Free Republic

State Rep. Jim Townsend wants to amend Michigan’s constitution to allow a graduated state income tax, and raise the maximum rate to 10 percent. This would hurt the state as a whole, including those he wants to help. The prosperity of this and every other state is determined by its rate of economic growth. And for growth, what matters is not the average tax rate but the marginal tax rate. That is, the amount of extra taxes an individual must pay on his or her next dollar of income. The higher the marginal rate the less incentive a person has...

Hackers took control of a car and crashed it into a ditch by remotely breaking into its systems from 10 miles away whilst sitting on their sofa. In the first such breach of its kind security experts cut out the engine and applied the brakes on the Jeep Cherokee, sending it into a spin. The US hackers said they used just a laptop and mobile phone to access the Jeep’s on-board systems via its wireless Internet connection. They claim that more than 470,000 cars made by Fiat Chrysler could be at risk of being attacked by similar means - including...

In the small rural city that I live in the UP of Michigan the City Manager walked into his office on July 13, submitted his letter of resignation effective immediately, turned his keys in and walked out the door. Now the proverbial piece of excrement wants to have the acceptance of his resignation rescinded. The city council has already appointed a interim city manager and the person is doing the job, suddenly the excrement wants his job back. the city manager's history throughout all of Michigan uper and lower peninsula is that he has been terminated from eight other positions

An openly gay United Methodist pastor said his "I Dos" in front of more than 30 clergy members and 100 guests Friday, days after he was forced to resign for having a partner.The Rev. Benjamin Hutchison married his partner, Monty Hutchison, in a ceremony on the steps of the historic Cass County Courthouse.Hutchison called it a joyous occasion."Walking around the courthouse and seeing all the support, seeing all clergy there gathered standing there saying that they support it, they're not opposed to it, it really was a blessing today."Hutchison, 31, resigned earlier this week from his position as senior pastor...

DETROIT (AP) — Police in Detroit are searching for men who allegedly robbed two young couples at gunpoint in separate attacks two hours apart and gang-raped the women while forcing the male victims to watch.

Detroit police are searching for suspects in two sexual assaults Thursday night. Both happened in the same area on Detroit's west side. A man and woman, both in their early twenties, were walking near West McNichols, three blocks east of Wyoming on Detroit's west side when they were confronted by six men with bad intentions. Police say the couple was dragged around the back of a nearby building, stripped of their clothes, robbed, and the woman sexually assaulted. A short time later, two men struck again, pulling the same tactic with another young couple. Forcing the male companion to watch...

Republican spoiler Donald Trump will bring his firebrand campaign to southeast Michigan next month as the keynote speaker at a party fundraiser for two southeast Michigan counties. Campaigning in Iowa Saturday, the flamboyant businessman offered a sample of what Republicans in Genesee and Saginaw counties might expect on Aug. 11. There, he made withering remarks about Arizona Sen. John McCain’s war record that ignited another firestorm of criticism against McCain, who is leading a crowded GOP in polls. http://patch.com/michigan/birmingham/gop-spoiler-trump-bring-firebrand-campaign-michigan-0

From CBS Detroit:  The hunt is on for a group of men in Detroit who allegedly attacked two couples while they were walking down the street, forcing the male victim to watch as his female companion is gang raped.The first incident unfolded around 11:30 p.m. Thursday in a well-lit area near McNichols Road and Birwood Street. The alleged attack happened in a northwest neighborhood just blocks away from Marygrove College.

FULL TITLE: Fmr. Dem. Gov. Granholm, Who Vetoed Partial Birth Abortion Bans Twice, Caught Lying on Camera About Law Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI) had a very liberal record during her tenure, twice vetoing a ban on partial birth abortions. A recent hidden camera investigation caught Granholm misrepresenting the true nature of Michigan’s abortion laws, saying that they were more restrictive than they actually are in what appears to be an effort to downplay the horrors of late term abortions. The video was taken by a citizen journalist who wishes to remain anonymous and has provided the video exclusively to...

Black activists got angry when the Detroit Police Chief James Craig called the people responsible for shooting 12 people on a playground killing one of them urban terrorists. They complained about the insult and want him to apologize. Craig refused to back down and stuck to his guns. Craig said quite bluntly: “You will allow this to continue if you do nothing. It must stop now.” That’s when the president of the Detroit National Action Network (founded by Al Sharpton) Rev. Charles Williams took umbrage to Craig’s assertions that these thugs are urban terrorists: “We want to make it...

An illegal immigrant from Mexico is being held in the Van Buren County Jail for allegedly kidnapping a 13-year-old Florida girl and sexually assaulting her at a home in Hartford. 23-year-old Aurelio Hernandez-Gomez was arraigned over the weekend, and also faces extradition to Florida on the kidnapping charge. The teen will soon be reunited with her family in Florida according to the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department. She was reported missing on July 7 from Polk County. She was recovered at the same home where police arrested Hernandez-Gomez in the 66-thousand block of 48th Avenue. Child Protective Services took...

There are 314,000 fewer people in Michigan collecting unemployment benefits than six years ago, a nearly 90 percent decline. Some see this as another indicator of the state’s economic rebound. There were 363,212 people collecting unemployment as of Jan. 24, 2009. That number dropped to 49,060 as of June 20, 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. “Michigan’s growing economy is putting people back to work,” said James Hohman, the assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “Fewer people on unemployment insurance is one of the added benefits.” From 2006 to 2010, Michigan led...

Illinois and Michigan have traded places on two key metrics for measuring prosperity and opportunity, and both changes are embarrassing for the Land of Lincoln. The first major change came in October 2014, when Michigan surpassed Illinois for total factory jobs. Michigan now has 25,000 more factory jobs than Illinois even though the Wolverine State’s economy is only three-quarters the size of Illinois’. Now, new data from the Department of Human Services shows the embarrassing role reversal has come full turn. In March of this year, Illinois bumped off Michigan to become the Midwest’s No. 1 user of the Supplemental...

<p>An 8½-foot-tall bronze monument featuring a goat-headed Satan will be unveiled at a secret, ticketed event in Detroit after the owner of a popular restaurant and entertainment complex backed out and opponents issued threats, organizers said.</p> <p>The 1½-ton Baphomet, which is backed by an inverted pentagram and flanked by statues of two young children gazing up at the creature, shows Satan with horns, hooves, wings and a beard.</p>

Gilda Jacobs, president and CEO of Michigan League for Public Policy, is against eliminating the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit so that money can be used to fix the roads. The Detroit Free Press reported that Jacobs said using the EITC to free up money for roads is like "trying to fill the Grand Canyon with a bucket of sand." ForTheRecord says: The state’s version of the Earned Income Tax Credit will cost the state budget $118 million in the upcoming fiscal year. That’s 10 percent of the road funding target. A bucket of sand that is roughly 10 percent...

In 2012, teachers in the Roscommon area school district became the first in decades to "decertify" the Michigan Education Association — fire it — and start their own independent union. Now, three years later, the president of the startup local, called the Roscommon Teachers Association, said 64 of 65 eligible teachers have voluntarily paid dues as of the recently completed school year. It probably didn't hurt that the union's $500 dues are about half the amount charged by the MEA, the state's largest teachers union. “Roscommon teachers show that voluntary unionism can thrive if the union is proving its worth...

<p>A 23-year-old man who told police he entered the United States illegally from Mexico has been arrested in connection with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 13-year-old Florida girl.</p> <p>The Van Buren County sheriff's office in southwestern Michigan says Aurelio Hernandez-Gomez was arraigned Friday in South Haven.</p>

Ted Nugent and Kid Rock have teamed up to record a song in support of the Confederate flag. The song, titled “Kiss My Rebel Ass,” was reportedly written and recorded in the space of a day after Nugent, seeing that Kid Rock had invited anyone protesting his use of the flag at his concerts to “kiss my ass,” reached out to express his support via text message. “When you get a text from the Nuge, you know you’ve done something right,” laughed Rock during a joint appearance the two made on WWJ Newsradio 950. Added Nugent, “Rock ‘n’ roll ain’t...

Someone has to step up once the Prancing Horse is spun off.Sergio Marchionne has done a great job reviving Chrysler, Fiat and with the FCA group as a whole, but if his latest gambit works he will go down as legend in the auto industry. Last year we reported that FCA was planning to spin off Ferrari to grab some cash. The majority of the company (80 percent) would be owned by FCA shareholders so the company would still wield a lot of power over Ferrari. That being said Marchionne needs a new brand to fill the Prancing Horse’s shoes,...

MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – An Indiana resident called an "illegal immigrant" on court documents has been charged with sexually groping two 17-year-old girls on the Fourth of July in a Michigan's Adventure wave pool. Eliazar Rivas-Rodriguez, 29, of Middlebury, Indiana, was arraigned Tuesday, July 7, on two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving force or coercion. The arraignment was conducted through a Spanish-speaking interpreter, according to court records.