Republican Michigander

SCOTUS to hear McDonald 2nd and 14th Amendment case

2009-12-09T23:31:00.000-05:00

This case, McDonald v Chicago, is one of the biggest cases in SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) history. It is the most important 2nd Amendment case in history, and one of the biggest in regards to the 14th Amendment. This is a rare direct shot against some bad precedence. In order to understand this case some background is needed.

Back in November of 07, I had a five part series over the history and interpretation, and of the 2nd Amendment by the courts. This was before the DC v Heller ruling.

Part 1 was an overview and a preview of DC v Heller (Then Parker v DC)

Part 2 was a focus on the original intent of the founding fathers.

Part 3 focused on the pre-Miller cases

Part 4 focused on the Miller case

Part 5 was a preview of DC v Heller

Those were written before the ruling on Heller. Other related posts I've had on Heller are these.

Amici

My comments on Heller

That leads to the current issue. Incorporation. The 2nd Circuit, led by now SCOTUS Justice Sonia Sotomayor ruled against it. The 9th circuit of all places, supports it under a due process claim. The 7th Circuit upheld the ban, setting up this case to be a SCOTUS showdown. The general history of incorporation is through "substantive due process" or "equal protection." The Privileges and Immunities clause is almost never used.

Soon, the Chicago Gun Case is being heard by SCOTUS. You can find all the background, the filings, and opinions at the Chicago Gun Case website run by the Second Amendment Foundation and Gura and Possessky law firm. Alan Gura was the attorney for Heller and he is back again for the McDonald case.

This case is similar to Heller in that it is a gun ban case regarding the 2nd Amendment. However, Heller was fighting federal law. McDonald is fighting a local ordinance which is a whole different matter. The precedent is long and bad going back to the post-reconstruction days following the Civil War.

After the Civil War, there were three constitutional amendments known as the Reconstruction Amendments. They were the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. The 13th eliminated slavery (the Emancipation Proclamation only eliminated it in Confederate States). The 15th addressed voting rights. The 14th Amendment is at issue in the McDonald case and reads as follows.

|'''Section 1.''' All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

'''Section 2.''' Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

'''Section 3.''' No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

'''Section 4.''' The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

The two provisions are at the heart of this case. Due Process is the backup plan and the conventional argument. The home run argument is Privileges and Immunities. McDonald is going for the home run, as seen in his brief. This is a real ballsy brief to say the least. It is 91 pages and most of it is attacking 136 years of bad precedence going back to the infamous Slaughter-House cases. Much less of it addresses substantive due process, which is the more conventional argument these days.

One of the most universally condemned SCOTUS decisions was the Slaughter-House cases. Most conservative and liberal legal academics alike agree that it was a poor decision. Slaughter-House was an 1873 decision that gutted much of the 14th Amendment. Most of the case was not related to civil rights or even argued. However, the court went beyond what was expected of a case dealing with a New Orleans butcher industry. In the words of Justice Miller

In the case of Paul v. Virginia,24 the court, in expounding this clause of the Constitution, says that 'the privileges and immunities secured to citizens of each State in the several States, by the provision in question, are those privileges and immunities which are common to the citizens in the latter [83 U.S. 36, 77] States under their constitution and laws by virtue of their being citizens.'

The constitutional provision there alluded to did not create those rights, which it called privileges and immunities of citizens of the States. It threw around them in that clause no security for the citizen of the State in which they were claimed or exercised. Nor did it profess to control the power of the State governments over the rights of its own citizens.

Its sole purpose was to declare to the several States, that whatever those rights, as you grant or establish them to your own citizens, or as you limit or qualify, or impose restrictions on their exercise, the same, neither more nor less, shall be the measure of the rights of citizens of other States within your jurisdiction.

In short, according to Slaughter-house, which has not been completely overturned, states can take away rights because a state citizen is different than a US citizen. The Slaughter-House line of cases lead to the Cruikshank and Presser cases which said that the Second Amendment applies only to the federal government.

From Cruikshank, Justice Waite writing the opinion:

We have in our political system a government of the United States and a government of each of the several States. Each one of these governments is distinct from the others, and each has citizens of its own who owe it allegiance and whose rights, within its jurisdiction, it must protect. The same person may be at the same time a citizen of the United States and a citizen of a State, but his rights of citizenship under one of these governments will be different from those he has under the other. Slaughter-House Cases, 16 Wall. 74.

And Cruikshank (1876) comes from Slaughter-House. It gets worse, much worse.

The first amendment to the Constitution prohibits Congress from abridging "the right of the people to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." This, like the other amendments proposed and adopted at the same time, was not intended to limit the powers of the State governments in respect to their own citizens, but to operate upon the National Government alone.

You read that right. The fist amendment protections are limited to the national government alone. "Bullshit," you say. Today, this is no longer the case, but that was the case in 1876. That is their view of the Bill of Rights. The same reasoning they used in the first amendment, applied to the second Amendment. That reasoning for the second amendment is still in affect today, and one of the favorite talking points among the left today. If you love Cruikshank, you better love all of it. I don't like any of it. Checks and balances in favor of freedom are good for our country.

More from Justice Waite and the Court:

The second and tenth counts are equally defective. The right there specified is that of "bearing arms for a lawful purpose." This is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence. The second amendment declares that it shall not be infringed, but this, as has been seen, means no more than that it shall not be infringed by Congress. This is one of the amendments that has no other effect than to restrict the powers of the national government, leaving the people to look for their protection against any violation by their fellow citizens of the rights it recognizes, to what is called, in The City of New York v. Miln, 11 Pet. 139, the "powers which relate to merely municipal legislation, or what was, perhaps, more properly called internal police," "not surrendered or restrained" by the Constitution of the United States.

And this.

The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits a State from denying to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws; but this provision does not, any more than the one which precedes it, and which we have just considered, add anything to the rights which one citizen has under the Constitution against another. The equality of the rights of citizens is a principle of republicanism. Every republican government is in duty bound to protect all its citizens in the enjoyment of this principle, if within its power. That duty was originally assumed by the States, and it still remains there. The only obligation resting upon the United States is to see that the States do not deny the right. This the amendment guarantees, but no more. The power of the national government is limited to the enforcement of this guaranty.

