Sorry face, this nose has got to go

It what can only be described as one of the most intentionally childishly mean-spirited, hurt-people-to-spite-Obama acts in recent Michigan history, state Senator Bruce Caswell from Hillsdale has introduced legislation that specifically prohibits Michigan from expanding Medicaid coverage as permitted under the Affordable Care Act.

Just so we’re clear: it’s not that he’s just suggesting that we not do this incredibly smart and money-saving, life-saving thing. He is actively seeking to make it illegal to do so.

Details of this pathetically childish insanity after the jump.

If you liked the “public option”, you’ll LOVE Medicaid expansion When the Affordable Care Act takes full effect in 2014, millions of Americans will have the freedom of knowing that they’re not one trip to the emergency room away from bankruptcy. They won’t have to be afraid of telling a doctor about a health problem for fear of being branded […]

My, my, Governor. That didn’t take long.

Remember when Governor Snyder and his Republican colleagues were telling us all how important making Michigan a Right to Work state was for improving our economy? “It’s freedom to work!” they said. “It will make us competitive with other states!” they claimed. “It will create more and better jobs!” they told us.

Turns out that even Governor Snyder doesn’t believe that tripe. Less than a month after his Economic Development Corporation spent $144,000 on a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal touting our new Right to Work status as one of the attractive benefits of setting up shop in Michigan, this week Snyder admitted it’s all a damn lie.

Details after the jump.

C’mon, Governor Snyder, do the right thing

As regular readers of this site know, we have been calling on Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to expand Medicaid coverage in our state, one of the many excellent provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka “Obamacare”.) You can read LOLGOP’s pieces on this HERE and HERE and my piece HERE.

Now the Michigan Democrats are starting to move on this issue. Today, State Representative Andy Schor (D-Lansing) introduced a House Resolution today calling on Governor Snyder to expand Medicaid under the federal ACA.

As Rep. Schor notes in his press release, “under the ACA, the cost of expanding Medicaid to more residents would be covered 100 percent by the federal government from 2014 through 2016. After that, the federal government would cover no less than 90 percent of the cost.”

Much more after the jump.

PLEASE NOTE: All that stands between 17 million Americans getting free public health care and lower rates for all is the GOP. Republican governors in states that re-elected President Obama are considering turning down the best thing to happen to the middle class since Medicare. Because of this people are going to die unnecessarily and we’re all going to pay […]

The BFDness of Obamacare continues to roll out

Earlier this week, LOLGOP explained how a component of the Affordable Care Act, lovingly called “Obamacare” by those who understand that our President cares about Americans without health insurance, includes a huge expansion of Medicaid. He also explained how this is free to states for the first two years and they are on the hook for only 10% of the additional costs after that. He also explained how upwards of 670,000 more Michiganders will be covered by health insurance under this expansion of one of the most beloved and official government programs that we have.

Follow me after the jump for a couple of other things about it that make it even more attractive. And don’t forget to sign our petition!

Why should we believe this guy?

[I apologize for the light blogging these past couple of days. We’ve had a death in my family and that, as you can probably imagine, has taken up much of my attention.]

Last night in his State of the State address, Governor Rick Snyder implored Republicans and Democrats alike to set aside their differences and work together. “I appreciate that people had different perspectives on issues,” he said. “And what I’m saying is, I’m hoping we can find common ground where we can work together and I hope all of you join me in doing the same thing.”

Multi-millionaire Dick DeVos said much the same thing in an op-ed after Republicans made Michigan a Right to Work state. “We can’t finish rebuilding this state unless we pull together,” said DeVos.

These are easy things to say when you have the ability to win all of your political battles. When the deck is stacked completely in your favor, you can say nice things about “working together” and “pulling together”. Because, at the end of the day, if your political opponents disagree with you, you can simply run them over just like Governor Snyder, the Michigan Republicans, and their financial backer Dick DeVos have done for the past two years.

Medicaid expansion protects us all from rate hikes and could prevent the death or bankruptcy of up to 670,000 Michiganders Tell Governor Snyder to expand Medicaid now In the fight to put a public option of the Affordable Care Act, many missed that the law contained a historic boost to Medicaid, our single-payer health insurance program that covers the poorest […]

No, we are NOT letting this go

Tomorrow night is Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s State of the State address. Given his track record over the past year, particularly in the past two months, there’s no reason why any of us should believe a word he says. He spent $144,000 to run a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal, bragging about crushing our labor unions by making Michigan the 24th Right to Work for Less state, something he claimed he was not interested in doing. He’s made it harder for Michigan women to obtain legal abortions. He’s raised taxes on over half of Michigan residents, hitting those hurting worst the hardest. He’s basically done everything possible to make Michigan hostile to workers and a low-wage Mecca for businesses with a little far-right conservative ideology thrown in for good measure.

Meanwhile, Republicans voted a known perpetrator of election fraud, Jase Bolger, as the Speaker of the House again.

If you are in the Lansing area tomorrow afternoon/evening, consider joining the AFL-CIO and others from around the state to protest what Governor Snyder and his drunk-with-power ideologically-driven Republican colleagues have done and continue to do to our state.

Details are after the jump.

Snyder’s Supreme Court appointment will set the tone for the 2013 legislative session

As I anticipated (rather testily) last month, Democrats are losing a voice on the Michigan state Supreme Court. Thanks to the unethical behavior of Diane Hathaway, whose name will now forever be associated with the betrayal of Democrats and Michigan citizens in general, we went from a 4-3 Republican-to-Democrat ratio to what will be a 5-2 balance once Governor Rick Snyder makes his appointment.

This has many people across the state wondering what Snyder will do with this opportunity.

On the one hand, he could continue his recent trend of appeasing the far right conservatives in his party, cementing the partisan divide that has so intensely polarized our state and that has created warring factions who despise each other.

On the other hand, he could choose a more moderate candidate who is more palatable to Democrats in Michigan. By doing this, the Governor could begin to repair some of the damage that was done when he chose to force Right to Work legislation through during the inflamed duck session and the animosity he created by passing laws that hinder women’s access to legal abortion services in our state.

My analysis after the jump.

Wait, I thought Gov. Snyder was a businessman…

A recent study by the Michigan Economic Center asked over 3000 representatives from businesses, nonprofits, and governmental organizations what things Michigan needs to do to attract more business investment in our state. If you listen to Michigan Republicans, including our governor, their answer is “lower taxes and bust unions”.

They might wish to ask the people who actually DO business in this state what they think. “Lower taxes” isn’t even close to the top.

Follow me over the jump for details.