March 2014

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March, 2014

An independent monthly chronicle of 11th Congressional District Republican Party news and events
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      'The Elephant In The Room' is a monthly (ideally) newsletter, reporting items of interest to active Republicans in the 11th District - primarily present and future Precinct Delegates, but also other interested Republican party participants. Occasional bulletins may also be sent if an important item comes up that can't be delayed. If you know others who would have in interest in reading this, but do not currently receive it, they can be added to our mailing list. Just send an e-mail from the address at which they wish to receive the newsletter to EITR@Juno.com, with the word 'Subscribe' in the header. If you do not want to receive any further issues, simply reply to this address with the word 'Cancel'.

     Previous issues can be found here: (Link)

11th Congressional District Republican Committee (CDRC)

      Nineteen committee members were present at the Jan. 28 11th CDRC meeting. Satish Jasti had recently given up his seat, and the committee voted by secret ballot to elect Melissa Fazio-Bogdalek as his replacement.

      Steve Kolhoff gave a report on what the bylaws required regarding committee endorsements before the primary. He stated that "We will not take a position or endorse unless the evidence is overwhelming" (that there is a specific need to). A two thirds committee vote would be required. Committee members can individually endorse a candidate, but they must specify that it is a personal endorsement only, not a committee one.

      At the Feb. 25 meeting, Ronna Romney resigned from the committee, since she had recently been elected as National Committeewoman. The newly revised bylaws were passed out to the committee, voted on, and approved. They specified two new committee offices, so Rich Poling was elected as parliamentarian, and Carl Berry as sergeant-at-arms.

      Chairman Mike Mitchell stated that five applications had already been received for Mrs. Romney's spot on the committee. The replacement must be a female Wayne county resident, since she will replace the state committee seat, as well the 11th CDRC one. Early indications are that some parties see this as a career advancement opportunity, and are angling to get relatives or cronies into that position.

      Dennis Pittman noted that donors were contributing less money lately, and are objecting to "certain statements" made by Michigan Republican party figures. (Can it really be the case that so many wealthy contributors are supporters of the homosexual normalization movement?)

      CDRC meetings are usually on the last Tuesday of the month, but an April 22 meeting was announced to be held at the Oakland County Republican Party headquarters (4261 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills). This is to try and move meetings to different parts of the district from time to time. Just to provide a sporting challenge for the unwary, the CDRC website says it will still be in Novi (Link) .

      The next 11th CDRC monthly meeting is scheduled for March 25, at 7pm in the Suburban Collection Showplace (formerly called Rock Financial Center). The address is 46100 Grand River Ave Novi, MI 48374. The meeting room is on the right after you enter the main door, then left down a hallway. Chairs are available for visitors to watch from, and two-minute audience comments are allowed at the end of the meeting.

Oakland County Republican Party

     The OCRP will be holding a meeting on March 26 at 7pm. One item on the agenda is a "Vice Chair Report on New Precinct Delegate Allotment", so this meeting may be of interest to P.D.s.in Oakland County.

      The OCRP website (Link) has an event calendar that is one of the most complete in the 11th District, listing everything from Eagles club meetings, Art Club Tours, Young Republicans, etc.. As of March 19, there is no mention of the upcoming OCRP meeting on the website. The slot for March 26 is completely blank. One might almost think that certain parties don't want anyone seeing what they're doing until it's all over. OCRP meetings are held at the Oakland County Commissioners Auditorium, at 1200 N.Telegraph Rd. Pontiac, MI 48341.

Wayne 11th Committee

      At the Jan. 9 Wayne 11th meeting, Mike Andro resigned from the committee. Justin Cialella was elected to replace him.

      Chairman Paul Cusick spent some time laying out an idea for starting some regional Republican clubs, proposing one each covering Plymouth, Canton, Northville, and Livonia. He pointed out that there is not enough awareness of local issues, and thought there should be more Republican participation in them. He stated that he would appoint club chairmen for each city.

      At the Feb. 13 meeting, Mr. Cusick mentioned plans to have a Precinct Delegate Appreciation Day event sometime in April.

      In later business, when the subject of endorsing candidates before the primary was raised, the chairman stated that "Any discussion will be in closed session". Endorsements by the Wayne 11th committee should be considered in light of a rather shaded recent record. In the last election cycle, the committee endorsed one of its own members, Joe Bridgman, for a local Plymouth election. Mr. Bridgman went on to lose in the primary, after which he endorsed a Democrat in the general election.

