This is a platform to comment on local, state and national politics and political news. A special area of interest is the role of corporate media in politics as we move closer and closer to one huge corporation owning all of the media outlets in the country and stifling all independent and critical voices. It will also focus on the absurd 30-plus year Nixonesque political strategy of the “liberal media” lie.
This blog is on temporary hiatus because of my job and thin-skinned Republicans.
Now we know why Rick “The Chief Executive Outsourcer (CEO)” reluctantly agreed to only one debate and at a time when most people are not watching TV.
Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero scored a decisive victory in the only debate Sunday evening; he was clear and articulate in telling voters why he would be the best choice for Governor, and the Outsourcer relied on short, vague answers sprinkled with meaningless corporate buzzwords.
No one, not even the panel of pundits on “Off the Record” following the debate, had any idea what “value-based budgeting” that the Outsourcer continually rambled about really was.
Te fact is that Bernero balanced the budget as the Mayor of Lansing for five straight years with no tax increases, as well as when he was a State Representative and Senator.
Bernero was on the attack, and he was effective; the attacks were effective and factual but not over the top. The most devastating was when Bernero brought up the unreported fact that one of the Outsourcer’s companies, Discera, Inc., was creating jobs in China with a new high-tech facility. These were not just low level and low-skilled manufacturing jobs, but high-skilled R & D jobs being outsourced.
The outsourcer said that was not true. That makes him a liar or so clueless that he has no idea what goes on in his own company. Either way, that makes him unfit for running something as large and widespread as state government. The only thing the Outsourcer is good as it making himself rich, not creating jobs.
When confronted with those facts, the Outsourcer blew it off and made the false claim that his campaign is positive and not negative, and that he is not accepting PAC money. He is, of course, ignoring the fact that the Republican Governors Association (RGA) is hammering Bernero with false attack ads that allows the Outsourcer to keep his hands clean.
One of the most telling questions came when one of the moderators said Detroit Mayor Dave Bing was foregoing his salary as Mayor of Detroit, and asked the Outsourcer if he would forgo his salary as Governor. After hemming and hawing, the answer was a resounding, hell no.
Snyder is worth more than Bing, yet he wants state workers to take a pay cut while he makes not a single sacrifice.
No wonder the Outsourcer only wanted one debate and only plays to friendly audiences at staged townhall meetings.
Local tea baggers endorsing Joe Hune for the 22nd State Senate District is as much a surprise as cold temperatures in Michigan in December.
Apparently, Hune’s answer in a debate last week that UN black helicopters are coming for his handgun was just crazy enough to earn the endorsement of the Hartland area tea baggers called “RetakeOurGov.” The fact is they just wasn’t to take it back from Democrats.
“After watching the debate, it was clear to me that Joe has the traditional mainstream values and the fiscal values which are sought after by the ‘tea party’ movement,” Nakagiri said.
Hune has turned into an extremist since he started hanging with teabaggers, so the endorsement had to come before the debate. Hune’s comment about the UN even led to a follow up story, but what should have rated a follow up was Hune’s lame answer on the movie film credits where he claimed he didn’t know the package included a tax rebate, even though just about everyone in the state knew.
For comedy relief, we have Nakagiri’s last quote:
“Not only does Joe Hune share the values of conservatives and disaffected Democrats, he demonstrated the passion and backbone to stand up for what he believes,” he said.
No Democrat I have ever met shares those extremist views, and only the fringe of the Republican Party holds those views.
It seems ironic that the tea baggers are endorsing at all. On “Off the Record,” Gene Clem, the founder of the Southwest Michigan Tea Party Patriots and one of the original members of the Michigan Tea Party Alliance, appeared on this week’s show and said tea baggers don’t endorse candidates.
Regardless, they only candidates they will endorse will be extremist Republicans.
Don’t forget to vote for Chuck Fellows, the Democratic candidate for the seat, on Tuesday.
