Freedom to Work by the Numbers

This information was submitted to me by Norm Hughes.

82 - Percentage of Republicans who support Right To Work
77 - Percentage of Michigan voters who support Freedom To Work
31 - Number of new factory start-ups being negotiated in Indiana since passage of Freedom to Work
42 - Percentage of union members who vote Republican and want the chance to be free
95 - Percentage of union political money going to Democrats
500 - Millions of dollars union bosses take out of members pockets in Michigan each year
1 - Number of elected officials who are holding up Labor Freedom. He is the Majority Leader in the Senate and his name is Randy Richardville. 

Labor Freedom Coalition to Speak on Capitol Steps Thursday 9:45 a.m.

Contact: Terry Bowman, 734-585-4901

Ypsilanti, MI - Terry Bowman, UAW member and president of Union Conservatives, Inc., is announcing the confirmed speakers at a press conference to take place on the steps of the Michigan
Capitol Building, on Thursday, March 29th, at 9:45 a.m:

• Terry Bowman, UAW member and president of Union Conservatives
• Vinnie Vernuccio, Labor Policy Council from Competitive Enterprise Institute
• Scott Hagerstrom, State Director for Americans for Prosperity
• Tony Demott, State Director for Campaign for Liberty
• Gary Glenn, president of The American Family Association of Michigan
• Brian Pannabecker, UAW member and spokesman for Michigan Freedom to Work
• Stacy Swimp, president of The Frederick Douglas Foundation of Michigan
• David Bego, Indiana and Michigan business owner - and author 
• Jay McNally from The Healthcare Compact
• Michigan economist Harry Veryser
• Steve Mobley from Citizens Alliance for Life and Liberty and for Center-Right

Also making an appearance at the microphone will be Michigan Legislators:

• Rep. Mike Shirkey
• Sen. Pat Colbeck
• Sen. Jack Brandenburg
• Sen. Dave Robertson
• Sen. Phil Pavlov

We will be discussing issues related to the recent union bosses announcement of a ballot petition drive to change Michigan's constitution.

House Republicans Kick the Can Down the Road...Again

from Redstate.com - In other words, they are kicking the can down the road . . . again. Congress made a solemn promise last year that they would abide by the spending restraints in the Budget Control Act. But already, House Republican leaders are breaking that promise. This is now more than a fiscal problem. It’s a credibility issue. Like we said in our original press release, “It is hard to have confidence that our long-term fiscal challenges will be met responsibly when the same Congress that passed the Budget Control Act wants to ignore it less than one year later.” Read more here.

Could High Gas Prices Trigger a New Recession?

The United States is facing a second recession because of soaring gas prices under the Obama administration's inept energy policies, one of the House's leading experts on energy policy tells Newsmax.

And Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, the influential chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, says that President Barack Obama likely will look back on soaring prices at the pumps as the reason the American people sent him packing after one term.

Read more on Newsmax.com: Rep. Upton: Rising Gas Prices Could Trigger Second Recession

Are Republicans in Congress Losing Their Courage?

From the New York Times – “WASHINGTON — House Republicans, unsure how to proceed, have slowed their efforts to overturn a federal rule requiring employers, including religious institutions, to provide female employees with free health insurance coverage for contraceptives.

While most House Republicans still support legislation to broaden the exemption for religious employers, House Republican leaders are carefully reviewing their options on the issue, which Democrats used to political advantage in the Senate.”

Back on February 8th, Speaker John Boehner vowed to block the Obama rule. He said the Energy and Commerce Committee would take the lead in overturning the policy. On that same day, Energy Chair, Fred Upton said “I plan to move quickly” on the legislation. 

That was seven weeks ago. Since then, we have heard nothing but crickets. What happened? Have they lost their moral courage? The Times story reports that they have decided not to move on the legislation until they see “political benefits to pressing the issue.”

Political benefits? They are holding up the protection of religious freedom because of politics? How unfortunate. Read the full story in the Times here.

