MDP Calls for Immediate Investigation into Voter Fraud by Speaker Bolger, Rep. Lund, and Rep. Schmidt
LANSING – Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer is calling for an immediate investigation into election fraud perpetrated by House Speaker Jase Bolger, Representative Pete Lund, and Representative Roy Schmidt. Yesterday, Schmidt changed his party affiliation to Republican and helped place his nephew’s friend, Matthew Mojzak, on the ballot as a fake Democrat. The only problem is, Mojzak doesn’t live in the district – a requirement to run for the seat.
Mojzak was registered to vote in Ottawa County and did not change his registration until late on Tuesday, according to MIRS Newsletter. In his attached candidate affidavit, Mr. Mojzak stated under penalty of perjury that he has been a resident of Kent County for 22 years – an obvious lie. He’s using his grandmother’s address in the 76th district in an attempt to qualify as a candidate there.
“It’s clear this was a plot weeks in the making,” Brewer said. “But Republicans made one critical mistake – Mr. Mojzak lied on his candidate affidavit because he has not been living in Kent County – that’s election fraud.”
“Republicans like Bolger, Lund, and Schmidt set out to deceive voters from the beginning in order to ensure Schmidt would be reelected and help them protect their majority in the State House,” added Brewer. “We call for an immediate investigation into this matter by Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, Attorney General Bill Schuette, and the Kent County Prosecutor’s office.”
“Republicans demanded that the so-called fake Tea Party in Oakland County be prosecuted and there should be an investigation about the fake Democrat put on the ballot in this case,” said Brewer. “Bolger, Lund, and Schmidt should come clean as to what they know about this conspiracy to put a fake Democrat on the ballot. The public will not tolerate a cover-up.”
“This is just another example of Republican hypocrisy,” Brewer continued. “They claim to be the party of transparency and values, yet they pull these sneaky, illegal tactics in order to hold onto their power in Lansing. Rather than face voters in November, they concocted this deceitful, fraudulent plan. Bolger, Lund, Schmidt, and Mojzak should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Roy Schmidt’s Fake Democrat Withdraws, But Serious Legal Questions Remain
LANSING – While Roy Schmidt’s fake Democrat Matt Mojzak has withdrawn from the race, serious legal questions remain. Today, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer sent letters to Attorney General Bill Schuette and Secretary of State Ruth Johnson calling for an immediate and thorough investigation of perjury and election fraud.
“Mojzak’s withdrawal just proves that he was a fake Democrat and it’s obvious the cover-up of Roy Schmidt’s fake Democratic candidate has begun,” said Brewer. “It’s ironic that this cover-up is taking place on the anniversary of the beginning of the Watergate hearings. The voters deserve to know who exactly was involved in this plot, when it began, and why felonies were committed. These illegal conspirators must be brought to justice swiftly.”
Mojzak’s affidavit of three lies demonstrates that he was a Republican plant with the sole intention of clearing an easy path to reelection for Schmidt. The three lies in the affidavit include:
Mojzak claiming he’s a Democrat.
Mojzak claiming he’s registered to vote in the 76th district while his home and registration are in the 88th district.
Mojzak claiming he’s been a resident of Kent County for 22 years when he’s been living in Ottawa County.
“There are many serious questions that need to be answered,” continued Brewer. “Who recruited this fake Democrat? Who prepared his affidavit? Who filed both Mojzak’s and Schmidt’s affidavits? Who is Raymond Venezia, the man who notarized Mojzak’s affidavit?”
“Schuette and Johnson need to investigate this obvious evidence of perjury and election fraud,” Brewer said. “They demanded the so-called fake Tea Party in Oakland County be held accountable and they should be just as adamant about this fake Democrat. Will Schuette and Johnson use their resources to investigate and bring to justice whomever is involved including House Speaker Jase Bolger and Representatives Pete Lund and Roy Schmidt? The voters deserved to know.”
Michigan Republicans and the Department of Human Services (DHS) Director Maura Corrigan has opened another front in the ongoing war on the poor and working poor; this time with rules that will kick more than 15,000 people off federal food assistance on Oct. 1.
DHS changes its eligibility rules to kick anyone off with assets greater than $5,000, and the total value of all family vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats, all-terrain vehicles and recreational vehicles cannot exceed $15,000. Every dollar over $15,000 counts against the $5,000 limit.
