Last night on the Rachel Maddow Show where Rachel did a fine job outlining what’s going on in Michigan right now. Check it out: Basically, GOP members of Congress in Michigan are pushing through legislation that would allow the governor to declare a financial emergency in any given town, village, city or township and immediately put that municipality under the […]

Michigan’s workforce development agency, Michigan Works!, will close its doors if a Republican budget plan passed by the US House of Representatives this week is made into law. Michigan Works would have to shut down under a budget passed by the U.S. House, though the Senate has not backed the spending cuts. The statewide work force development agency, which serves […]

As everyone who has been paying attention to national news over the past two weeks knows, the political situation in Wisconsin right now is very tense. The Senate Democrats are in exile to prevent an anti-union bill that will strip collective bargaining rights from teachers and other public employees from coming to a vote. Tea Party Governor Scott Walker is […]

The 211th Congress, under the crack leadership of Nancy Pelosi, passed a Wall Street reform bill that, while fairly tepid in its scope, went much further than any legislation of its kind in decades. It will come as no surprise to you that Republicans are doing everything in their power to make sure Wall Street reform never gets a chance […]

Republican Congressman Darrell Issa has put a form online where business owners can submit their ideas for how the GOP can reduce regulations that protect Americans in order to improve their corporate bottom line. While that’s all well and good, perhaps it would be good for him to know that regulations can HELP businesses as well by leveling the playing […]

I know this is no surprise but Republicans are considering privatizing Medicare. Months after they hammered Democrats for cutting Medicare, House Republicans are debating whether to relaunch their quest to privatize the health program for seniors. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is testing support for his idea to replace Medicare with a fixed payment to buy a private […]

So far in the 112th Congress, the Republicans haven’t introduced a single jobs bill. However, from the Republicans, as of today we have at least: 16 bills to repeal all or parts of the Affordable Care Act 7 bills/resolutions to require a balanced federal budget 5 bills to repeal the estate tax (which benefits only the über-wealthy) A bill to […]

I have found the national political response to the shootings in Arizona a fascinating study this past week. As I blogged earlier this week , when Democrats held out an olive branch to Republicans last year, asking for a mutual statement urging civility in political discourse, they were firmly rebuffed by RNC leadership. I had expected this recent tragedy to […]

This is messed up: A nasty battle between factions of Legislative District 20 Republicans and fears that it could turn violent in the wake of what happened in Tucson on Saturday prompted District Chairman Anthony Miller and several others to resign. Miller, a 43-year-old Ahwatukee Foothills resident and former campaign worker for U.S. Sen. John McCain, was re-elected to a […]

I wrote this blog entry on Eclectablog nearly a year ago in March 2010. When you read it, consider the fact that Democrats made a concerted effort back then to rein in the use of violent metaphors and language/rhetoric. In the wake of the passage of the Affordable Care Act when emotions were high and passions were higher, the Democrats […]

[NOTE: Edited to include the name of the sponsor of each bill.] Here’s a snapshot of what we have to look forward to this year from the Republicans. As of this writing, just over 200 bills have been submitted in Congress. Here are some of the most odious ones. H.R. 2 (Eric Cantor)- Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act […]