“Nice guy”, my ass When we moved to Dexter about seven years ago, our State House Representative was the amazing House Speaker Pro Tempore Pam Byrnes. She was term limited out of office and, in the crashing tea party wave of 2010, this historically Democratic seat was lost to “Nice Guy” Republican Mark Ouimet. As I have reported in the […]

On so many levels…

Back in 2010, I documented the obscene campaign run against Democrat Christine Green in Michigan’s 52nd State House District. While Michigan Republicans ran no less than five hideous robocalls against her, sent out mailings with her home phone number on them and generally ran a smear campaign against one of the most upstanding citizens in the Ann Arbor area, Mark Ouimet sat back and allowed it to happen. And, all the while, said he was going to bring peace and civility to the House and work across the aisle with Democrats in our state legislature.

This turned out to be completely false and was just one more in a long list of deceptions from Ouimet over the past two years.

My take on why Mark Ouimet does not deserve to represent the 52nd District after the jump.

Let’s go to tape, Mark…

Mark Ouimet rode the 2010 Republican wave to replace Democrat Pam Byrnes as the Michigan State House Representative of the 52nd District. In a dirty campaign with hideous robocalls against his Democratic opponent Christine Green (listen to them HERE, HERE, and HERE), Ouimet appealed to voters with a claim of being moderate and willing to work across the aisle with Democrats. Two years have passed and just how many times has Ouimet voted against the majority of his own party?

0.8%.

Much more after the jump.

Turning Michigan blue — shore to shore

The 79th State House District covers the area on the Lake Michigan coast of Michigan that includes Benton Harbor. It is currently represented by Al Pscholka, a former aide to Congressman Fred Upton, very good friend of Whirlpool and, most importantly, the original sponsor of the legislation that became Public Act 4, Michigan’s anti-democratic Emergency Manager law.

Jim Hahn is a progressive Democrats who is running against Al Pscholka and, though Berrien County is a fairly Republican area, he believes he can win.

I spoke to Jim over the weekend about his campaign. My interview after the jump.

Emergency Managers: they’re not just for black folks anymore

Since it became clear that Michigan’s Emergency Manager law — Public Act 4 — was disproportionately impacting majority African American communities, I have been warning that this was something that wasn’t likely to stay confined to those towns. In fact, I have written, it was likely going to take a majority white city staring down the barrel of state-appointed dictator — a viceroy, if you will — before non-African American Michiganders would start to take notice.

Attention, white Michiganders: it’s time to take notice.

Details after the jump.

It’s all about the constitution…until it’s inconvenient

Republican State Representative Bill Rogers is pissed. He’s pissed because Ingham County judge ruled last week that a new law that he introduced is unconstitutional. The new law would have required members of a state employee pension fund to contribute 4 percent of their pay toward the fund, effectively reducing their wages.

Rogers is quoted in the Livingston County Press & Argus as saying, “What the courts are basically saying is, ‘Tough luck. Go bankrupt…How are we going to fix anything if that’s the way they’re going to treat it?”

Actually, Mr. Rogers, what the courts are “basically saying” is that you have to follow the law and the constitution and your anti-union law does neither.

Details after the jump.

What does it tell you when your Representative is afraid of talking to his constituents???

A group of senior citizens recently tried to visit the Gaylord office of their U.S. Representative, Dan Benishek, to talk to him about his vote to kill Medicare. When they got to the office, it was locked with the blinds drawn and instructions to press the buzzer and state the nature of their business. They were eventually allowed in, one at a time while the others were forced to stand in the hallway, and then only because there was a reporter present.

Video and more after the jump.

Gretchen Driskell embodies what Mark Ouimet pretends to be

As Democrats in Michigan attempt to retake control over the House of Representatives, one of the most closely-watched races is in the 52nd District, the area west of Ann Arbor. Long a Democratic stronghold, it went to Republican Mark Ouimet in the 2010 Republican wave. The 2010 races was pure gutter politics on the part of the Republicans who ran no fewer than five increasingly offensive and nearly slanderous robocalls against Democrat Christine Green.

This year, another Democratic woman will face the Republican smear effort in the 52nd — Saline Mayor Gretchen Driskell. Driskell is less a politician than she is a true public servant. As Saline’s first woman mayor and longest-serving mayor, she’s been on the front lines of making her community the kind of place where people want to be to raise kids, start a business and enjoy the city’s charm. She’s served the community for over 20 years spending six years on the city council and another 14 as mayor.

I sat down for an with Driskell this week to discuss her candidacy. Please click through for the interview.

May justice be served

The Ingham County Circuit Court has chosen to convene a one-person grand jury to investigate the election fraud misdeeds of Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger and newly-minted Republican House caucus member Roy Schmidt. This same type of arrangement was used recently to investigate fraudulent behavior by Democrats to run fake tea party candidates and resulted in convictions. The justice that will investigate is Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina who was chosen by random draw.

More after the jump.

This is NOT going away…

Republican State House Speaker Jase Bolger may want the story of his involvement in the biggest election fraud in memory in our state to go away, but it’s not. This week, leaders in the Michigan Democratic Party are calling for a one-person grand jury investigation into possible criminal behavior by the beleaguered and corrupt Republican.

More about this and Michigan Republicans continued support of Bolger after the jump.

When you’re in the news this much, something is wrong

It’s not unusual for a state Attorney General to be in the news from time to time. If they are doing their job, that’s part of the job description. But Michigan AG Bill Schuette finds himself at the center of not one, but TWO big news stories. What his involvement in these two stories shows is that Bill Schuette is using his position as the Attorney General of Michigan to pursue a hardcore right wing, anti-labor agenda that benefits his political allies and harms his political foes.

Details after the jump.