Congress Flies to Denmark - You Get the Bill. ($1,000,000)

CBS News Reports:
For 15 Democratic and 6 Republican Congressmen, food and rooms for two nights cost $4,406 tax dollars each. That's $2,200 a day - more than most Americans spend on their monthly mortgage payment.

CBS News asked members of Congress and staff about whether they're mindful that it's public tax dollars they're spending. Many said they had never even seen the bills or the expense reports.

Total hotel, meeting rooms and "a couple" of $1,000-a-night hospitality suites topped $400,000.

Flights weren't cheap, either. Fifty-nine House and Senate staff flew commercial during the Copenhagen rush. They paid government rates -- $5-10,000 each -- totaling $408,064. Add three military jets -- $168,351 just for flight time -- and the bill tops $1.1 million dollars.

And who went on the trip? (Michigan Delegation in bold)

Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
Rep. George Miller
Rep. Henry Waxman
Rep. Ed Markey
Rep. Charles Rangel
Rep. Bart Gordon
Rep. James Sensenbrenner
Rep. Sander Levin
Rep. Joe Barton 
Rep. Fred Upton
Rep. Earl Blumenauer
Rep. Diana DeGette
Rep. Jay Inslee
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito
Rep. John Sullivan
Rep. Tim Ryan
Rep. GK Butterfield
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
Rep. Marsha Blackburn
President Obama
Sen. James Inhofe
Sen. John Kerry

Read the full CBS Report here.

Hit and Run, Below-the-Belt Politics

On January 19th, I moderated a Town Hall Meeting in Kalamazoo, Michigan on the Health Care bill working its way through Congress. One of the guest speakers was Congressman Pete Hoekstra. After his initial presentation, he took some questions. One of the questions he was asked was whether he regretted his decision to vote for the bailout. His complete answer, paraphrased, was that he could defend it based on what he knew at the time and how essential he felt it was, but that looking back from where we are today and how the money was misused, he regrets it.

It looks like someone from the Rick Snyder campaign, playing gotcha politics, recorded the entire forum and took about 8 seconds of Pete Hoekstra's answer where he said, "...I can defend it..." and put it out on You Tube as a hit piece. The attempt is to make it look like like Pete unapologetically defends his decision. Apparently the Snyder campaign does not observe Ronald Reagan's Eleventh Commandment: "Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow republican." But, then, Mr. Snyder has a very highly paid consulting firm that has the money and the scruples (or lack thereof) to to spend on such low-ball tactics.

Too bad.

Compulsory Education to Age 18: Bad Idea. Repeal: Good Idea

Just before the holidays, the legislature passed "Race To The Top" legislation into law. These bills were essentially improvements in how we educate children in Michigan. The motivation for it may not have been the best: to be eligible for millions in federal money. But, in the end, the legislation was pretty good stuff. You can read the objectives here. The Democrats slipped a "compulsory education to age 18" bill in as part of the package,even though it was not part of the federal mandates.

There is no evidence, (zero, none, nada) that keeping kids in school two more years improves test scores or achievement. But the bill was passed anyway.

On January 20, Senator Randy RICHARDVILLE, with co-sponsorships from NOFS, CROPSEY, PAPPAGEORGE, KAHN, JANSEN, HARDIMAN, GILBERT and JELINEK, introduced SB 1076, which will simply repeal the mandatory attendance to 18 and bring it back down to 16. Kudos to these Senators for removing his unneeded expansion of government. Let's allow the parents be responsible for keeping their children in school as long as they believe they should.

Center Right Coalition Meeting Friday. Get There Early!

Farmington Hills Public Library
12:00 - 1:30 p.m. Friday, January 22
32737 W. 12 Mile Road, Farmington Hills

Confirmed Guests: 

• Pete Hoekstra, Candidate for Governor
  
• Brian Rooney, Candidate for US Congress
• Simon Haddad, Clinton Township: PA 312 Repeal Resolution
• Patrick Wright, Paul Kersey, Mackinac Center for Public Policy
• Debbie DeBacker, Troy Citizens United: 29% City Tax Increase Proposal
• David Wisz, Birmingham Traffic and Safety Board: The $17 Million "Green Transit Center to Nowhere"
• And others...
  

