And then there were three

Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer announced today that she will NOT be a candidate for Governor in Michigan in 2014. Her stepping aside narrows the immediate field from four to three: 2010 candidate and Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, Detroit-area Congressman Gary Peters and former MI-07 Congressman Mark Schauer. While that’s not to say that others won’t throw their hat into the ring, these three are certainly the top three at the moment.

My analysis after the jump.

Why do I get the feeling there’s a LOT they aren’t telling us?

The Michigan House Republicans released their “2013-14 House Republican Action Plan” (pdf) today and, while there’s much I still need to digest, there were enough glaring LOLs in it to warrant pointing them out.

The 21-page plan, titled “Brighter Days Ahead”, is almost half “Executive Summary” and is full of photos of happy, smiling white people. Reading the Executive Summary is an odd experience. If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was either a Democratic proposal or something a bipartisan group put out. You honestly would never know that this is the party that focused so intensely over the past two years to crush unions, demonize teachers and other public employees and that led the way in the Republican War on Women.

Details after the jump.

Don’t be the punchline of a dumb joke

There’s a joke that talks about a guy stranded on a desert island. A man paddles by on a raft and asks, “Would you like some help?” “No,” answered the guy, “God will help me.”

A few days later a boat pulls up and the driver asks, “Would you like some help”? “No,” the guy answered again, “God will save me.”

The next day a helicopter lands on the island and the pilot says, “Hop on! I’ll help you!” “No,” says the man a third time, “God will help me.”

A week later, the man is despondent. “God, why won’t you save me?!” the man shouts to the heavens.

A booming voice from the sky answers, “Dude, I sent you a raft, a boat and a helicopter. What else do you want from me?”

This is exactly the situation Detroit was in with regard to Belle Isle. Long a “jewel” in Detroit, it has fallen into shameful disrepair over the past couple of decades. The State of Michigan offered to lease the island from Detroit, make it a State Park, and restore it back to some semblance of its original beauty.

Find out how the Detroit City Council blew it after the jump.

If only covering 590,000+ uninsured Michiganders helped the children of billionaires When Governor Rick Snyder suddenly put a law designed to cripple unions on his agenda, he said that it would make the state more “attractive” to new businesses. But he still hasn’t been able to name one company who has moved into the state because of his historic decision […]

The answer depends on who’s asking the question

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder was on Bloomberg News this week to deliver an upbeat, cheerleading assessment of our state that had him reversing his opinion on the economic benefits of Right to Work. Where last we he said, “Over 90 percent of the jobs that you’re looking at aren’t going to be in a situation where right to work is even relevant…Let’s keep in mind what the economy is really about”, on Bloomberg, he changed his mind. Again.

Details on this and more after the jump.

Ruh-roh, Raggy

The scheme to rig the distribution of Michigan’s electoral votes to make sure that Republicans can take full advantage of their gerrymandering of our Congressional districts has been given the dreaded “not on my agenda” label from Republican Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville.

When a Michigan Republican tells you something “is not on my agenda”, you should be very, very skeptical. Details after the jump.

Wait. What???

With Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act poised to free nearly half a million Michiganders from having to get their healthcare from emergency rooms and save the state $10 million in the first ten years, our Governor, Rick Snyder, appears to be wavering because of ‘capacity’. This is despite a report that came out this month indicating that Michigan doctors are ready, willing and able to take on the influx of uninsured patients.

So, what, we should just let them keep going to emergency rooms for their healthcare? More after the jump.

Bra·zen [brey–zuhn], adjective: shameless or impudent

On January 15th, Americans for Prosperity held a “Citizens Watchdog Training” in Warren, Michigan. As usual, the entrance fee was a nominal $10 because he entire event was heavily subsidized and underwritten by the Koch Brothers-funded corporate front group.

At the event, tea party Senator Patrick Colbeck was very forthright in explaining how multimillionaire Dick DeVos and Michigan Republican Chair Ron Weiser bankrolled the effort to make Michigan the country’s 24th Right to Work state. Audio and transcript after the jump.

How about it Republicans? Do you care for Michiganders or not?

With Republicans actively seeking to prevent the expansion of Medicaid in Michigan under the Affordable Care Act and Democrats seeking to make it happen, doctors in Michigan are ready, willing and able to take on the new influx of patients that would entail. Think about it: a savings of $1 billion over ten years, 400,000 new Michiganders covered by health insurance and doctors expanding their practices to accomodate.

Who could be against THAT? Only conservative ideologues, that’s who.

Details after the jump.

Sorry face, this nose has got to go

It what can only be described as one of the most intentionally childishly mean-spirited, hurt-people-to-spite-Obama acts in recent Michigan history, state Senator Bruce Caswell from Hillsdale has introduced legislation that specifically prohibits Michigan from expanding Medicaid coverage as permitted under the Affordable Care Act.

Just so we’re clear: it’s not that he’s just suggesting that we not do this incredibly smart and money-saving, life-saving thing. He is actively seeking to make it illegal to do so.

Details of this pathetically childish insanity after the jump.

Ensuring our energy policy doesn’t compromise our water supply

In 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (pdf) into law. This comprehensive law does everything from providing new subsidies and incentives for renewable energy production (like wind, solar, biomass, wave & tidal, and geothermal) and tax breaks for energy conservation improvements on homes to providing incentives for increased drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and exempting oil and gas producers from certain requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act. It even extended Daylight Savings Time by a week. There’s a fine summary of this 551 page bill HERE.

One of the components of the Energy Policy Act was Section 979 which compelled Energy Secretary to study the interaction and interplay of water-related issues and energy-related issues. The intent was to ensure that we fully understand how our country’s energy policy impacts our water resources.

The study is eight years late and there’s a petition to sign to move it forward. Details are after the jump.