Enough with the reindeer games, corporate America needs a reliable vote Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R-MI) is exactly the kind of Republican politician that Republican donors should be afraid of. As a high-school teacher, Bentivolio told his students that his goal was to make each one of them cry at least once. As a reindeer rancher, he dressed as Santa and […]

Pay no attention to the hypocrite behind the curtain [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] Last Friday the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union issued subpoenas for Governor Rick Snyder, Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, Michigan treasurer Andy Dillon, and “transformation manager” Richard Baird, compelling their testimony regarding the Snyder administration’s […]

Just when you thought Michigan’s 11th Congressional District had the worst possible Representative… It seems even Representative Kerry Bentivolio’s own party isn’t a big fan of his work. It’s clear plenty of folks in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District aren’t. So it looks like there are going to be some reindeer games in the 2014 primary election. Yesterday, David Trott announced […]

GOPocrisy in full display SEE UPDATES BELOW In 2013, Michigan Republicans have already sent 107 bills to Governor Rick Snyder, all but one of which he signed into law. Of those 106 new laws (pdf), all but 6 — 5.7% — were passed with Immediate Effect meaning that they went into effect immediately rather than the statutorily-mandated 90 days after […]

A house divided against the middle class cannot stand. It took two votes, but months after Governor Rick Snyder (R-MI) told legislators to “take a vote, not a vacation,” Medicaid expansion has finally passed Michigan’s state senate. An estimated 470,000 Michiganders who currently earn too much to qualify for Medicaid are likely to get fully subsidized health insurance as part of […]

Congressman Kerry Bentivolio hasn’t held a single public town hall during August recess. So constituents held one for him. Representative Kerry Bentivolio of Michigan’s 11th Congressional District may be proud of playing Santa every year, but to his constituents, he’s more like the Grinch. He doesn’t listen to constituents except those who support his extremist views. He hasn’t acted in […]

Metrics, schmetrics. Did they think we wouldn’t notice??? Governor Snyder is takes great pride in his reliance on transparency and metrics as indicators of his “success” as the leader CEO of our state. His “dashboard” is supposedly a way for the citizens of our fine state to keep an eye on his “progress”. However, looking at his dashboard today, it’s […]

Of course ALEC has a place in Michigan’s expansion of Medicaid. They probably helped write the bill. After Senate Republicans passed H.B. 4714 on Tuesday to expand Medicaid to cover an additional 470,000 people, I thought it would be smart to have a look at just what’s in this legislation. I discovered that about 24 pages of the 40-page bill […]

This is what happens when you vote Republican Since the beginning of this year, Eclectabloggers have written no fewer than 55 posts relating to Medicaid expansion, mostly centering on Michigan. When she came on as a contributor in April, Amy Lynn Smith instantly became a powerful voice for expansion of Medicaid in Michigan. There is no question in my mind […]

This is a victory for hard-working, low-income Michiganders, and everyone who advocated on their behalf. It would be tempting to gloat, just imagining the tears of the zealots who fought so hard to deprive nearly 500,000 Michigan residents of access to health insurance. But instead, I’ll just say THANK YOU. To every organization, citizen and legislator who took action to […]

He must be on one heck of a power trip, fueled by hot air and tea bags. Michiganders who support Medicaid expansion — and that’s a majority, by most accounts — have been waiting all day for a vote in the Senate on Medicaid expansion. As of this writing, they’re still waiting. After hours of deliberation, one vote went down […]