Presser (1886) reaffirmed Cruikshank. Presser can be read here. The opinion was written by Justice Woods. It was still the Waite Court in that period. It repeats Cruikshank when it comes to the 2nd Amendment. The last case SCOTUS addressed regarding the 2nd Amendment and state laws is Miller v Texas, which did not raise a 14th Amendment objection. Bad move. They followed Cruikshank, and added this.

And if the Fourteenth Amendment limited the power of the states as to such rights, as pertaining to citizens of the United States, we think it was fatal to this claim that it was not set up in the trial court. In Spies v. Illinois, 123 U. S. 131, 123 U. S. 180, objection was made that a certain letter was obtained from the defendant by an unlawful seizure, and the constitutional immunity was set up in the Supreme Court of Illinois, as well as in this Court, but it was not made on the trial in the court of original jurisdiction. It was held, both by the Supreme Court of Illinois and by this Court, that the defense should have proven that the letter was unlawfully seized by the police, and should then have opposed its admission upon the ground that it was obtained by such unlawful seizure. Said the Chief Justice:

"As the supreme court of the state was reviewing the decision of the trial court, it must appear that the claim was made in that court, because the supreme court was only authorized to review the judgment for errors committed there, and we can do no more. . . . If the right was not set up or claimed in the proper court below, the judgment of the highest court of the state in the action is conclusive, so far as the right of reviews here is concerned."

That is the binding precedence when it comes to the Second Amendment and state/local laws, at least until now. Presser, Cruikshank and Slaughter-House can be knocked out. McDonald is attempting to do just that, starting with Chicago.

The McDonald brief reads much like a history thesis, reintroducing John Bingham's thoughts who was the author of the first clause of the 14th Amendment. Much of the brief centers around the Northern originalist though in that period. John Bingham, Jacob Howard (Reconstruction Committee) and Thaddeus Stevens. It was understood and mentioned specifically by Stevens, that the Privileges and Immunities in the 14th Amendment referred to the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution. Obviously that includes the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. The Connecticutt Governor in 1866 was complaining of guess what...gun grabbing. Page 57 of the PDF file. - http://www.chicagoguncase.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/08-1521ts.pdf

McDonald asks the court specifically to overturn Slaughter-House, Cruikshank, and Presser. Charles Black (involved in Brown v Board of Education), who wrote "A New Birth of Freedom" (One of my textbooks I had to read) was cited in this brief. He stated that Slaugher-House was "probably the worst holding, in its effect on human rights, ever uttered by the Supreme Court." I'd argue Dred Scott, but Slaughter-House is a close second. Most scholars would probably cite Plessy v Ferguson in 1896, but I doubt that would be around if it wasn't for Slaughter-House and its cousin, the "civil rights cases" of 1883.

This brief also argues for relief under substantive due process, but that's not the significant home run attempt here.

ChicagoGunCase.com has all of the filings on their site, including the Amici Curiae of interest groups and others.

The NRA brief argued more strongly for due process, but did mention Privileges and Immunities as an alternative.

The Cato Institute attacked Slaughter-House.

The liberal Constitutional Accountability Center supports McDonald as well in a quite strong brief.

The Conservative Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence (Ed Meese) also had a supportive brief for McDonald on Privileges and Immunity grounds.

The libertarian Institute for Justice agreed with both the liberals and the conservatives.

37 States including Michigan signed a brief supporting McDonald. Thank you Mike Cox. Members of Congress also signed a support brief. Levin and Stabenow did not sign this. What a shocker. However, Dave Camp, John Dingell, Pete Hoekstra, Thad McCotter, Candice Miller, Gary Peters (That shocks me with his State Senate record), Mike Rogers, Mark Schauer (another shocker), and Bart Stupak all signed it. Only Vern Ehlers, John Conyers, Sander Levin, and Carolyn Kilpatrick did not among out house reps. Those were mostly on due process arguments. A state legislature brief was filed. Some Michigan state reps signed on board that brief. Brian Calley, Kevin Elsenheimer, Rick Jones, Mike Lahti, Richard LeBlanc, Matt Lori, Andy Neumann, Paul Opsommer, Randy Richardville, and Joel Sheltrown all signed their names to supporting McDonald.

Others supporting McDonald are think tanks from all over the spectrum, law enforcement groups (public policy grounds), several professors, and some prosecutors.

The anti-gun Brady Campaign and anti-gun NAACP filed briefs in support of neither party. Brady is pushing for "rational basis" review instead of the proper strict scrutiny standard in protecting fundamental rights. The NAACP brief does not want Slaughter-House addressed in this case and focused on public policy reasons to implicitly support the ban.

There is some controversy with the attempt to take out Slaughter-House, even among libertarians. Some interesting commentary at Reason Magazine, as well as by Professors Olin Kerr and Randy Barnett at Professor Volokh's blog.

As someone who is not all that fond of substantive due process (neither Lochner nor the abortion cases) I happen to support Alan Gura and McDonald's gutsy move. The Privileges and Immunities clause has been neglected since the Slaughter-House line of cases. It needs to be overturned. Without Slaughter-House, there is no Cruikshank or Presser, which was worse. There might not even have been Plessy if it wasn't for Slaughter-House. I am mostly textualist in my interpretations, and originalist when there is any ambiguity. The 2nd Amendment is clear. The 14th Amendment is even clearer. The intent is clear and open for all to read. It's time that the Bill of Rights - ALL of them, are officially incorporated through the 14th Amendment's Privileges and Immunities clause. This is about the Bill of Rights, no more, no less.

Allegan County Updated (Part 2, 2006 to present)

2009-12-09T10:24:00.000-05:00

Part two of Allegan County

In 06, the trouble started to roll. 06 and 08 were disasters statewide, but the GOP took a major beating in West Michigan, by our standards. Republicans need to win Allegan County big, not just win it. Take a map of the townships from the census, and then look at where the red to blue flips were. They were in the Southern portion of the County. North (Dutch) stayed red, South went blue. It's the Holland and GR Suburban influence verses the Kalamazoo and South Haven influence. Douglas became incorporated as well. The reason why its so blue is that it is right next to Saugatuck. Previously, it was part of Saugatuck Township for election purposes.

