June 14, 2017
Congressional Shooting in Alexandria
Sorry for sending this so soon after our last Newsletter. We thought you might like an alert of the congressional shooting. One congressman has serious injuries and do several congressional staff. It is a fluid situation. 

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"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." 
--James Madison, 
4 th U.S. President (1809-17)

"Few men have virtue to withstand 
the highest bidder."  
--George Washington, 1 st U.S. President
In This Issue:  Facts, News Digest, Links, Opinions -
Congressional shooting in Alexandria; Three Michigan Congressmen present!
Movie Review: Is Genesis History?. 
Linking Part Time Legislature Salaties to Teacher salaries stinks! 

   THANK YOU TO OUR NEW MEMBERS! Your support, readership and sharing is making a difference and is much appreciated. We change public policies by changing pubic opinions. Perhaps we have been given a reprieve to restore God and His principles to our great land. We are pleased to work hard to equip you with a digest of key news, information and opinions to share. The work is not done. Please help! Pass this newsletter on to another or copy and share an article. Keep tuned as we strategize, network and prepare to win conservative governance.
   MCU's MiCPAC was a HUGE success. More than 40 new groups were represented, and many new members received their pins.   MCU's Board met in Northville, Michigan last Saturday and worked on strategies to make Michigan's conservative movement as efficient and effective as possible. Our Annual Board meeting will be in Plainwell July 8. There will be some new Directors selected from among members as we broaden our base. Officers will be chosen for the next year. Principles and By-laws will be reviewed and our Objectives management system updated. New Committees will be formed and leadership trained. Members are kept informed, have first option to events, and discounts to MCU events. Please join MCU to enable us to do even more to assure our freedoms and liberty. A form is at the end of the Newsletter and a link or two within, to join on line. THANKS! 

The federal government should "avoid the slightest interference with the rights of 
conscience or the functions of religion, so wisely exempted from civil jurisdiction." 
James Madison, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1809 

"Accept challenges so you can feel the exhilaration of victory."   Gen. George S. Patton  

Conservatives - GREAT PLANS ARE PROCEEDING!   Wise strategy and excellent tactics will direct  our efforts to opportunities in this relentless effort to make the USA and Michigan free, with limited government, lower taxes, and more rights for our familied and future generations. Governments are growing and stifling We The People. 
We must step up efforts to get  our arguments out there, limited and cogent and aimed at precise targets.   Make a difference! JOIN THE MCU TEAM: CLICK HERE
!
One way we have effectively organized is by the use of Citizen Task Forces.
A typical task force meets in person about six times over a six month period to 
study issues and propose conservative policies and solutions. We are looking at inviting panels on Energy and Health Care, and additional sessions on Education (Phase V) and  Property Rights (Phase II). Participants pay their own expenses. They are expected to  bring experience and expertise on the subject, a commitment to conservative governance, and the ability and willingness to donate time and work in a collegial group atmosphere. Meetings are well organized and of limited duration, typically 90 minites and usually in Lansing. Additional phone or subcommittee meetings are sometimes used. 
If you are interested, please email [email protected] with vitae or bio.

++ Congressman Steve Scalise of Louisiana, was shot by a rifle-wielding gunman Wednesday at a congressional baseball practice just outside of Washington. Several other people were also wounded, officials said. Capitol Police said officers who were part of Scalise's security detail returned fire and wounded the shooter, who was taken into custody. In all, five people were taken to area hospitals, including the suspect, Alexandria police said.
   Law enforcement officials identified the shooter as James T. Hodgkinson, 66, of Belleville, Illinois, according to multiple reports.
   Scalise, 51, the No. 3 House Republican leader first elected to the House in 2008, was in stable condition and undergoing surgery at a nearby hospital. His injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
Capitol Hill police say the officers are in "good condition" with non-life threatening injuries. More

++ Congressional aides were also shot. The shooter, a Nernie Sanders supporter from Illinois, died from wounds from Rep. Scalise's security team. Not all members of Congress have security. This is an ongoing story. 

