In the aftermath of the very close MI01 Republican primary, won by Dan Benishek of Crystal Falls by 15 votes, several things have transpired that has tested the friendships and trust of tea party members and patriots, and the movement itself.

Wilson

Glenn Wilson, a self-proclaimed independent, has entered the first district race and has co-opted former leadership of the tea party movement. In a Politico article Wilson is cited as being, “backed by several tea party groups.” When in reality, he has hired the former leader of the Petoskey Tea Party and has the support of disgruntled libertarians. Rich Carlson is no longer the leader of any tea party group, and his friend, Randy Bishop, has completely alienated the tea party folks in Emmet County and many of the supporters he had in his bid to become State Senator to replace Jason Allen in Michigan’s 37th.

Carlson, a former supporter of Tom Stilling’s campaign for the Republican nomination for MI01, had discontinued attendance at the regular meetings for the Petoskey Tea Party group, which prompted the group to elect a replacement leader, Dennis Kelly.

The group, satisfied with being elected to positions within the Republican Party of Emmet County, were very interested in working within the Republican ranks to support conservative ideals and working to decrease the influence of liberalism. Bishop, a member of the tea party group, and a Republican candidate for Senate in Michigan’s 37th, on his own, decided to send out a mass email from “Tea Party leader Randy Bishop” titled, “Local Tea Party group takes control of the Emmet County Republican County Convention.” The email discussed the “political maneuver that could become fuel for the tea party movement across the country.”

The current leadership of the Petoskey Tea Party took great offense to this email on two counts, 1) that Bishop is not the tea party leader, and 2) the email was an unnecessary and provocative move that alienated the Republican base in Emmet County.

To top it off, former tea party leader, Carlson, had introduced the group to Glenn Wilson, a person they were assured would not enter the race in the general unless Jason Allen, current Senator of the 37th won the First District Race. Allen was not held in too fond esteem by most tea party members, and was considered too liberal. (Side note: Many tea partiers believe that when Allen did not ask for a recount, his acceptance of the vote was honorable. Also, when he threw his support behind the winner, it was recognized as a very honorable thing to do for the party.)

“We had made a pledge back in January that we would not go third party as a group, we would not endorse candidates, and just recently we approved a motion to only support the Republican Candidate after the primary, because we knew third parties elect a Democrat, which was of course, not what we wanted.” Kelly said. So the fact that Carlson was pushing Wilson went against everything they had said as a group previously.

If Wilson figured that he had major support with the tea party movement, the Gladwin Tea Party held this past Saturday, should have been the big clue that he will not win a large number of them over. After Wilson finished his speech, which included a number of fractured sentences, no clear train of thought, and was mostly a diatribe against the two-party system, he was questioned no less than 6 times why he is trying to split the conservative vote. Instead of answering the question, he fell back on his disgust of the Republican Party and the Democrat Party. Even when asked that since his platform mirrors much of the Republican platform, why not use his energy to become a part of the Republican Party in order to change it, he responded with a high-pitched, “Tell the Republican to leave the race!”

That response gained some gasps and groans from the audience, but it highlights the illogical thought process of entering the race after the primary. Unless it is not illogic, but for some purpose.

I had the pleasure of meeting with a current tea party member who used to live in Wayne County (Detroit). He told me that he worked on many campaigns, all local, all Democrat. “The thing is, there are liberal Democrats and conservative Democrats, so it is still a two-party system.” He continued, “it is common practice for the liberals to put up a second conservative in order to split the vote and usher in the liberal.” A fellow tea partier asked him, “If that is what is happening here, is there anyway to find out if Wilson is working with the Democrats?” The man said, “No, there will be no trace, no paperwork, he would be fresh.”

Goldthorpe

The Republican Primary included six Republicans until Goldthorpe suspended her campaign on July 14th. Even though she stopped campaigning, she received almost 5,000 votes in the primary. She had been attending Lincoln Day Dinners and fundraisers for the Republican Party for quite some time, and it was reported several times by several Republicans that her speeches and thoughts on Reagan were not very welcome. She told a group of teenage Republicans that she cried the day she became a Republican, and that she hated Lincoln Day dinners. She said at one meeting, that Reagan contributed to our tax slavery, and at another, was seen refusing to applaud a remembrance of Reagan on his birthday. She was known to carry a small plastic rhinocerous as a visual aid during her speeches, placing blame on every Republican in the room for being RINOs (Republicans in Name Only.) In short, Goldthorpe purported to be the only true Republican, the only pure Republican, and everyone else, except perhaps Ron Paul, were anti-constitutional political hacks. Her campaign manager was Tom Backers, who is now promoting Wilson. Her son is now working for Wilson. Linda Goldthorpe has endorsed Wilson.