Governor 06	DeVos	Granholm	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
City of Allegan	636	903	18	1557	-267	40.85%	58.00%	-17.15%
Allegan Twp	782	961	21	1764	-179	44.33%	54.48%	-10.15%
Casco Twp	551	597	12	1160	-46	47.50%	51.47%	-3.97%
Cheshire Twp	360	444	16	820	-84	43.90%	54.15%	-10.24%
Clyde Twp	293	301	12	606	-8	48.35%	49.67%	-1.32%
Dorr Twp	1950	1132	31	3113	818	62.64%	36.36%	26.28%
City of Douglas	212	367	8	587	-155	36.12%	62.52%	-26.41%
City of Fennville	150	152	10	312	-2	48.08%	48.72%	-0.64%
Fillmore Twp	1023	205	10	1238	818	82.63%	16.56%	66.07%
Ganges Twp	558	609	18	1185	-51	47.09%	51.39%	-4.30%
Gunplain Twp	1118	1359	47	2524	-241	44.29%	53.84%	-9.55%
Heath Twp	992	409	13	1414	583	70.16%	28.93%	41.23%
City of Holland	1863	917	22	2802	946	66.49%	32.73%	33.76%
Hopkins Twp	608	507	13	1128	101	53.90%	44.95%	8.95%
Laketown Twp	2103	1032	39	3174	1071	66.26%	32.51%	33.74%
Lee Twp	397	432	24	853	-35	46.54%	50.64%	-4.10%
Leighton Township	1449	577	19	2045	872	70.86%	28.22%	42.64%
Manlius Twp	809	435	8	1252	374	64.62%	34.74%	29.87%
Martin Twp	581	397	10	988	184	58.81%	40.18%	18.62%
Monterey Twp	484	338	11	833	146	58.10%	40.58%	17.53%
City of Otsego	539	779	22	1340	-240	40.22%	58.13%	-17.91%
Otsego Twp	889	1169	22	2080	-280	42.74%	56.20%	-13.46%
Overisel Twp	1158	180	11	1349	978	85.84%	13.34%	72.50%
City of Plainwell	576	802	23	1401	-226	41.11%	57.24%	-16.13%
Salem Twp	1111	554	9	1674	557	66.37%	33.09%	33.27%
City of Saugatuck	201	377	8	586	-176	34.30%	64.33%	-30.03%
Saugatuck Twp	643	811	14	1468	-168	43.80%	55.25%	-11.44%
City of South Haven	1	5		6	-4	16.67%	83.33%	-66.67%
Trowbridge Twp	440	590	14	1044	-150	42.15%	56.51%	-14.37%
Valley Twp	363	388	16	767	-25	47.33%	50.59%	-3.26%
Watson Twp	376	410	10	796	-34	47.24%	51.51%	-4.27%
City of Wayland	739	717	15	1471	22	50.24%	48.74%	1.50%
Wayland Twp	616	680	22	1318	-64	46.74%	51.59%	-4.86%

Total	24571	19536	548	44655	5035	55.02%	43.75%	11.28%

The Secretary of State and Attorney General races were the 06 bright spots. Land didn't have much of a dropoff from 2002.

Sec of State 06	Land	Sabaugh	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
City of Allegan	905	580	39	1524	325	59.38%	38.06%	21.33%
Allegan Twp	1083	610	32	1725	473	62.78%	35.36%	27.42%
Casco Twp	653	436	33	1122	217	58.20%	38.86%	19.34%
Cheshire Twp	494	293	21	808	201	61.14%	36.26%	24.88%
Clyde Twp	353	236	9	598	117	59.03%	39.46%	19.57%
Dorr Twp	2380	720	40	3140	1660	75.80%	22.93%	52.87%
City of Douglas	294	260	20	574	34	51.22%	45.30%	5.92%
City of Fennville	199	102	7	308	97	64.61%	33.12%	31.49%
Fillmore Twp	1082	127	19	1228	955	88.11%	10.34%	77.77%
Ganges Twp	727	404	29	1160	323	62.67%	34.83%	27.84%
Gunplain Twp	1534	873	50	2457	661	62.43%	35.53%	26.90%
Heath Twp	1159	213	16	1388	946	83.50%	15.35%	68.16%
City of Holland	2193	543	36	2772	1650	79.11%	19.59%	59.52%
Hopkins Twp	758	337	19	1114	421	68.04%	30.25%	37.79%
Laketown Twp	2501	604	40	3145	1897	79.52%	19.21%	60.32%
Lee Twp	450	339	41	830	111	54.22%	40.84%	13.37%
Leighton Township	1647	348	27	2022	1299	81.45%	17.21%	64.24%
Manlius Twp	956	269	11	1236	687	77.35%	21.76%	55.58%
Martin Twp	713	260	11	984	453	72.46%	26.42%	46.04%
Monterey Twp	577	229	23	829	348	69.60%	27.62%	41.98%
City of Otsego	797	481	26	1304	316	61.12%	36.89%	24.23%
Otsego Twp	1264	710	36	2010	554	62.89%	35.32%	27.56%
Overisel Twp	1237	98	8	1343	1139	92.11%	7.30%	84.81%
City of Plainwell	825	499	37	1361	326	60.62%	36.66%	23.95%
Salem Twp	1324	310	13	1647	1014	80.39%	18.82%	61.57%
City of Saugatuck	288	257	20	565	31	50.97%	45.49%	5.49%
Saugatuck Twp	851	568	29	1448	283	58.77%	39.23%	19.54%
City of South Haven	3	3		6	0	50.00%	50.00%	0.00%
Trowbridge Twp	590	395	29	1014	195	58.19%	38.95%	19.23%
Valley Twp	487	237	22	746	250	65.28%	31.77%	33.51%
Watson Twp	497	265	19	781	232	63.64%	33.93%	29.71%
City of Wayland	977	445	28	1450	532	67.38%	30.69%	36.69%
Wayland Twp	833	421	33	1287	412	64.72%	32.71%	32.01%

Total	30631	12472	823	43926	18159	69.73%	28.39%	41.34%

Mike Cox actually improved over his 2002 numbers statewide.

