Question 1): How long can the war in Iran continue before it negatively impacts Republicans politically?
Answer 1): It’s already affecting Republicans, and in a very negative way. It’s highly unusual for the U.S. citizenry to oppose American entry into armed conflict at the outset –any opposition usually comes later. Not so this time. A hefty majority of Americans already oppose the USA’s attacks on Iran. With all the negative baggage the Michigan GOP (and nationally) is already carrying into the Nov. 3 general election on a whole host of issues, it can’t afford any extra burden such as another Mideast war, the ripple effect of which is likely to last a long time.
***********************************************************
Question 2): How far will Republican governor candidate Perry JOHNSON’s income tax elimination idea take him?
Answer 2): If it takes him to the Republican gubernatorial nomination, it would show how unmoored the GOP electorate is from common sense and mainstream public opinion. Doesn’t Johnson want to get rid of property taxes, too? Pretty soon there would be zero taxes on everything unless Johnson wants to raise the state sales tax to at least 12%, which will never happen. Maybe we should just forget about funding government and schools and infrastructure altogether. There’s a word for this — anarchy.
***********************************************************
Question 3): How much general electorate support does the Americans for Citizens Voting (ACV) petition drive lose when voters realize it would require them to prove their own citizenship to a local clerk with a Real ID, passport, and birth certificate/marriage certificate?
Answer 3): Quite a bit, but whether it will be enough to defeat the proposal is a good question. It will require massive education by the news media and some big money from key interest groups. Even then, polls show that a broad-section of voters strongly favor Voter ID and haven’t been interested in the fine print. If it should get on the ballot and be approved by the voters, this proposal would disenfranchise Republicans and Democrats alike, creating a potential quagmire with people trying to find old documents. For those who couldn’t, they may not be able to afford the new replacement document. Lawsuits would be filed, and it might not survive a court test.
************************************************************
Question 4): Some gun-rights Republicans in the Michigan House of Representatives would like to put up on the voting board a bill that would allow gun owners to carry concealed firearms without a permit, a concept known among gun owners as “Constitutional Carry.” Would this be a good idea for the Michigan GOP?
Answer 4): House Republicans might decide to do it, but public opinion is not on their side and it would backfire badly. In the wake of the increase in mass shootings, particularly in schools, and the strong counter-effort to reform gun laws and provide more protection for the public and our children, this would be perceived as a step in the wrong direction. As noted above, Republicans are already carrying so much negative baggage into this year’s general election that they can’t afford any more.
*********************************************************
The war on Iran is a disaster for the GOP in mid-term elections:
(A) gasoline prices have increased by up to a dollar per gallon;
(B) both Israeli and U.S. declassified intelligence reports confirm the Iran fundamentalist Shia regime is nowhere close to collapsing – nor are there any confirmable reports of all Iranian enriched uranium stockpiles and facilities being eliminated;
(C) U.S. servicemen are dying in military operations;
(D) several hundred thousand Arab-Americans in Metro Detroit are having relatives bombed in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East and firmly oppose U.S.-Israeli joint military and air operations;
(E) a Jewish-Israeli citizen interviewed correctly opined that the Iran war has two goals – delaying PM Netanyahu’s corruption trial and helping his unpopular and faltering extremist coalition in the polls ahead of October of 2026 Knesset elections.
Perry Johnson – the quality control guru – is yet another candidate making feeble tax reform arguments to be the next Dick Headlee. This man in 2022 had no quality control over invalid petition signatures which disqualified him by the Michigan Board of Canvassers.
Another gubernatorial candidate, Karla Wagner, in her latest Facebook posts, admits she has no idea whether she has enough signatures to file with then state to put her quixotic property tax reform measure on the ballot.
The only way that the GOP is going to have any chance at success in the mid-terms is to nominate John James as its candidate for governor, Kevin Kijewski for AG, and Monica Yatooma for Michigan of State. This will draw in significant percentages of moderate and conservative black, Polish-American and Arab-American voters. Former Michigan Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Grot, a former Polish immigrant, gave an impassioned speech to a GOP gathering in Macomb County last week endorsing Kijewski while AG opponent Doug Lloyd was in the audience.
Michigan Advance did a recent story on GOP SOS candidate Amanda Love recently in which was unflattering – and Tony Forlini is NOT a favorite of MAGA delegates. Yatooma is likely over the best candidate the GOP can field in November in the SOS race.
Delegates need to focus on who will have the best chance of beating the Democratic nominee – instead of voting for the candidate with the best positions. I am no fan of many of Rep. John James’ policies – but realize that he has the best shot at becoming the victor over any Dem nominee. The prospective candidacies of James and Duggan are likely to draw large amounts of Wayne County votes from Jocelyn Benson this fall.
Instead of supporting reasonably popular tax reform and ballot initiatives likely to pass – as the Dems did previously – GOP activists have put forth extremist policies that are likely to fail in November.
