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Making the voice of the people heard on the ‘Religious Liberty & Conscience Protection Act’

By on May 23, 2013 in Michigan Democrats, Michigan Republicans

More than 550 people signed the petition opposing SB 136.

This week, opponents of Senate Bill 136 — the “Religious Liberty & Conscience Protection Act” — met with State Senator Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor). I was at the meeting, where we presented a petition for delivery to the Michigan Senate and learned even more about this troubling legislation from Sen. Warren.

As I’ve written here before, SB 136 would let healthcare providers, facilities and insurers refuse to provide or cover “objectionable” healthcare services on religious or moral grounds. But it offers no protection for patients when it comes to making their own care decisions.…


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What does the Michigan GOP have against Medicaid expansion?

By on May 22, 2013 in Michigan Republicans

It’s a one-word answer: Obamacare.

Republicans who oppose Obamacare just don’t want to say “yes” to anything related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Medicaid expansion is part of the ACA, but the U.S. Supreme Court left the decision to accept Medicaid expansion up to the states. And Michigan is among those with Republican-controlled legislatures that are fighting against Medicaid expansion out of what seems to be pure ideology. There’s simply no other good reason to keep saying no to something that would do so much good for the state and its citizens.

Michigan Republicans dealt another blow to hopes for Medicaid expansion on Tuesday.…


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ACTION: Tell the Michigan Senate not to let “morals” interfere with healthcare

By on May 20, 2013 in Michigan Republicans, Petition

Sign the petition and make your voice heard.

The very first post I wrote for Eclectablog was about Senate Bill 136, the “Religious Liberty and Conscience Protection Act.”

This bill would allow healthcare providers, facilities and insurers to refuse to provide or cover “objectionable” healthcare services on religious or moral grounds.

As I explained in that post and two that followed, this bill is dangerous and discriminatory. It puts all the power in the hands of healthcare providers or facilities who might have religious or moral objections to performing a particular service — taking away patients’ choices about their own care and offering no protection for their rights.…


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Michigan Senate Republicans reject Medicaid expansion

By on May 17, 2013 in Michigan Republicans

Heartless is as heartless does

If you were a lawmaker and were given the chance to reduce the number of uninsured Michiganders by nearly half and save the state nearly a billion dollars over the next ten years, what would you do? If you were a Michigan Senate Republican, you would reject it. That’s what Michigan Senate Republicans did yesterday when they passed Department of Community Health budget without a provision to expand Medicaid as allowed by the Affordable Care Act.

They even killed a Democratic amendment to put Medicaid expansion back into the bill. It went down on a 13-25 vote.…


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GOP Sen. Pavlov attacks regulation of charter schools, State Bd. Of Ed. Pres. John Austin responds (beautifully)

By on May 16, 2013 in Education, Michigan Republicans

That’s gonna leave a mark

Republicans are going Code Red to defend their desire to exempt charter schools from any sort of additional scrutiny, including being held to the same educational standards as public schools are. Toward that effort, state Senator Phil Pavlov went on the attack against the State Board of Education for even suggesting it. Pavlov is the chair of the Senate Education Committee. He then went on to blame the State Board of Education for the dire financial situation schools like those in Buena Vista and Pontiac find themselves in.

State Board of Education President John Austin, someone whose name has been talked about as a terrific choice for Lt. Governor of Michigan given his experience in education, is not taking this lying down. He put out a statement today, slamming Sen. Pavlov for his blatant politicization of our education system in Michigan. It’s a thing of beauty.

Read it over the jump.


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Not sure why Medicaid expansion matters? Try living without health insurance

By on May 16, 2013 in Michigan Republicans

You don’t know what it’s like until it’s your life.

Clara Sanders-Stevens works hard every day, directing the Project 21 after-school program for the Oak Park School District. But, because she’s an independent contractor, she’s responsible for her own health insurance. And she just can’t afford it.

I don’t need help with food or rent, but I need health insurance — especially in the event I have to go to the emergency room or I’m hospitalized. But when you start talking about $400 or $500 a month for insurance, it’s just not going to happen for a lot of people like me.…

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Michigan House GOP’s proposal makes a mockery of Medicaid expansion

By on May 10, 2013 in Michigan Republicans

It’s just another end-run around Obamacare that’s almost certain to fail — and could drag Medicaid expansion down with it.

Don’t let the Michigan House GOP fool you. They don’t really want Medicaid expansion in Michigan. They just want you to think they do.

Click through for the full story.


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While Michigan Republicans dismantle the middle class, Democrats are trying to actually solve problems

By on May 10, 2013 in Gun Control, Michigan Democrats, Michigan Republicans, War on Women

Actions speak louder than words

As Michigan Republicans continue their corporatist agenda of eviscerating the middle class, destroying unions, harming public employees and taking women’s rights back to the middle of the last century, Michigan Democrats are proposing important pieces of legislation that solve actual problems.

The first comes from Representatives Jim Townsend, Vicki Barnett, and Andy Schor. They are introducing a package of legislation designed to reduce gun violence in our state and to increase public safety. A separate package of bills will be introduced by State Representatives Gretchen Driskell, Jeff Irwin, Adam Zemke and state Senator Rebekah Warren that will reverse some of the restrictions Republicans have put on women’s health care, educate women about health care options, support rape survivors and address health care inequities women face.

Details after the jump.


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Day 4: Buena Vista schools still closed due to lack of funds. Why hasn’t Governor Snyder acted?

By on May 10, 2013 in Education, Michigan Republicans, Rick Snyder

Just not raining hard enough in Buena Vista Township, I guess…

This is front page of the Buena Vista School District website this morning. While it says that school will be closed on Thursday, apparently nobody has been to work yet today, either, because the school is still closed today. This is the fourth day the school has been closed because it has no money to pay teachers and staff.

This is truly outrageous. Where is Governor Snyder in all of this? Why is he waiting and allowing this to go on?

It’s gotten so bad the Congressman Dan Kildee has weighed in (and not subtly):

Gov.…

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After stripping billions in school funding, Michigan GOP seeks to tie teacher pay primarily to student educational growth

By on May 9, 2013 in Education, GOPocrisy, Michigan Republicans, Teachers

Oh, I see how this works

Over the past two years, Michigan Republicans have stripped over a billion dollars from schools and are working to defund them another $825.1 million this year, as well. They’ve also reduced teachers’ benefits and made their ability to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions more difficult.

Now that they’ve done so much to make a teacher’s job so much more difficult, one Republican is ready to make their pay primarily based on student progress. Current law says that teacher pay should be using job performance and job accomplishments as a significant factor. House Bill 4625, introduced by Republican Pete Lund, would make teacher pay based primarily on these factors.

More after the jump.


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