Top’ funding. Addressing our failing schools, providing an alternative teacher certification process, tracking teacher performance, and loosening charter school restrictions are common sense reforms necessary to improve the quality of education our students are receiving,” said Snyder. “Instead of using our students as political footballs, I urge the Governor and Legislature to swiftly enact the legislation necessary to qualify our state and provide these reforms. Continually improving and reforming our education system is essential for the long-term recovery of our state. We must have agile, forward thinking and innovative leadership working for the people of Michigan.”

A2Politico

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Sunday November 29, 2009 · 10:34 PM PST

2009/11/29 · 22:34

Let me just begin this by saying that I don’t just like Alma Wheeler-Smith’s politics; I love her politics. I haven’t always agreed with her political strategy. On February 5, 2009, she voted against a 10 percent reduction in pay for state legislators. She was the only legislator who voted no. On the one hand, she was making a brave political point: the House Concurrent Resolution 3 was political composted horse manure. As Smith explained on her web site: ”…The people of the State of Michigan are looking to the Legislature now, more than ever, for true leadership. This vote was a game played at the citizens’ expense,” Smith said. “There is no language for implementation in this bill. To decrease the salaries as proposed requires a constitutional change, which consequently requires a public vote.” The Emperor had no clothes, and Alma was the only legislator to point this out. Even Smith’s own daughter-in-law Rebekah Warren, who represents Ann Arbor as the 53rd District House Representative (and is a current wanna-be for Liz Brater’s State Senate seat), voted for the totally duplicitous and meaningless resolution.

A2Politico

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Saturday November 21, 2009 · 8:30 PM PST

2009/11/21 · 20:30

On November 20, 2009, Ann Arbor SPARK Managing Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Elizabeth Perkins, posted this piece of propaganda to the AnnArborChronicl.com site. It is typical SPARK scat (and not of the Jazz singing variety). Perkins writes,

In a nutshell, our [SPARK's] 2006-2008 ROI:
•101 project successes – $925 million new investment commitments
•7,054 new jobs and 5,740 jobs retained
•155 innovation start-ups through SPARK Business Accelerator
•Leveraged community investments to $32.5 million — through acquisition of Federal and State of Michigan funding and equipment donation to Michigan Innovation Equipment Depot
•Assisted 350 regional companies with employee searches
•Assisted 3000+ job seekers with employment searches

Did you pause at the spot in the ROI fairytale where Perkins has a break with reality and claims SPARK has created 7,054 new jobs and "retained" 5,740 jobs?

A2Politico

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Saturday October 31, 2009 · 6:02 AM PDT

2009/10/31 · 06:02

This entry is about several of the intrepid travelers and foodies who serve on the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners. You remember the Washtenaw Board of Commissioners, right? They’re the elected officials who administer a $200,000,000 county budget which is, at the moment, $30 million dollars in red.

In short, fellow politicos, Washtenaw County’s budget looks like those of the millions of Americans buffeted by the economy. County debt has doubled, as have debt payments, income is down and expenses are up. Of course, in response to any similar state of the economy at your house you and the fam are eating out just as much as ever, traveling to all the places you used to, and shacking up at the Hilton. No?

A2Politico

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Saturday October 24, 2009 · 9:25 PM PDT

2009/10/24 · 21:25

One of the tots got into a fight at school. With the teacher. About the millage proposed by the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD).

Education has changed since I was a kid. My teachers talked about things like the beauty of long division and the evils of sloppy cursive. The tot related the story to me, and described the teacher as red-faced and “pissed off.” Why? Because the tot argued against the not-yet-proposed city income tax and questioned whether the WISD needed the millage. Shouldn’t our schools spend the money they have more carefully, my budding fiscal conservative (at least as far as others are concerned) wondered out loud to his teacher, before coming to taxpayers for a hand-out? Is it the best time to hit up taxpayers whose economic circumstances may have changed for the worse? Why not just get rid of the WISD? All valid questions.

A2Politico

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Saturday October 24, 2009 · 8:08 AM PDT

2009/10/24 · 08:08

Speaker Pro Tempore Pam Byrnes, a graduate of the University of Michigan, has lived and worked in Washtenaw County for over 34 years. A well-known attorney who practiced in Ypsilanti, Saline and Ann Arbor for more than 25 years, Byrnes is serving her third term in the Michigan House of Representatives. Her colleagues unanimously elected her to the position of Speaker Pro Tempore of the House this year, giving her the responsibility of running each session of the 110-member body from the rostrum.

Before joining the House in 2004, Byrnes served on the Washtenaw County Road Commission in 2000, becoming the first female road commissioner in Washtenaw County. As an outgrowth of her long-standing involvement in the Washtenaw County Democratic Party, Byrnes founded the Western Washtenaw Democratic Club and served as its first Chair. She is an active member of several local Chambers of Commerce, and was a board member with the Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce where she was active with that chamber’s Women’s Council.

Representative Byrnes has regular coffee hours for constituents (her next two events are mentioned below). Alas, even though A2Politico doesn’t drink coffee, I still managed to catch up with Representative Byrnes in between budget negotiations.

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John “Big John” Dingell—Looking Out for You, Me & Hundreds of PACs

The Politics of Spin: And You Wonder Why Snyder’s Killing Bernero in the Polls?

MEDC: "Creating More Job Announcements Than Real Jobs"

Old McDowell Had A Farm. M.O.N.E.Y.

The Politics of Retaining Gen Y: Why? Why? Why?

The Politics of the One-Two Bitch Slap: Larry Summers & Snyder Rap Ned Staebler's Knuckles & MEDC

The Politics of Irony: Rick Snyder Chides Lansing Politicos for Using School Kids For Political Gain

Alma Wheeler Smith: Great Ideas. Horrible Execution. What Up, GF?

Wonder How Rick Snyder Would Do In Lansing? Look No Further Than How He Did In A2

Washtenaw County Commissioners Tighten Everyone’s Belts But Their Own

The Politics of Education: Money Can't Buy You Literacy….Right?

The Politics of Lansing: An Interview With State Representative Pam Byrnes