INOKIYAR – It’s NOT okay if you’re a Republican

Yesterday I posted a piece talking about Michigan Republicans circling their wagons to protect election fraudster House Speaker Jase Bolger. I also revealed that Rep. Mark Ouimet used his House email account to campaign , slamming his “opponent” for being a big spender.

Today, Progress Michigan announced that they are filing a complaint against Ouimet based on the email he sent to me.

Apparently unethical behavior is A-OKAY for Michigan Republicans

I recently asked Eclectablog readers in Michigan to contact their Republican Representatives and ask them to demand the resignation of Jase Bolger from his position as Speaker of the House. After seeing responses from a number of Michigan Republican lawmakers, it’s clear that they are circling the wagons to protect Speaker Bolger. It’s also clear, based on some repeated boilerplate language, that they have been instructed in how this effort. And, interestingly, my own Representative, Mark Ouimet, used his House email account to disparage his Democratic “opponent”, Saline Mayor Gretchen Driskell, in clear violation of Michigan election law.

Government investment is good! No , it’s BAD! Wait…

Republican state Senator Mike Kowall took to the stage this past week as part of Romney’s Obama Misrepresentation & Distortion Tour™, touting his family business. Though Romney’s OMD Tour barely made a splash in the media, they did get one article in the Oakland Press where Kowall is quoted as saying “We’re the ones who helped pay to put in the sewers, we helped pay to put in water extensions, and promoted a lot of growth in the area. It wasn’t something that was done by government, it wasn’t something that government came by and said they were going to do for us.”

It’s an interesting comment in light of Kowall’s past statement about government investments in infrastructure.

What, you didn’t think we’d notice?

I received emails and phone calls this afternoon from Representatives Lisa Brown and Barb Byrum letting me know that Senate Republicans snuck in a last-minute notice that they will take up the anti-Choice H.B. 5711 tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. The hearing will take place at 10:00am in Room 110, Farnum Building, 125 W. Allegan, Lansing.

Details after the jump.

I’m sorry we paused in our union-crushing, women’s rights ending crusade…

Late in the afternoon on Friday when most people were thinking more about their summer weekend ahead and not about state politics, Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger gave the apology version of the Friday afternoon “news dump”. In a piece published in the Detroit Free Press and put online at 2:56 p.m., he “apologized”.

More after the jump.

GOPocrisy!

Michigan Democrat Rep. Barb Byrum who was banned from speaking last month by House Speaker Jase Bolger, called a “child” and described as having thrown a “temper tantrum” and disrupting the decorum of the House of Representatives, posted a great little piece on her Facebook page recently.

Check it out after the jump.

You call that “Leadership”? That’s not leadership, that’s corruption.

After the incredible revelation that House Speaker Jase Bolger conspired with Representative Roy Schmidt to commit blatant and disgusting election fraud in May, it’s now time for him to step down as the so-called “leader” of the House. No group can be called legitimate that has at its head someone so clearly corrupt and fraudulent as Jase Bolger has proven himself to be.

He doesn’t deny doing what he did. He simply says that it’s okay because it was legal.

Nobody else believes that.

Much more after the jump.

Drunk with power, House Republicans continue to silence their opposition

Yesterday the Michigan Legislature met for one day before reconvening again on August 15th. This occasion brought several protests to the Capitol, mainly from groups supporting women’s rights and disgusted with the way female legislators are being treated by their Republican colleagues.

After the jump, details about the protests and interviews with Matt Wall from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) and Democratic Representative Barb Byrum talking about the delivery of 115,000 petition signatures to House Speaker Jase Bolger demanding an apology for his treatment of Rep. Byrum and her colleague Rep. Lisa Brown as well as Rep. Byrum’s account of being prevented from speaking on the floor of the House again yesterday.

Still think the War on Women isn’t real???

Michigan House Representative Barb Byrum (D-Onondaga) was prevented from speaking on the House floor today by Republican leadership. She and other Democrats asked to speak on a package of pay equity bills that would address income inequality in Michigan.

They were rebuffed.

More after the jump.

Via Progress Michigan:

Women Take Over the Capitol to Rally and Lobby Legislators on Wednesday

Hundreds of women will meet at the Capitol to share their vision for a better Michigan for women and make their voices heard with Michigan legislators.

Details after the jump.

Hallelujah

In a surprising blow to conservative Michigan Republicans working to make it harder to vote in our state, Governor Rick Snyder vetoed three key components of a package of voter suppression bills. The move apparently caused House Speaker Jase Bolger to temporarily lose his mind.