Well, this is pleasant news Earlier this year, public employee retirees from Pontiac filed a lawsuit to reverse a decision by Emergency Financial Manager Lou Schimmel to cut some of their health care benefits, increase their deductibles, and reduce their pensions. They said it was a violation of federal law regarding the impairment of contracts. In June, a district court […]

Accept no substitutes. Only the real thing will help uninsured Michiganders and benefit the state. Sure, the Michigan Senate is in recess. But now that Medicaid expansion — and two “alternative” bills — are headed to the Senate floor later this month, now is the time to tell your Senator you want the real thing. This is simple: House Bill […]

This is hilarious Once the hero of the tea party by bringing a solid conservative and nearly libertarian slant to Michigan government, Lt. Governor Brian Calley is no longer feeling the love from from his off-the-charts-conservative tea party supporters. They appear to be on their way to get him replaced on the ticket in 2014. Some tea party members in […]

“This new scheme flies in the face of the Constitution.” Washtenaw County Clerk Larry Kestenbaum is rather legendary in the Ann Arbor area for his incredible grasp and deep understanding of Michigan election law. He is passionate about it, in fact. Which has led him to being put in a rather interesting situation this week. Six out of the seven […]

Two days of hearings yield a disappointing lack of action. The Senate Government Operations Committee spent two days hearing testimony on Medicaid expansion and debating three possible paths forward. It voted for all three — which means there will be yet more debate and delay on legislation that could make a life-or-death difference for nearly 500,000 Michiganders. The committee did […]

Government Operations Committee to discuss Medicaid expansion on Tues. and Wed. Speak out in support. There are at least half a million reasons to support Medicaid expansion in Michigan: providing healthcare coverage to nearly 500,000 uninsured Michiganders, largely the working poor, plus bringing more jobs and revenue into the state. The only reason to oppose Medicaid expansion? Trying to sabotage […]

Color me skeptical The Detroit Free Press reports that Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette will file papework in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit to defend state constitutional protections of the pensions of city retirees. Invoking his role as “the people’s attorney,” Schuette said he will file in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit on Monday to intervene in the city’s […]

The Michigan Nurses Association, Medicaid Expansion Now Coalition and MICHUHCAN invite legislators and the public to an educational forum. Medicaid expansion is still waiting for a vote in the Michigan Senate. And although a Senate workgroup has developed a revised version of the bill approved by the House weeks ago, there’s no guarantee of a swift vote. In fact, there […]

Whether we can say the same for Michigan Senate Republicans remains to be seen. While the Senate workgroup congratulates itself for overhauling the Medicaid expansion bill that already passed the Michigan House weeks ago, nurses are working every day with patients who desperately need help getting healthcare coverage. So desperately, in fact, that some of those patients have died because […]

We’re not losing this one Photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog As I wrote yesterday, the Washtenaw County Democratic Party’s Precinct Organizing Committee (led by me and organizer Tad Wysor of Ypsilanti) has been holding a series of Grassroots Empowerment Orientation sessions across the county over the past month. These meetings are the first steps toward building a […]

The GOPocrisy, it burns Back in 2011 when subsidies for the filmmaking industry in Michigan were being debated, state Senator Rick Jones said, “The government is not qualified to pick winners and losers. That’s a case of the government being short-sighted.” Pretty standard, boilerplate rhetoric from so-call small-government Republicans. They hate subsidizing industries with tax payer money. Until they don’t. […]