Senate Republicans throw fake ‘tea party’ during Judiciary Committee meeting

LANSING - Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, threw a fake Astroturf “tea party” Tuesday, but the only problem was he chose the Senate Judiciary Committee to do it, and six other Senators had to hear the drivel usually spouted at the fake “tea parties.”

With a boatload of meaningful Legislation the Senate Republicans could take up, like the budget, the workplace smoking ban many people have been clamoring for, laws to make voting easier that has bipartisan support and were passed in the House or the unemployment bills that will give Michigan families running out of unemployment access to $140 million in federal funds. Instead, the committee wasted almost two hours on a pair of resolutions that mean absolutely nothing.

The Judiciary Committee approved - there was no reason to vote against them - Senate Resolution 17 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 4. Both resolutions “affirm Michigan’s sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

This has been a rallying point for extremist right-wingers since the militia was widespread back in the mid 1990s; it’s no coincidence they are back.

The sponsor- Sen. Bruce Patterson, R-Canton, - said it was a no-brainer. He was right. This was simply playing to the base.

“There is nothing to debate,” he said. “All this does is remind us of what we already agreed to.”

I agree. So, why did we waste two hours listing to extremist Republicans rail against the Democratic administration and crap about “state’s rights?”

Representatives of rightwing extremist groups tramped up to the microphone one after another to read their talking points. We heard from groups like the rightwing Republican Washington, D.C. lobbying group and think tank Americans for Prosperity - the people behind the “tea parties” and disrupting town hall meetings - something called the “campaign for liberty” and even a rightwing blogger who said she helped organize the fake tea party in Lansing.

The hearing raised more questions that were answered. Like where were these people railing about the federal government when George Bush was shredding the Constitution?

Where were these people when Bush conned Americans into a useless war that did nothing but endangered this country?

Where were these people when Bush violated the separation of powers with the signing statements that said he wasn’t going to uphold the law?

Where were these people when Bush was spying on American citizens?

Where were these people when Bush was dictating what we had to teach with no dime left for any child program?

Where were these people when Bush was blowing the cover of undercover CIA agents?

Where were these people when Bush was politicizing the U.S. Justice Department?

Where were these people when Bush was giving no bid contracts to his cronies in Iraq?

Where were these people when Bush was giving out bank bailouts?

We even got a long, rambling speech from former extremist Republican State Representative Jack Hoogendyk, a board member of Michigan AFP and a candidate for just about every office in Michigan.

“The first 10 amendments were therefore added to include the ancient, unalienable rights of Anglo-Saxon freemen so there could be no question as to the strictly limited authority the people were conferring on their central government,” he said.

In an earlier time in this country, the states used the 10th amendment to justify repressive and immoral policies, including slavery, to secede from the union, to deny African-Americans the right to vote and southern states invoked it as a barrier to enforcement of the 14th Amendment and to justify segregation and Jim Crow.

House Democrats strike a blow for the workers and the shrinking middle class with the rejection of RTW

Michigan Democratic lawmakers helped put an end to the push for low wages, loss of benefits and the rollback of workplace safety standards by rejecting a bill that would make Michigan a so-called "Right to Work" state.

The House Labor Committee voted down House Bill 4454 introduced by rightwing Republican Jack Hoogendyk, R-Kalamazoo, during a committee hearing Tuesday.

Committee Chair Rep. Fred Miller, D-Mt. Clemens, brought the bill up under the heading "any or all business properly before the committee" on the agenda, and the bill was rejected along party lines. The vote means it will not be sent to the full House floor during the lame duck session and the bill is dead until it is reintroduced in January. Only Republicans Rep. Lorence Wenke, R-Richland, and Rep. Phil Lajoy, R-Canton, voted against workers and the middle class.

Proponents of "Right to Work" claim the law would do away with the requirement that workers must be in a union to be employed at a union shop. However, federal law already protects workers who don't want to join a union to get or keep their jobs, and gives workers the right to opt out of a union. But they must still pay union dues. RTW would give them the option of not paying dues while still enjoying the benefits of being in a union. The law is being used to bust unions under the false claim that states with the law are seeing more job creation.

The assault on the middle class is not yet over, and the Senate companion bills are still pending in the Republican-controlled Senate. Sen. Nancy Cassis, R-Novi, introduced companion bills, Senate Bills 607 and 608. The bills are pending action in the Senate Committee on Commerce and Tourism.

Long shot U.S. Senate challenger begs for free publicity

State Rep. Jack Hoogendyk, R-Kalamazoo, says he wants four debates in his long-shot attempt to unseat popular and respected Democratic U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, according to subscription only MIRS.

Apparently, the only official invitation has come from Grand Rapids public television station WGVU, which has invited both Levin and Hoogendyk to take part in a 60-minute televised town hall debate that would be broadcast on PBS stations across the state. Now, as much as I would love to see Levin wipe the floor with the conservative Republican, the question is why would Levin give an unknown like Hoogendyk the free publicity?

In the latest poll, Levin, the chair of the powerful Armed Service Committee, has a 26 point lead over Hoogendyk. You have to wonder what state GOP chair Saul Anuzis promised Hoogendyk in exchange for being the sacrificial lamb.

Hoogendyk was briefly a Republican candidate for governor in 2006 before perennial GOP nominee Dick DeVos and his money ran the rest of the Republicans out of the race.

Levin is highly respected, and he has even been mentioned as a possible Vice-Presidential candidate. Jonathan Cohn of the New Republic, and an Ann Arbor resident, makes a pretty good case for Barack Obama choosing Levin for the ticket. But the only problem with that is who would run for the Senate seat? Democrats are trying to get enough Democrats in the Senate so they can actually accomplish something over GOP obstructionists.