When Bill Rogers was running for state rep from Michigan's 66th District during the 2008 campaign, he was a man of few words. In a debate sponsored by the Livingston Press and Argus, for example, he answered one question by saying, "Taxes, deregulation. Fix it and they will come."
Turns out, Rogers is also a man of few ideas. When WHMI radio station asked him about his bill to make sure winners of Republican Party primaries don't have any extra competition in the general election, he responded that he had a chance to introduce only 10 bills and he introduced nine others and that one was the 10th.
So he had nine ideas to improve Michigan and this was the best he could do for the 10th -- a power-grab by local Republicans that Rogers now says was intended to help Democrats, too.
For the record, Democrats didn't ask for this bill and want nothing to do with it. Livingston County Democrats adopted a resolution against it at their Feb. 7 county convention and the resolution was unanimously adopted by the state party at its convention Saturday (Feb. 21, 2009) in Detroit.
So if Bill Rogers can't think of another idea for the state, I guess we'd better help him out by suggesting things he could have introduced.
How about a bill to ban smoking in bars and restaurants? It will save millions in health care costs by eliminating second-hand smoke from work places.
How about a measure restoring the right of Michigan citizens to sue to protect the environment, a right taken away by the Michigan Supreme Court and former Supreme Court Justice Cliff Taylor and the rest of the Gang of Four?
How about a measure supporting WALLY, the commuter train between Howell and Ann Arbor, to cut down on congestion on U.S. 23?
Or maybe a bill to tighten restrictions on using public property for political advertising?
Expanding Michigan's bottle bill to cover non-carbonated beverages such as water, juice, and energy drinks would reduce trash and encourage recycling.
Rogers could have proposed a measure to impose a moratorium on home foreclosures to keep people in their homes and try to stabilize home prices and neighborhoods. States did this during the Great Depression with farm foreclosures.
He could have suggested a ban on new coal-fired power plants. Electrical power demand is flat in the state right now so there is no need to be building more fossil-burning plants.
Rogers might have banned utility shutoffs in the winter time to keep elderly people from freezing to death in their homes.
He could have suggested a bill requiring lawmakers to make personal financial disclosures while in office.
Why not a measure cracking down on steroid abuse, or one giving Michigan workers preference on state-funded projects?
None of these made the grade with Rogers. Only the bill that says Republicans get to veto anybody running as an independent.
12 comments:
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Yes...it would be great if Bill Rogers had more big ideas. Maybe he could be more like Mark Schauer whose campaign had to send more than $200,000 to the state after it got caught cheating the election campaign financing laws.
I'm sure you are outraged at this abuse of the public trust and financial manipulation of democratic elections. My guess is that you are trying to calm down before you express your anger at Mr. Schauer, who has moved his ethics-challenged base to Washington, D.C.
I have no idea where he gets this 10-bill stuff. The rules of the Legislature say you can introduced up to five bills a month. If you don't have a good idea or a good reason for introducing legislation, then don't. Nobody is twisting your arm to introduce a bill. Plus, he has only introduced two bills; where are the other eight? Of course, he could have meant, like he said on the WHMI website, that this bill required the less work to introduce and that's why it was introduced. The fact is, I doubt it will even be taken up in committee. There are up to 2,000 bills introduced a year; I doubt this will get much traction.
But in his defense, what someone may think is an unimportant bill may be very important to someone else, and all 110 House members cannot work on the budget. Still, this bill addresses a problem that does not exist.
I just wish we had a SOS that applied campaign finance laws equally.
You keep saying that about the SOS. You imply that the law is applied unequally, but offer no proof. Just make the statement.
But you ignore Schauer's cheating. And it wasn't minor. It was a record. But it's okay since maybe somewhere there was a Republican somewhere who in your opinion wasn't prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
I suspect if you are caught speeding, you tell the cop that you saw someone else speeding yesterday and he didn't get a ticket. How's that work for you?
When you blasted Ward for his missing votes, you didn't mention others with bad records, including Democrats. You zeroed in on Ward's admittedly bad record.
So forget the so-called other cases that the SOS allegedly isn't pursuing. That's cheap and easy. What about Schauer? What do you think about sending a man to Washington D.C. who apparently doesn't care much about complying with election campaign law?
You went berserk with a trumped up and false charge that county Republicans were breaking the law by illegally financing a Vote No campaign on a school vote. You were wrong, but even if you were right, it would be so trivial compared the the hundreds of thousands of illegally funneled dollars by Schauer. Yet not a peep.
As usual, with you it's not the deed, it's the party. In your world, if you are a Democrat you get a free pass for all wrongdoings, whether it's violating campaign finance laws or paying young girls for sex.
If I got caught speeding I would pay the fine like Congressman Schauer did, but that does not mean I did it on purpose. It would also not make me happy when I'm sitting there while the officer is writing the ticket, and people are speeding by me at the same speed I got pulled over for.
If you want to talk about Ward why don't you go over the to my blog, or even on the thread where you started this Ward rant and I already explained it? Ward is the winner, No. 1 and champion of missed voted, and that's why he is singled out. Not only that, he is from Livingston Country like I am.
First, I have never "went berserk" about anything. Second, its not a "trumped up and false charge," its accurate. However, in this state if you have an R after your name this SOS looks the other way. We already had this debate on my blog, and you lost there, too.
If you want to single out all of these alleged misdeeds of Democrats, then start your own blog. There's nothing stopping you.
Bill Rogers is just another "NO" Republican and not there is not much brain power or talent needed.
You say Bill Rogers doesn't have the brain power, but guru says Schauer is so stupid that he didn't realize he was illegally spending $200,000 in campaign contributions...as in guru speeds but doesn't do it "on purpose." So, who is it who is sneaking into your car and pushing the accelerator. It's amazing, you have no concept of individual responsibility.
As for the school board campaign complaint, you are totally wrong and you know it. But I'll use your line: What were the Republicans charged with? What were they convicted of? That's what you say to dispel questions about Stabenow's husband paying for sex.
It's funny. No one of the Dems here will answer a simple question: Are you outraged at all about the system in which men pay young women for sex and only the woman gets prosecuted?
“Guru speeds but doesn't do it "on purpose?” When did I ever say that? I most certainly have “a concept of individual responsibility.”
Sorry, I was right about the school board violation, but there was never a complaint. That would be a waste of time with the SOS we are stuck with. To charge someone with a crime it would seem to me you might need some evidence. Tell you what; I’ll agree with you, what Sen. Stabenow's husband did was illegal.
I would be outraged if your statement was true, but it’s not.
Wow..after all that time you agree that what Athens did was illegal. Good for you. A learning momement for you.
But stop sometimes and read your posts before you deny saying something you did, especially when the proof rebuking your point in your own words is a few inches higher.
And, of course, you conveniently ignore the fact that Schauer set a record with the size of his campaign finance violation.
As for your insistence that Republicans broke the law, that just shows how ridiculous your reasoning is. No one made a complaint because no law was broken.
No one has made a complaint that guru is a child molester, so what does that prove?
It proves you are classless coward afraid to take responsibility for the trash you write.
It's amazing, you have no concept of individual responsibility.
Says the guy who said, just because he got caught speeding, doesn't mean "I did it on purpose." Of course not. Someone...surely a mean Republican...secretly forced your foot to press down on the accelerator.
Also, did I say something wrong? Did someone make a complaint?
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