Michigan Natural Resources Commission threw away public comments on wolf hunt
I knew something like this was likely given the current state legislature and Gov.
By Ralph Maughan On November 16, 201
Untabulated comments overwhelmingly opposed hunt-
More were just tossed away-
One of the most consistent characteristics of right wing movements is a distaste for democracy. From the beginning with Edmund Burke (1729-1797) who invented the word “conservatism,” is the argument that some small elite knows better than the public. Whether based on land ownership or other property, supposed religious entitlement (God wants us to rule), or perhaps the ability to mystically understand what the people need, conservatives then and now try to limit public expression and voting. This political force recently had its way in the management of Michigan’s restored wolf population.
Many citizens of Michigan wanted to have a vote whether to establish a wolf hunt, and a referendum was in the making. Referendums are a device of direct democracy. They are admittedly imperfect. Still, it is an empirical question whether on the balance referenda are useful. Regardless of the evidence, conservatives have had a philosophical dislike for the referendum, the initiative and recall elections even though they have been able to use them successfully in to advance their causes in many states.
In Michigan, led by State Senator Tom Casperson, the referendum on the wolf hunt was suddenly snatched away by the state legislature when it looked like there would be a referendum on a proposal. Casperson said he wanted the experts at the Michigan Natural Resources Commission (NRC) to decide the issue with a bit of public voice added. In reality, it is clear the Commission had few experts on wildlife (one?) and the public voice was simply thrown away.
The latter was made obvious when members of the group Keep Michigan Wolves Protected got hold of public comments the NRC had received on the wolf hunt question but never released or tabulated. In a laborious task of tabulating the discarded comments, which were in a hard to count format on a jump drive, it was discovered that the comments had overwhelmingly opposed the wolf hunt. The wolf conservation group found that just 13 of the 3,650 tabulated comments favored a wolf hunt. Strikingly another 2000 public comments were simply thrown away by the NRC chairman. He admitted this in an email
More at link...
http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2013/11/16/michigan-nrc-wolf-comments/
= new reply since forum marked as read
they've reduced all benefits to citizens in the state by about a 1/3rd, they've cut money at the county and local level by more than a 1/3rd, they don't budget for the roads but want citizens in our recession ravaged state to pony up for ALL improvements (they never call it a tax hike), they're going to sell our Art in Detroit and anywhere they want in the state, and they denied the Medicaid expansion.
And what do the citizens who pay ALL the bills in this state fucking get?
A dozen or so crony overpaid and useless Emergency Managers.
A goddamn bridge to Canada that hasn't even been started yet. 
A huge tax break for international corporations most of whom don't even need it. 
A wolf hunt-like the majority of us need that. Total 
A Right to Work for Less. 
Testing for drugs among the unemployed and those who are on welfare. Like these jackasses don't drink or drug themselves.
A defined limit on the time permitted to utilize welfare benefits and the opportunity to do welfare to work for the benefit of Walmart-Work for free for the richest company in the nation!
And a shitload of legislation against one damn Union in the entire State. Get it? An entire legislature. governors office and the courts ALL using our money to gut one Union in the entire state.
Jobs???????????????????Any jobs?????????? Jobs bill???????????? Something????????? Bunch of clucking morons?? No question about it.