This move of Goldthorpe’s has alienated many who believed in her. She has an understanding, one would think, of history and third parties.

In fact, on Monday’s Rush Limbaugh radio program, a woman called from Delaware. Claire said she used to be a Republican, but she has become an independent instead,

“RUSH: Okay, now, having said all that, Claire, I have a penetrating and hard-hitting question for you.

CALLER: Yes?

RUSH: Because you started out saying you used to be a Republican.

CALLER: Hm-hmm.

RUSH: But now you are an independent.

CALLER: That’s correct.

RUSH: All right. Now, if you are not a Republican, but you oppose liberalism, socialism, communism, then how are you helping us take back the Republican Party? How many independents are going to be elected this November?

CALLER: Well, I have to tell you, I’m in the process of actually switching back, because of the upcoming primaries that are coming up. And I’ll tell you what turned me on the Republicans. First of all, in my state when Mike Castle voted for the cap and trade, I was done.

RUSH: Yeah, well, Castle’s a RINO.

CALLER: But there’s many of them in this party and there’s too many that don’t understand.

RUSH: That’s right. That’s why you’ve gotta stay in it and take over and make them the minority in the party.

CALLER: Well, I want to echo one other thing, and that is true, that is true. I think if there’s a shot at communism, the danger to this country, it’s going to have to be a Republican because I know it won’t come from a Democrat, but I’m not even sure at this point if the Republicans understand it.

RUSH: That’s another thing that you’re pretty close to being right on, and that’s why abandoning the party and going independent is a ticket to third party, which is a guaranteed winner for Democrats.”

Of course Rush is right, but this back and forth has been part of his radio show for decades. Everybody knows that third parties elect the Democrats. If the independent candidate and his endorsers do not understand this, motives are the next thing that will be questioned. It is a natural progression.

J.R. Dunn in the American Thinker writes,

“But a wild card remains — the Tea Parties. American political culture has never been limited, as it is in Europe, to a professional elite that makes the deals and then imposes them on the prole class. In this country the people speak, as they are speaking today. Obama has governed so ineptly, arrogantly, and stupidly as to arouse disgust in people who until now have been happy to ignore politics.

The Tea Parties are not Republican. They’re not even necessarily conservative as we have grown to recognize the term. But they are American in spirit, and thus de facto conservative. They must turn to the GOP as a political vessel because they have nowhere else to turn.”

The vast majority of tea partiers are out working for their candidates, and in Michigan, if their candidate did not win the primary, they have committed to the Republican candidate. The pursuing of a third party perpetuates the myth that conservatism is a narrow-minded and narrowly-focused purist movement.

Daniel Hannen, Conservative MEP writes in the UK Telegraph,

“K Street versus Tea Party: the latest manifestation of the Republican Party’s ancient dualism. The story of that party’s rise and fall over the past six decades is, in a sense, the story of the rise and fall of what would now be called its Tea Party tendency.”

So those who follow Wilson, set themselves up for failure, but that could be said for the Libertarian movement who perennially chose a different Party in order to push their agenda. If those who cannot vote for either party in a two-party system really wanted to fight the good fight, work toward a goal, plod on and make headway, they would join the movement within the Republican Party, where numerous tea party members have already made a pledge to not go third party and have followed through with it.

Ronald Reagan, speaking at CPAC 1977:

Our first job is to get this message across to those who share most of our principles. If we allow ourselves to be portrayed as ideological shock troops without correcting this error we are doing ourselves and our cause a disservice. Wherever and whenever we can, we should gently but firmly correct our political and media friends who have been perpetuating the myth of conservatism as a narrow ideology. Whatever the word may have meant in the past, today conservatism means principles evolving from experience and a belief in change when necessary, but not just for the sake of change.

Once we have established this, the next question is: What will be the political vehicle by which the majority can assert its rights?

