Local control, local government, local self-determination. These are the hallmarks of the tea party Republicans and conservatives in general. Recent efforts by Michigan Republicans prove conclusively that this is a lie. They are not interested in local control; they are interested in conservative control. Period. In September, I wrote about two bills passed by the House to limit domestic partner […]

As I have written about before, tomorrow, October 1st, over 41,000 Michiganders will be thrown off the welfare rolls in Michigan. Nearly 30,000 children are affected by this. Over half of these families live in Detroit where, as reported by the Detroit News, 21,000 families will now be without benefits. In Part 1 of a 2 part MLive series, there […]

Michigan state Representative and advocate for making Michigan a Right to Work for Less state, Mike Shirkey, has been busted for showing higher than normal level of Republican hypocrisy (“GOPocrisy”) today. Todd Heywood of Michigan Messenger reports that Shirkey benefited from a tax abatement involved with creating a “Tool and Die Recovery Zone”. The tax break gives his nonunion company […]

Can something be “more illegal” than it already is? I guess it can if you are a Michigan Republican. Yesterday, the Michigan state House and Senate both passed bills that outlaw so-called “partial birth abortions”. Problem is, these types of abortions are already illegal under a federal law passed eight years ago. Thankfully they aren’t wasting their time worrying about […]

I was taking a gander at one of the Republicans’ latest bits of anti-Obama pablum, a report called “Broken Government: How the Administrative State has Broken President Obama’s Promise of Regulatory Reform” (pdf). In it, the very first job-killing regulatory move they decry is described thusly: The removal of the opt-out provision in the EPA lead paint rule is a […]

The state House passed a bill today that would prohibit schools from deducting union dues from teachers’ paychecks. The bill doesn’t say they don’t have to provide this service, it says they are prohibited from providing this service. Why? It’s definitely not a cost-saving measure. School administrators agree that the cost to schools for providing this service to teachers is […]

Last week, Michigan governor Rick Snyder signed into law a bill that ends welfare benefits for 41,000 Michiganders. Until then, there was no limit to how long poor people in Michigan could receive benefits. The law ends payments after four years. Nearly 30,000 children are affected by this axe which will save the state $77.4 million annually, according to the […]

Here’s your damn PROOF: “Obama is on the ropes; why do we appear ready to hand him a win?” said one senior House Republican aide who requested anonymity to discuss the matter freely. “I just don’t want to co-own the economy by having to tout that we passed a jobs bill that won’t work or at least won’t do enough. […]

When this year’s crop of Republicans got elected, I went to their fledgling websites and looked for a section about “Jobs”. I didn’t find any which was pretty shocking. But, at that point, most of them were using the same basic boilerplate site, probably provided to them by the party or the government or something. So, I thought I should […]

It’s pretty straightforward, really. Comic by Dana Simpson, click for a larger version We’re off to see the Prez in Detroit today, media passes in hand (by which I mean on iPhone.) We’ll have photos and such up tomorrow. Happy Labor Day.

Um, Speaker Boehner? Sir? About that press conference of yours last night? I’d like to correct a few misstatements lies, if you don’t mind. These are difficult times in the life of our nation. Millions are looking for work, have been for some time, and the spending binge going on in Washington is a big part of the reason why. […]