Category: MIGOP

A Change in Leadership Is Needed in Michigan’s First

I received an email yesterday from someone who claimed to be from the Alpena County GOP.  Even though I left the Michigan GOP a year ago this week, I still receive mass mailings, notices from the party, as if I were still the chair of my county.  The email is a part of the circus that takes place directly prior to convention, and my memory races back to the tactics and games played by the usual clowns who use extensive email lists to whip up outrage or scorn right before voting for leadership of the Republican Party.

The First District of Michigan has been nick-named the “Fighting First” due to the number of conservatives of different stripes and their eagerness to debate.  When you sit back and watch, it is invigorating to know there is such a vast number of patriots who will fight for what is right.

When the district voted for Jesse Osmer to be the chair, conservatives began to feel the vicious nature of unprincipled, authoritarian management that Jesse has organized and executed these past years.  Nationally, party bosses are purging conservatives, and Jesse’s work in the First is no different.  Packing proxy voters on secret phone meetings of the district, misdirecting conservatives to the call-in time or changing the number, rushing votes, proposing bylaw changes that silence the voices of a vast geographical district, and more.  With Jesse at the helm, dissent is noted and targeted for retribution.

This is not a conservative trait.  Vengeance and punishment for a difference of opinion is the mark of leftism.

Conservatives, or classic liberals, welcome all ideas, but rely on the good sense of voters after a vigorous debate is held.  Totalitarian minds need to control people through bully tactics and lies in order to push an agenda that would displease the populace.

Back to the email.

Supposedly, someone in Alpena has raised questions about the sexual orientation of a person in the First District who happens to be Jesse Osmer’s best buddy.  But nobody in the Alpena GOP wrote that email, except perhaps Jesse.  There are people in Alpena Jesse would like to blame just about anything on, because they know his tactics most intimately, including just this past county convention, when he lied about which delegates have priority, thwarting his wish for a packed slate that would benefit him.

Of the many emails I receive, I can look up the ip address of the person sending the email, tracing where their computer is, in every case except that email.  That email, from someone named “Dick” had the ip in the header blocked, meaning, that they purposely covered their tracks.  Regular people don’t do that, usually it is done by political operatives who place political hit-pieces, and send them via mass email lists.  The suspicions of most conservatives in response to the email is that it’s the work, once again of the Osmer group, focusing on the establishment’s perceived view of conservatives as “gay-bashers” and trying to gin up a sympathy vote for the fella who never passes up the chance to remind you of his sexual preference.

After years of all of us conservatives defending Dave Agema’s freedom of speech, “Dick” just now wanted to let you all know about Londo.  As if we didn’t know after he has repeatedly attacked Agema and made national news focusing on his own sexual preference.

But it is not Londo’s sexual preference that is the issue, and that he constantly uses it to gain advantage or election, isn’t the real point either.  He is complicit in Osmer’s heavy hand in the district, consistently purging and belittling conservatives, secretly hating them for how he thinks we think about him.

A few years ago, Londo, Osmer, and Mick, Benishek’s step-son and leader of his campaign, and I were all in a room.  I told Mick what I thought of Benishek’s crappy voting record, and during the discussion, Londo laughed and said, “Republicans have to get rid of the social issues.”  Funny, isn’t it, that the only ones who bring up the social issues are the ones using them against us to divide us.

Politics can be very dangerous to a soul.  If you find you excel at it, you have to decide what you will and will not do to push your influence.  Some get caught up in winning at all costs, and they sell their soul quite cheap.  With all the madness of the Obama years, there should be no question that Republicans stand on principle, their platform, and with transparency, invite all comers to join in the glorious debate of where the party will be headed.  It is the conservatives that promote unity when in power, it is conservatives that promote transparency and fairness.  It is a family-friendly atmosphere when conservatives fight for what is right, good and true.

That’s why I strongly urge the delegates of Michigan’s Fighting First to elect Adrian Poulisse for District Chair.  Adrian is a veteran, and wonderful family man with a fine wife and cute little ones he always brings to every event, but he is also a strong conservative who likes people and makes people want to help in the cause.  A happy warrior, Adrian follows through on communications and isn’t constantly paranoid about who listens in on phone calls because his efforts are always for more transparency, more information, and better representation of the views of the entire district’s grassroots, not the machinations of top-down party control.

