When you’re giving Michele Bachmann a run for her money, you’re definitely going off of the rails on the Crazy Train This past week, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann attempted to solidify her position as the “Craziest Person in Congress” with not one, not two, but THREE different comments. First, she was chased down a hallway by a CNN reporter trying to […]

Will Michigan Republicans go after and punish counties now???

Last night, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners ratified union contracts with union groups providing services to the County that stave off the effects of the recently-passed Right to Work law for ten more years.

More after the jump.

You have to give them credit for taking government back — to a time when it didn’t care about the poor

Tea party groups in Michigan appear to have succeeded in preventing an expansion of Medicaid that would have given health insurance to nearly a half million working poor Michiganders and preventing the formation of a state-run health insurance exchange. The actions will cost the state millions and millions of dollars, ensure that fewer people have health coverage than would have under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act and, ironically, help take the country a step closer to a single-payer health care system in the long run.

On Wednesday, the House Appropriations subcommittee passed their annual budget bill without the inclusion of the expansion of Medicaid that Governor Snyder, doctors, and hospitals across the state supported emphatically. Even tea party governors like Florida’s Rick Scott support this element of “Obamacare” since it would mean coverage of millions of their residents while relieving the burden on their hospital systems. They also kicked poor people in the teeth in a couple of other ways, as well.

Click through for details.

What’s good for the goose is, apparently, NOT good for the gander

A couple of weeks ago, I reported on Republicans’ outrage that universities in Michigan were renegotiating contracts with their union employees and including provisions that postponed the impact of their recently-passed Right to Work legislation by allowing for the collection of union dues for several more years.

Today, the Republicans acted on that outrage and chose to punish the schools that did this, namely the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, by eliminating 15% of their appropriation for the next year.

Click through for more.

They said it, not me

South Carolina Republicans have decided not to expand Medicaid in their state as provided under the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”.) By doing this, they are turning down $11 billion in federal funds and risk the creation of upwards of 44,000 jobs.

Why did they do this? According Republican state House Representative Kris Crawford, it’s because President Barack Obama is black.

You think I’m kidding but I’m not. Details after the jump.

Ideology trumps intelligence in Florida

This week, a Florida Senate committee rejected the expansion of Medicaid to its poorest residents, a vote that followed a similar vote in the House and a surprise endorsement by its tea partying governor. Not only that, the bill’s Republican sponsor declared that he wants Florida out of the Medicaid business altogether.

Click through for details.

Exploiting legal loopholes is only allowed if you are Republican or conservative

With the date when Michigan officially becomes a Right to Work (for Less) state looming (March 28th), Michigan Republicans and the anti-union, anti-teacher conservative lobby group The Mackinac Center for Public Policy are in freak-out mode that unions would try to preserve some of their rights before they are stripped from them.

Click through for all of the gory details and hypocrisy.

Thanks for nothing, ladies

UPDATE: I mistakenly identified only nine women members of Congress that voted against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. The number is actually TEN. Thanks to Kathy Kramer in the comments who pointed out my oversight.

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA) which had lapsed in 2011. Renewal of the VAWA was repeatedly voted down by Republicans for nearly two years. The version the House passed today was a comprehensive bill that extended protections to Native American women, lesbians & gays, and immigrants. It was passed after a watered-down Republican version was rejected. Because the bill they passed had already passed the Senate, it now goes to President Obama for his signature.

When the bill passed the Senate, every single woman in the Senate voted for it. However, among the 138 House members who voted against it today, all whom were Republicans, there were nine women who joined them.

See the full list after the jump.

Aw geez…

Michigan Republican Tom Casperson opened his mouth and removed all doubt about his status as a tea party fool this week when he answered “don’t know” when asked by radio show host Michael Patrick Shiels if President Obama was born in the USA. Casperson joins the ranks of the 37% of Michigan Republican Party delegates that believe President Obama was not born a US citizen, an astonishing figure given that he has released both the long-form and the short-form versions of his birth certificate. There’s also the fact that a birth announcement appeared in a Hawaiian newspaper the day he was born.

Much more with audio after the jump.

And he accuses US of fighting amongst ourselves? Governor, please.

With all of the attention that was paid these past two weeks between the race for the Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, it was easy to miss the fact that the Michigan Republican Party had a highly-contested race themselves. When the dust had settled at their convention on Saturday, incumbent chair Bobby Schostak had won a narrow 833 to 768 vote over tea party challenger Todd Courser, a favorite of the so-called “Freedom Caucus”. Courser ran on a platform of “liberty and constitutional conservatism”.

The election was so close that Governor Snyder made a surprise appearance at Michigan GOP convention, taking time from the National Governors Association meeting in progress in Washington, D.C. to make an impassioned plea for Schostak’s candidacy. He was even seen pulling people aside to lobby for their votes.

He then accused Democrats of doing the very thing his party was engaged in as he gave his speech. Details after the jump.

As usual, it’s the messenger that’s the problem

Republicans have decided that the biggest, wettest kiss they can give their corporate owners is to make all money they earn overseas exempt from taxes, even if they bring that money back to the USA. It’s called a Territorial Tax System and it’s used by only a handful of countries — France, Hong Kong, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

When the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) took a look at the impact of the USA using a territorial tax system, not surprisingly they found that it would increase the shipment of jobs and manufacturing to other countries besides the USA. Who could have guessed? If you only tax money earned in the United States, companies will beat a path to nearest border to make sure they earn as much money as possible outside of the United States. It’s the weirdest thing.

When the Republicans heard that the CBO predicted this behavior and the subsequent negative impact on our nation’s economy and job situation, their response wasn’t, “Oh, shit, we better rethink this.” No, their response was to shout, “LIAR!”

Proof after the jump.