Free Republic

Inequity is a problem minorities in Detroit face on several fronts, attendees of the Michigan Roundtable Equity Action Summit Saturday at Detroit's Cobo Center said. The all-day event involved the sharing of stories from people who said they are victims of the unfair systems that punish blacks and other minorities related to public transportation, housing and the criminal justice system. Groups talked about the issues and developed strategies to resolve them. Rev. Jeremiah Wright, President Baack Obama's Chicago pastor whose known for controversial sermons damning America and saying the government brought 9/11 upon itself, was the keynote speaker. Monica Lewis...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Caterpillar Inc. executives defended a tax strategy Tuesday that has saved the manufacturing giant billions in U.S. taxes. They got support from Republican senators, including one who said the company deserves an award. Caterpillar has avoided paying $2.4 billion in U.S. taxes since 2000 by shifting profits to a wholly-controlled affiliate in Switzerland, according to a report released by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. Levin chairs the Senate investigations subcommittee. On Tuesday, Levin grilled Caterpillar executives and their accountants at a hearing on the company's tax strategy. "Caterpillar is an American success story that produces iconic industrial machines,"...

Earlier this week the Arizona Republic editorial board published an opinion piece titled, “Dennis Burke should've been celebrated, not sanctioned.” The board portrays the former U.S. Attorney and Operation Fast and Furious ring-leader as a whistleblower and victim rather than holding him accountable for his extensive and reckless actions during his time in office. Consider the following a direct response. Between 2009 and 2011 when Operation Fast and Furious was active, Dennis Burke and his Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley refused to prosecute nearly every straw purchaser case handed to them citing “no probable cause.” One of those straw purchasers...

MIDLAND, MI — Less than 24 hours after U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, announced he will not seek re-election in November, Midland's state senator announced he will run for Camp's seat. State Sen. John Moolenaar, R-Midland, issued a press release Tuesday afternoon, April 1, stating he will seek election to represent Michigan's 4th Congressional District. "I will be a strong conservative voice for the hard working families of mid and northern Michigan," Moolenaar said. "In Michigan I have fought against overreaching government policies that are killing jobs and overburdening individuals." Camp announced late in the day Monday, March 31, that...

Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma is battling cancer and will retire at the end of his term.... When Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., pointed out that the majority of cancer centers in the country aren´t covered under Obamacare while arguing that the law´s problems go beyond early website issues, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., dismissed the critique as too "in the weeds." Coburn, a medical doctor battling cancer, panned the coverage offered to cancer patients. "Nineteen of the cancer centers in this country, only five are covered under Obamacare," he told the Washington Examiner Tuesday, a data point he

Michigan mom and leukemia patient Julie Boonstra already had her run-in with the tolerant Left. Boonstra, who filmed an ad about her struggles with Obamacare for Americans for Prosperity, was targeted by Michigan Rep. Gary Peters, who threatened to sue her into silence. That wasn’t the end of the attacks, however. Slade O’Brien, southern regional director for AFP, shared this letter sent anonymously to Boostra. …

In 2011, Michigan changed its open-ended film incentive program to a capped $25 million annual subsidy. Since then, it’s been increased to $50 million. While the executive budget this year calls for another $25 million for this program, it should be eliminated entirely. All told, the state has devoted $444.7 million to film productions from both the tax credits and appropriations, according to the state treasury and budget offices. Despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars, the program is not designed to establish a permanent film industry. Approved film productions spend money in the state and leave. The state sends...

April 1, 2014 3:54 PM Democratic Senator Tells GM Car Owners to Stop Driving Immediately By Jim Geraghty A reader sends this in and quips, “Blumenthal to Michigan: Drop Dead!” CBS Connecticut: “Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal is among those calling for GM to make a stronger statement and tell owners to stop driving their cars immediately. Blumenthal believes GM made a decision to hide the defect of ignition switches.” Considering the risk from the switches, Blumenthal’s advice isn’t the most outlandish conclusion in the world. If an owner of one of the recalled cars wants to drive it at all,...

Hydrogen-powered cars are coming to U.S. dealerships. But will Americans buy them? Toyota (NYSE: TM ) is betting that at least a few Americans will be willing to pay for a car that runs on hydrogen. The company is expected to launch a production version of its FCV Concept vehicle in Japan, the U.S., and Europe next year. The FCV Concept is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. Essentially, it's an electric car that extracts its energy from compressed hydrogen, instead of a battery. Advocates of fuel-cell-powered cars say they're just as clean as battery-electrics -- their only "exhaust" is...

Long before the Chevrolet Cobalt became known for having a deadly ignition defect, it was already seen as a lemon. Owners complained about power steering failures, locks inexplicably opening and closing, doors jamming shut in the rain — even windows falling out. Long before the Chevrolet Cobalt became known for having a deadly ignition defect, it was already seen as a lemon. Owners complained about power steering failures, locks inexplicably opening and closing, doors jamming shut in the rain — even windows falling out.