AG 06	Cox	Williams	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
City of Allegan	828	607	62	1497	221	55.31%	40.55%	14.76%
Allegan Twp	1009	624	58	1691	385	59.67%	36.90%	22.77%
Casco Twp	634	447	38	1119	187	56.66%	39.95%	16.71%
Cheshire Twp	456	310	31	797	146	57.21%	38.90%	18.32%
Clyde Twp	337	235	20	592	102	56.93%	39.70%	17.23%
Dorr Twp	2255	752	93	3100	1503	72.74%	24.26%	48.48%
City of Douglas	270	281	20	571	-11	47.29%	49.21%	-1.93%
City of Fennville	177	114	8	299	63	59.20%	38.13%	21.07%
Fillmore Twp	1062	136	18	1216	926	87.34%	11.18%	76.15%
Ganges Twp	685	421	45	1151	264	59.51%	36.58%	22.94%
Gunplain Twp	1446	910	78	2434	536	59.41%	37.39%	22.02%
Heath Twp	1086	255	36	1377	831	78.87%	18.52%	60.35%
City of Holland	2058	607	70	2735	1451	75.25%	22.19%	53.05%
Hopkins Twp	733	345	30	1108	388	66.16%	31.14%	35.02%
Laketown Twp	2368	685	59	3112	1683	76.09%	22.01%	54.08%
Lee Twp	421	351	54	826	70	50.97%	42.49%	8.47%
Leighton Township	1578	378	43	1999	1200	78.94%	18.91%	60.03%
Manlius Twp	899	294	24	1217	605	73.87%	24.16%	49.71%
Martin Twp	683	268	21	972	415	70.27%	27.57%	42.70%
Monterey Twp	553	229	36	818	324	67.60%	28.00%	39.61%
City of Otsego	764	490	36	1290	274	59.22%	37.98%	21.24%
Otsego Twp	1149	759	69	1977	390	58.12%	38.39%	19.73%
Overisel Twp	1208	107	22	1337	1101	90.35%	8.00%	82.35%
City of Plainwell	777	530	50	1357	247	57.26%	39.06%	18.20%
Salem Twp	1250	347	45	1642	903	76.13%	21.13%	54.99%
City of Saugatuck	255	271	30	556	-16	45.86%	48.74%	-2.88%
Saugatuck Twp	777	606	39	1422	171	54.64%	42.62%	12.03%
City of South Haven	3	3		6	0	50.00%	50.00%	0.00%
Trowbridge Twp	567	393	41	1001	174	56.64%	39.26%	17.38%
Valley Twp	450	268	27	745	182	60.40%	35.97%	24.43%
Watson Twp	457	279	35	771	178	59.27%	36.19%	23.09%
City of Wayland	900	480	53	1433	420	62.81%	33.50%	29.31%
Wayland Twp	755	461	51	1267	294	59.59%	36.39%	23.20%

Total	28850	13243	1342	43435	15607	66.42%	30.49%	35.93%

Stabenow somehow won re-election by a big margin, similar to Granholm's numbers.

Senate 06	Bouchard	Stabenow	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
City of Allegan	644	872	33	1549	-228	41.58%	56.29%	-14.72%
Allegan Twp	801	917	32	1750	-116	45.77%	52.40%	-6.63%
Casco Twp	522	600	30	1152	-78	45.31%	52.08%	-6.77%
Cheshire Twp	357	431	30	818	-74	43.64%	52.69%	-9.05%
Clyde Twp	255	331	18	604	-76	42.22%	54.80%	-12.58%
Dorr Twp	1979	1124	61	3164	855	62.55%	35.52%	27.02%
City of Douglas	215	351	17	583	-136	36.88%	60.21%	-23.33%
City of Fennville	146	151	12	309	-5	47.25%	48.87%	-1.62%
Fillmore Twp	1015	197	20	1232	818	82.39%	15.99%	66.40%
Ganges Twp	588	564	31	1183	24	49.70%	47.68%	2.03%
Gunplain Twp	1165	1290	57	2512	-125	46.38%	51.35%	-4.98%
Heath Twp	992	392	23	1407	600	70.50%	27.86%	42.64%
City of Holland	1871	818	47	2736	1053	68.38%	29.90%	38.49%
Hopkins Twp	619	485	22	1126	134	54.97%	43.07%	11.90%
Laketown Twp	2134	990	43	3167	1144	67.38%	31.26%	36.12%
Lee Twp	344	475	34	853	-131	40.33%	55.69%	-15.36%
Leighton Township	1458	534	38	2030	924	71.82%	26.31%	45.52%
Manlius Twp	813	421	16	1250	392	65.04%	33.68%	31.36%
Martin Twp	599	374	16	989	225	60.57%	37.82%	22.75%
Monterey Twp	479	331	23	833	148	57.50%	39.74%	17.77%
City of Otsego	540	777	19	1336	-237	40.42%	58.16%	-17.74%
Otsego Twp	889	1128	46	2063	-239	43.09%	54.68%	-11.59%
Overisel Twp	1149	186	15	1350	963	85.11%	13.78%	71.33%
City of Plainwell	572	795	24	1391	-223	41.12%	57.15%	-16.03%
Salem Twp	1107	521	38	1666	586	66.45%	31.27%	35.17%
City of Saugatuck	211	358	10	579	-147	36.44%	61.83%	-25.39%
Saugatuck Twp	664	764	29	1457	-100	45.57%	52.44%	-6.86%
City of South Haven	1	5		6	-4	16.67%	83.33%	-66.67%
Trowbridge Twp	448	553	33	1034	-105	43.33%	53.48%	-10.15%
Valley Twp	355	396	16	767	-41	46.28%	51.63%	-5.35%
Watson Twp	383	386	29	798	-3	47.99%	48.37%	-0.38%
City of Wayland	733	699	36	1468	34	49.93%	47.62%	2.32%
Wayland Twp	627	638	29	1294	-11	48.45%	49.30%	-0.85%

Total	24675	18854	927	44456	5821	55.50%	42.41%	13.09%

Not even Hoekstra was safe in some areas he normally won. Saugatuck and Douglas flipped to the dems at Congressional level. Hoekstra was still extremely strong there, but it wasn't the normal sweep. He ran 3% behind his 04 numbers, which is good considering the year.