++ Michigan Rep. Mike Bishop says he was at the field when a gunman opened fire,
shooting Rep. Steve Scalise and several others at a Virginia park this morning where members of Congress were practicing for a charity baseball game.  He says he was taking batting practice when the gunman walked up to the third base fence line and began to fire with a semi-automatic rifle. 
   "I've got blood on my shoes...someone got hit near me, the bullets were coming right over us," said Bishop, adding later, "it was horrifying." Rep. Bishop said they only reason they made it out alive was due to the actions of Scalise's security team. He said they jumped into action, and began to fire at the suspect.  "We were able to slither out of there, crawl on our hands and knees and try to find cover," said Bishop. 
   Two other Michigan members of Congress were also at the practice field during the shooting: Rep. Jack Bergman and Rep. John Moolenaar.  Article
   
I was on scene, but I'm blessed to be safe, and I want to thank the security forces who were so quick to respond. They're the heroes here.

Rep. John Moolenaar ✔@RepMoolenaar

This morning, Rep. Moolenaar attended baseball practice. He was uninjured in the shooting. Please keep those injured in your prayers.


Mike Bishop· - Update: Our staff member who was hit in the chest appears to be pulling through and is going to make it.
++ Voter Fraud - Twelve members of the Democratic Party who worked for the party in Indiana were arrested and detained in connection with charges for submitting fraudulent voter registration information. It was Holiday Burke and eleven other canvassers who were temporary personnel who were officially charged.
   They worked for the Indiana Voter Registration Project and they sent in false registration applications prior to the last presidential election in 2016. The group was managed by the Patriot Majority USA which is directly linked to the Democratic Party. Those specifically associated are former President Bill Clinton and former Senator Harry Reid.  More

++ As the world wrings its collective hands over fears of a human-induced warming climate, few bother to consider evidence for a potential mass cooling.
   Sunspot activity, the Little Ice Age and something called the Maunder Minimum are not terms bantered about in news reports. Instead, we hear of impending calamity because of gradually warming temperatures. In addition to this, any perceived benefits of a slightly warmer planet (greater crop productivity, cheaper heating bills, a generally healthier population) are casually swept under the rug by politicians, climate scientists and the news media.
   Sadly, liberal talking heads would like to see so-called "climate deniers" slapped with fines and jail time. If they succeed, it would signal the end of free speech rights and probably the beginning of widespread anarchy. However, one reason for skepticism on the part of those who don't buy in to man-made warming is that the correlation between decreasing sunspot activity and a cooling climate is provable and the data stands as a matter of record.
    The sun goes through 11-year solar cycles and these cycles often bring changes in sunspot activity, solar radiation and related solar activity; these, in turn, affect our climate. And then we have the jet stream. Numerous factors, none human-induced, effect the jet stream, that ever-changing, high-altitude band of air where jet planes fly. Currently, the jet stream has looped down, allowing cold air from Canada to hold the Northeast in its icy grip. If and when the jet stream changes its configuration and blocks the colder, Canadian air, thus allowing warmer air from the South to trend north, then and only then will we enjoy normal springtime conditions.
   Cooling trend - On March 19 of this year, British scientists announced that sunspot counts had reached a seven-year low. In fact, as of that date, sunspots had been absent for 13 consecutive days. This coincides with the beginning of a new solar minimum (period of little or no sunspot activity) that should arrive sometime between 2019 and 2020. And that, we must note, can also be the beginning of a significantly colder period, global cooling, if you will.
   Of course lots of other factors bear upon whether our atmosphere will become warmer or cooler. Doctor Roy Spencer recently wrote: "The most obvious way for warming to be caused naturally is for small, natural fluctuations in the circulation patterns of the atmosphere and ocean to result in a 1 percent or 2 percent decrease in global cloud cover. Clouds are the Earth's sunshade, and if cloud cover changes for any reason, you have global warming - or global cooling." More  (Thanks, George)

In Michigan

++ It was a packed meeting last night in Troy as Michigan Conservatiive Union -Southeast Michigan chapter (MCU-SE) showed the full length film Is Genesis History.
   The film addressed the major issues of how Earth got here. How old is it? How has it developed over time? Creation? Big Bang? Natural selection? The Bible is astoundedly accurate in it's historical accountings. Every year that history is ratified as arttifacts surface, and archiologists unearth proofs that verify exactly what the Bible records.   Wikipedia definition
   The Bible records history for several thousand years, tracing the geneology of Jesus to Abraham and back to Adam, the first man. But some scientists claim Earth in millions or billions of years old. How did the dinosaurs get here? Evolutionists have an entirely different explanation that Creation scientists. 
     The Bible tells us that God created all of the land animals on the sixth day of creation. As dinosaurs were land animals, they must have been made on this day, alongside Adam and Eve, who were also created on Day Six (
Genesis 1:24-31) . If God designed and created dinosaurs, they would have been fully functional, designed to do what they were created for, and would have been 100% dinosaur. This fits exactly with the evidence from the fossil record.
    