Wayne County Republican Committee

      At the Feb. 24 meeting, Abe Munfakh reported news from the Feb. 15 State Committee meeting. There is some discussion starting about dropping the male-female matching number requirement for State Committee members from each congressional district in Michigan. Some counties in the Upper Peninsula and other areas have trouble finding enough people to fill out the quotas correctly. Oakland County leaders like Jim Thienel are against dropping the requirement. Other changes being talked about at the state level included possible changes to party rules so that Dave Agema could be removed from his post as National Committeeman.

     Notices inquiring about the whereabouts of the WCRC website have begun showing up on the back of milk cartons recently. It's been down for over a month now, and seems to have lost its lease (Link). The WCRC site is particularly missed because its calendar used to have one of the best listings of Wayne county events.

When in Rome

      On Feb. 15 of this year, a Republican State Committee meeting was held in Lansing. The primary business of the meeting was to elect a new national Committeewoman, since Terry Lynn Land had recently resigned from that post. The names of the three candidates who ran for the position, and their answers to a questionnaire, can be found here: (Link). Ronna Romney-McDaniel was elected to the open position.

     One participant reported that Party chairman Bobby Schostak stood next to the table where the voting took place. He watched from a few feet away as committee members took turns stepping up to the table to write the name of their choice on a "secret" ballot, before putting it in a cardboard box on the table.

     For those who have never been to a Republican state event, there is a peculiar and rather ridiculous custom mandated after every election. After the actual vote takes place, another one is held, in which everyone is expected to vote for whoever the first winner was, so it can be announced that the vote was unanimous. This is considered to be a show of unity. In practice, it is obviously a completely fake pretense, but that seems to be an institutional characteristic of political parties these days. In this case, one brave but lonely voice voted "no" during the charade portion, as reported here (Link).

      Nevertheless, the vote was Unanimous, and that's Official.

Major Republican Party dates this year:

      April 22 - Filing deadline for principal* candidates

     May 2 - State Committee meeting

     May 6 - Filing deadline for Precinct Delegate candidates (must go to county clerk now)

     August 5 - Primary election

     August 14 - County conventions

     August 23 - State Convention (one day event at Suburban Showplace in Novi)

     September 19 - State Committee meeting

     November 4 - Election


      *(Though not necessarily principled.)

King Canute is holding back the tide, so far

      The race for Republican Lieutenant Governor nominee is starting to generate some frictional heat. New rules recently put into place recently by the State Committee require any Lt. Gov. contenders not endorsed by the governor to get four district chairmen to sign a "permission to run" slip. (This is not an endorsement, simply an acknowlegement that the applicant is a serious candidate, and qualified to run.) So far, Wes Nakagiri has received only two signatures. 11th District Chairman Mike Mitchell was one of the signers. One district chair offered to sign, but only if Wes would write a disavowal of Dave Agema, demanding his resignation. (He didn't.)

      The Michigan Republican supervisory class, notably led by longtime MIGOP bagman and fixer Norm Shinkle (currently 8th district chair), are putting heavy pressure on conservatives to fall in line and conform to party hierarchy wishes. There seems to be a strongly prevalent attitude among those currently in power: That the Republican party rule specifying that precinct delegates can choose the party's Lt. Governor candidate is just a theoretical right, and it's in bad taste to actually do it. It's going to be interesting to see what the fallout will be if they succeed in blocking any competition against the designated inheritor.

Event calendar:

March 20, 7pm- Tea Party Patriots of West Oakland County meeting (Link)

March 25, 7pm- 11th CDRC meeting (Link)

March 26, 7pm- Oakland County Republican Party meeting

March 27, 7pm- Rattle With Us Tea Party precinct delegate information meeting (Link)

March 29, 11:00am- Lakes Area Tea Party action meeting (Link)

April 8, 7pm- Troy Area Tea Party meeting (Link)

April 10, 7pm- Wayne 11th CDRC Meeting (Link)      (Note: The website calendar shows the old address. Meetings are currently being held in a larger office, on the northwest corner of 7 mile and Farmington road (33462 Seven Mile Road, Livonia). It is on the west side of the K-Mart shopping center parking lot. Look for campaign signs in the windows.)

