Michigan GOP either hopes the electorate is stupid or they are stupid

Is the Michigan Republican Party and their mouthpiece really that stupid, or are they just hoping that Michigan voters are stupid?

They are obviously worried about Democratic Secretary of State candidate Jocelyn Benson, and Republican false smears against Benson are picking up. They put out a press release on Wednesday taking her to task for being endorsed by Democracy for America, the nation's largest progressive political action community founded by respected Gov. Howard Dean in 2004. The announcement cited her role as a “national leader” in election administration. She served as the Democratic National Committee's Election Protection Field Director in 2004.

Obviously, the Wayne State University professor’s impressive resume has the GOP scared.

Michigan GOP director of communications Jennifer Hoff had this ridiculous and misinformed quote: “Apparently Jocelyn Benson thinks this is a Democrat popularity contest,” she said.

Is she serous? Of course it is, and someone who works for state party knows that. The nomination for SOS comes from the party’s state convention and is voted on by party members, elected officials and precinct delegates on the convention floor. These are the people who do much more than just vote in elections, they are very involved in the party and politics. There is no primary election for SOS and Attorney General.

Of course it’s a Democrat popularity contest, and the three-way race for the Republican nomination is also a Republican popularity contest. That changes once the nomination is secured, but Benson is being challenged for the nomination by Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey.

Then there is this ludicrous quote from Hoff:
“Highlighting her national record won’t help her. Benson’s radical activities during the 2004 Presidential election are not the type of politics Michigan residents respect.”

Her “radical activities?” And what would those be? Simple, catching Republicans on their attempt to disenfranchise voters by the use of foreclosure lists to challenge eligible voters. Wow, no wonder they are so angry. Then Hoff pulls out the Coup de grace: she “held a fundraiser with an ACORN endorsed and Communist Party-affiliated official.”

Now, who was that complaining about a “popularity contest?” Talk about pandering to the base. Mentioning ACORN - the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now – is like a dog whistle to the Republican base. Despite repeated smears, attacks and outright frame ups, ACORN’s crime continues to be nothing more than trying to make a better life for the poor and empowering them.

As for the “ACORN endorsed and Communist Party-affiliated official” false smear, that is the second time they have used that lie. They appear to be following the GOP strategy of if you tell a lie often enough people will start to believe it. I debunked that smear once before, but I guess I will have to do it every single time they try that disgusting lie.

They are talking about Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), a major party in Minnesota. The party was created in 1944 when the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Farmer-Labor Party merged. Former Vice-President Hubert Humphrey was instrumental in this merger. The party boasts some of the most respected liberals in the country, including Humphrey, Vice-President Walter Mondale, Sen. Eugene McCarthy and Sen. Paul Wellstone.

Drolet says a little corruption is no big deal

Republican Senate candidate Leon Drolet called the corruption filled 2008 recall effort against House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford, on the level because only two signature takers were indicted for fraud.

Michael Bastianelli, 28, of Westland and Harvey Robinson, 39, of Redford were arraigned back in December in 16th District Court in Livonia on two felony counts of uttering and publishing and making false statements related to recall petitions during the Dillon recall attempt. On Friday, Bastianelli pled guilty to a felony charge of uttering and publishing. He had forged the signature of Redford's fire chief on a petition form.

Drolet - a former Republican state Representative, Macomb County Commissioner and executive director of the so-called Michigan Taxpayers Alliance (MTA) - headed up the recall effort because Dillon voted for a tax increase to avoid a state government shutdown. Drolet claims he only met Robinson once, and he also claims he had nothing to do with the fraud because he hired a company to collect signatures.

Even more incredible, he told subscription only Gongwers that he disputed criticism that “the recall effort was rife with fraud. If anything, that only two people out of 200 workers were charged vindicates the integrity of the campaign.”

Say what?

He went even farther and said the committee that sought Dillon's recall should be repaid by Bastianelli. He’s using the GOP strategy that if you’re going to tell a lie, you might as well go big.