I have to say I cannot agree with some of my friends — perhaps including some of you here tonight — who have answered that question by saying this nation needs a new political party.

I respect that view and I know that those who have reached it have done so after long hours of study. But I believe that political success of the principles we believe in can best be achieved in the Republican Party. I believe the Republican Party can hold and should provide the political mechanism through which the goals of the majority of Americans can be achieved. For one thing, the biggest single grouping of conservatives is to be found in that party. It makes more sense to build on that grouping than to break it up and start over.

Rather than a third party, we can have a new first party made up of people who share our principles. I have said before that if a formal change in name proves desirable, then so be it. But tonight, for purpose of discussion, I’m going to refer to it simply as the New Republican Party.

Crossposted

President Obama said this in front of his peeps the other day,

Right now all around this country there are groups with harmless-sounding names like Americans for Prosperity, who are running millions of dollars of ads against Democratic candidates all across the country. And they don’t have to say who exactly the Americans for Prosperity are. You don’t know if it’s a foreign-controlled corporation. You don’t know if it’s a big oil company, or a big bank. You don’t know if it’s a insurance company that wants to see some of the provisions in health reform repealed because it’s good for their bottom line, even if it’s not good for the American people.

A Supreme Court decision allowed this to happen. And we tried to fix it, just by saying disclose what’s going on, and making sure that foreign companies can’t influence our elections. Seemed pretty straightforward. The other side said no.

They don’t want you to know who the Americans for Prosperity are, because they’re thinking about the next election. But we’ve got to think about future generations. We’ve got to make sure that we’re fighting for reform. We’ve got to make sure that we don’t have a corporate takeover of our democracy.

Yeah, you don’t know because he won’t tell you. He thinks you are stupid enough to just listen to him. Actually, some of you are, but, I thought it was funny how he said Americans for Prosperity was a “harmless-sounding name.”

You see, in his view, Americans for Prosperity is code-language for Whitey’s Tycoon Club. When they meet on a yacht somewhere, they think of how many different ways they’ve eaten caviar. They just adore talking about their expensive cars and their spouses’ diamonds. They talk about the cool million they have tucked away in made-up charities that they plan to steal from old women and starving orphans. They have all made a pact with each other to pull the plugs on their grandparents by the end of the year, just to make sure they can collect all the money that would go to the government next year. They have rich children that work at figuring out how to steal money from the poor, and they beat migrant workers for fun.

I welcome this distortion of reality. People who believe in this drivel will destroy themselves.

Crossposted

On May 25th, I said this in a comment posted on Free Republic:

“Allen is right now trying to come up with a good reason why he did that….something having to do with the abuse of the elderly, which I believe he will use to scare the older folks in the first. Just my opinion.”

We were discussing the primary race in Michigan’s First District, and I was referring to SB 731 and the fact that Jason Allen authored it to tow the party line and get some help for his buddy Mike Nofs from the SEIU, a parent company of ACORN.  What it would do is create a unionization scheme to forcibly unionize home health care workers, and Allen insisted it would not, but then changed the wording which proves it would.

At any rate, he is getting hammered by the Benishek Campaign, and blogs and elsewhere right now on this, so he has sent out a mailer to try to explain the matter to the elderly of the First District of Michigan.

The mailer says, “Jason Allen has a proven record of putting our families’ and seniors’ safety above politics.”  It may as well read, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

The mailer goes on, “Jason authored a bill to protect Seniors from thieves and predators by providing criminal background checks for home health care workers.”  Yes, the wolves must be unionized, that’ll fix ‘em.

More, “The recent federal takeover of healthcare will be mostly paid for with $400 billion in cuts to Medicare.”  Oh my gosh!  This is hilarious.  Yes, nevermind the deathpanels, and the tax-slavery of your grand children, your Medicare is in jeopardy.

And, “While other politicians are playing politics and attacking his record of protecting seniors–Jason Allen saw a serious safety problem for our beloved seniors and he went to work to solve it while others did nothing.”  Well, if you ask me, government’s meddling in seniors lives like this is like a toddler that doesn’t know he’s strangling a pet by holding it around the neck.

Anyway, this is my “I told you so.”

The Great Margaret Thatcher is quoted as saying, “Power is like being a lady, if you have to say you are, you aren’t.”

