Lawmakers Should Look in the Mirror Before Decrying High Tuition

In their own way, Michigan Republicans like Sen. Joe Hune and Rep. Bill Rogers seem to agree with GOP presidential contender Rick Santorum that people who go to college are "snobs."

In an article in the Livingston Press and Argus on Sunday (March 11, 2012), both Hune and Rogers came out against a Democratic plan to eliminate $1.8 billion in business tax credits and direct the money to lowering tuition costs at state universities.

Hune found it unacceptable. Why, the very idea that businesses should pay to help educate their future employees -- the engineers, accountants, computer programers, and others who will do the work that produces their profits -- was beyond Hune's comprehension. Somebody else should pay for that, apparently, so businesses can reap the benefit at no cost to themselves.

Rogers came across as clueless as to what has happened to higher education funding in Michigan in the last decade. Decrying tuition increases, Rogers demanded to know "where is that money going."

Sad to say Bill, but it has gone to replace the funds that state government used to provide -- like the more than $800 per student cut in higher education funding you approved last year.

Ir Rogers wants to know why college tuition is up to $400 per credit hour at Michigan State University, he should look in the mirror.

Joe Hune Near Top of the List in Taking Lobbyist Meals

One thing is for sure. Republican Joe Hune isn't going hungry in Lansing doing his job as state senator.

The Detroit Free Press reports that Hune is third on the list of lawmakers taking free meals from lobbyists. The $1,903 in free meals puts him behind only Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville ($2,985) and Rep. Frank Foster ($2,814), both Republicans. Seven of the top ten free eaters were Republicans and three were Democrats.

You can bet those meals weren't paid for by local TEA Party members. I wonder how they feel knowing their guy Hune is sitting down for one free meal after another while a lobbyist for corporate interests bends his ear about how to vote on bills before the Legislature. It's not that the meals buy the vote of Hune or any other lawmaker. It's that the meals give those lobbyists special access to lawmakers that the average voter doesn't have.

According to the Free Press, the biggest spenders on free meals for lawmakers were multi-client lobbyist firms. No labor union was in the top five in free food buyers.

Hune makes enough on his legislative salary to split the tab at these meals.

Hune Sacrificing Children to Tax Ideology, Cigarette Companies

Republican Joe Hune has given himself a pretty narrow job description, and his proposal to encourage smoking and then cut health care is the latest example of it.

As he said in the Livingston Press and Argus, "'I wasn't elected to protect what's in government coffers. I was elected to protect what's in the pocketbook of my constituents and the people I serve.'"

What about protecting children from harm? Isn't that part of the job description of a state senator in Michigan? Not for Hune.

Hune wants to cut the state's $2 a pack cigarette tax in half, which will drastically increase smoking, especially among young people. The tobacco industry's own documents show that cigarette use among young people is highly sensitive to price.

Researchers who examined those internal documents concluded: "These documents clearly support the findings from academic and other research that demonstrate that price is a key determinant of overall cigarette smoking, that price increases lead to significant reductions in overall smoking, increases in smoking cessation, and reductions in smoking prevalence, with relatively large effects on young people." In other words, the lower the price, the more young people smoke or start smoking. The higher the price, the fewer who start.

So Hune's proposal to cut taxes and lower prices will lead to more smoking, especially among young people who might otherwise never start because of the cost.

And once they are smokers and begin to experience the health problems associated with smoking? Hune will make it harder for them to get health care by cutting eligibility for Medicaid.

Hune's response is that if smoking is so bad, it should be banned -- a totally unworkable proposal and he knows it. If Hune is worried about cigarette smuggling now, how much worse would it get with a ban on cigarettes?

Hune says he is protecting the pocketbooks of "my constituents and the people I serve." Joe Camel may not be a constituent, but that's who Hune is serving.

Hune Having a Failure to Communicate

Joe Hune is in hot water again.

The Republican state senator already was in the spotlight for refusing to take a position on building a public bridge to Canada to ease commercial traffic between businesses in Michigan and across the border.

Now he's in trouble for writing in the Fowlerville News and Views that the Legislature increased funding for local schools by $200 per pupil -- when in fact they really cut it by $470 per pupil.

Hune told the Livingston Press and Argus, "I'm not trying to lie and deceive."

Really? What would he call it when he tries to make a silk purse into a sow's ear in the eyes of the public? Isn't he trying to obfuscate the truth when he says he should have said the Legislature provided $200 more per student than what Rick Snyder asked for? Why would that have been better? It doesn't tell the public how schools are faring compared to the current situation, only how they would do compared to a hypothetical.

It's hard to see where Hune goes from here. He gets in trouble when he doesn't say something and then gets in trouble when he does say something. Maybe it's not the message, but the messenger that's the problem.

Hune's Quarter of a Million-Dollar Legislative Campaign

Livingston County is a county where everyone always votes Republican, we are told over and over again, so why did Joe Hune close in on spending a quarter of a million dollars in his state Senate campaign?