    The movie posits that carbon dating, e.g., is not valid as there is no record or proof that deterioration of specific elements has remained constant through history. It is a thought provoking and profound argument for those who maintain the Biblical history is complete and accurate. 
    Is Genisis History states that God created a very complex four-dimension creation of all beings, a very complex creation that embodies the ability of creaturews to develop and adapt over time and conditions, but not to evolve into totally different species. Wolves and dogs may be of related biology, and consistent in that narrow genesis, and bears may be related to other bears, zebras to horses, ducks and geese may be related, but the families are all destinctive different with no recorded or proven cross-devlopment or heritage. Likewise, gorillas and moneys may be related, but not to humans. History and archeology and scientific proofs clearly establish the difference. There is no science to prove one cell developed the genesis of millions of different creatures in history and today.
    The converstion was lively and the questions on point. We were blessed by the unexpected participation of a prophet from Texas. These meetings always are so interesting!  
   Several participants last night were new to MCU-SE and several signed up for membership. THANK YOU! We must work together, and mutually support the unrelenting work - the eternal vigilence -  that is the price of liberty. For the price of about a Starbuck coffee a month (who wants to support those liberals anyway?), we enable the networking on Michigan's conservative leadership. Commuunications like this, alerts on legislative actiions, rating ot the legislature, judicial and legislative accountability, task forces tio study problems and propose actions.  We are trying to do God's work in the philosophical and political realms.  Thank you to those who participate! 

++ Book your showing? MCU Director Janice Daniels has leased the film Is Genesis History for a year.   She is pleased to present it to conservative and Christian groups. The license limits each showing to 75 people. If you are interested in showing it to a group you can email Janice here: [email protected]

++ Rep., Gary Glenn audios on Human Trafiffic bill:   Link Here

++ (Repeat in part) A new Part Time Legislature proposal is being hyped  by Lt. Gov. Brian Calley. Timing is suspect with his expected campaign for Governor. In truth, we have not totally evaluated the proposal. Of course we want a part-time legislature, but at this time we do not want to be used by a Calley campaign. We might have to rise above that if the PTL campaign gets legs. 
   There are MANY provisions in the Constitution and law that might be effected by this proposal. What are YOUR questions?
   One portion of the Calley proposal we have digested is pinning legislator salaries to teacher salaries. The premise is that teachers work 180 days, so a legislature that works 90 days should be paid 1/2 of what a teacher gets paid. WRONG! for a number of reasons.
  Pinning legislator salaries to teachers pay is archaic, in fact bizarre. Teachers average pay is about $65k a year, about $83k with benefits, but varies from about $32k to more than $100k. 180 days is about 720-900 hours of class contact. To most Michigan workers - making perhaps 2/3rds that of a teacher, 900 hours is less than 1/2 of the hours they work each year. At $80k it is about $100 an hour. That is about 5x (500%) what the typical Michigan worker makes. Pretty outrageous for a worker who cannot prove competence and results. Some teachers are far better, far more accomplished, far more committed and competent that some of our legislators. Some have invested years in education and training for their jobs.   
   Maybe we pay 1st year legislators 1/2 the salary of 1st year teachers? In the 2nd or 3rd term, 1/2 the average pay of a similarly experienced teacher? Perhaps 1/2 the salary of the private sector teachers? 
   To pin it to average public school teacher salary is a conflict of interest, as legislators effect teacher compensation.  They give themselves a raise by continuing to blow out public expenditures on education. 

How about 1/4th the pay of the typical Michigan private sector worker? 
That way their incentive is to boost private sector jobs and income - what a novel concept! 

