Are there really that many tea partiers out there to pander to??? After the embarrassment of his “Yellow Girl” video ad and numerous other faux pas over the years, Senate candidate Pete Hoestra dialed the “Whack-a-Doo” machine up to eleven recently by suggesting that there a department in Washington, D.C. with the sole purpose of investigating the birth certificates of […]

Those are some interesting demographics you have there, sir… A few weeks ago, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer sent a letter to the two Democratic candidates running for the seat in Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, Steve Pestka and Trevor Thomas. In the letter (pdf), he asked them to sign a pledge to run a “clean and fair” primary campaign. […]

Mmmmm…beer…

Our Beer With Bloggers event tomorrow is turning out to be quite a gala affair. With so many bloggers in attendance, it may be the “most blogged about” event in southeastern Michigan in quite some time!

[Meta update and the current Beer With Bloggers bloggers list after the jump]

If you have to sabotage the economy to win, your ideas suck Of all the terrible lessons the Republicans have learned since 2009, the worst is: Economic sabotage works. In 2009, the President’s immediate efforts to stimulate the economy and rescue the auto industry took us from losing 800,000 jobs a month to creating thousands. But, before the policies were […]

Again and again as I’ve come across some fact or story that befuddles me, I’ve thought: I need Rachel Maddow to explain this to me. Again and again, her ability to build context through anecdote, to invoke emotion without blurring logic, to raise the issues that matter through the muddle that don’t inspires me to attempt to remain sane. And […]

Mitt Romney, Master of the Universe Obvious

Mitt Romney believes that, between him and President Obama, only one of them knows one Very Important Fact:

Energy costs are important to businesses.

No, no. I’m serious.

[Proof after the jump.]

Michigan Republicans: Making an art form out of pandering to the stupid.

Last year, the Michigan Republicans raised taxes on over half of the residents of Michigan. In fact, the tax increase was an average 23% according to a report by the Michigan League for Human Services (pdf).

Yesterday, they reached an agreement to lower personal income taxes. By how much?

0.1%

They raised taxes by 23% now they are cutting them by one-tenth of a percent. Just another example among many of Republican FAKE CONCESSIONS.

[More after the jump]

This is gonna be good

We have some news regarding on our Beer With Bloggers event. Several new folks have agreed to join us and it’s shaping up to be quite an impressive line-up. The plan was hatched back in February when Mark Maynard and I met for beers at the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti. If you don’t know who Mark Maynard it, he’s only one of the best bloggers in the state of Michigan and you should totally be a regular reader of his website MarkMaynard.com.

The event takes place at the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti, Michigan on Thursday, May 31, 2012 from 7:00 until 9:00 p.m. More details about the evolution of this event HERE.

First, we have learned that…

For-profit government? I don’t think so.

Earlier this week, Newark, New Jersey mayor Cory Booker responded to an Obama campaign ad pointing out that Mitt Romney is running on his experience as a business person and explaining what that, in fact, means. He called the ad “nauseating” and “a distraction”. President Obama responded eloquently.

[Video and transcript and more after the jump.]

“It’s time not to fight back, but to fight forward”

Next Monday is Memorial Day in the USA, a day to remember those who gave their lives to defend our country and our democracy. On that day, a coalition of civil rights, labor, and faith leaders from around the state are staging another memorial: the death of democracy in Michigan.

[More after the jump…]

Things are NOT getting better

Today, the State Court of Appeals ruled that the review teams that recommended Emergency Managers for Detroit and Flint were not subject to the Open Meetings Act. The court ruled that they are not a “governing body” so they are exempt from the requirement.

[More after the jump…]