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…

Constitution schmonstitution, part eleventy billion When I wrote about Michigan Republicans being put under a restraining order to keep them from violating the state constitution a few days ago, I wrote, “It will be interesting to see if the Republicans are so intent on betraying the state constitution that they appeal to the appeals court.” Turns out they ARE and […]

The anti-labor president(ial candidate) Mitt Romney’s labor advisor, Peter Schaumber the former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is being accused of receiving insider information from a current NLRB, Terence Flynn. Flynn served as chief counsel to Schaumber during his stint as chairman. A recent report from the NLRB Inspector General (pdf) highlights a number of clear violations […]

We need government to protect us from people like Mitt Romney. In 2009, as it was organizing, promoting and explaining how non-partisan the Tea Party was, Fox News adopted a simple talking point. The Fox Effect describes that Fox’s Bill Sammon instructed his staff to call any suggestion of a buy-in federal health care plan a “government option”. Basically, never […]

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)

The antidote to email forwards from your uncle. Conservatives have been getting their news from clowns for years. But something changed in 2009. From 2001 till the end of January 2009, the conservative movement held the White House for eight years and the Congress for six. And by the end of Bush’s second term it was evident that the GOP […]

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 […]

The true story of a real boy trying to become a puppet. Yesterday Ann Romney said the general election campaign will “unzip” her husband to reveal just how not “stiff” Mitt actually is. Echoing the “Etch A Sketch” comment from a few weeks ago, Mrs. Romney is suggesting we haven’t met the Mitt Romney yet. Though Mitt has been running […]

Second time’s a charm Michigan Rising has risen like a phoenix from the ashes of the first attempt to recall Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and is giving it a second try. Last week, they submitted petition language in Washtenaw County. They had no trouble getting their language approved last year so there is little reason to believe they will have […]