   Maybe we pay them 1/3 or 1/4 of their private sector income up to a maximum? Should state legislator be the pinnacle of a person's career? Should it be so attractive that they serve out of greed rather than commitment to those who elect them? The government typically does not take a person making $30k and start them in government at $90k. They need to justify the pay and it depends in part, upon their previous income just as in the private sector.  
   As you know if you have been reading the results from our Education Task Force, we really appreciate great teachers but recognize the "collective" drags down great teachers. We fundamentally disagree with the results we are getting for public funds expended. 
  Michigan is 41st in quality in a Nation that is 34th in quality in the World. The Governor's 21st Century task force reported results are declining. Typically, they want more money to double down on the same failures. And for the last several years, despite the loss ot tens of thousands of student, they have increased education spending a quarter of a billion dollars on top of a quater billin dollars, year after year. To pin legislative salaries to that is wrong. 
  We object to $14k+ a year in Michigan public school student spending for 41st in quality when 2nd (Tennessee) does so much better on 38% less public money per student. Indiana is ranked 3rd in quality at 18% less per student per year. Florida is ranked 6th in quality at 29% less per pupil per year. Michigan does not have a good record of the money getting to the classroom so it is not all the teachers' fault. The whole system of letting a collective whip-saw public policies needs to be addressed.  
  We are concerned a 5th grader in Weisbaden gets 50% more instructional hours than one in Michigan public schools. In ,most of Eorupe and the Orient where education is better, they educate more hours - sometimes in facilities 600 years old. Our whole focus on education is wrong!
  American greatness is not sustainable and we are not going to have quality competitive schools if we keep keep an 800 hour year. SO, if we end up with a 1200 hour year, will teachers make more? Will that automatically increase legislator compensation? 
 
   
++ (Repeat) Doctor using Direct Care saves patients lots of money -  Dr. Paul Thomas, who runs the Plum Health Clinic in Detroit, might just have a plan to revolutionize healthcare -- it's called Direct Care. Thomas said everyone needs health insurance in case of catastrophic illness or injury, but he quickly added, "Basic healthcare outside a hospital is actually low cost."
   When was the last time "low cost" and "healthcare" showed up in the same sentence? A hospital test for cholesterol can cost $120; Thomas charges $6.50. A month's supply of Prilosec costs about $17 at the pharmacy, Thomas' clinic members pay 96 cents for the same prescription.
   "The more money the insurance companies touch, the more that sticks to their hands," Thomas said. Thomas argues that Direct Care removes the profit-takers between your dollars and your doctor, and makes affordable healthcare a reality. Article

++ Project Kirk is designed as a series of continuing education lessons on Conservatism, so that we might better understand, educate and replicate conservative principles. Please consider these as a regular part of meeting agendas for any philosophical or political group you are with. 

TODAY: 3 Reasons Every College Student Should Read Friedrich Hayek - 

1. Friedrich Hayek was perhaps the most influential intellectual defender of freedom in the twentieth century.  That claim may strike you as brash given the many conservative and libertarian heroes: Russell Kirk, Richard Weaver, Milton Friedman, William F. Buckley, Ronald Reagan, Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, among others. Yet none of them, with the possible exception of Milton Friedman, had Hayek's intellectual chops and wide-ranging influence.
2. Hayek developed piercing and enduring critiques of large-scale government programs and planning-critiques that are as relevant today as they were in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s
His criticism of socialism and government planning can be broken into two categories: knowledge problems and incentive problems. Hayek, along with Ludwig von Mises, was one of the major participants in the Socialist Calculation Debate in the 1920s and 1930s. The initial criticisms, in a nutshell, were that central planners could not possibly have enough information to plan the economy and that in a planned economy there is little incentive for people to work hard or to innovate.

3. Hayek had deep insights into how markets and societies flourish through experimentation and decentralization under free institutions
Incentives created by coercion are relevant to more than just dictatorships. Hayek also wrote extensively about the uses and abuses of coercion in free societies. In his book The Constitution of Liberty, Hayek argues that coercion reduces both the knowledge that can be used by society and how much experimentation can take place, because coercion involves replacing the will of individual citizens with the will of the ruler. This nullifies citizens' agency and prevents them from using their local knowledge effectively. Hayek argues that laws should allow citizens to pursue their own plans as much as possible. The "rule of law" means that laws are known, general, equally applicable to all people, and predictable. Much of our current legislation violates Hayek's ideal by directing individual citizens and companies in both their goals and their means of attaining those goals.   Link

MCU members Pinned!
Dr. Lee Edwards
Keynotes MiCPAC

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