Tag: Conyers (page 2)

The Ivory Tower reports this morning that Sam Riddle, a Detroit Democrat and well known political consultant is coming clean about additional dirty deeds, some directly involving Congressman John Conyers (D-Detroit):

Riddle said Conyers even helped draft a letter sent by her husband, Congressman John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., to help a man with whom she had financial ties...

In that deal, Riddle said, Monica Conyers arranged for Riddle to get a $20,000 contract with Greektown entrepreneur Dimitrios (Jim) Papas in about 2007. Riddle said Papas hired him for crisis consulting and political advising -- but he was never asked to do any work. She then demanded $10,000 of that money as a "finder's fee," Riddle said.

At some point after Papas paid him, Riddle said, John Conyers sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in support of a controversial hazardous waste injection well in Romulus that one of Papas' companies was seeking to operate.

Papas, you'll remember, is the same "gentleman" who paid Senator Debbie Stabenow's (D-Michigan) husband Tom Athens to work illegally as a lobbyist backing the same toxic waste dumping project.  The sort of dumping project that Stabenow had explicitly campaigned against, before realizing it represented an opportunity for her family to make serious illegal bank.

Not a bad collection Papas had there.  A United States Senator, a United States Congressman and the top dog on the Detroit City Council, all either directly on the payroll or accepting cash through one paper-thin degree of separation.  

Meanwhile, Senator Stabenow and Congressman Conyers refuse to answer questions about the lifestyle they've enjoyed thanks to Papas generous "giving" or the Congressional favors that cash has purchased.

But while Stabenow has managed to skate thus far on the dirty dealings that happened under her roof, Conyers may not be quite as lucky.  The Ivory Tower reminds readers:

Ethics rules prohibit House members from contacting federal agencies on matters in which they have a personal financial interest. It is unclear whether John Conyers knew of any financial connection between his wife and Papas.

Point A... arguing that a 21 term Congressman could somehow not know about the "professional relationship" between his wife and the specific company for which he went to bat is inane.  The man would almost literally have to be senile.  Point B... if you're going to make that argument then we've got a whole separate set of issues to deal with.

Either way, ethics rules are ethics rules and John Conyers clearly violated them.  

Another Detroit Democrat embroiled in a federal ethics probe?  That's JUST what the Motor City needed.  Maybe Monica isn't the only Conyers who should be considering resignation this morning.

 About 45 -50 patriots heeded the Grassroots in Michigan call for a counter protest of the leftist rally in support of the "cradle to grave" socialized medicine bill HR 676. We came from from Lansing, Kalamazoo, Greenville, Holt and Grand Rapids.

As planned we all met up at Calder Plaza by the big red statue between noon and 12:45 and headed out the the protest location, the Federal Building at 1:00. The leftist had only between 12-20 at any given time and were taken completely by surprise by our number. Side by side with the oppostion we got up close and personal engaging in discussion with the leftist/Socialist/Marxist.

However as usual when dealing with the leftist/socialist/Marxist its not long before the vitriol comes spewing out. It's seems to be their natural reaction when confronted with facts and common sense.

One woman repeatedly called me "bitter, stingy, mean spirited" This same woman proudly proclaimed herself a socialist and said that's what America needed and told me and I quote, "You are not bright enough to decide what to do with you money so we will decide for you" One man suggested I should step a little farther out into the road as to get hit by a passing car and of course no protest is complete without at least one leftist giving you the bird! And its in the leftist/socialists/Marxist handbook to always, always have at least one sign about war, even if it has nothing to do with the reason of your rally/protest.

At about 2:45pm one of the Grand Rapids Press showed up and I gave an interview.

After my interview the opposition organizer, while shaking his head begrudging told me "You did a great job organizing" Well thanks guy!

With the job done we headed back to our homes. Big thank you to all the patriots who participated! God Bless America! More pictures of the counter-protest can be found here:

Indicatations are that the liberals are ramming this through committee and this bill could be up for vote as soon as August. We need to act NOW What can you do?