"This was two guys out 200," Drolet told Gongwer. "No, I don't believe it does (taint the campaign) anymore than one person can go and sign the name Mickey Mouse on a petition and taint the whole petition.”

That’s the same situation with the favorite Republican boogieman, ACORN, who are under fire because a few workers collecting voter registrations forged them because they were paid for each one. But ACORN was a nationwide effort with thousands of workers. Drolet’s crooked recall took place in one single township. The claim that Drolet didn’t know anything about it is ridiculous.

He is either lying or he is a poor administrator who had no idea what was going in something he was in charge of. Considering how small an area he was in charge of that, it’s clear he knew what was going on.

Not only that, but the State Police began investigating in May 2008 after receiving 499 complaints of documented forgeries and nearly 2,000 additional suspected forgeries, indicating a widespread campaign to commit fraud. Again, for Drolet to claim he did not know what was going on is ridiculous.

Online voter registration clears the House

LANSING – The House approved a pair of bills on Thursday that will allow residents to register to vote online.

The House approved House bills 4539 and 4540 mostly along party liens with a vote of at 68-36 apiece. House Democrats continue to eliminate barriers to voting and make it easier for residents to both register and to vote and discharge their duty as U.S. citizen, but those bills continue to be stalled it the Republican-controlled Senate. Bills passed in the House and stalled in the Senate so far to make it easier to vote include no reason absentee voting, early voting and allowing 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote.

Rep. Kim Meltzer, R-Clinton Township, has been the point person in the House fighting any attempt to increase voter turnout and make it easier to register and to vote, and she trotted out her standard GOP boogieman: ACORN. She told subscription only Gongeer, “groups like ACORN could submit fraudulent voter registrations.”

Macomb County Clerk and former Democratic Secretary of State Candidate Carmella Sabaugh and Rep. Lesia Liss, D-Warren, launched a website to show how the process would work if the bills are approved.

The site asks for citizenship status, whether the applicant will be 18 at the election and an email address. It also provides an explanation of the rules for registering online. A succeeding page asks for the personal information needed to complete the registration. To alleviate Meltzer’s baseless fears, you must vote in person in the first election after you register with, of course, a photo ID card.

Right-wing boogieman ACORN cleared of wrong doing in doctored video

We should see rightwing bloggers making corrections and retractions after the news today that their favorite boogieman, ACORN, was cleared of any wrong doing in the infamous “pimp” video.

You would have to have been out of the country or dead not to have seen the hidden camera videos depicting ACORN workers assisting a costumed pimp and prostitute, especially if you watched faux “news” or read newspapers. After an investigation conducted by former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, he conduced that that those employees "did not engage in any illegal activity.” He did, however, cite ACORN employees for poor judgment.

The real criminal activity was undertaken by the people who made the videos, James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles.

"The videos that have been released appear to have been edited, in some cases substantially, including the insertion of a substitute voiceover for significant portions of Mr. O'Keefe's and Ms.Giles's comments, which makes it difficult to determine the questions to which ACORN employees are responding," Harshbarger said.

Getting right-wingers to retract anything is very difficult, no matter how outrageously the lie, and to do so you really have to embarrass them. So, I don’t expect to see any corrections or retractions, but the funding cut off by the House and Senate should be restored.

ACORN - the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - is the nation's largest community organization of low-and moderate-income families working for social justice.

Scared GOP launches early false smear against SOS candidate

I am impressed with the qualifications of Wayne State University law Professor Jocelyn Benson, a Democratic candidate for Michigan Secretary of State, but I have been reluctant to support her 100 percent until I see what other Democrats enter the race. But, a screechy press release by the Michigan Republican Party (MRP) raised her stock in my eyes.

The press release took her to task for “holding a fundraiser in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, Nov. 10, with ACORN-endorsed, and Communist Party U.S.A. approved Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.”

