It’s a one-word answer: Obamacare. Republicans who oppose Obamacare just don’t want to say “yes” to anything related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Medicaid expansion is part of the ACA, but the U.S. Supreme Court left the decision to accept Medicaid expansion up to the states. And Michigan is among those with Republican-controlled legislatures that are fighting against Medicaid […]

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.

Well, that didn’t take long

Just two days after some of the more anti-woman elements in the Michigan State House of Representatives introduced legislation that would essentially mandate invasive transvaginal ultrasounds for women getting an abortion, Republican House Speaker Jase Bolger says he’s not interested.

Maybe he saw what happened down in Virginia when they tried the same thing there. Details on this and more after the jump.

Do NOT trust Michigan Republicans on this

There are reports all over the internet saying that the Republican plan to change how electoral votes are assigned in order to exploit their insidious gerrymandering of Congressional districts is dead in the water in Michigan.

It’s not.

The reports about the death of this scheme, which is basically a billboard saying: “Welcome to the Michigan Republican Party where we can’t win elections unless we cheat”, are based on comments made by both Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville and Governor Rick Snyder. But, as I pointed out earlier this week, both Richardville and Snyder said nearly the exact same words regarding making Michigan a Right to Work state only to turn around and jam it through in less than a week during the inflamed duck session.

More after the jump.

When you lose Livingston County’s largest newspaper, you’ve lost

The Livingston County Press & Argus has a blistering op-ed today, slamming House Republicans for re-selecting known election fraudster Jase Bolger as their Speaker once again. They slam Bolger. They slam Livingston County House Represenatives Cindy Denby and Bill Rogers. Frankly, they slam almost the entire GOP House caucus.

And they pull exactly zero punches. Details after the jump.

May justice be served

The Ingham County Circuit Court has chosen to convene a one-person grand jury to investigate the election fraud misdeeds of Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger and newly-minted Republican House caucus member Roy Schmidt. This same type of arrangement was used recently to investigate fraudulent behavior by Democrats to run fake tea party candidates and resulted in convictions. The justice that will investigate is Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina who was chosen by random draw.

More after the jump.

This is NOT going away…

Republican State House Speaker Jase Bolger may want the story of his involvement in the biggest election fraud in memory in our state to go away, but it’s not. This week, leaders in the Michigan Democratic Party are calling for a one-person grand jury investigation into possible criminal behavior by the beleaguered and corrupt Republican.

More about this and Michigan Republicans continued support of Bolger after the jump.

When you’re in the news this much, something is wrong

It’s not unusual for a state Attorney General to be in the news from time to time. If they are doing their job, that’s part of the job description. But Michigan AG Bill Schuette finds himself at the center of not one, but TWO big news stories. What his involvement in these two stories shows is that Bill Schuette is using his position as the Attorney General of Michigan to pursue a hardcore right wing, anti-labor agenda that benefits his political allies and harms his political foes.

Details after the jump.

Apparently unethical behavior is A-OKAY for Michigan Republicans

I recently asked Eclectablog readers in Michigan to contact their Republican Representatives and ask them to demand the resignation of Jase Bolger from his position as Speaker of the House. After seeing responses from a number of Michigan Republican lawmakers, it’s clear that they are circling the wagons to protect Speaker Bolger. It’s also clear, based on some repeated boilerplate language, that they have been instructed in how this effort. And, interestingly, my own Representative, Mark Ouimet, used his House email account to disparage his Democratic “opponent”, Saline Mayor Gretchen Driskell, in clear violation of Michigan election law.

I’m sorry we paused in our union-crushing, women’s rights ending crusade…

Late in the afternoon on Friday when most people were thinking more about their summer weekend ahead and not about state politics, Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger gave the apology version of the Friday afternoon “news dump”. In a piece published in the Detroit Free Press and put online at 2:56 p.m., he “apologized”.

More after the jump.

GOPocrisy!

Michigan Democrat Rep. Barb Byrum who was banned from speaking last month by House Speaker Jase Bolger, called a “child” and described as having thrown a “temper tantrum” and disrupting the decorum of the House of Representatives, posted a great little piece on her Facebook page recently.

Check it out after the jump.