Editorial

Where you want to be. October-December 2014

Michigan progressives and liber-

als are extraordinarily lucky to have a
candidate the quality of Gary Peters,
the Democratic nominee, standing up
for them in this critical fight to retain
Carl Levins old seat.
The alternative would be to put in
a Michele Bachmann look-alike and
sound-alike in the worlds greatest
deliberative body representing the
great state of Michigan, no less for
SIX YEARS.
It would
be six years of
abject pain for
Michiganders.
As much a fighter for workers
and the middle-class as Peters is,
his GOP opponent, Terri Lynn Land,
would be the absolute opposite
should she advance in November to
Washington, D.C.
Thats because Land is nothing
less than a right-wing stooge for the
Koch Brothers and the DeVos family,
and would dance on her marionette
strings exactly as she is manipulated.
And she would be one more vote
for the next Clarence Thomas or
Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme
Court or one more vote against the
next outstanding nominee put up
by President Barack Obama or his
Democratic successor.
Land knows how inept she is as
a politician and a stateswoman. Her
supporters know it. They dont dare
put her in front of a microphone to
debate Gary Peters because they
know the kind of unelectable gibber-
ish that would pour forth should she
open her mouth in front of an audi-
ence.
So theyre keeping her under
wraps, hoping a disinterested elec-
torate will sit this one out and let the
billionaires talk with their money
bags of loot. Every day, on every
radio and TV station, their money
buys lies and distortions to tear down
the Peters candidacy, while SAYING
NOTHING about the incalculable
damage Land would do to the public
trust if she ever gains that seat.
Stop them!
The prospect of Land winning
Carl Levins seat is horrible.
The U.S. Senate can only be
saved from the clutches of the corpo-
rate vultures who would turn America
into a non-democratic plutocracy by
electing members of the caliber of
Gary Peters and rejecting the can-
didacies of kooky conservatives like
Land.
Readers, we are telling you that
the balance of the U.S. Senate hangs
on a knife-edge this Nov. 4.
Any swing to the right would
unbalance that critical legislative
body in favor of the tea party brand
of right-wing Republicanism we all
know and have come to loathe.
And why do we, as liberals and
progressives, loathe this virulent
strain of conservatism gone mad?
Because Republicans marching
under the banner would turn the
clock back on every advance made
over the past three-quarters century
or more in defense of human rights,
womens rights, minority rights, on
the environment, in the social sphere,
in the field of voting rights, on immi-
gration reform.
Worst of all, unless stopped they
will continue to doom American de-
mocracy to the kind of mockery they
so cynically applaud to strip the poor
and middle class of their dignity and
their rights.
Gary Peters is a known quantity.
A lifelong Democrat and progres-
sive, Peters has worn his patriotism
proudly, serving two tours in the U.S.
Naval Reserve at home and overseas
in the Persian Gulf region, rising to
the rank of lieutenant commander in
the service of his country.
Peters has served in local gov-
ernment, in the Michigan Senate, and
he represents the 14th Congressional
District as their congressman in the
U.S. House of Representatives.
Gary Peters will strengthen
Obamacare, not kill it.
Peters will help our nations gov-
ernment prosper, not shut it down.
Gary Peters will stand with our
president, not insult him.
Peters will be a GREAT United
States senator, every bit as worthy of
the office as Carl Levin, who has, in
fact ENDORSED the congressman in
his bid for the Senate.
Here at Left of the Line, we, too,
strongly support GARY PETERS to be
Michigans next United States sena-
tor, and urge our readers to the polls
on Nov. 4 to elect this good man.
As We See It
Save the U.S. Senate Elect Gary Peters
SPECIAL REPORT
The GOP drive to destroy
public education / Page 6

Mission Statement

America was founded on liberal
principles and progressive ideas,
and Left of the Line is dedicated to
defending both going forward.
Left of the Line
Left of the Line is a free bimonth-
ly Internet news magazine offering
progressive and liberal views to
residents of Michigans 2nd Con-
gressional District. The newsletter
is published by Left of the Line LLC,
a privately held company not affili-
ated with any political party, politi-
cal action group or organization.
Ofcers
David Kolb Co-Publisher,
Co-Editor
Terry Judd Co-Publisher,
Co-editor
Michael Walsh Resident Agent/
Attorney
Contact Information
Left of the Line
PO Box 1710
Muskegon, MI 49440
leftofthelinellc@gmail.com
Letters Policy
Left of the Line welcomes your
letters, as long as they are verifi-
able by us. We will print your name
and city, a necessity because we
believe that in our democracy no
one should fear speaking out in
public, and that your credibility and
courage as a letter-writer should be
recognized by your neighbors.
Letters should be succinct, leg-
ible, courteous and stay within the
framework of a single topic. Re-
member, there will be another issue
of our news magazine, and you will
be able to write again.
Letters can be submitted
through the wonderful efforts of
our unionized friends of the United
States Postal Service by writing:
Left of the Line
P.O. Box 1710
Muskegon, MI 49440
Or, if you prefer, send us your
letter as an e-mail to:
leftofthelinellc@gmail.com

Remember to include your full
address and cell or phone num-
ber so we can verify your identity.
These last will not be printed in the
news magazine unless specifically
requested by the author(s).
Articles/Columns
Commentary, columns, news or
other material intended for publica-
tion in Left of the Line news maga-
zine is either written by, or assigned
by, the editors.
Writers or photographers,
cartoonists, or graphic designers
and artists interested in submitting
material for Left of the Line should
write directly to the editors at Left
of the Line LLC, PO Box 1710, Mus-
kegon, MI 49440, or by sending an
e-mail to the editors at leftoftheli-
nellc@gmail.com
However, unsolicited material,
written prior to editorial consent
being given for publication and
sent to Left of the Line, may or may
not be evaluated for use in upcom-
ing issues. Nor will this material
be returned to the authors unless
special dispensation is granted.
Moreover, only material promoting
or defending liberal and progres-
sive principles and ideas will be
considered for publication.
Advertising

Left of the Line news magazine
accepts offers to advertise within
our pages with the understanding
that any pro-offered advertisement
may be subject to rejection if the
publishers believe it is contradic-
tory or otherwise opposed to the
spirit of the publications principles
and ideals.
Advertisers interested in ap-
pearing in Left of the Line should
inquire about rates and fees by
writing to Advertising Department,
Left of the Line LLC, PO Box 1710,
Muskegon, MI 49440, or by send-
ing an e-mail to leftofthelinellc@
gmail.com and putting Advertising
Inquiry in the header.
Donations
Left of the Line LLC accepts
donations of any amount rather than
subscription fees in order to main-
tain its viability as a product. Such
donations will NOT be accepted,
and will be returned to the source,
if acceptance is contingent in ANY
WAY with a promise to promote,
back or endorse any candidate,
proposal or product. Donations to
Left of the Line are NOT tax-deduc-
table.
Made in the U.S.A.
2
Still Ringing True
Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and
the only way they could do this is by not voting. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Vol. I No. IV
Oct.-Dec. 2014
Progressive views for the 2nd Congressional District
3
What exactly are Randy
Kostrzewas true colors?
When Gov. Rick Snyder an-
nounced the appointment of Ray-
mond Randy Kostrzewa to replace
retiring District Court Judge Mi-
chael Nolan, I was a bit surprised.
You see, I remember meeting
Randy and his wife Linnea at several
Democratic fundraisers back in
2012 when, due to the retirement
of Judge James Graves, a seat on
the Circuit Court bench was open,
and six fine candidates were vying
for it (Kostrzewa ultimately lost to
Annette Smedley, by a very narrow
margin). He was everywhere. He
was energetic, personable and ada-
mantly on board with Democratic
Party core values. Or so he said. Or
so we thought.
In October 2012, I wrote on the
Muskegon County Democratic Party
Facebook Page:
I want every Democrat in
Muskegon to be aware of something
I just learned a couple of days ago.
Randy K (circuit court judge candi-
date) has sought and received en-
dorsement from Michigan Right To
Life. Now, this may mean very little
to you, but it sure means something
to me.
We can talk all day about how
Randys views on choice will not
affect his judicial decisions, but I am
not about to help set an anti-choice
person on the path to a judicial
career that may, some day, bite me
in the ass. Look: I dont care if the
register of deeds, or the county sur-
veyor or the clerk are anti-choice
(not saying any of them are); but
when were talking about a judge,
thats a very different matter.
Randy is a good guy - Ive seen
him at every Democratic fund-raiser
Ive attended. This topic NEVER
came up. I cant help but be con-
fused that Muskegon County Demo-
crats have taken him under their
wing, when his position on choice
does not conform to the party plat-
form.
If I had known about it before
the Meet the Candidates night,
youd best believe it would have
been discussed. Dont know much
about Annette, but I do know she
claims to be pro-choice. My vote
will either go to her, or to no one
for this seat. Im disappointed that
this information wasnt made more
public before the 11th hour.
Randys prosecutorial back-
ground means he is no stranger
to the courtroom or to our local
judiciary. It would also imply that
hell be a tough on crime kind of
judge. Hell serve as District Court
judge until 2016. Hell work along-
side Judges Hoopes, Closz and old
nemesis Andy Wierengo (In 2010,
he ran a very negative campaign
against now-sitting Judge Wierengo
and lost). Then hell have to run
for re-election ... non-partisan, of
course.
One wonders about Randys
trajectory: How did he go from the
Democrats darling to a Republican
appointee in two short years?
There clearly seems to be no
stopping Randy. The question is,
how tough will he be on repro-
ductive rights, as he makes his way
up the political ladder? Will he
put his religious beliefs aside and
remain an impartial advocate for
constitutionally-mandated rights
of privacy? Or will he follow the
right-wing playbook so brazenly
revealed by Sarah Cupp, conserva-
tive pundit, in March of this year?
Wrote Cupp: We, of course,
want to make abortion illegal. We
cant be afraid to talk about that, but
I think politically right now its prob-
Letters
see LETTERS page 17
congressional district
Counties: Lake, Oceana, Newaygo, Muskegon, Ottawa and portions of Allegan,
Kent and Mason.
Cities: Fremont, Grand Haven, Grandville, Holland, Hudsonville, Jenison, Kent-
wood, Muskegon, Muskegon Heights, Norton Shores, Walker and Wyoming.
2nd
David Kolb
The Outside
4
see OUTSIDE page 5
By David Kolb
Left of the Line
Take heart. But fight back!
Dont be dismayed by the for-
ests of yard signs for the Republi-
cans, planted in the hundreds if
not the thousands all over the 2nd
Congressional District. You must
understand these folks have endless
resources to throw into the campaign
fight that will culminate on Nov. 4.
What they DONT have is a lock
on the votes that will be cast that day,
and as near as I can tell, they are run-
ning scared.
From every bit of polling that I
can glean from various sources, if
liberals and progressives come out
to vote, we are well within reach of
taking back major offices at the state
level bouncing Gov. Nerd and
booting the worst Michigan Attorney
General in history, Dean Schuette, for
instance.
Locally, progressives have been
running some extraordinary cam-
paigns. The re-election effort for
Collene Lamonte in the 91st State
House District has been nothing
short of epic. Cathy Forbes chal-
lenge to take the GOP-held seat in
the 34th State Senate District has
been inspiring. But for sheer guts
and glory, Grand Havens Sarah How-
ards courageous incursion into Arlen
Meekhofs fiefdom of the 30th State
Senate District in Ottawa County has
been breathtaking in its daring.
In short, local candidates who
oppose everything the tea party, the
Koch brothers, Rupert Murdoch and
the DeVos family stand for are doing
their utmost to make a stand for the
ordinary, average citizens who dont
have the luxury of untold millions in
campaign booty to see them to vic-
tory.
These candidates to whom this
issue of Left of the Line news maga-
zine is devoted are doing all they
can with extremely limited in our
corner of West Michigan.
They ARE fighting back!
But they cannot make it to the
winners circle unless YOU, the voters
within the various communities, cit-
ies, villages and townships within the
2nd Congressional District do YOUR
part.
Find a way to get to your polling
place on Nov. 4.
If you cannot do that, learn how to
get an absentee ballot, and cast your
vote that way.
However you do it, SHOW UP on
Election Day.
Remember, every vote not cast
is a vote for the GOP incumbents
who have been busy these past years
wrecking the nations and the states
social safety nets, trying to destroy
our economy to spite President
Barack Obama (whom they hate),
and inflicting untold damage on our
critical institutions such as public
schools.
OK, you know what to do.
Do it. Your influence counts. USE
IT!
***
On another note, taking off my
columnists cap and putting on my
co-publishers hat, Id like to remark
on the very successful initial year of
publication for Left of the Line that
weve enjoyed.
This news magazine started out
at about this time in 2013 as simply
an idea that co-publishers Terry
Judd, Michael Walsh and myself had
that we, with the help of donors and
subscribers like yourself, were able
to turn into reality.
With this issue, we have com-
pleted our first election cycle and
are making preparations to begin the
next one that we hope will culmi-
nate with a resounding victory in
2016 for the forces of liberalism and
progressivism, which we champion
and continue to applaud.
Toward that end, some changes
are in store.
As I write this, a new web site is
being created for the news magazine,
one that will give us a much larger
presence on the news and opinion
scene in West Michigan. It will be an
interactive site in which readers can
comment and chat, and one that we
hope will become a meeting place
for like-minded members of our po-
litical community.
We hope to have it up and run-
ning by the the New Year. Watch for
the announcement!
Additionally, at roughly the same
time, we will be initiating a Facebook
and Twitter presence to augment
both this online publication and the
new web site, where again we hope
ideas and candidate support will be
made easier and more accessible.
We cannot do any of this without your
support and contributions.
So, if you are receiving Left of the
Line news magazine from others, we
urge you to join our mailing list its
free and become a regular sub-
scriber. All you need do is write us
an e-mail at leftofthelinellc@gmail.
com, or drop us a note via the won-
derful unionized personnel at the
USPS at: Left of the Line LLC, P.O. Box
1710, Muskegon, MI 49440.

Every vote
not cast is a
vote against
progress and
hope
Find a way to get to your
polling place on Nov. 4.
David Kolb is a reporter, edito-
rial writer, columnist and author. His
work has appeared in The New York
Times, Washington Post, Interna-
tional Herald Tribune, the Daily Kos
and many other publications and
media outlets. Kolbs journalism has
earned numerous first-place awards
from the Associated Press, Michi-
gan Press Association, United Press
International and the American
Legion. A World War Chronicle, a
collection of Kolbs editorials about
World War II, was nominated for the
Pulitzer Prize. Kolb is publisher and
editor of Left of the Line news maga-
zine.
5
OUTSIDE from page 4
Also, if you havent donated, please
consider doing so in order that we
may put out a better product. Alas,
your donation would not be tax-
deductable, but it would be appreci-
ated!
In closing, good luck and best
wishes to you all, from all of us here at
Left of the Line news magazine.
In Lansing, Collene Lamonte will continue to:
Repeal the retirement tax and restore lost tax credits and deductions like the
$600 per-child deduction, Earned Income Tax Credit and Homestead Property Tax Credit.
Restore education funding and make college more aordable.
Create jobs by giving local businesses the rst chance at state contracts.
Ensure that women who do the same work as men get the same wage.
FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE
www.collenelamonte.com LamonteForRep @collenelamonte
PAID FOR BY: COMMITTEE TO ELECT COLLENE LAMONTE, P.O. BOX 6, MONTAGUE, MI 49437
Vote Tuesday, November 4
By Harrison Sikkenga
and Ed Haynor
Left of the Line
While Governor Snyder and his Republican cohorts
continue to peddle the lie that they have increased fund-
ing for public schools the truth is that every single school
district in the state has thousands, perhaps millions, of
dollars in less funding in their budgets than they did
when Gov. Snyder took office. Over the past four years
Michigan has engaged in a spectacular disinvestment in
K-12 public education.
Recently, the nonpartisan advisory group, Educa-
tion Trust Midwest, issued a scathing report blaming
Michigan Republican politicians for declines in student
achievement. Specifically, they cited
their practically singular focus on
charter schools, choice and gov-
ernance as a panacea to our chal-
lenges in public education.
Michigan has the distinction
of leading the nation in the num-
ber of for-profit charter schools.
Over the past seven years charter
schools have received $5.6 bil-
lion. Thats $5.6 billion taken out of
neighborhood schools and sent to
charter schools, the vast majority of which report student
achievement numbers at or below traditional public
schools. In late June the Detroit Free Press ran an eight-
day series State of Charter Schools in which they docu-
mented the shortcomings of charter schools, their lack of
transparency and inadequate accountability for the tax
dollars they receive at the expense of our local neighbor-
hood public schools.
The push for charter schools, cyber schools and
unlimited schools of choice has done nothing to improve
public schools. It is part of the Republican right wing long
range strategy to eliminate public education. By privatiz-
ing public education Republicans feather the pockets of
their supporters at the expense of our childrens educa-
tional opportunities.
Visit the website www. kidsnotceos.com and see for
yourself how much Snyder and the Republican Legisla-
ture have cost your kids and grandkids and your local
public schools.
But funding is only part of the Republican war on
public schools. Since January 2011, the Republican Michi-
gan Legislature has adopted more than 600 laws, many of
them having a devastating effect on public education and
public school employees.
Consider the following bills passed by the Republi-
can majority and signed by Gov. Snyder with no biparti-
san support.
PA 4 enacted the Emergency Manager Law over the
will of the voters which allows elimination of local con-
trol and contractual rights, dissolves school districts and
permits the sale of public schools to for profit charter
companies.
PA 277 eliminated the cap on charter schools.
PA 129 expanded the number of cyber schools.
PA 300 established a special 3 percent tax on cur-
rent school employees.
PA 300 eliminated all paid health
care benefits for future school em-
ployees upon retirement.
PA 300 retroactively allowed
taxation of public pensions with a
discriminatory tax based on age.
PA 300 shifted health care costs
to public school retirees by reduc-
ing their health care subsidy.
PA 152 required all current
public school employees to pay 20
percent for health care or suffer a
hard cap on employer contributions.
PA 204 exempted development property from the
18-mill non-homestead school property tax.
PA 159 eliminated a portion of sales taxes on cars,
boats and RVs (net loss $330 million).
PA 53 requires school districts to discontinue collec-
tion of union dues, selectively targeting school employ-
ees.
PA 54 freezes wages and increases health care costs
to school employees after their contract expires.
PA 54 bans school employees from bargaining a
retroactive contract settlement.
PA 102 prohibits consideration of seniority in layoff/
recall situations for school employees.
PA 103 prohibits school employees from bargaining
reduction in the labor force, performance evaluations,
discipline, discharge, merit pay and classroom observa-
tions.
PA 101 radically weakened the Michigan Tenure Act.
PA 349 enacted Right to Work which affects all
SPECIAL REPORT
Republicans have worked relentlessly to destroy
Michigans public schools and hurt its teachers
see SCHOOLS page 7
6
Harrison Sikkenga Ed Haynor
SCHOOLS from page 6
see SCHOOLS page 24
7
How Gov. Rick Snyder & Legislative Republicans School Funding Cuts have Hurt West Michigan School Children
MASON/OCEANA/LAKE
COUNTY PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
2011-12 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
2012-13 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
2013-14 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
2014-15 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
Total 4 Year Loss under
republican control
Baldwin $ - 314,949 $ - 301,697 $ - 270,458 $ - 198,867 $ - 1,085,971
Hart - 639,009 - 565,250 - 525,182 - 235,559 - 1,965,000
Ludington - 1,042,535 - 1,053,106 - 938,997 - 825,317 - 3,859,954
Mason County Central - 674,868 - 494,550 - 404,309 - 90,621 - 1,664,349
Mason County Eastern - 225,718 - 165,613 - 137,013 - 30,710 - 559,054
Pentwater - 132,493 - 133,480 - 112,627 - 99,346 - 477,946
Shelby - 859,895 - 790,273 - 700,009 - 467,132 - 2,817,309
Walkerville - 147,782 - 106,726 - 85,170 - 19,090 - 358,768
Total Funding Loss per year $ - 4,037,249 $ - 3,610,695 $ - 3,173,765 $ - 1,966,642
Total 4-Year Funding Loss
since 2010 to Mason-Oceana-
Lake County Schools $ - 12,788,351
MUSKEGON COUNTY
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
2011-12 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
2012-13 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
2013-14 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
2014-15 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
Total 4 Year Loss under
republican control
Fruitport $ - 1,438,177 $ - 1,041,646 $ - 846,881 $ - 189,818 $ - 3,516,521
Holton - 434,195 - 311,910 - 262,943 - 58,936 - 1,067,983
Mona Shores - 1,788,421 - 1,329,972 - 1,119,293 - 250,876 - 4,488,561
Montague - 697,269 - 5 25,599 - 443,204 - 99,339 - 1,765,410
Muskegon - 2,720,635 - 2,647,275 - 2,328,804 - 2,097,313 - 9,794,027
North Muskegon - 466,052 - 467,396 - 412,865 - 185,739 - 1,532,052
Oakridge - 883,877 - 670,271 - 561,173 - 125,780 - 2,241,102
Orchard View - 1,294,359 - 1,250,740 - 1,100,548 - 656,737 - 4,302,384
Ravenna - 499,948 - 388,857 - 320,662 - 71,872 - 1,281,340
Reeths-Puffer - 1,808,988 - 1,337,770 - 1,128,106 - 252,851 - 4,527,715
Whitehall - 1,049,999 - 763,721 - 619,573 - 138,870 - 2,572,163
Total Funding Loss per year $ - 13,081,920 $ - 10,735,157 $ - 9,144,052 $ - 4,128,131
Total 4-Year Funding Loss
since 2010 to Muskegon County
Schools $ - 37,089,258
NEWAYGO COUNTY
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
2011-12 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
2012-13 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
2013-14 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
2014-15 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
Total 4 Year Loss
under republican control
Big Jackson $ - 17,907 $ - 12,621 $ - 13,189 $ - 2,956 $ - 46,673
Fremont - 1,075,745 - 773,119 - 644,047 - 144,355 - 2,637,266
Grant - 972,120 - 684,558 - 571,897 - 128,184 - 2,356,759
Hesperia - 547,268 - 402,938 - 317,260 - 71,110 - 1,338,576
Newaygo - 806,755 - 597,531 - 482,128 - 108,063 - 1,994,477
White Cloud - 522,184 - 374,234 - 293,840 - 65,861 - 1,256,118
Total Funding Loss per year $ - 3,941,979 $ - 2,845,001 $ - 2,322,361 $ - 520,529
Total 4-Year Funding Loss
since 2010 to Newaygo County
Schools $ - 9,629,869
OTTAWA COUNTY
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
2011-12 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
2012-13 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
2013-14 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
2014-15 Funding Loss
Compared to 2010-11
Total 4 Year Loss
under republican control
Allendale $ - 1,138,138 $ - 869,145 $ - 736,064 $ - 164,980 $ - 2,908,326
Coopersville - 1,189,326 - 874,773 - 746,069 - 167,222 - 2,977,389
Grand Haven - 2,802,333 - 2,860,082 - 2,562,167 - 2,252,727 - 10,477,308
Hamilton - 1,247,991 - 925,481 - 769,300 - 172,429 - 3,115,201
Holland - 1,973,018 - 1,965,305 - 1,675,186 - 804,907 - 6,418,415
Hudsonville - 2,903,246 - 2,194,042 - 1,832,261 - 410,679 - 7,340,228
Jenison - 2,209,169 - 1,677,669 - 1,390,054 - 311,564 - 5,588,456
Saugatuck - 393,343 - 400,341 - 389,242 - 345,010 - 1,527,936
Spring Lake - 1,161,976 - 948,872 - 811,277 - 247,890 - 3,170,015
West Ottawa - 3,494,629 - 2,586,983 - 2,109,599 - 472,841 - 8,664,052
Zeeland - 2,778,114 - 2,032,863 - 1,691,692 - 379,172 - 6,881,841
Total Funding Loss per year $ - 21,291,283 $ - 17,335,556 $ - 14,712,911 $ - 5,729,421
Total 4-Year Funding Loss since
2010 to Ottawa County Schools $ - 59,069,167
Total 4 Year School Funding
Loss to West MI Schools since
2010 under republican control $ -118,576,645
Sources for the above chart are from State Aid Status Reports - http://mdoe.state.mi.us/SAMSStatusReports/StatusReport.aspx
and House and Senate Fiscal Agencies 6/9/14, as found on the Kids Not CEOs website at: http://www.kidsnotceos.com/. Funding is
based on actual school enrollments, other than 2014-15, which is based on enrollment estimates. Because of rounding to the nearest
dollar, row and column totals may not add up exactly.
Theres only one sane choice for 2nd Congressional
District voters to make when casting ballots for our next
congressman:
DEAN VANDERSTELT.
Our current Republican congressman, Bill Huizenga
of Zeeland, is the most destructive, far-right representa-
tive West Michigan has ever sent to Washington and the
results and his record prove it.
Incredibly, Huizenga has voted to shut down our fed-
eral government and, in so doing, has given aid, comfort
and his vote to those crazies on the far right who were
willing and are still willing to drive the United States
into a catastrophic debt default that would cripple the
middle class and consign poorer
Americans into a life of poverty.
Huizenga loves, loves, LOVES
the ruinous Paul Ryan Budget,
and has in fact gleefully voted for
various versions of that same idiotic
proposal that would destroy Medi-
care as we know it a program that
is a savior for senior citizens - by
turning it into a voucher plan that
will bankrupt them.
Huizenga has lent his support
and his vote more than 50 times
to the tea partys obsession with
repealing the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act without substi-
tuting any alternative whatsoever.
Getting rid of Obamacare
would drive children and the poor off the health plan, and
return many to the days when pre-existing conditions
meant you could not get insurance.
But wait.
Perhaps we exaggerated about Republicans not hav-
ing a health care alternative. As one Democratic repre-
sentative observed, the GOP DOES have plan.
Here it is: Dont get sick. But if you do get sick, die
quickly.
If that werent enough, Huizengas bogus pose as a
friend to the environment is as a fraud.
The congressman rates basically a zero from every
meaningful environmental interest group that isnt con-
trolled by his pals, the Koch brothers, and his cronies at
Fox News and in the tea party.
But the forthcoming election isnt just about throwing
the ridiculous Huizenga out into the street and onto his
keister where he belongs.
Its about breaking the GOPs dangerous stranglehold
on the U.S. House of Representatives.
Those yokels, having almost destroyed the nations
economy under their heroes, George W. Bush and Dick
Deficits Dont Matter Cheney, somehow survived to
wrest a death grip on an important branch of the nations
legislature.
Beginning in 2010, when Democrats lost control of the
House, Republicans then have used their wedge in the
U.S. House to systematically throttle back the robust eco-
nomic recovery engineered by President Barack Obama.
They lied when they squawked that Obama would de-
stroy America.
Instead, President Obamas administration single-
handedly saved the automobile
industry while Republicans like Mitt
Romney were rooting for the Big
Three to go bankrupt.
Republicans, should they ever
regain the White House and Con-
gress, like they did completely from
2001-2006 - God forbid - would
again play recklessly with our for-
eign policy and the lives of our men
and women in the military.
Huizenga proudly stands with the
political party hell-bent on turning
back decades of progress on affir-
mative action and voting rights.
The hated Jim Crow laws of the
evil Confederacy are embraced by
the Grand Old Party because re-
implementing them means fewer Democrats going out to
vote.
Republicans want college student loan rates to soar
disastrously higher.
Republicans hate public education.
They cant stand attorneys because lawyers win big
cases against corporate raiders and right-wing cabals.
The wingers held up the farm bill for years in order
to punish the working poor.
Perhaps worst of all, Huizengas party insanely denies
the existence of global warming, a threat not only to the
United States but the world.
In sum, todays lunatic GOP stands for NOTHING that
would uplift the average, ordinary American.
Republicans have NOTHING in common with former
party legends such as Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roos-
evelt.
Patriots like Dwight Eisenhower would NEVER
8
Dean Vanderstelt for Congress
see VANDERSTELT page 9
Dean Vanderstelt
9
get elected today in a party primary. Ronald Reagan?
Todays fanatics in charge of the party would call him a
RINO a Republican In Name Only as they like to put
it.
Who would they give us for president? Ignoramuses
like Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum.
Far-out whackos like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul.
Obnoxious blowhards like Sean Hannity and Rush
Limbaugh are their heroes. Creeps like Ted Nugent
speak for them.
True, the 2nd Congressional District has been trans-
formed into an virtually impregnable Republican political
fortress, buttressed with millions of right-wing cash.
But here at Left of the Line, we dont believe such a daunt-
ing prospect of unlikely victory should be cause to sit on
the sidelines.
It should be a rallying cry!
Trashing Huizenga, even forcing him to the brink,
would count for a victory beyond measure.
Electing a moderate Democrat like DEAN VANDER-
STELT, who supports our president and most liberal and
progressive policies, would send shockwaves across the
nation.
It would be akin to the shot fired at Lexington and
Concord. It would be the spark that ends the tyranny of
Republican domination of West Michigan, and indeed,
in the U.S. House of Representatives, where that political
party has been responsible for so much of the damage
and misery that plagues ordinary Americans.
Dont sit this election out.
VOTE on Election Day, Nov. 4.
Liberals and progressives are the REAL patriots.
We must save our republic from the Republicans.
And we can start doing the job by throwing Bill Hui-
zenga out of office and electing a good man and a good
Democrat, DEAN VANDERSTELT, as our next congress-
man.
VANDERSTELT from page 8
One of the real civil rights heroes
in Michigan is on the ticket this Nov. 4
and hes precisely the kind of pro-
gressive, liberal fighter our states
voters and electors need to be our
next Secretary of State.
Thus, Left of the Line believes it is
imperative that GODFREY DILLARD
be elected on Nov. 4.
In many ways, Dillards distin-
guished record speaks for itself:
A law degree from the Univer-
sity of Michigan.
As that universitys attorney,
Godfrey Dillard fought hard to pre-
serve affirmative action programs for
minority students seeking entrance
into one of the worlds great universi-
ties.
He worked for the Foreign Ser-
vice during the Carter and Reagan
presidencies, earning Dillard a broad
reach of international experience.
Dillard taught law at Wayne
State University.
As a student athlete basket-
ball player at Vanderbilt University,
Dillard helped break the color line
barrier in the Southeastern Confer-
ence in the NCAA.
Dillard is more than ready to
make his mark on Michigans po-
litical scene. He understands how
important it is that the primary focus
of the Secretary of States office is to
register voters, get them to the polls
and ensure that our states elections
are run fairly and honestly.
Theres nothing more important
than the fundamental right to vote, to
make sure that democracy works in
the state, Dillard told the mlive.com
news service. Its not just a question
of their right to vote, but the right for
the vote to count.
In contrast, Ruth Johnson, the
Republican incumbent, has done
NOTHING to push for broader voter
registration, and nothing to make it
easier for voters to get to the polls.
She has also done ZERO to push for
initiatives that would increase the
numbers of days voters can vote, and
ZILCH to adopt methods - such as
Sunday voting - to up vote counts.
Why?
Because the sick truth is, right-
wingers like Johnson and the GOP
cabal behind her dont want more
voters to cast their ballots on Election
Day only those going to the polls
who will vote THEIR way.
We believe once in office, God-
frey Dillard will change all that.
Dillard will repeal years of inertia
and foot-dragging that weve seen
in the Secretary of States office ever
since it has been populated with the
likes of Ruth Johnson and her even-
worse predecessor, Terri Lynn Land.
We say, kick the GOP out of the
Secretary of States office.
Elect GODFREY DILLARD, Demo-
crat, this Nov. 4.
Godfrey Dillard for Secretary of State
Godfrey Dillard
The worst candidate of a sorry bunch in the Republi-
can candidate banana tree this Nov. 4 is Gov. Rick Snyder,
alias The Nerd. Hes a genuine wooden nickel phony,
and nothing more than a stalking horse for his soul mates
the Koch Brothers.
Those Colorado right-wing billionaires, like their
billionaire friends in Ada and Texas and elsewhere, just
love them some Rick Snyder because he slides their
anti-union, anti-public schools, environment-degrading
agenda into the public domain smoother than Jack Slick.
And The Nerds pals will pay anything to guarantee
their guvs re-election.
Dont believe us? Follow the
money.
Yes, follow the money, and dont
believe a word of the ridiculous pat-
ter the GOP throws up, like sand in
your face, to obscure the truth that
Snyder is anything but a corporat-
ist stooge for the far right and its
interests which by the way dont
include YOU, brothers and sisters.
In fact, the entire gag behind
the Snyder nerd image that Re-
publican comedians like to tell us is
that The Nerd is merely some af-
fable schlub with a sorta, kinda, soft
spot in his heart for the underprivi-
leged but who simply doesnt have
the power to stand up to those awful
Koch Brothers and their allies who
control the Michigan Legislature.
Why, to hear Snyder and his apologists tell it, the guv
didnt really want Right to Work (For Less), it was shoved
down his throat.
And boy, oh boy, he really wants to help Detroit and
Michigans public schools, but they just wont let him.
And gee whiz, he didnt really want to tax everybodys
pensions and Social Security earnings. They made him
do it. Waaaa.
Then came March 16th, 2011, when The Nerd
signed Public Act 4 into law.
PA4 took the concept of Emergency Financial Manag-
ers (EFMs), put in place to help struggling municipalities
and schools, and turned it into a corporatists dream.
The EFMs became known as Emergency Managers
(EMs), their powers extended beyond just the financial
to setting school curriculum and even dismissing incon-
venient locally-elected officials. Two years later, when
Detroit was assigned an EM, more than half of African-
Americans in Michigan now live in cities where their
democratically elected officials had been replaced by
Snyder appointees.
In Muskegon Heights, that school district has been all
but destroyed by Snyder appointees, who rule in place of
duly elected school board members accountable to the
PEOPLE and the VOTERS.
Ah, theres the rub. In Koch Brothers World, the
PEOPLE and the VOTERS are just props for the pathetic
Potemkin Village-style democracy they are trying to pass
off as the real thing.
Just like they are trying to pass off
Snyder as the real thing.
Kick the bum out of office, for
heavens sake.
The Nerd doesnt deserve re-
election, and he didnt deserve to
win in 2010, either.
Rather, we say, elect a REAL
peoples representative.
That would be DEMOCRAT MARK
SCHAUER.
Schauer, of Battle Creek, under-
stands working-class Michiganders.
His dad was a teacher, his mom was
a nurse, and Schauer has steadily
worked his way up through the
elected ranks of city commission,
state House, state Senate and finally
representative in Congress, stand-
ing up for average, ordinary people
all the way.
We couldnt agree more with Marks assessment of
the dismal Snyder governorship:
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has shown that he
puts big corporations and the wealthy ahead of regular
people. At the same time, he has put the Michigan Dream
at risk, dismantling our public education system, making
college unaffordable for many, cutting money for vital
services like police and fire departments that keep our
communities safe, and removing key protections for our
Great Lakes and our other natural assets.
Snyder cut over $1 billion from education, raising
class sizes, hurting school quality and making it harder
for our children to compete for the jobs of the future. And
Snyders unfair tax on retirement income and property
tax hike on seniors are hurting retirees who have worked
hard and played by the rules.
A nerd should know thats no way to build a strong
see SCHAUER page 11
10
Elect Schauer, and stop Snyder
Mark Schauer
economy.
Gov. Mark Schauer would REPEAL the Snyder pen-
sion tax.
Gov. Mark Schauer would never again put in an
unelected, unaccountable czar to lord it over Michigan
residents in their own cities and school districts.
Gov. Mark Schauer would fight to overturn the GOPs
mandate of forcing women to pay extra for abortion in-
surance coverage.
Gov. Mark Schauer would work to raise Michigans
minimum wage higher than
the Republicans have al-
lowed and allowed only to
STOP a Democratic referen-
dum that would have accom-
plished the feat.
Gov. Mark Schauer
would expand Obamacare in Michigan so that all of our
residents get affordable health care for themselves and
their children.
Gov. Mark Schauer would work to unshackle Michi-
gan from the chains the union haters have drawn around
our state.
Gov. Mark Schauer would help restore Michigans
pristine waters and forests, not DESTROY them through
expanded fracking or SELL THEM OFF to the highest bid-
ders for PEANUTS.
Best of all Schauers ticket includes a terrific lieuten-
ant governor candidate, Lisa Brown, a two-term Michigan
House representative and the Oakland County Register of
Deeds.
It was Brown whom the GOP famously silenced in
an abortion debate on the floor of the House when she
declared, Im flattered that youre all so interested in my
vagina, but no means no. Brown was courageously op-
posing the GOPs latest anti-choice law.
Our great state of Michigan is at a critical turning
point.
If The Nerd is re-elect-
ed, the political landscape for
Michigans progressives and
liberals may become unalter-
ably changed.
Rick Snyder is a clone
of Wisconsins Scott Walker,
Ohios John Kasich and Flori-
das Rick Scott.
They are all far-right authoritarians who are actively
promoting a Heritage Foundation-, Koch Brothers- and tea
party-agenda.
Left of the Line ENDORSES Democrat MARK SCHAUER
and Democrat LISA BROWN for election to governor and
lieutenant-governor, respectively.
If you as voters dont vote to repeal the Snyder gover-
norship, we will suffer the consequences for years.
MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT THIS TIME OUT!
SCHAUER from page 10
11
Inspired by true events, this made in Michigan film stars
award-winning actress Kate Thomsen, is produced by Left of
The Line contributor Roger Rapoport and directed by Joe
Anderson.
Details at www. pilot-errormovie.com/showings
Trailer at vimeo.com/105185122
Please join us for one of these special November
events near you featuring cast, crew and veteran
pilots.
Sneak Preview Muskegon Harbor Theater, Friday, Nov. 7, 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
World Premiere Air Zoo, Portage, Saturday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m. (ticketed reception
at 5:30 p.m.)
Grand Rapids Premiere Celebration North, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 6:45 p.m.
Muskegon Premiere Cinema Carousel, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 8 p.m.
White Lake Area Premiere Howmet Playhouse, Thursday Nov. 13 , 7:30 p.m.
Detroit Area Premiere Redford Theater, Friday, Nov. 14, 8 p.m.
Ann Arbor Premiere Quality 16, Monday, Nov. 17, 8 p.m.
Kalamazoo Screening Kalamazoo 10, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m.
Grand Haven Screening Grand Haven 9, Wednesday Nov. 19, 6:45 p.m.
Holland Screening Holland 7, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 8 p.m.
The Nerds pals will pay
anything to guarantee
their guvs re-election.
12
see LAMONTE page 13
If liberals and progressives almost all of whom are
Democrats DONT vote this fall, theyll LOSE one of the
best friends theyve ever had in the Michigan House of
Representatives.
You know whom were talking about: STATE REP.
COLLENE LAMONTE, D-91st, representing all the good
people of Muskegon County outside the central met-
ropolitan area. However, the 91st includes the cities of
Whitehall and Montague, Norton Shores and Roosevelt
Park, home of good Democrats and union members.
We know the right-wing Republican noise machine,
well-oiled with cool cash by billionaire
sugar daddies like the Koch Brothers (who
hate governments interference) will soon
kick in to try to portray Lamonte as an inef-
fective first-termer.
Thats what the GOP does when it faces
real opposition it lies, it dissembles, it
obscures and it trivializes the great men
and women in government who truly serve
the people. So beware when the mud
bucket comes out and the dirty hands of
the right-wing spinmeisters start hurling
what theyre well-paid to fling.
The bare-faced omission in all their
spinning is that Collene Lamonte can only
accomplish what the GOP majority in the
House allows her to achieve, and political
achievement in our representative democracy is abso-
lutely dependent on majority rule.
So what have Republicans managed to achieve dur-
ing their grossly mismanaged reign of legislative, gu-
bernatorial and judicial majorities majorities they have
held, with only a few notable exceptions in one branch
of the Legislature and for a very brief spell on the state
Supreme Court a lamentable THREE DECADES of GOP
misrule?
Look around you, friends, and what do you see?
Our public school systems are fighting to survive in
the face of right-wing determination to ruin these be-
loved institutions of learning.
Our roads are crumbling before our eyes, and what
is the Republican solution to raising money to pay for
their desperately needed repair? You guessed it, in-
crease taxes on working people rather than corporations
or a sane hike in fuel taxes that would hit the very people
ruining our roads!
Last issue, Left of the Line news magazine exposed
the fraudulent bills, passed over Democratic nay votes
like Collene Lamontes, that would make it easier for the
oil and gas trusts to pour poison into Michigans land to
frack out what remains of the fossil fuels within the earth.
The costs for these Republican-inspired bills will
be a further degraded environment, befouled water and
a potential for freakish earthquakes and damage to the
bedrock. Yet raise taxes on these robber barons? Un-
thinkable for Gov. Snyder and his fat-cat cronies!
Teachers, a noble calling of the most respected
professional standing, have been marginalized, even ridi-
culed by the right-wingers, who have over the decades
robbed them of what little negotiating power they once
had.
Unions have been demonized, and
Snyder, as did Big John Engler before
him, have tried to destroy this working-
mans friend by cutting into their ability to
organize and raise money. Unions, which
have given ordinary people decent wages
and benefits and safe working conditions,
are the enemy to the GOPs corporate
masters. Let them deny it.
Pensions? Why, those kinds of worker
benefits, that allow ordinary people to
retire with dignity and comfort, are con-
sidered ancient history to the Republican
Party, anachronisms that should never
have been bargained away by owners in
the first place.
And if youre lucky enough to still have
a pension, The Nerd and his pals have locked onto that,
too, with a nice friendly tax bite THEY ENACTED INTO
LAW that steals the wealth YOU accumulated during your
prime working years.
In the face of this riptide of shame and outrage
stand legislators like Collene Lamonte, who are trying to
salvage whats possible in a state where REPUBLICANS
CONTROL EVERYTHING.
And Lamonte has done a masterful job.
She has stood tall for Medicaid expansion, which
ensures that our poorest residents obtain decent medical
care.
Collene has been in the front lines for seniors, even when
the forces of tea party greed have overrun all common
sense, such as when she voted against the GOPs vicious
scheme to put telephone landline service in jeopardy a
service older Michiganians rely on and absolutely need
for their safety and sense of well-being.
Many seniors rely on landlines to call for help and
to use with heart monitors and other medical devices
that only work with landlines; this bill compromises their
Collene Lamonte
Lamonte for the critical 91st District
13
safety, Lamonte said. There is no need to rush legisla-
tion through that puts millions of Michiganders at risk just
to satisfy the phone companies. Public safety must come
first.
Guess what? It passed with ALL Republican votes.
This is the face of the GOP, folks!
Where was the Grand Old Party when it came to
helping protect the lives of lone service industry work-
ers, like Jessica Heeringa, abducted from a Norton Shores
gasoline station and still missing to the horror of her fam-
ily and friends.
Collene drafted a bill that became known as Jes-
sicas Law to MANDATE that owners install working
security cameras in their stores so that police wont begin
blind any new abduction or murder cases committed in
these very public places.
Guess what? One single Republican not from our
2nd Congressional District signed on to Collenes bill,
meaning it is dead, thanks to them, because without a
majority behind it, legislation cannot escape committee
in Lansing.
Rep. Lamonte, a native of Montague, eked out a nar-
row victory in 2012 to win her first term in the Michigan
House. She is bravely seeking to defend that seat in No-
vember against an arch-enemy of just about everything
progressives and liberals stand for - Holly Hughes, the
likely Republican candidate.
The 91st is a swing district, meaning throughout its
history victory can belong to either party.
So VOTER TURNOUT will be critical.
We enthusiastically endorse STATE REP. COLLENE
LAMONTE for a second term.
LAMONTE from page 12
By 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4,
every citizen in the 34th Senate Dis-
trict will have had an opportunity to
decide who our next senator will be.
Luckily, we have a strong Demo-
cratic candidate for that seat, who is
working her heart out and the souls
of her shoes, too for the opportunity
to provide good, solid representa-
tion to the citizens of this state and
district.
That candidate is CATHY
FORBES, a woman with the work
ethic, the intelligence and the ethics
to represent the everyday people of
this district.
Cathy Forbes, an Hesperia native
and an elected road commissioner
for Oceana County, has demonstrat-
ed her grasp of the issues and her
willingness to work for you and me in
the state Legislature. Cathy has been
enormously successful in business,
but instead of throwing her lot in with
the wealthy, as her opponent has, will
work for us, the regular people who
keep this state strong.
She has a battle in front of her,
though, as she is running against an
incumbent whose pockets are lined
with gold and who has a proven re-
cord of smearing his opponent.
That candidate, incumbent GOP
senator Goeff Hansen,
promised no taxes, then
immediately raised
them on those least able
to pay - senior citizens,
the working poor and
the struggling middle
class.
How can we possi-
bly trust someone who
would break his prom-
ise so severely and so
quickly? He also claims
to be for education, yet sat silently
by as his very own party decimated
funding to education, putting our
schools at great risk.
Elsewhere in these pages, Left of
the Line columnist Roger Rapoport
details the smear campaign directed
against Forbes by Hansens well-paid
PR minions.
Rapoport also lifts the veil on
Hansens deceitful efforts to shift
the blame for Michigans road woes
onto the shoulders of Democrats like
Forbes even though Republicans
control everything in this state, and
have for the PAST FOUR YEARS.
But lets talk about what electing
Cathy Forbes to the Michigan Senate
might accomplish.
There, she will work for the
workers of this state, and
vote against the special
interests blocking the
construction of an alter-
native bridge to Canada,
and FOR the urgently
needed reconstruction
of our roads.
She will work to
repeal Gov. Snyders
Right to Work (For Less)
Mess, an anti-union
boondoggle passed by
the Republicans behind closed doors
with no legislative hearings allowed.
Cathy Forbes will be there for
women on womens choice issues.
She will work to expand voting hours
and affirmative action for minorities.
She will work to help students afford
the college of their choice. She will
be behind efforts to upgrade pub-
lic education and downgrade the
charter school mania pushed by the
anti-MEA GOP.
In short, she will be a solid vote
for progress and change in Michigan.
Left of the Line proudly endorses this
wonderful candidate to replace the
awful Goeff Hansen.
Please, on Nov 4, vote for CATHY
FORBES for State Senate in the 34th
District.
Cathy Forbes for State Senate 34th District
Cathy Forbes
14
By Roger Rapoport
Left of the Line
This is an open letter
to Michigan 34th District
State Sen. Goeff Hansen, in
response to his blizzard-of-
lies campaign against his
Democratic opponent Cathy
Forbes.
Dear Sen. Hansen:
Its been a few weeks
since the police in your
hometown of Hart tried and
failed to block your re-election opponent Cathy Forbes
from campaigning in your hometown. Glad that little
snafu was resolved in Ms. Forbes favor and that your
hometown police apologized to her. But Im not writing
about that.
Im writing to ask you to call off the misogynist hate
campaign being conducted by your friends in the Michi-
gan Republican Party against Ms. Forbes.
Last week, voters
were mailed the ri-
diculous assault on her
alleged links with former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, with
whom Ms. Forces never even served. As you know, Gov.
Granholms governmental spending during her term has
been easily eclipsed by current GOP Gov. Rick Snyder in
every year during his current lamentable, unproductive
and undistinguished term.
Meanwhile, he and the Republican-dominated Leg-
islature of which YOU are a key member have raised
taxes on the poor, the middle class and the elderly to
help pay for a whopping $7.2 billion tax break to busi-
ness interests.
You have been part of the Republican team behind
these decisions and have consistently voted to the right
of the governor to defeat major job creation projects like
a badly need bridge to Canada, which was opposed by
Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun - who has gen-
erously contributed to your campaign.
One of Snyders pet projects, raising more than $1
billion to help fix our crumbing roads before winter sets
in, was not passed by your party - which of course domi-
nates our Legislature.
Sen. Hansen, this is YOUR team, the folks who can
quickly ram through anything it wants in lame duck ses-
sions such as the Right to Work (For Less) laws the gover-
nor claimed were not even on his agenda (Rick The Nerd
Snyder signed the bill anyway). That was accomplished
in record time by failing to hold public hearings and
locking the public out of legislative hearings with the
support of nearly $1 million worth of police protection.
Now, after refusing to pass Snyders own plan to raise
taxes to pay to fix our broken roads, you, Sen. Hansen, are
blaming local county road commissioner Cathy Forbes
for this statewide problem from Ishpeming to Dowagiac.
What will you blame her for next, global warming?
Or will your allies have go back to sending out ads of her
crawling out of a toilet like they did last time when you
were running against incumbent Mary Valentine?
Sen. Hansen it was YOU, not Cathy Forbes, who
voted against one of the biggest road building projects
in Michigan history - the vital new bridge to Canada that
your own Republican Gov. Snyder is still campaigning for.
It was YOUR campaign that received a political con-
tribution from Moroun after blocking this badly needed
project that would promote important commerce, relieve
highway congestion at the busiest commercial border
crossing in America and promote public safety on over-
crowded roads.
More than $120 billion worth of goods pass through
this corridor each year. Financed by Canada from tolls,
this project was destined to create badly needed jobs
with no obligation to Michigan taxpayers. Campaigning
for this project in West Michigan, Gov. Snyder said the
public shouldnt let one special interest override the best
interest of 10 million Michiganders.
Finally, one thing I can agree on with The Nerd!
Apparently you missed that event. Maybe Ricks e-
mails to you bounced or your phone lines were down.
Or maybe you dont realize that the state Cham-
ber of Commerce has joined organized labor and many
chambers of commerce in our area including Muskegon,
Grand Rapids and Grand Haven to support the bridge.
And just in case youve forgotten the depressing details
about your vote on this issue, let me refresh your memory.
Heres an excerpt from a follow-up column from respect-
ed Bridge Magazine editor Phil Power, allowing readers
to vent about his 2011 piece, Mourouns Victory Is A Loss
For Everyone.
Last week, I received a torrent of comment on my
column about the astounding efforts by Manuel J. Matty
Moroun, owner of the Ambassador Bridge, to block a new
bridge over the Detroit River, which would provide com-
petition to his very profitable monopoly.
Virtually every corporate interest and political
leader wants the new bridge, which would be known as
the New International Trade Crossing. But Moroun has
donated heavily to many legislators.
And on Oct. 19, 2011, the Senate Economic Devel-
opment Committee voted 3-2 not to report a bill authoriz-
ing the bridge to the full Senate, even though Gov. Rick
Snyder has made this a top priority. All three No votes
were Republicans and all three have taken campaign
contributions from Matty Moroun.


Roger Rapoport
see HANSEN page 15
Commentary
Why Republican Hansen still votes against
6,000 critical road-building Michigan jobs
15
Here are some sample online comments: Woof
asked: So who were the three GOP scumbags who voted
against it?
The answer: Sens. Mike Nofs of Battle Creek, Geoff
Hansen of Hart and Mike Kowall, of White Lake Township.
They all accepted money from Moroun, as did one sena-
tor who voted for the bridge.
The Detroit Free Press has reported that Moroun
family members contributed $9,700 to six of seven com-
mittee members, the only exception being Sen. Dave
Hildenbrand, R-Lowell. The two Democrats on the com-
mittee did not vote at all. They said they would have sup-
ported the bridge had Republicans agreed to community
benefits for the mostly desolate Delray area where the
U.S. portion of the new bridge would go.
Reader Les wrote: Your editorial led me
today to call the senators involved
and I asked them if they thought that
Matty Maroun gave them the money
because they were good looking? I
thought it tainted their whole involve-
ment in the process. To their credit,
most of them listened, except Mike
Nofs office, who hung up. If this
is not bribery, it surely would be a
conflict of interest.
Concerned commented:
Watching this unfold over the last
year, you could see this coming,
given the large expenditures from
the Ambassador Bridge company on
television and direct mail. There were
enough half-truths and untruths from
the bridge company that it confound-
ed the public and scared the legisla-
tors.
Reader Jeffrey was frustrated: I cant begin to
express my frustration over the political corruption in our
state I have written letters to my elected representa-
tives and personally called them, but nothing seems to
work. Unfortunately, I cant afford to match Mattys politi-
cal contributions. Which begs the question, Who do
our elected politicians represent the voters who elected
them or the Matty Morouns ?
I can observe that all the campaign contributions
flowing from Moroun interests are raising all kinds of
questions about the workings of the political process in
Lansing. And those questions risk impugning the reputa-
tions of some Michigan lawmakers.
Everybody skeptical Michigan citizens, legisla-
tors whose reputations are at risk, even the Ambassador
Bridge company would be better off if a thorough pub-
lic review of this mess would result in tightened standards
that would prevent single-interest groups from dominat-
ing in important public policy debates with overwhelm-
ing campaign contribution strategies.
Sen. Hansen, these independent allegations of politi-
cal corruption in Powers excellent article dont bode well
for your campaign.
You are not in a strong position to be casting stones
or asphalt against local road commissioner Cathy Forbes.
There is no way she or any other county official can be
held responsible for the failure of you and your fellow Re-
publican legislators to pass your own governors proposal
to fix our broken roads statewide.
You certainly cant blame her or Jennifer Granholm
for voting against the bridge to Canada that Gov. Snyder
wanted. And there is no way you can accuse Cathy Forbes
of taking money from the owner of a competing bridge
for trying to block this new project.
Your vote against this $2 billion bridge was against
the best interests of everyone who has business in Cana-
da or vice-versa, including all the important tourists who
vacation in your district and are put off by embarrassing
border crossing delays. Who knows, some of these visi-
tors might even shop in your grocery store!
Again, in May 2014, you voted
for a Senate transportation bill that
specifically restricted the building of
new bridge or any other international
crossing bridge between Detroit and
Windsor. As Detroit Sen. Coleman
Young II put it, You have a better
chance of proving that the world is flat
or that Sasquatch lives in the U.P. than
to prove that we dont need this project.
Lets just call this what it is. There is one
person who doesnt want this bridge
because he doesnt want competition.
So lets get this straight. A suc-
cessful career woman who has never
held elective office outside Oceana
County is being accused by your re-
election team of being single-hand-
edly responsible for letting our roads
crumble after YOU and YOUR party have failed to fix them
for fear of raising taxes in an election year.
YOU have voted again and again against a badly
needed bridge that would help everyone in our state
thereby preventing the creation of at least 6,000 badly
needed jobs.
Right now, I have the feeling that, like Mourons 85
year-old Ambassador Bridge, time is running out on your
political career.
Ill be stopping by your Muskegon campaign office
at 3130 Glade Suite B. to return to sender this latest lying
attack on Cathy Forbes.
Im also encouraging other recipients of this ad to
do the same and to call your office at (231) 342-3772. You
owe her and the voters who have on the receiving end of
this dishonest smear campaign an apology.
Sincerely, Roger Rapoport.
Muskegon author, publisher, editor and film-maker
Roger Rapoport is the producer of the feature film Water-
walk and the forthcoming movie Pilot Error, based on his
novel. Rapoport is a regular contributor Left of the Line.
HANSEN from page 14
Cathy Forbes
16
By Chris Savage
Left of the Line
Although I reject their approach to nearly everything
of significance, there is one thing I will give Republicans
credit for:
They are masterful at the Jedi Mind Trick.
Here in Michigan, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder con-
stantly talks about
how great Michi-
gans economy is
despite the fact
that we are tied for
the fifth-highest
unemployment
rate in the country.
Thats precisely
where we were
when Snyder took
office.
In other words,
this is not the
recovery youre
looking for.
At the national
level, Republicans
are pushing the
meme that 2014
is going to be
another Republi-
can wave election
where the GOP has
victories at every
level, in every
state. Its an auda-
cious claim belied,
once again, by the
actual facts and
nowhere is that lie
put to rest more
than in Michigan.
Starting at the
top of the ticket,
Democratic guber-
natorial candidate Mark Schauer first tied Snyder in the
polls in late June and in August he actually moved ahead
of Snyder.
Every poll since mid-summer has shown the race to
be a statistical tie.
With the reality that Michigans economy is still in the
dumps, Snyder has shifted from his nonsensical Come-
back Kid messaging to telling us were on the road to
recovery and that you might not feel it yet, but you will
soon.
The Snyder campaign is clearly worried.
It has an incumbent candidate at the top of the ticket
who has yet break 50 percent in the polls and, to make
matters far, far worse, an administration that has racked
up an astonishing number of scandals - from a depart-
ment head charging extravagant expenditures to taxpay-
ers to a top aide, Richard Baird, who received tax breaks
on primary residences in two states and was registered to
vote in both.
And thats on top of the many other scandals Baird has
been involved with!
Things have gotten so bad for Rick Snyder that hes
resorted to running on Obamacare after having dispar-
aged it and displaying a complete lack of leadership on
Medicaid expansion while it was being debated in the
Legislature.
Until recently, he refused to debate Mark Schauer, in-
stead scheduling a series of town hall forums with hand-
picked attendees asking questions.
The same day Snyder decried negative campaigning,
his campaign manager told The Detroit News that Mark
Schauer lacks the intelligence to keep up with Snyder
in this format.
Civility!
Turning to the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Gary Peters
is now leading Republican Terri Lynn Land by double
digits.
Peters greatest asset in this race appears to be Land
herself, who is running a campaign so bad that its gotten
the attention of multiple national media outlets. Like Sny-
der, Land has refused to schedule debates, at least until
very recently.
Nolan Finley, the editorial page editor for The Detroit
News, revealed that Land has been receiving intensive
debate training similar to the crash course that Sarah
Palin received prior to her Vice Presidential debate with
Joe Biden.
In the meantime, Land has avoided any public events
that arent tightly controlled.
At events where she does appear, anyone trying to
get in without an invitation is rudely turned away.
She simply cannot be put into a position of answering
unscripted questions. Shes that bad.
Lands behavior is in sharp contrast to Peters, who is
traveling the state, doing public events, and being inter-
viewed by any media outlet that asks.
He has accepted every offer to debate that has been
proposed and resorted to debating an empty chair with
Lands name taped to it when she refused a debate invita-
tion by WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids in September.
Republican wave in 2014?
Not here in Michigan; Not even close
Chris Savage
see SAVAGE page 17
At the national level,
Republicans are push-
ing the meme that
2014 is going to be
another Republican
wave election....
17
The race for Attorney General is, perhaps, one of the
most interesting of all the statewide races.
The incumbent, Republican Bill Schuette, has been in
elected office for three decades.
Despite this, his name recognition is still only 60
percent, and recent polls have him in a statistical tie with
Democrat Mark Totten who is even less known.
Even though Schuette has already spent more than
$1.3 million on his re-election bid and has a 12-to-1 cash
advantage, his extremist views have people looking for
an alternative in Totten, a PhD. law professor and former
federal prosecutor.
Totten, an incredibly hard working candidate, has
been running for AG for over a year and a half and re-
cently received the Michigan Partys nomination.
He has been aggressively
pointing out Schuettes extrem-
ism like being a major player in
the U.S. Supreme Courts Hobby
Lobby case and using taxpayer
money to fight a federal court
decision that ruled Michigans
ban on same-sex marriage to be
unconstitutional.
Schuette was also largely
responsible for a law that makes
Michigan the only state where
pharmaceutical companies can-
not be sued if someone is injured
or killed using their product.
Finally, the most recent entrant onto the statewide
ballot is Detroit civil rights attorney Godfrey Dillard, can-
didate for Secretary of State.
Although Dillard was originally interested in the AG
position, MDP Chair Lon Johnson shrewdly convinced him
to run for SOS instead.
Dillard brings much needed diversity to the ticket
and, at a time when voter suppression, particularly
among minority groups, is rampant, having an African
American as Michigans top election official is particu-
larly attractive to many voters.
Ruth Johnson has done virtually nothing of conse-
quence during her time as SOS other than to push for a
box on ballot application asking about the voters citizen-
ship.
The box was printed on the applications despite the
fact that Gov. Snyder vetoed the legislation requiring it.
The resulting confusion at polling locations in 2012
resulted in some people not being allowed to vote. Im-
proper election official training under Johnsons leader-
ship even led to a man dressed in fatigues frisking some
voters at one Detroit polling location.
In this race, Dillard trails Johnson by only 4.4 percent
in one poll, just outside the margin of error, despite hav-
ing just become the nominee. In another poll, hes in a
statistical dead heat, and in a final poll, hes leading her
by 3.6 points.
While Democrats are in serious contention in all of
the statewide polls, the Congressional races and state
House and Senate races are a bit of a different story.
Because of massive gerrymandering of these dis-
tricts by Republicans in 2000 and 2010, there are very
few competitive districts remaining. Still, Democrats Pam
Byrnes in the 7th Congressional District, Eric Schertzing
in the 8th, and Bobby McKenzie
in the 11th are all in surprisingly
competitive races against their
Republican opponents.
What the 2014 election
will come down to is the Get
Out The Vote (GOTV) effort.
Fortunately, under the
leadership of MDP Chair Lon
Johnson, national groups are
pouring resources into Michi-
gan, allowing the MDP to open
offices across the state and to
mount a voter outreach effort that rivals presidential elec-
tion years.
Thousands and thousands of grassroots volunteers,
assisted by paid staff, are making calls and knocking
doors every day between now and Election Day.
The contrast between 2010 and 2014 is stark and may
well be the key to Michigan Democrats blowing the Re-
publican lie about a GOP wave election out of the water.
Chris Savage is the publisher of eclectablog.com,
Michigans most widely read progressive blog. His work has
appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and in The Nation
magazine and has been featured by numerous other nation-
al media outlets. He lives in Dexter with his photographer
wife Anne C. Savage. Chriss blog handle Eclectablog
is justifiably famous on the Daily Kos web site dailykos.
com for its penetrating looks at the destruction wrought by
Republicans on our state.
SAVAGE from page 16
ably more beneficial for our candi-
dates to say, Look, Im not going to
Washington to overturn decades-old
legislation. Im going to fight to keep
abortion safe and rare. Thats how
we get pro-life candidates elected
and in positions of power to actually
do something about abortion, to roll
it back.
Lets hope that in 2016, when
District Judge Randy Kostrzewa has
to actually run for re-election, we re-
member Pete Townshends warning
and we Dont Get Fooled Again.
Rebecca McCroskey
Muskegon
(Editors note: Rebecca McCro-
skey was a recipient of the Bread
and Roses Award for her service
to women and children in the com-
munity, a senior paralegal for the
Warner, Norcross & Judd law firm,
and has served twice as president of
the Muskegon-Ottawa chapter of the
National Organization for Women.)
LETTERS from page 3
Gary Peters Mark Schauer
18
see TOTTEN page 19
In the finest tradition of the distinguished office he
is seeking to rescue from the GOP cesspool into which it
has been sunk, well let Attorney General candidate Mark
Totten make the case against the incum-
bent, who quite possibly is the worst AG in
Michigan history.
A federal court accepted Attorney
General Bill Schuettes argument that hun-
dreds of thousands of Michigan families
are ineligible for federal tax credits to
purchase health insurance. If the ruling
stands, Bill Schuette will have denied
working Michigan families tax credits
averaging $4,700.
The scope of families harmed if
Schuette gets his way is staggering.
Nearly 500,000 Michigan families are
eligible for these credits, and several hundred thousand
have already claimed them. The average value of these
credits is $4,700 per family. For the average family in our
state, that represents nearly two months of take-home pay.
Schuette has shown he wont give a second thought
to sacrificing people to score a few partisan points and
curry favor with his national funders.
As if his effort to raise taxes on Michigan families
wasnt enough, Schuette led the success-
ful fight against Gov. Rick Snyders effort
to create a Michigan exchange. Having
fought to ensure Michigan used the fed-
eral exchange, Schuette is now fighting to
raise taxes on Michigan families because
they use the very exchange he pushed.
And thats not all.
Since hes been in office, Schuette has
worked overtime against gay marriage
and gay rights, against affirmative action,
against the environment, and also found
time to play a crucial role in the infamous
U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld
Hobby Lobbys decision to not pay for certain types of
contraception coverage for its female employees.
The very worst of Dean Schuette can be found at the
Mark Totten for Attorney General
Mark Totten
We in Muskegon County are lucky with the caliber
of our current Drain Commissioner, Democrat Brenda
Moore.
She has the knowledge, experience and work ethic
to protect our vast water resources. Moore, ap-
pointed to the position earlier this year, is now
seeking election to the post.
Left of the Line heartily endorses BRENDA
MOORE for Muskegon County drain commis-
sioner.
What does a drain commissioner do you
may ask?
The county drain commissioner is a vital
post, and must be filled by an able candidate
with EXPERIENCE.
Brenda Moore has that capability and that
experience.
Since taking office, she has had the responsibility to
protect and maintain more than 230 miles of open drains
that discharge into natural streams and lakes, and Moore
has had to balance drainage needs with storm water
management, stream restoration and wildlife habitat en-
hancement.
These are some pretty important jobs and
require someone with a strong educational
background.
Moore, with her Bachelor of Science in
Natural Resource Management and her Mas-
ter of Science in Community Development, in
addition to formal training in fisheries, forestry,
wildlife management, and land use, is the per-
fect person for this responsibility.
Moore has also received special training
in project management, soil erosion control,
and industrial storm water management.
Now that, friends, is one qualified woman!
Brenda Moore overwhelmingly is best for
Muskegon County Drain Commissioner
see MOORE page 19
Brenda Moore
19
TOTTEN from page 18
web site www.StopSchuette.com
Its well worth a visit. Just as Mark Totten is well
worth your vote this Nov. 4.
Democrat Totten promises to be a peoples Attor-
ney General like the great Frank Kelley.
The variety of Tottens career within the legal
profession is breathtaking in scope. A former federal
prosecutor, he has clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals,
served on the law school faculty at Michigan State Uni-
versity, and authored important legal articles.
His solution, as he terms the antidote to Schuettes
poisonous years in office, is to step into the job with
these aims:
Seeking justice for victims and to prevent crime
instead of reacting to it.
To protect Michigan families from foreclosures
and financial harm.
To stand up for consumers like Frank Kelley
once did; to ensure ethics and transparency in govern-
ment.
To serve those whove served our country.
To preserve our Great Lakes and outdoors.
In Left of the Lines opinion, liberals and progressives
couldnt find a finer friend than Democratic Attorney
General candidate MARK TOTTEN.
Dont let him down Nov. 4. If you stay home, Dean
Schuette remains on the job. In some ways, Schuette is
worse than The Nerd.
ELECT MARK TOTTEN, DEMOCRAT, for Attorney
General.
When we add to that her years of experience in project
management and her well-developed leadership skills,
we can rest assured our water is in good hands with
Brenda Moore at the helm.
Someone as well qualified as Moore should be an
easy pick for Muskegon County residents, particularly
as her opponent has no known background or experi-
ence in the management of water resources.
Look. Muskegon County is rich in surface water.
Thus, we need to protect it, not only for our commu-
nitys economic health, but also for future generations.
Voters have to help. They have to elect a capable
hand to this important post.
Leftliners must go to the polls and elect BRENDA
MOORE as Muskegon Countys drain commissioner on
Nov. 4.
MOORE from page 18
Local elections matter as right-wingers understand.
One of the successful strategies of the Christian Coalition
was to seed local offices, particularly school and hospital
boards, with conservative Christians.
It was a stealthy, bottom-up approach that took many
progressives by surprise as they woke up one morning
to find certain key offices inundated with hostile ideo-
logues. And these new folks in office had both the desire
and ability to, for example, influence what the children
learned about in class among them, anti-science creeds
and U.S. history without labor unions.
So, if you dont vote for the people with the ideals you
want, somebody else will gladly vote in their own ideals
in your place.
This is why its critical to vote, especially on the
smaller elections.
Local elections are where decisions are made that
really affect your day-to-day life: garbage pick up, road
repair, the ability to keep a chicken in your back yard,
how your kids get to school, sidewalks for walkable com-
munities. While the titans in D.C. have their epic battles,
its your local officials who are making decisions impact-
ing your direct quality of life.
Here are the liberal and progressive candidates who
need you to get out and vote for them. Some of these
people are running neck and neck against well-heeled
conservative candidates. Others, well, we just plain LOVE:
MUSKEGON COUNTY
State Representative - 92nd District:
Democrat Marcia Hovey-Wright:
Marcia Hovey-Wright is the Democratic
incumbent for the 92st Michigan House
District, serving on the Agriculture com-
mittee, Families, Children, and Seniors
committee, and Insurance committee.
Prior to becoming a state representative Marcia was
a high school math and science teacher who witnessed
how cuts to education harmed Michigans schools. She
has a 100 percent rating from the American Civil Liber-
ties Union of Michigan and a lifetime score of 92 percent
from the Michigan League of Conservation voters.

On Nov. 4, please vote for these other
progressive leaders to represent us
see OTHER page 20
She is endorsed by the United Auto Workers, the Michi-
gan chapter of the Sierra Club, Clean Water Action, the
Michigan Townships Association, and the American Fed-
eration of Teachers. Marcia has been a wonderful rep, and
has fought the good fight against The Nerd and his gang
in Lansing.
Muskegon County Clerk: Demo-
crat Nancy Waters: If there is one ESSEN-
TIAL vote to cast in this next election, it
is to retain the excellence of Muskegon
County Clerk Nancy Waters, a public
servant in the truest sense who has put
her heart and soul into the important
post upon which she keeps constant watch.
Voters must understand if Republicans gain control of
the clerks office, they can manipulate voting hours, poll-
ing place rules, election information, ballot legal matters
and other factors that might well influence the outcome of
contests critical to the well-being of our community.
Waters has kept that trust. She watches with an ea-
gles eye the functions of her office, and has spent many
hours training her staff, as well as the clerks of other
venues.
She is highly respected in her field. Go to the Mus-
kegon County Clerks web site, and search for election
information, and you can see how efficiently things are
organized, and easy to use.
Simply put, Nancy Waters is the best in her job in
West Michigan. But voters, it is YOUR responsibility to
ensure this good steward of the public trust remains at
the helm.
Muskegon County Commissioner
- District 5: Democrat Ben Gillette:
Gillette is the Democratic candidate
running for the 5th District Muskegon
County Commissioner seat against
Republican incumbent Marvin Engle.
Gillette is solid for unions, workers and
the people.
Muskegon County Commission-
er- District 8: Democrat Terry Sabo:
Democratic incumbent Sabo is running
for re-election for the 8th District Muske-
gon County Commissioner seat against
Republican challenger Jan Koens, who is
a major GOP functionary. So please give
Terry your support in what we expect will
be a very close race.
Muskegon County Commissioner
- District 9: Democrat Ken Mahoney:
Good old Ken Mahoney, Democratic
incumbent, is running for re-election for
the 9th District Muskegon County Com-
missioner seat against Republican chal-
lenger Taleah Greve. Ken leads the county board, and is
effective beyond belief, so the GOPers really want him
out. Keep Ken!
White River Township Trustee: Democrat Debo-
rah Harris: Democrat Deborah Harris is the incumbent
running for re-election for White River Township trustee
against Republican challenger Bruce Yonker. Deborah is
a good, progressive Dem.
Egelston Township Trustee:
Democrat Alex Maginity: Democrat Alex
Maginity is the incumbent running for
re-election for Egelston Township trustee
against Republican challenger Chuck
Loss. Egelston citizens should know a
good thing when theyve got him. Retain
Maginity.
Muskegon County Commission
District 4: Republican Robert Scolnik:
It just tickles us pink to make Left of the
Lines only Republican endorsement this
cycle, supporting the re-election of Nor-
ton Shores Scolnik.
Somewhere in Bobs past, the
wires were crossed and he joined the wrong party, but
the mans heart is in the right place. So much so, that the
tea party wingers tried to bounce him from office last
term.
It must be because Scolnik tries so hard to get along
with progressives and liberals, and understands where
they are coming from even if he cant always support
their positions. Sigh. Whatever happened to the other
old guard Republicans, who used to be like Bob?
AND OF COURSE,
IN MUSKEGON COUNTY DONT FORGET
34th District, State Senate: Demo-
crat Cathy Forbes: Forbes is running
against Republican incumbent Goeff
Hansen.
She is a West Michigan native serving
on Oceana Countys Road Commission,
on the finance and insurance commit-
tees, where she gained leadership experience working
with budgets, contracts, and unions.
As road commissioner she has seen first-hand how
Michigans Republican Legislature has neglected Michi-
gans infrastructure and other investments in our future
such as schools and our young people. Forbes has been
endorsed by numerous groups including the Michigan
Professional Firefighters Union, West Michigan Plumbers
and Services Trades, AFL-CIO, the United Auto Work-
ers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
Planned Parenthood and the Sierra Club.

20
see OTHER page 21
OTHER from page 19

State Representative - 91st Dis-
trict: Democrat Collene Lamonte: Col-
lene Lamonte is the Democratic incum-
bent for the 91st Michigan House District,
serving on the Energy and Technology
committee, Financial Services commit-
tee, and Education committee. Prior to
becoming a state representative she was
a high school math and science teacher who witnessed
how cuts to education harmed Michigans schools. She
has a 90 percent score from the Michigan League of
Conservation Voters, and is endorsed by the United Auto
Workers, the Michigan chapter of the Sierra Club, Clean
Water Action, and the American Federation of Teachers.
Muskegon County Drain Com-
missioner: Democrat Brenda M. Moore:
Brenda Moore is the Democratic incum-
bent running for drain commissioner
against Republican David Farhat. Moore
was appointed to the position in Novem-
ber 2013 to replace Dave Fisher who
died in October 2013. She is eminently
qualified to hold down this vital position, and is an out-
standing administrator, and representative of the people.
OTTAWA COUNTY
30th District, State Senate: Demo-
crat Sarah Howard: Three cheers for the
courage and guts of Grand Haven attor-
ney Sarah Howard, who has taken it upon
herself to stand up to the one of the most
far-right bullies in the state Senate - GOP
incumbent Arlen Meekhof, a foe of teach-
ers and public education, and a patron
of everything the tea party worships, including charter
schools and cutting benefits for the poor.
Says Howard: Our current state senator voted to
slash more than $2 billion in funding for public schools
in Michigan, yet supported spending $1 billion on char-
ter schools, without ensuring adequate oversight on how
dollars are spent and how children are educated, and the
results are underwhelming. And he supported the EAA
and the Emergency Manager laws, creating new state
bureaucracies and wresting local control of schools from
their communities.
Howard added: Sen. Meekhofs vote to support a
students right to bully in schools, as long as the bully-
ing behavior stems from personal or religious beliefs, is
out of step and dangerous. And rather than heeding calls
to get guns out of schools, he voted to expand the use of
concealed weapons, including in schoolsa move that
few if any credible experts believe will make our chil-
dren safer.
Its time for a more reasonable, balanced, and ef-
fective approach to addressing the problems facing our
schools todayone focused on what schools need, and
one that honors the principle of local control our of com-
munity schools.
We couldnt agree more with that dismal assessment
of Meekhofs career. And in a district currently represent-
ed by one of the most extreme legislators in the Senate,
Sarah is focused on restoring reason and balance to the
legislative process. Shes committed to seeking input,
building functional consensus, and supporting economic
growth, education, equality, and the environment in Ot-
tawa County. Please do not forsake Sarah Howard in her
quest to dethrone the politically detestable Arlen Meek-
hof in the Michigan State Senates 30th District.
State Representative -88th District:
Democrat Janice Gwasdacus: Gwasdacus
is running against Republican incumbent
Roger Victory. She works and lives in
Hudsonville, raising two children with
her husband, a small business owner. She
feels the Republican party has become
increasingly radicalized over the past
10 years by fringe voices, and she wants to see Michigan
returned to the voters and regular citizens.
State Representative -89th District:
Democrat Don Bergman: The 89th House
District consists of eight townships in Ot-
tawa County: Blendon, Crockery, Grand
Haven, Olive, Park, Port Sheldon, Rob-
inson and Spring Lake and includes the
cities of Ferrysburg and Grand Haven.
It has a 65.6 percent Republican
base, based on an average of the turnout in the 2008
and 2010 elections, and it is represented by incumbent
Amanda Price, a Terri Lynn Landlord clone who votes
for just about everything Gov. Nerd stands for includ-
ing the anti-union Right to Work (for Less) law and taxing
senior pensions.
Carrying the progressive flag against this horrible
representative is the great Don Bergman, an under-ap-
preciated loyal Democrat and former schoolteacher who
is an articulate and well-informed expert on government.
Says Bergman: I learned early on that people are
more important than things. Something the Republican
Party does not understand. Please, 89th District progres-
sives, give this man some love!
State Representative - 90th District: Democrat
James Haspas: Haspas is the Democratic candidate run-
ning against Republican Daniela Garcia. Both are running
for a freshly open seat. Haspas withdrew from the race
prior to the August primary but his name appears on the
ballot. But filling the open seat with Democrat Haspas on
Election Night would send the entire GOP into cardiac
arrest. Do it, Leftliners!

21
OTHER from page 20
see OTHER page 23
22
By Michael G. Walsh
Left of the Line
Michigan Supreme Court
Up for grabs are three 8-year
terms and one 2-year term.
Its no surprise were supporting three Democratic
candidates for three out of the four open Michigan Su-
preme Court seats.
Those three Democrats bring diverse experience to
the positions unlike their ultra-conservative Republican
counterparts.
However, one Republican brings experi-
ence similar to our Democrat favorites and
is worthy of your consideration.
Hows that for a Left of the Line
surprise? See another, below.
Republican Candidates
SAY NO TO: Brian K.
Zahra, 8-year term. Zahra is a
Gov. Snyder appointee in 2011.
SAY NO TO: David F.
Viviano, 2-year term. Viviano is
a Gov. Snyder appointee in 2013.
SAY YES TO: James R.
Redford, 8-year term, Kent County
Circuit Court; endorsed by the Farm
Bureaus AgriPAC.
Democratic Candidates
DEFINITELY SAY YES TO: William Murphy,
8-year term. Currently Murphy is chief judge for the
Michigan Court of Appeals. Endorsed by Michigan Edu-
cation Association and the United Auto Workers.
SAY YES TO: Richard Bernstein, 8-year term.
Blind personal injury lawyer Call Sam family.
SAY YES TO: Deborah Thomas, 2-year term,
Wayne County Circuit Court

