Up North Progressive
Politics and commentary for Northern MichiganAttorney General Dana Nessel Begins the Process to Decommission Enbridge Line 5
Thursday , 27, June 2019 Enbridge Line 5, Environment Leave a comment
Today Dana Nessel began the process of decommissioning Enbridge Line 5. The 66-year-old pipeline poses a devastating ecological threat to the Straits of Mackinac and the Great Lakes. The Attorney General filed a motion to dismiss Enbridge’s June 6, 2019, lawsuit to force the state to stick to an unconstitutional law passed during the shame duck session of 2018. She also filed a lawsuit against Enbridge in Ingham County Circuit Court to have the oil and gas pipelines shut down and removed from the straits.
The motion and lawsuit are the Attorney General’s response to Enbridge walking away from negotiations with the state of Michigan to decommission the pipelines earlier in the month. Per AG Nessel’s summons, the pipeline violates both the public trust doctrine and the Michigan Environmental Protection Act. In April of 2018, an anchor strike occurred on electrical wire housing in the straits that resulted in cooling fluid inside the housing to leak and continued to do so for days after the strike. Former AG Bill Schuette sued Vanenkevort Tug and Barge for the strike that caused damage to the power line housing as well as the pipelines under the Mackinac Bridge. The Straits of Mackinac are well known for whipsawing currents that require boats using their anchors when traveling through the narrow waterway.
The best course of action for Michigan and the Great Lakes is close down and remove Enbridge Line 5 before a catastrophic oil leak happens in the Straits of Mackinac. Today, Attorney General Dana Nessel began that process to finally shut the pipeline down.
Baraga County Republicans Display Profanity at a Public Family Event With Sponsors
Wednesday , 12, June 2019 Sad!, Trumpenreich 1 CommentRemember when the MAGA chuds got their undies all in a bunch over Governor Whitmer’s 2018 campaign slogan, “fix the damn roads” because she used a swear word? The same people who scolded her for that recently flew this banner in public in L’Anse, Michigan.
Baraga County Republican Party members attended Lake Trout Festival in L’Anse today. The response was tremendous! Dozens of new activists were signed up.
Baraga County is excited to re-elect President Donald J. Trump and the entire conservative ticket. #KeepAmericaGreat
When people join the Republican Party they’re not members, they’re “activists.” Interesting.
This banner was part of a booth at a public event with sponsors and activities for children because this festival is a family event.
Only old white men are allowed to swear in politics. At least their banner didn’t display this catchy slogan.
Yeah, that’s real.
@SenVanderWall and the Big Star Lake Beach Wars: An Angry Constituent Reaches Out to Up North Progressive
Sunday , 9, June 2019 Candidates, Community, Michigan Republicans 1 Comment
Up North Progressive enjoys receiving comments from readers. Sometimes they are messages of appreciation and support for the content. Sometimes they are messages full of vitriol from conservatives for telling the truth. There are even times when readers make threats because they really hate the truth. Once in a while, a reader leaves a comment because they want to share information and are even willing to go on the record, usually anonymously, because they feel the information is important enough they want to share with others.
And then there is this comment left a little over a week ago using a fake email address so Up North Progressive couldn’t follow up with them.
J smith, it would really be nice if you could provide some method of contact so your story could be told with more detail. It’s understood you don’t like Curt VanderWall (R-Blessed be the fruit) because he allegedly isn’t being very neighborly with his neighbors on Big Star Lake. You’re so angry about it, you want someone to run against him in the next election for the 35th State Senate District.
Up North Progressive did make the effort to follow up with the reader’s comment by contacting The Big Star Lake Association asking if they were aware of VanderWall throwing people off of the beach. About a week later, this is the response received.
Good Afternoon,
I am responding to an email that was sent to our website regarding Mr Vanderwall.
The Big Star Lake Association does not get involved with Riparian rights issues around our lake. Our focus is on recreational activities for members as well as safety and environmental issues.
That being said I am aware of some issues near Mr Vanderwall’s property but to the best of my knowledge he has not thrown anyone off the beach in front of his cottage. His neighbor however is actively pursuing what he believes are his legal rights to his property.
Name Redacted
Big Star Lake Association
The good people of the Big Star Lake Association don’t want to get involved, but they know there are problems with Curt VanderWall and his neighbors. “Actively pursuing legal rights to his property” sounds serious.
J smith, if you or someone else who knows what’s going on at Big Star Lake with Curt VanderWall would like to discuss this issue further, please feel free to contact Up North Progressive. And please use a real email address this time.
Larry Inman Got a Note From His Doctor to Keep His House Seat
Thursday , 6, June 2019 Michigan Republicans Leave a comment“The drugs made me do it you can’t kick me out now!”