Letters

Note to Michigan Republican Party Chair Bobby Schostak & Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus: Facebook, as well as America, has been on fire over Duck Dynasty, a Facebook page in support of Phil Robertson blew up, and Walmart's entire supply of Duck Dynasty merchandise has sold out in a show of support for the Robertson family and what they stand for. Those people are the core of your supporters, and the widespread base of your party. They are also the same people who you continually disenfranchise, alienate, and fail to heed or appreciate- and you stand silent when your Johnny Boehner attacks them, when your golden boy Paul Ryan absolutely screws over our retired disabled veterans, and you insult our intelligence by calling tax increases "fee hikes". Here in Michigan, Rick Snyder goes against us in support of Common Core, health care insurance exchanges- TWICE, Medicaid Expansion, mass transit, the bridge, voter fraud prevention vetoes, taxes on seniors, fuel tax increases, widespread waste and failure at the MEDC, and now more support for wind and solar boondoggles. The entire list of assaults by this Governor requires another couple hundred words and examples. We are principled, proud, and intelligent voters with long memories. We are not lazy, and for those of us who WILL go to the polls next November to support a few Conservative candidates- are quite willing to ignore the convenience of voting a straight ticket so that we can intentionally leave the Governor's race blank. And unless you rein in your rogue Democrat in GOP-clothes of a Governor, we can just as easily vote for the Democrat candidate at the top of the ticket to make sure any elected GOP legislators start acting like it once again- when they have a DECLARED Democrat in the Governor's office. If last November taught you nothing else, it should be painfully clear that Conservatives will not simply show up to oppose a Democrat- and especially when the damned Republican Governor cheerleads for and demands major components of the liberal agenda. Trust me on this- Principles are irresistible for those who are guided by them. Your attacks on Dave Agema and the TEA Party have a price attached to them, and the bill will come due in November- just ask Mitt. Tim Bos Grassroots Leader, Michigan Co-founded the RTW initiative, State Chair of the Grass Roots Committee for Mi Freedom To Work Coalition

Dear Editor: The lifers have made it quite clear they don’t want or need the TP, and they expect to win without them. And if they lose without them, as in 2012, they regard that as an acceptable price for being part of the big liberal family. (In their dreams. Hard core liberals still see them as subhuman.) All this stuff about the need to win elections is hypocritical. The establishment puts its covertly liberal ideology over winning elections all the time. That’s one of the reasons it’s hard for a Tea Party candidate to win: because the establishment will throw the election. David Blue