One of my favorite TV shows turned into an episode of “The Twilight Zone” today with the appearance of tea-bagger, book-burner and anti-gay hatemonger Wendy Day.
Day appeared as a guest on the long-running weekly Michigan PBS political show "Off the Record.” The show must be scraping the bottom of the barrel for guests. Day craves the spotlight more than anything else, and although the show has a small audience with political junkies like me, it was just more exposure for the divisive Howell School Board member.
Host and long-time Capitol Correspondent Tim Skubick usually asks tough questions, but Day got nothing but softballs. Day has a long history of supporting rightwing hate and extremist groups that gained her national attention, but she really took advantage of the racist anti-government Astroturf “tea party” movement that sprang up last year that attracted some extremist right wing groups to get even more attention.
With health care reform so close to becoming a reality, a couple of rightwing extremist Washington, D.C. lobbying firms helped organize the “tea parties” and spread the more that $1.4 million a day the insurance companies are spending to defeat it.
She is billing herself as the president of another misnamed “tea party” group called “Common Sense in Government.” It apparently follows the Bush Administration’s practice of naming things the opposite of what they really do, like the Clean Skies Initiative, the Healthy Forest Initiative and No Child Left Behind.
Apparently, Day wants to re-fight the American Civil War and turn back the clock with the “state’s rights” farce that the southern states used in order to maintain the institution of slavery.
“Our beef is government has too much focus and control over the individual lives of Americans, and that the federal government has more power than they are supposed to,” she said. “What you are looking at is a state’s rights issue.”
The only half way hard question was asked by panelist Chris Christoff from the Detroit Free Press’s Lansing Bureau, who asked her how large the state budget was, and she had no idea.
“If it’s in the phone book, government should probably not do it,” Day answered.
For someone who says they want the federal government to adhere to the U.S. Constitution, Day’s support for a part-time U.S. Congress is even more hare-brained.
She claims her teabag group is bipartisan, and her group is currently behind robo calls against Democrats. Day also said her hate group plans to form a political action committee (PAC); no doubt funded with the massive amounts of cash from the insurance industry, former U.S. House Majority Leader and rightwing Republican Dick Armey’s Freedom Works and the Washington, D.C.-based rightwing think tank Americans for Prosperity.
LANSING – Its’ pretty clear Legislative leaders used a lame excuse to suspend action on the workplace smoking ban, and that fact is becoming more clear every day.
You will recall that at the start of a much-needed two-week spring break earlier this month, House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, said the workplace smoking ban will be shelved this spring to concentrate on the budget. The House Regulatory Reform Committee that had held three straight weeks of testimony on the ban and nothing else has now moved on to apparently more important matters.
When they meet today, they will take testimony on House Bill 4715 introduced by the chair of the committee, Rep. Bert Johnson, that modifies investment of money in the state lottery fund. It will also consider HB 4565 introduced by Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing that requires tagging of certain beer kegs.
That is much more important than taking action on a public health hazard that kills 3,000 people a year in Michigan.
For even more important issues, the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, chaired by Rep. Dudley Spade, D-Adrian, is meeting on Thursday to discuss an even more pressing issue: proposed administrative rules for unarmed combat (mixed martial arts). Now, I’m sure lottery, beer kegs and mixed martial arts are very important issues to some people, but so is protecting people from deadly secondhand smoke. The legislature can work on the budget as well as work on other issues at the same time.
The April 10 edition of “Off the Record” hosted by Capitol Correspondent Tim Skubick makes its pretty clear the decision to put off the ban is just a smokescreen.
The long-running weekly PBS show "Off the Record" will tape a segment live on Nov. 21 in East Lansing in front of a live audience, and the show is inviting fellow political junkies to join them for a special on the road show.
The show has been a staple on PBS stations all over Michigan since 1972, covering the governor's office, the state legislature, the political campaign trail and state government with host and longest-running Capitol Correspondent Tim Skubick. The on the road show will take a look back at the 2008 election with some of Michigan's top political pundits. The show will begin at 2:30 pm. At Michigan State University's Kellogg Center Auditorium, 55 S. Harrison Road in East Lansing, with a reception following at 5 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required by phone at (517) 353-1357 or by e-mail to cusickk@msu.edu.
