In this April newsletter:

• A Message from the Chairwoman

• Notable Announcements

• Important Votes in the Michigan Legislature

• Detroit Children’s Business Fair - May 13

• State Committeeman Profile:  Tom Isaacs

• Letter to the Jewish News About Trump

• MIGOP State Committee Assignments Announced

• Democrat Rep. Brenda Lawrence “Votes for Us” in Washington

• MSU Gifted and Talented Education Program

• News Links of Interest

• Reminder About Membership

 

 

A Message from the Chairwoman

 

Dear 14th District Executive Committee Members, and fellow Republicans;

 

The first 14th District meeting since the election of our new Executive Committee was focused on three things: meeting cycle for 2017, goal setting, and mission statement.  

 

Committee members completed a survey to determine preferences for meetings in 2017 and then brainstormed several potential activities for the District. We made excellent progress for a first meeting!  Details will be rolled out before our April 20 meeting. Those 40 or so ideas for activities for the next year were categorized into five “buckets”.  Between now and April 20, Committee members will be asked to self assign to one or more of those five areas so we hit the ground running at the April meeting. Thank you all for your ideas and creativity.

    

Congratulations to Cheryl Costantino on her election to serve as Chair of the Wayne County Republican Committee.  Cheryl’s term as Chair will follow Dillon Breen service in that role. Cheryl and her team will no doubt lead Wayne County’s efforts to increase Republican presence and votes. Congratulations Cheryl!

 

In the March newsletter, we started a new feature to highlight U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow’s voting record.  For fun, look back at that March edition to see a list of her actual votes.  It is pretty clear that Senator Stabenow plans to continue to perpetuate the progressive liberal agenda in Washington.  It is time for a change and time to elect a US Senator who will represent us!

 

This new feature about Stabenow in the newsletter will add to our long standing feature that highlights how Representative Brenda Lawrence “Votes for US”.  In just one example, Lawrence voted AGAINST a law that requires regulations to be “understandable”.  You can’t make this stuff up! As President Trump has said we need to drain the swamp and take back our government.  As time unfolds, we will see Republican candidates announce for these and many positions across the state.  In this April edition, we focus on Representative Brenda Lawrence’s votes and will flip the focus between Lawrence and Stabenow every other month.

As the February MIGOP elections resulted in significant changes to our 14th Executive Committee, the April newsletter also restarts our popular column which will profile each new Committee member.  As you’ll see below, Tom Isaacs, MIGOP State Committeeman, is first in line for that special opportunity!   

 

Again, thanks to volunteer extraordinaire Glenn Gilbert (former Editor in Chief of the Oakland Press) for setting up the interviews and writing the exquisitefeatured profiles (like Tom’s).  Glenn has a way of writing such that when your turn comes to be in a featured profile, you will become a Rockstar. To our new Committee members - stay tuned - Glenn Gilbert, 14th District Editor in Chief, will be calling you to do your featured profile.

 

A very special thank you to Grant Strobl (IT) and Bill Rauwerdink (General Manager, Coordinator and Schedule Master) for their ever present efforts in putting the spectacular monthly newsletter together.

 

While reveling in having a Republican President in Washington, we need to also focus attention in our own backyard.  In 2018, Michigan voters will have more election decisions to make than in 2016. Numerous Michigan Senators, House members, Governor, U.S Senate, U.S House elections (to name just a few) will be on the ballot.  We will need to work hard to to retain the GOP’s leadership status across the state and country.

 

Furthermore, there will be numerous local elections on the ballot.  Grassroots volunteers and delegates will need to promote, support and recruit good candidates and sign up many new delegates for our local areas. If you would like to become a delegate please contact me. [email protected]

 

Thank you to our volunteers who are helping with the effort to find a new venue for District meetings. Thanks specially to  Aaron Tobin, Carol Foster and Matt Seely. We have looked at MANY venues and are in the process of selecting one. The meeting survey mentioned earlier revealed a preference for meetings to be held at a restaurant in the center of the District.