If America is to get on the right path, the Republican Party must welcome diversity of thoughts, rather than religious shaming and political correctness run amok.  And if the Michigan Republican Party has any hope to succeed as a party that stands for something, more people like Adrian Poulisse need to be elected in the party structure.

Tom Backers, a fella I used to butt heads with, is a good man.  We have become friends since the wild arguments and debates of 2010, and he has stayed in the party.  The other day I noticed a conservative slate on his Facebook wall and will share it here.  You can click on the list and it will open a new window so you can print it.  I encourage all Michigan First District delegates and alternates to use this tool, not only to vote for conservatives, but also to find the people running when you are at convention and thank them for doing so.

conservative slate

 

Adrian as chair would make me reconsider joining the party once again. A change in attitude at the top always changes the attitudes and the welcoming disposition of the party everywhere.

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Let’s Start the Conversation: Close the Michigan Republican Presidential Primary

michiganflagThe time is now to start the conversation among grassroots volunteers in the Michigan Republican Party, to move to a closed primary or a caucus, to stop the Democrats from picking our Presidential nominee.

An important nugget of information has been glossed over by the Republican Party in Michigan during this, at best, “meh,” election year.  The Democratic nominee for Governor who is running against incumbent nerd Snyder, voted in the Republican Presidential Primary in 2012.

I’m told the MIGOP is allowing this information to get pushed aside, and I’m not surprised.  After all, any discussion about the 2012 primary race for President would have to include the mounds of evidence written by and at RightMichigan.com (scroll the tag ) that proved that Mitt Romney did not win Michigan’s primary until the credentials committee changed the rules after the vote.  In fact, that rule change was won mostly because of Communist the willingly corrupted Saul Anuzis.  Anuzis lost his RNC chairmanship over the rule change, outright lies and marathon B.S. that came from his work as an operative for the Romney campaign.

So Schauer, the Democrat nominee, admitted he voted in the Republican primary in 2012, because , “There was nobody to vote for on the Democratic side of the ballot,” Schauer said. “I try not to miss any elections, and so no, I don’t encourage that, but I think that’s up to every individual voter to decide. Michigan is full of crossover and independent voters.”

Someone might want to tell the all-day, every-day, for whatever reason whatsoever abortion rights reactionaries, that Schauer voted pro-life just two short years ago.

But part of the reason the MIGOP shuffled Romney’s extra unearned delegate through, is because they insisted that the votes for Santorum were illegitimate, because they knew it was the Democrats that voted for him in order to prolong the primary season.  They knew that because the Democrats said so.  Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Minority Leader , ““Don’t be surprised if we cross the ballot and play games,” a challenge that was  Republican Senators Meekhof and Jones, the video of which was used by Democrats to help them organize.

So, it’s not surprising that the radical liberal activist Schauer voted in the Republican primary for the express purpose of lengthening the primary process and making it harder for Romney to win the nomination.  What also happened though, was conservative Democrats responded to Santorum’s understanding of the rust belt and his social issue stances, and they also voted for him, leading to the logical reality that all Democrats hate Mitt Romney.

Everybody says Michigan is a Democrat state, even the Republicans do, in fact, the dominant Republican mentality here is one of reactionary politics, paralyzed by the fear of what the Democrats will do or say.  They insist that without cross-over Democrat votes, a Republican cannot win an election, and that is true, but why would they want cross-over votes during a primary?

As a conservative, I encouraged my church-going, hard-working, Democrat friends to vote for Santorum in the Republican primary because there was an ability for Reagan Democrats to vote in the primary.  But had the primary been closed, I would have been out months before and registered my conservative Democrat friends as Republicans, because they already knew that their party had been taken over by radical leftists like Mark Schauer and Lisa Brown.  If there was not an ability to cross-over like Schauer did, liberal activism wouldn’t enter the primary process because there is no way liberal activists would register as hated Republicans.  If we had a closed primary, the precinct delegate, the party member at the grassroots level, the person who knows his or her township or precinct better than anyone, would be the most important and powerful person in party politics.

Why does the Republican Party try so hard to stunt the growth of the grassroots?

The MIGOP has now, an open primary, and a winner-take-all rule which wipes out all grassroots work, and lessens the need for the existence of local parties, since all that is needed is high-population areas to work on auto-pilot in sync with the national party.  There would be no visits by Presidential candidates in rural areas, away from the three large southern cities.  There is little excitement for anyone in smaller communities to do much of anything because Grand Rapids, Lansing and Detroit Democrats inevitably pick our nominee.