• Email, call, fax, or write your representatives
  
• Write a Letter to the Editor
  
• Post to opinion sections of newspaper websites
  
• Call talk radio
  
• Send information to your entire email address book
  
• Talk to your friends, family, and neighbors about the facts

House of Represenatives

White House

As with many issues, Reagan was able to articulate basic principles in a way that is timeless
Click here to listen to the audio
(Audio link couresty of Grassroots in Nebraska)

To get additional information on the bill, click on one of the links below:

THOMAS

Govtrack.us

In the classic movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Jimmy Stewart plays the naive Jefferson Smith, who is appointed a U.S. Senator. Lacking any political experience, he goes to Washington and is rudely confronted by machine politics and a culture of corruption, with other senators, including one of Smith's heroes, passing legislation to pay off their backers.

Here in Michigan, we are either accustomed to this culture or worn down by its relentlessness or simply unable to keep up with it all. As a public service, therefore, let's look at one state representative pushing the agenda for those who are responsible for her election, rather than looking out for the people of her district and the state.

Shanelle Jackson is the representative for the 9th District in northwest Detroit. This is the district in which I grew up. On March 26, Jackson introduced House Bill 4712, which amends the school code by imposing a new requirement if a school is not meeting expectations:

If the school is an elementary school, the superintendent of public instruction shall issue an order requiring that the maximum class size in the school for grades K to 3 shall not exceed 17 pupils per classroom.

Read more...

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you, too, though.  Be careful on the roads, pals.  Especially those of you who are getting an early-bird jump on the festivities at oh, 8 or 9 this morning.

Now... since I'm not a lush,  Irish or Catholic, back to business.

Yesterday we discussed how Detroit Democrat Kwame Kenyatta was adding his name to the list of over 50 liberal candidates for the office of Mayor come August.  Today we learn that the man just defaulted on his mortgage and isn't paying his bills.

But like yesterday, I still can't muster the cynicism and snark to discuss the foibles of Michigan Democrats with the vim and vigor the issues really deserve.  Besides, I have zero doubt whatsoever that Monica Conyers will pick up the slack.  Heck, the woman made fun of Kenyatta because she thought he had cancer... does anyone think getting kicked out of his house is going to be off limits?

Besides, there's this whole "light rail" thing that's sort of got me intrigued.

Republican Representatives Wayne Schmidt and Bill Rogers held a presser yesterday announcing the formation of a task force to study the feasibility of a light rail system connecting Lansing with metro-Detroit and maybe Ann Arbor, to boot.

If you've lived in Michigan long you've heard about the light-rail concept more times than you've seen the University of Michigan in the NCAA basketball tournament.  Every couple of years it becomes someone's pet project but there have always been three big issues standing in the way.  (Frankly, there may have been a million and three big issues, but there are three that always seem to pop to the top.)

First you've got to deal with the projects feasibility.  Can anyone even construct the thing and make it work?  Second, you've got the whole question of who is going to pay for it and then there are the Big 3.  

Read on...

Their statewide slate for 2010 is already shaping up as one of the most extreme, far-left groups of out-of-touch politicians in recent memory.  John Cherry is `proudly' running on a record of failure and futility while their AG candidate, Gretchen Whitmer, makes Fieger-Time look as conservative as John Engler.  The only hope for the slate is potential SoS candidate Janice Winfrey, one of the few Democrats in Detroit with even a modicum of capability.

And now in two of the state's largest cities THIS is what voters are offered in Mayoral races?

The Flint Journal reports on the rapidly growing field of candidates for their leadership post, after it was vacated via the resignation of their last corrupt Democratic Mayor.  The list includes an ultra-liberal former legislator, a local board of education member and a failed former Democratic candidate who it appears only moved to the city to run for Mayor.  Among others.

But Flint looks positively cosmopolitan after reading the Motor City update courtesy of this morning's Detroit News.  

The racist who orchestrated the City Council's decision to reject nearly $300 million in "free money" for Cobo Hall because out-staters would be involved in the project... the same woman who was recently arrested for a bar fight, who called her former colleague Shrek and who made fun of a political opponent's alleged battle with cancer, Congressman John Conyers' wife Monica says she might just run as a write-in candidate.  