Margaret Thatcher is one of those people you do not have to describe when it comes to conservatism.  You would never say, Conservative Margaret Thatcher for instance.  She just is.

So to paraphrase her, “Being a conservative is like being a lady, if you have to say you are, you aren’t.”

The most laughable moments in debates and mailings coming from the Allen campaign in the race for Michigan’s First District, are the number of times Allen says he’s a conservative.  He does not start a sentence without saying, “Well, as a conservative Republican….”  Or, “My conservative background…” Or, “Conservative Jason Allen has a proven conservative record….” Or, “Vote for conservative Republican ….”  You get my point.

He uses buzzwords constantly and it is so obvious that he doesn’t even realize he is doing it anymore.  He’s my state Senator, and he has always done this, and it is very condescending and ungrateful of him.

Since Obama was elected, a whole heck of a lot of us are really paying attention to politics now, and reading, listening, researching, and some of the funniest attempts at gaining votes comes from the Republican Party.

Hey, I’m a Republican, but as Angelo M. Codevilla writes, I would be described as of the country class, and Allen would be described as part of the ruling class, an establishment Republican.  “Moreover, 2009-10 establishment Republicans sought only to modify the government’s agenda while showing eagerness to join the Democrats in new grand schemes, if only they were allowed to. … The Republican Party did not disparage the ruling class, because most of its officials are or would like to be part of it,” writes Codevilla.

So, Allen is definitely a ruling class member of Michigan, and he would not be part of the party of no in US Congress. He would be part of a “coalition” to “reach out” in a “bipartisan” manner to “hear from all sides,” the “issues” that most pertain to the “wise interpretation” of the “manifest encapsulation” of “comprehensive overhaul” and “reform,” blah blah blah.

He’s not interested in the district he seeks to represent, he’s not even aware that we are being attacked from within by our own government.  He’s not comfortable with the tea party movement, and he’s not interested in fighting the Obama agenda.

His campaign slogan describes it best, “All in for Allen.”

One of the most annoying things for me has been the fact that every time a vote has been held in congress in the past, the top half of Michigan would be shown in blue on a congressional vote map, along with the Detroit area.  If anything, the top half of Michigan is more like the nation’s south, than it is like the state’s southeast.  We are resourceful, tolerant people who have finally had enough.

I live in the First District of Michigan, and am involved in the primary elections which are quickly approaching, next Tuesday.

There is one Democrat in the race, a former farmer and manure seller, Gary McDowell, so the primary is focused only on the Republicans, and right now, the whole race is focused on only two of the 5 running.  State Senator Jason Allen, a liberal Republican, and Dr. Dan Benishek, a surgeon who has decided to run for congress for the first time.

Right now, since Jason works for me, I’ll call him by his first name.  Jason has been a frightful employee, and I am deciding not to rehire him next Tuesday.  I believe in Dr. Dan, and if it were up to me, I’d send him to Washington right away, but it doesn’t work that way.

Bart Stupak is still sitting in the seat of the First District, and we won’t be able to get his sorry butt out of there until after he inflicts more damage.   Bart is another employee of mine that is so far out of touch with his district, that he hires people to attack constituents through letters to the editor in the local papers.  I truly believe the health care vote was just the last straw for the rest of his employers here in the district, the first nail in the coffin was the stimulus and then the second was when he voted for Cap and Trade. Luckily, Bart is retiring soon, but he will probably be given a job in the administration.   My guess is that he will head up the new Stewardship of the Oceans, our Coasts, and the Great Lakes Agency, just set up by the Obama Administration via Stupak’s favorite new way of legislating, by Executive Order.

So, my employees are really really sucky right now, and though it is true that the time is ripe for the rest of the members of the district to want a change, some of them don’t get how it will be accomplished.

Because I am one of the privileged voters who gets to decide who I keep as an employee, I’d like to offer the other members of the district some important insight on who to fire and who to hire.

Bart is going to inflict more damage from now until January, that’s a given.  I doubt he’ll stump for Gary, but if he does, it would greatly help the Republican.

If Jason wins the primary, he will get cold-cocked by the manure spreader.  Why?  Because Jason is THE Republican Party in Michigan, and he can’t change what’s already been written in his employee file.  Jason’s a crony capitalist who gives taxpayer money to politically connected corporations.  What do you think the manure spreader will do with that little nugget?

