jenkuznicki.com

Of the six Republican candidates running for U.S. Congress for Michigan’s First District, one is clearly not a conservative. That candidate is Senator Jason Allen.

At a meeting with local Republicans, I asserted that government must get out of the way of business in order to create jobs. With Michigan in a downward spiral for at least 4 years, the free-market must be allowed to flourish and the reins held by government must be broken. A fellow Republican disagreed. He said that he is sick and tired of the argument that government cannot create jobs, if government gives tax breaks and incentives to companies, then obviously, they have allowed for jobs to be created. The argument was shut down by another person who did not, presumably, want to have two Republicans at each other’s throats in a crowded eatery. However, this discussion must continue, especially in my beloved State of Michigan.

When have we decided, as a State, that we must follow trends in government and in business? Our state was once a leader in the Industrial Revolution. Now, because of faulty science, that is not science, but public policy, we are changing not only the way we produce goods, but how those goods are to be utilized and why. We are relying on government bureaucrats and legislators to allow us to cut our paths for our future, rather than relying on our own common sense and ability.

It is an inflexible paternal control that our government has us bound by.  But rather than declare this truth, many Republicans including Allen wish to work with the constraints and promote themselves as an aide to business within government.(1) The argument is, that the state is led by Democrats, and wanting to slash bureaucracy is the wish of everyone on the right, but the reality is that we can’t achieve that goal until the state is led by Republicans.  But that argument is extremely faulty, given human nature.

Just as the following of fads and trends determines popularity of High School teenagers, so does the following the trends of an anti-free-market, anti-personal liberty, anti-personal property, controlling party that is the new Democrat Party.  No longer does the Democrat Party stand for the “little guy,” especially since the rights of the ultimate minority, the individual, are continuously trampled.  The popularity in politics that a legislator receives determines his ability to raise money from cronies who use their political connections to achieve the “right” to continue their business venture.  When a legislator continues this trend he is boxed in, and cannot turn around and slash the tax structure that allows him his notoriety.  It would be biting the hand that feeds him.  So, continue his practice he must, and therein lies the rub.

The list of special legislation that Jason Allen has drafted to give certain and particular companies special breaks to do business in Michigan is exhaustive.(2) He has taken his perceived duty very seriously, and his name appears on many notable deals.

If Jason Allen was a conservative, he would have proposed tax breaks to all businesses, to all ventures, who wanted to do business in Michigan, in a sweeping blow to a Governor who has done more damage to Michigan, and Michigan’s children, than can be calmly illustrated.  He should have taken the posture, “why stop there?” But instead willingly and exuberantly utilized government bureaucratic tools to unfairly promote companies and production rights deemed trendy and worthy by the bureaucracy.

The Battery Plant in Holland

No one disagrees that we need jobs in Michigan.  No one thinks we should not welcome industry to Michigan.  How it is done is the problem.

President Barack Obama is slated to visit Michigan this Thursday at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Lithium Ion Battery Plant in Holland.(3) The plant was dubbed by Jennifer Granholm as one of Michigan’s first steps to going from “rust to green.”  The company from South Korea decided to finally have the plant here in Michigan, because Senator Jason Allen, and his colleagues wrote legislation specifically to give that company and 3 others Michigan tax breaks as well as giving the firm’s location renaissance zone status that would convert tax credits to outright subsidies.(4)

The company has promised to supply up to 400 jobs in the Holland area, but admitted that they would not be coming to Michigan if not for the tax breaks and Fed dollars.

The Republican Establishment in Michigan is thrilled to have been able to work across the aisle within the system to, as the gentleman said in my earlier discussion in the eatery, “allow for jobs to be created.”  The problem with this mentality is that it is not a winners spirit, nor is it conservative.  The truth is that government in this case, picked the winner, and gave him every advantage over everyone else at the game.  It is like a grandparent who plays favorites with a particular grandchild.  All the other children will feel as though they cannot compete.  However in this case, we are talking about a State and a Nation whose governments are playing favorites with business and squashing dreams and ingenuity.

This practice stops other businesses from competing.  If a jeans manufacturing plant were introduced in Holland, would they have to seek out Senator Jason Allen?  And if they did, would he have to check the trends to determine if there were political advantages to focusing stimulus dollars to such a company and give the company a tax break to boot?  Or would the company ever get a foothold in the first place, because all permits would be denied on the basis that Michigan doesn’t need a jeans plant, because the nation is focusing on slacks right now?

The massive amounts of ink used to distribute the golden ticket for certain companies should have been used to continuously and unabashedly challenge this administration to cut taxes to all business.  It is clear that the current Democrat Party is interested in business only when it suits their own lofty notions that certain companies can “save the planet,” it is clear also, that the Republican establishment in Michigan is not leading, but is led around by whatever the Democrats happen to be doing.

