Chad Dewey for Liberty

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 28, 2012

Contact: Christina Cauchy, Media Relations
christina@chaddewey.org

Chad Dewey Pledges to Block Michigan Obamacare Exchange

After the Supreme Court’s ruling stating that Obamacare is Constitutionally allowable, Chad Dewey pledges to block the Obamacare Exchange in Michigan.

“The Obamacare exchange passed the Michigan Senate in October, 2011 under SB 693. A quick look at the voting records at Michiganvotes.org shows 100% of Democrats are for it, 50% of Republicans are for it, and 100% of voters are against it.” says Dewey. “These typical politicians are not listening to what their constituents are clearly against and are not representing the voice of the people who voted them in.”

Dewey explains, “SB 693 passed the Senate, but fortunately it stalled in the House. However, we need to vote in people who are against this exchange that allows Obamacare to be easily implemented in Michigan. Passing this piece of legislation would put the burden of the cost of the exchange on Michigan taxpayers and then handing the exchange over to the federal government.” The CATO Institute report on Obamacare Exchanges for individual states supports Dewey’s claim that without Obamacare Exchanges created at the state level, it puts the cost of the exchanges on the Federal government, which would be unable to support the financial burden.

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Chad Dewey is a pro-Liberty, Conservative Constitutionalist candidate for the Michigan State House, 96th District. Learn more about Chad Dewey at his web site http://chaddewey.org and Facebook campaign page http://facebook.com/ChadMDewey. More about the CATO Institute’s “States Should Flatly Reject ObamaCare Exchanges” can be found on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAbmzAMZnJw

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Chad Dewey upset with failure of Zero Income Tax Amendment

BAY CITY, Michigan – Chad Dewey announced today that he is not happy with the failure of an amendment that would have brought Michigan’s income tax to zero.

“The argument I keep hearing is ‘What will we replace the income tax with?’” says Mr. Dewey, “The answer is easy. Nothing.”

HB 5699 is set in place to drop the income tax from 4.35 percent to 4.25 percent within the next year, while HB 5729 drops the income tax down to 3.9 percent over the next six years.

“The idea that this zero income tax amendment failed tells me that we still have a problem in Lansing and that rather than cut taxes and allow people to spend their own money, they’re not willing to curb the real problem – Lansing spending. Other states such as Wyoming and South Dakota have no income tax or business tax and they enjoy some of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation.”

HB 5699 has passed the House and Senate, while HB 5729 has passed the House and is expected to pass through the Senate.

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Chad Dewey is a pro-Liberty, Conservative Constitutionalist candidate for the Michigan State House, 96th District. Learn more about Chad Dewey at his web site http://chaddewey.org and Facebook campaign page http://facebook.com/ChadMDewey.

“State Director, Scott Hagerstrom @followscott, testifies in support of online database of state expenses HB 4096 http://1.usa.gov/K8QnJg. The government is accountable to the taxpayers of Michigan. This bill would enable citizens to see exactly where their money is being spent.” (Americans for Prosperity, Michigan)

This bill was originally introduced back in January of 2011. While I understand the actual logistics of putting something like this together after the bill passes may take time (certainly not 16 months), there should be no question on allowing the bill itself to pass fairly quickly. Taxpayers deserve to be able to see how every dime of their tax dollars are spent. I really like how this bill is so short and simple – 2 pages long. My only concern is on page 2:

6 (3) NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL REQUIRE THE DISCLOSURE OF
7 INFORMATION THAT IS CONSIDERED CONFIDENTIAL BY STATE OR FEDERAL
8 LAW.

This could be a loophole to allow potential abuse. With laws like the USA PATRIOT Act and the NDAA, anything could be put under the blanket statement of “confidential”. Other than that, lawmakers should have no reason to vote against this bill.

The Michigan Constitution requires passed legislation to be held for 90 days before taking effect. This period is to allow those who will be affected by the legislation to prepare or attempt to have the law repealed. However, in emergency situations, the law can take effect immediately if the law passes with 2/3 majority.

So far Michigan lawmakers have abused this by using immediate effect clause even though it wasn’t passed by 2/3 vote. Many are blaming Republicans, and rightfully so – they are abusing it…but so have Democrats. My problem is this – when the Michigan Constitution was drafted, the authors didn’t want legislation to pass through on a whim as that could provide an abusive government. Yet here we have lawmakers on BOTH sides of the aisle abusing immediate effect.