 

No matter what location decision is made, to keep our standing reservation, plan to RESERVE a meal at each meeting. This is to avoid a room charge.  Meal reservations will accepted via the “Call to meeting” invitation sent out about 10 days before each meeting.  

Next 14th CD Meeting:  Thursday, April 20 at 6:00 p.m. for dinner/networking

Meeting will begin at 7 p.m.

Meeting location - TBA

Featured Speakers: David Nicholson, Wayne State Board of Governors and

Andrew Richner, University of MI Board of Regents.

Members will meet in the five newly formed District Committees for the first time.

Please join us and reserve your meal! Meal reservations accepted via the “Call to Meeting” that will be sent to you 10 days before each meeting.

 

JOIN US!

 

All Republicans are welcome to attend this open meeting!  Please join us with your ideas, and energy to help us grow!

 

Spring is here so enjoy this beautiful re-birth season in Michigan!

 

Warm Regards for a Happy Easter and Passover to you and your family,

Janine Kateff

14th District Chairwoman

email - [email protected]

Like our Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/mi14gop

Website - 14cd.com

twitter -  https://twitter.com/

586 917 6118

Notable Announcements

• April 2: Early registration discount ends for the Michigan Republican Leadership Conference on Mackinac Island  in September.  Learn more and register here http://www.mackinacgop.com/

• April 6:  Farmington Area Republican (FAR) meeting at 7 p.m. at FH City Hall

• April 8:  Foundation for Applied Conservative Leadership (FACL) training on how to be effective in politics; learn more and register here  https://www.faclevents.org/index.php?option=com_vikevents&task=viewevent&Itemid=298&itid=433

• April 10 - 18: Jewish Passover - Erev Pesach - A commemoration of Jewish people’s liberation from slavery in Egypt. It commemorates the the story of the exodus (as described in the Hebrew Bible) in which  Israelites were freed from slavery in 1300 BCE.

• April 14 - Good Friday - Holy Friday - Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary.

• April 16: Easter Sunday - Most important holiday on the Christian calendar. The celebration of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. It also marks the end of Lent. The resurrection marks the triumph of good over evil, sin and death.

• April 10: Lakes Area Tea Party features Michigan Representative Gary Glenn who is Chair of the House Energy Committee and sponsor of the current stop Common Core bill; meeting at Uptown Grille in Commerce starting at 6:30 p.m.

• April 11:   Eastside Republican Club meeting at 7:30 p.m. (note date change) at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial features a Judicial Forum with Court of Appeals Judges Murray and Riordan; Judge McCarthy of Wayne County Circuit (family division); and Circuit Judge Joseph.

• April 17: Oakland County Young Republicans meeting at 7 p.m. at Black Finn in Royal Oak.  Featured will be Ingrid Jacques (Detroit News) who will speak about Fake News.

• April 20:  14th District Republican Committee meeting features David Nicholson, Wayne State Board of Governors and Andrew Richner, University of MI Board of Regents. The meeting location will be announced later with dinner at 6 p.m. and the business meeting at 7 p.m. Meal reservations will be accepted through the “Call to Meeting” invitation that will be sent about 10 days before the meeting.

• April 25:  MEDEFCO meeting at 6:30 p.m. will host Michigan Senator Patrick Colbeck who will describe his plans to provide effective and affordable healthcare in Michigan. Location will be Rose's Family Dining, 31301 Harper Ave, St Clair Shores, MI 48082.

• May 3:  Attorney General Bill Schuette’s Southeast MI BBQ at the Village Club in Bloomfield Hills beginning at 5:30 p.m.  For information or to register call Katy at 810-410-7277

• May 7: Walk for Israel: details in our May newsletter or check out http://walkforisrael.org/

• May 9: 14th District sponsored Ladies Shooting Night at Firing Line from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.; more details soon

• May 12 -13: Michigan Republican Party State Committee meeting in Lansing

 

Important Votes in the Michigan Legislature

 

Recently, the Michigan House voted down House Bill 4001 that would have fulfilled an earlier “promise” rollback of income tax rates.  The Bill originally would have ended Michigan income taxes over several decades.  Instead, the Bill voted on was a one-time reduction of the Michigan income tax rate from 4.25% to 4.05%.  

