A while back, I wrote a piece for A2Politico.com in which I took the Michigan Democratic Party to task for, among other things, not supporting the efforts stop Public Act 4 (or, as I call it, the “Financial Martial Law Act”). Subsequent to that article, I contacted the Michigan Republican Party and several leaders of tea party groups around the […]

Oh, great. Rep. Bill Rogers, the guy who sponsored two bills to diminish, threaten and punish unionized teachers in Michigan is now heading up a group reform Michigan’s entire education system. State Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Genoa Township, is spearheading an education-reform work group he said will be “proactive instead of reactive” in pursuing changes to education funding and how students […]

Back in March, I wrote about Michigan Republicans’ efforts to further penalize teachers who go on strike in our state. From the article I linked (no longer available): State Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Genoa Township, on Tuesday introduced legislation creating penalties for public schoolteachers and the Michigan Education Association for inciting or participating in strikes. House Bill 4466 would fine the […]

A legislative aide to Michigan State Representative Jeff Farrington, Bryan Brandenburg, sent an email this week announcing a female colleague’s recent break-up, saying, “She’s a dem, but she’s hot.” Instead of sending the email to a small group of Congressional associates, he ended up sending it to every member of the Republican legislative staff. Subject: 25/F/Capitol Building. “Hey guys, “I […]

Yes, you read that right: outlawing workplace safety rules. Governor Rick Snyder has, apparently, identified one of the chief reasons Michigan businesses aren’t successful and why businesses refuse to come to Michigan: they are afraid we’ll pass a law requiring businesses to implement ergonomically safe workplaces. Well, they need not worry anymore. Today, Snyder signed a bill outlawing laws that […]

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder laid out his plans to force encourage local municipalities and agencies to consolidate services to become more efficient. He’s going so far as to withhold state revenue-sharing funds to force their hand. Gov. Rick Snyder called Monday for local government employees to pay at least 20% of their health insurance premiums, and for less expensive retirement […]

In Michigan, counties are reapportioned into districts by Reapportionment Commissions after each census. The Reapportionment Commissions are, by law, required to be made up of the county prosecutor, county treasurer, county clerk, and the two heads of the two county parties that received the most votes in the last election for secretary of state. In Oakland County, Michigan, this means […]

Remember that dreaded device that Republicans hated so much: Reconciliation? That was the one they said perverted the Constitution when Democrats were looking to use it during health insurance reform. Well, back in the day when George W. Bush was president, Republicans didn’t think it was so danged bad. In fact, they loved them some reck and silly ayshun just […]

You have got to be kidding me. This cannot be real. Sadly, it is: Maryland physician Andy Harris (R) just soundly defeated Frank Kratovil, one of the most endangered Democrats on Capitol Hill going into the November election. And he did it in large part by railing against ‘Obamacare’ and pledging to repeal Health Care Reform. But when he showed […]

In Michigan this year, it appears to be the Year of the “Nice Guy” RepublicanTM. We have Rick Snyder running for governor, an Ann Arbor native, and we have Mark Ouimet, a Washtenaw County Commissioner, also from Ann Arbor. They are viewed as “Nice Guys” by many Ann Arbor-area Democrats to the point that many of these Democrats will be […]

Illinois GOP Senate candidate Mark Kirk isn’t the only Republican setting out to intimidate “vulnerable” voting precincts. Not by a long shot. The Michigan Republican Party is training as many as 3,000 people to work as poll watchers, targeting mostly the southeastern part of the state: Michigan Republicans are recruiting and training up to 3,000 people to work as poll […]