On the Bureaucracy

I have been at a gathering where Senator Allen said that Michigan is so bureaucratized, that the only thing that Republicans can do is to try to stop bad things from happening.

That is playing defense.

Is that what we teach our children?  Do we teach our children that their ideas are okay, but they ought not deign to persue their dreams?   Do we teach them that they must persue a goal, and keep working, and working hard to attain it?  Or do we say that the goals are too lofty, our dreams too big, our thoughts too solid?

Their argument is that the Republicans did have some success in streamlining government.  They boasted about a bipartisan effort to merge the offices of the MDEQ and the DNR to create a new smaller and more effective office, the MDNRE.  The problem is, they did this at the most inopportune time for at least one major industry, and it did not make government more effective.  The Wolverine Clean Energy Venture in Rogers City was at the time in the middle of it’s permitting process, and that move slowed down the process to a creep.  The MDEQ had given the venture great marks in October of 2008, and the air quality permit seemed in reach. But in 2009, Governor Granholm rolled out her massive green energy push and made a directive to stop permitting coal plants and seek alternatives. With the merging of the MDEQ and the DNR, the “streamlined” office was ill prepared to process the massive amounts of data and paperwork(5) generated by the Sierra Club and other green energy groups, all of which the department had to consider in the clean coal permit request. Not only did Jason Allen have a hand in that bottlenecking, but he was also one of the reasons the permit was sent to an energy regulatory agency for approval or denial.

In 2007, Bills 426 and 427 were sponsored by Senators Kuipers and Allen. The bills gave the regulatory agency, MPSC, the power to determine whether or not an energy company can produce more energy, and the power to tell the company, to order the company, to seek out other sources.(6) It was on that basis that the MDNRE denied the air quality permit to WCEV.(7) The Clean Coal Plant would have provided close to 2000 jobs in Allen’s own district.

Senator Allen has spent a lot of energy pushing the agenda of the MEDC and MEGA  for allowing city and county governments to create renaissance zones.  The idea centered around changing areas in cities and counties from undeveloped to developed by declaring them renaissance zones.  Tax abatement would be allowed because the land would be owned by the government.  An additional government unit would regulate them.

Within these zones, it would be feasible for a business to develop tax free for a certain number of years, to get past the first years of a  ‘make or break’ period that all new business experiences.

The governing authority went to work on the new rules for these zones.  It was determined by many businesses that they would not be eligible to receive the benefits of such a deal, because the rules of occupancy were too strict, or could not promise the mandates on hiring a certain number of employees, and if all directives were met, it would still be up to the regulatory authority to approve or deny the business from entering in a contract.

Central authority and government red tape would not be lessened, instead, it increased.

The Michigan Economic Growth Authority or MEGA and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation are continuously excoriated by conservative think tanks and should be done away with.(8) These central planning bureaucratic messes do not create the amount of jobs they promise.  They instead create more government, more regulation and more instances of fraud and abuse.  Yet Allen defends the “philosophy” of the MEDC.(9)

The Brownfield Development Plan is another program utilized by Allen to “allow for the creation of jobs.”  Again, the MEDC and the MEGA are agencies that work within the government to help create business climate for certain areas and certain companies.  In this instance, an area would have to be declared a brownfield zone to receive tax credits for development.  One of the most egregious examples of government meddling in the free market is that of the Petoskey Point development in Downtown Petoskey.  The particular site is now called “the big hole” in Petoskey and is a painful reminder that government cannot be the mechanism for creating jobs.  When the site was declared a brownfield site, funding was approved almost immediately for the removal of 10,000 yards of soil from the site, but was stalled when tests proved the initial tests inaccurate.  The MEDC ignored the soil non-contamination as an “error.  Some people make errors all the time.  We don’t have a problem with it.”  Except that the “error” was the whole reason the developers received almost $5 Million in taxpayer credit,(10) the hole is still a big hole, and the developers are now in bankruptcy court.(11)

The Michigan Film Tax Incentives Initiative is structured in such a way that if the company seeking the incentive fits certain guidelines, the tax incentive comes to them as a check.  This created a huge scandal this year when a known embezzler(12) qualified for a refunds in the amount of 9.1 Million dollars.  The incentives plan also provided for Michael Moore to get subsidized in his recent anti-capitalist film.  The Mackinac Center for Public Policy raised acute awareness of the incongruity of the Hangar42 project since the hangar was last listed for sale at 9.8 Million and the investors cited an investment of 45 Million.  The increase in “value” means that the investor would get a 25% tax credit, which is more than the building is worth, and since the building sits in a renaissance zone, and has no tax liability, the money would be in the form of a check.(13) Jason Allen received great kudos for leadership in the Michigan Film Tax Incentives program during Jennifer Granholm’s  2009 State of the State Address.(14) The bottom line is, when government is used to subsidize business, it is less efficient and does not create the jobs that allowing the free market to work would.