Dr. Benishek is like Reagan, he is a normal person who is understanding and thoughtful and he doesn’t tow the party line.  He is having to fight the party in this primary.  We all know that this district is not a Democrat district, nor is it a Republican district.  It’s a Conservative district, more on that later.

The only way that we will be able to lift our heads up and feel good about the future is if we hire the Doctor.  The Doc is one of us, and will represent us.

Then, when key votes happen in congress, 44% of the State’s total land mass will be red instead of blue, and then we’ll only have to work on Detroit.

Those of us working for small businesses have had to become more efficient and effective in every little thing we do. We have had to become faster, smarter, more mobile, more digital, more easily maneuverable, less emotional, and more resourceful than ever before, while keeping everyone employed, and yes, employing more.

All the time, paying higher taxes than ever before, especially unemployment taxes. So really, I am breaking my back so that people who have not even tried to look for work or start their own business can get free money.

You Republicans without a backbone who allow this extension are in my view killing small business.

You are breaking the backs of the foundation of America, the one thing that is able to work in the worst economic conditions, small business. All the time giving taxpayer money to big businesses who won’t establish business in America without our tax money.

You force us to work with less means while the government sucks our breath away.

How much harder do you want me to work? How many more hours do I have to put in so you don’t have to work? How much more do you want?

Take it. Take it all.

By the way, we the people are coming….

Docs4PatientCare began as a grassroots movement led by a prominent physician in Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Hal Scherz,who felt he must act in response to the AMA’s support of Obamacare.

Attempting to enact his big-government health care scheme, President Obama and his supporters frequently claimed that a “majority” of doctors supported his health-care plans. When the American Medical Association – which had opposed HillaryCare – signed onto Obama’s plan last year, the organization seemed to make the President’s case. Most people assumed that the AMA represented most of the doctors in the country. But in fact, the AMA represents less than 20 percent of all physicians in the United States. And yet as the organization’s leadership moved more to the left, it held a near monopoly on media attention on issues pertaining to public health. No longer.

On Saturday June 26th, 2010, Docs4PatientCare made it’s first ever endorsement. As a politically neutral group who advocate for responsible healthcare reform, they held a press conference in Marquette, MI at the Landmark Inn to endorse Dr. Dan Benishek for Congress.

Dr. Dan Benishek, a surgeon from Crystal Falls, MI, is running for the United States House of Representatives in Michigan’s First District. The seat, now held by retiring Representative Bart Stupak, comprises all of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and approximately the northern third of the Lower Peninsula.

Dr. Richard Armstrong, a general surgeon from Newberry, MI, delivered the endorsement in a speech that highlighted Dan’s abilities as a surgeon and the man he would replace in Congress.

Dr. Armstrong remarked,”It is unfortunate that the Congressman currently representing Michigan’s 1st District has played such an important role in the passage of the misguided legislation that is already starting to ruin the doctor-patient relationship. Obamacare is causing insurance premiums to rise and is leading to the inevitable rationing of care,” reported the Marquette Mining Journal.“It is only fitting that Dr. Benishek, physician who understands the importance of de-funding, repealing and replacing this legislation take this seat back to provide the people the representation they deserve.”

“Through advertising, grassroots activities and even direct financial support, thousands of doctors from all across the district and all across the nation will be making sure their voices are heard now that Dr. Benishek’s will be heard in the next United States Congress,” Armstrong said.

Docs4PatientCare has a main objective they share with Dr. Dan Benishek, to de-fund, repeal, and replace the health care reform law put forward by Obama’s administration.

Dr. Dan Benishek has been endorsed by fellow doctors who are current legislators, Representative Charles Boustany Jr., M.D. of Louisiana’s 7th congressional district, and Representative Michael Burgess, M.D. of the 26th district of Texas.

This endorsement from people who work in the medical field everyday certainly helps Dr. Dan Benishek in his quest to become the Representative of Michigan’s First District.

For a more clear understanding of what the law will do, Jill Vecchio, MD, created this slideshow, and it can be found on the Docs4PatientCare website.

One of the ways that lawmakers in Michigan have been making names for themselves is by employing targeted tax incentives. The practice is both criticized and applauded, depending on if the critic or the one who praises benefits in any way.