Corruption in the Halls of Government? Surely Not In Michigan!

From Clickondetroit.com

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -State governments lack transparency and accountability to citizens, and remain at high risk for corruption, according to a new study of all 50 statehouses...Eight states got an `F,' with grades of 59 or lower: North Dakota, Michigan, South Carolina, Maine, Virginia, Wyoming, South Dakota and Georgia. Read more details here.

Michigan

Michigan

Corruption Risk Report Card

Email this score

to your state official

Submit

a comment

Overall grade

F

58%

Rank among 50 states

43

Click a category to see detailed scores and notes.

Public Access to Information	D	Political Financing	F
Executive Accountability	F	Legislative Accountability	F
Judicial Accountability	F	State Budget Processes	B-
State Civil Service Management	F	Procurement	B-
Internal Auditing	A	Lobbying Disclosure	F
State Pension Fund Management	F	Ethics Enforcement Agencies	F
State Insurance Commissions	F	Redistricting	F

Congress: Totally Irresponsible

Congress, who is in control of the budget, is not serious about reducing the budget. Here is a very simplistic view of the situation from about two years ago. Since then, it has only gotten worse.

From FY 2010:

U.S. Tax Revenue:                                    $2,170,000,000,000
Budget:                                                    $3,820,000,000,000
Shortfall (deficit):                                    $1,650,000,000,000
National Debt:                                       $14,273,000,000,000
Recent Budget Cut:                                      $38,500,000,000

Let’s remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s your household budget:

Your annual family income, 2010:                              $21,700
Amount you spent in 2010:                                         $38,200
Amount you borrowed with your credit card:              $16,500
Outstanding balance on your card:                            $142,710
Amount you cut from your annual spending:                   $385

If your household budget was like this, your credit card would be revoked and you would likely lose your home.

It's time to elect a Congress with the courage to address this problem without no concern for their next election.

Special Message From Bobby Schostak

Dear Republican Party activist, tea party organizations, 9-12 groups and all conservatives across Michigan:

As most of you know, I care deeply about the "family" of activists I address in this letter.

I ran for this position so that together we would bond ourselves to the basic core values we all believe in so deeply as our purpose for existing. Specifically, conservative policies are pursued by our party with accountability and fairness and that I would be a chairman that would engage the grassroots, making them, (all of us), the priority, and serve in an open and honest way throughout my tenure.

It is with this as a backdrop that I address you today.

There has been a lot of heated discussion about decisions made by the credentials committee, (which I sit on), regarding the awarding of the at-large delegates.

Since the presidential primary election last Tuesday, I’ve spent hours speaking and emailing with hundreds of Republican grassroots activists throughout the state regarding the decision by the credentials committee. I thank all of you for your time, candidness and most of all, the overwhelming support – not only toward me, but more importantly for your support of the Michigan Republican Party.

As some of you may know, due to a request by one of the presidential campaigns, the process and dispute over a single delegate may be reviewed by the Republican National Committee and/or the Committee on Contests. Rest assured, whatever decision the Republican National Committee or the Committee on Contest chooses to make, we will not appeal, we will accept it.

However, that does not address how this issue came about and more importantly ensuring that in the future, this issue never reoccurs.

When I ran for chairman, I promised that when I leave the chairmanship, the party will be stronger than it was before my tenure. My observation is that this entire dust-up could have been largely avoided if the decisions made by the credentials committee were communicated more clearly and timely to the state committee.

Therefore at the next Michigan Republican State Committee meeting, I propose a resolution be adopted to improve the communication between the credentials committee and state committee.

All decisions by the credentials committee should be brought to the attention of the all state committee members within 24 hours of any vote.

I am also proposing that a special committee be comprised of each district chair, to make any further suggestions to avoid these mistakes in the future.
This special committee will provide its list of suggested changes no later than July (next stand alone state committee meeting).

These changes are meant to augment the important decisions of the credentials committee and are by no means intended to disrespect the existing credentials committee and its members. I know we all have the greatest respect for its current members, and while there were some disagreements, I know they all acted in good faith and no one questions their integrity or honesty.

