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    Who are the NERD fund donors Mr Snyder?

    Raise the curtain.

    I Lose, Dillon and Tax-Eaters Win


    By leondrolet, Section News
    Posted on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 01:39:15 PM EST
    Tags: (all tags)

    The Michigan Supreme Court put a fork in the campaign to recall House Speaker Andy Dillon on Friday by denying a request for an emergency hearing on the legality of 2,018 petition signatures of voters in Dillon's district that were not counted by the Michigan Secretary of State.  The SOS did not count the signatures because Michigan law invalidates signatures collected by circulators who are not residents of a recall target's district.

    The U.S. Supreme Court found that similar circulator requirements in Colorado were unconstitutional infringements of political speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. Ultimately, Michigan's restrictive law will be struck down, but not in time for a Dillon recall as ballots for the August 5th primary election are being sent to printers later this week.

    We lost. Tax hike proponents won.

    Why did we lose? Because I was not up to the task of helping overcome the incredible obstacles that the tax hikers put into the campaign to stop the recall. Ultimate responsibility for the failure is mine.

    Congratulations are in order to Andy Dillon and Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer on their victory. The vicious blockers, the hired thugs, the paid infiltrators, the taxpayer-paid mailings, the abuse of police power in Redford, the lies ("recall election = expensive `special' election") all almost worked. I say `almost' because, despite these obstacles, the Michigan Secretary of State found that 10,408 citizens of Dillon's district signed the recall petition - more than the 8,724 required. Former Michigan lawmakers bailed Dillon out by having written some of the most difficult (and unconstitutional) recall laws in the nation.

    Since the death of the recall effort, Dillon and Brewer have been emboldened. They've been piling-on by asking for criminal investigations, writing attack editorials to newspapers, and engaging in a massive media blitz to discredit me personally. Check out Lansing Senior Capitol Correspondent (reporter) Tim Skubick's blog on the topic here: http://skoopsblog.blogspot.com/. Skubick reports:

    "Brewer has been on a mission from God to get Leon Drolet and when word filtered out that Drolet would appear on Off the Record on public TV this past weekend, Brewer was on the horn just to make sure that tough questions about illegal campaign activities were hurled at Drolet."

    Skubick continues:

    "While they won't say it, you can pretty much surmise that the D(emocrat)s want to make an example of Drolet as a warning to others who would try to boot lawmakers who vote for a tax hike.

    If Drolet is shivering in his boots over the prospects of being charged with a crime, he sure didn't reveal it when he did the OTR (Off The Record television show) taping."

    You can watch Off The Record with me on the hot seat by clicking here: http://wkar.org/offtherecord/page.php?fill=program&num=3749

    My message to Mark Brewer and Speaker Andy Dillon is: bring it on! The failure of the Dillon recall is a significant setback for me, politically, and for the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance. But your efforts to bury the MTA will fail, no matter how many shoes you pound on the podium.

    The Michigan Taxpayers Alliance is barely over one year old. Taking on the most powerful man in the legislature, along with the political party of the House and governor, and most of the Lansing establishment is a enormous task. We fell 776 signatures short.

    Friends, we will continue to fight as long as we love Michigan and the principles of limited government. The Michigan Taxpayers Alliance will get bigger and stronger.  We lost our first really big fight, but so did Rocky Balboa.

    Again, to Andy Dillon and Mark Brewer: congratulations on your victory and your tax hikes. We will see you soon.

    Leon Drolet
    Michigan Taxpayers Alliance
    www.mitaxpayers.org

    < MSM finally picks up petition story while rampant voter fraud continues | What's a Michi-ander? >


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    I Lose, Dillon and Tax-Eaters Win | 22 comments (22 topical, 0 hidden)
    Great metaphor... (none / 0) (#1)
    by Nick on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 02:06:53 PM EST
    Don't forget what Rocky wound up doing a couple fights later when he took on an extreme left winger...