We know ACORN - the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, the nation's largest community organization of low-and moderate-income families working for social justice - is the biggest boogieman to right-wingers. They dare to empower the poor by registering them to vote, and we know how Republicans hate to see people vote because they know they are the minority party in this country. The charge is voter fraud, but that is simply not true.

Individual ACORN employees have been accused of fraudulent voter registrations, which has nothing to do with voter fraud, and that was caused by hiring people to collect voter registrations and paying them for each one. Those employees who submitted fraudulent voter registrations have been let go.

But accusing a Democrat of voter suppression and the unwarranted attacks on Ritchie are unbelievable and confusing.

“Holding a vote suppression fundraiser in Washington, D.C. seems almost fitting with all the corruption in that city,” said MRP Chief of Staff Josh Venable in the PR. “Mark Ritchie embodies everything that is un-American about our electoral process—communism and cheating. Michigan does not need the Ritchie/Benson ACRON/Communist-style politics.”

We know Republicans know all about corruption, but Communism? Perhaps Mr. Venable has not watched the news in the lat couple of days and seen all the coverage of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Communism? Please. No where in the press release does it even make a case for that false smear.

The PR claims “Benson is known for partisan electioneering. During the 2004 campaigns she developed the Democratic National Committee (DNC) vote suppression program.”

Say what?

Republicans have opposed every single move to increase voter turnout. The Michigan House has passed no reason absentee voting, allowing 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote and early voting that the current GOP SOS supports, but GOP leadership in the Senate refuses to even hold hearings or allow a vote.

I thought the communism charge may have had something to do with the fact that Ritchie is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), a major party in Minnesota. The party was created in 1944 when the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Farmer-Labor Party merged. Former Vice-President Hubert Humphrey was instrumental in this merger. The party boasts some of the most respected liberals in the country, including Humphrey, Vice-President Walter Mondale, Sen. Eugene McCarthy and Sen. Paul Wellstone.

Obviously, the Republicans are scared, and this was the reason for this early, false smear. Benson Spokesman T.J. Bucholz had the best quote in calling out the GOP lies.

"I've watched a lot of Lions' football, so I'm used to seeing desperate plays by losing teams," Bucholz said. "You've got an actual, legitimate party that's resorting to lies in a race that's almost a year away."

SOS candidate wants to make it harder for people to vote

Common sense says the primary job and responsibility of the Michigan Secretary of State is to ensure the ease and security of elections. Somebody better tell that to Sen. Michelle McManus, R-Lake Leelanau, one of the GOP candidates for Secretary of State.

In a mass email touting her endorsement by RNC committee person Holly Hughes, McManus says she “has stood up against proposals like no-reason absentee voting, pre-registration of 16-year-olds and early voting.” In other words, she opposes every measure to make it easier to vote and increase voter turnout.

Those commons sense measures were approved by the House this year, but the GOP-controlled Senate refuses to take them up. However, current Republican Secretary of State Terri Land supports those measures. In fact, Land – who is also a Republican caudate for Lt. Governor in 2010 - told the House Committee on Ethics and Elections in June that she would help move the bills to the Senate floor for a vote.

No-reason absentee voting has widespread support, and those supporting it include The Michigan Election Reform Alliance, The Michigan Election Coalition, The League of Women Voters, The Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks, The Michigan Municipal League, The Michigan Campaign Finance Network, The Michigan Association of County Clerks, The Michigan Townships Association, Common Cause Michigan and The Michigan Nonprofit Association.

I guess McManus is not concerned about getting the endorsement of groups like The Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks or The Michigan Association of County Clerks.

Because the nomination for SOS comes at the party convention, McManus has to play to the GOP base, which has taken an extreme right turn, and she threw them some red meat with this ditty: “As a state Senator, Michelle has been the firewall against legislation tailor-made to make it easier for groups like ACORN and Moveon.org to manipulate our elections.”

First, when has ACORN and Moveon.org ever manipulated any election? I know ACORN is the biggest boogyman for right-wingers, and they have been accused of every crime under the sun. But what they are really guilty of and why the right hates them so much is because they register poor people to vote.