 

Within hours of this House vote, the Michigan Senate approved Senate Bill 111.  This Bill grants a select few business owners, picked by state and local political appointees, a $1,800,000,000 (that is $1.8 BILLION) in tax breaks.  The Bill will allow chosen business owners to keep payroll withholdings taken from their employees’ paychecks and to keep Michigan sales taxes collected from customers.  Repeat that sentence.  Employers get to keep their employees’ payroll tax withholdings and keep Michigan sale taxes collected from customers.  Sweet deal for those chosen.

 

As always, voters need to keep they eyes on the elected representatives and their hands on their wallet.   Each of these two issues remain active in Lansing.  Please call your state representatives to let them know how you feel about each of these proposals.

 

Detroit Children’s Business Fair - May 13

 

The annual Detroit Children’s Business Fair will be held May 13, 2017 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Streets of Old Detroit portion of the Detroit Historical Museum.  The Museum is located at 5401 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48202.

 

The Fair provides kids the opportunity to create a product, prepare a business plan and marketing strategy, and then sell a product to the public in a safe environment.   This event is sponsored by Junior Achievement and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.   More information is available at www.detroitchildrensbusinessfair.org.

Stop in to support future generations of entrepreneurs!

 

State Committeeman Profile:  Tom Isaacs

 

This renews our series which profiles newly elected members of the District’s Executive Committee.

 

 

Tom Isaacs was anything but ambivalent when he graduated from Waterford Kettering High School in 2001.

 

He made this clear with his quote in the school yearbook, proclaiming: "I'm not part of the problem. I'm a Republican."

 

The nation had just emerged from the eight-year administration of Bill Clinton. The horrors of the terrorist attack of Sept. 11 loomed just around the corner, and Isaacs’ conservative philosophy was well established and capable of confronting the new realities his generation faced.

 

He remembers his political consciousness dating to grade school when at the age of 9, his parents pulled him out of the classroom to attend a whistle-stop campaign event for President George H.W. Bush.  He was not enthusiastic about going, but says that when he got there and actually saw the president of the United States “my eyes were wide.”

 

“Later, in school, I volunteered to represent President Bush and argue on his behalf in our class's mock election,” Isaacs recalls. “Although I was too young at that point to articulate a political ideology or declare a party allegiance, I do think it planted in me both a love of politics and an identification with the Republican Party.

 

“I was interested in politics and instinctively felt that my values were conservative. I remember sensing liberal and/or Democratic Party bias in my teachers at least since middle school, and I saw how that climate influenced some of my other classmates' opinions. Frankly, I found the bias to be not only wrong but repulsive. These experiences only solidified my identity as a Republican, and I took a somewhat subversive delight in challenging the prevailing liberal ideology in the classroom.”

 

By the time he was in high school,  Isaacs was a proud conservative Republican — and he let everyone know how he felt.

 

His parents, Jim and Sandie, were not politically involved at the time, but Isaacs says they totally supported him.

 

Isaacs says that as he matured he read the works of the best conservative thinkers such as Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek and Russell Kirk. Meanwhile, he co-founded (with Brian Koss) the Oakland University College Republicans in 2002. He also first became a precinct delegate from Waterford that same year.

 

“I won a contested race and was able to attend that year's MRP state convention as a delegate,” Isaacs recalls. “I had no idea what I was getting into. I just knew I was passionate about politics and that I held deep conservative values. But I am very glad that I took that initial step and ran for precinct delegate. I was able to meet a lot of great activists and felt instantly at home in the party. I have served as a precinct delegate from Waterford and now West Bloomfield in all but a couple cycles since 2002.”

