Sneaking this hearing in on a historic day for the LGBT community is dirty politics. Take action to make sure testimony opposing RFRA legislation gets heard. It’s hard not to be cynical about the timing of the Michigan Senate committee hearing on “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” (RFRA) legislation on April 28th. The same day DeBoer v Snyder, the case for […]

Since today is Earth Day, I thought it would be a great opportunity to hear from a group that does more than most others in terms of protecting our planet from further damage by human activity. Clean Water Action is on the forefront of this and their organization is a model for how to organize and create change one doorstep […]

After I wrote about tea partier Cindy Gamrat being tossed out of the Republican caucus last week, MIRS new service posted a piece that quoted a Republican source saying that Gamrat’s Facebook post wasn’t the only reason she got the boot. “There’s been a whole series of issues with Rep. Gamrat that have got Republican members complaining to leadership and […]

Yesterday, I wrote about a diatribe posted to Facebook by tea partier Todd Courser where he referred to subsidized daycare as “gubmint child’s care centers” & “government re-engineering centers”. In that same bizarre screed, he also said this: It takes you…Calling all true pro-lifers! Lots of reasons to vote against this coming budget, it cuts road funding (you heard me […]

“Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget and I will tell you what you value.” – Joe Biden Michigan Republicans put forth their proposed education budget yesterday and, as you would expect, it shows just how little the value education in our state. After slashing education funding for years, they are back this year with a paltry […]

When your fellow Republicans vote to enshrine discrimination into law, it’s not a week to brag about the state. So there I was, minding my own business late Friday afternoon, when an email from Governor Rick Snyder’s office showed up in my inbox. It wouldn’t be remarkable except for the subject line: “A great week for the state of Michigan” […]

Bills pass 65-44 with immediate effect, proving that the legislation’s supporters can’t wait to hate. Despite the passionate, well-reasoned arguments of opponents, a package of discriminatory adoption bills passed the Michigan House on Wednesday and were given immediate effect. House Bills 4188-4190 allow faith-based adoption agencies to place their religious views above the best interests of children in need — […]

Amy has been doing a terrific job of letting the world know how regressive our state is becoming with regard to the use of religious beliefs to deny health care, adoption, and other services based on the so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Michigan. What’s not often mentioned is the humiliation that is endured by those who are faced with […]

The package of bills would let taxpayer-funded adoption agencies deny adoption based on moral or religious beliefs. Speak out against discrimination today. Michigan Republicans seem hell-bent on passing as much religious-based discrimination legislation as quickly as possible. By Wednesday, the House will vote on a package of bills that would let faith-based adoption agencies deny an adoption placement based on […]

If it becomes law, any healthcare provider or payer could turn away any patient based on personal or organizational beliefs. With so much work to be done to make Michigan a better place to work and live, you’d think legislators would have more important things to do than enact laws that are nothing more than a license to discriminate using […]

There’s been so much in the news about over-the-top idiocy from Michigan Republicans lately that I thought I’d just put them all in one post. Over the past week or so, they’ve been trying to further degrade a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion and to corrupt our democracy by rigging the electoral system in favor of […]