It’s funny that the reason Land gives for registering 16-year-olds: because she says it’s much better than registering them to vote when age 18 by outside groups, but in her endorsement, Hughes claims McManus has the “right experience to build on the success of the Land and Miller legacies.”

Apparently not.

Brown tries to rescue SOS campaign with unnecessary bills

LANSING – Sen. Cameron Brown, R-Sturgis, introduced a package of bills Wednesday to address a problem that doesn’t exist and could decrease voter turnout, but more importunately it was a feeble attempt to jump starts his flagging campaign for Michigan Secretary of State.

Legislation usually does not single out one group or individual, but Senate Bills 690-694 targets the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, better known as ACORN. ACORN is nation’s largest grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people dedicated to building community organizations that are committed to social and economic justice, and ACORN it accomplishes that important mission through negotiation, legislative advocacy and voter participation. “ACORN helps those who have historically been locked out become powerful players in our democratic system.” Hence, they are hated by the Republican Party and a convenient whipping boy and scapegoat for the Republicans.

Brown’s bills law are unnecessary because penalties already exist for turning in fraudulent registration forms. In fact, in 2008 Attorney General Mike Cox brought charges against a single member of ACORN for basically padding his paycheck.

Brown’s bills would prohibit groups conducting voter registration drives from establishing quotas or paying bonuses to employees based on the number of registrations collected. Brown said voters registration forms were turned in around the country for “Mickey Mouse, Jimmy Johns, and the entire starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys.” ACORN provides jobs to people and many state chapters pay them for each registration form turned in.

Brown and the Republicans conveniently ignore the fact that most state laws require the organization to submit all registration forms filled out despite being flagged as fraudulent, and in fact ACORN flagged the forms with the names Brown points out. Plus, Mickey Mouse and Jimmy John never cast a vote in 2008.

Brown and the Senate Republicans need to stop playing politics and playing to the base in order to win the GOP SOS nomination and pass real election reform they are sitting on that was approved in the House, such as no reason absentee voting, early voting, allowing 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote and allowing any clerk to verify the identity of a voter who registers by mail.

Cox used AG's office for partisan attack

If you want to see a double standard at work, just take a look at Republican Attorney General Mike Cox.

He announced yesterday in media all across the state that he is charging Antonio Johnson, a former employee of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), with six felony forgery charges for allegedly submitting false voter registration forms to the city of Jackson. Cox claims that Johnson, 23 of Hamtramck, filled out, signed and submitted to the Jackson city clerk six voter applications using two Jackson residents' names without their permission between May 20 and June 2. If convicted, Johnson faces up to 14 years in prison for each of the six counts.

The question is why hasn't Cox brought charges against Leon Drolet - the former Republican state Representative, current Macomb County Commissioner and executive director of the so-called Michigan Taxpayers Alliance (MTA) - for his illegal activities in the misguided recall attempts against primarily Democratic lawmakers who voted to increase taxes to avoid a government shutdown and eliminate a $1.8 million budget deficit in October.

Drolet used - or at least those he was responsible for used - fraud and forgery – going so far as to copy names from phone books – to launch a successful recall against Speaker of the House Andy Dillon. The Department of State turned all evidence of forgery and fraud over to Cox and the Wayne County prosecutor’s office, yet we have not heard a thing from him.

This is part of the Grand Oil Party's war on ACORN, and this is happening for two reasons. They hate ACORN for daring to help make it easier for people to exercise their Constitutional right to vote, and the party that has made voter suppression an art form is setting up ACORN as a scapegoat for when they lose the White House next month by claiming the election was stolen.

As I have said before, ACORN hires people to collect voter registrations and pays them for each one. The crime of the people collecting registrations is padding their pay check, and they should be fired or charged with a misdemeanor, not imprisoned. The unofficial blog of the GOP is even going as far as claming Johnson is a convicted felon on parole. I'm not a 100 percent sure that is correct because there are a few Antonio Johnson's out there, but the one pictured from the MDOC offender tracker web site did some three years for addiction. It seems the idiot who runs that blog wants offenders thrown into prison forever with no chance of rehabilitation or a job when they get out.

