Wednesday, July 30, 2008

We all know that catch phrase but apparently Governor Granholm doesn’t. In 2006 three state departments overspent their budget violating the Michigan Constitution. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy requested that these departments regularly release detailed expenditure reports to the public, much like the Department of State does.

To make matters worse a just released audit of Department of Human Services (DHS), one of the three departments that overspent in 2006, has found over $147 million in overpaid childcare funds. The audit report goes on to suggest that the overspending could be much more than $147 million because 47 childcare providers failed to respond to their request for information. This audit was released just one week after it was reported that DHS paid sex offenders to provide childcare.

The state of Michigan last fall had one of the largest tax increases in history that continues to burden the residents and business owners of this state. Michigan is facing tough times but it’s not a lack of revenue that is the problem, it is a spending problem. That is why last year I introduced HB 5137 that would create a searchable database listing all state expenditures to help eliminate wasteful spending much like it has in other states. This is not a partisan issue; at the Federal level the two major sponsors were Senator Obama D-(IL) and Senator Coburn R-(OK) at opposite ends of the political spectrum.

Perhaps Governor Granholm has something to hide in these three budgets…after all 2006 was an election year.

--Jack Hoogendyk


We all know that catch phrase but apparently Governor Granholm doesn’t. In 2006 three state departments overspent their budget violating the Michigan Constitution. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy requested that these departments regularly release detailed expenditure reports to the public, much like the Department of State does.

To make matters worse a just released audit of Department of Human Services (DHS), one of the three departments that overspent in 2006, has found over $147 million in overpaid childcare funds. The audit report goes on to suggest that the overspending could be much more than $147 million because 47 childcare providers failed to respond to their request for information. This audit was released just one week after it was reported that DHS paid sex offenders to provide childcare.

The state of Michigan last fall had one of the largest tax increases in history that continues to burden the residents and business owners of this state. Michigan is facing tough times but it’s not a lack of revenue that is the problem, it is a spending problem. That is why last year I introduced HB 5137 that would create a searchable database listing all state expenditures to help eliminate wasteful spending much like it has in other states. This is not a partisan issue; at the Federal level the two major sponsors were Senator Obama D-(IL) and Senator Coburn R-(OK) at opposite ends of the political spectrum.

Perhaps Governor Granholm has something to hide in these three budgets…after all 2006 was an election year.

--Jack Hoogendyk

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Budget Deficit: $482 Billion. Is Carl Levin helping?

The Detroit News reported today that the federal budget deficit will hit nearly $500 billion this year. What is Carl Levin doing to help?

Well, he pitched in with hundreds of millions in earmark requests. In fact, according to the Club For Growth, he voted against 14 out of 15 anti-pork amendments offered by the hero of smaller government, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. You can read the details at: http://www.clubforgrowth.org/2007/11/the_clubs_2007_senate_repork_c.php.

Some of the pork Mr. Levin would not vote against included bike paths, visitors' centers, baseball fields, the International Peace Garden in North Dakota...

Let's face it, the time for fiscal responsibility is long past due. We are facing a $10 trillion National Debt and too many federal legislators are not serious about spending control. It is time for some real fiscal conservatives to go to Washington.


Budget Deficit: $482 Billion. Is Carl Levin helping?

The Detroit News reported today that the federal budget deficit will hit nearly $500 billion this year. What is Carl Levin doing to help?

Well, he pitched in with hundreds of millions in earmark requests. In fact, according to the Club For Growth, he voted against 14 out of 15 anti-pork amendments offered by the hero of smaller government, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. You can read the details at: http://www.clubforgrowth.org/2007/11/the_clubs_2007_senate_repork_c.php.

Some of the pork Mr. Levin would not vote against included bike paths, visitors' centers, baseball fields, the International Peace Garden in North Dakota...

Let's face it, the time for fiscal responsibility is long past due. We are facing a $10 trillion National Debt and too many federal legislators are not serious about spending control. It is time for some real fiscal conservatives to go to Washington.

