It was the shot heard around the state for the grassroots tea party movement.

Its arch-nemesis The Tea Party would not be allowed on the November ballot, after a decision by the Michigan Supreme Court. That set off a series of victorious comments by those who consider themselves part of the "real" tea party.

The Michigan Supreme Court voted 5-2 not to hear The Tea Party's appeal of a Court of Appeals decision to bar them from the November ballot. Newly appointed Alton Thomas Davis voted to not hear the case. Supreme Court Justices Marilyn Kelly and Diane M. Hathaway would have allowed a hearing on it.

The court's decision was based on something as technical as the word "the" being left off a petition ballot that just said "Tea Party" when other official papers called it "The Tea Party."

But grassroots tea party members knew this was not technical matter.

A Detroit Free Press article chronicled many of the discoveries other media had made, as well as its owns findings that tied The Tea Party to the Democrats. 

Jason Gillman, a tea party activist from Traverse City, broke the story of former political director of the Oakland County Democratic Party Jason Bauer's ties with The Tea Party. Gillman discovered Bauer had notarized some of The Tea Party candidates' paperwork. When some of those signatures were alleged to be forged, Bauer resigned.

"Justice is served. Finality," Gillman said Friday after hearing about the court ruling. "I'm feeling vindicated."

Joan Fabiano, founder of Grassroots in Michigan, said it was evident The Tea Party wasn't legitimate.

"I think it is a victory for election integrity," Fabiano said. "The investigation that was done, and the facts that were presented clearly showed there was fraud involved and this was not a genuine political party. When the facts came out, it was evident not only was it fraud, it was not a legitimate political party. It was just an attempt to siphon votes away from the GOP ticket."

Ron Acton of the Jackson Tea Party said he thinks the Court sent a message to The Tea Party organizers.

"They wouldn't even consider it," Acton said. "That's a, 'You guys have to be out of your gourd to even try that.' I'm real happy."

Ed Tomaszewski of Metro Detroit Freedom Coalition called the Court's ruling "a wonderful thing."

"We all know it was phony," he said of The Tea Party. "Justice works."

~~~~~

More on "The Tea Party" and its candidates:

Two Guys Named Joe podcast - Sept. 3 

Mysterious 'The Tea Party,' Under Investigation and Going to Court

A Lawyer Offering Few Details is Face of Mysterious 'The Tea Party'

BREAKING NEWS: Oakland County Clerk claims forged candidate filing from "fake" Tea Party

Democratic Party Political Director Linked to Mysterious Tea Party Political Party  

With Friends like these: Recent examples of disgruntled tea party members who are destructive to the movement - Jason Gillman

Tea Party Candidate Identity Statements Could Be Invalid

Fake Political Party Runs Mystery Candidates

Fake Tea Brewing

UAW-Posted PowerPoint Presentation on 'Reform Michigan Government Now' Proposal

Jackson Activist Asks Third-Party Tea Party 'Interloper' to 'Cease and Desist'  

 

 

At Alpena Public Schools, the district's fund balance has dwindled from $5.6 million in 2007 to $594,581 in 2010 because expenditures have exceeded revenues the last four years. The fund balance has been drained so as to balance the district's annual budget.

The current fund balance is now 1.6 percent of the district's $36.3 million annual operating budget. The Michigan School Business Officials recommends a 15 percent fund balance, said Michael Van Beek, the director of education policy for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Yet, the school board just ratified a two-year contract with the teachers union that includes annual "step" increases, regular raises that generally range from 3 to almost 6 percent for teachers with less than 13 years of service.

Those teachers are also eligible for "across-the-board" raises that were negotiated. Alpena teachers will all get a .5 percent raise during the second year of the deal.

It's a scenario playing out throughout Michigan, where school districts fight unions for health care contributions only to lose any savings to annual yearly "step" increases, said Van Beek.

"When money is tight, handing out step increases for teachers simply for logging another year virtually guarantees that the district's financial picture won't improve without substantial cuts elsewhere in the budget," Van Beek wrote in an e-mail. "Automatic step increases are often viewed by unions as a natural-born right. In reality, they're a luxury that districts pay mightily for."

But Deb Larson, a Michigan Education Association staffer who worked with the Alpena teachers, said those teachers "absolutely" deserved the raises.

"The reason they can give those step increases is because teachers or support staff have made staff concessions in order to get those through health concessions," Larson said. "It has always been a balancing act. Their compensation has been offset by increased cost in health insurance."

Alpena Superintendent Brent Holcomb said the "hill to die for" in negotiations was keeping the district as the policy holder for health insurance and not going with the MEA's MESSA plan. Many districts have found it far less expensive to use alternative health insurance contractors rather than the MEA-affiliated MESSA plans, and recent budget battles in the state capitol have been fought over whether to make it easier for districts to contract out for health insurance alternatives.

Holcomb said maintaining its own insurance allows the district to set deductibles and decide what will and will not be covered.

But Holcomb said there was little hope of challenging guaranteed "step" raises.

"Trying to change the culture of steps and those expectations — that would be Mt. Everest-ish," Holcomb said. "You have to pick your battles."