Last week, Ficano told me he wasn’t worried about re-election. He won his third term in 2010, and isn’t up again till 2014.
But that was before the FBI news broke.

Such an investigation could take “years,” Andreoff said. “Months and years.”

2014 is a long way off. Should taxpayers shoulder the burden of what seems to be at the very least a mismanagement of public dollars?

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And then there was THIS:

The question is now that he is running for GOVERNOR of Michigan.. Did we ever answer that question? FOIA was designed for such things I believe.. stay tuned.

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Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow may be doing that.. They should be.

New Jersey is one of the eighteen states that have specific provisions within their constitutions that allow for the recall of their respective US Senators.

Article I Section 2b of the New Jersey Constitution reads as follows:

The people reserve unto themselves the power to recall, after at least one year of service, any elected official in this State or representing this State in the United States Congress. The Legislature shall enact laws to provide for such recall elections.

There are some who are going to attempt to remove Senator Bob Menendez… And they are dead serious.

The 18 states allowing for recall of senators are as follows: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.

Michigan is one of them.

There are critics who cite a supreme court decision as a blockade to such an action. The committee to recall Menendez points out:

Times editorial mentioned “a 1995 U.S. Supreme Court opinion written by Justice John Paul Stevens” that said that the recall statute “couldn’t be applied to federal officeholders.” What opinion that might be was far from clear. The case of US Term Limits v. Thornton said that no State may “alter or add to the qualifications” for Congressional office–but said nothing materially about interrupting the term of office of a Member of Congress. Though no State has yet recalled a Senator, the Constitution is in fact silent on the issue, and no provision in it says that a Senator is anything other than an agent for the State that sends him.

An interesting series.. worth the read.

I have commented on the Michigan constitutional provision that allows recall before. I have further wondered what the language should be to make it as clear to the recall voter how utterly incompetent Michigan’s two sitting US Senators are.

Perhaps “For failure to understand the United States Constitution, and enacting laws which run contrary to it, and against the best interests of the citizens of Michigan and the Nation..”

Yeah.. Something like that.

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They are targeting Mayor Dr. James Cooper, and councilman and mayor Pro Tem Dr. Brian Hunt; and council members Victoria Boyce, Robert Graziani and Frederick Minturn.

An uncertified tally of signatures provided by an elections office employee showed Boyce, Graziani and Minturn receiving more signatures than votes in the February election.

News of the filing came toward the end of the Grosse Pointe Shores city council meeting Tuesday night, after the Grosse Pointe News print deadline.

Now then..  Water the ponies, there is a little more work to be done. Good luck on the certification Dr. Lee.

Create an account and sign in here if you would like to drum up the posse for your state.   We can begin or organizing efforts.

Michigan Election LAW

168.951 Officers subject to recall; time for filing recall petition; performance of duties until result of recall election certified.

Sec. 951.

Every elective officer in the state, except a judicial officer, is subject to recall by the voters of the electoral district in which the officer is elected as provided in this chapter. A petition shall not be filed against an officer until the officer has actually performed the duties of the office to which elected for a period of 6 months during the current term of that office. A petition shall not be filed against an officer during the last 6 months of the officer’s term of office. An officer sought to be recalled shall continue to perform duties of the office until the result of the recall election is certified.

History: 1954, Act 116, Eff. June 1, 1955 ;– Am. 1978, Act 533, Imd. Eff. Dec. 21, 1978 ;– Am. 1993, Act 45, Imd. Eff. May 27, 1993
Popular Name: Election Code

We need to develop language as well.  Please feel free to suggest.

There are 18 states which allow recalls of their US Senators.  Michigan is one of them.  Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin are the others.

They have failed to uphold their oaths as our Senators in voting for this preposterous “Health care” law which merely amounts to new taxation.

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”

That is the oath.. have they lived up to it?

Saddle up Posse..  we have a hunt.

My father, a decent guy, a long time Republican, with a well developed sense about politics, yet would still not sign a petition to put our governor, Jennifer Granholm up for recall.  Never mind that it would be too much of an effort, but he simply would not support a recall based on her record.  His feelings about recalls, is that “unless they do something ‘criminal,’ recalls have no place in politics.”

I couldn’t disagree more.

A criminal act has its own consequence.  A criminal act has its own “removal” element. A criminal act, hardly requires a recall effort, as it has its own reward.

Consider as an analogy.. You and a few others frequently carpool with a driver who swerves into the other lanes frequently, talks on a cell phone, never uses the mirrors, and eats with both hands while driving.  You are in DANGER.  You have a heightened chance of being hurt by such activities.  You have a choice to either accept that person as a driver going forward, or you remove that driver from the rotation.

Our Governor is eating with both hands, applying makeup, texting, and has cell phones up to both ears.  Further, her path is one that all of a sudden has cliffs on both sides.  Her incompetence is hardly a “criminal” offense, yet the danger is real.  Of course.. a recall effort to remove this “typhoid Mary” of state sponsored economy destruction is impractical due to the incredible number of signatures needed.

So  where does that leave us?

Consider house speaker Andy Dillon.  The recall effort last year collected enough signatures, only to have enough thrown out by the bureau of elections to take all the efforts away.  But then, a United States District Judge declared in favor of the recall team clearing the way for a ballot presence.

On August 27, 2008, United States District Judge Robert Holmes Bell issued a preliminary injunction ordering Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land to re-examine the signatures without reference to statutory requirements prohibiting non-residents of Dillon’s district from circulating petitions; and further ordered that if sufficient signatures are found, then Land must place the recall against Representative Dillon on the November 4, 2008 general election ballot.^{[14] [15]}

The citizens did not recall Dillon in the end. But his political ambitions are now toast, and he will never successfully run for governor in Michigan. Which is good.

The effort accomplished two things. It provided as a test case under the 1st amendment, that petitioners need not be registered in the district they collect. Additionally, it attached a boat anchor to the political ambitions of a taxoholic politico.

Good can come of a well managed recall effort. It provides a second look at the representation provided by our elected officials, and keeps them looking to the public which elected them as a “chaperon” of sorts..

Hardly will a recall effort be done lightly.  It takes time and manpower, which means money, and more money ultimately. No.. its not easy, so we are attempting to pull together regional groups who are willing to do an occasional weekend in the efforts to send our message.  Hopefully at some point in the future, the mere presence of the posse will be enough to get our leadership on the same page as us once again.

In Grosse Point Shores:

Dr. Robert Lee, a former candidate for what was then the Shores Village Council, is leading a charge against Mayor James Cooper and Shores City Council members Vicki Boyce, Robert Graziani, Brian Hunt and Fred Minturn. The recall effort comes in the wake of a 1-mill tax increase — approved in a split council decision June 16.

Higher taxes in Michigan? Nah it would never happen..

Some folks don’t get it.  Higher taxes merely lead to higher taxes.  So its time to go!  Dr. Lee, has a goal of removing five members by recall.. Now thats a tall effort pardners… How about a hand or two for his posse? The link to his recall site is on the side.