The State of Michigan is in a weird state

A collection of stories about Detroit, Flint and the jaw-dropping stuff happening in these two cities.

Click through for the Full Monty.

Elections have consequences and sometimes they’re permanent consequences

Lost in the shuffle of last year’s orgy of Republican overreach in the Michigan legislature was the passage of the legislation that became Public Act 297. Signed into law August, the law is described, in part, as “an act to protect the environment and natural resources of the state”. In his announcement about the signing of the bill into law with the Orwellian title “Snyder signs bill protecting sand dunes, rights of homeowners”, Governor Snyder had the audacity to say that he “worked with the bill sponsor to ensure Michigan’s dunes are protected for the benefit of present and future generations.”

The law does quite the opposite and is now getting its first customers. Click through for details.

Hey, Republicans, are you listening?

The percentage of Michigan residents covered by health insurance through their job has dropped from 78.1 percent in 2000 to 62.9 percent in 2011 according to a new report out by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. That’s the second highest decline in the entire country, second only to South Carolina.

The study was done to get baseline information prior to the implementation of many of the core components of the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) so that we’ll have something to compare to as the ACA is rolled out.

Some of the key findings and more after the jump.

This whole democracy thing is just getting out of hand, isn’t it? Last year, the Michigan legislature took wolves off the endangered species list and earlier this year, the Department of Natural Resources proposed hunting them again, despite the fact that there are less than 700 of these native animals in the state. A statewide coalition of people began gathering […]

At what point does climate change denial become a mental illness?

The Great Lakes are now at historically low levels. So low, in fact, that Governor Snyder was forced to prevail upon the legislature to pass emergency funding to dredge 58 harbors and bays so that ships and recreational vessels can continue to use them.

Yet, somehow, the corporate-funded climate change deniers still have a voice in what is no longer a debate about the reality of global climate change.

Much more after the jump.

I’d like to take this opportunity to say I TOLD YOU SO!

During a Right to Work rally in Lansing, Michigan last December, Fox News “reporter” Steven Crowder claimed he was attacked and had video to prove it. As I reported then, the video was heavily edited and the guy who “attacked” him was actually acting in self-defense. Here’s what I said at the time:

“Selective editing at about 0:39 mark shows what appears to be union guy attacking Crowder for no apparent reason. However, if you look closely, you’ll see that the guy is getting up off the ground — that he was NOT the one that became aggressive first.”

It turns out that I was 100% correct. Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III is not filing charges in the incident because Crowder provided him with highly-edited video and the full, unedited version shows that his “attacker” was simply defending himself.

Click through for details.

Legally fired for who she loves

Last week, Lauren Jasenak from Brighton, Michigan was fired by the Boy Scouts of America from her job at a Michigan BSA ranch for being a lesbian. Because of Michigan’s bigoted laws, the firing was legal and Jasenak has little to no recourse in what should, by all accounts, be a violation of her civil rights.

Details after the jump.

The tea party is NOT going to like this

This morning, the Michigan House Appropriations Committee voted to accept a grant from the federal government for $30,670,000 to set up a health insurance exchange in this state as part of the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”.)

Details after the jump.

Well, that went well, didn’t it?

Last month, the Michigan Economic Development Corp (MEDC) used the “Pure Michigan” brand to brag about screwing unions by making Michigan a Right to Work state. They spent $144,000 to run a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal to do so.

This week, MEDC vice president of government affairs, Jim McBryde, told the House Tourism Committee that they are putting further misuse of the successful “Pure Michigan” tourism brand to promote Right to Work on hold.

Click through for details.

Fighting racism and stereotypes one gun shop at a time

After receiving complaints from various folks in the Royal Oak area, Dawud Walid,
executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Michigan (CAIR) paid a visit to Target Sports and found them selling a target depicting a skeleton wearing a turban and traditional Muslim clothing. He purchased a couple of the targets and then had a conversation with the store owner, Ray Jihad. By the time their conversation ended, Jihad had agreed to stop selling the shooting targets.

Details after the jump.

Again, the GOP is more interested in punishing women than giving them affordable health care When Michigan’s Republican Party isn’t busy cutting education, driving down workers’ wages or stealing presidential elections, they always have time to wage a little war on women. Because it calls for the use of “most technologically advanced ultrasound equipment available at that location”, HB 4187 […]