“What’s the big deal?” some have asked. Well how about allowing the state to get rid of the people WE elected into our local offices through the emergency manger law and take over our local governments? That leaves the door wide open for abuse. That is a big deal.

“Perhaps the bills are really important!” some have said. If they’re that good and important, why wouldn’t you want to “show off” those bills to people by allowing them to read and learn about them? Politicians grandstand all the time when they think they’re doing a “good thing”, so give the bill 90 days to take effect and show everyone what you’re doing.

Do you know what happens when we rush legislation? Things like the USA PATRIOT Act, Obamacare, and the NDAA of 2011 get passed via knee-jerk reaction and our rights are slowly chipped away. None of us should want this type of government.

For those who have not heard about Michigan Senate Bill 919, it is essentially a very large and unnecessary tax increase on all drivers:

Introduced by Sen. Roger Kahn (R) on January 26, 2012, to increase the state vehicle registration tax by 67 percent. The tax is levied based on the weight of commercial trucks, and on the “list price” of cars. (For example, the annual tax on a car with a $20,000 list price would go from $103 to $172.). The weight-based levy on trucks would increase by 25 percent. This would extract approximately $500 million more from motorists each year. The bill would distribute a greater proportion of the increased road funding to heavily-traveled “commercial corridor” roads rather than less-traveled rural roads. This is part of Gov. Rick Snyder’s road and transit tax proposal.

While big government establishment candidates are fine with continuing the spending, raising taxes in any way is not what’s good for the overall financial well being of the people of Michigan. Here’s a novel idea to create a surplus of cash – how about cutting state government? How about looking at duplicate programs, unnecessary regulations, and tax subsidies that would save the state a considerable amount of money? This bill represents the wrong type of thinking in Lansing and is exactly what I would fight against if elected.

• “No” if it is not permitted by the U.S. Constitution and Michigan Constitution.
• “No” to tax increases.
• “No” to bills that don’t follow free market principles.

Just think…this is BEFORE something like SOPA and PIPA have been passed, but our government and special interests feel that they need even MORE power over the internet. This clearly shows that we are guilty until proven innocent.

Please read this article posted at Yahoo for more information.

I have a strong feeling that SOPA and PIPA are not going away and won’t due to special interests putting pressure on OUR representatives. They may not be named SOPA and PIPA in the future, but we need to keep an eye out for these terrible pieces of legislation and call our representatives to vote any such legislation down. The RIAA and MPAA are already using gangster-like tactics against private individuals by abusing the legal system and legislation such as this only streamlines it.

For additional information about my stances on copyright, patents, and legislation like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, please check out my Political Stance section of this web site. Copyright and patent reform are necessary for the United States to be relevant in creating new products in addition to continuing to be innovative and competitive in the free market.

Michigan Public Act 188 of 2009. When it passed, businesses were forced to follow this new law which banned smoking in their establishment. It was passed on the notion that second hand smoke affects public health and is a public health hazard.

It’s one thing for a business to ban smoking in their own establishment – after all, they pay several taxes, lease or mortgage, are responsible for the business, and more than likely are a private establishment. What the smoking ban does is interfere with the free market and the ability for people to make their own decisions. For example, there were smokeless bars before the ban and they catered to those who didn’t care to be around smoke. People who frequent bars have the choice of going there or not going there whether smoking is allowed or not. Just as they can decide to not go because of the band that is playing, the type of beer served, the type of service given, or any other reason. What’s next? Banning the sale of alcohol at bars because it could also be a health hazard?

Due to this ridiculous overreaching government intervention, I believe that this act should be repealed immediately with the Michigan Smoking Ban Sunset Act.

The Department of Education does nothing and cutting funding to a useless, bureaucratic entity is not a bad thing. You’re confusing the Department of Education with schools like most people do. Besides, most of the money comes from property taxes for schools, not the Department of Education. Of course most of you probably don’t realize that the Department of Education didn’t even exist until 1980 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Education). It was one of the last things Carter did before he was elected out of office. It gave the feds a lot more influence (see: control) on state schools…and when the feds get their hands on something, they have the reverse Midas touch. No Child Left Behind for example. Isn’t it amazing how schools existed before 1980? Unfortunately, they were much better off back then without so much government intervention.

