I recently returned from a week in Shanghai, China, where I had been invited to speak at a conference and serve as a consultant to a group of Chinese music educators who are developing a music assessment system for use in their schools. While I was there I kept a running log of reflections on what I noticed, and the […]

Everyone is angry. I get it. Our country is as divided as I can remember it being in my lifetime. Friends are divided. Institutions are divided. Families are divided. People that never seemed to be “political” are suddenly, and surprisingly, strident defenders of a particular belief or position–or equally vocal about being against that position. Everywhere you go these days […]

A recent op-ed in USA Today by Glenn Harlan Reynolds asks the provocative question, “Is America headed toward a civil war?” As evidence, the author offers the following points, which seem deserving of a response. 1. Because of Sarah Sanders being refused service at a restaurant, Reynolds asserts, “I think we’re at the beginning of a soft civil war. … I don’t […]

Hi, ladies*, I’m here to tell you that it’s OK to step away from the keyboard for a few days. It’s cool not to check Twitter and especially Facebook, where you’re supposed to be linked with your actual friends. Because it is a cesspool right now over the sexual harassment and abuse scandals in Washington, especially with two Democrats (U.S. […]

Faith is not rational — remember that because we will be coming back to it. This column has been long delayed for a variety of reasons, which matter not to the essence of what I have to share today. An autopsy of the November 4, 2014 election continues to manifest itself in many publications and television shows the world over. […]

There’s no denying that Americans showed outrageously schizophrenic behavior last week on Election Day. While progressive initiatives on things like the minimum wage and pot legalization were passed around the country, Republicans still scored big wins everywhere. Here in Michigan, Terri Lynn What’s-Her-Name got trounced by double digits and two pro-wolf hunt ballot proposals went down in flames but, outside […]

There’s little doubt that Republicans love mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money in our political process and elections. And it’s no wonder. They benefit more from the increased limits on political donations more than Democrats. Considerably more. What they especially love is money where the donors can be kept secret. That way, the donors don’t have to answer to anyone […]

Drunk. With. Power. Michigan Republicans control just about every single thing in our government structure. We have a Republican Governor. A Republican Lt. Governor. A Republican Attorney General. A Republican Secretary of State. A Republican-controlled House of Representatives. A Republican Senate. The state Supreme Court is majority Republican. Basically, at any point where there is a decision to be made […]

This is not good government

I’ve been writing a lot about how both Republicans and Democrats submit identical legislation, sometimes in the same legislative session, in order to get credit for passing bills and joint resolutions that enjoy widespread bipartisan support (HERE, HERE, and HERE.)

After writing about this, I heard from folks across the country that told me that (a) this isn’t something that’s by any means unique to Michigan, (b) both Democrats and Republicans do it, and (c) “it happens all the time”. From the outside looking in, this looks like nothing more than plagiarism and credit stealing. In some cases, it certainly is, particularly in terms of getting credit for passing good legislation. However, there’s a bit more to the story that’s worth getting out there so that we can discuss the issue with as many of the facts in hand as possible.

It’s all there waiting for you after the jump.

After spending time reading and writing and thinking about the post I put up earlier, “Michigan Republicans stealing bills introduced by Democrats to deny them legislative victories”, I ended up in a funk. I realized that there are actually some areas of common ground between our legislative Democrats and Republicans. They actually DO agree on some things and on some good legislation.

But the politics in this state (and elsewhere, too, I’m sure) have become so toxic that our politicians are fighting to get credit for anything that could be described as “good”. They are so intent on pandering to their constituents and making sure “the other guys” don’t get credit for anything positive that they will steal each others legislation.

More after the jump.

A lot: The last year or so in American politics has been a tragedy. With unemployment over nine percent and underemployment closer to 16 percent, Washington has stopped talking about how to create jobs and turned its attention to cutting deficits. But it couldn’t get that done, either. Having agreed to focus on the wrong question, the two parties proceeded […]