Congress 2nd 06	Hoekstra	Kotos	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Dorr Twp	1150	402	43	1595	748	72.10%	25.20%	46.90%
City of Douglas	275	282	16	573	-7	47.99%	49.21%	-1.22%
City of Fennville	179	107	13	299	72	59.87%	35.79%	24.08%
Fillmore Twp	1079	126	26	1231	953	87.65%	10.24%	77.42%
Heath Twp	1116	248	28	1392	868	80.17%	17.82%	62.36%
City of Holland	2135	591	41	2767	1544	77.16%	21.36%	55.80%
Laketown Twp	2409	684	60	3153	1725	76.40%	21.69%	54.71%
Manlius Twp	941	286	17	1244	655	75.64%	22.99%	52.65%
Monterey Twp	559	235	29	823	324	67.92%	28.55%	39.37%
Overisel Twp	1213	106	27	1346	1107	90.12%	7.88%	82.24%
Salem Twp	1255	347	42	1644	908	76.34%	21.11%	55.23%
City of Saugatuck	277	281	16	574	-4	48.26%	48.95%	-0.70%
Saugatuck Twp	814	603	31	1448	211	56.22%	41.64%	14.57%

Total	13402	4298	389	18089	9104	74.09%	23.76%	50.33%

Upton won easily, but ran 7% behind his 04 numbers. It was a sweep and over 60% in the county still.

Congress 6th 06	Upton	Clark	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
City of Allegan	840	640	39	1519	200	55.30%	42.13%	13.17%
Allegan Twp	1005	685	32	1722	320	58.36%	39.78%	18.58%
Casco Twp	663	455	20	1138	208	58.26%	39.98%	18.28%
Cheshire Twp	464	316	24	804	148	57.71%	39.30%	18.41%
Clyde Twp	334	246	10	590	88	56.61%	41.69%	14.92%
Dorr Twp	988	471	39	1498	517	65.95%	31.44%	34.51%
Ganges Twp	690	456	22	1168	234	59.08%	39.04%	20.03%
Gunplain Twp	1516	906	49	2471	610	61.35%	36.67%	24.69%
Hopkins Twp	654	415	31	1100	239	59.45%	37.73%	21.73%
Lee Twp	427	377	29	833	50	51.26%	45.26%	6.00%
Leighton Township	1510	435	38	1983	1075	76.15%	21.94%	54.21%
Martin Twp	678	286	14	978	392	69.33%	29.24%	40.08%
City of Otsego	808	488	23	1319	320	61.26%	37.00%	24.26%
Otsego Twp	1241	756	30	2027	485	61.22%	37.30%	23.93%
City of Plainwell	790	550	29	1369	240	57.71%	40.18%	17.53%
City of South Haven	3	3		6	0	50.00%	50.00%	0.00%
Trowbridge Twp	560	436	26	1022	124	54.79%	42.66%	12.13%
Valley Twp	444	285	13	742	159	59.84%	38.41%	21.43%
Watson Twp	440	310	32	782	130	56.27%	39.64%	16.62%
City of Wayland	807	575	40	1422	232	56.75%	40.44%	16.32%
Wayland Twp	692	540	32	1264	152	54.75%	42.72%	12.03%

Total	15554	9631	572	25757	5923	60.39%	37.39%	23.00%

The State Senate seat was not a contest in Allegan County. Birkholz won easily.

St. Senate 24th 06	Birkholz	Royston	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
City of Allegan	819	695		1514	124	54.10%	45.90%	8.19%
Allegan Twp	963	740		1703	223	56.55%	43.45%	13.09%
Casco Twp	631	481		1112	150	56.74%	43.26%	13.49%
Cheshire Twp	459	337		796	122	57.66%	42.34%	15.33%
Clyde Twp	351	240		591	111	59.39%	40.61%	18.78%
Dorr Twp	2078	982		3060	1096	67.91%	32.09%	35.82%
City of Douglas	330	245		575	85	57.39%	42.61%	14.78%
City of Fennville	182	121		303	61	60.07%	39.93%	20.13%
Fillmore Twp	1065	149		1214	916	87.73%	12.27%	75.45%
Ganges Twp	723	439		1162	284	62.22%	37.78%	24.44%
Gunplain Twp	1377	1030		2407	347	57.21%	42.79%	14.42%
Heath Twp	1089	287		1376	802	79.14%	20.86%	58.28%
City of Holland	1687	505		2192	1182	76.96%	23.04%	53.92%
Hopkins Twp	655	439		1094	216	59.87%	40.13%	19.74%
Laketown Twp	2406	695		3101	1711	77.59%	22.41%	55.18%
Lee Twp	419	388		807	31	51.92%	48.08%	3.84%
Leighton Township	1508	470		1978	1038	76.24%	23.76%	52.48%
Manlius Twp	925	299		1224	626	75.57%	24.43%	51.14%
Martin Twp	652	311		963	341	67.71%	32.29%	35.41%
Monterey Twp	510	300		810	210	62.96%	37.04%	25.93%
City of Otsego	734	566		1300	168	56.46%	43.54%	12.92%
Otsego Twp	1155	846		2001	309	57.72%	42.28%	15.44%
Overisel Twp	1210	121		1331	1089	90.91%	9.09%	81.82%
City of Plainwell	742	597		1339	145	55.41%	44.59%	10.83%
Salem Twp	1182	438		1620	744	72.96%	27.04%	45.93%
City of Saugatuck	341	236		577	105	59.10%	40.90%	18.20%
Saugatuck Twp	914	535		1449	379	63.08%	36.92%	26.16%
City of South Haven	2	4		6	-2	33.33%	66.67%	-33.33%
Trowbridge Twp	530	473		1003	57	52.84%	47.16%	5.68%
Valley Twp	433	306		739	127	58.59%	41.41%	17.19%
Watson Twp	425	344		769	81	55.27%	44.73%	10.53%
City of Wayland	795	617		1412	178	56.30%	43.70%	12.61%
Wayland Twp	664	601		1265	63	52.49%	47.51%	4.98%

Total	27956	14837	0	42793	13119	65.33%	34.67%	30.66%

Schuitmaker won easily her part of Allegan County.

St.Rep 80th 06	Schuitmaker	Olson	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
City of Otsego	752	523		1275	229	58.98%	41.02%	17.96%
Otsego Twp	1158	802		1960	356	59.08%	40.92%	18.16%
Watson Twp	412	337		749	75	55.01%	44.99%	10.01%

Total	2322	1662	0	3984	660	58.28%	41.72%	16.57%

Sheen had no problem thanks to the northern part of the county. The dems took Allegan City, Douglas, Lee Twp, Saugatuck, and the small portion of South Haven however.