Furthermore, there has been a lot of talk about “assigning blame,” and though there were errors, I have and will continue to refrain from looking to blame any person or persons and as the chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, whether it is fair or not, take responsibility for any errors in communications, process or execution of the decisions that were made by the credentials committee.

I appointed the members, hence the responsibility for running a good committee falls on me and not the individuals on the committee. I take the responsibility for the miscommunication on this issue.
I feel, I also must address comments of mine that have been reported by the press and used by certain individuals to undermine the Republican Party. Personally, I did not communicate the intent of the credentials committee clearly. I continually reiterated that Michigan’s primary allowed any candidate to compete with the chance to win delegates. However, I answered off the cuff quickly and misspoke.
I cannot take back or change those words and I won't start or try to split hairs over my choice of words or offer any excuse. I misspoke and was reminded the hard way the importance of being careful while addressing the media.

I have and will do my 100% honest best to serve as your chairman. I apologize for my error because I am truly honored to serve as your chairman, but I will not apologize to those who seek to use any mistakes in this situation to fracture our party or to discredit my intentions.

Sadly, there are folks trying to use our intra-party dispute for personal gain. That is wrong. It is disrespectful to all of you, to the presidential campaigns, to those in our party who deeply care about our values, and worse yet in the end it will only serve to assist our opponents in November.

There is a lot at stake this year. The progress made by our Republican leadership in Lansing is up for grabs including our Republican led state house, the rule of law majority on the supreme court, congressional seats across Michigan, a U.S. Senate seat and of course, the control of the White House.

This issue is deeply important to me and I hope to continue to speak with members of our grassroots about other ideas in order to never allow this to happen again, however, I will also not allow those who seek to disrupt our party to be successful. While continuing to discuss this issue with members of the grassroots, I will continue to work hard each and every day to advance our cause, spread our message, raise the necessary financial resources and defeat President Obama’s radical agenda.

As always, do not hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or concerns.

I look forward to working with you, shoulder-to-shoulder, as we fight on to November.
Thank you and God bless,

Bobby Schostak

MI-GOP Chairman Schostak Issues Letter Regarding Delegate Question

Thank you for taking the time to reach out to me and expressing your concerns.  Please know that no rules were changed or modified contrary to what you may be hearing. Sadly, this is presidential politics at its worst.

The credential committee met Wednesday evening to affirm the intent of a memo that was submitted to the Republican National Committee on February 7.  Again, no rules were altered, no changes were made and no votes were ignored.   

The original credentials committee met and voted on February 4 and it was unanimous.  Candidates that receive 15% of the statewide vote total will be allocated delegates proportionally starting with the candidate who wins the majority of the statewide votes.  The intent of the committee is not in dispute.  

What is in dispute is the interpretation of the memo sent on February 7.  On February 29, the committee met via phone conference and again voted to implement the same process to at-large delegates.  The majority of the committee voted the original intent was to give candidates that receive 15% of the statewide vote total delegates proportionally starting with the candidate who wins the majority of the statewide votes.

Some have widely misinterpreted what is a complicated process. Others are intentionally muddying the waters to benefit other campaigns.  Again, thank you for taking the time to reach out.

Sincerely,

Bobby Schostak

Susan Chmielewski Weighs in on Dele-Gate

I'm sending this to the people of the 15th District and Wayne County Republican Committee.

I've been hearing from many upset people about the meeting on Wed. and would like to address your concerns. As a Santorum supporter I would like one of those two votes but that was not what was decided at a meeting of the Credentials Committee meeting Feb.4th. I'm not sure why they had another meeting but I do know as of Mon. Feb. 27th at a Wayne County Republican meeting with 40 people in attendance, our Chairman told us about the Feb. meeting where all on the committee voted for the first two votes on the At Large list to go to the candidate who received the most votes statewide. It was explained to us that it might not be possible to divide them because of so many candidates Remember this was before we knew who would win Michigan.  