On The Tea Party

It is my view that Jason Allen appreciates the tea party movement.  I believe he thinks it has been very helpful to the Republican Party, and I would agree with him on that.  The difference is, that most tea partiers are angry at both the Republican establishment and the Democrat Party.  With Jason being quite the epitome of the establishment, I do not believe he personally will benefit from tea partiers’ enthusiasm and votes.

On the ACORN/SEIU Scandal

SB 731 was introduced by Senator Jason Allen in August of 2009 to, in his view, protect home health care workers and the elderly.  But the bill would create a relationship between the SEIU and healthcare workers in the state who provide home care to patients.  The SEIU, a parent of ACORN, would, because of this legislation, be able to unionize the home care workers.(15) Once unionized, the approximately 42,000 people would be filtering money to the SEIU from their paychecks.(16) Some reports held that Jason Allen designed the legislation to be introduced and sent to his own Senate Committee, and was specially proposed to help Republican Mike Nofs in a special election in November of 2009.  Two weeks after the bill was introduced, Nofs received the SEIU’s endorsement and 4 full time campaign workers.  Six weeks prior to the bill’s introduction, Allen received a $2,000 campaign contribution from SEIU.(17)

Jack McHugh of the The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank, and Wendy Day of Common Sense in Government, raised alarms about this bill in December of 2009.  These people read, deconstruct and interpret bills so that the average citizen can understand what they mean.  The bill was roundly criticized for months and months, and Jason Allen threw his hat into the First District Congressional race anyway, which amplified the awareness of the bill.  After the Democrat Party took up the identical measure,(18) Jason Allen changed wording in the bill May 27, 2010, and made it clear that it would not be a forced unionization scheme.

The argument that Allen supporters use has evolved from, “He did not unionize health workers,” to, “He was too trusting of writers of the bill,” to, “Read the bill now, there is no forced unionization in it.”

But, as John Adams said, “Facts are stubborn things.”

This legislation is so obviously a political overture to unions, but beyond that, think of the timeline.  In August of 2009, what was the nation up in arms about?  The Federal Government’s desire to take over health care was the focus of every news outlet, and on the minds of every concerned person.  Congressional leaders were facing angry voters at town halls and tea partiers were livid.  Yet Allen pressed forward with this bill that would pay the very union who helped President Barack Hussein Obama get elected in November 2008.  ACORN is a powerful network of community organizers who were involved heavily in rampant voter fraud during the 2008 elections(19) and are the same dangerous liberal entity that is threatening to compromise our elections this November.(20)

Addresses to linked articles:

http://jenkuznicki.com/2010/06/jason-allen-and-the-definition-of-a-liberal-republican/

http://www.mackinac.org/12359

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x644698595/Obama-coming-to-Holland

http://www.michiganvotes.org/RollCall.aspx?ID=395402

http://www.piadvance.com/article/governor+says+it+is+all+about+whether+issuing+air+permit+is+the+right+policy.aspx

http://www.mackinac.org/9499

http://www.piadvance.com/article/permit+denied+by+state+after+nearly+1000+days+of+consideration.aspx

http://www.mackinac.org/10155

http://brettvanderkamp.com/campaign-news/medc-infallible-or-is-this-just-the-wrong-role-for-government/

http://archives.record-eagle.com/2006/sep/24petoskey.htm

http://www.petoskeynews.com/front/article_5ed99530-efd2-11de-b595-001cc4c002e0.html

http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/12345

http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/12977

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/SOS2009_265915_7.pdf

http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/12116

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=202486932484

http://www.mackinac.org/11539

http://jennerationx.com/2010/05/forced-unionization-idea-sounds-good-to-democrats/

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/15/acorn-commits-fraud-in-michigan/

http://biggovernment.com/jwales/2010/02/11/michigan-and-acorn-when-at-first-you-dont-succeed/

More research:

http://michigantaxes.com/wordpress/2010/05/forced-unionization-concerns-addressed-in-sb731-sub/

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Michigan+Economic+Development+Corporation+Announces+New+Renaissance…-a094228797

http://www.nextenergy.org/news/2008/091508_01.aspx

http://www.mackinac.org/10311

http://www.senate.michigan.gov/gop/senators/photowire.asp?District=37&All=1

http://www.chevrolet.com/pages/open/default/future/volt.do

http://detnews.com/article/20090415/POLITICS02/904150368/Michigan-bets-big-on-batteries–$300M-in-tax-credits-to-spur-new-jobs

http://www.mackinac.org/8074

http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-legislative/12864834-1.html

http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/12193

http://www.mackinac.org/7678