The new Bridge Magazine from the Michigan Center has an excellent article on this, and it points out that this was another knew-jerk reaction from the GOP-controlled Legislature. The reporter points out that when Auburn resident Leroy Fick won $1 million in the Michigan lottery, 15,000 people lost their food stamps.
Fick actually was honest and called his DHS caseworker within a week to say he had won the lottery and to turn in his Bridge Card, but he was told he still qualified for food stamps because food assistance is based only on income. Because Fick had chosen to take a lump-sum payment of about $850,000, instead of monthly payments spread over 20 years, his winnings were considered an asset, not income. The media got hold of the story, and it sparked outrage; Republicans used it to continue their class warfare.
It makes sense to disqualified lottery winners, but a family going through temporary tough times will be SOL unless they sell most of the stuff they worked hard to earn. This move comes on the heels of news that thepoverty rate in Michigan jumped 20 percent since 2007, and Republicans are hell-bent on shredding the social safety net.
The caseload for food assistance dropped from March to April of this year by nearly 24,000 cases; the first decrease from the previous quarter in many years despite the bad economy and Michigan having the third worst unemployment rate in the country. That’s because Corrigan took food stamps away from 30,000 Michigan college students in August.
But there is more. In this economy the GOP-controlled Michigan Legislature passed a bill in July limiting lifetime welfare benefits at 48 months and immediately throwing 12,000 families into even deeper poverty. When the bill goes into effect on Oct. 1, some 12,600 families with children will lose the paltry $510 a month they now receive, giving Michigan the honor of having the harshest time limits on cash assistance in the Midwest.
The Legislature also reduced the Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor earlier this year after failing to eliminate it completely. In March the Governor signed a bill that cut unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 20 weeks, making Michigan the only state in the country to reduce unemployment benefits at a time when unemployment is at the highest it has been in many years.
This is class warfare, not math, and the working class continues to lose badly. Gov. Rick Snyder has said “job 1 is jobs,” but not a single jobs bill has been introduced in the Legislature that was swept in on the jobs mantra. Instead, all they have done is make the working class more poor and gone after social issues; like so-called “partial birth abortion” and labor unions.
Let's start off by pointing out some new bad news for the Democrats most may not even know about yet.
One of their very few bright spots on election night was Congressman Gary Peters' narrow victory over "Rocky" Raczkowski. Peters, who represents much of Oakland County, easily beat a Republican fossil, Joe Knollenberg, two years ago, but almost lost this time to a candidate who was neither very strong nor well-funded.
What his supporters didn't realize election night is that their victory just postponed the inevitable. Michigan will lose a House seat next year, thanks to the shifting U.S. population. Lansing will redraw districts. Republicans will control the Legislature and the governor's office. Guess whose seat they'll eliminate?
They will almost certainly throw Peters into a district he has no chance of winning in the general election, or put him in the same district as fellow Democrat Sandy Levin, meaning one or the other will have to bow out, retire or lose.
Then the Legislature will draw boundaries to ensure the GOP captures as many seats in Lansing as possible over the next decade. They'll pass it; Republican Gov. Rick Snyder will sign it.
Now, if Democrats think that plan is unfair, why, they can always appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court. But ... oh wait! Republicans now have control of that too.
Welcome to our new political reality. Last week was a GOP victory at every level. Democrats lost the governor's race by a landslide, as everyone knew they would. But having said that, here's something positive about Virg Bernero: Yes, he got creamed. But he did better than the last two losing Democrats for governor, Geoffrey Fieger and Howard Wolpe. That's amazing, given they had more money and ran against John Engler, closer of mental health clinics, an uncharismatic man with negatives of his own.
This time, Rick Snyder was able to run as Our Non-Political Savior, with the entire media establishment and business community serving as his public relations apparatus. He was effectively able to be all things to all people. Bernero had little money, a not-very-focused campaign and had to stand against a huge Republican tide. Not to mention the legacy of Jennifer Granholm, who rightly or wrongly had become a symbol for everything wrong.
With all that going for him, you would have thought Snyder would have done better than the 61 and 62 percent scores Engler racked up against a respected former congressman and then Michigan's best-known and most flamboyant attorney. Yet Snyder only beat Bernero 58 to 40 percent. That's significant, for this reason: During those larger Engler landslides, Democrats weren't wiped out at lower levels the way they were last week. Back then, Democrats were elected attorney general both times. They won at least some state education board seats too, and did better in the Legislature. This time, they were wiped out. This wasn't an anti-Virg vote. It was a vote against the Democrats.