Using the excuse you were high as a kite when you used extortion to get money for your vote is a hell of a defense.
Or is this to explain why Larry Inman lied to the FBI?
Now that there’s a doctor involved it’s all privileged information.
Stay tuned, this is going to get better in the near future.
You Better Quit Larry We Really Mean It This Time: Michigan State House District 104 is Stuck With Larry Inman to the Bitter End
Wednesday , 5, June 2019 Michigan Republicans Leave a comment
Yesterday, the Michigan State House drafted a resolution “urging” Larry Inman (R-Would it have been okay if Betsy DeVos wrote the check?) to resign his seat as representative for the 104th State House District. On May, 15, 2019, Inman was charged by a federal court for extortion and lying to the FBI. Inman, claiming the feds didn’t interpret the texts he sent to a union leader correctly because there’s the letter of the text and the spirit of the text, refuses to resign and insists he will remain as the elected legislator of the 104th district until the end of his term.
Gunslinger of the House, Lee Chatfield, (R – immune to level 9 TSA abjuration spells), and Christine Greig, (D-Farmington Hills), co-sponsored the resolution draft, which cites the Michigan Constitution’s oath of office and several Michigan House rules about how not to openly be a criminal while serving in public office. Michigan Republicans insist they are the icons of virtue and morality in politics with great examples in recent memory like Cindy Gamrat, Todd Courser, Rick Snyder, and John Engler. They certainly won’t let Larry Inman get away with this outrage.
So far, Inman has been booted from the Republican House Caucus and all of his committee seats. Inman, joking that he should have called instead of texting insists he is being misrepresented and his texts were taken out of context.
In the Era of Trump, why are Republicans surprised when their members holding down ballot offices behave just like Trump? The White House currently houses a reality TV star who made his money laundering Russian mob money, accepted money from people in exchange for influence in his administration to pay for his inauguration, and used campaign funds to pay hush money to porn stars Trump slept with when Barron was a newborn. The current Secretary of Education publicly bragged about buying votes in the Michigan Legislature to get what she wants. The former governor poisoned Flint with lead, exposed thousands of children to the toxic metal and killed 13 people. Yesterday we found out the Republicans deliberately hid evidence from the investigation into that disaster. Honestly, Larry Inman is behaving like the typical Republican. We’ll have to wait and see if Lee Chatfield can manage to muster up the votes to expel him.
The Snyder Legacy Updated: The Nerd’s Mobile Seized in Flint Water Crisis Investigation
Monday , 3, June 2019 Flint Water, Nerd Problems Leave a comment
Rick Snyder and his lethal emergency manager law may finally be receiving the justice it deserves. On May 19, 2019, warrants were issued to seize the mobile devices of the former Governor and over sixty other state officials involved with the cover-up of the Flint water disaster. Included with the Governor’s Office were warrants for former employees of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Technology, Management and Budget, and Department of Health and Human Services. Attorney General Dana Nessel appointed Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud to handle the investigation into Snyder’s administration.
The AG’s office under the management of Bill Schuette brought charges on fifteen officials, some still working for the state. The new Solicitor General, using warrants signed by a Flint Judge, now has newly uncovered evidence hidden from or by the previous investigation, according to an FOIA request obtained by the Associated Press:
The warrants came after Hammoud this year reported that boxes of records were discovered in the basement of a state building, including phone extractions and a “trove” of other materials stored on hard drives that allegedly had not been turned over in response to the subpoenas.
The warrants include the devices of Dan Wyant, former director of the MDEQ, Lt. Governor Brian Calley, Snyder’s proxy Richard Baird, and former Chief of Staff Dick Posthumus.
Hammoud fired Todd Flood, the former special prosecutor working on the case for the past three years in April of 2019, accusing him of mishandling evidence. Flood’s investigation did lead to fifteen people being charged with various crimes related to the Flint crisis, but so far none of them have spent any time in prison for their involvement. Flood and his team of lawyers who worked on the case insist they all acted professionally.
As stated in recent motions, the prosecution is aware of substantial potential evidence that was not provided to the original prosecution team from the onset of the investigation … The team is currently in the process of obtaining this evidence through a variety of means, including search warrants. The team is also conducting a thorough review of existing and newly received evidence pertaining to the Flint water crisis.
Hammoud’s investigation with this new evidence will hopefully bring justice to the people of Flint who have been living with this crisis since 2014. The water in Flint is still undrinkable and the residents still rely on bottled water to drink, cook, and clean. Legionnaire’s Disease deaths caused by the contaminated water from the Flint River is now up to thirteen, with conservative estimates of ninety people total affected. Thousands of people were exposed to lead, including 6,000 children. Snyder’s lasting legacy of his administration will always be his emergency managers and the devastation they waged on the people of the state of Michigan. May this new investigation brings the consequences Rick Snyder deserves as soon as possible.