Michigan’s First Congressional District vice-chair Adrian Poulisse has put together a resolution pending a special meeting, that would address the problems associated with our open primary system in Michigan.  It also addresses the need for proportional awarding of delegates, in order to get the true voice of the electorate starting at the grassroots level, and would strengthen the party in the long run.  RESOLUTION OF OPPOSITION TO WINNER-TAKE-ALL OPEN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES (1)

The grassroots must demand that they not be silenced.  The tea party members who are also involved in the Republican Party, the conservatives who remain in the party, and other long-time Republicans will have to push the MIGOP to understand how they will soon become a permanent minority party if they continue on the path they are on.  It may just be that the past four years of a Republican Governorship, Senate and House will be looked back upon as our golden years, if we continue to let radical leftist Democrats like Mark Schauer determine our nominees for every elected position on our docket.

In a Presidential primary, the precinct delegate wants to know if their vote and their hours of work in getting out the vote are worthwhile, will they be counted, and will they matter.  A television commercial can direct people to vote Republican, but it is the personal contact by committed volunteers, strengthening relationships and growing the party, that builds a strong future for a conservative majority, and a Republican Party committed to rescuing the country from the destruction that the Democrat Party caused.

In open winner-take-all primaries, the grassroots die off, and you lose so much.  You lose your most committed, loyal people so that you can gain weasels like Schauer.  You give the opposition the strategic advantage, and it feeds into in Mississippi.  No self-respecting Republican should allow these trade-offs.

The dialogue started by Mr. Poulisse is important and couldn’t come at a better time.  The Republican grassroots needs to have a conversation about the future of the party, and they need to demand that open winner-take-all primaries become a relic of the past so that the dream of a vibrant Republican Party becomes reality.

  • Close the primaries and grow the party at the grassroots level.
  • Change hearts and minds on a one-on-one basis.
  • Dust off the platform and proudly stand upon it.
  • Win on Republican values, not Democrat tricks.
  • Make Michigan great again.

 

 

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My Declaration of Independence from the Republican Party

I got involved in the Michigan Republican Party in November 2008, right after Obama was elected.  Having identified with the Republican Party my entire life, I wanted to find out why we nominated John McCain and why our side seemed to not be able to tell the truth about the man who is now our president.

I must step down as chair of my beloved Presque Isle County Republican Party, but not because anyone has asked me to, nor because I do not like the Republicans in my locale.  I have to step down to be able to continue to speak the truth.

The leadership of the party, paranoid about the insurgent tea party, have changed national rules to shorten the presidential primary process, a key to moving an establishment pick forward with less time for conservative contenders to mount a decent primary challenge.  The primary challenge is what Reagan used to create a choice for those who believe the establishment pick was not at all what the country needed.  The primary challenge is what the tea party uses in races big and small, and certain moves by the state and national party have desecrated that avenue, and it needs to be addressed.

For instance, as I mentioned, shortening the primaries is the opposite of what you would do if you wanted a robust debate on where the party is headed, and how current officeholders are reneging on their election promises.  It is a top-down authoritarian action by a party increasingly becoming as intolerant and controlling as its supposed counter-part, the American Left. The other thing the party has done to desecrate the primary process, is put paid members of incumbent Congressmen in district chair positions, like here in the First District, namely Jesse Osmer.

Jesse is being paid quite nicely by Congressmen Benishek, so, actually, he’s getting paid by us, since the Congressmen draws a check from us.  I was very helpful in the installing of Benishek in office in 2010, and if I had my way, I’d take it all back.  Benishek has gone back on every campaign promise he ran on, even the one where he promised only to be in office for two terms.  There is speculation he changed his tune to wanting three terms because his pension would vest after 5 years of service, which he would be eligible to draw in 2016, if he is re-elected.  Now, I can hear the screaming of every member of the Republican Party, asking me why I’m trying to help the Democrat.  I am not, I’m simply telling the truth, and that is why I can’t be in the party anymore.

But I do not believe Jesse should be chairing the district either, because the information I and others have on his boss would be useful to a primary challenger, and Jesse’s job is to protect the incumbency of Benishek.  If Jesse was not employed by Dan, he would have to take a neutral position on any primary challenges, and as you can see, he cannot do so.  He is in charge of the message of all the county parties in the First District, and since he is, and since he works for the Congressman, a primary challenger has little chance, which is why they set it up that way.  These types of moves by establishment types prove they are not confident they can win on the field of ideas.