Monday, July 28, 2008

It's Time to End Earmarks

The Detroit Tigers moved to Comerica Park in April 2000. Since that time, the city of Detroit and those interested in preserving the old Tiger Stadium have been looking for private donors to keep the stadium standing. Toward the end, not even Earnie Harwell was able to save the stadium from the wrecking ball.
 
The simple message here is that if private investors can find no value in an historic old ballpark after nine years of trying, then maybe it has no value.
 
Ah, but wait! Senator Levin and his colleague Senator Stabenow have come to the rescue, with $4 million of YOUR money. When I first heard about this, I planned to write a story about it. Then I discovered a great article from Dan Calabrese of the North Star Writers Group. I thought he said what I intended to say, only better. So, with his permission, I present it to you in its entirety.
 
P.S. If $4 million does not seem like much, think about what it would cost if every Senator and Representative got one earmark for the same amount...that would be $2.14 Billion!

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If Deficits Are So Bad, Why a Federal Earmark for Tiger Stadium?

North Star Writers Group

By Dan Calabrese

Lots of people love venerable Tiger Stadium. Few love it more than I do.

I attended hundreds of Detroit Tigers games there - from the day in 1975 when I saw Hank Aaron just miss a home run as a Milwaukee Brewer, to the day in 1999 when Todd Jones, the Tigers´ closer then and now, struck out Carlos Beltran to finish off the Kansas City Royals and close the door on Tiger Stadium's tenure as home of my favorite team.

But just because people love it doesn't mean it's a priority of the nation to preserve it. Don't try telling that, however, to our spend-happy Congress, particularly Michigan's two Democratic U.S. Senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow.

Levin and Stabenow, proud as your cat showing you the mouse she just caught, have announced that they've secured a $4 million federal earmark to pay for the preservation of 96-year-old Tiger Stadium's playing field, as well as a small portion of the grandstand area behind home plate. The full Senate still needs to vote on the earmark, and it still has to pass the House and survive conference.

But even if it never gets any farther than it's already gotten, this needs to be called out for what it is - a completely irresponsible waste of federal money.

It's been known for some time that Tiger Stadium preservationists, fronted by beloved former broadcaster Ernie Harwell, were running out of time and options to raise the money they needed for the partial preservation. Letting the entire ballpark continue to stand was out of the question. The City of Detroit had already let Tiger Stadium twist in the wind for the nine years since the Tigers left it for shiny new Comerica Park, and even in a city famous for letting its historic buildings sit and rot, consensus had emerged that it was time to let go, and let the wrecking ball swing.

Harwell and his group were given a June deadline, and then got an extension into August, to raise the funds necessary to keep the grandstand standing and the playing field intact. Everyone seems to love the idea, but no one was stepping forward with private funds. It seemed quite reasonable to assume that, come August, the entire stadium would come down absent the emergence of a private donor.

When I clicked my Tigers news link last weekend and saw a headline announcing that they had secured the money, I thought to myself, "I wonder who's forking it over?" Then I saw where they're getting it, and I thought, "Oh. I am."
During this campaign I be will pointing out the clear contrasts between Carl Levin and myself. One of the key differences is that I am a real fiscal conservative and he is not. I believe in balanced budgets and he does not. In fact, he was the deciding vote against the Balanced Budget Amendment.
 
My opponent is one of the leading "earmark spenders" in the U.S. Senate. Last year he supported wasteful earmarks like $100 million for the two political parties' conventions and adding sand to the San Diego beaches. I pledge to you that I will NOT support earmark spending. John McCain has never voted for an earmark. As your U.S. Senator, neither will I.

Learn more about the campaign for the U.S. Senate at www.JackForMichigan.org

If you would like to contribute to the campaign, click here.

Attention Faithful Blog Readers!

Recently, while many of you were on vacation and the House was not in session, I had not been posting blogs. But, be of good cheer! We are firing up the blog this week and will be posting new articles. There may be a little less about State Government and a little more about Federal Government issues and a certain US Senator. I promise to make it as entertaining and informative as I can. Read the blog here.


Senator Levin! Save Us From the Monkeys!

