I can haz constitutional freedoms?

As I wrote about last week, Michigan Democrats have filed a lawsuit against their GOP colleagues, demanding that they hold roll call votes on “immediate effect” bills when they are requested. Again, the right to ask for a roll call vote if one-fifth of the House members request it is guaranteed in the state constitution.

Today, Ingham County Circuit Judge Clinton Canady III granted them a Temporary Restraining Order, compelling the Republicans to…

The arrogance and audacity of Michigan Republicans continues On Thursday, Governor Rick Snyder signed a bill into law that goes into effect retroactively. The retroactive aspect of this bill benefits one person: David Schostak, brother and business partner of Michigan Republican Party chair Bobby Schostak. The bill overturns court decisions against Schostak that have him responsible for $2.4 million from […]

This is NOT what Democracy looks like As I reported yesterday, on Monday Ingham County Circuit Judge Clinton Canady III will consider whether to grant the Michigan House Democrats a Restraining Order against Republicans who they say are violating the state constitution by denying them roll call votes on making laws take “immediate effect”. The Michigan Republicans in a rather […]

Improving education by attacking teachers? Michigan Republicans are not done with teachers yet, not by a long shot. Now they are going after their pensions and healthcare. Lawmakers and Michigan’s largest teachers’ union are locking horns over how to bring the state’s school employee retirement system — underfunded by some $44 billion — back into the black. The Michigan Public […]

Constitution schmonstitution [NOTE: This story has been updated HERE.] The Michigan Republicans in a rather remarkable display of arrogance have taken to passing bills lately and voting to give them “immediate effect”. They are, in general, allowed to do this and it bypasses the normal 90-day waiting period after the bill is signed into law by the governor. However, under […]

Drinking the “tea” in Michigan

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has an op-ed in today’s Detroit News regarding the Supreme Court case involving the Affordable Care Act that reads like a tea party manifesto. He appears to representing the small number of Michiganders that call themselves tea partiers while the rest of us have our views disregarded.

He describes it as “an unprecedented power grab” and says it “ends limitations on federal powers”. Neither of these things are true and, as LOLGOP said earlier today, the vast majority of SCOTUS watchers believe they will uphold the ACA as constitutional.

Nice try, jerks Last month I wrote about how my favorite judge, William Collette, had found Republican redistricting in Oakland County to be unconstitutional: An Ingham County judge on Wednesday struck down a controversial state law that changed the way Oakland County’s commissioner districts are drawn. Judge William Collette said the law was unconstitutional. Plaintiffs hailed the striking down of […]

Here we go again With the impending expiration of federal unemployment benefits for many Americans, the AFL-CIO is holding rallies in front of the offices of key Republican members of Congress in Michigan tomorrow (Friday, February 10, 2012). See their press release below for details. Workers and Community Members to Rally at Michigan Congressional Offices as Jobless Benefits Approach ExpirationBenefits […]

This doesn’t smell right Yesterday I reported that the state government employees were not going to be forced to take unpaid furlough days due to the state budget surplus. Later that afternoon, I received this press release from the House Democratic Caucus: House Dems Champion Restoration of School FundingExpect funds to be added in supplemental, next year’s budgetLANSING – The […]

The GOP finally finds a good tax: on the poor As bad as things are right now in Michigan, they are about to get so much worse that I fear there is a genuine risk of the types of riots we haven’t seen since the 60s & 70s in my state. If you think we have too many failing schools […]

Out of touch and out to lunch Republican state Senator Jack Brandenburg has an idea with what to do with the budget surplus created by taxing seniors’ pensions, cutting funding to cities and stripping $1 billion from schools: lower Michigan’s income tax. I’m not kidding. A proposal at the state Capitol would cut the Michigan income tax rate to 3.9 […]