Showing posts with label First District. Show all posts
Showing posts with label First District. Show all posts

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Mich. in jeopardy of losing out on federal highway dollars

Christine Rook
Lansing State Journal

DELTA TWP. - Some legislators and county officials fear the state is in jeopardy of losing federal highway money next year.

“It’s got to be a serious concern,” state Rep. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, said between conference sessions at the County Road Association of Michigan’s annual highway conference in Delta Township.

Casperson serves on the state House Transportation Committee. Attendees made comments this morning concerning the state’s ability to make use of federal money in the new fiscal year, beginning in October.

Michigan Department of Transportation officials were not immediately available for comment.

The federal government is projected to send $1.3 billion to Michigan next year. But some are concerned about whether the state has sufficient money to match some of that funding.

Casperson said he is concerned about the state’s ability to match all of its projected federal dollars next year in part because of what the state expects to spend on transportation is relatively flat when compared with current spending.

“We’re kind of going in a backward trend,” he said. [more here]

Also posted on Michigan Redneck II.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Joel Westrom's Message about Last Night's Live Blogging

Here is the First District email blast that Joel Westrom sent out regarding the Live Bloggin on www.firstgopblogs.com for the March 4 Presidential Primaries.

First District Updates -Live Blog Success

March 5, 2008
First District- We had a great night last night with our new First District blog site. We had several people participating sharing thoughts and stories from all over the District. Special thanks to Keith Almli, John Niemela and Kathy Wells for taking the challenge on and delivering a great event.
Couple comments from last night’s event…
John Niemela (Houghton County)
“The live blogging event hosted by the First District GOP was like attending a Primary Watching - District Wide event. Having fellow Republican Activists sharing their observations or items they found while viewing TV, Cable News or online media was an enjoyable evening.”
Kathy Wells (Mackinac County)
“Last night's live blogging on www.firstgopblogs.com was a great example of First District members participating in team work and having lots of fun. It was great to have Saul Anuzis, Michigan GOP Chairman, join in with us.”
Saul Anuzis (Chairman, Michigan Republican Party)
Excerpt from daily blog.
“Congratulations to the First Congressional District for running “live” blog last night, tracking commentary and numbers on the presidential primary…once again, leading the way. Special thanks to Kathy Wells, John Niemela and Keith Almli. Maybe a new meaning to #1(First)!?!”
We’ve done great things over the last year to help improve communications in the First District using technology and there is a still lot of room for growth. I receive emails weekly from people across the District asking all kinds of questions and suggestions on a range of issues. Keep them coming and lets keep moving forward in the First.
Joel Westrom

Since I can not add in the link to Mr. Anuzis' blog post on "That's Saul, Folks," in the original message, I will add it here.

Thoughts on Yesterday’s Super Tuesday

Last night I did some live blogging, along with other First Districters and Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis, on www.firstgopblogs.com. It was really fun. I was watching Glenn Beck and his panel on CNN Headline News and blogged about it. I stayed neutral on the Republican front regarding John McCain. I dissed a little on the Democrats. Since the First GOP Blog is a group blog of fellow Republicans, I held back a little and didn’t give my full thoughts on things. I did not feel it was right to talk about some things, so I will talk about them here.

Mike Huckabee conceded out of the race. Thus making John McCain the Republican nominee. As of last count John McCain has a delegate count of 1192. That is one more than the 1191 needed delegates to clinch the nomination. Today John McCain is expected to be at the White House, where President George W. Bush is expected to endorse John McCain. I am still not sure how to think of John McCain. I am not thrilled with the any of the Democrat choices. The thing is, Hill and Bar are just so freakin awful.

A part of me thinks about voting third party once the general election comes up. But then I think, what if too many Conservatives vote third party and Hill or Bar become the next president. Sometimes I think that maybe this would be a great wake-up call to the Republicans and it would be a great chance for us to re-group and bring the party back to it’s conservative principals. It would be a good four years to heal. But would the hurting that Hill or Bar be so permanent that the country could never heal? There needs to be a balance. I want to see the Republican party heal itself, but I don’t want to see the entire country get hurt in the process.

Rush Limbaugh talked about Republicans voting for Hillary in the Texas primary to keep her in the race and mess with the Democrats primary, since he is not a fan of John McCain. I get some of his points on why he said this. His feeling as that the longer the Democrats go without a sure nominee the more money that gets spent, from the campaigns and supporters of the campaigns and gives the DNC a shorter time to group up once they have a nom. There are some out there who want to see Hill become the Dem nom. They think that Hillary will be easiest for John McCain to beat.

While I left my support of Mike Huckabee, due to some things I read about him that I didn’t like, there is one thing I agree with him on. When I first supported Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama was just an after thought he said that Hillary Clinton would be a formidable candidate. He said not to underestimate her. Again, ya gotta admit, him living in Arkansas and seeing the “Clinton political machine” first hand. They even had a hand in Arkansas politics after leaving the state.

A part of me is seeing this Obama craze and thinking that maybe he would be harder for McCain to win against. But then I recall about how Mike Huckabee has said about how Hillary Clinton can be sneaky and using dirty tricks. I just don’t think Obama would be able to use dirty tricks, or at least not to the extent that Hillary would. Then I think to myself, why even bother thinking about this. I am not a fan of McCain.

I had heard people banter about Condoleeza Rice possibly running for president. Obviously that ain’t gonna happen for ‘08. I didn’t know too much about her when I heard this. I know who she is and I have followed up on her a little bit. But not to the extent that those who wanted to see her run has. I have just started really learning about her. She is a well accomplished lady. I think if enough people can talk her into it, she just may run in ‘12 or ‘16.

