The Florida legislature rejected Medicaid expansion. This is not a good precedent.

When Governor Rick Snyder announced his support for Medicaid expansion in Michigan, most Republicans (and Democrats) were shocked. Almost as shocked as they were when Florida Governor Rick Scott did the same, considering what a vocal opponent he’d been of Obamacare.

But credit to both Republicans for putting aside politics and doing what’s right for the citizens of their states. Too bad their Republican-controlled legislatures don’t feel the same way.

Last Friday, the Florida legislature adjourned after passing a budget that did not include the funds necessary to support Medicaid expansion.

Click through for details.

That’s not a relationship built for education

Last year, Michigan’s Republican-dominated legislature passed a bill that was then signed into law by Governor Snyder that expands cyber schools in our state. Michigan already has nearly a quarter of the county’s charter schools and upwards of 80% of them are for-profit, run by corporations who make decisions based on their impact on the corporate profit statement.

I’ve been concerned about this ever since the law was passed because cyber schools rob our children of the human contact and relationships that are essential for helping them become happy, productive adults with the social skills needed to be successful. The bill was, ironically, part of a package of bills the Republicans, without a trace of irony, called Parent Empowerment Education Reform (PEER.) Except that kids who “attend” cyber schools won’t actually have any peers, at least not the kind of peer you can interact directly with.

Rita Pierson is an educator who feels deeply about this topic. A teacher for 40-years, she has come to see the essential value of the relationships teachers develop with their students. She gave a TED Talk recently where she speaks in direct terms about this topic and her message is one legislators in Michigan would benefit from hearing.

Watch it after the jump.

Because the poor simply haven’t been screwed over enough already, right?

Two bills passed by the Michigan House of Representatives this week have the effect of punishing one group and one group only: the poor. One bill, House Bill 4118 would force Michiganders applying for a renewal of their welfare benefits to undergo drug testing if they are “suspected” of being on drugs. The other, House Bill 4388, would kick families off from welfare if they have a child who skips school.

As egregious as this legislation is, what’s worse is that Democrats aided and abetted the Republicans in the passage of both bills.

Details await you after the jump.

Michigan Republicans are the only ones who think it’s a bitter pill.

The evidence that Medicaid expansion is in the best interests of Michigan and its citizens keeps stacking up. Even Governor Rick Snyder gets it. But Michigan Republicans continue digging in their heels, trying every unsubstantiated excuse in the book to block expansion.

As I wrote here previously in a two-part series, Medicaid expansion would deliver measurable benefits to the state, insuring up to 730,000 uninsured Michiganders with the help of $1 billion in federal funding, creating 18,000 jobs and about $2.1 billion in economic activity.

Apparently, those aren’t good enough reasons for the Michigan GOP to take the money and run with a program that could boost the physical, emotional and economic health of our state.

Much more after the jump.

Intentionally furthering the divide

Last week, Republican members of the House Insurance Committee walked out of a hearing on No Fault insurance reform to avoid having to hear testimony from victims of catastrophic accidents and their families. The disrespect shown to these citizens who had traveled to Lansing to participate in our democratic process prompted Democratic House Leader Tim Greimel to call for their replacement.

In response, House Speaker Jase Bolger, in what can only be described as a petulant and childish act, removed eight Democrats from their committee assignments for missing meetings in the past. He took no action whatsoever against Republicans, of course.

Click through for more.

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.

It’s about opposing Obamacare from every possible angle.

Considering all the shenanigans in the Michigan legislature lately, you might have forgotten about Michigan Senate Bill 136, the “Religious Liberty & Moral Conscience Protection Act.” Well, I haven’t — and I hope you won’t, either. It could come up for a vote in the Senate at any time and we need to let our Senators know this bill does not represent the will of most Michiganders, including many in the healthcare field.

As I wrote here previously, the bill would give healthcare providers, facilities and insurers the right to refuse to provide or cover “objectionable” healthcare services on religious or moral grounds. But the bill is alarmingly vague, opening the door to discrimination and refusal to provide care to almost anyone, for almost any reason.

Worst of all, there are no genuine protections for patients in this bill. Those are even more vague because the bill isn’t about patient care at all. It’s about legislators and a vocal minority who want to put up roadblocks to anything even remotely related to Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act.

Click through for more.

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.

If you can’t win on your own ideas, steal someone else’s

Michigan Republicans have made it patently clear that they have no intention of letting Democrats score any legislative victories whatsoever. In the recent House appropriations legislation debates, for example, Democrats introduced over 70 amendments and every single one of them was shot down by the House Republicans. But even Republicans don’t think that EVERY idea that Democrats have is a bad one. It’s just not something they want the rest of Michigan to believe. So, in order to deny Democrats any legislative victories in the current session, Republicans have begun using an approach that I haven’t heard of before: introducing legislation that is identical to a bill that was introduced by a Democrat and then supporting that one instead.