An open letter on smart meters, to the 11th CDRC chairs By David Lonier Dear Mike and Mindy, I’ve attached resolutions passed by Clinton and Gratiot County Republican Parties. Resolutions have also been passed by the Allegan, Macomb and Oakland County Board of Commissioners, as well as over 30 cities and townships in Michigan. Note, these resolutions were passed before Senator Marleau introduced SB 819 in the Senate. I just got word that Presque Isle County has passed the resolution. Both the State House and Senate have Bills allowing people to opt-out of the meters at no cost and amended to either retain their analog meters or have their smart (more accurately “dumb”) meters replaced with authentic old style non-spying, safe, analog meters. This is very different from the opt-out approved by the MPSC, which charges a fee and only turns off the smart meter radiofrequency transmitter. These bills would never have gone as far as they have without people waking up to the detrimental effects of these meters, many of whom have had their health seriously impacted by these meters and who have done the research and exposed these meters for what they are…extremely dangerous surveillance devices. These resolutions are needed to motivate our State House and Senate to move the Bills through the legislature, and the 11th District Committee coming on board is sure to add more fuel to the fire. Hopefully the Committee will pass the attached resolution at this month’s meeting on the 25th. Could you put it on the agenda, and email it out ahead of the meeting to your members? I plan to attend the meeting and I would appreciate having a few minutes to speak in favor of it. We need to keep adding more districts and counties until the State passes this into law. This is a great way for the voices of the people to finally be heard over those of special interests, some of whom are robbing us blind! This resolution will also be introduced as a motion at the March 26th OCRP Executive Committee Meeting. David Lonier Precinct Delegate, Auburn Hills Member, OCRP Executive Committee Michigan 11th District Republican Congressional Committee 2014 – Resolution # A RESOLUTION REQUESTING THAT THE STATE HOUSE AND SENATE ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEES HOLD HEARINGS AND A VOTE TO REPORT OUT OF COMMITTEE HOUSE BILL 4315 AND SENATE BILL 819 FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE ENTIRE STATE LEGISLATURE WHEREAS, DTE and Consumers Energy are replacing analog meters with so-called smart (a.k.a. “advanced” or “AMI”) meters with the intention of completing the process by 2019; and WHEREAS, there are serious health, privacy, safety and cost concerns regarding these so-called smart meters; and WHEREAS, “SMART” meter technology collects personal data without a warrant or the informed consent of customers, and is thus in violation of customers’ 4th Amendment and privacy rights; and WHEREAS, “SMART” meters emit pulsating radiofrequency radiation 24/7, posing a well researched and documented health threat to biological organisms; and WHEREAS, “SMART” meters (even with the radio-transmitter disabled) cause an irregularly pulsating electromagnetic current known as “line noise,” composed of voltage transients and harmonics to travel through the wiring of any building which is commonly referred to as “dirty electricity”; and WHEREAS, “SMART” meters are known to have caused fires, explosions, and meltdowns of appliances and circuit panels, causing death, injury and property damage, placing an unprecedented safety and monetary risk upon utility customers; and WHEREAS, the very foundation of consumer protection laws is violated by (1) the utilities compelling their customers to pay for something the customers did not request and that many customers have asked to have removed and (2) by the utilities’ installation on customer homes, without consent, of devices that compromise privacy, health, safety, and property; and WHEREAS, House Bill 4315 and Senate Bill 819 would allow DTE and Consumers customers to opt-out of the so-called smart meters at no cost, without paying a one-time and monthly fee as they are now required to do; and WHEREAS, it is incumbent upon our elected officials to protect our natural rights to health, safety, privacy and prosperity by representing the People above special interests; and THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Chairs and members of the State House and Senate Energy and Technology Committees amend HB 4315 and SB 819 to provide that the cost-free opt-out meter be an analog meter identical to those that have been removed; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that by a majority vote of the members of the Michigan 11th District Congressional Committee, the Chairs and members of the State House and Senate Energy and Technology Committees are urged, after adequate and impartial deliberation, to move HB 4315 and SB 819 to their respective full legislative bodies for a hearing, consideration and vote; and BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Chairs and members of the State House and Senate Energy and Technology Committees, requesting timely consideration of their respective Bills, with additional copies transmitted to all members of the entire State legislature. Dated this ___day of March, 2014 By Order of the Members of the Michigan 11th District Republican Congressional Committee _______________________________________ Mike Mitchell, Chair _______________________________________ Mindy Fernandes, Vice Chair

Thought for the day:

     ""The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."

                                                P.J. O'Rourke

      E.I.T.R. Policies and Principles

      If you have an article, event, or other news that you think the readership should know about, we welcome your contributions. Editorial judgement will be applied to consider what interest readers will have in the submission, so keep articles or letters to a reasonable length. Articles should be factual - you must be able to provide corroboration of your information. Articles can be published under an alias, but you must be prepared to be able to stand up in court, raise your right hand, and testify to what you personally witnessed (because it may come to that). Unsubstantiated allegations just won't fly here, and rumors will be not be treated seriously unless they have some special reason to have plausible and substantive news value. We will be happy to follow up on tips which cannot yet be proven, but we can't publish them as fact without confirmation.

      Letters expressing an opinion are fine, and will be published as such, if they would be of interest to the 11th District readership. Keep it local; there are other venues for national articles and issues. We want to focus this chronicle on items affecting Republican district affairs, including the activities of the office holders elected from this district.

      Notices of events, planning, organization, etc. are welcome. If you want to get word out to like minded people in this district, send in your notice or idea. Keep it succinct, factual, and don't bore the reader - nobody wants to plow through long diatribes. The 11th CDRC party leaders have no control over this publication, and cannot censor any notices or opinions.

      Responses to E.I.T.R. articles will be considered on their merits, and published if they are informative and a reasonable length. Our intention is to send each issue out at or around the beginning of the month, so sending items in at least a week before that is a good idea. That will allow time for two-way communication regarding any questions that may come up.

Denis Curran, Editor - E.I.T.R.