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.

Make yourself heard

As I reported yesterday, the Michigan House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure voted to eliminate the sales tax on aviation fuel. This bill is in addition to House Bill 4539 which if passed, will eliminate the sales tax on gasoline sales in our state. My piece said that this would take $770.1 million out of the School Aid Fund (SAF). However, that amount is only for the repeal of the gasoline tax. According to a statement by State Rep. Brandon Dillon, yesterday’s repeal of the aviation fuel tax will remove another $55 million . That means if both bills are passed, $825.1 million more will be taken from our kids’ schools. This represents over two-thirds of the $1.2 billion Governor Snyder has asked for for road repair.

Click through for more including details on how you can make your voice heard on this issue.

This is getting ridiculous

Michigan Republicans are getting ready to inflict further catastrophic damage on our state’s schools with the passage of a package of bills designed to pay for road and bridge repair, a major priority of Governor Rick Snyder. The bills say nothing about education or the School Aid Fund but the impact is there to the tune of more than $770.1 million.

Click through for all the gory details and information on how you can take action TODAY!

You’ve probably heard the House Republicans are planning another useless vote to repeal ObamaCare. This 30-somethingth display of their impotence is the kind of sabre-rattling that appeals to GOP primary voters — the only voters they care about — while wasting our precious time and money as millions of Americans struggle to find work. Imagine if House Republicans had voted […]

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.

ObamaCare is the best thing to happen to the middle class since Medicare — of course, the GOP wants to destroy it Republicans have fallen in love with repeating the warning from Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) that ObamaCare could be a “train wreck.” This has given them confidence to resume to their favorite pastime: pretending to repeal ObamaCare. It also […]

A government of, by and for the big banks The second hardest thing to explain to future generations — after trying to explain how George W. Bush was “elected” twice — is why we didn’t restore Glass-Steagall after the financial crisis of 2008. For more than 50-years, this Great Depression-era reform kept our economy from inflating a massive bubble by […]

By ‘Bill of Rights’ they mean the 2nd and 10th amendments One of the most ridiculous arguments made during the debate about background checks was, “Why pass new laws? Criminals won’t follow them anyway. Stick to legislating against those who actually listen — like gays and women.” This isn’t an argument against a particular law — it’s an argument against […]

It is difficult to get Paul Ryan to understand something, when his career depends upon his not understanding it After the worst stock market crash in history, Herbert Hoover decided that more than anything the budget needed to be balanced with cuts and tax increases. Now, this was a very popular belief at the time. His opponent Franklin Delano Roosevelt […]

Progress Michigan staff are our state’s leading progressive warriors against Republican overreach

I haven’t written about Michigan Republican National Committee Chair Dave Agema’s offensive, lie-filled Facebook post a few weeks ago primarily because (a) I didn’t want to give him any more attention than he already has gotten and (b) others have done it well already. You’re probably aware of Agema’s latest foray into the land of anti-LGBT bigotry but, if not, he put up a post that he claims is by a “doctor” who says that, among other odious things, gays are for half the murders in large cities, 39-59% of homosexuals are infected with intestinal parasites like worms, flukes and amoebae and that part of the homosexual agenda is to turn people from Christianity. It was truly hideous. Agema has since doubled and tripled down on his outrageous post.

One group that has been on the forefront pushing back against this hateful rhetoric is Progress Michigan. Click through for details on how you can help them fight this very good fight now and into the future.

Faux poutrage is SO unbecoming…

Detroit News editorial page editor Nolan Finley is outraged that President Obama has the audacity to invite musicians to the White House. Though he was silent when previous presidents did this, it was enough to prompt a stupiditorial column in the paper this week.

More on this utter stupidity after the jump.