St Rep 88th 06	Sheen	Weichman	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
City of Allegan	698	744	56	1498	-46	46.60%	49.67%	-3.07%
Allegan Twp	864	788	42	1694	76	51.00%	46.52%	4.49%
Casco Twp	538	506	43	1087	32	49.49%	46.55%	2.94%
Cheshire Twp	420	346	23	789	74	53.23%	43.85%	9.38%
Clyde Twp	293	278	17	588	15	49.83%	47.28%	2.55%
Dorr Twp	2017	970	57	3044	1047	66.26%	31.87%	34.40%
City of Douglas	222	319	24	565	-97	39.29%	56.46%	-17.17%
City of Fennville	158	129	12	299	29	52.84%	43.14%	9.70%
Fillmore Twp	1022	167	15	1204	855	84.88%	13.87%	71.01%
Ganges Twp	610	497	39	1146	113	53.23%	43.37%	9.86%
Gunplain Twp	1283	1037	68	2388	246	53.73%	43.43%	10.30%
Heath Twp	998	345	18	1361	653	73.33%	25.35%	47.98%
City of Holland	1933	707	65	2705	1226	71.46%	26.14%	45.32%
Hopkins Twp	632	436	25	1093	196	57.82%	39.89%	17.93%
Laketown Twp	2213	790	63	3066	1423	72.18%	25.77%	46.41%
Lee Twp	368	411	37	816	-43	45.10%	50.37%	-5.27%
Leighton Township	1477	469	30	1976	1008	74.75%	23.73%	51.01%
Manlius Twp	847	334	26	1207	513	70.17%	27.67%	42.50%
Martin Twp	629	311	22	962	318	65.38%	32.33%	33.06%
Monterey Twp	488	298	24	810	190	60.25%	36.79%	23.46%
City of Otsego				0	0	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!
Otsego Twp				0	0	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!
Overisel Twp	1160	150	14	1324	1010	87.61%	11.33%	76.28%
City of Plainwell	693	615	40	1348	78	51.41%	45.62%	5.79%
Salem Twp	1138	445	21	1604	693	70.95%	27.74%	43.20%
City of Saugatuck	213	308	29	550	-95	38.73%	56.00%	-17.27%
Saugatuck Twp	685	679	54	1418	6	48.31%	47.88%	0.42%
City of South Haven	2	4		6	-2	33.33%	66.67%	-33.33%
Trowbridge Twp	493	480	30	1003	13	49.15%	47.86%	1.30%
Valley Twp	351	349	27	727	2	48.28%	48.01%	0.28%
Watson Twp				0	0	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!
City of Wayland	740	609	39	1388	131	53.31%	43.88%	9.44%
Wayland Twp	631	578	40	1249	53	50.52%	46.28%	4.24%

Total	23816	14099	1000	38915	9717	61.20%	36.23%	24.97%

2008 was a bad year for the GOP in Michigan, and Allegan County was no exception. While McCain won the county, Obama took 18 municipalities to McCain's 15. Contrasting that to 2004, Kerry took three. He maybe took four depending which parts of then Saugatuck Township voted democrat. I suspect that Douglas went blue and the rest of the township did not in 04. The question is that is this an aberration or not. A charasmatic candidate with no substance against an old guy who quit the state, and announced it to the world. A 54% win here is not a true win statewide.

POTUS 08	McCain	Obama	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
City of Allegan	845	1212	43	2100	-367	40.24%	57.71%	-17.48%
Allegan Twp	946	1114	42	2102	-168	45.00%	53.00%	-7.99%
Casco Twp	636	792	20	1448	-156	43.92%	54.70%	-10.77%
Cheshire Twp	456	524	29	1009	-68	45.19%	51.93%	-6.74%
Clyde Twp	359	446	18	823	-87	43.62%	54.19%	-10.57%
Dorr Twp	2483	1331	84	3898	1152	63.70%	34.15%	29.55%
City of Douglas	246	472	7	725	-226	33.93%	65.10%	-31.17%
City of Fennville	163	279	6	448	-116	36.38%	62.28%	-25.89%
Fillmore Twp	1124	308	31	1463	816	76.83%	21.05%	55.78%
Ganges Twp	662	708	36	1406	-46	47.08%	50.36%	-3.27%
Gunplain Twp	1520	1621	67	3208	-101	47.38%	50.53%	-3.15%
Heath Twp	1204	506	38	1748	698	68.88%	28.95%	39.93%
City of Holland	2093	1391	40	3524	702	59.39%	39.47%	19.92%
Hopkins Twp	770	514	33	1317	256	58.47%	39.03%	19.44%
Laketown Twp	2318	1285	53	3656	1033	63.40%	35.15%	28.25%
Lee Twp	428	635	17	1080	-207	39.63%	58.80%	-19.17%
Leighton Township	1739	681	43	2463	1058	70.60%	27.65%	42.96%
Manlius Twp	991	569	20	1580	422	62.72%	36.01%	26.71%
Martin Twp	761	455	17	1233	306	61.72%	36.90%	24.82%
Monterey Twp	597	450	20	1067	147	55.95%	42.17%	13.78%
City of Otsego	711	982	34	1727	-271	41.17%	56.86%	-15.69%
Otsego Twp	1217	1433	58	2708	-216	44.94%	52.92%	-7.98%
Overisel Twp	1334	274	32	1640	1060	81.34%	16.71%	64.63%
City of Plainwell	731	1035	33	1799	-304	40.63%	57.53%	-16.90%
Salem Twp	1509	630	48	2187	879	69.00%	28.81%	40.19%
City of Saugatuck	229	396	13	638	-167	35.89%	62.07%	-26.18%
Saugatuck Twp	779	963	27	1769	-184	44.04%	54.44%	-10.40%
City of South Haven	2	5		7	-3	28.57%	71.43%	-42.86%
Trowbridge Twp	575	623	30	1228	-48	46.82%	50.73%	-3.91%
Valley Twp	442	516	15	973	-74	45.43%	53.03%	-7.61%
Watson Twp	470	447	21	938	23	50.11%	47.65%	2.45%
City of Wayland	883	843	38	1764	40	50.06%	47.79%	2.27%
Wayland Twp	838	725	33	1596	113	52.51%	45.43%	7.08%

Total	30061	24165	1046	55272	5896	54.39%	43.72%	10.67%

The Senate Seat was the result of Jack Hoogendyk being thrown to the wolves.