 

Isaacs received his B.A. from Oakland University in 2004 with a double major in economics and political science. He then went straight to law school, earning his J.D. from Wayne State University in 2007. He is currently a partner in the litigation group at Bowman and Brooke LLP. His practice focuses on product liability, corporate and commercial civil defense.

 

Now 34, Isaacs has been married to Liza (Fishman) since 2011. They met in law school. They have two children, Clara, 4, and Ben, 20 months.  

 

Isaacs is a member of the Federalist Society. He served as vice-chair of the Oakland County Young Republicans in 2010-2011, and then as chair from 2012 until 2016. He is an active member of the National Republican Lawyers Association.

 

Last year, Isaacs ran for the Oakland County Board of Commissioners from District 5, finishing second to Tom Berman in a five-person primary. He says he may run for office in the future, but has no specific plans to do so right now.

 

Isaacs says Republicans need to be an inclusive party.

 

“We can't allow a desire to identify the ‘perfect’ conservative to cause us to inadvertently exclude persuadable voters that may not agree with us on everything, but that may find enough common ground with the party to cast their vote for our candidates,” he says. “We are too often stereotyped as the nasty party, particularly among voters of my generation and millennials.”

 

“While we are a conservative party and must seek to promote and advance conservative values, we should emulate Reagan and advocate our positions in a positive way. I think most voters like core Republican policies; they need to know that they have a home with us. Especially in the 14th District, where there are a lot of voters that reflexively vote for any Democrat.  We need to convince people through consistent outreach and effective communication of our values that the GOP is a better alternative.”

 

Isaacs is optimistic concerning the world his children face because “Americans have shown resilience, hard work and dedication to our founding principles.”

 

 

Letter to The Jewish News About Trump

 

Following is a letter to the editor of The Jewish News.  The author is Ed Kohl, long time Republican and Jewish activist.  With Ed’s permission, his letter to the editor is reproduced here in its entirety:  

---

To the editor of The Jewish News-

 

Regarding the February 23rd, Page 26 article "ADL Voices Concern About Trump’s Answers On Anti-Semitism”

 

The Jewish News spreading the ADL slander that President Trump is anti-Semitic feeds the divisiveness and it is shameful that the News did not fact check the article.

 

Initially, the bellow "shouting down of a reporter" was immediately corrected by the reporter himself the same day categorically saying,

 

"that Trump has done an “unprecedented amount of outreach” within the Orthodox Jewish community. It is very unfair what’s been done to him, so I understand why he’s so defensive. I’m with him when it comes to being outraged about him being charged with this anti-Semitism.”

 

The president has condemned the overturning of headstones -  "The anti-Semitic threats targeting our Jewish community and community centers are horrible and are painful and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil”.

 

• Did the ADL commend Mike Pence rolling up his sleeves when he toured a vandalized cemetery, helped repair some headstones and said, "We condemn this vile act of vandalism and those who perpetrate it in the strongest possible terms,”?

 

• Did the ADL praise President Trump for his welcome to the prime minister of Israel?

 

• Did the ADL praise both the President and Vice President for their very pro-Israel speeches?

 

• Where was the ADL when Clinton’s VP choice endorsed and was endorsed by JStreet?

 

• Where was the ADL when the Clintons welcomed George Soros support?

 

• Where is the ADL fighting the anti-Semitism on college campuses?

 

• Where is the ADL condemning the DNC for even considering Keith Ellison running for chair and then giving him vice chair when he lost!

 

The ADL has decided that their donation channels will flow better from the Trump haters because they have dried up from the objective thinkers who embrace America's, Israel's and the Jewish people's security.

 

Ed Kohl   

West Bloomfield, MI

---

 

 

Thank you Ed for such a strong letter supporting our President Donald J. Trump!

 

MIGOP State Committee Assignments Announced

 

MRP Chair Ron Weiser announced the committee assignments member elected to the State Committee for the next two years.  Committees for members from the 14th District are as follows:

 

Committee                                                        Member

 

Republicans will comments about the various Committee issues are encouraged to contact the Member listed or Janine Kateff.