SB-1154 was introduced here in Michigan, which caused quite a stir because of this misunderstanding. The details of the bill that caused controversy:

“House version of the Fiscal Year 2010-2011 Department of Education budget. This would appropriate $132.8 million…, compared to $112.8 enrolled for the previous year. Of this, $93.9 million will come from the federal government, compared to $76.4 million the previous year. The House adds $17 million in federal money for programs created to make the state eligible for federal “Race to the Top” grants.”

Those who love to blame everything bad on a Republican were quick to bash some Republicans for voting “NO” on this legislation. What they decided to do is not to look to see that the bill was originally introduced by a Republican, but why let facts get in the way when you can simply forget to include them in their argument. After all, facts don’t work well when you’re trying to manipulate the truth or create new “facts”.

So let’s break down the bill. As you can see, this is specifically just for the Department of Education alone. Imagine that money actually being used on schools instead of the bureaucracy…

For reference, Midland Public Schools has a budget of ~$82,000,000 for 2010-2011: http://www.mps.k12.mi.us/assets/400/2010-11_BUDGET-June_2010_summary.pdf

Now wrap your head around this one using last years budget. If you abolished the Department of Education and spent that money on teachers (you know…all the ones that were laid off over the last few years), you could have a LOT of teachers. Say each teacher grossed $50,000/year:

112,800,000 / 50,000 = 2,276 teachers could be employed.

Let’s take it more into a “real” budget and say including benefits, it cost the school $80,000 per year to employ a teacher:

112,800,000 / 80,000 = 1,410 teachers could be employed. But nope – let’s spend it on red tape instead.

On top of that, you’re looking at an almost 20% increase for the budget of this bureaucracy! When was the last time you got a 20% raise for doing less work? Michigan public school enrollment hit it’s peak in the early 70s and has declined ever since: http://www.crcmich.org/PUBLICAT/1990s/1990/rpt298.pdf

At the end of the day, voting “NO” on SB-1154 was the best thing anyone could do for Michigan education regardless of party affiliation.

The number of bills that were introduced this week – 446. This is a little higher than the typical number of bills introduced each week in the House and Senate. This is likely due to a summer recess that is supposed to take place. At this point, I don’t see it as a bad thing they’ll be gone for a few weeks – it means they won’t be spending us into oblivion.

H.RES.1560 — Whereas computing technology has become an integral part of culture and is transforming how people interact with each other and the world around them. Supporting the increased understanding of, and interest in, computer science and computing careers among the public and in schools, and to ensure an ample and diverse future technology workforce through the designation of National Computer Science Education Week.

This one really burns me, especially being someone who is a part of the information technology instructional community, as our federal government has been attempting to do this for years. The bill is an attempt to give extra scholarships and incentives to “women and minorities” in the realm of computer science because the government feels not enough “women and minorities” are computer scientists. The incentives are not fair or equal to ALL people – it picks winners and losers based on financial incentives. A common sense approach to this is to look at the high rate of female RNs in the medical field. It’s more popular amongst females to take on the role of an RN versus a computer scientist just as the reverse is true. Let people chose their OWN future rather than try to steer people for the sake of “diversity”. This type of legislation is absolutely ridiculous and Vern Ehlers should be ashamed of himself for introducing it. Thankfully Vern will be replaced by someone like Justin Amash as Mr. Ehlers will be retiring January 3^rd, 2011. Vote: NO

H.CON.RES.314 — Expressing the sense of Congress on the closure of the main entrance to the Supreme Court. Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that–

(1) the Supreme Court tradition of openness as symbolized by its open front doors should be honored and continue to be upheld;

(2) even in the face of threats from enemies, it is of critical and symbolic importance that the United States demonstrates to the world that its most sacred institutions will continue to be open for business to all who seek justice; and

(3) the Supreme Court should act with great dispatch to take every step to open its main doors as a public entrance.

Now this is something I completely agree with. In fact, I believe ALL federal buildings should be as open as they were BEFORE September 11^th, 2001. We are supposed to live in an open and free society, but they’ve closed the doors to We, The People. Vote: YES

H.CON.RES.305 — Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning contraceptives for women.

