Dear Friends,
Thank you to everyone who helped stuff and label envelopes at our Executive Committee meeting last week. That will expedite our membership mailing this year. We also had some interesting information presented by Jim Howell and Larry Sims regarding the upcoming county commission redistricting and by Commissioner Ann Doyle regarding the possible upcoming sheriff department millage request. For anyone interested in that issue, the final vote on whether or not to place a millage request on the ballot will take place on Tuesday, February 15th, at 5:00pm. The Commission meeting is at the Court House, 111 S. Michigan Av. (at Court St.), in Saginaw. |
|
5th Congressional District Meeting
|
The first meeting of the new Republican 5th Congressional District Committee will be held on Thursday, February 24th. They will meet at 6:30pm at the Burger King Restaurant in Frankenmuth, 490 N. Main St. You can make it a dinner meeting by ordering food at that time, with the meeting starting at 7:00pm. The 5th District covers the eastern part of Saginaw County including the City of Saginaw. Amy Carl and Ryan McReynolds are the Saginaw County representatives on the Committee and the new officers are: David Krueger, Chairman, (Swartz Creek, MI), Stikovich Stikovich, Vice-Chair, (Richfield, MI), Aaron Baylis, Secretary (Bay City, MI), and Allen Pool, Treasurer (Gaines, MI). If you are interested in the workings of this committee and the 5th District, please plan to attend.
|
Justice Young Is New Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice
| |
Congratulation to Chief Justice Robert Young! He has been chosen by his fellow justices to serve as the new Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. Justice Young was first appointed by former Governor John Engler in 1999 and has been a staunch advocate for the principle that a judge's job is to interpret the Constitution and laws crafted by the Legislature, not make it up as you go. He represents the responsible and conservative judicial philosophy that Michigan needs at this critical juncture in our history. In this era when judges all too often "legislate from the bench," Justice Young will continue to ensure that all of the citizens of Michigan will receive equal treatment under the law. |
|
Michigan Ready To Put Another Private Business OUT Of Business?
|  The owner of the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit is on the endangered list, and our new Lt. Governor Brian Calley is the Snyder administration's point person to make it so. The Governor and his people are picking up where previous Governor Granholm left off, with an attempt to push through legislation to build a new Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) with our public tax dollars. This is despite the fact that the owner of the existing Ambassador Bridge, Manuel Moroun, has already begun construction of approaches for a new privately-financed six-lane bridge, next to the existing bridge. He expects his new bridge to cost $400-600 million, without using any taxpayer dollars. Sounds like we didn't get much of a change with a new administration in Lansing. The state's proposed bridge, not yet under construction, is intended to be a joint effort between the Canadian government, the U.S. government, the State of Michigan, and the Province of Ontario. MDOT Director Kirk Steudle has reached a deal with the U.S. Department of Transportation that would allow Michigan to use the $550 million that Canada is putting up as Michigan's share of matching funds for other state transportation projects, meaning that Canada will pay for our roads if we help put the Moroun business out of business. Fortunately for free enterprise, some lawmakers, especially some Republicans, are balking at this bridge deal. Previous DRIC legislation died in the Republican-controlled Senate last year. And, Mr. Moroun is vigorously opposing the effort to build a publicly-owned bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, noting concern for their private property rights and existing bridge franchise. You and can read more details at dbusiness.com. There is also a second privately-owned Detroit River crossing, the Detroit Windsor Tunnel, that would be affected by a new bridge taking away traffic. |
|
Health Care Update
|
As all of you probably know, Federal Judge Roger Vinson recently ruled that last year's health care law, know as Obamacare, is unconstitutional. The case before him involved 26 states as plaintiffs, including Michigan. New Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette issued a statement shortly after the opinion was handed down, saying "I am pleased with this ruling because it confirms the individual mandate intruded onto the basic liberties and rights that the Founders envisioned and enshrined in our Constitution for every American citizen. This is a victory for protecting the Constitution and the freedoms of our citizens." Mr. Schuette's predecessor, Mike Cox, had originally joined the lawsuit when it was filed shortly after President Obama signed the health care act into law.
The ruling emboldened Senate Republicans, who had previously been uncertain to support repeal of the law, but who immediately came out in full force in favor repeal. Their efforts climaxed last Wednesday with a 47-51 party-line defeat in the Senate. One minor change in the law was agreed to: voting to strip out a paperwork requirement for businesses.
In ruling the individual mandate unconstitutional, Judge Vinson also determined that the clause could not be severed from the rest of the legislation, thus nullifying the entire law. This means that unless and until a higher court stays or overturns Judge Vinson's decision, no state should follow the law and no federal employees should implement it. However, the Obama Administration has responded with sheer arrogance, stating, "Implementation will continue." The Obama Administration is simply ignoring the ruling. It hasn't appealed it or sought a stay. That's not the rule of law but the courts cannot act on their own, the states need to ask that they intervene.
What next? One course taken by Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen may set the tone for the rest of the nation. Mr. Van Hollen stated that, "Wisconsin was relieved of any obligations or duties that were created under terms of the federal health care law. Now, we wait to see if the federal government has finally gotten the message. If they don't get the message, and decide to appeal the case, as they did when they lost in Virginia, my colleagues and I will continue our fight to defend the Constitution and protect the people of Wisconsin from this unconstitutional law."
We can urge our Attorney General, Bill Schuette, to continue in this case as Mr. Van Hollen is. This fight is one of the most important of this young century. We can also urge Governor Rick Snyder and our legislature to refuse to implement any portions dependent on the states. For more details on the Senate vote, the court ruling, and the continuing fight, read about it at The Daily Caller and Americans For Limited Government.
Local Tie-In:
Several Saginaw Valley State University panelists will share their perspectives on the issue as part of the discussion, "Overturning ObamaCare." The panel will be held TODAY, Monday, February 14th at 7:00pm. in the Alan Ott Auditorium. The talk is part of SVSU's new series, "Ethics for Adversaries," a sequence of lectures and panel discussions on ethical issues in public policy, education, health care, business and other public interests. Panelists will talk about the following: "The Politics of ObamaCare", "Health Care Advocacy", "Who's Afraid of ObamaCare?", "Is ObamaCare Constitutional?", and "There are Better Alternatives to ObamaCare."
|
|
Correction
| Last week in this newsletter I incorrectly spelled Karl Rove's name as "Carl Rove." Sorry about that. - Don Milne
|
The Republican mission seeks to maintain a strong defense, encourage individual achievement and liberty through the free enterprise system, and strengthen families. If you would like to help us move the area and the country towards these goals, please consider donating to the Saginaw County Republican Committee. Every donation, no matter how large or small, will help ensure that we can find and elect people to work for those goals. You can do so by mail to PO BOX 6653, Saginaw, MI 48608 or on the web at www.saginawcountygop.com.
Sincerely,
Helene Wiltse, Chair, Saginaw County Republican Party
|
|
|
Helene Wiltse, Chair
Newsletter Archive
You can now read any of our previous newsletters here:
|
|
|