Democrat Rep. Brenda Lawrence “Votes for Us” in Washington

 

Your Democratic 14th Congressional District U.S. Representative Brenda Lawrence has been busy in Washington, D.C.  Here is a recap of several of her recent and shocking votes.   Her role in supporting the Democrat Party line and not Michigan values can be seen very clearly here.   Her votes often are like this:  think of a logical idea/opinion and then vote the opposite way.   After considering her positions, please feel free to call her office at 202-225-5802:

 

• HB 35 passed 238 to 183 with Lawrence voting AGAINST.  This is directly in the Democrat “wheel house”.  The law requires federal agencies to consider the cost of any proposed regulation.  Also, if possible, it requires agencies to issue less costly regulations and rules.  Who could be for THAT?

• HB 78 passed 243 to 184 with Lawrence voting AGAINST.  Hmmm.  If you liked the last one, you’ll love this one!  The law requires that the SEC determine the nature and source of a problem before it issues a regulation.  Well that seems just plain crazy.  It also requires that all regulations be “understandable”.  Again, just plain crazy!

• SB 84 passed 268 to 151 with Lawrence (and nearly all other Democrat members) voting AGAINST.  This waived a provision in federal law which then allowed Gen. James Mattis to be confirmed as Secretary of Defense.  The provision prohibits a military member to become Secretary of Defense within seven years of active duty.

• HB 7 passed 238 to 183 with Lawrence voting AGAINST.  This prohibits funds to pay for abortions by making permanent the “Hyde Amendment” which prohibits such spending.

• House Resolution 44 passed 234 to 186 with Lawrence voting AGAINST.  This overturned a Bureau of Land Management rule that reduced the role of local governments and increase the weight of public input in preliminary planning processes.

• House Resolution 40 passed 235 to 180 with Lawrence voting AGAINST.  This overturned a gun ban for some Social Security recipients where they would be prohibited from possessing a firearm based on federal government determination.

• House Resolution 42 passed 236 to 189 with Lawrence voting AGAINST.  This overturned a Dept of Labor regulation that allowed states to drug test applicants for unemployment benefits only if applicants were suited for a job that required such testing.

• House Resolution 43 passed 230 to 188 with Lawrence voting AGAINST.  This overturned an Obama regulation that prohibits states from denying funding to family planning organizations for reasons unrelated to the quality of care.  This rule was aimed to stop states from defunding Planned Parenthood.

MSU Gifted and Talented Education Program

 

With all the attention on Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her efforts to enhance school choice for all students, one group of students is often overlooked.  That group is our gifted students!  Gifted students have their own unique set of needs!

 

Michigan State University recently announced its Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program location in Novi, Michigan.  The GATE programs called CHAMP and ISHALL are accelerated math and English language programs designed for gifted students in grades from 7 to 10.  These programs allow students to complete fours years of high school studies in two years!  

 

Classes will be held at the Tollgate Education Center in Novi beginning in September 2017.  Learn more at http://www.gifted.msu.edu/programs/academic-year-programs

News Links of Interest

 

• Five ways to network more effectively  

• University of Michigan leads in number of Fulbright Scholarships for 12th straight year  

• Race for the autonomous car is over  

• Fastest American solo sailor races around the world 

• Free training to become a severe weather spotter 

• Difference between leadership and management  

• King Tut comes to Cranbrook  

• Look Mom, no cavities!  

• Jewish markets in Metro Detroit  

• Five ways to spot a “phishing” email  

 

Reminder About Membership

Are you a member of the Republican 14th Congressional District?  Member of the Republican Committee? Snail Mail your $25 membership check to Treasurer Chris Konja, 6575 Stonebridge E., West Bloomfield, MI. 48324.(payable to the 14th District)

Or you can become a member or renew your membership online -https://mi14gop.nationbuilder.com/donation. Your dues and other fundraising activities support Republican candidates and organizations in the 14th Congressional District.