    And Mark Brewer isn't in nearly the shape Dolph Lundgren was.

    as i don't live in dillon's district (none / 0) (#2)
    by whatever on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 05:31:03 PM EST
    and thus don't care one way or the other, here's why you lost. you should have just kept your rant to this single, short paragraph and called it a day:

    "The SOS did not count the signatures because Michigan law invalidates signatures collected by circulators who are not residents of a recall target's district."

    funny: when libs do a recall, they're "thugs"...when  they oppose a recall, they're still thugs.

    lol...pretty convenient, eh?

    another question (none / 0) (#3)
    by whatever on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 05:42:23 PM EST
    how is it that one starts a recall and doesn't know that basic and fundamental fact about recall law in michigan?

    come on.

    re: thug comment (none / 0) (#6)
    by whatever on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 07:42:16 PM EST
    my thug comment concerns right-wingers i see using that label when someone on the left instigates a recall of one of their political brethren. and it's a label (among others) used when the right-wing instigates a recall against one of their opposites and supporters of that person defend him/her.

    as i said, rather convenient: it's a label used in every situation.

    that said, i support anyone's legal right to instigate a recall. i'm not here defending dillon. i just have a problem with hypocrisy.

    so go at dillon again. knock yourself out. but this time please stick to the law and avoid slandering those who will oppose you (as is also their legal right).

    i think that's a fair request.

    so (none / 0) (#13)
    by goppartyreptile on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 11:48:13 PM EST
    that proves fraud?  I love your thinking.  

    It takes a lot to write what was written above... (none / 0) (#14)
    by KG One on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 11:59:44 PM EST
    ...and that says much about the individual writing it.

    Commissioner, take this for what you will, but you have absolutely nothing to feel sorry for.

    You are one of the few elected Republican officials who were willing to take an active stand against higher taxes, and for that you should be commended.

    Unlike the Republican-controlled Supreme Court did not want to take up the appeal.

    Unlike the Republican Secretary of State who decided to go roto-rooter on the recall campaign, especially with the petitions and the status of the circulators.

    Unlike the Republican legislators were discouraging the recall, and even worse, the "Republican" legislators publicly supporting one of the people behind it.

    Which is about as bad as when I read about the fact that there were Republican senators and representatives in Lansing who embraced the tax increases last year.

    I was disappointed to hear about the final outcome from the SoS.

    I was disappointed to watch the OTR episode which turned into a four-on-one pile on. Tim Skubick's reaction to your point about Dillon raising the gas tax was priceless, definitely one of his hot buttons. In the end, you stood your ground and did an exceptional job defending your position given the circumstances.

    For a term-limited official to do more to promote a party's values more than those currently in office, this is should be a wake up call that something is seriously wrong here.

    I do hope that you keep up your efforts. It's more than can be said of the Republican "leadership" that we have here in Michigan.

    Appeal to federal court (none / 0) (#19)
    by tgagne on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 07:13:38 AM EST
    If a state supreme court won't follow a federal ruling, don't the federal courts provide relief?

    Mr. Drolet, will you consider an appeal?

    Everyone takes their turn

    • Tom by chetly, 06/18/2008 12:25:41 PM EST (none / 0)
    Time. (none / 0) (#20)
    by KG One on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 09:43:40 AM EST
    The Supremes are near the end of their session.

    Add to that, the election is very close. I doubt that they'd be able to do anything before then.

    whatever (none / 0) (#21)
    by goppartyreptile on Tue Jun 17, 2008 at 11:12:03 AM EST
    I'm sure it may, but notice that the only "questions" raised in the article are from those that are obviously on the other side.  Not saying that should immediately discount them, but I would take it with a grain of salt.

    • i agree by whatever, 06/17/2008 11:30:43 AM EST (none / 0)
    I Lose, Dillon and Tax-Eaters Win | 22 comments (22 topical, 0 hidden)
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