This was not an after the fact back room deal. This was a before the fact decision by everyone on that committee. I hope all of you understand I would love my candidate to get one of those votes but it would be wrong to change the original decision. 

Those of you who know me well know I would never support wrong doing and would be the first one to pitch a fit if I thought there was anything shady happening. If this issue continues to dominate our time we will have no chance of electing Republicans in the fall. We need to get buzy doing what we do best, campaigning for our candidates. Thank you for your time.

Susan Chmielewski
15th CDRC State Committee Member

Saul Anuzis Response to Delegate Assignment Flap

Statement by Saul Anuzis:

At the February 4th State Committee meeting held in Lansing, the Credentials Committee unanimously passed the procedures for allocating Michigan's delegates to the National Convention in the event that the RNC imposes the 50% penalty on our delegation.

We agreed that if only 30 delegates would be designated as voting delegates, the Michigan Republicans would send 2 from each congressional committee and 2 at large. We agreed that the two at large delegates would be taken from the top of the slated delegations as submitted by the candidate who received the most votes statewide.

Last night the Credentials Committee met via teleconference and voted to apply the rules as passed unanimously on February 4th which results in the 2 at large delegates be awarded to the statewide winner, Mitt Romney.

There were no changes in rules or procedures, the Credential Committee only ratified the existing rules as previously passed after some made erroneous claims to the media that the at-large delegates would be split.

There is no disagreement amongst the members that this was the intent of the Credential Committee and there is email traffic between the committee members and counsel discussing the same.

Regrettably, there was an error in the memo drafted and sent to the respective campaigns. There were questions raised at the time the memo was drafted as to whether the legal language used was accomplishing the goal of the committee and we were advised that it was, but now it is clear that the memo did not properly communicate the intent of the committee. The email traffic surrounding the drafting of the memo in early February makes explicitly clear what the intent of the committee was.

The committee convened again last night to affirm that the intent was clear and that the memo was inaccurate. That affirmation came in a 4-2 vote. While we all regret the error in the memo, it does not change what was voted on by the committee, which was to award the two at-large delegates to the statewide winner. It was premature for any candidate to be declaring the delegate count prior to an official announcement by the Michigan Republican Party.

This is much to do about nothing. The rules were set in place, in advance, by a unanimous vote. A press conference should not force Michigan Republicans to change the rules.

Bobby Schostak on Delegates: "Then they get awarded proportionally"

Read the MSNBC story here.
Listen to the audio of the interview here.

Here, at Core Principles, we are simply seeking the truth. Some have suggested we are taking sides. We have sought to get all sides of the story out for readers to evaluate and consider. You need to come to your own conclusions.

I believe the individuals on the Credentials Committee are good people. I know them all. In the end, I believe they will do the right thing.

"Dele-gate" Copy of the Rules.

To further clarify the math regarding the "officially recognized" delegates, the math is added below. The Credentials Committee kept the method of calculation the same for the "Officially Recognized" Delegates as for the full at-Large Delegation, and accounted for this by simply substituting "Two" for "Fourteen" when doing the math.
The Credentials Committee Memo to the RNC states, on Page 4:

"Now, however, an at-large slate of two (2) National Convention delegates and alternates will also be selected to complete the "officially recognized" listing of 30 National Convention delegates and alternates from Michigan. The allocation of this "officially recognized" at-large slate of two (2) National Convention delegates and alternates shall be calculated in accordance with Rule No. 19C(2). of the State Rules by merely substituting "two (2)" for "fourteen(14)."

Follows the actual Rules as adopted by the Michigan Republican State Committee on August 13, 2011, and subsequently submitted to the RNC as the official process in a February 7, 2012 Memo.