Here is the problem if Hill or Bar were to become president. Obviously Hillary is a woman. Obviously Barack is black. Obviously Condoleeza Rice is a black woman. From my point of view, if one of these two become president and messed up, I would say Hillary royally messed up because of who she is. Or I would say Barack royally messed up because of who he is. I judge people on their minds and actions. Unfortunately, there would be people out there who would say that that is why a woman and or black should not be president. This would mess up Condi’s chance.

I saw John McCain make his victory speech last night. His wife was standing beside him. She looked like an aging Barbie Doll. She looked plasticky like she had no personality. She had this closed lip perma grin. She looks so country clubby. Those clothes, jewelry and hair. I don’t know what it is about her, but I just can’t help but she just gives me chills. Everytime I see her, I can’t see the coloring in her eyes, looks like just white surrounded by too much black eye make-up. Creepy, if you ask me.

Posted also on Michigan Redneck II.


Tuesday, March 4, 2008

First District GOP Blogs Has Started Live Blogging

Some of the good bloggers at the First District Gop will be live blogging the Super Tuesday Part II tonite. John Niemela has already started. Check out his post here. I have it on good word that Saul Anuzis might be blogging over there also. If that doesn’t do it for you, there will be jugglers, puppies, kitties and the Osmonds. Just kidding.

Monday, March 3, 2008

First District Now Has it's Own Blog!

If you recall, a while back I said there was a group project in the works. Well it is official, Michigan First District GOP now has a blog. Here is the email announcement from Joel Westrom.

February 29, 2008
Baraga- On our way home from State Convention a couple weeks ago it was discussed by several people about putting a First District blog site together. Several people submitted ideas on how to do that. Keith Almli (Baraga County, left) and Kathy Wells (Mackinac County, right) worked together to bring this discussion to a reality.
On behalf of the First District, I’m pleased to announce www.firstgopblogs.com as a new blog site for the District. Keith has spent several days working on this and we are very proud of him. We encourage you all to sign up and submit your thoughts. The site is set up for each County (31 in the First) to submit your information. Keep the District informed on you latest events or fundraisers or take a moment to tell us how you felt about a State or National issue.
1st District- I’m working with the officers to schedule our next First District meeting. We are planning to have it centrally located in the District within the next 5-6 weeks. We’ll keep you posted and encourage you all to attend.
Our last meeting in Gladwin was a huge success co-hosted by Hubert Fisk and Darlene Conner. Over 80 people in attendance. Meetings have been doubling in size since we started. Thank you all for those who have made them a success.


Yeah, that is me in the right side. I know, that is a crappy picture. Why he used that pic is beyond me. I have a long skinny nose. I have heard that is a typical Czech feature. So that makes me feel a little better. If you want to say something about my forehead, just remember "Big foreheads are sexy...in Eastern Europe."
If you are from the First District (Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan), join in on the fun. If you are not, read it and see how us First District Republicans are newsworthy and politically minded. I will be blogging on the Mackinac County Page.

Posted also on Michigan Redneck II.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Dick Devos



This is the video of Dick DeVos, that was presented at the most recent First District meeting.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Joel Westrom Talks



As y'all know I am excited about the Mackinac Republican Leadership coming up on Mackinac Island. Not just because Mike Huckabee will be there but because of the promotion of Michigan Republican politics at state, district, county and local levels. I asked First District Chairman Joel Westrom to write a post about the First District and the Mac Conf. Today he sent me his post. So without further adoo here is Joel's post.

I’m Joel Westrom your First Congresssional District GOP Chairman. I’m here today on Kathy’s blog to tell you little bit about the District and where we are going. Recently elected to Chairman in Februray 2007 I made it my mission to unite and build our District starting with our Grassroots supporters.

I’m optimistic about the 2008 elections. In particular Rep. Tom Casperson’s race for US Congress. Tom has proven himself as a leader in the 108th House District and is taking his skills to the next level to deliver those same values to our District. His hard work and determination has the attention of the Michigan Republican Party and RNC. They have all made multiple trips to the District in support of Tom and we looking forward to a competitive race.

In addition to Tom’s race will have to open House seats. The 106th and 108th. We’re optimistic we’ll maintain a Republican in the 108th as well as secure a new Republican in the 106th.

As Chairman of one of the largest geographical Congressional Districts in the US , I felt it was important that we implement new technology to help us communicate. First on the list was a First District web-site, http://www.firstgop.com/ that will eventually link to each of the 31 County web-sites. Secondly, I introduced a new video conference system that allowed Legislators and MRP staff to interact more with the District. Together with Saul Anuzis, MI State Chairman, we were able to have meetings frequently all across the District. It’s my goal to have every County on board this new system by the end of 2007.

I look forward to meeting some of you at our Bi-Annual Mackinaw conference in September. With a crowded slate of Presidential Candidates, expect to see lots of action and media coverage at this event. The schedules are still being worked out but if you plan to attend expect opportunities to meet with most the contenders on the slate.

*Last but not least. Kathy has been doing a great job. She keeps the District updated on many fronts and is a tireless worker for the party. I grateful we have Kathy on our team and look forward to seeing her along with some of you on Mackinaw.*

If there is anything I can do for any of you, please do not hesitate to email me.

Joel Westrom
Chairman
First Congressional GOP District
http://www.firstgop.com/
joel@firstGOP.com

*I promise I did not ask him to say anything about me. Those are his words. So now I want to say some nice things about him. As was said, he has been the District Chairman since Feb. 2007. He does a great job at getting everyone involved with events. He has organized more events and fundraisers in the past 6 months than what was done in the three years since I have been involved in local and district politics. He tirelessly shows up at Lincoln Day Dinners in the counties in the First District. Also, neither one of us mis-spells Mackinac/Mackinaw. It can be spelled either way.

God Bless from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan!