Cocktalis & Popcorn: Does Justin Amash Know Mariia Butina? - He Resigned From House Freedom Caucus

Justin Amash if from Michigan.

Justin Amish knows John Conyers, Jr.

Justin Amash read the Mueller Report that was in the basement of the Rayburn Building, for six weeks, where only a handful of Members took the opportunity to look at it.

Grand Rapids is in his Congressional District, where the DeVos Dynasty was created.

Justin Amash knows about Medicaid Fraud in Child Welfare, Alpha Bank and Spectrum Health.

Justin Amash knows about the Kent County Land Bank.

Justin Amash knows about the Michigan GOP and its relations with the NRA.

Justin Amash knows about SIGTARP.

I am wondering if Justin Amash knows Mariia Butina.

We should definitely ask him in House Judiciary impeachment proceedings.

#FreeMariaButina

REPUBLICAN TRUMP CRITIC JUSTIN AMASH RESIGNS FROM HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS

Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash resigned from the House Freedom Caucus Monday, citing his efforts to not be “a further distraction for the group.”

“I have the highest regard for [the caucus], and they’re my close friends,” Amash, who is a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus and the lone Republican of the group to call for impeaching the president, told CNN. “I didn’t want to be a further distraction for the group.”

The libertarian congressman’s decision comes in the wake of a series of tweets last month accusing President Donald Trump of having committed “impeachable offenses.”

“Here are my principal conclusions,” Amash, an outspoken GOP critic of the president, on Twitter last month. “1. Attorney General Barr has deliberately misrepresented Mueller’s report. 2. President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct. 3. Partisanship has eroded our system of checks and balances. 4. Few members of Congress have read the report.”

Here are my principal conclusions:
1. Attorney General Barr has deliberately misrepresented Mueller’s report.
2. President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct.
3. Partisanship has eroded our system of checks and balances.
4. Few members of Congress have read the report.

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019

“Contrary to Barr’s portrayal, Mueller’s report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment,” Amash continued.

The Michigan lawmaker’s stand likely alienated him from many of his Republican colleagues. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul called the Mueller Report itself the “antithesis of libertarianism” when discussing Amash’s position. GOP chairwoman Ronna McDaniel accused him of “parroting the Democrats’ talking points on Russia.”

Amash told Freedom Caucus members about his decision at a board meeting Monday night, CNN reported.

“It was a positive meeting. It wasn’t negative,” he told CNN.

CNN reported that Amash “emphasized his decision was voluntary and that he remains on good terms with his colleagues.”

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Kent County Land Bank To Be Dissolved But Will Continue Operations Even Though It Never Incorporated

It seems William Forsyth has been busy, busy, busy.

Or maybe, not.

It does not matter because the U.S. Department of Justice has been busy, busy, busy, and I know that for a fact!

The statewide modular homes plan sounds like a crappy fraud scheme, but hey, what do I know?

I know I could ask the leadership of Hamtramck, but I do not believe my presence would be very welcomed at City Hall.

I know the Kent County Land  Bank was never incorporated just like the Detroit Land Bank Authority never incorporated.

I also know the Kent County Land Bank was running strong armed tactics in its inner city, which happens to be its historic neighborhoods, by offering pennies on the SEV of the homes of people it basically corralled into a contained community, or just snatching through property tax fraud schemes, then sit on the properties, handing them out to family and friends who just so happen to have LLC companies.

Kent County Land Bank dissolution won’t stop statewide modular-homes plan

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Tentative plans to build about 200 modular homes across the state are still going forward even though the broker, the Kent County Land Bank, will be dissolved at year’s end.

The affordable housing projects -- some in the discussion phase and others further along -- would see modular homes crop up in Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Muskegon Heights, Marquette, Midland, Hamtramck, Monroe and Romulus.

Additional projects in Newaygo, Flint and Canadian Lakes are possible but “speculative,” said Ken Parrish, the Kent County Treasurer and chair of the land bank’s board of directors.

Other than 10 modular units coming to Grand Rapids, Parrish couldn’t give exact figures on the potential number of modular homes eyed for each of the communities. He said they anticipate about 200 units in all.

Even though land bank staff have until Dec. 31 to settle obligations and cease operations, Parrish said it shouldn’t halt the ongoing projects.

“The projects that are outside of Kent County, I’m pretty sure that those will all continue, working through the Michigan Land Bank,” he said. “I don’t think us shutting down is going to impact, necessarily, any of those projects. ... Whether it’s InnovaLaB or the state land bank that wraps those projects up is yet to be determined."

David Allen, director of the county land bank, deferred comment to Parrish.

The directive to dissolve the land bank was given by the Kent County Board of Commissioners last month by a vote of 11 to 8.

The vote was brought to the board by Kent County Administrator Wayman Britt, whose office concluded the land bank had strayed from its original mission, bucked commissioner input and is largely unnecessary in a recovered housing market.

A number of affordable housing non-profits argued the move will stifle affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization efforts.

Concerns about the land bank picked up in June when the land bank rebranded itself as InnovaLaB and expanded operations into brokering modular homes both in and outside of Kent County.

The modular homes -- sold at cost for vacant public lands and with a fee to real-estate agents and developers on other parcels -- were pitched as a solution to provide “workforce housing,” or homes for income earners who are out-priced by their area’s housing market.

Land bank officials previously said the home prices range between $159,000 to $239,000, depending on the size, model and finishes. The modular homes are being eyed as a possibility for a 20-home development on the site of the former Glendale school in Muskegon Heights.

Josh Burgett, director of the Michigan Land Bank, said there’s a need for that work to continue, whether it’s by a non-profit InnovaLaB, another organization or the state land bank itself.

“(It’s) important that people know, from a state land bank perspective we viewed their work as very meaningful and something we used as an example across the state,” Burgett said. “I believe that investing money into improving these unproductive sites, most of them land bank sites, is a smart strategy for us and the communities we serve.”

Conversations about continuing the modular-homes work after the land bank is dissolved is ongoing, according to Parrish. Some preliminary ideas range from attaining a non-profit status to having another organization take on the work.

“We’re still trying to figure all that out,” he said. “It’s too early to know what’s ultimately going to happen with the staff and with any successor organization that there might be.”

InnovaLaB has contracted with Troy-based modular home manufacturer Champion Homes for all its builds.

County board Vice Chairman Stan Stek, who voted to dissolve the land bank, previously said the year-long time frame to dissolve the land bank allows commissioners to assess the needs met by the land bank but outside its mission and discuss how else those needs could be met.

Burgett said the state land bank is committed to working with Kent County municipalities, such as Grand Rapids and Plainfield Township, that regularly utilize the county land bank for clearing property titles and other actions.

He cautioned that while state land bank staff will “do everything we can to deliver that customer service," they “can never be as responsive as someone who is in your own community."

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Cocktails & Popcorn: Benny Napoleon, TARP & The Wayne County REO Sheriff Auction

Before we take a jump into the Motor City Muckruaker special report on campaign finance scofflaws, I thought I would share a few morsels of public information.

FUN FACT! THE WAYNE COUNTY SHERIFF FACILITATES REAL ESTATE OWNED (REO) PROPERTY AUCTIONS

Quicken Loans provides the following explanation for the meaning of REO:

REO refers to a home that the homeowner lost in foreclosure. If the lender who foreclosed on the home can’t sell the property at a foreclosure auction, then the lender takes over ownership of the home. The lender then tries to sell the real estate-owned property to minimize their losses.

 So, now, let us take a look at how the Sheriff Sale works in Wayne County.

First, the home goes into mortgage foreclosure after a judgement has been entered and certified by the State District Court.

Now, remember, there were lots and lots of fake ass Limited Liability Company Corporate Shape Shifters where no one really knew who owned the mortgages, even if they were paid off.

Lots of the deeds were fake, too.

Then, the Wayne County Sheriff is supposed to hold public auction of these REO properties but there were lots of properties that never made it to auction, even though they were on the auction list.

The majority of the time property owners were never even notified of the foreclosure, having paid their mortgages that they had no idea were lumped and dumped into fake financial instruments behind their backs so there was no redemption period.

So, instead of losing profit from REO property Sheriff auctions, the bank owned properties let the Detroit Land Bank Authority and fake ass LLCs file quiet title actions, so the banks did not have to pay taxes and could write off the mortgages, over and over again, then dissolve.

Some people lost their homes due to other fake ass property tax schemes like mixing up the letters "F" & "T".

Then, rogue private contracts to strong arm evictions were used to judicially label the unbeknownst homeowners as "squatters" which led to gerrymandering of the congressional districts, through TARP funds.

Then the Hardest Hit Funds private contractors started their demolition program on these homes that probably did not have property chain of command of the deeds, then handed out properties in a nepotismatic frenzy, showing gratitude in generous campaign contributions.

This all happened under the watchful eye of Benny Napoleon, but it seems Wayne Country Treasurer has absorbed the auctions, with a bit of federal guidance, of course.

It also happened under the watchful eye of Lawrence Stelman, too.

Benny Napoleon

Part 1: Sheriff Napoleon is one of state’s most brazen campaign finance scofflaws

About this series: State and local political candidates receive tens of millions of dollars a year in donations, often from developers, labor leaders, lawyers, business owners, unions and other special interest groups. Motor City Muckraker examines who donates and how the money is spent in this ongoing, multi-part series,   

Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon was elected to enforce the law, but when it comes to raising money for political office, he is among the most brazen scofflaws in the state.

A Motor City Muckraker analysis of campaign finance records found that Napoleon is a chronic, repeated abuser of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act, all but thumbing his nose at the state law that governs donations to politicians.

Campaign finance records show:

• Napoleon is running two political campaigns simultaneously, collecting tens of thousands of dollars a year for his sheriff’s committee and a mayoral committee that he should have closed  after his defeat to Mike Duggan in November 2013. But Napoleon’s campaign ended with a $92,100 debt in violation of state law, preventing him from closing the committee.
• Instead paying off the debt with money from his robust sheriff’s committee, Napoleon spent tens of thousands of dollars feasting at upscale restaurants and traveling to Las Vegas, Phoenix, Houston, Washington D.C. and Naples, Fla. (Subject of Part 2)
• The former Detroit police chief failed to report a $2,500 donation made on March 19 from the mayor’s political action committee, the Duggan Leadership Fund.
• Napoleon collected donations from at least three corporations, which is a violation of state law.
• The Wayne County Clerk’s Office fined or warned Napoleon over campaign violations numerous times for late filings, dubious reports and failing to disclose details on more than 80 expenses.
• Napoleon blamed more than $20,000 in unaccountable expenses on a credit card hacker who had gone unnoticed from May 2017 to November 2017.

Intentionally violating the Michigan Campaign Finance Act is punishable by up to 90 days in jail, and in some cases, five years in prison. Elected leaders also can be prohibited from running for future office.

When Napoleon’s mayoral campaign came to an end with his defeat to Duggan in November 2013, the 62-year-old was forbidden from closing his committee until he paid off more than $90,000 in debt, primarily to attorneys, political consultants and public relations firms. The Michigan Campaign Finance Act requires candidates to keep committees open until the debt is paid off.

Nearly five years after Napoleon lost his mayoral bid, his committee remains open because he still owes $68,910. Candidates are permitted to raise money, but only to pay down the debt.

According to campaign finance records, Napoleon used his mayoral campaign to raise $34,678 in 2014 and $27,600 this year. Of that, the third-term sheriff only paid $23,910 toward the debt and spent more than $11,000 in violation of state law on a consultant and unknown campaign material like buttons, bumper stickers and t-shirts.

Gil Flowers, the campaign finance manager for the county clerk, recently sent Napoleon a second letter to remind him he was violating the Michigan Campaign Finance Act by misspending his mayoral campaign donations.

“You can only make expenditures and receive contributions per this ACT only!,” Flowers wrote Napoleon. “You are the elected Sheriff of Wayne County.”

According to state campaign finance filings, the Duggan Leadership Fund donated $2,500 to Napoleon’s mayoral campaign in March. Napoleon’s campaign treasurer, Roger Short, denies ever receiving the donation.

“Why would he be paying off his opponent’s debt?” Short asked of Duggan. “I don’t remember seeing a $2,500 contribution.”

It wouldn’t be that unusual for Napoleon to receive a donation from Duggan’s PAC. In the 2017 mayoral election, Napoleon endorsed Duggan over state Sen. Coleman Young II. Duggan also endorsed gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer, who was considering  Napoleon as her choice for lieutenant governor. Earlier this month, Whitmer chose Garlin Gilchrist II, another Duggan ally.

Napoleon, a robust fundraiser, has chosen not to tap into his sheriff’s campaign to pay down the debt, while spending tens of thousands of dollars on out-of-state travel, hotels and more than 200 meals.

Up next, Motor City Muckraker reveals how Napoleon has spent more than $1 million in donations in the second part of an ongoing series about campaign donations.

Other installments will examine a suburban mayor who approves contracts to the highest bidder, a formidable political machine funded by special interests and donations in the gubernatorial race. 

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Michigan Should Remain Under Federal Jurisdiction Based on its Child Welfare System

Michigan knows how bad its child welfare system is.

It is so bad that the State hired a high-priced mouthpeice to judiciously lobby U.S. District Court

U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds

Judge Nancy to talk her out of keeping Michigan under federal monitoring even though it has failed to , not just keep children safe who are in foster care, but to provide services so the children do not have to remain in foster care.

See, in Kent County, there are no homeless shelters for LBGT kids, mainly the ones who age out of foster care.  Shelters like Mel Trotter, privately run as a christian organization, refuses to take in gay youth and families, leaving them to do the fend for themselves.

Mel Trotter is running a SNAP benefits scheme, snatching from the clients.

Lest not forget the practices of "targeting vulnerable populations", code words referring to anyone who is not of predominatly European decent, such as the removals of Native American children and predictive measurement tests for social success based on the color of one's skin.   Michigan has adopted a model which directly coorelates the color of one's skin to the parent's future ability to provide for a child.

So families, in order to survive, are living together with relatives and friends who, more than likely have been targeted and the state wants to spend more money coming in and busting up families instead of changing its arcanely perverse policies on promoting thier version of christian family values?

Then Kent County has poor opportunities for affordable and quallity housing, if an applicant can get past the housing discrimination which runs rampant.

Then you have Michigan, as one of the first socio-economic policy experiments implementing a privatized child welfare system where there is still no opportunity to file complaints or greivances on its performance because everyone knows, you cannot audit God.  Non-profits which are mainly faith-based run state policy designed from their belief systems, not the will of the people and cannot be externally scrutinized due to privacy execptions and exclusions.

I would be remiss not to mention the fact that the Departments of Community Health and Human Services have recently merged, meaining there is no structual authority in place to go after Medicaid fraud in child welfare, or rather fraudulent billing.

Not having any oversight through the creation of privatization leaves families defenseless against any civil rights litigation because everyone knows poor people cannot afford justice, let alone a decent place to live.

Has anyone even considered the fact that the one person, who is the sole legal guardian for well over 7,000 children, of whom the Children's Rights lawsuit was originally filed on behalf, has never once been mentioned in litigation or in monitoring?

Michigan Chiildren's Institute, the secret organization which is impervious to any accountability, has never been audited nor reviewed to see where it falls in the grande scheme of privatization.

This is why Michigan needs to remain under federal oversight of the court for its child welfare system.

Keep cutting services and see how much it will cost you when you snatch these kids and put them in the child welfare system.

These folks just do not get it.  Poverty is not a crime.

County eyes first performance-based child welfare system

‘Precarious’ housing can end with kids in foster care, or worse — homelessness.

The first-of-its-kind performance-based child welfare system in Michigan will be considered by Kent County commissioners at their meeting this week.

The county’s Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with the 17th District Court, Network180 and five private agencies to create the system, aimed at helping families in a “precarious” housing situation where the children may be at risk of removal to foster care by court order.

“Precarious” housing generally means a family is doubled up with another family or families.

In some cases, the disintegration of the family may lead to homelessness before the local government can get involved.

As part of the proposed pilot project, the state passed PA 0520 of 2014 to streamline funding between DHHS and the county. It also created a $1.7 million annual investment in the provision of in-home services for families.

Matthew VanZetten, business analyst for human services in Kent County administration, told the County’s Finance and Physical Resources Committee the goal is to do a better job of keeping children out of the child welfare system.

Children may be removed by Child Protective Services when substantiated complaints are received about them living in “a precariously housed situation with individuals that have a history of abuse/neglect or domestic violence,” according to county documents.

County officials were advised there is no program or funding available to relocate families into a safe housing situation.

The Kent County Essential Needs Task Force and its Coalition to End Homelessness, involving the DHHS, the Court and several private social services agencies, has been meeting to look at potential solutions to the problem.

One decision was to use the local Housing Access Program, which is run by Booth Family Services, part of The Salvation Army, to do a housing assessment and then partner with a housing agency to provide housing and case management. Booth’s partner in the pilot project will be Community Rebuilders.

VanZetten told the Business Journal the state required that if DHS staff worked to help families in precarious housing situations, the cost was completely covered by the state of Michigan and the federal government. However, if a county used a private agency to do the work, the county had to provide the funding.

“We had advocated that needed change,” said VanZetten. “It should not matter if a case is managed by a private agency or the public sector. They should be funded by the state of Michigan.”

He said the policy led some counties to not use private agencies at all because of the financial disincentive.

“Outcomes should drive care, not the financial incentive or disincentive. Whoever performs it better should serve the kids and it should not be about who pays,” said VanZetten.

The main change reflected by the Kent County pilot project is the redirection of existing state funding spent by the county on foster care services. The new concept is to relocate families into a safe housing situation where the children are able to remain with the biological parents.

The pilot project will not require any increase in taxes; $400,000 is already available in the county’s 2015 DHHS Childcare Fund budget, and $600,000 will be available for the 2016 budget. Childcare Fund expenditures are reimbursed 50 percent by the state of Michigan.

VanZetten said the metrics for determining the performance are still being worked out, but he said there are essentially two metrics: whether or not the children are able to remain with their parents, and whether or not they experience any homelessness during the family’s problems.

VanZetten said it is hard to determine how many families in Kent County might now be in a precarious housing situation.

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