They lost every statewide office. Jocelyn Benson, who may have been the best-qualified candidate ever for secretary of state, ran far ahead of the rest of the ticket, but lost by six points. Republicans gained more seats in the Legislature than in their wildest dreams. In perhaps the most significant blow, they took back control of the Michigan Supreme Court.
What does this all mean? Nobody really knows, and we won't for some time. But we do know this: First of all, Republicans — if they are united — can now do anything they want to when it comes to running the government. Democrats won't control a damned thing. In fact, their minority in the state Senate will be so small — less than one-third of the seats — they won't even be able to prevent any bills the Republicans pass from taking immediate effect.
However, there is a silver lining in all this, for either the state of Michigan, the Democrats, or both: Republicans now, finally, have to take complete responsibility for the mess we are in.
They are going to have to balance a budget with perhaps a $2 billion deficit, and do it without stimulus money. They will either have to take the responsible step of raising revenues, or wipe out what remains of social services, badly damage higher education, and ruin our state's ability to compete. Either the state wins or the Republicans will have demonstrated themselves to be a bunch of ideological fanatics, interested in only in the rich and super-rich.
Don't be surprised if our new governor finds his hands full with a lot of newly elected Tea Party know-nothings in the Legislature. It could be that he will only be able to succeed with support from some Democrats, if the Teabaggers revolt against him.
This much is clear. The voters decisively gave power to the Republicans, in Michigan as nationwide. I happen to believe they did so because President Obama and the Democrats at all levels did a piss-poor job of explaining what they really did accomplish.
They enacted a health care plan the vast majority of Americans would enthusiastically favor — if they understood it. They saved us from a Great Depression. Locally, the president saved the auto industry, and saved our state from financial collapse. But they apparently thought virtue would bring its own reward. Instead, the constant televised lies and their own inability to communicate brought us a GOP landslide.
So now it is their turn. Democrats won fewer seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than they have in any election since 1946. But take note of two other things too: The last three times the GOP made major gains in Congress in midterm elections, the Democratic president at the time was easily re-elected two years later.
And consider the big Tea Party Republican stars, the ones who were constantly on the all-news TV channels: Christine O'Donnell. Carl Paladino. Joe Miller. Sharron Angle. Think of Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman, the rich women who were going to take over California.
Every one of them lost — badly. When people really saw what they were selling, they didn't want any of it. There might be a lesson there.
Could Comrade Mark be in trouble? The Detroit Free Press had an editorial last week urging the replacement of Mark Brewer, the longtime Democratic Party state chair. That found a lot of eager support from hardworking rank-and-file Democrats like one woman I spoke to who fought hard to get out the vote Tuesday.
She, like others, is upset that the Democrats under Brewer have squandered money on silly, doomed causes like the unconstitutional "Reform Michigan Now" amendment two years ago, and managed to make a mess of the presidential primary in 2008.
They are incensed that the party did very little for Jocelyn Benson, who really could have won with proper support, but instead threw money and energy (though they deny it) on a farcical attempt to add a phony Trojan horse Tea Party to the ballot.
So does this mean Brewer will finally leave when his term expires early next year? Probably not, I'm told. He is the unions' apparatchik, and they control much of the process.
And drifting sadly downward things go.
M.C.L Comment: When Governor Made In China and his band of GOPers fail, their allies in the media can't blame the Democrats for those failure. And I will enjoy seeing the right wing blogs and people like Nolan Finley trying to spin those failures. And when their national brothers failed they can't blame President Obama and house Democrats due to the fact the Republicans will be stuck trying to find any reason to impeach the president and push for nutty bills they even know won't get passed thanks to someone in the senate will kill it or President Obama will simply veto it.
LANSING – Bill Schuette’s dirty campaign tactics, which have centered around the ranting of an anti-Semitic woman, have resulted in a very serious death threat against Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton, Schuette’s opponent in the attorney general’s race.
The MIRS Capital newsletter reported Tuesday that Leyton received a death threat on his office answering machine last weekend from a man in Oakland County.
MIRS reported the man as saying: “Hey, David Leyton, I''m a Michigan resident. I think you''re a piece of (expletive) dirt. I hope you get murdered in a spectacularly horrible way that (expletive) makes your family (expletive) wish people didn''t exist. People like you. Because you''re a piece of (expletive) dirt. And If I ever (expletive) see you driving or walking, maybe I''ll (expletive) swerve your way and maybe I''ll (expletive) run you over. Because you''re a piece of (expletive) dirt. (Expletive).”
