Friday, February 29, 2008

A Challenger for Dean in the 75th

Not sure how I got on this mailing list, but it's appropriate that it landed in my "Junk e-mail" box.

Conservative Republican Dan Tietema is running against Robert Dean in the 75th District this fall, and from his announcement e-mail we can see that he is using the tried and true tactic of going on the attack first, predictable oh-so-stale and boring talking points - "Granholm! Taxes! Eeeeeeek!” - while offering nothing of substance on his own. Sound familiar? A regular Bush Republican is Mr. Tietema, you can tell already.

First, we must lament the 2006 loss of what I'm sure would have been stellar additions to the utterly worthless "cut and spend" House Republican herd.

Both Tim Doyle and Christian Meyer would have clearly made a better Representative and given Michigan a better economic outlook than where we are presently at today.


Tim Doyle reached new lows with his race-baiting fliers to the 75th in the last election, and then claimed he had nothing to so with it. Just the kind of upstanding pass-the-buck citizen we needed in Lansing, right?

And when it came to the reality of a House Republican providing a "better economic outlook" last year, are we really expected to think that either Doyle or Meyer would have been any different than this batch of fools?

Literally minutes after much of the House Republican caucus put up scores of "yes" votes in support of spending plans that were based on the $1.4 billion in tax hikes that nearly all of them voted against, House Speaker Andy DILLON (D-Redford Twp.) was asked to opine. Here the GOP members were ready to support the budgets that spent money, but weren't willing to raise the revenue needed to pay for the spending.

"That was one of the funny comments from someone in my office who said, 'It's amazing we're sitting here negotiating about how we're going to spend money when they didn't vote for any of it," Dillon said.

"Is that hypocritical?" asked Peter LUKE of Booth Newspapers.

"Yes. I think it is, to be honest with you."


Perhaps Meyer and Doyle would have been in the minority of House Republicans that wouldn't vote for the budgets that saved public safety, health care and education though, which would have put them firmly in the "draconian cuts" camp.

The 13 budgets that had cleared the Senate by 6 p.m. today were passed, on average, with 35-3 support. The 14 budgets that had cleared the House by 6 p.m. today were passed, on average, with 88-21 support.


But then again, they probably wouldn't vote for the cuts that would have been required either - none of the House Republicans would.

The Michigan House of Representatives today rejected a set of proposed Republican budget cuts that gut funding for kids and schools, senior health care, and police and firefighters at a time when Michigan needs to invest in the future and move forward.

"The Republican cuts hurt our kids, our seniors and our veterans," House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.) said. "The Republican plan is a stark example of the different vision that Democrats and Republicans have for Michigan's future. Democrats believe in investing in Michigan's future, our children and schools, and in standing up for our veterans who fought for our country. Do we want to move Michigan forward or backward? This is the question before lawmakers. House Democrats want to move Michigan forward."


So, back to Mr. Dan Tietema, drying his tears over the loss of what certainly would have been another rubber stamp for DeRoche's joke of a caucus. Dan's a "business man", of course...

As a small business owner (Omni Medical Waste Inc.), I have been able to support my family and community through very hard word and dedication. I am very blessed in the amount of success that I have! been able to achieve and I am very appreciative in the support of my wife, family and God.

What gets me fired up the most is when I see folks in Lansing who seem to do everything in their power to making life even tougher on our business community and economy.


For Tietema, "fired up the most" means protecting business interests first. Dan has managed to be successful though; Lansing didn't get in his way. Wonder how he managed to do that. Just like DeVos, he wants to run on that claim that creates cognitive dissonance - business is great for him, but somehow no one else can succeed unless he gets to Lansing to straighten things out.

Matter of fact, he was so successful that he had to quit a run for Grand Rapids mayor last year because he was just too darn busy to even think of sacrificing his time for "community". From the GR Press, March 27, 2007-

Businessman Dan Tietema announced Monday he is withdrawing as a candidate for Grand Rapids mayor. "I have been experiencing larger than expected growth in business and need to explore an opportunity to expand my services throughout the Midwest," Tietema said. Tietema, 37, is owner and president of Omni Medical Waste Inc., a Wyoming firm that specializes in the management and disposal of medical waste. He also ran an unsuccessful campaign for a 3rd Ward City Commission seat in 2005.


Hmmm. He announced his run for mayor in early February, by the end of March he had dropped out. Not a well thought-out decision it appears. Maybe it was just a whim. Wonder if his "business opportunities" will come first this time around, too.

And going back to that 3rd Ward run, Dan proved that his Republican roots run deep - he's a hypocrite. Running against James White, Dan tried to level charges that White was being supported by out-of-district business interests. There as a little problem with that though... (GR Press, July 31st, 2005)

Dan Tietema, one of two challengers for White's seat, raised questions about money collected from developers who live outside the 3rd Ward.

"So whose voice is being heard first -- yours or theirs?" Tietema asked in a campaign brochure.

White, who has said the city could ease its budget crisis by selling some riverfront property, called the attacks "mean-spirited."

"I'm proud of the fact that the corporate world has supported me," said White, whose campaign has raised $10,700. His largest donation was $2,000 from a Detroit-based law firm.

Tietema reported $1,000 from Bill Bowling, chairman of Grubb & Ellis-Paramount Properties, a development firm, and Bowling's wife. They live in Middleville.

Bowling "is a very close family friend and someone who is a mentor," said Tietema, who said most of his $15,000 in campaign donations came in small amounts.


Yes, we definitely need another mean-spirited "It's OK If You're Me" Republican in office. That has worked out so well, hasn't it?

It also turns out that Tietema is a guy who just didn't give a damn a few short years ago. Couldn't be bothered to vote in local elections for the community he now wants to represent. (GR Press, July 22, 2005)

Dan Tietema, 35, also challenging White, has voted in 10 of the past 23 elections, and passed over all local elections until he cast a ballot in a Kent Intermediate School District special election in February, 2004.

"My interest in politics really started at the national scene and the state," he said. "My commitment to the city didn't get started until recently."


But Dan is a quick study, you betcha. He's here now to save the day if his business doesn't come first. All you have to do is add a bit of Anuzis and stir, and waa laa!, you got yourself another Republican who will be a puppet for extremist members of the MI GOP, just insert this talking point into the empty head-

Governor Granholm and her “tax and spend” friend, Representative Dean, have taken no accountability in the mistakes they have made. They just keep doing the same thing repeatedly. Higher taxes combined with NEW taxes DOES NOT work!


Those WORDS in CAPITAL LETTERS prove that!

Funny thing is, addressing the deficit has been in effect for all of, what, four months now? And before that we had how many years of tax cuts?

So, who wants to do the same thing "repeatedly"?

Tietema will be sharing his "plan" very soon, and my guess is that we will see more tax cuts for business interests with a heaping dose of extremist social policy (he was once endorsed by Right to Life, and has radical righty Jerry Zandstra on the top of his list of supporters in this e-mail).

In other words, more of the same from the Grand Obstructionist Party and their lockstep DeRoche Republican clones. It would be amusing if it weren’t so boring. And dangerous.