Ever heard of the Captive Primate Safety Act? It is a bill in the Senate to spend $17 million to prevent the interstate sale of monkeys. That rascal Senator Tom Coburn is blocking a vote on this pork spending bill and several others. Senator Reid is angry. We need Senator Levin, one of the biggest pork spenders in the U.S. Senate to step in and help get this bill done! We don't want people selling monkeys across state lines, do we?

Read more about this ridiculous waste of taxpayer money at: http://www.clubforgrowth.org/2008/07/harry_reids_monkey_pork_bill.php. This is the Club For Growth's blog site.


Senator Levin! Save Us From the Monkeys!

Ever heard of the Captive Primate Safety Act? It is a bill in the Senate to spend $17 million to prevent the interstate sale of monkeys. That rascal Senator Tom Coburn is blocking a vote on this pork spending bill and several others. Senator Reid is angry. We need Senator Levin, one of the biggest pork spenders in the U.S. Senate to step in and help get this bill done! We don't want people selling monkeys across state lines, do we?

Read more about this ridiculous waste of taxpayer money at: http://www.clubforgrowth.org/2008/07/harry_reids_monkey_pork_bill.php. This is the Club For Growth's blog site.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Carl Levin: We Can't Drill Our Way Out

The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge
A "Unique and irreplaceable wilderness"

"Drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge is one...bad policy proposal. We have a responsibility to promote a balanced energy plan that invests in America's future and protects our environment, not one that damages a unique and irreplaceable wilderness." --Carl Levin


Carl Levin: We Can't Drill Our Way Out

The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge
A "Unique and irreplaceable wilderness"


"Drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge is one...bad policy proposal. We have a responsibility to promote a balanced energy plan that invests in America's future and protects our environment, not one that damages a unique and irreplaceable wilderness." --Carl Levin

Carl the Cab Crusader


Paying $4.25 per gallon for gas? Perhaps you are wondering where all that money is going. Well, you can wonder no more. It is going to the sheiks in the Middle East. We buy our oil from them.

And what do the sheiks do with that money? They build nice, modest little homes and purchase custom made cars with silver body panels. (Yes, real silver, not silver paint.)

And what is our U.S. Senator doing about it? Well, Mr. Levin is on the record opposing any new (environmentally safe) drilling for oil. But why should he care. As a "resident" of Washington, D.C., he takes a taxi to work every day.

Following is testimony from the Congressional Record, 107th Congress First Session Wednesday, November 7, 2001:

Senator Levin: "Mr. President, since the late-1980s, I have urged the mayors of the District of Columbia…to replace the current taxicab zone fare with a meter system. The use of the zone system is especially unfair…with no basis on which to judge the accuracy of a particular fare. In my own experience, as a D.C. resident, I have encountered at least 10 different cab fares for the exact same trip... A metered system would eliminate this problem...There has been broken promise after broken promise. Mayor Williams' letter sets out a course of action. If it is not followed, I intend to bring this matter to a head next year -- after two decades of broken promises."


Carl the Cab Crusader


Paying $4.25 per gallon for gas? Perhaps you are wondering where all that money is going. Well, you can wonder no more. It is going to the sheiks in the Middle East. We buy our oil from them.

And what do the sheiks do with that money? They build nice, modest little homes and purchase custom made cars with silver body panels. (Yes, real silver, not silver paint.)

And what is our U.S. Senator doing about it? Well, Mr. Levin is on the record opposing any new (environmentally safe) drilling for oil. But why should he care. As a "resident" of Washington, D.C., he takes a taxi to work every day.

Following is testimony from the Congressional Record, 107th Congress First Session Wednesday, November 7, 2001:

Senator Levin: "Mr. President, since the late-1980s, I have urged the mayors of the District of Columbia…to replace the current taxicab zone fare with a meter system. The use of the zone system is especially unfair…with no basis on which to judge the accuracy of a particular fare. In my own experience, as a D.C. resident, I have encountered at least 10 different cab fares for the exact same trip... A metered system would eliminate this problem...There has been broken promise after broken promise. Mayor Williams' letter sets out a course of action. If it is not followed, I intend to bring this matter to a head next year -- after two decades of broken promises."