The Curse of the Living Romneys

Michigan, a state which had a Romney for governor and then endured over a year’s worth of a man who hasn’t lived here in sixty years telling us he is a Michigander, doesn’t seem to be able wash the Romney kids out of its hair.

First, Slate’s Davie Weigel suggested Mitt Romney as a the perfect candidate to be Detroit’s Emergency Financial Manager. And now Mitt’s older brother Scott Romney is considering a run for Carl Levin’s Senate seat.

Why won’t they leave us alone?

Click through for details.

Spring forward but don’t trip over the Sgnomes

The days getting longer. Ducks and geese returning. Setting our clocks forward an hour for Daylight Saving Time. All of these are clear signs that spring is nigh. But no other sign fills our hearts with more joy than the annual migration of Sgnomes.

Once a common sight throughout the northern part of USA and Canada, global climate change has tragically had a devastating impact on Sgnome populations. Their migratory paths require a unique combination of heavy, sustained snowfall followed by a gradual warming as spring approaches. However, with the shift in climate, the Sgnome migration is coming earlier and earlier and, in some years, doesn’t happen at all.

Thankfully, this year’s Sgnome migration has been epic. My wife, Anne C. Savage, was there to capture it with her camera and we offer it to you today as you set your clocks forward an hour, to cheer your spirits and prepare you for the glorious spring that has nearly sprung.

Click through for the Full Monty.

Think of the children — no, not those children! Fox News is in an uproar because of a sequester cut that forces Republicans to have to actually explain to their constituents that the sequester which they voted for, twice now, actually exists. The White House has suspended tours as of Saturday. Thus congressmen will temporarily be barred from handing out […]

If it walks like a bribe and quacks like a bribe

Michigan Republicans are hoping that the lure of state cash will entice Detroit city officials into accepting an Emergency Financial Manager without a fuss. After stripping $152.2 million in annual revenue sharing from the city, Republicans are pushing a familiar theme: take away funding or increase taxes then give a bit back to make themselves look benevolent.

Details after the jump.

Well this makes things interesting…

U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D – Michigan) announced today that he will not run for re-election in 2014, a move that opens the seat to a newcomer and has Republicans licking their chops at the chance to run for a Senate seat against someone who is not a powerful incumbent.

More after the jump.

What, I have to leave town for good things to happen in Michigan???

I leave Michigan for a few days and then THIS happens? Turns out a Michigan judge has invited a Michigan lesbian couple who filed a complaint about not being allowed to adopt each others children to take it a step further and challenge our state’s odious and discriminatory ban on same-sex marriage.

Click through for details on this amazing turn of events.

It’s like the Oscars for state blogs It seems that our efforts here at Eclectablog have gotten national attention recently. The Washington Post “The Fix” blog does a listing of the “Best State Blogs” every year and a half or so. The last time they did it, Eclectablog was not chosen. However, this time around, we were. In fact, we […]

Earlier this week, I wrote an “open letter” to newly-elected Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lon Johnson. My primary goal with the piece was to start a conversation with Chair Johnson and among Michigan Democrats across the state about the future of our party. There’s no question that we must evolve as a party in order to retake control of our state from the overreach of our drunk-with-power, ideologically-corrupt Republican opponents. From new ways of engaging activists to improved communications with the citizens of our state, if we’re not moving forward, we’re losing ground.

It is my opinion that Lon Johnson gets that. However, there are many across the state who are reluctant to adopt new ways of doing things. Perhaps they are fearful of change. Maybe they enjoy the voice they have and the power they have now and don’t want to challenge the status quo. Whatever the reason, change is hard and will not always come easily. The first step is to have the conversation.

I was thrilled, therefore, when Chair Johnson took time from his crazy first-week-on-the-job schedule to respond to my letter.

His response is after the jump.

How do you build a city up armed only with implements of destruction?

This afternoon, Governor Rick Snyder announced that he will appoint an Emergency Financial Manager for Detroit calling it a “sad day” that he wished “had never happened in the history of Detroit”. As I have already detailed in a post that has been cited by MSNBC and Huffington Post among others, this will result in 49% of the African Americans in Michigan being without a democratically-elected government.

Click through for more.

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.