Tag: Calley

An iCaucus commissioned poll of Republican delegates is revealing the rift between the progressive left governor and the base of the Republican party in Michigan.  Respondents have to this point said Rick needs to go, and well beyond the margin of error.

Should Governor Rick Snyder face a primary challenger in 2014?

Preliminary and unofficial results currently show a 46.79% Replace Snyder preference to a 37.93% Keep Snyder Preference, with a 15.29% unsure percentage.  Margin of error currently +/-3.87% with 650 respondents with 95% confidence.

The polling also ranks a number of possible contenders in head to head ratings. The names of will be revealed on Saturday, currently showing one possibility polling stronger differentially than the generic count against the governor, and others within the margin of error, and others losing to him.

The need to replace Brian Calley is not quite as clear.  38.84 % support replacing the LT Governor, while 35.32% do not, and a heavy 25.84% remain unsure.  This falls within the margin of error, and cannot be seen as a mandate.

Also like many, he is trying to identify where the weak sisters in the Republican caucus might be. He writes:

This week the Senate comes back to Lansing. Number one on the agenda is expansion of Medicaid. Governor Snyder and Lt. Governor Brian Calley are putting on a full-court press. 

Reliable sources tell me there are 17 rock-solid NO votes in the GOP caucus. Let's do a little math here. There are 38 members in the Senate, 12 are Democrats. We can readily assume all twelve will vote for Medicaid expansion because it helps accomplish what their president wants and it represents an enormous expansion of government.

Twenty votes are required to pass a bill...UNLESS there is a 19-19 tie, in which case the Lt. Governor who presides over the Senate, gets to break the tie. We know what Brian Calley will do in the case of a tie. 

So, if 17 Senators are a no, and 12 Senators are a yes, the governor needs to convince seven members of the 9 remaining Republicans to vote with the Democrats. It sounds like he may already have six of those seven in the bag. Where will he find the seventh vote?

It might be Dave Robertson. Read more here.

Until we get a solid "NO" pledge from any State Senator, its best to assume they are possible sellouts. And as Jack said "We know what Brian Calley will do in the case of a tie. "  Call Robertson.

If folks do not approve of this new health insurance mandate that will hike their insurance premiums, I would strongly suggest they contact their Senators NOW.

Remember, the majority of House Republicans rejected the autism coverage mandate in 2009, here and here.  Andy Dillon and House Democrats actually passed those bills.  Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop let this unnecessary legislation die in the December 2010 lame duck session without vote.

Perhaps those actions are just reflective of when Republican Legislators were attuned to the TEA movement that gave them the control of every lever of power in Lansing they now enjoy?  Nothing else can reasonably explain what today's Majority is doing with associating the Republican name to this.

via michiganvotes.org

Introduced by Sen. Randy Richardville (R) on February 23, 2012, to authorize state subsidies to health insurance companies to compensate for the new coverage mandate proposed by Senate Bills 414 and 415, which would require them to include autism coverage in all their policies. The bill does not specify where the money would come from.

As many business owners understand, there is "property tax" and there is "property tax".  And while the two seem to be quite similar, the difference is how one is handled over the other.

Property tax as we all recognize is the repeated taxation on real property (acreage, land, buildings) which is used in a number of different formulas and provides a basis for government funding, millages for special purposes, and has for so many years until recently been a boon for local governments who would rather grow more services, than cut taxes on the increased value added properties.  It is regressive, in that it discourages ownership, and puts at risk those on fixed incomes.  Property tax on real property as it stands is already bad enough, yet has funded state and local government expansion to a point that any contraction in values puts at risk those things necessary and proper.

But "Property Tax", as in PERSONAL Property tax or INDUSTRIAL property tax, is something even more sinister. In 2007, I wrote:

"For some of us, the process is mostly painless financially; A couple of desks, computers, a few inventory racks.. But for quite a few Job creators, it can make a profitable year much less so with equipment that costs hundreds of thousands for manufacturing processes etc..

Again, Michigan needs to re-visit the idea of eliminating these regressive policies which hamstring our ability to be more productive and provide for our OWN families, much less those who feed off of the generosity of Michigan taxpayers through the force of Michigan government. (more to follow on this)"

All equipment bought for use in your business is taxable at the time of purchase.  Then it is taxable when you use it, repeatedly, like real property tax.  It is assessed a little differently, and relies for the most part on voluntary inventory declaration of business assets. (though larger businesses might have a personal visit from an assessor around Dec 31) It creates a level of work for the business owner that can be complicated depending on the quantity of business useable assets.  It also creates a great deal of work for township assessors who must peruse the minutia (if they are doing the job properly) and properly report to the state the value of those assets and amounts collected.

Often it becomes a whole lot of work for very little benefit, if anything at all.

People were a little taken aback a few weeks ago when Gov-elect Snyder announced that he was tapping outgoing Speaker Andy Dillon to be the State Treasurer.

Why, after the fine, outstanding job that he did working to balance Michigan's Budget (Tax hike? What tax hike?), <sarcasm> he would be the obvious choice to lead Michigan out of the $1.6-billion hole it finds itself in </sarcasm> .

Then the Number 2 guy in the governor's office opens up his mouth.