The threat comes just days after the Michigan Republican Party began airing an advertisement featuring Deb McIntosh attacking Leyton. The ad, the content of which has been debunked by police, gives Leyton’s phone number and asks viewers to call him.
McIntosh’s motivations for attacking Leyton became clearer after she posted the following statement Saturday on a message board at MLive.com: “[H]ow dare the FLINT URINAL not show me the respect to get my side of the story, instead of ONE SIDE,,,oh A JEWISH OWNED PAPER,,,,and lEYTON IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION,,,,FLINT JOURNAL you should be ashamed of youself,,,I will never ever give you the time of day again ever......stay away from me, your as bad as the liars when you do not print both sides.”
McIntosh’s hatred appears to extend beyond Jewish people. The Michigan Messenger reported Tuesday that McIntosh made inflammatory remarks about gays in response to the Andrew Shirvell bullying case, saying in a blog post, “I am tired of hearing gay people whine and cry, they are such little girls, GROW UP AND BE A MAN.”
Leyton has been a leader in calling for the firing of Shirvell, an assistant attorney general, for stalking and harassing an openly gay University of Michigan student.
Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer is calling on Schuette and the Michigan Republican Party to pull the ad featuring McIntosh from the airwaves before tragedy strikes.
“The death threat against David Leyton is the result of the hate-filled campaign that Bill Schuette and the Republicans are running,” Brewer said. “Bill Schuette is running a false attack ad against David Leyton, which he knows to be untrue. It’s outrageous that Bill Schuette and the Republicans would continue running this dangerous ad, considering the woman in the ad, Deb McIntosh, is being motivated by her dislike of the Jewish people, gays and lesbians. Anti-Semitism and homophobia are bad enough — now there are people out there threatening to kill David Leyton, all thanks to Bill Schuette and the Michigan Republican Party.”
As sheriff of Oakland County, he has cut millions of dollars from his budget in the last three years, leading to disagreements with some of his unionized employees.
Still, they say, he has their respect.
Since joining the race for governor a year ago, he has advocated creating a part-time Legislature and bringing salaries and benefits of state employees in line with those of the private sector. He wants to privatize many state services to save money.
Those principles remain mainstays of his campaign speeches.
But there have been new wrinkles to his message as he has courted Tea Party activists: He wants an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigration and says he opposed federal rescues of General Motors and Chrysler.
"I think the Tea Party is your neighbor," he said.
Ask Bouchard what job he loves the most, and he answers quickly: "The one I have right now."
Law enforcement has been a touchstone of his professional life, from his days as a rookie cop with the Beverly Hills Police Department to his years in the 1990s as a state legislator focused on public-safety issues to his current job: Oakland County sheriff.
But for the second time in four years, Bouchard, 54, wants to try something else. He lost a U.S. Senate race in 2006, and this year is running for governor, believing he can help right Michigan's economy.
"I'm like many Michigan citizens who feel that somebody needs to step up and fix this with a sense of urgency," he said. "I know state policy and budgeting and the process, and it's broken."
Searching for his niche
Along with the urgency, Bouchard has personal charm, a blueprint on how to cut the state budget by millions of dollars and serious money for the race, according to campaign finance reports filed in January.
Still, in virtually every poll, Bouchard ranks third or fourth -- though still within striking distance -- among the five Republicans in the race.
"He's got to find a niche to break into this race," said Lansing political consultant Tom Shields.
Joe Schwarz, a colleague and fellow Republican when Bouchard served in the state Senate, said the Oakland County sheriff was well-liked by Republicans and Democrats. Schwarz is now an Independent.
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, another Republican, said Bouchard gets his support because he cut millions from his sheriff's budget without complaint.
"He has been a team player. I gave him a hell of a hit on his budget, and he didn't cry, he didn't squeal," Patterson said.
County Commissioner David Coulter, D-Ferndale, said he had to applaud the sheriff for the tough choices he made to cut his budget. Since 2008, the department has gone from 1,136 employees to 1,048 without layoffs, and the budget has been cut more than $13 million.
"He's very personable and more of a hands-on type sheriff," said Deputy Arnie Terrell, vice president of the county's Deputy Sheriff's Association. "He loves to hop on a Harley and ride with the guys."
Harsh words about Bouchard did come from Wolfgang Mueller, a Berkley attorney who represented a deputy fired from the department. The federal civil trial in March painted a picture of an out-of-control department, sprinkled with drunken deputies, scofflaws and sexual deviants.