Senate 08	Hoogendyk	Levin	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
City of Allegan	718	1230	93	2041	-512	35.18%	60.26%	-25.09%
Allegan Twp	844	1123	81	2048	-279	41.21%	54.83%	-13.62%
Casco Twp	556	813	49	1418	-257	39.21%	57.33%	-18.12%
Cheshire Twp	388	545	45	978	-157	39.67%	55.73%	-16.05%
Clyde Twp	296	453	28	777	-157	38.10%	58.30%	-20.21%
Dorr Twp	2243	1403	142	3788	840	59.21%	37.04%	22.18%
City of Douglas	233	456	25	714	-223	32.63%	63.87%	-31.23%
City of Fennville	153	261	18	432	-108	35.42%	60.42%	-25.00%
Fillmore Twp	1090	318	31	1439	772	75.75%	22.10%	53.65%
Ganges Twp	565	757	57	1379	-192	40.97%	54.89%	-13.92%
Gunplain Twp	1360	1648	131	3139	-288	43.33%	52.50%	-9.17%
Heath Twp	1135	538	55	1728	597	65.68%	31.13%	34.55%
City of Holland	2042	1312	80	3434	730	59.46%	38.21%	21.26%
Hopkins Twp	697	543	50	1290	154	54.03%	42.09%	11.94%
Laketown Twp	2248	1274	87	3609	974	62.29%	35.30%	26.99%
Lee Twp	341	650	54	1045	-309	32.63%	62.20%	-29.57%
Leighton Township	1648	708	67	2423	940	68.01%	29.22%	38.79%
Manlius Twp	903	598	39	1540	305	58.64%	38.83%	19.81%
Martin Twp	701	478	31	1210	223	57.93%	39.50%	18.43%
Monterey Twp	516	484	41	1041	32	49.57%	46.49%	3.07%
City of Otsego	595	1005	69	1669	-410	35.65%	60.22%	-24.57%
Otsego Twp	1095	1444	85	2624	-349	41.73%	55.03%	-13.30%
Overisel Twp	1282	384	38	1704	898	75.23%	22.54%	52.70%
City of Plainwell	675	1015	65	1755	-340	38.46%	57.83%	-19.37%
Salem Twp	1373	673	83	2129	700	64.49%	31.61%	32.88%
City of Saugatuck	204	397	26	627	-193	32.54%	63.32%	-30.78%
Saugatuck Twp	691	989	50	1730	-298	39.94%	57.17%	-17.23%
City of South Haven	0	7		7	-7	0.00%	#######	#######
Trowbridge Twp	505	643	58	1206	-138	41.87%	53.32%	-11.44%
Valley Twp	383	531	33	947	-148	40.44%	56.07%	-15.63%
Watson Twp	405	471	47	923	-66	43.88%	51.03%	-7.15%
City of Wayland	782	875	63	1720	-93	45.47%	50.87%	-5.41%
Wayland Twp	735	748	61	1544	-13	47.60%	48.45%	-0.84%

Total	27402	24774	1882	54058	2628	50.69%	45.83%	4.86%

Congressional seats did not change much from 06. Hoekstra and Upton bled a little, but still ran far ahead of McCain, and even Bush's 04 numbers. Hoeksta kept above 70%.

Congress 2nd 08	Hoekstra	Johnson	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
Dorr Twp	1434	494	59	1987	940	72.17%	24.86%	47.31%
City of Douglas	322	373	17	712	-51	45.22%	52.39%	-7.16%
City of Fennville	234	187	11	432	47	54.17%	43.29%	10.88%
Fillmore Twp	1209	211	26	1446	998	83.61%	14.59%	69.02%
Heath Twp	1311	365	51	1727	946	75.91%	21.13%	54.78%
City of Holland	2448	986	40	3474	1462	70.47%	28.38%	42.08%
Laketown Twp	2605	942	70	3617	1663	72.02%	26.04%	45.98%
Manlius Twp	1135	376	34	1545	759	73.46%	24.34%	49.13%
Monterey Twp	680	305	55	1040	375	65.38%	29.33%	36.06%
Overisel Twp	1421	164	42	1627	1257	87.34%	10.08%	77.26%
Salem Twp	1638	412	73	2123	1226	77.15%	19.41%	57.75%
City of Saugatuck	300	308	14	622	-8	48.23%	49.52%	-1.29%
Saugatuck Twp	968	718	54	1740	250	55.63%	41.26%	14.37%

Total	15705	5841	546	22092	9864	71.09%	26.44%	44.65%

Upton also ran well ahead of the ticket.

Congress 6th 08	Upton	Cooney	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
City of Allegan	1108	846	88	2042	262	54.26%	41.43%	12.83%
Allegan Twp	1220	730	70	2020	490	60.40%	36.14%	24.26%
Casco Twp	826	561	32	1419	265	58.21%	39.53%	18.68%
Cheshire Twp	574	351	51	976	223	58.81%	35.96%	22.85%
Clyde Twp	430	299	46	775	131	55.48%	38.58%	16.90%
Dorr Twp	1215	475	63	1753	740	69.31%	27.10%	42.21%
Ganges Twp	822	500	50	1372	322	59.91%	36.44%	23.47%
Gunplain Twp	1991	1045	97	3133	946	63.55%	33.35%	30.19%
Hopkins Twp	842	362	61	1265	480	66.56%	28.62%	37.94%
Lee Twp	530	466	46	1042	64	50.86%	44.72%	6.14%
Leighton Township	1822	472	87	2381	1350	76.52%	19.82%	56.70%
Martin Twp	862	307	28	1197	555	72.01%	25.65%	46.37%
City of Otsego	1024	593	49	1666	431	61.46%	35.59%	25.87%
Otsego Twp	1654	882	85	2621	772	63.11%	33.65%	29.45%
City of Plainwell	1007	682	54	1743	325	57.77%	39.13%	18.65%
Trowbridge Twp	718	430	53	1201	288	59.78%	35.80%	23.98%
Valley Twp	561	339	29	929	222	60.39%	36.49%	23.90%
Watson Twp	579	295	42	916	284	63.21%	32.21%	31.00%
City of Wayland	995	627	73	1695	368	58.70%	36.99%	21.71%
Wayland Twp	951	510	56	1517	441	62.69%	33.62%	29.07%

Total	19731	10772	1160	31663	8959	62.32%	34.02%	28.29%

Schuitmaker ran for her third and final term in a rematch of 06.

