Misplaced Priorities

While our legislators are hunting, vacationing and playing, Wayne County burns. Thousands of homes up for tax foreclosure in 2008 are listed in today's Free Press . Apparently, our legislators could care less. As we are finding it harder to find things to be thankful for, they are off relaxing from doing nothing to help. This is unforgivable. We are expected to take cut after cut to our personal budget through wage cuts, higher deductibles for our insurance, tax increases or job loss. They are content with pretending they are trying to do their job with no sacrifice on their part.

What is it going to take to get you boiling mad. They are taking our homes and wages now without our consent, what will they take next? This holiday season will be horrible for some families. While I think that we all should be as generous as possible, I think it should be our personal decision. By the time the state gets its grubby hand on the money there will be none left to distribute. Do yourself a favor. Check out MichiganRecalls.com. Let's get some of these guys out of office as a lesson to others. If enough of you contact them, maybe we will not have to take three more years of Granholm's bad policies.

Forgive Me

Yesterday was the clarity hearing at Wayne County for recall language on the petitions for Rep. Andy Dillon, Rep. Marc Corriveau and Rep. Edward Gaffney. Well, I lost it. I must have been having flashback of the McCollough Recall attempt of 1983. I managed to get out two coherent words of the many I spoke. I do not like to loose it like that and don't very often. I was not intimidated - just angry. I should not have let them get to me like that.We knew that the decision was made before we got there. We knew that was part of their strategy to delay the approval until after the November elections and into the coldest weather. The judge who sat on the board admitted he had contributed to Corriveau but did not recuse himself because he thought he could be fair.

The walls were lined with Teamsters, UAW and MEA members. There were also elected officials, lawyers and bunch of political types. You would think that the Teamsters and UAW would be on our side. The only reason for them to come there is intimidation. If I hadn't been so angry, I would have laughed. These are probably the same people who will be sent out to stalk us while we are collecting signatures. If they start pushing me or getting in my face and threatening me they will have pepper spray to think about and of course I will not hesitate to call the police. These people do not believe in free speech. They believe in their speech.

When Speaker Dillon had a town meeting in Redford, I had something else to do and did not feel the need to go because we had been communicating for months. I was told by a reliable source that he had body guards. I do not know what he is thinking about. Recall is the choice to prevent violence. It is operating within the law. It is a rational way to express your dissatisfaction after discussion fails. We have operated with integrity and it is they who wish to resort to thuggery.

How is it they feel it is necessary to thwart our efforts by these means. Could it be they have something much greater to lose then the average taxpayer? Why did I feel the need to ask the obvious? We have put another poll question on our website. It is the language that we submitted on the petition. I can only ask you to be honest and vote once . Remember that the person being recalled gets to put a 200 word rebuttal on the ballot as well. Please take the time to take the poll on the language and if you have not voted on the poll to recall, do that one too.

Rose Bogaert, Chair
Wayne County Taxpayers Association, Inc.