Sean Hannity aired his interview with Steve Witkoff on Wednesday, March 11th. The United States Special Envoy to the Middle East stated that the Iranian negotiators told the American team just before Epic Fury began that they possessed 460 kg of 60% enriched uranium, which had survived Midnight Hammer.
460 kg of 60% enriched uranium would produce 306 kg of 90% enriched (weapons grade) uranium after a week or so of centrifuging. Another week and the hexafluoride would be reduced to metal. 306 kg of 90% enriched uranium metal would be sufficient to produce 12 “Little Boy” scale bombs, each with 15 Kt yields, assuming a reasonable fission pit design. We know the Iranians developed several reasonably good pit designs at Parchin, circa 2005, before they cleared the site.
The Trump Administration will be asking the public just how comfortable we are with “Death To America” Iran having 12 compact, Hiroshima power level, nuclear weapons. It is doubtful that the Administration will end hostilities until the Iranians agree to surrender their enriched uranium.
That surrender will change the public perception of the war and knock the political wind out of the lying media, Democrat demagogues, globalist Libertarians, and vacillating RINO’s.
4 Questions:I agree with Bill Ballenger and Leanne on the answers to all four questions
Interesting article, Bill.
QUESTION 1: I don’t know how long it can last, but the outcome is more important. Folks seem to think that Trump is an isolationist, or at least non-interventionist. Using the foreign policy types cited by Walter Russell Mead, they think he is Jeffersonian in his policy outlook when he is really Jacksonian. I suggest folks read Sohrab Ahmari’s column in the January 21, 2026 edition of UnHerd. That, I believe, gives one an accurate description of Trump’s attitudes in foreign policy. A successful outcome that eliminates an Iranian nuclear threat forever (or a reasonable facsimile of forever), wipes out their support for the likes of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Huthi pirates helps ensure American safety. It should bring peace (or at least the absence of out and out war) and expand opportunities for American business. Jacksonian and Hamiltonian, if you will. As for the opposition, some of that is reflexive. What he needs is a successful outcome that keeps Iran from cropping up regularly to be a collective pain in the world’s butt. And to make sure they don’t try and put a hit on him as they planned in 2024.
QUESTION 2: I wholeheartedly agree. He’s appealing to the tax cut fanatics and when his idea is held up to scrutiny, it will sink faster than RMS Titanic or the IJN Taiho.
QUESTION 3: I am not sure why the birth certificate thing is a serious problem. I had to get one and send a copy to the State before they would process my pension. A pension tax, if you will. But it did give me the opportunity to take the QLine to the Wayne County Clerk’s office (inbound was on time – outbound not so much). I may have even needed a copy when Congressman Esch nominated me to West Point. My brother – who was in Texas in the 1980s – needed one for some sort of job or college enrollment (that was 40 years ago and my memory is not THAT good). His driver’s license and DD-214 were not apparently good enough, so I used some annual leave to go to Herman Keifer and the Detroit Health Department. My sister needed one to get married here. I really don’t see the problem.
QUESTION 4: It will never get out of the Senate. If they are serious, they will sit down with some senators, or even the Senate leadership, and do some serious legislative logrolling, just like the old days. But if it is simple performance art, they won’t. It will die, they will complain about the leadership in both houses of the legislature and hope the folks who want constitutional carry don’t ask questions about vote trading.
Happy upcoming St. Patrick’s Day one and all!
The birth certificate issue is a problem. You may have found yours but as Bill implies, most people could not. Folks that have voted in election after election would be barred from voting.
ANSWER 1) It will affect the GOP in a negative way until the gas price drops below $3.00 per gallon; the popularity of the GOP improves markedly if the gas price drops below $2.50 per gallon. The reaction to Iran may be unpopular, but it is vital to understand the reasoning behind the negative feelings. Filling up one week at $2.75 per gallon and the next week at $3.75 per gallon is grounds for a revolution–right here in the USA!!
ANSWER 2) Quite a bit further than is currently thought. His plan is to cut wasteful spending and eliminate unnecessary programs. Michigan government budgets have grown exponentially since the Grinch and her Trifecta went on a spending spree. When compared to the rate of inflation, the state budget has ballooned to the point of bursting. It’s all in the numbers and there are plenty of cuts to be made which will make an income tax unneeded. If this means no more $4,500 coffee makers, then so be it. They’ll just have to drink instant!!
ANSWER 3) None. All of the proposed paperwork requirements are for new voters, or those changing the municipality where they vote. Merely providing ID, as we do now, is not burdensome. However, I’ve yet to see what is planned to keep out-of-state students attending school in Michigan from voting in two states. What presently keeps them from registering at home and later in Michigan?
ANSWER 4) Great idea! But don’t look for wHitler to sign it. The more left-wing the regime, the more gun-grabbing goes on. Every major urban city (which resembles the Detroit Zoo if the animals aren’t fed on time), has strong gun control measures, meaning honest folks remain unarmed. Crime and murder skyrocket, so most major cities in the US resemble the Middle East. Look for this proposal to be brought forth in earnest when the GOP regains control of the Trifecta.
Love the Perry Johnson take, Bill. Keep up the great work.