The purpose of easing taxes on business to motivate them or encourage them to do business in Michigan seems like a noble thought, after all, Michigan’s unemployment rates are the highest in the country, and have been for 4 years now. But one cannot ignore the absolute fact that the only benefit these schemes have is to vault the name of the sponsor in congress, and create an advantage by the recipient against his peers.

According to Jack McHugh at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the most liberal agent of these targeted tax incentives is Senator Jason Allen.

Since 2001, Allen has introduced at least 60 bills in this category, many of them thinly disguised favors benefiting specific companies. In fact, these bills Allen introduced are clearly red flags, and once again highlight the fact that he is not conservative.

Spending a little bit of time perusing that list, the reader becomes very familiar with the words ‘certain,’ and ‘particular.’ This is the problem with the idea. Targeting certain and particular industries and businesses for tax loopholes creates an unlevel playing field, and does not create jobs.

Michael D. LaFaive of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy says it best, “While legislators and the governor chase particular firms with targeted tax breaks, thousands of potential new business start-ups are stillborn as a result of a punishing tax, regulatory and labor climate. These losses are the “unseen” cost of government trying to pick winners and losers, rather than doing the harder but more fruitful work of making Michigan a state that is attractive to all employers — not just those with clout in Lansing.” (emphasis mine)

An unfortunate embarrassment that goes along with government being so involved with business is that crooks and ne’er do wells will take advantage. In an article written by McHugh, Legislature’s Most Persistent Targeted-Incentives Booster to Run Hearings on Embezzler’s Tax-Break Deal these “incentives” are described by another Senator as corporate welfare.

The Cato Institute, a libertarian thinktank, disagrees that abating taxes is welfare, because that would suggest that keeping more of our own money is a somehow a “gift” from the government. However, they are clearly against targeted tax breaks as, “certainly bad policy. Because they provide special treatment for politically powerful industries, such tax breaks run counter to the notion that all taxpayers should be treated the same.
Furthermore, targeted tax breaks create distortions in the workings of the economy. Government steps in and creates an uneven playing field by granting tax breaks to particular industries.”

Targeting certain businesses that are politically well connected, (meaning they have greased the skids through campaign donation,) may increase the funds that a legislator collects for election, and will get his name in the headlines, but at what cost?

For every tax break given to Federal Mogul, their eventual closing and loss of jobs was the result. Yet upon the signing of these tax breaks, Senator Allen said, “I’m glad to see that the governor agrees with me and my Republican colleagues.”

For every tax break and subsidy created for the film industry, the actual result is less jobs, and less growth.

For every renaissance zone created, and self-aggrandized, arrogant, central-planning, sub-government authority imposed, very little if any jobs are created.

For every allotted authority granted to local government to increase taxes on certain services, those services suffer because they abuse the consumer.

Every business that wins with government in the short term, loses in the long run because the benefit is not real, and did not happen naturally.

Jason Allen has suggested that the free-market reforms of the Engler Administration were no longer effective in “today’s” economic climate.

Twenty-four months ago we were in an entirely different economy; and it is very obvious that the tools that were put together under the previous administration were probably adequate for that type of an economy, but with the stress that’s going forward with our manufacturing base; the changes going on in the economy with regards to technology, it’s very appropriate for us to take some time to sit down and review the activities of the organization and see what other areas we can be of assistance to promote jobs and create economic wealth in our state. (Emphasis added.)

Government does not, and cannot create wealth. This basic and obvious statement is part of why I have been consistently insisting that Jason Allen is not a conservative. He continues to call himself a conservative, even using the name Reagan in nearly every stump speech. No conservative accepts that free-market reform cannot work.

Jason Allen is on the wrong side of economic freedom, and his continuous suggestion that government can help by inflicting itself upon business, proves his true stripes. By not attacking the problem of bureaucracy, regulation and taxation that are the source of Michigan’s economic woes, he instead offers to take little bites here and there, and by doing so, picks who wins and who loses. That is the intention of course, but with this type of scheme, in the end, everyone loses.

Jason Allen is running for Congress in Michigan’s First District, against 5 other Republican candidates for Bart Stupak’s soon-to-be-vacated seat.  The Primary is August 3rd.  A true Conservative is running in that race, Dan Benishek, and is my pick for U.S. Congress.