Passing a Growing Michigan on to the Republicans in 2011

Tuesday’s election made no sense when you consider that President Obama and the Democrats lifted the country out of the Bush Recession – the longest and deepest since the Great Depression – that created by the Republicans.

Time after time voters said their No. 1 priority was jobs and the economy, and federal Republicans said their No. 1 priority was defeating President Obama in two years. The only good news is we finally have job growth, although not fast enough for voters, but Republicans are already trying to take credit for it, despite blocking every single effort to improve things.

To combat that and so we don’t forget, I am reposting this post from the Muskegon Critic over at Blogging for Michigan called “Passing a Growing Michigan on to the Republicans in 2011.”

As we move into a Republican controlled...well...everything in Michigan, it's important to take a stand on various narratives.

One narrative I'm personally keen on keeping on the burner is that job growth in Michigan began a full year before many of the Republicans in 2011 even got elected in 2010.

From March 2000 on, Michigan lost jobs almost continuously until 2005. From 2000 to 2003 under Governor Engler we lost 283,000 jobs before Granholm even took office.

Job growth picked up in 2005 and 2006 and then the massive recession hit in 2007 and we lost jobs for 37 consecutive months until January 2010 when many of Granholm's efforts to diversify our economy and lure new industries here began to bear fruit.

In the first nine months of 2010, Michigan added 65,204 jobs. The largest January to September nine month jump in job growth since 1997 when we gained 68,535 jobs in the same time frame during the Booming 90s. The largest economic expansion in American history.

Michigan's Democratic leadership combined with a sound partner in the White House helped pull Michigan from the brink and restore us to job growth in 2010.

Ford is making record profits and is hiring again in Michigan.

General Motors is hiring again, setting up a factory in Lansing to make, get this, small price and feature competitive Cadillacs.

Advanced battery manufacturing plants are opening in Michigan, employing thousands.

General Electric is hiring 1100 people in its new R&D facility near Detroit.

So when the Republicans move into Lansing...they're moving into a state that's already growing...already on the mend...already creating jobs.

Hey Republicans! Try not to SCREW IT UP!

MDP calls for investigation of GOP underage drinking

LANSING - The Michigan Democratic Party is calling for an immediate and thorough investigation of the underage drinking that took place at the so-called “GOP Leadership Conference” on Mackinac Island last week.

Central Michigan University College Republican Vanessa Oblinger blogged about the weekend’s events, and she wrote that the students “were rewarded with open bars and free dinners” just for coming. Underage drinking is all too common among college students, but the problem is the illegal alcohol was provided by Republican candidates for Governor and Attorney General. Of those candidates, one is the top law enforcement officer in the state one is the sheriff of one of the county’s most popular counties and another is a former judge who wants to be the top law enforcement officer in the state.

To compound the problem, the party took place just three days before the deadline to approve a state budget.

“This wasn’t a so-called ‘policy conference’ – it was ‘Animal House on the Island’ for three days sponsored by the Michigan Republican Party and its candidates,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer. “Mike Cox and Mike Bouchard are officers of the law.
“Bill Schuette is a former judge, and he and Mike Bishop want to become Attorney General.,” Brewer said. “For them to ignore and even condone this illegal behavior is shameful and irresponsible. There must be a thorough investigation of this illegal activity on the Island.”

‘Stand With Griffin’ District Invasion set for Saturday

College students from all over Michigan will be in Battle Creek this Saturday to show their support for Rep. Martin Griffin, D-Jackson, in his race for the vacant 19th District Senate seat that represents Calhoun and Jackson counties.

Griffin voted in the minority on Sept. 30 to protect the Michigan Promise Scholarship from getting axed and preserve other higher education funding, and college students are standing up for Griffin for that support.

The plan is to invade the district beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday Oct. 10 at the Martin Griffin for State Senate campaign office in Calhoun County, 38 Michigan Ave E: Battle Creek, 49017.

The Nov. 3 election is less than a month away, and this is the first step in taking back the Senate like we did the House in 2006. The Republicans enjoy a thin 21-16 lead with the vacant seat, and they are pulling out all the stops to win it back. They see it as the first step in keeping control of the Senate in 2010. More people voted for Senate Democrats in 2006, but they gerrymandered the districts so badly, they kept control.

We saw the importance of Democrats having control during the recent budget process. Like I said, Republicans are pulling out all the stops in trying to win this seat, and they have gone as far as to pay for hotel rooms and transportation for the so-called volunteers for the Republican opponent.

Apparently, paying volunteers is a common practice in the GOP, and we saw a prime example of that during the so-called Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference last month where college Republicans bragged about underage drinking and partying.

The canvas is not limited to students or even parents of students struggling to help their student pay for college, so grab a friend or two and come out with your walking shoes. And think car pool. Call (269) 425-4333 for further information.