Not only that, but Jesse destroyed the Alpena County Party by his strong-arm tactics there, criticizing people who would use the primary to draw a contrast between conservatives and moderates, and bragging that he was able to commit far-leftists to vote Republican when those lines are not drawn.  Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want far-leftists to vote Republican if they are coming to us because we show ourselves to be leftists like them.  We don’t want them to come to us on their terms, we want people to come to us on ours, the principles of limited government, a civil society, strong national defense, family, and honor.  But if people like Jesse have their way, more fine lines and leftism will continue seep into our direction as a party.

The American Left has a completely different idea of governance.  They want to control the people, not allow them to control themselves, and that should be a key difference between us and them.

Jesse and others are doing some destroying in the district now as well, whether it is his idea or his Congressman boss’ idea, by using tactics to silence conservative insurgency, clearly trying to have every conservative purged from the state committee, and the district executive committee.  I am sure if they could find a way to remove me as chair, after my criticism of Snyder and Calley, Benishek, Camp, Miller, Upton,(my gosh is Upton terrible) Casperson, Walker, Foster, (he’s another one that’s gotta go) Pscholka, Bolger, and the rest, they would have by now as well.  But the party’s problem is that there are few who even understand how many of their own policies hurt everybody because their policies head us all in the same direction as the Democrats, just a tad slower.

It comes down to a simple truth.  Either the Republican Party remains a home to conservatism, or it doesn’t.  And if it doesn’t, it will never be a viable party again.

In my view, and after last weekend’s State Committee meeting I clearly could see I was right, that there will be no coalition-building going on in the Michigan Republican Party.  Jesse, after a cordial relationship these past many years, would not even look at me, deliberately avoiding me for daring to put up a conservative to fill a district executive position.  That sort of childish behavior is easy for a mother to spot.  This is not how we build coalitions.  A person in such a position shouldn’t play favorites, and ostracize.

The Republican Party as a whole has a difficulty fighting for principle and a difficulty telling the truth.  If they did both, they would operate from a position of strength and that would invigorate the party and attract newcomers.  As it stands, the platform is being ignored and the testing has commenced to do away with key principles within it.

Rick Snyder is singing Hillary Clinton’s song on government-run healthcare.  He is awful.  I couldn’t support him after Medicaid expansion.  But now all the Republican leaders and cheerleaders say that I must or I can’t be a Republican.  I think differently. I don’t support him because his policies are dubious as Republican policy, they are more like Democratic policy, and when a Republican acts like a Democrat, they lose conservative support.  If Rick didn’t want to lose conservative support, he wouldn’t have strong-armed legislators to vote his way, heck, he wouldn’t have entertained the thought in the first place.

Not to mention the fact that Rick isn’t strong on pro-life matters, which is why the grassroots of his own Republican Party had to scramble to get enough signatures last summer to do what he should have done if he wanted this party to unite.

So I’m not so sure he cares if people like me don’t support him, and that’s a problem for the party going forward.

I’m leaving my positions in the party to be able to speak the truth, but I would be back if this party openly welcomes the tea party or constitutional conservatives, and embraces the policies of limited government.  I applaud all of the conservatives suffering in their positions now, and hope their involvement will turn the party toward a more conservative path.

I have not stopped being a Republican, I’ve stopped voluntarily promoting the Michigan Republican Party.

I feel it is important to make this point.  When Reagan ran against an incumbent in ’76, and the establishment in ’80, he too was ostracized and treated very poorly.  They withheld matching funds, they played little games all through both battles, but in the end, Reagan’s conservatism resonated with the American people with two landslides in ’80 and ’84.  When Reagan picked George Bush, an establishment Republican who was not a conservative, and mistook conservatism for being mean-spirited, the same tripe heard from liberals of both parties today, it was seen as a very bad day for the future of conservatism, but needed to unite the party.

