<h1>Archives</h1>
    Schuette

    “You’ve got to hand it to Michigan’s Attorney General Bill Schuette: He’s consistent, if only in his inconsistency”

    May 16, 2018

    Schuette: Won’t somebody please think of the poor private schools?

    You’ve got to hand it to Michigan’s Attorney General Bill Schuette: He’s consistent, if only in his inconsistency. . . . The cost of fighting to keep Michigan from recognizing gay marriage was monetarily steep: $1.9 million in plaintiffs’ legal fees, and almost a quarter of a million dollars to legal experts, conservative economists, and bogus “social scientists.” . . . Schuette is a longtime fervent defender of anti-gay legislation. . . . As if to prove that accusation true, Schuette hasn’t accepted the “will of the voters” on the issue, remaining a staunch advocate of marijuana prohibition. . . . So, you see, it doesn’t matter what the courts have rules, or the voters have decided, or even what the voters might decide right now — what matters most are the convictions inside the chief law enforcement official’s head. . . . Is it any better to be an attorney general who picks and chooses which laws to uphold and which to resist — as long as it’s done in the name of conservative ideology? (Detroit Metro Times)

    Schuette

    Bill Schuette’s “first instinct was to lie” — Brian Calley

    May 16, 2018

    Brian Calley: Schuette’s land deals reveal his hypocrisy on transparency

    When confronted about his ownership interest in businesses that control a $40 million real estate development in the Virgin Islands, his first instinct was to lie. . . . So why didn’t he complete a personal financial disclosure for the assets not in trust? Maybe it’s because he has been using state employees, on state time, in state offices, to complete the real estate documents. . . . Now that we know that all his assets are not in a trust, why does he still refuse to complete the personal financial disclosure form? Why not do what he has demanded of everyone else? Is Bill Schuette hiding anything else? (Bridge Michigan)

    Schuette

    Calley campaign: Schuette has a “disturbing pattern of abusing taxpayer-funded resources for his personal and political gain.”

    May 11, 2018

    Documents: Staffers signed Schuette real estate deals

    Schuette initially told The Detroit News he had “no idea” what Calley was talking about, but his campaign later said the property was inherited by Schuette and his sisters, was not part of the blind trust and does not represent a conflict.

    Documents obtained Friday by The Detroit News show longtime Schuette aide Rusty Hills and executive assistant Lori Gay served as witnesses on separate $1.8 million deed transfers Schuette signed on Feb 20, 2013. Both transfers were notarized by Nancy O’Shea, who at one time worked as head secretary in the attorney general’s alcohol and gambling enforcement division before retiring in August 2015.

    Schuette’s Midland-based Vircom LLC sold 2.41-acre and 2.06-acre parcels to Pelican Reef LLC and Kestral Perch LLC, both set up in the Virgin Islands with mailing addresses in New York, according to the records.

    Attorney general staffers Barb Teszlewicz and Dulce Cardenas signed as witnesses for Schuette on a quit deed claim in 2017, while Cardenas and Schuette spokeswoman Andrea Bitely signed a grant easement document in 2016. Both were notarized by Gay, the executive assistant.

    Bitely said she signed as a witness after waiting to talk to Schuette while Gay notarized the document.

    “If my memory serves, it was less than two minutes of our day,” she said.

    Bitely confirmed Schuette was in his Lansing state offices on the day he and staffers signed the private real estate document.

    Asked about the other documents signed by staffers, Bitely said the attorney general’s office has people on staff who are notaries and have provided notarization services for their co-workers and colleagues on documents.

    “As anyone who has a busy schedule knows, it can be a challenge to find a notary that is available when you are available and you have witnesses available,” she said. “Nancy (O’Shea) provided a 30-second or less service on a document that required a notary to sign.”

    ‘Abusing taxpayer resources’

    Schuette’s gubernatorial campaign did not immediately respond to a voicemail seeking comment.

    Calley campaign spokesman Mike Schrimpf said Schuette has a “disturbing pattern of abusing taxpayer-funded resources for his personal and political gain.”

    “Despite millions of dollars of offshore transactions benefiting himself, Bill Schuette is treating taxpayers like his own personal piggy bank.” [Detroit News]

     

    Uncategorized

    Trump’s Trade Moves Are A Threat To Michigan Jobs

    May 11, 2018

    Trump’s Trade Moves Put U.S. Carmakers in a Jam at Home and Abroad — Mr. Trump’s efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, to impose tariffs on imported aluminum and steel and to reduce America’s trade deficit with China could limit the reach of companies that produce cars in the United States and depend on access to growing markets outside the country. . . . Ms. Dziczek and her colleagues at the [Center for Automotive Research] ​said that the proposed Nafta rule changes could subject 25 to 87 percent of vehicles sold in the United States to new tariffs, raising the price of those vehicles by $470 to $2,200 each. A report by the center warns that such increases would reduce annual auto sales in the United States by 60,000 to 150,000. (New York Times)

    Schuette

    Colbeck: Electing Either Schuette Or Calley Would Mean “Politics As Usual.”