Marijuana Alone Won’t Fix the Damn Roads But It Could Help
Thursday , 30, May 2019 Governor Gretchen Whitmer Leave a commentThe Michigan Policy Conference on Mackinac Island is wrapping up today. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the new auto insurance reform law that will hopefully lower the highest premiums in the country. Noted along with the irony that the governor signed the bill while visiting the one place in the state where cars are not allowed is the continued issue over how to fund fixing Michigan’s crumbling infrastructure.
One of the selling points of approving the new recreational marijuana law in the 2018 election was the revenue generated from sales could be used to fix the roads Republicans raised taxes and fees to do, then tossed the money into the general fund and spent it on whatever. Governor Whitmer, however, doesn’t seem convinced marijuana would be much help.
In order to raise enough money from pot sales to fix the roads, @whitmer says: every man woman and child would have to smoke about $2500 in marijuana a year. And at that level, nobody is going to care about the damn roads.
— Kathy Gray (@michpoligal) May 30, 2019
$2500 of marijuana per year seems pretty low. It costs a cigarette smoker smoking one pack a day about the same amount of money, and the taxes Michigan imposes on tobacco sales are pretty hefty. Taxes on marijuana sales can’t pay for all of the road repairs Michigan needs, but it could help.
Governor Whitmer supported legalizing recreational marijuana. She knows that it won’t cover all of the costs, but like tobacco, not everyone in the state uses marijuana. Recreational marijuana users will likely be more than willing to do their part to generate money to fix the damn roads. What Whitmer is trying to get across to the people of Michigan is even with taxes from marijuana sales, the 45 cent gas tax is still needed to really raise the funds Michigan needs to repair and replace our crumbling roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Two Michigan Republicans Made Headlines This Week: Guess Which One the @GOP’s Mad At
Saturday , 18, May 2019 Sad! Leave a comment
This has been a banner week for Republicans demonstrating just how ethically bankrupt they are. On May 15, 2019, State House District 104 Rep Larry Inman did a little oopsie when he deliberately texted leadership of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and other unions demanding donations for his no vote on a bill to strip prevailing wage laws in the state. A federal grand jury indicted him for bribery, fraud, and lying to the FBI. Inman, of course, says the texts to the union leaders were completely taken out of context and he has no intention of resigning his office. This is Inman’s last term as a state rep, but you know he’s thinking about 2020.
State Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield (R – Loaded, unregistered firearms are a-okay at the airport in Emmet County) said Inman needs to go and others insist if Inman doesn’t resign on his own, then Chatfield needs to expel him from the State House. Inman embarrassed the Michigan GOP, but since Republicans have no shame when it comes to beating the working people of this state into the ground with low wages, no voice at the ballot box, no health care, and treating women like chattel, we will just have to wait and see what happens next.
But come the weekend and a challenger appeared to cause Republicans even more problems. Justin Amash (R – Pretends to be a rebel but still tows the GOP line 99% of the time) of Michigan’s 3rd US Congressional District made a public statement on Saturday that Donald Trump is a horrible person doing horrible things and they’re all worth being impeached. The Democratic Leadership in Washington can’t even commit to doing what they should have started doing as soon as Nancy Pelosi had her hands on the gavel again, and here’s this Republican of all people saying it’s time to kick Donald and the rest of Trump Crime Family out of the White House.
Here are my principal conclusions:
1. Attorney General Barr has deliberately misrepresented Mueller’s report.
2. President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct.
3. Partisanship has eroded our system of checks and balances.
4. Few members of Congress have read the report.— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
Amash didn’t tweet any great revelation. Republicans know this is the truth even without reading the Mueller report which they haven’t. Republicans, in order to maintain control of government by any means necessary, know Trump is a criminal and trash and a moron and they don’t care. Republicans are perfectly happy with a White House administration with no understanding of the Constitution, the Rule of Law, or even a sense of human decency.
Both Dum Dum and Ronna ROMNEY McDaniel tweeted their disappointment a member of the Republican Party grew a spine and tweeted the truth. As for Amash, GOP gerrymandering of Michigan’s congressional districts make Amash ironclad safe – at least until the districts are redrawn so all Michigan votes matter again.
Two Michigan Republicans. One doing typical Republican things which of course means illegal things but in this current, nothing matters timeline we live in no one will likely do a damn thing about it until the feds cart Larry Inman off to prison. The other doing the right thing and the entire GOP is more than willing to hang Justin Amash as an example for the rest of degenerate trash that makes up the GOP what will happen to them if they fall out of line.
The Republican Party is the party of no values, no ethics, and no honor and they are perfectly fine with that. The question is, are you?
The hunt begins!