When protective bargaining wins, we ALL win

The Protect Our Jobs coalition, also known as Protect Working Families, is working to pass a ballot initiative that would put protections for collective bargaining in the state constitution. This group just released a new television ad that shows how collective bargaining helped save that domestic auto industry in America.

See the ad after the jump.

You SURE you want that message?

Last night at the Republican Convention in Tampa, multiple speakers got up to tell us how much America sucks right now. Despite an economy that is recovering, they stood under a giant debt clock and declared “We built this”. It’s an odd message, given how responsible Republicans are FOR that national debt.

Yeah, you built that. Proof and much more commentary after the jump.

May justice be served

The Ingham County Circuit Court has chosen to convene a one-person grand jury to investigate the election fraud misdeeds of Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger and newly-minted Republican House caucus member Roy Schmidt. This same type of arrangement was used recently to investigate fraudulent behavior by Democrats to run fake tea party candidates and resulted in convictions. The justice that will investigate is Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina who was chosen by random draw.

More after the jump.

Heh, heh…

The latest video from the Obama campaign pokes fun at what they call “Romney Economics”. Seems like they are enjoying the Republican National Convention as much at the Ron Paul supporters are not…

Watch it after the jump.

It’s time to get this done

Now that the ballot initiative to make collective bargaining rights part of the state constitution has been ordered placed on the November ballot, it’s time for Democrats around the state to make sure it passes handily. As part of that effort, the Protect Working Families (formerly Protect Our Jobs) alliance is conducting forums across the state to ensure people are educated and engaged in making that happen.

This Thursday, August 30, 2012 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Ann Arbor Second Baptist Church, 850 Red Oak Road, one such forum is being held in Washtenaw County.

Details after the jump.

If everyone in the US voted…

Anne has started a new meme called “If everyone in the US voted…”

Combined with her eye-catching photos, it’s designed to show how things could be different if only everyone voted. Share around on Facebook, pin it on Pinterest. Join in on the fun!

(And make sure everyone you know is registered to vote! Great site for that here: GottaRegister.com.)

Here’s the latest edition:

Larger image after the jump.

Wait. You thought they’d let you vote?

Since the turn of the century, Republicans in power have recognized two things: hardcore religious and socially super-conservative white people could be a major voting bloc for them and they could NEVER let these people have any power of their own. So, each election cycle, they would trot out the “guns, God, and gays” fear machine to stoke up fear and anger and resentment and then channel that into heavy turnout at the polls for their candidate. This is, largely, how George W. Bush got elected. The issues of abortion, gun control, affirmative action, and gay marriage were useful tools for making this group of people useful tools.

Over time, that demographic has shifted into what’s now called the tea party and their patron saint is Ron Paul. More organized than before, this group is even more powerful (as we saw from the 2010 election) and the Republican Party machine knows this. That’s why they have gone to extraordinary lengths to strip Paul supporters of any significant role at the RNC Convention this week and have sent his remaining delegates to the nosebleed seats in the convention center.

Much more after the jump.

Score one for the good guys

The Michigan Court of Appeals has once again ordered the Republicans on the Board of State Canvassers to halt their efforts to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Michigan voters and directed them to place the Protect Working Families, formerly Protect Our Jobs, ballot initiative on the November ballot.

This marks the second time the Court of Appeals has done this after ordering the elections board to put the repeal of Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager Law, on the ballot as well. Opponents of that took their fight to the Supreme Court where they ultimately lost.

More after the jump.

So, Governor, where were YOU on Friday???

This past weekend, former Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist endorsed President Obama and was announced as a speaker at the Democratic National Convention next week. Here in Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder seems to be keeping out of the limelight with the Romney campaign, as well. At the last two Michigan stops by the Romney campaign, including one last Friday in Commerce, Michigan, our Republican governor was notably absent from the public view. He skipped a rally in June, as well, attending a meeting of business owners only.

Why is that? Heck, even disgraced Republican House Speaker Jase Bolger spoke at the Commerce event.

Is it because the Romney campaign has become too extreme for even our conservative governor?

More after the jump.

Which night does Mitt tell everyone they’re fired? A storm descending, everything in disarray and a persistent effort to appear as if everything isn’t crumbling around them—welcome to the Republican National Metaphor. It might be nice to imagine hurricane menacing this week’s Republican Convention as a sign from Mother Nature about the danger of denying science or a rebuke from […]

Pay no attention to the traitor behind the curtain

By now you know how bad a day Mitt Romney had yesterday. Nearly every headline coming out of his trip to Michigan included the word “birther” in it. It was so bad, in fact, that he quickly sent out a “Look over there! Something shiny!” email to his mailing list, trotting out a thoroughly debunked lie about President Obama removing the work requirement from welfare.

But I would be willing to bet that the Romney campaign is actually relieved that this tempest in a teapot discussion about his slinging red meat to the birthers is dominating the headlines. Why? Because otherwise people would be talking about the massive release of nearly 1,000 pages of internal documents by Gawker from Romney’s days at Bain Capital that show conclusively that he went to dramatic and possibly illegal lengths to avoid paying taxes.

What Mitt Romney is counting on is that Americans are more excited about talking about inflammatory remarks about President Obama’s birth certificate than they are about discussions about high finance, a world most of us will never know, much less understand.

More after the jump.