No matter if targeting for liberal or conservative groups, protecting the people of the state of Michigan from the abuses of government is one of the AG's duties. Bill Schuette today announced he is calling for a real investigation:

" I do not believe that President Barack Obama's administration is capable of investigating itself. That is why I have called for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to investigate the I.R.S.'s actions targeting certain non-profit groups simply because of their political beliefs.

Allowing the I.R.S. to act in this heavy-handed, un-American way will have a chilling effect on our very American principles of freedom of speech, assembly and participation in the public sphere.

A special prosecutor is necessary to ensure that an investigation is independent, and that it uncovers the full extent of I.R.S. activities.

If you know of an organization that believes it has been targeted by the I.R.S, please forward that information and all supporting material to my office in care of my Director of Public Affairs, Rusty Hills, at hillsr@michigan.gov so that we can provide this information to U.S. Representative Dave Camp, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, for his review.

I could not possibly agree more with Senator Cruz.  And, that's the problem.  The Sea of Red sent in 2010, has lost my trust.  Remember 4/10/2011: "By the way Neil, they're [House Republicans] 100% of the spending bills and taxing authority under the Constitution. They can stop whatever they want to stop."

Its irritating to the core. So, after hearing that sixty two former employees of Pinnacle Foods (in Imlay Township) have been convicted and sentenced for unemployment fraud, I immediately wondered what might foster such an environment of this kind of cheating.  It was discovered that the former employees had been wrongfully collecting unemployment benefits while continuing to work. And in the end, all of the individuals convicted, were ordered to pay restitution totaling $960,012 to the State of Michigan.

Shaun Thomas, acting director of the UIA said

"Through great work of the Lapeer County Prosecutor's office, working together with our UIA investigators, we were able to bring these cases to justice and take another step toward rooting out UI fraud in Michigan. The UIA is serious about detecting and preventing fraud and will continue to work with partners such as the Lapeer County Prosecutor's Office to stop fraudulent schemes such as this one."

Those big dollars never came back did they?

Nope.

This Pinnacle UI fraud effort represents the largest single prosecution of unemployment fraud from one employer in Michigan history. But not the largest fraud that involves a company that has received money from bread winners and other business owners struggling to survive in an era of unprecedented regulatory nightmares and work place rules.

But wait .. there is more!

"This week marks the 40th anniversary of the Watergate hearings.  For those of you too young to remember, back then the administration had an enemies list.  They were spying on reporters, and they used the IRS to harass groups they didn't like.  Thank God those days are gone forever."  (Jay Leno, circa last week)

Jay Leno may yet accomplish with President Obama what Johnny Carson did with President Nixon, in that JWC turned RMN into a national laughingstock, and thus greased the skids for Tricky Dick's premature exit from the White House.  We can only hope that JDL can accomplish the same with BHO before February 2014 rolls around.

Four scandals, count them, four.  Benghazi, the IRS's thuggish behavior, the DOJ wiretapping the AP, and the EPA's selective fee waivers.  Those are just the ones that are currently "front-page news."  There're plenty of others from the earlier years of this Administration (Operation Fast & Furious comes to mind), and there are likely others not yet brought to light.  Solomon had it absolutely right when he said that there is nothing new under the sun.

The more I hear or read about what's going on, the more I find myself in agreement with Speaker Boehner:  I'm not interested in who's losing their job over this; I want to know who's going to jail over this.

Detroit - Former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway shouldn't spend a day in federal prison, her lawyer said Monday, despite admitting she orchestrated an elaborate two-year scheme to defraud her bank of $600,000 owed on a Grosse Pointe Park home.
....

Fishman questioned sending Hathaway to prison. "She has lost a job she loved [keeps her SCOMI pension], and given up her law and real estate licenses," he wrote.

"She has been publicly humiliated ... the societal value of sending Ms. Hathaway to prison is dubious at best."

Hathaway used her position in society to fraud it.  What a despicable shyster.

This is not the call for an end to bloated government that abuses us, but it is a good start in examining the worth of programs that are designed to provide advantage to those [WHO DECIDE TO LIVE IN] in high risk areas.  Looking forward, there are a lot of federal government programs that involve the states, that should be dealt with in like fashion.  For example, Michigan is a donor state with our road taxes coming back to us less than 100% of what we send DC.

U.S. Representative Candice Miller (MI-CD10) recently sent a letter to the Michigan Governor Rick Snyder requesting that his administration and the Michigan Legislature explore possible options for allowing Michigan to opt out of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).  Miller said:

"The NFIP is a broken and unfair federal program that must be eliminated.  This program continues to spiral into billions of dollars in debt - currently reaching $28 billion and no end in sight.  The NFIP is inflicting financial harm to Michigan residents across the state by forcing many to pay excessive premiums for flood coverage they don't need to subsidize the artificially low premiums in flood prone states.  For instance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, NFIP policyholders in Michigan paid $315.5 million in premiums and received $60 million in claims over the period from 1978 through 2012, a ratio of over five dollars paid into the program for every one dollar received in benefits.  In the same time period, the state of Louisiana paid in only about one dollar for every four it received in benefits.  That is what happens when rates are set by political considerations instead of actual risk.  In short, the federal government is a bad insurance company and should not be in the business.

"I continue to ask the question - why in the world is the federal government in the flood insurance business?

Though most is spot on, about half way through he really hits a great point. Watch for his note on "punishment" Also, the sign that reminded me of all the great signs during the Tea Party growth period; The one that reads "If you thinks health care is expensive now, wait till its free" warmed my heart with its truthfulness and insight.