A new set of seating is being torn down outside the Plymouth Wildcats varsity boys’ baseball field, not long before the season begins, because the fields for boys’ and girls’ athletics must be equal. […] (A)fter a complaint, the U.S Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights investigated the new addition and says it must be torn down. It says the facility was no longer equal to the girls’ softball field next door, which has old bleachers and an old scoreboard. …

In February, Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) was asked during a panel what he thought about Washington Post conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin saying negative things about him. Amash dismissed it and suggested people should go look at how often Rubin criticizes Rand Paul instead. So I did. Jennifer Rubin mentioned Senator Rand Paul’s name 143 times in the first three weeks of March (March 1-21) on her Right Turn blog. The only other political figure mentioned more often than Paul was President Obama at 206 times (not including “Obamacare,” but just President Obama specifically). The most frequently mentioned named after Sen....

Former Vice Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman’s loss in the Connecticut Democratic Senate primary may have grabbed the headlines, but Republican Congressman Joe Schwarz’s primary loss on Tuesday may create political waves just as big. Tim Walberg pulled off the rare feat of defeating an incumbent Congressman (by a 53 percent to 47 percent margin). The message from Michigan: the conservative base is tired of big-government Republicans. Schwarz of course was backed or praised by much of the GOP establishment and business lobbying community. He also received help from liberal groups, labor unions, and the union-allied Republican Main Street Partnership. Schwarz’s...

Update 1145am EST. Many of you are asking for the list of the anti-drilling Republicans. The group who succeeded in pressuring the GOP to cave in calls itself the "Republican Main Street Partnership." They're holding a press conference at 130pm EST in Washington, D.C. to bray about their "victory." Here's some more info: Main Street Leaders who helped broker the deal to eliminate ANWR from budget cuts: Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH), Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), Rep. Jim Walsh (R-NY), Rep. Joe Schwarz (R-MI), RMSP Executive Director Sarah Chamberlain ResnicHere's the complete list of "Main Street" members in Congress. 1pm EST....

(MFNS) - North Korea announced today that its leader Kim Jung-Un has a perfect NCAA tournament bracket on the road to the final four of the prestigious collegiate basketball competition. “Our dear leader has once again vanquished the capitalist slime with his superior brainpower. While the imperialist scum sided with the largest, most powerful programs, Kim Jung-Un foresaw the power of underdog squadrons."A contest sponsored by Warren Buffet promised to give $1 billion to anyone with a perfect bracket at the end of the tournament. Every contestant has already been eliminated.Although Kim did not officially enter the contest, officials...

When the manager of a Michigan gas station failed to show up for work on time, her third-shift employee did what any of us would do; he left an angry note on the door, locked up and went home. Okay, most of us would never do it. But how awesome was it that he did?  The BP manager, who declined to be named, said she was running “30 minutes late” because she slept through her alarm. The tardy manager also said she was surprised that “Joe” left the note on the door instead of calling her before leaving the store.

The U.S. Department of Justice determined that a Michigan high school broke federal civil rights law by allowing its boys’ baseball team to fix up its athletic field, making it nicer than the field belonging to the girls’ softball team–even though the improvements were paid for privately. To avoid a fine, Plymouth Canton Community Schools had no choice but to take down the new bleachers and scoreboard, which had been paid for through a private fundraising drive. According to DOJ OCR, it was illegal to provide unequal resources for boys and girls. The bleachers also ran afoul of disability law,...

A Coopersville kindergarten teacher who resigned from the Michigan Education Association under the state's worker freedom law says she is glad her ordeal is over, but is concerned for her colleagues, according to a story in The Grand Rapids Press. "I am very thankful that the MEA has finally recognized my right to opt out, but my settlement doesn't bring justice to the thousands of other teachers in my position in West Michigan and across the state of Michigan," Miriam Chanski, who along with Petoskey teacher Ray Arthur is now free from the MEA, told The Press. "This is not...

The U.S Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has forced a school in Michigan to tear down a brand-new set of bleachers for its boys’ varsity baseball team because the new seating is nicer than the girls’ softball bleachers. The raised seating deck for the boys’ baseball team, which was paid for with money raised by parents, was put in place because fans who’d come to watch games at Plymouth High School in Canton, Mich., were having a hard time seeing the game through the chain-link fence WJBK-TV reported. The parents installed the new bleachers themselves and even added a new...

Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday extended federal recognition to the marriages of about 300 same-sex couples that took place in Michigan before a federal appeals court put those unions on hold. Holder's action will enable the government to extend eligibility for federal benefits to the Michigan couples who married Saturday, which means they can file federal taxes jointly, get Social Security benefits for spouses and request legal immigration status for partners, among other benefits. The attorney general said the families should not be asked to endure uncertainty regarding their benefits while courts decide the issue of same-sex marriage in...