Since then, the Bush family, has continued in the leftward lurch of this party, continuously refusing to draw lines where they should be drawn.  G.W. Bush was quoted as saying that there is no “conservative movement” because he “whooped Gary Bauer’s ass” in his ride to the top.  Since G.H.W. Bush, and the influence of people like Karl Rove, this party has gone so far left, that we actually have GOP Senators who stand for corrupting the 2nd Amendment, and the whole of the establishment wanting amnesty for illegals.  We have Bush acolytes in Washington DC declaring that limited government is an impossibility and are embracing the massive expansions of FDR and LBJ even as these programs and policies are consistently described as unsustainable.  A few years from now, they too will accept all of BHO’s tripe as “the new direction” of politics they will happily try to build a political home within. Too many don’t understand the problems with Common Core, or central planning or the liberty extinguishing government/private partnerships.  Reagan knew we needed to get back to our constitution and our nation’s founding form of limited government, and the fastest route there is to decrease the size and scope of the federal government, and give the power back to the people. Too many forget he wanted to abolish the Department of Education, and because he had Republican “rabbits” instead of conservative “tigers,” he couldn’t get it accomplished.

The party has been under the control of the “Bushies” for far too long, and it is why there is such unrest.  The top-down authoritarian nature of those in control of the party is foreign to the liberty-lovers within it.  The power should come from the grassroots and move up, since it is the people who represent the party in each city and village, who know the folks, and who can reach out to them better than the one-size-fits-all power being consolidated in Washington DC, and distributed downward.

The tea party represents the Reagan coalition of disaffected conservative Republicans, conservative Democrats, Libertarians and constitutionalists– they are well-informed and frustrated with the Republican Party for their refusal to fight the far-left who now control the Democratic Party.  The Republican Party today, instead of representing one philosophy to all people, as conservatism well articulated does, are looking at the differences between us, whether race, gender, or ethnicity, and trying to give us some piece of the pie.  They are too busy mimicking the Democratic Party to realize that the winning philosophy stands in sharp contrast instead.

Bring on the primaries.

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Tea Party Delivers First Blow to Business As Usual in Michigan

Saul Anuzis, Michigan’s current Republican National Committeeman was ousted this past weekend and replaced by Dave Agema. Michigan’s National Committeewoman, Holly Hughes, was also sent packing and replaced by Terri Lynn Land.

Much has been written about Saul’s effort in Michigan to make Mitt Romney the nominee, before and after the primary. He still swears up and down he did nothing wrong, but perception works both ways, and as I walked around and spoke with many grassroots Republicans, the feeling was that Saul’s story didn’t wash. Many spoke about Hughes having something to do with the primary aftermath distraction, something I hadn’t heard until talking to people at the convention.

I voted for Dave and Terri. Dave, because I would have voted for anyone against Saul, and intend to vote out Dave if he does anything like what Saul did. But I voted for Terri because of the speech she gave the night before at Landmark Community Church in Hazel Park. She said she was sick of losing delegates because the State continues to move up the primary, and in turn gets penalized by the RNC, and to me, that practice has to stop.

In fact, as a result of that stupid practice, we now have the narrative in Michigan that Ron Paul followers have a scary amount of delegates going to Tampa for the National Convention. Since ideology is only known when people are honest with you, it’s nearly impossible to detect, unless you personally know who’s who, and which delegates are Paul followers who intend to skip the first round of votes at Tampa, and then vote Paul.

If we had our full slate of delegates, they’d maybe pick up a few more, but not twice as many.

At any rate, egos being what they are, certain people involved with ousting Anuzis are beating their chest, saying it was all because of what they did to mobilize people. The fact is, the Republican grassroots in Michigan is heavily tea party, mostly new, and very motivated to change the Republican Party. We are fed up. I’d say that this weekend’s display proved that Republicans in Michigan are not happy with party leadership, and are paying very close attention.

But, there is one more thing that this weekend proved.

Beginning in 2009, those new people positioned themselves as precinct delegates, welcomed by regular party people who were grateful for the help and new blood. Then, in 2010, those new people worked tirelessly to install Republicans who reflected their views, the same views that the party establishment calls extreme and crazy, but are simply common sense and courageous. In 2011, we were told that the tea party had really little to do with the Republican wins in 2010, and that it was due to the money-raising efforts of the campaigns and party people that pushed the Republicans forward. In 2011, we were shouted down by the party people, told to moderate our tone, and that it was because of our efforts that we only held the House, and our fault for losing the Senate because of “extreme” people like Sharron Angle. And they also never missed an opportunity to put down Sarah Palin.

This weekend proved that the party can no longer delude itself into believing they can provide an alternate reality to which the party faithful simply accepts. The party faithful, that puts party over principle, has no power.

