See you on the radio I will be on the First Shift with Tony Trupiano radio show this morning at 8:30 a.m. We’ll be talking about the “immediate effect” lawsuit filed by Michigan Democrats against House Republicans who seem to think the constitution doesn’t apply to them. I will be focusing on what people are getting wrong about this issue; […]

Wrong is wrong, illegal is illegal I have been writing about how Michigan House Republicans have been refusing to acknowledge Democrats’ request to have a roll call vote on whether or not to make a bill take “immediate effect” rather than wait until 90 days after the end of the legislative session. Our state constitution says that they can do […]

We can’t give all Americans a car elevator, but we can help everyone get decent health care. A few weeks ago we learned that Mitt Romney’s palatial estate in La Jolla not only had its own lobbyist, it also had a car elevator. Yes, an elevator just for cars. Maybe Mitt paid for it with the pittance, only a few […]

It’s much, much worse in Michigan than we even realized

Last night, Rachel Maddow broke a huge story that has been happening since Republicans took over in Michigan in 2011 and has gone completely under the radar. Since January 2011, 566 bills have been signed into law. Of those, 546 of them, 96.5% were passed under “immediate effect”. Here’s the video from last night’s show that will blow your mind. Pay particular attention to around 12:30 where they show it in action. It’s astonishing.

This is new in Michigan governance. This is not the way that Michigan was set up. This is not the way it was supposed to be…Michigan Republicans are using what is supposed to be an emergency provision for everything, even for the most contentious and partisan and divisive things that they want to do…

Public Act 4 no longer in play in Detroit

Detroit’s financial review team was given the okay to meet yesterday morning by the Michigan Court of Appeals, clearing the way for them to vote to approve the consent agreement between the city and the state in the afternoon. And, last night, the Detroit City Council followed suit in a 5-4 split decision, agreeing to the consent agreement, actually called the “Financial Stability Agreement”, which gives city leaders some measure of control, including choosing some of the members of the financial advisory board… (more after the jump)

Going above and beyond the call of duty? New Hampshire House Speaker Bill O’Brien is displaying a level of complete and utter dickishness unlike anything I have ever seen in my life. State Rep. Tony Soltani is threatening legal action because he says House Speaker Bill O’Brien has refused to accommodate his disabilities in his seating assignment as part of […]

Class, may I have your attention please? Republicans in Michigan are pushing forward with an effort to remove the cap on so-called “cyber schools” (also known as “virtual schools”) in our state. Already passed in the Senate as Senate Bill 619, it has been reported out of the House Education committee and will be voted on in the near future. […]

Yes, it’s still the law In what appears to be a never-ending saga of a ham-handed, clumsy implementation of a constitutionally-questionable law, the Snyder administration has finally won a court battle which put Flint Mayor Dayne Walling out of a job (again) and Emergency Manager Michael Brown back in (again). This and the continuing battles in Detroit and elsewhere to […]

I can haz constitutional freedoms?

As I wrote about last week, Michigan Democrats have filed a lawsuit against their GOP colleagues, demanding that they hold roll call votes on “immediate effect” bills when they are requested. Again, the right to ask for a roll call vote if one-fifth of the House members request it is guaranteed in the state constitution.

Today, Ingham County Circuit Judge Clinton Canady III granted them a Temporary Restraining Order, compelling the Republicans to…

This is NOT what Democracy looks like As I reported yesterday, on Monday Ingham County Circuit Judge Clinton Canady III will consider whether to grant the Michigan House Democrats a Restraining Order against Republicans who they say are violating the state constitution by denying them roll call votes on making laws take “immediate effect”. The Michigan Republicans in a rather […]

Stop Public Act 4! The Michigan Secretary of State’s (SOS) office has confirmed that the Stand Up for Democracy coalition has turned in 24,151 valid sheets containing 225,885 signatures, exceeding the 161,305 needed to put the law on hold and the referendum on November 2012 ballot. [NOTE: this does NOT mean the signatures themselves have been validated, just that they […]