That seems surprising when you consider how the GOP makes heroes of convicted felons, like Oliver North, convicted terrorist G. Gordon Liddy and Rush Limbaugh.

The GOP is even trying to tie Sen. Barack Obama to ACORN as they vilify the organization. This is an organization that has worked to improve the lives of low- and moderate-income people since 1970, and it's being unjustly smeared in the name of politics. It’s funny that Grampy McSame was the keynote speaker at an ACORN-sponsored Immigration Rally in Miami in 2006 where he praised ACORN, and now he is smearing them. Is there anything he will not do to get elected?

What we have seen against ACORN is the unprecedented politicization of the U.S. Justice Department and the attorney firings, and now the Michigan AG's office is being turned into a partisan attack mechanism.

GOP voter suppression efforts are full steam ahead

Republicans are pulling out all the stops in trying to pull out a victory for the ethically challenged McCain ticket here in Michigan, and that always includes their favorite tactic: voter suppression.

The Republicans know they are not the party of mainstream America or Main Street America, so the best way for them to win is to keep voter turnout low, unless they have a hot button issue like abortion or gay marriage on the ballot that brings out their base. Over the years, the GOP has become very good at voter suppression and intimidation.

The requirement to show an ID at the local polling place was a way to slow voter turnout among minority populations who tend to vote Democratic. It certainly wasn't in response to any voter fraud because there was none. But the latest GOP suppression tactic is one that is both dirty and clever.

The online newspaper/blog Michigan Messenger broke the story that the chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to challenge people and block them from voting in November as part of the state GOP’s effort to suppress the vote. That brought swift denials from the chair, the state party chair and even the official rightwing blog wrote some ridiculous parody.

The party spokesman put out a press release saying the chair was not only misquoted but the reporter, Eartha Jane Melzer, made up the quote. The press release demanded a retraction, but of course they never actually asked the MM for a retraction. The good news is publicity like that is the best antiseptic to dirty tricks like what the GOP was planning, and they are apparently backing off.

The publication and the story have received national recognition, and I even heard it mentioned on the Stephanie Miller Show last week.

The MM is standing by the story and their reporter, despite false attacks on both her and the publication's integrity. I even heard them described in a mainstream newspaper as the "liberal Michigan Messenger." Have you ever heard the Wall Street Journal described as the conservative WSJ? Me neither.

The MM is standing by the story and the reporter for good reason: she's right. I was a fellow for the MM when it started up last September and wrote for them for some nine months until my current job left me without enough time to turn out as much copy as was required.

Melzer was also there from the begining, and she has broken some big stories for the MM the mainstream media missed. Like this one. She broke the story on Sovereign Deed. The private security firm wanted to build a disaster response operation to look after rich people in northern Michigan, but Melzer broke the story that the founder lied about his military service. After that story, she received some of the same kinds of pressure then as she is now. She was right then, and she's right on the GOP suppression effort.

The Republican's answer to being caught with their hand in the cookie jar is to point out alleged voter fraud by ACORN, the nation’s largest grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people. This group is really hated by the Republicans. We know of the GOP's hatred of community organizers who dare to try and better their community and empower community members with their constitutionaly guaranteed right to vote, but they also registering voters, hurting the GOP voter suppression efforts.

ACORN is being accused of fraudulent voter registrations both nationally and in Michigan. First, is there any doubt knowing how political the U.S. Justice Department is that ACORN would not be a target? Second, ACORN's problem is hiring people to collect voter registrations and paying them for each one. We saw a similar situation with the fraudulent recall against Andy Dillon, but there was no intention to deceive by ACORN leadership. Plus, those fraudulent and forged signatures in the crooked effort by Leon Drolet were allowed to stand. Even without the voter ID law, a first-time voter has to show an ID to vote, so if ACORN was trying to commit voter fraud they would not get away with it at the polls.