St Rep 80th 08	Schuitmaker	Olson	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
City of Otsego	912	688		1600	224	57.00%	43.00%	14.00%
Otsego Twp	1487	1032		2519	455	59.03%	40.97%	18.06%
Watson Twp	522	365		887	157	58.85%	41.15%	17.70%

Total	2921	2085	0	5006	836	58.35%	41.65%	16.70%

Fulton Sheen was termed out and Bob Genetski won the open seat against Tom Clark. Clark did win a few municipalities though (besides Lee, Douglas, and Saugatuck), which is a cause for concern once redistricting hits in 2011-2012. For now, pin this on a bad year coattails and an open seat.

St Rep 80th 08	Genetski	Clark	3rd party	Total	Diff.	GOP%	Dem%	Diff%
City of Allegan	828	1168		1996	-340	41.48%	58.52%	-17.03%
Allegan Twp	973	1022		1995	-49	48.77%	51.23%	-2.46%
Casco Twp	646	717		1363	-71	47.40%	52.60%	-5.21%
Cheshire Twp	467	495		962	-28	48.54%	51.46%	-2.91%
Clyde Twp	383	386		769	-3	49.80%	50.20%	-0.39%
Dorr Twp	2629	1031		3660	1598	71.83%	28.17%	43.66%
City of Douglas	297	406		703	-109	42.25%	57.75%	-15.50%
City of Fennville	197	223		420	-26	46.90%	53.10%	-6.19%
Fillmore Twp	1137	271		1408	866	80.75%	19.25%	61.51%
Ganges Twp	739	599		1338	140	55.23%	44.77%	10.46%
Gunplain Twp	1481	1455		2936	26	50.44%	49.56%	0.89%
Heath Twp	1259	412		1671	847	75.34%	24.66%	50.69%
City of Holland	2248	1083		3331	1165	67.49%	32.51%	34.97%
Hopkins Twp	870	376		1246	494	69.82%	30.18%	39.65%
Laketown Twp	2479	1035		3514	1444	70.55%	29.45%	41.09%
Lee Twp	414	594		1008	-180	41.07%	58.93%	-17.86%
Leighton Township	1762	556		2318	1206	76.01%	23.99%	52.03%
Manlius Twp	1054	447		1501	607	70.22%	29.78%	40.44%
Martin Twp	772	402		1174	370	65.76%	34.24%	31.52%
Monterey Twp	625	384		1009	241	61.94%	38.06%	23.89%
Overisel Twp	1396	197		1593	1199	87.63%	12.37%	75.27%
City of Plainwell	756	901		1657	-145	45.62%	54.38%	-8.75%
Salem Twp	1567	488		2055	1079	76.25%	23.75%	52.51%
City of Saugatuck	275	340		615	-65	44.72%	55.28%	-10.57%
Saugatuck Twp	894	808		1702	86	52.53%	47.47%	5.05%
City of South Haven	2	4		6	-2	33.33%	66.67%	-33.33%
Trowbridge Twp	569	603		1172	-34	48.55%	51.45%	-2.90%
Valley Twp	460	452		912	8	50.44%	49.56%	0.88%
City of Wayland	957	700		1657	257	57.75%	42.25%	15.51%
Wayland Twp	928	564		1492	364	62.20%	37.80%	24.40%

Total	29064	18119	0	47183	10945	61.60%	38.40%	23.20%

For 2010, the GOP needs to win big in Allegan County to win statewide. 63% of the vote minimum. I don't expect a sweep. Lee Township is strongly democrat. Saugatuck and Douglas are very liberal. Some work needs to be done however to get the Allegan, Otsego, and Plainwell areas back where they belong instead of counting on the Holland area for all the wins. The only reason Allegan County did not flip in 2008 was because some of those northern townships are the most republican areas in the state, and maybe even the country. Overisel, Door, Laketown, Leighton, Heath, Salem, and Manlius Townships can do wonders for covering up weak spots.

One good thing with 2010 is that there are chinks in the cult of Obama. He's being shown as no hero, but just another DC politician that says one thing and does another. The other good thing is that Granholm is gone. This is an open seat. This is a fresh start. The template for stopping the bleeding was shown in the 2009 elections outside of the dumb and dumber blunders of NY23 where there was no primary.

Allegan County is a very key county in 2010. Base counties need to perform well and in a big way. Ottawa, Missaukee, Livingston, Allegan, and Hillsdale need to lead the way.

Transportation Tax passes committee

2009-12-08T19:16:00.000-05:00

You got to be kidding me. This is the last thing we need right now in this state. Higher diesel taxes. That means there is going to be an increase in shipping costs. Be prepared to pay more for food and everything else that is shipped.

From Crains Detroit Business

Legislation that would increase by 4 cents the Michigan diesel fuel tax paid by truckers on Tuesday took a step forward in the state Senate.

The Senate Transportation Committee approved SB 862, which would increase the tax paid by a motor carrier from 15 cents to 19 cents a gallon, and SB 863, which would direct the revenue that’s raised to repairing bridges.

Both bills are sponsored by committee chairman Sen. Jud Gilbert, R-Algonac.

As approved by committee, the legislation allocates revenue produced from 2 cents of the increase to repairing state bridges, and puts revenue from the remaining 2 cents toward repairing local bridges, Gilbert said.

The worst part? This is sponsored and led by a Republican! Jud Gilbert. He wrote it. I need to look up who else supported this in committee. Senators Gilbert (C), Kahn (VC), Van Woerkom, Basham (MVC), and Gleason are the committee members.

Unless the sales tax is eliminated from fuel, this needs to die. Hopefully Bishop sits on this.

There's a better way to fund transportation. Take the sales tax out of gasoline and transfer that to transportation.