    May 11, 2018

    In assessing his Republican opponents, Colbeck said electing either Schuette or Lt. Gov. Brian Calley would mean “politics as usual.” He points to hundreds of thousands of dollars Schuette has received over the years from political action committees representing corporations such as DTE Energy and Consumers Energy and said, based on that, consumers would have no hope for greater choice in electricity providers — a free market program he supports. (Detroit Free Press)

    Schuette

    UPDATE >> Bill Schuette Used State Employees To Help Violate His Promise To Put Assets Into A Blind Trust

    May 11, 2018

    Attorney General Bill Schuette has quietly made multimillion-dollar real estate transactions involving inherited oceanfront property in the U.S. Virgin Islands while in office and used state employees to complete one transaction in November 2016, documents show. . . . Schuette’s executive assistant, Lori Gay, notarized the transaction and the attorney general’s communications director, Andrea Bitely, and an office analyst, Dulce Cardenas, signed as witnesses to the private transaction, U.S. Virgin Islands property records show. “Bill signed and Lori notarized the document while I was waiting to talk to him and, as a result, I signed as a witness,” Bitely said Thursday in an email to Crain’s. “If my memory serves, it was less than two minutes of our day.” [Crain’s Detroit Business]

    Schuette

    BUSTED! >> Bill Schuette swore in 2011 he’d “have no control over or knowledge of how the personal financial assets will be managed”

    May 11, 2018
    ​”The People of Michigan deserve to know their elected officials are serving the public, not themselves,” said Schuette.  “That is why I am again voluntarily releasing my tax returns and taking steps to assure the public I will serve as their Attorney General without the potential for conflicts of interest.” . . . In order to avoid even an appearance of a conflict of interest resulting from serving as Attorney General, Schuette has designated an independent trustee to oversee decisions about personal financial assets throughout his term in office.  During this time, Schuette will have no control over or knowledge of how the personal financial assets will be managed. Schuette also released to the public the preamble to the blind trust agreement, which states that, “(Attorney General Schuette) desires to avoid the appearance that decisions he makes as Attorney General are or could be influenced by his financial holdings.” ​​(Michigan Dept. of Attorney General press release, “Schuette Releases 2010 Tax Return Placing Assets in Blind Trust,” 4/15/11)

    Schuette

    MIGOP Debate: Undecided GOP Voters Slam Schuette & Calley

    May 10, 2018
    As the debate aired, a group of six undecided Republican voters from Kent County was watching from the WOOD TV8 Media Arts Center at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. . . . They said they wanted to see substance, and most said they found it from the lesser-known candidates, Colbeck and Hines. . . . They said the polished delivery of Schuette and Calley lacked authenticity and they felt Colbeck and Hines seemed more sincere. “I was just turned off by the fact that Calley’s answers just seemed so memorized,” Courtney Egeler of Wyoming said. They also didn’t like the jabs Calley and Schuette threw at one another. (WOOD TV)
    Schuette

    Low-Wage Workers to blast Bill Schuette’s refusal to protect Medicaid for Michiganders

    May 9, 2018
    More than one hundred fast-food cooks, Head Start workers, healthcare workers and other voters across Michigan will flood the GOP gubernatorial debate Wednesday blasting candidate Bill Schuette’s refusal to protect vital healthcare for nearly 700,000 people who rely on the state’s expanded Medicaid program enacted under Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. The protest follows a recent vote in the state Senate to impose work requirements on all Medicaid recipients – a measure that Schuette has endorsed and vowed to implement if elected governor. Holding signs reading, “Schuette: Hands Off My Healthcare” and “Bill Schuette: Healthcare Killer,” working people from across Michigan will demand the next governor make the state’s expanded Medicaid program permanent and increase access to affordable healthcare for everyone. The protest comes weeks after Schuette – who has received President Trump’s endorsement – released his first campaign TV ad reiterating his opposition to the state’s Medicaid expansion. WHERE: GOP gubernatorial debate, 120 College Ave SE, Grand Rapids, Mich. WHEN: 5:30p ET (Michigan Chronicle)
    Whitmer

    Working Families Need Whitmer — Michigan AFL-CIO Pres. Ron Bieber

    May 9, 2018
    “Working families need a governor who has the backbone to stand up to Republicans when they push anti-worker legislation. Whitmer has spent her entire career fighting back against attacks on our wages, our benefits, and our freedom to negotiate together. When Gov. Rick Snyder locked the people out of the Capitol to pass right-to-work legislation, Whitmer not only stood outside with our members, but she threw open the doors and led the protests from her office. . . . Whitmer has been on the front lines of the fight to ensure that all kids have the skills they need to get ahead. And as governor, she’ll invest more in skills and job training programs so workers can get a good job and earn enough to take care of their families and retire in dignity.” (Detroit News)
    Schuette

