Whoa. Now they’re getting REALLY desperate

Congressman Gary Peters sent out a statement today revealing that the anti-union, pro-Big Business “Protecting Michigan Taxpayers” sued the Michigan Parent Teachers Association (PTA) for their endorsement of Proposal 2, the Protect Working Families ballot proposal that would put collective bargaining protections in our state constitution.

Details after the jump.

Vote YES! on Michigan Proposal 3

Enbridge Energy, the company that owns the pipeline that spilled over a million gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River has donated $10,000 to Clean Affordable Renewable Energy (CARE) for Michigan, the deceptively-named group fighting Proposal 3 which would require 25% of Michigan’s energy be from renewable sources by 2025. Clean Water Action is decrying this donation and demanding they spend their money cleaning up the environment catastrophe they are responsible for.

Meanwhile, President Bill Clinton has endorsed a YES vote on Prop 3. Details of both after the jump.

It’s a complicated ballot this year. Here’s some help!

I’m going to pin this to the top of the blog today to make sure everyone sees it before they head to the polls to vote. In this post is a link to a printable Voters Guide for the non-partisan parts of the Michigan statewide ballot. There are two on each page — one for you and one for a friend. Please share with others.

The 2012 ballot in Michigan is a complicated one, particularly the non-partisan section where we will vote for the Supreme Court seats and the various statewide ballot proposals. In order to help you sort through this part of the ballot, we have put together a Voters Guide. You can download it HERE (pdf). We’ve put two on each page so you can have an extra one for yourself or to give away to friends, family and coworkers.

Obviously, I am recommending that you vote a straight Democratic Party ticket. We have been assured by our County Clerk that you can fill in the spot for your favorite Democrat (like President Obama, for example) and still fill in the straight party spot without spoiling your ballot.

Aside from that, after the jump are the Eclectablog choices for the statewide non-partisan candidates and ballot proposals along with links to interviews with the Michigan Supreme Court candidates and my posts on the six ballot proposals.

Money should not be able to buy THIS

Sixth (and last) in a series on the ballot proposals on Michigan’s November 6, 2012 ballot. Read them all HERE.

Michigan Proposal 6 is about one thing: allowing billionaire Matty Moroun to purchase a constitutional amendment that will secure his monopoly on bridges and tunnels to Canada. Period. There is nothing else really to be said about it. The Proposal, which requires a statewide vote on any further international bridges and tunnels in Michigan, even includes a clause that excludes Moroun’s existing bridges and tunnel from such a vote.

It’s that vulgar.

More after the jump.

Stop the movement to crush labor unions

Fifth in a series on the ballot proposals on Michigan’s November 6, 2012 ballot. Read them all HERE.

I have written about Proposal 2 since it was first conceived under the banner of “Protect Our Jobs”. It later was renamed “Protect Working Families” in recognition of the fact that supporting the right of our labor brothers and sisters to bargain collectively for better wages, benefits and working conditions benefits ALL working families in our state.

Details on why you should VOTE YES! ON PROPOSAL 2 AND PROTECT WORKING FAMILIES after the jump.

Do NOT let the tea party and Mackinac Center assume control

Fourth in a series on the ballot proposals on Michigan’s November 6, 2012 ballot. Read them all HERE.

Of all of the proposals on Michigan’s 2012 ballot, Prop 5 is probably the most insidious. Carefully cloaked in simple language, it appears benign. All they are asking for, say proponents, is a simple two-thirds majority vote in both the State House AND the State Senate on any tax increases. Seems pretty straightforward.

It’s not. If Prop 5 passes, it will ensure that Michigan never sees a revenue increase again. Period. No arguing here. Because, seriously, people, when did 2/3 of both chambers of the State Legislature EVER agree on anything? It means that this state will be stuck at the level of revenue it has now. And it’s worth reminding you that the Michigan Republicans just enacted a massive $2 billion a year tax break.

More after the jump.

This one is easy

Third in a series on the ballot proposals on Michigan’s November 6, 2012 ballot. Read them all HERE.

Regular readers of this website know very well that I abhor Public Act 4 — Michigan’s so-called Emergency Manager Law. It is the most outrageous government overreach in my lifetime, put in place by hypocritical Republicans who claim that they are for “smaller government”. The fact is, there is no larger government intrusion into the lives of Michiganders than PA 4. Period.
Click through to read why you should VOTE NO ON PROPOSAL 1.

Keep following the money, folks

Second in a series on the ballot proposals on Michigan’s November 6, 2012 ballot. Read them all HERE.

Proposal 4 — the Keep Home Care a Safe Choice ballot initiative — is all but a no-brainer for me. It will protect both patients and those who care for them. It goes without saying that our home health care providers are doing yeoman’s work caring for our most vulnerable citizens. These unsung heroes do the hard and indescribably valuable and necessary work to keep patients receiving home care comfortable and able to stay in their own homes. Not only that, they do it for a relative pittance while saving our health care system an enormous amount of money.

Details on why you should VOTE YES! ON PROPOSAL 4 ON THE NON-PARTISAN SECTION OF THE NOVEMBER BALLOT after the jump.

Follow the money

Changing energy policy in our country is very, very difficult. There are many things that make it so hard but the main impediment is the staggering amount of money that Big Oil companies and utility companies spend to fight any change from the status quo.

Nowhere is this more true at the moment than the fight against Proposal 3 – a ballot proposal to increase Michigan’s use of renewable energy to 25% by 2025. When you vote on November 6th, you should turn the ballot over to vote in the nonpartisan section and VOTE YES ON PROPOSAL 3.

All the details after the jump.