The show airs on weekends on PBS stations beginning Friday evening. Check local TV listings in your area to see when the show airs on your local PBS station.
The debate over embryonic stem cell research and Michigan's Ballot Proposal 2 is simply an attempt to trump science and progress with blind ideology and politics.
We have been hammered by false and misleading TV ads funded by anti-choice groups, Catholic groups and far rightwing organizations like the Family Research Council.
Embryonic stem cells have the potential to cure countless diseases, such as autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis; cancers; cardiovascular diseases; circulatory and respiratory diseases; spinal cord injuries; infectious diseases like HIV; metabolic diseases like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease; muscular dystrophies; neurological diseases of adulthood like Alzheimer's disease and Lou Gehrig's disease; and neurological diseases of childhood like Asperger's syndrome and autism. The embryos are never implanted in a woman’s body, and the embryos are routinely discarded by fertility clinics.
The bottom line is this: instead of using the embryos for anything useful and helping the more than 770,000 Michigan residents who are suffering from the above mentioned diseases, opponents of embryonic stem cell research would rather see them thrown in the trash. That is just sad.
Cure Michigan, proponents of the ballot proposal, have done an excellent job of putting a human face on the 770,000 Michiganders this could help if passed. One is a friend of mine, Julielyn Gibbons. Her very personal video makes me proud she grew up and her parents still live in my home county of Livingston County in Green Oak Township.
I met her through blogging and politics, and the "Cruise Director" – as she is affectingly known in the liberal blogging world - is one of the people responsible for the success of liberal blogs. She works hard for what she believes in, and that's why she is working hard in this campaign. I have never seen her in a bad mood, despite the pain she has been in. But her story is just one of many personal stories, and the web site has many more.
For another good piece of video, check out the "Off the Record" episode with Tim Skubick that features an opponent and a proponent of Proposal 2, as well as Prop 1, debating the issue. For me, this is the best way to reach a decision instead of a one-on-one interview where statements can go unchallenged when they are facing off.
It speaks volumes about the two side's agendas by who were the spokesmen, and it was science versus politics and ideology. The anti-stem cell proponent was Republican state Sen. Tom George. The proponent was Dr. Sean Morrison, the Director of the University of Michigan Center for Stem Cell Biology. Granted, George is also a medical doctor, but he is playing the role of politician. It's worth watching.
What we have seen from the opponents of Prop 2 is false, misleading and even disgusting ads from the opponents of stem cell research. They have pushed falsehood after falsehood. They have falsely claimed it will raise taxes. Only 12 states have chosen to publicly fund embryonic stem cell research, and this proposal does not do that. The fact is Michigan is losing out on millions of dollars in federal funding and grants.
They also falsely claim it will open the door on human cloning, but they are, of course, ignoring the fact that a 1988 Michigan law already bans human cloning. Opponents also claim Proposal 2 would allow unrestricted research. Not true because the research conducted in Michigan meets existing strict federal laws and guidelines.
The newest one I heard says even if Proposal 2 is voted down embryonic stem cell research will still go on. That ignores that research here is severely limited to existing stem cell lines, many of which are contaminated and unsuitable for study, and any attempt to create new ones is a felony. Michigan has three of the best research universities in the country, but we have already lost some of brightest minds to states that allow embryonic stem cell research.
To see how politicized this has become we have the Catholic Bishop for the Lansing Diocese criticizing Gov. Jennifer Granholm for her support of Proposition 2. Now, I'm not a catholic, but apparently the Governor is a Catholic. I don't see why that even matters, and the Bishop's opinion is just one more opinion and that's not based on fact or science.
What the Catholic Church thinks is irrelevant, and I don't understand why their opinion carries any more weight than supporters of Prop 2, like the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, the American Dental Association or the Unitarian-Universalist Association of Congregations.
This reminds of the issues raised when President Kennedy, the only Catholic President, was running. It was feared he would take policy direction from the Vatican. He put that to rest in a speech in 1960 to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association: "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president - should he be Catholic- how to act."
Bloggers took a major step toward the mainstream and credibility when one of our own was included as a regular panelist on a mid-Michigan institution, “Off the Record with Tim Skubick.”
Julielyn Gibbons – AKA Liberal Lucy of Liberal, Loud and Proud – appeared as a regular panelist on the show hosted by Tim Skubick, along with Rick Albin of WOOD-TV, Stephanie Korneffel of MIRS and Bill Ballenger of Inside Michigan Politics. The show on Michigan PBS stations features various mainstream reporters that cover the legislature and state government talking about the hot political stories, and it usually features a guest.
LL appeared as a panelist as part of a show on blogging and bloggers, and a week later she joined the panel as a capitol correspondent. Hopefully, she will appear as part of the rotating panel of reporters, and it will also spur Mr. Skubick to look at other bloggers for inclusion as panelists.
The show airs on most state PBS stations, but here in mid-Michigan it can be it can be seen on WKAR in East Lansing at 11:30 p.m. Sunday. It can also be seen on line.
On a personal note, LL is a former Livingston County resident, hailing from Green Oak Township where some of our most loyal and active Democrats come from, and her parents still live there.
She has also posted a very personal and courageous story on why she started blogging and became an activist. She is asking for our help in spreading the word about Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. In doing so, she is trying to bring attention to an upcoming event, the Get Your Guts in Gear ride. Please check out her post on the subject, the event itself and spread the word.
They appeared with rightwing bloggers Nick DeLeeuw (“Rightmichigan”) and Bill Nowling (The Lunchbucket Conservative) on the half hour show to discuss the effect of blogging on Michigan politics. They did an excellent job doing that, and they lent credibility to what we bloggers do. This is one of my favorite shows, and usually the panelists are political reporters from the mainstream media that cover the Capitol, but this time we had people who are much more involved in covering the Capitol.
I know this is all over the blogosphere by now, but because a lot of what I write about is politics where I live in Livingston County I wanted to point out the special connection to Livingston County.
Liberal Lucy grew up here in Livingston County’s Green Oak Township, and her proud parents still live. Although she now lives in Lansing, many local Democrats know her from her work to improve the Democratic net roots presence here in the county.
Bill Nowling also lives in Green Oak Township, and he was once a reporter here for the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus when it was still a weekly newspaper. After moving here to his wife’s hometown, fellow Republican Buddy Moorehouse, then the editor of the former Brighton Argus, got him a job with the paper until he could get into Michigan Republican politics, hooking up first on the staff of former Gov. John Engler and for then former state Sen. Mike Rogers.
After going to work for a PR firm, he made news when he allegedly threatened to blackmail Rogers after Rogers was elected to the U.S. House if he did not vote for a telecommunications bill one of the clients Nowling’s firm was representing wanted passed.
Ann Arbor resident Marcy Wheeler is the author of “Anatomy of Deceit” about the Plame CIA leak case. She was the only blogger to receive a press pass for the Scooter Libby trial where she live-blogged during the trial.
DeLeeuw operates one of the more slimier blogs around that’s long on accusations and short on facts. He recently took the Governor to task for daring to take a lunch hour and spending it with her teenage daughter on her birthday. His latest baseless attack is accusing Michigan House Democrats of taking a bribe because DTE’s political action committee contributed $15,000 to the House Democrats' political action committee, making the ridiculous claim it was for the proposal to revamp state regulations to return monopoly status to utilities such as DTE that could raise $500 million toward the budget shortfall. Like all of his “reporting” the real story is what he leaves out, like the fact that DTE has also given $11,500 to Senate Republicans.
You can see the show online, or you can tune in tonight at 9 p.m. on WKAR in East Lansing or 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The show is on most state PBS stations.
