Clearly, recalls being used for political gain

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In the Michigan Legislature this spring, there was a bill. It was HB 4362. The bill eliminated the Michigan Business Tax. Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer and Rep. Barb Byrum voted against the bill. 

Is anything about those four sentences unclear to you?

It was for the Ingham County Elections Commission. They ruled last week that the wording was so unclear, it wasn’t fit to put on the top of Holt man Robert Walter’s recall petitions against both Whitmer and Byrum.

How about this for being clear: If Ingham County Clerk Mike Bryanton, Treasurer Eric Schertzing and Judge George Economy had ruled the language was clear, they would have signed a political death sentence for both Whitmer and Byrum.

Let’s make this clearer. Let’s assume Walter gets financial help from the Michigan Republican Party or deep-pocketed GOP supporters. Professional circulators are paid $3 or $4 to get the thousands of needed signatures by Nov. 25. 

The recall question goes on the Feb. 28 ballot, the same ballot Republicans across the state will choose their preferred presidential nominee to run against President Barack Obama next fall.

With Republicans rolling out of the woodwork to vote in that election, Byrum would be toast in her 50/50 district, and it’s very possible Whitmer would be, too. The resulting stigma of recall would taint Byrum’s future plans for Ingham County clerk or the prospect of statewide office for Whitmer, the Dems’ top prospect.

And for what? Opposing Snyder’s budget-balancing plans? That’s called being part of loyal opposition, certainly not grounds to recall. Recalls should be reserved for the public official embezzling money or doing totally wrong things with a 13-year-old.

Like the recall attempts by progressive groups against Snyder and 27 Republican lawmakers, Walter’s proposal is being used for political gain, which shouldn’t be condoned. The difference is Walter’s proposal, like others being overseen by former Michigan Republican Party Executive Director Stu Sandler, has more than a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding. 

But the Election Commission can’t turn away Walter because they disagree with what he’s doing. The law only allows recall petitions to be tossed if they are unclear.

In politics, anything can be ruled "unclear" if you want it to be.

The sky is blue.

Is that unclear? Why sure. 

The sky is blue except when it’s cloudy, at which point it’s white, or sometimes gray. At sunrise and sunset, the sky is a pretty combination of nearly every color in the spectrum. And at night, the sky is black … except when the moon and some stars are out. Assorted man-made light pollution can taint the sky’s color to various dark shades, like coal.

In this case, the Election Commission sided with Whitmer and Byrum’s attorneys — Michael Hodge and Mary Ellen Gurewitz (a pair of the state’s best political/election lawyers) —who can turn clear water into muck pretty easily.

After all, HB 4362 didn’t technically eliminate the Michigan Business Tax.

It was HB 4361 that scratched the multi-tiered business tax structure created under the Gov. Jennifer Granholm administration in favor of Gov. Rick Snyder’s flat corporate income tax. It’s companion bill, HB 4362, laid the groundwork for businesses that were awarded the MBT to continue receiving them until they expire.

But even if Walter wrote HB 4361, that bill did a lot of other things. It eliminated around $1.7 billion in income tax credits that taxpayers like you and I had been claiming. The wording said nothing about that.

And even if it had, the bill didn’t eliminate business taxes in Michigan, which is something a reader could infer by reading the language. Business taxes will still exist in Michigan under the bill. 

From what I understand, case law doesn’t necessarily allow a county election commission to reject language for accuracy. It’s supposed to prevent something like "Rep. B. buyrm did not for bill vote." 

Some of the recall petition language being used against Republican lawmakers isn’t accurate at all, claiming a new law allows governor-appointed emergency managers to remove from office elected leaders. It does not.

Walter and the Republicans are trying again, though. This time, they’re going to draft numerous language ideas and include Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, in the mix.

When Walter concocts language the Election Commission can’t help approving or the Republicans go to the courts to get the language they want, the window to collect the needed signature will be a lot shorter.

Maybe the Republicans will only have weeks to meet the after Thanksgiving Day deadline, a tall order for even professional signature gatherers.

Clearly, politics is being used to fight politics. In politics should we expect anything different?

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