"People have asked me," said Conyers, who remains council president at least through the May 5 special election for Detroit mayor. "I haven't said anything. I just listened."

The Call 'Em Out Coalition is encouraging Conyers to run. The Detroit-based organization is known for the "Sambo" awards it bestows on people it feels are selling out Detroit. Representatives of the organization couldn't be reached for comment.

Cobo, for the record, is the "crown jewel of Detroit."  According to the good folks at CEOC.  

"Sambo," by the way, is not a nice word.  The NAACP hasn't buried this one yet, but I'm sure its somewhere on their target list.

If any other politician, running for any other office, anywhere else in Michigan were considering accepting the support and listening to the council of a group that handed out "Sambo" awards, they'd be called on the carpet quicker than you can say "Jack Robinson."  Or in this case, "Jim Crow."

The wife of a Congressman should be held to no less intense a standard.  Just because the woman lives and works and operates in Detroit doesn't give her a pass to participate and legitimize these sorts of vile, repugnant racial politics.

For a "post-racial" America coming off the historic election of our first African-American President, Detroit sure is managing to put on an embarrassing show this week.  One way or the other, Congressman Conyers and his wife are going to tell the bigots and the hate-mongers where they can stick their brand of racism... they'll either justly and publicly denounce them, telling them to stick it where the sun doesn't shine or they'll quietly embrace them without a single word of outrage, making hate mainstream in the Motor City.  

If their Cobo Hall shenanigans are any indication, we probably shouldn't get our hopes up.

Then again, maybe in a city like Detroit that's all that's left of the people who genuinely care.  The Detroit News:

"It's sad," said City Clerk Janice Winfrey, who had predicted turnout of 10 percent to 15 percent. "Anytime an individual chooses not to express themselves ... chooses not to participate in the Democratic process, it's sad.

"I can't fathom not voting and I don't really understand folks who don't."

The mood among voters vacillated from hope about the future to worry about the present. Some said they hoped to move from the city as soon as possible.

I'm not going to seriously knock anyone in the D for staying home on Election day.  Look at their choices...  You've got Democrat A, Democrat B, Democrats C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N and O and that was just on the Mayoral ballot.  Not a single Republican anywhere to be found.  No choices.  No alternatives.

And the rumor, though I haven't been able to substantiate it, is that the other 85 percent of voters actually stayed home because they'd been assaulted by Democratic Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers in the past four months and didn't want to risk another political "adventure."  

Threats of physical violence may or may not be what got to four of her fellow Council members who yesterday joined her in voting down a nearly $300 million expansion of Cobo Hall, citing worries that too many people from outside the City (crystal clear and unambiguous code for "white," by the way) would have too much of a say in the event-center's future.  Never mind that the bulk of the cash would be coming from those regional folks... can't let equity, equality and common sense get in the way of racial politics.

The Ivory Tower reports:

The legislation, passed by the state Legislature in December and signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm  in January, would have transferred ownership of Cobo Center to a five-member regional authority with representatives from Detroit, the state and Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Each board member has veto power, requiring decisions about Cobo to be reached by unanimous vote.

The stakes, by the way... nothing less than the North American International Auto Show.  Dealers have been pulling out of the show for years, citing space and maintenance concerns around crumbling Cobo Hall, and if you've been there you know it's a pit.  The cash and expansion would have gone a heck of a long way towards solving those problems.

Alas, racism is alive and well in Detroit.  Said Councilwoman Barbara-Rose Collins:

Detroit should get the stimulus money directly (from the Obama administration), "bypassing the racist extortions of the state of Michigan."

Yep.  I totally see where she's coming from.  The State of Michigan, cash-strapped as it is, managed in a bipartisan fashion to dig up nearly $300 million to give to the City of Detroit to repair a building the City of Detroit has let crumble into utter disrepair for the last twenty years, saving, preserving and enhancing the ability of the City to host large-scale, money making events now and well into the future.  

Racist bastards.