"What I saw was atrocious. It would appear from the outside that it is a good old boys network," Mueller said.
Bouchard noted that the deputy lost her case, and in a department of more than 1,000 employees, the 1% who act inappropriately get all the attention.
"I'd fire them all, but the courts bring them back over our objections," he said.
Appealing to the Tea Party
Bouchard's strategy to win the Republican primary might make some longtime friends uncomfortable with its unapologetic appeal to the Tea Party movement.
He even joined a group of Tea Party supporters protesting the government's rescue of General Motors and Chrysler -- the only candidate for governor to show up for the event.
"I'm not a big believer of the government taking over business," he said. "I still don't like the way the bailout was structured. And whether it was successful remains to be seen."
Bouchard also wants Michigan to adopt a law similar to one passed this year in Arizona that is considered the nation's toughest on illegal immigration, giving law enforcement officials new authority to stop and demand papers from suspected illegal immigrants.
"We have 150,000 illegal immigrants in Michigan and more and more people on terror watch lists coming across the border," he said during a recent town hall gathering in Brooklyn, near Jackson. He listed three crimes committed by illegal immigrants since 1999. "We can pull you over on the street for just about anything and arrest you, unless you're an illegal," he said.
He rails against the federal health care reform bill and promises to fight federal mandates. He doesn't believe in mandatory seat-belt laws or the recently enacted state ban on smoking in workplaces, restaurants and bars.
"They've stepped on our basic freedoms," he told the small crowd in Brooklyn. "It's a real dumbing down of society."
He revels in those thorny views, saying it shows he won't kowtow to anyone.
"In the end, I walk the line of what I think is the right thing to do," he said.
Looking for an edge
And yet, Bouchard couldn't convince the group that he was their best choice.
"Give me a solid proposal that someone from the Tea Party would say, 'That's my guy,' " asked one audience member who declined to give his name.
Bouchard listed plans, but the man still hadn't made up his mind by the end of the forum.
Neither had Bob Elrod, Columbia Township supervisor.
"He's a task-oriented person who doesn't seem to be afraid of tackling the really tough issues," Elrod said. "I liked what I heard tonight, but I haven't made up my mind yet."
Shields, the political consultant, said Republicans move far to the right during the primary season.
"There's a contingent out there that is going to vote in a Republican primary for whoever is the most conservative person," he said. "And he's looking to get an edge with that voter."
So Bouchard keeps plugging away. Expect, he says, a flood of TV advertising as the primary approaches.
He predicts this headline on Aug. 4: "Bouchard wins in a close one."
M.C.L Comment: I rather be caught campaigning with George W. Bush than pandering to the bunch of misinformed old, fat,white and racist for a extra couple of votes.
ByCurt Guyette
That thunderous, angst-filled groan you might have heard yesterday was coming from Grosse Pointe billionaire and Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel “Matty” Moroun, who saw likely competition from a new, publicly owned span take a big step closer to reality when the Michigan House voted to move forward with what’s known as the Detroit River International Crossing. And that loud clanging that filled the air? That would have been the Moroun machine moving into high gear in preparation for what will certainly be an all-out effort to get the DRIC — a cooperative effort between Michigan, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, Transport Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation — killed in the Michigan Senate. If the House vote is any indication, approval of the DRIC by the GOP-controlled Senate is anything but certain. House approval came on a narrow 56-51 vote, without a single Republican voting in favor of a plan that supporters say will create about 10,000
construction jobs. Even Canada’s offer of a $550 million loan to help cash-strapped Michigan cover its costs wasn’t enough to convince the House’s GOP members that the project is worthwhile. What supporters have working in their favor is this: Along with labor unions, the DRIC bridge planned for the Delray area also has the backing of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, automakers and high-powered Republicans like Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and former Gov. John Engler. So, the prospect of jobs and widespread support vs. the deep-pocketed lobbying of Matty the mogul. The stage is set for an intense battle. One leader in that fight, state Rep. Rashida Tlaib, has been a persistent thorn in Moroun’s side. So much that he’s widely believed to be the one behind a failed attempt last year to launch a recall of Tlaib. Along with being a force in helping to get the DRIC measure passed by the House, the Democrat from southwest Detroit also led the way in getting a companion bill passed yesterday that requires the Michigan Department of Transportation to assist “host communities” in obtaining a community benefits agreement with state or private entities involved in construction of an international border crossing. In other words, along with the traffic, Tlaib is working to make sure that Delary will reap some direct good if the DRIC is built.