Heres a little more about the candidates that I and
Left of the Line - endorse:
William Murphy, the chief judge of the Michigan
Court of Appeals, brings years of appellate experience to
the race, distinguishing himself in several notable cases,
including cases involving the First and Fourth Amend-
ments to our U.S. Constitution. Hes won union support
from the United Auto Workers, Michigan Laborers District
Council, SEIU Michigan State Council, and the Michigan
Education Association, among others. I can tell you from
personal experience he is a class act.
Richard Bernstein of the Call Sam family seeks
an 8-year position. Hes the only non-judge or justice
among the candidates and a practicing personal injury
attorney. Blind since birth, he is a voice for the voice-
less: There should be no preference for the few who can
drown out the voices of the many. Hes won the endorse-
ment from the MEA; United Association of Local Union
85 Plumbers, Steamfitters, and HVACR Service
Technicians; and United Automobile, Aero-
space & Agricultural Implement Work-
ers of America.
Deborah Thomas, a Wayne
County Circuit judge since 1994,
seeks a two-year term. She
holds a bachelors degree from
Western Michigan University, a
masters degree in criminal jus-
tice, and a doctorate in law from
Valparaiso University in 1977.
Prior to taking the bench, Judge
Thomas served in private practice
and as an attorney for the UAW
Legal Services Plan.
James Robert Redford, a Kent County
Circuit judge since 2003, is a political conun-
drum. Hes certainly Republican, but he provides
experience no other candidate in this race possesses. A
Navy veteran, hes served as an assistant U.S. Attorney
and practiced in state, federal, and military courts. More
important, he not only served as a prosecutor, hes de-
fended criminal defendants and injured people as well as
insurance companies. For discerning voters, We think he
deserves another look.
And, for your information, a little more about those
candidates we dont endorse:
Brian K. Zahra, incumbent justice, said he considers
himself to be a rule of law judge, meaning my role as a
judge is to determine what the law is, not what it should
be. Hes won endorsements from numerous Michigan
prosecutors including prosecutors in Ottawa, Allegan,
Here come the judges candidates
Be sure to choose carefully
see JUDGES page 13
Opinion
23
JUDGES from page 22
Kent, Oceana, Newaygo, and Muskegon counties.
David Viviano, incumbent justice and Gov. Snyder ap-
pointee, echoes Justice Zahras conservative judicial
philosophy. I believe in the rule of law, not the rule of
judges. Hes won the endorsement of the Michigan
Chamber of Commerce, Millwrights Local 1102, mdpac,
and West Michigan prosecutors among others. Be-
fore his appointment to the state Supreme Court, Justice
Viviano served as judge in the Macomb County circuit
and probate courts. He is an advocate for technological
innovation in the court system.
ANOTHER JUDICIAL RACE OF NOTE:
Muskegon County 14th Circuit
This is a nonpartisan race involving incumbent
Judge Kathy Hoogstra against family law attorney Brenda
Sprader.
Both are compassionate individuals who seek the
best for their litigants and clients.
Judge Hoogstra was appointed to the bench by Gov.
Snyder and has a Republican background. Ms. Spraders
politics are unknown.
What is known are these womens resumes.
Sprader has a compelling up-from-the-bootstraps
history. She put herself through Grand Valley State
University then Thomas Cooley Law School. By Election
Day - and with only days to spare - she will have been an
attorney only five years, the absolute minimum necessary
to take the bench.
Judge Hoogstra, by contrast, has been an attorney for
24 years. A 1990 graduate of Chicagos Kent College of
Law, Judge Hoogstra served as a 14th Circuit Court law
clerk, the courts family division public defender, family
court referee and since last year as circuit judge. In
my opinion, shes paid her dues.
By resumes alone, its Judge Hoogstra.
But by personal experience, its also Hoogstra, in my
book.
I am the attorney who sponsored Brenda Sprader
for entry to the bar. I did so because I saw her drive and
dedication to become an attorney.
Later, I watched her work with clients and found her
to be an excellent beginning proponent. Her life narra-
tive was similar to mine a career change and hard work
to become an attorney.
A decade-and-a-half earlier I was a new lawyer,
transitioning from being an investigative journalist and
working in the criminal, family and probate courts.
Hoogstra whom Id hadnt met before was generous
with her time and advice. Not only did she give me her
office phone number, but her home number as well. She
invited me to call at any hour if it would help a client.
Later, after she became the probate courts adminis-
trator, she showed her tougher side by enforcing court
rules and tightening up procedures.
To me, character trumps politics every time.
In court, Judge Hoogstra is no-nonsense, gets to the
facts, and understands the law. There is no substitute for
experience and no room for partisanship.
I commend Judge Hoogstra for your vote.

Michael G. Walsh is senior partner of Michael G.
Walsh & Associates, PLC, 8 Walton, Muskegon, a general
practice of law that primarily involves trial practice for
criminal, family, and probate matters throughout West
Michigan. Because of the probate interest, Michael also is
involved in wills, trusts and other estate-planning devices.
This often ties in with post-divorce planning.
Michaels entire career has been involved with legal
matters - as an investigative journalist in Chicago and West
Michigan, as an assistant prosecutor, and in private prac-
tice. His record speaks for itself a belief in hard work, dig-
ging for answers, and the relentless pursuit of whats right.
His education came at Quincy University (BA), the Uni-
versity of Oklahoma (MA), and Cooley Law School (JD), and
Michael has attended numerous seminars such as a Knight
Fellowship at the University of Maryland and a National
Security Seminar at the U.S. Army War College.
Michael is married to Pat, a high school teacher, and
the couple has five adult children. The author is the resi-
dent agent for Left of the Line, LLC.
Ottawa County Commissioner
3rd: District: Democrat Doug Zyls-
tra: Doug Zylstra is the Democratic
candidate running for the 3rd District
Ottawa County Commissioner seat
against incumbent Don Disselkoen.
Zylstra, from Holland, has done
an outstanding job re-energizing the Ottawa County
Democratic Party. Under his leadership, the Dems
have become a viable force in 2nd Congressional
District elections, and have raised their visibility to new
heights.
We have high hopes that Zylstra will be a force for
progressivism on the lock-step GOP board, that pathet-
ic monopoly being a miserable fact of life for decades
now.
Ottawa County Commissioner
10th: District: Don Munski: Don
Munski is the Democratic candidate
running for the 10th District Ottawa
County Commissioner seat against
incumbent Roger A. Bergman.
Don Munski is a genuine friend to
the working men and women of West Michigan, a friend
who will be there for them whenever the chips are
down. Don is a solid supporter of the kind of progres-
sive politics that will improve the lives of its citizens.
Best of all, his election would end the MONOPOLY the
GOP has consistently held on the county board.
OTHER from page 21
24
public and private sector employees.
I would add the one that allows for-profit charter
school operators to not pay their property taxes.
This ongoing Republican attack on public education
and their employees has resulted in a demoralized work-
force.
For instance, Oakridge teachers have had their wages
frozen for the past three years (not even salary step
increases). Fruitport teachers salary schedule has not
been increased for three years. Muskegon, Ravenna and
Orchard View teachers were forced to accept a reduction
in their salary schedules this past year.
These salary freezes and reductions have been
combined with a new mandated three percent pension
contribution and mandated increased contributions for
health care benefits.
The bottom line is that almost every school employee
in West Michigan has experienced a pay cut during Sny-
ders tenure.
In order to maintain the pension benefits they were
promised school employees are now required to pay
more, in addition to the three percent requirement, or ac-
cept the loss of health care benefits in retirement and/or
a defined contribution retirement savings account.
At a time when teachers are under increased pressure
to improve student achieve-
ment, MEA Secretary-
Treasurer Richard Trainor,
frequently poses the follow-
ing question, If I cut your
pay will you promise to work
harder?
Think about it!
Not only have teachers
suffered financially, they also
have lost job security. On a number of occasions recently
in Muskegon County senior teachers have been let go so
the district can employ a cheaper and less-experienced
teacher.
Lets not forget Muskegon Heights, where every
school employee lost their job although some were of-
fered the opportunity to return at half-pay and minimal
benefits. Did student outcomes improve? Not even the
private management company was able to run the district
on the money the state provided.
Our loyal school support staff has suffered even more
than the teaching staff. Across the board they have been
forced to accept significant pay cuts, reduced hours and
the elimination of health care benefits. The alternative is
the elimination of their position with the school through
privatization.
Cutting funds to traditional public schools, funding
alternatives that are not producing results and attacking
collective bargaining and union employee rights have
damaged public schools. (Local municipalities and their
employees have similarly suffered because of Gov. Sny-
ders and the Republican legislatures actions.)
Restrictions on collective bargaining, attacks on the
rights of public employees, eliminating dues deductions,
shifting costs to public school employees and retirees -
the governor and Republican Legislature have spent a
lot of time in the last four years on issues affecting public
education and school employees. Unfortunately, none of
the measures they put in place have improved student
achievement.
The opportunity for all children to have access to
a quality public education in Michigan is in jeopardy.
This November, we must replace Gov. Snyder and vote
out those Republican legislators who wholeheartedly
embrace his anti-public school, anti-public employee
agenda.
Harrison Sikkenga is a retired Mona Shores teacher.
Harry was president of the Mona Shores Education As-
sociation for many years, served on both the National
Education Association Board of Directors and the Michigan
Education Association (MEA) Board of Directors and also
was elected to two terms as MEA Secretary-Treasurer.
Following his school retirement Harry was employed by
MEA working with MEA members and locals in Muskegon,
Ottawa and Newaygo Counties. He currently is president of
the West Michigan Chapter of MEA Retired and a member
of the MEA Retired State Board. Harry and his wife Char-
lynne been residents of Norton Shores for over 50 years.
Ed Haynor is a retired
career & technical educa-
tor from Newaygo County.
He worked at the Newaygo
County Career-Tech Center
for 31 years as both teacher
and building administrator.
Mr. Haynor has been a
Board of Education member
for over 30 years serving both Newaygo Public Schools and
his former employer the Newaygo County RESA. He cur-
rently is the Board Secretary at NCRESA.
Upon Mr. Haynors retirement in 2003 from public edu-
cation, he was hired as a consultant for the West Michigan
Construction Alliance (WMCA), which is a construction
labor/management organization comprised of all union
trades, signatory contractors and contractor organizations
in West and Southwest Michigan.
Ed provided various public relations functions for the
WMCA including the promotion of responsible contract-
ing for public sector construction. Responsible contracting
includes a set of enforceable qualifications adopted by
public sector elected officials and is incorporated into the
public owners construction bid specifications.
The policy is the public owners quality standards
governing the contractor qualification process. Mr. Haynor
retired from the WMCA in June 2012. As a former public
school educator, he is a lifetime member of the MEA/NEA
and currently is a trustee on the West Michigan MEA-Re-
tired Board of Directors.
(EDITORS NOTE: Steve Cook, MEA President, and MEA
research provided material contained in this article).
The opportunity for all children to have access
to a quality public education in Michigan is in
jeopardy. This November, we must replace Gov.
Snyder and vote out those Republican legisla-
tors who wholeheartedly embrace his anti-pub-
lic school, anti-public employee agenda.
SCHOOLS from page 7
25
VOTE
NOVEMBER 4
Election Night Victory Party
Michigan MainStreet Movement's 2016 Kick Off Fund Raiser

What: Food & Drink (cash bar)
Project Screen Results
Where: Whitlow's Banquet Hall
4610 Airline Rd, Muskegon
When: Tuesday, Nov 4
Polls close at 8pm,
Party time: 8:01
Cost: Individual $10/person at the door
6 or more purchased in advance $7.50/person

As part of the 2016 movement, campaigns and organizations treat your teams and members
to the election celebration of 2014. For group purchases contact a MMM member:

Sean Mullally 769-0033 smull333@gmail.com
Steve Markel 894-8088 slmarkel@yahoo.com
Grace Romzick 759-4575 gromzick@gmail.com

Paid for by Michigan MainStreet Movement, 850 Victor, Muskegon, MI 49445
P