The good news is the Department of Human Services (DHS) is stepping up ensure the people the GOP is trying to disenfranchise have the opportunity to vote. Local DHS offices in 57 counties across Michigan will host voter registration fairs to help register voters. Representatives of the League of Women Voters of Michigan, a city, township, or county clerk, or other community organizations will be at many locations to assist individuals attending the events.

Here in Livingston County, the local DHS office will hold their voter fair from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in their offices at the East Complex, 2300 E. Grand River in Genoa Township. DHS clients and local residents will receive information on all aspects of voting, including practice casting a ballot in addition to registering to vote. The deadline for registering to vote in the November 4 General Election is October 6.

Noted civil rights leader to rally against predatory lending

Well-known national civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson will be in Michigan beginning Tuesday to address both the national and local problem of foreclosures, predatory lending and subprime lending and to urge legislation to combat the problem.

Although predatory lending and high foreclosure rates are national problems, it’s exceptionally acute in Michigan where the state’s leading employer is shedding jobs. Michigan lays claim to the unenviable record of being the fourth highest in the country in the number of home foreclosures, but it is also a problem nationally with 1.2 million foreclosures filed in 2006. That number is expected to rise.

Jackson will team with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) for the "Saving Our Homes, Building Healthy Communities” initiative. He will appear at rallies and forums in mid-and southeast Michigan for three days beginning with a community forum at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, 1083 East Stewart Street at Selby in Flint.

Jackson is the founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, a progressive organization of all races fighting for social change. Jackson has been a civil rights pioneer for more than 40 years when he became a full-time organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in the 1960s and worked and marched alongside legendary civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King. He was also a Democratic candidate for President in 1984 and 1988.

ACORN - the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, the nation's largest community organization of low-and moderate-income families working for social justice.- just released a study last month called “Foreclosure Exposure.” Although the reports shows the problem has effected all homebuyers, it found that minorities - regardless of income – took out a much higher percentage of high-risk loans, particularly Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM). ACORN is sponsoring a rally of its own from 9-11 a.m. on Tuesday on the Capitol steps in Lansing.

According to the report, subprime loans were initially created for borrowers with low incomes or poor credit histories who were unable to obtain prime loans at a standard bank rate, but the system was abused when many borrowers who would have been able to qualify for credit on better terms were targeted for these higher-interest loans. ARMS have also contributed heavily to the problem because rates automatically increase after two years, and many lenders only consider the cost of the initial lower payments, not the higher, later payments. Additionally, some lenders and brokers write loans they know the borrowers cannot afford just to collect the fees and commissions.

“This is an issue we are very much involved with here in Michigan,” said Dave Lagstein, an ACORN organizer in Michigan.

The problem has drawn a lot of attention from the Legislature and the Governor lately, and last week both the House and Senate from both sides of the aisle rolled out legislation to address the problem. The Governor also set up the “Save the Dream” initiative in MSDA last week to offer resources and advice to avoid foreclosure.

Jackson’s schedule of events continues at 9 am. Wednesday when he addresses students at J.W. Sexton High School, 102 South McPherson Ave. in Lansing. At noon Jackson will travel to Saginaw to hold a community forum at the Greater Coleman Temple Cogic, 2716 Wadsworth St. Jackson will be back in Lasing for a 6 p.m. townhall meeting at Pattengill Middle School, 1017 Jerome St.

Thursday will feature Jackson leading a Legislative Engagement Rally at Noon on the Capitol steps, followed by a 3 p.m. rally and meeting at Welcome Missionary Baptist Church, 143 Oneida Rd. in Pontiac. Jackson’s Michigan visit will end at the historic Little Rock Baptist Church, 9000 Woodward Ave. in Detroit, with a forum at 6 p.m. At all the summits and forums representatives from MSHDA and other community and state agencies will be on hand to offer advice on saving a home from foreclosure.