    Schuette & Calley Continue To Play Politics With The Flint Water Crisis

    May 9, 2018

    Lt. Gov. Calley last week repeated his contention the charges against Lyon and Wells are politically motivated and a “gross abuse of power.” . . . Dr. Jim Hines of Saginaw, another gubernatorial candidate, said the legal process is taking too long, costing taxpayers too much and raising questions among people about whether Flint “is being politicized by our leaders.” . . . “Why would they risk the entire case to make these extrajudicial statements unless it was for political gain?” Calley told The Detroit News. Flood and Forsythe have different styles, Schuette said. . . . “Either they’re timing it out for political purposes or they filed charges and weren’t prepared to prove those charges,”he said. “Neither one is a good answer.” (Detroit News top print headline)

    Schuette

    BREAKING: Schuette Dishonestly Promotes “Half Accurate” Claim

    May 8, 2018

    Schuette highlighted this on his facebook page: Without a doubt, Schuette has outpaced his Republican rivals in making government transparency and accountability a central tenet of his run for governor. He’s consistently spoken and written about the topic since he announced his candidacy and he devotes a chunk of his campaign site to explaining his proposals, in contrast to the fleeting attention given the topic on his rivals’ sites. (Bill Schuette)

    Schuette left out the next 3 sentences of the Michigan Truth Squad analysis: But is Schuette the “only candidate for the Republican nomination with a plan” to increase government accountability? Not exactly. We rate his claim half accurate. (Michigan Truth Squad)

    Schuette

    Will Schuette, Calley, et al. Condemn Trump’s New Cuts to Children’s Health Insurance?

    May 8, 2018
    Trump proposes $15 billion spending cuts, targets children’s health program: “It appears that sabotaging our health care system to the detriment of middle-class families wasn’t enough for President Trump and Republicans; now they’re going after health care dollars that millions of children rely on, especially during outbreaks of the flu and other deadly illnesses,” [Sen. Schumer] said in a statement after an initial report about the CHIP proposal. (Reuters)
    Schuette

    BREAKING: Will Schuette Now Finally Interview Snyder About Flint Water Crisis?

    May 8, 2018
    Witness says Snyder aides were alerted about Legionnaires’ — A member of Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration [Eric Brown] says the governor’s senior aides were told about a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in the Flint area months before it was publicly announced. . . . He says Lyon warned Snyder’s top advisers that cases were rising at the same time that Flint was using water from the Flint River. Brown says Snyder’s chief of staff, Dennis Muchmore, was on the call, along with the head of the Department of Environmental Quality and others. Snyder insists he didn’t learn about the Legionnaires’ outbreak until January 2016. (WXYZ)
    Uncategorized

    Skubick: How Michigan House Democrats would win back control of Chamber

    May 8, 2018
    Coming to a TV screen near you soon: Democratic commercials attacking President Trump and Betsy DeVos to convince voters to support Democratic House candidates. “I think Betsy DeVos and Trump are people who are activating our base of supporters,” said Rep. Kristy Pagan. “And motivating our voters to come out to support our Democrats who are pushing back on the Trump-DeVos agenda.” The House Democrats will tell voters that 80 percent of the charter schools and 100 percent of the cyberschools in Michigan are operated by for-profit companies and U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is, in part, responsible for funneling public school dollars into these for profit schools. “Your tax dollars to educate our children are going to line the pockets of for-profit education management companies,” adds Rep. Pagan. (WLNS)
    Schuette

    MIGOP Panic: Schuette at 38% Loses to Top Dems by 5%-6%

    May 8, 2018
    Schuette trails in latest polls: A new poll from EPIC-MRA shows if Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette wants to be governor, he has an uphill battle. Democrats Gretchen Whitmer and Shri Thanedar are both ahead of the Republican frontrunner in the survey, and Thanedar’s advertising blitz is paying off with his name recognition nearing that of Schuette. Whitmer leads Schuette by 43-to-38 percent, while Thanedar has a slightly better result with a 44-to-38-percent lead.  (94.1 Jackson)
    Whitmer

    Gretchen Whitmer, foe of for-profit charters, takes on DeVos supporter Schuette

    May 4, 2018
    U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos casts a large shadow in her home state of Michigan, having left a trail of failed, for-profit charter schools that have diverted scarce funding from neighborhood public schools. Gretchen Whitmer, a front-runner in the state’s election for governor, wants to take Michigan out from underneath that shadow. A former prosecutor and state Senate leader, Whitmer has pledged to “stop the dismantling of public education and put an end to the DeVos agenda in Michigan,” while her likely opponent, Bill Schuette, has received more than $120,000 of financial support from the DeVos family and has vowed to continue her experiment. [EducationVotes.org]