Planning to come? Please RSVP.

Congressional Junket Watch

The cost of taxpayer-funded overseas travel is growing exponentially. The Wall Street Journal has an excellent story on it. Bad enough members of Congress are spending your money to go to places like Scotland. Even worse, they don't always stay for or attend the conferences they are travelling to.

JONES: CLOSE TAXPAYER-FUNDED OFFICE OF GOVERNOR'S SPOUSE

December 8, 2009

State Rep. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, today introduced legislation to close the taxpayer-funded office of the governor's spouse.

"At a time when our school districts are facing severe budget cuts, it's frankly unconscionable that the state is still funding an office and staff for the governor's spouse," said Jones, R-Grand Ledge. "When the budget is in shambles, pencils and paper always trumps pomp and circumstance."

Jones' office attempted to find out how many state employees are assigned to The Office of the First Gentleman, but the office was not forthcoming with the information. It is also difficult to measure how many taxpayer dollars are used for the office because it is housed under the governor's office.

"My constituents are angry," Jones said. "Many tough cuts are being made in the state and yet the spouse of the governor has staff funded by their tax dollars. Whether we have a first gentleman or first lady this type of waste must stop. We don't need a ceremonial office; we need more money for our schools. Daniel Mulhern should set an example and end this practice."

CORRECTION! Jelinek SUPPORTED SB 638. It was KAHN who voted NO along with Nofs and all the Dems.

My sincere apologies to Senator Jelinek for erroneously stating that he had voted NO on SB 638 to revise teacher tenure. In the final vote on the Senate floor, the bill passed with 20 Republican votes and no Democrat votes. The other two Republicans in the Senate, Nofs and Kahn, voted NO. You can read about SB 638 here.

An Explanation of the Triumph of Capitalism Over Socialism in 2 Minutes

Watch Milton Friedman answer Phil Donahue's questions about "greed" and leave him with nothing to say. This clip says more in 2 minutes and 22 seconds than any college professor could say in an entire semester.

Why Did Nofs and Kahn Vote Wrong on Education Reform Bill?

On December 3, the Senate moved a much needed common-sense education improvement bill, SB 638. Only two of the 22 GOP Senators, Mike Nofs and Roger Kahn, voted NO, along with ALL of the Democrats. I invite either of these Senators to submit an explanation for their votes to this blog site.

GOP Chairman Calls on Democrats to Lead on Education Reform

Following is partial text of a recent e-mail blast from Republican Pary Chairman Ron Weiser

Dear Friends,

"We are about to see where the Democrat priorities really lie when it comes to providing our children with a quality education. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains provisions that could provide up to $400 million for our struggling school districts through the Race to the Top program. All Michigan has to do to apply for the relief is pass reforms that are already long overdue.

For years, Democrat-union politicization of the school system...[has] repeatedly put the interests of union members above those of our kids...After floating proposals for harmful tax increases to alleviate strained school budgets, the Democrat leadership should be jumping at this easy opportunity. We will see whether they were ever really in it for the kids, or if it was all about the control. Supporting these common-sense reforms is the easy choice, as long as the Michigan Education Association (MEA) isn't calling the shots.

If $400 million is not enough incentive for the Democrats to finally do the right thing, then they may never see the light. Either way, Republican legislators are beginning the fight for our children's success and the future of this state.

This week, the Republicans took the lead to improve our education system from the ground up. The Republican-controlled Senate approved legislation that provides needed education reform and puts Michigan at the ready to apply for the Race to the Top funds. House Republicans stand at the ready to approve this legislation. The only question that remains: What will the Democrats do?"