The math is as follows:
Vote is 410,523 Romney, 378,136 Santorum. Since no other candidate met the minimum threshold of 15%, these votes are the only ones tabulated for purposes of establishing the Statewide Proportional Allocation, per Rule 19.C(2) as provided below.
Thus, for PROPORTIONAL ALLOCATION ONLY:
410,523 = 52.0533% Romney
378,136 = 47.9467% Santorum
788,659 = 100.0000% Total
Meaning:
14 At Large Delegates divide:
7.2875 Romney
6.7125 Santorum
Using the .5 rounding as detailed below (see bolded sentences for clarification) the award of the at-Large Delegates at the State Convention must be 7 Santorum, 7 Romney, with 1 each seated as authorized Delegates consistent with the statewide proportional allocation as detailed above.

Substituting "Two" for "Fourteen", per the February 7 Credentials Committee Memo as submitted to the RNC, the math is:
2 "Officially Recognized" Delegates:
52.0533% or 1.0411 Romney
47.9467% or .9589 Santorum
Again, using the .5 Rounding calculations in the Rule 19 C (2) as required below, the Total is:
1 Romney "Officially Recognized" Delegate
1 Santorum "Officially Recognized" Delegate

RULE 19 C (2) of the STATE RULES for the Michigan Republican Presidential Delegate Selection Process:

C. Determining the Number of Delegates and Alternate Delegates to be committed to Each Presidential Candidate Except as provided in Rule 19E, National Convention delegates and alternate delegates shall be elected based on the votes casts as uncommitted or for each respective Republican presidential candidate of the Republican Party’s total statewide vote at the Presidential Preference Vote. The determination of these allocations shall be made as follows:

(1) The Republican presidential candidate (or, if applicable, uncommitted) who receives the most votes in the Presidential Preference Vote for a congressional district shall be allocated the three (3) National Convention delegates and three (3) National Convention alternate delegates for that particular congressional district.

(2) National Convention at-large delegates and at-large alternate delegates shall be elected on a basis that insures that the proportion of the at-large National Convention delegation that is committed to each Republican presidential candidate equals, as nearly as is practicable, the proportion of the statewide vote that was cast for each respective presidential candidate (or, if applicable, uncommitted) at the statewide Presidential Preference Vote. The determination of these proportions shall only include the votes cast for that particular Republican presidential candidate (or, if applicable, uncommitted), if the total vote cast for that particular Republican presidential candidate (or, if applicable, uncommitted), equals at least fifteen percent (15%) of the total statewide vote cast for all Republican presidential candidates (or, if applicable, uncommitted) at the Presidential Preference Vote (hereinafter the "Threshold Vote"). 

The State Party Chair shall assure that the proportion of the at-large National Convention delegation committed to a particular presidential candidate (or, if applicable, uncommitted) is equal to the proportion of the statewide Presidential Preference Vote. That number shall be determined by dividing the total statewide Presidential Preference Vote received by each presidential candidate (or, if applicable, uncommitted) by the total statewide Presidential Preference Vote cast for all Republican presidential candidates (or, if applicable, uncommitted), not including within the total statewide Presidential Preference Vote those votes cast for any candidate (or, if applicable, uncommitted) that did not equal or exceed the Threshold Vote. The resulting percentage for each candidate (or, if applicable, uncommitted) shall be multiplied by fourteen (14) and rounded to the nearest whole number (.5 and above rounds up, below .5 rounds down), which shall be the number of delegates and alternate delegates that that candidate (or, if applicable, uncommitted) shall receive from the at-large National Convention delegation. If as a result of rounding off to the nearest whole number, there are more than fourteen (14) delegate and alternate positions assigned, the number of positions shall be decreased to fourteen (14) by subtracting the necessary number of positions from the Republican presidential candidate (or, if applicable, uncommitted) receiving the fewest votes cast at the Presidential Preference Vote. If as a result of rounding off to the nearest whole number, there are less than fourteen (14) delegate and alternate positions assigned, the number of positions shall be increased to fourteen (14) by adding the necessary number of positions to the Republican presidential candidate (or, if applicable, uncommitted) receiving the most votes cast at the Presidential Preference Vote.