That's right, nearly a quarter of a million dollars -- or $222,196 to be exact. That's according to Hune's latest report filed with the Michigan Secretary of State's office. The Livingston Press and Argus Tuesday (January 4, 2011) claimed Hune had only spent about half that amount - $116,000. But Hune's final report shows the figure is much greater. You can look it up.

Hune raised even more than he spent -- a total of $298,400, leaving him with a big chunk of cash on hand for four years from now.

Hune's Democratic opponent, Chuck Fellows, spent about $10,000. Yet Hune kept going to insurance company and farming political action committees with his hand out, seeking more and more money to run in what we are told is a safe Republican district against an under-funded opponent. Is that the way a fiscal conservative handles finances? Why couldn't Hune just say , "No, No, No" to all that money?

Hune says there was no quid pro quo in exchange for all the cash his campaign raked in. Of course not. Hune's donors are professionals. They give money in exchange for favors routinely and they know how to do it to and stay within the law. What is expected of Hune is understood automatically, sealed with a wink and a nod, or maybe an artfully worded questionnaire.

While Hune grabs all the money from big financial interests, he keeps the home folks distracted with his ultra-right wing statements about illegal immigrants and the U.N. coming to take away your guns. That way, the folks at home won't notice that he plans to sell them down the river with votes in favor of big money interests against their economic interests. But, boy, they won't have to worry about the U.N. taking away their guns. Because by the time Hune and his cronies get done fleecing us, we won't be able to afford guns anymore.

(Un)Common Sense

South Lyon resident Chuck Fellows is a thoughtful, well-informed guy. Unlike many people, Chuck takes the time to learn about an issue before offering an opinion -- and he can always back it up with facts.

This is why I pay attention when he says something (it's also why I voted for him when he ran for state Senate this year).

In yesterday's Press & Argus, Chuck had a letter to the editor taking on Joe Hune's ridiculous stance on Michigan's "illegal immigrant problem."

Very calmly, Chuck pointed out Hune's (willful?) ignorance of existing law

Rather than create new law, Mr. Hune should educate himself on existing federal law and pending state legislation (SB 1372 of 2010, the same language as HB 4355 co-sponsored by Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Genoa Township.)

and the likely reasons for the grandstanding

There is no good reason why any legitimate company employing legitimate people would not want to participate in this [E-Verify] program. [skip] Compliance would end the secret subsidy these [non-compliant] employers currently receive from the honest working people in this state.

Ah, but Mr. Hune has never let fact get in the way of a good rant.

We'll see where that leads us in the 2011 legislative year...

Should Either of These be Next State Senator? No, No, No Absolutely Not

Joe Hune will tell everybody that he's a social and fiscal conservative, but people have been telling me that Paul Rogers is a "moderate."

Don't believe it. Both these guys seeking the Republican nomination for the 22nd State Senate Senate are far to the right, based on their two appearances in forums this week -- one Tuesday (July 13, 2010) in Hamburg and one Thursday (July 15, 2010). Hune just panders more shamelessly than Rogers does.

Hune, for example, told the audience he had "heard" that the United Nations is preparing to take away Americans' Second Amendment rights. Rogers didn't go that far, but he matched Hune pander for pander on issues. For example:

--Both would vote for legislation to effectively overturn the voter-approved ballot measure allowing stem cell research.
--Both want Michigan to opt out of federal health care reform.
--Both oppose the smoking ban in bars and restaurants.

That's why the Democratic nominee, Chuck Fellows of Green Oak Township, is far and away the better candidate.

Hune set himself apart from Rogers by insisting he would shut down state government again rather than vote to raise taxes, while Rogers said raising taxes should be a last resort after looking for cuts.

Hune comes across as the type of inflexible ideologue who makes compromise -- and bipartisan cooperation -- impossible. For example, he calls taxes "stealing." Laws passed by a duly elected legislature and signed by a duly elected governor are not "stealing." And if taxes were "stealing," doesn't that mean that the nearly $80,000 salary Hune hopes to collect as a lawmaker is paid for with "stolen" money? Not to mention the money his mother was paid as a public school teacher for 30 years. And why is that OK?

Hune Family on the 'Dole'?

Does Joe Hune think his family has been on the "dole"?

If you listened carefully to him during the candidate forum in Hamburg Township for candidates for the Republican nomination for the 22nd state Senate seat, it sure sounds like it.

At one point, Hune referred to public employees as being "on the dole," which actually is defined as a handout to the needy. At another point, he said that his mother was a teacher for 30 years in the Fowlerville schools and that his family members all worked for the local school system. So does that mean Hune thinks his mother's employment amounted to welfare payments?

And how about Hune himself? It's unclear what jobs he has had other than being a legislator, which of course means he himself was on the "dole," according to his definition.

And now he is anxious to get back on to the "dole," which he professes to hate.