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Michigan Republican Convention Win Puts Establishment on Notice

A great assessment of the grassroots efforts in Michigan during this weekend’s Michigan Republican Convention in Detroit, was posted by :

Conservatives working in unison at the State Republican Convention sent a message to the establishment loud and clear: “It’s our turn!”…No more ‘business as usual’ politics orchestrated to appease the political masses with hollow claims of conservatism and principles each election cycle, only to disappear into the maze of lobbyists and special interests in the interim…This time, the false claims of an election year cycle fell on deaf ears, conservatism ruled the day…Libertarians, Tea Partiers, and true Republican conservatives unified in one of the most sweeping upsets of the incumbent power brokers I have seen in my lifetime…they have sent both the State and National GOP a clear ultimatum…This time we will not be silent, nor ignored, nor brushed aside…

I’ve been in very contentious arguments with Tom, it’s part of politics and pushing your argument. But I agree completely with his assessment. I reject Ron Paul, and his followers know I’m very cranky about him, but we all worked together as Republicans to expose and defeat corrupt leaders in the Party, and this exercise should put the establishment on notice.

What happened during the caucuses and Tom’s assertion that 31 of the 44 delegates are Paul delegates is tough to ascertain. Officially, the MIGOP is saying that 6 delegates are Paul voters, but Backers is a Paul advocate, so either he knows better, or, as I have noticed in the past, he is being aggressive for intimidation purposes. We won’t know for sure until Tampa. Or, it could be that the bulk of the Ron Paul faction are voting or non-voting alternates.

Michigan’s conservative movement made huge strides over the weekend, and the message is now guaranteed to be carried to Tampa and Washington D.C…As I left the floor at Cobo, a long line of conservative activists were manning the railing behind the delegate area, exchanging “high-fives” with everyone as they left….we had legitimately proven we could beat the establishment at their own game, using their own rules…it was a marvelous feeling…Michigan has set the tone for the national convention, let’s hope the nation is watching…

I didn’t agree with the Ron Paul tactic of using the rules against the GOP for the purpose of electing Ron Paul people because Ron Paul people aren’t Republicans.. and like Ron Paul, are using the party to advance a foreign policy agenda that will make America vulnerable. However, the MIGOP lumps conservatives in with the Ron Paultards, so unfortunately, they’ll have to deal with this on their own.

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Team Romney Not Blatantly Cheating In Missouri Like They Did In Michigan

Hmm. Maybe 4 delegates from Missouri aren’t as important to him as one stinking stolen delegate from Michigan.

If “vigorously pursuing” means changing the rules and cheating, then look no further than Michigan, where Team Romney changed the rules and the RNC’s very own Saul Anuzis along with the Chair of the MRP, Bobby Schostak voted against the former AG Cox and the MRP Counsel, to win one for the Flipper.

After Team Romney made a big deal about his “sweep” of Arizona and his “home state” of Michigan, some little details were left out of the mainstream press. Due to party rules, the delegate split between Romney and Santorum in Michigan actually was 15-15, but mysteriously, after a vote cast by super Team Romney supporter and RNC Committeeman Saul Anuzis, the split became 16-14 in Romney’s favor with Cox and MRP counsel Doster voting against. Cox characterized the vote as “third world” since the rules were changed after the election.

As Anuzis is also a committeeman for the Republican National Committee, questions are raised about corruption within the RNC as well.

So, in Missouri, we have this story about how Team Romney is standing down on “vigorously pursuing” delegates. Why? Because Gillman have been “vigorously pursuing” Anuzis’ resignation? Or, is it because Romney doesn’t give a flip or a flop about Missouri?

I don’t know the answer, you’ll have to answer it yourself, but I encourage you to read about the subject, and then read and see if you don’t come to the same conclusion that I do.

All of this stinks.

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Michigan Leadership Still In The Dark

With all the excitement of Michigan becoming a red state, and the Republican Party holding their convention over the weekend, I hoped it would have been a happy, festive atmosphere. But all I had to do was see the first name board at the Amway Grand Plaza/DeVos Center, and I started thinking. And the more I thought about it, the more I scowled.

The image on the boards leading guests and delegates to their caucuses and the convention was an incandescent lightbulb with the inset of the State of Michigan inside of it, and the words, “Reinvent” and “Michigan” on it.

The crystallized version of why that irritated me is this, Michigan is finally led entirely by Republicans, the Governorship and both houses with a super-majority in the Senate, and 9 of the 15-soon-to-be-14 districts, and we are using the Edison bulb as a visual image of invention, the same bulb Michigan Representative Fred Upton banned by 2014.

It struck me that the ban was put in place to outlaw the innovation of Michigan’s Edison, and that we must usher in new inventions, which are subsidized by government and are dangerous, and are This approach is not helpful to the free-market in the least, and it cheapens the debate for free-market solutions.

The word reinvent was used by Obama as well, as if we are to reinvent the wheel, or in this case, reinvent our energy future.

Obama said in his:

“That’s what Americans have done for over 200 years: reinvented ourselves. And to spur on more success stories like the Allen Brothers, we’ve begun to reinvent our energy policy. We’re not just handing out money. We’re issuing a challenge. We’re telling America’s scientists and engineers that if they assemble teams of the best minds in their fields, and focus on the hardest problems in clean energy, we’ll fund the Apollo projects of our time.”

No, I disagree, we have not “reinvented” ourselves for 200 years. We have been the one free market nation inventing things for others to improve their lives and ours. It’s a terrible embarrassment that the Republican Party of Michigan jumps on board with this thinking.

If Republicans want the Presidency in 2012, we have to break from moderate patterns and be boldly for the free market. Edison was only able to bring light to the masses because of the free market, not because of government mandates. Michigan’s Republican Party should have the words, “Innovation” and “Free-Market,” printed on their minds and in their hearts, instead of going along with what has brought us to our knees, the green energy mandates of the Granholm administration.

The CFL was picked by government, by the moderate Upton, because it used less energy, but so do candles, and is the only reason cited to do so. But Upton has articulated that he is against mandates in his response to the Cap and Trade bill, as

“Representative Fred Upton wrote in The Hill: The proposed carbon mandates under consideration would mean that the United States could not emit more in the year 2050 than we emitted in 1910…The only nations in the world today that emit at the level mandated in this bill are struggling nations, such as Belize, Jordan, Haiti and Somalia. In order to reach the 80 percent reduction mandated by cap-and-trade, emissions from the transportation sector would have to drop to zero, as would those from all electricity generation, and we would still need to reduce all other sources of greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent.”

Mandates on energy, what kind and how much coincide with what kind of lighting instrument we are forced to buy. The questions that never come up are, “Why do we need to use less energy?” and “Why don’t we just make more?” You would think that Obama’s grandiose bipartisan sentiment in his SOTU meant making more energy is a good thing, right?

Upton has said he will “reexamine” the light bulb ban, “no problem,” and that is perhaps only in response to withering criticism prior to his confirmation as Chair of the Energy committee. But the issue is not just repealing the ban, it is the “innovation” of the free market, instead of the “reinvention” of the governmental mandates to allow the market to accept utterly useless and

After the SOTU address,

“House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) echoed that sentiment. “Innovation is not measured in federal dollars spent or government mandates imposed,” he said in a statement. “Energy independence is not achieved through government dependence.””

Quite an about-face for Upton considering the ban he imposed. Based on that statement, the repeal of the ban should be quickly forthcoming. Unfortunately for Michigan, our heads and hearts aren’t where they used to be.

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MIGOP: Money or Soul?

With the blessing of the current MIGOP chair, Ron Weiser, and the new Governor-elect, Rick Snyder, Bobby Schostak is poised to become our next GOP chair.

All across the state, new members have been elected to positions within the Republican Party, who came to the party through frustration with the system and the tea party movement.  They are all being massaged to support Schostak because, he, after all, raised so much money for the GOP in the last election cycle, and it is believed that is what helped put the GOP over the top.

This attitude rankles tea partiers and campaigners for conservatism, especially since, according to the , Schostak has given personal contributions “to Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Vice President Al Gore and Gov. Jennifer Granholm.”

The MIGOP has some work to do. The convention in late January will most likely be as cantankerous as the last one, with the tea party factions all looking for a conservative to lead the party forward, and they will not go quietly into the night.

What I see happening is that the moderates in the party, willing to accept anything to continue what they perceive as what they did right, pushing for one of their own.

So, the GOP in Michigan has a fight on their hands, will we sit by and believe that money is the reason the GOP won? Or is it because of the tea party that came in full force to elect conservatives, and where they failed, they will hold those that won accountable? “Principle Over Party,” was the mantra, perhaps that will be changed to “Money or Soul?”

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