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress–

(1) supports a major, national campaign to help all women, regardless of income, avoid unintended pregnancy and abortion through access to contraception; and

(2) supports programs and policies that make it easier for all women not only to obtain contraceptives but also to use them consistently and correctly over time.

There are already health and sex education classes in schools that explain matters of pregnancy and contraception. There are also state/county-sponsored clinics that allow men and women to obtain contraception free of charge. While I understand the intent of this bill is to help curb abortion, it certainly won’t stop it and is not likely to change the statistics significantly. Free educational material and free contraceptives are already out there and available, throwing more money at the problem won’t solve it. The government has already involved itself too much in both health and personal matters where the government should not have any part in to begin with. Vote: NO

H.RES.1579 — Establishing an earmark moratorium for fiscal year 2011.

…(d) This resolution shall not apply to any authorization of appropriations to a Federal entity if such authorization is not specifically targeted to a State, locality, or congressional district.

I got excited when I saw the title of this bill, but as usual, bill titles are very misleading. Because of the very last line (d), this bill is fairly meaningless. If (d) was removed, it would receive a yes vote, but because of (d), nothing is changed and earmarks continue. Vote: NO

H.R.5858 — FIRE Act. To amend the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to authorize a fire station construction grant program for 5 years, and for other purposes. `(3) CONSTRUCTION OF NON-FEDERAL FIRE STATIONS- In addition to the amounts authorized under paragraph (1), there are authorized to be appropriated to the Director for competitive grants for modifying, upgrading, or constructing non-Federal fire stations $210,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2015.’.

Non-federal means just that – non-federal. Let the taxpayers decide at the state and local level if they want to pass something such as this through millages. If they feel an “upgrade” to their fire station is necessary, let it happen through millages and donations as it always has. Don’t take taxes from Michigan to pay for a new fire station in California. Vote: NO

H.R.5871 — SEED Act. To amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to allow non-debt financing for for-profit companies in business incubators.

This is redistribution of wealth and debt – it even says so in the bill. They’re not even trying to hide their intentions any more. Vote: NO

H.R.5875 — Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010. Making emergency supplemental appropriations for border security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.

There is a LOT of money floating around in this bill being distributed to FEMA, FBI, ATF, and Federal Prisons, which are already heavily funded, but we have none to spend. We already have had plenty of money funneled into border protection, including the funding to build a fence that was squandered away on other projects. My simple suggestion is to dissolve the Department of Homeland Security to pay for the extra border protection. Vote: NO

This next bill has me puzzled and VERY skeptical. The time at which the resolution takes effect tells me it’s a trap. I’m posting this short bill in it’s entirety here. It has been created by Jared Polis (D-CO):

H.RES.1573 — To amend the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit bills and joint resolutions from containing more than one subject. To amend the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit bills and joint resolutions from containing more than one subject.

Resolved, That (a) rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by adding at the end the following new clause–

`11.(a) No bill, joint resolution, or amendment to any bill or joint resolution that contains more than a single subject may be received or considered in the House. A question of order on the number of subjects in any such bill, joint resolution, or amendment thereto, may be raised at any time.

`(b) The single subject of any bill or joint resolution shall be expressed in the title.

`(c) Paragraphs (a) and (b) do not apply to a bill, joint resolution, or amendment thereto that complies, consolidates, revises, or rearranges the statutory law.’.

(b) The amendment made by this resolution shall take effect immediately before noon, January 3, 2011.

Is Mr. Polis preparing for the House of Representatives to be recovered and taken over by Republicans? I’m thinking so. This is a bill that everyone should keep their eye on.

The purpose of the No Child Left Behind Sunset Act is similar to the Department of Education Abolition Act I wrote up. Both get in the way of educating our children in a way that is beneficial to our children. Because NCLB is creating incentives that can cause the best interests of the students to take a back seat, it needs to be removed from law.

As I had mentioned in the Department of Education Abolition Act, the No Child Left Behind Act has a negative influence on classrooms as the act gives incentives for schools to show increased scores on standardized tests. The problem is, those standardized tests are created by the state and the standards have found to have been lowered so that more students appear to be improving. If a school appears to be doing better, they continue to receive their funding at the federal level. If students do poorly, schools can lose that funding. NCLB also diminishes incentives for more talented, high performing students to exceed any expectations other than the minimum requirements set by NCLB.