GOP primary in 11th Senate District now includes charges of inappropriate sex talk

There are a lot of interesting primary races, but the Republican primary in the 11th Senate District is spinning out of control.

The race already has a criminal, a carpetbagger and now charges of lying, inappropriate sexual behavior and playing an imposter entered the race yesterday to make it even more interesting after a pair of reports from MIRS and Gongwer that cover the Capitol.

Squaring off in the open 11th District to replace term-limited Alan Sanborn – one of the most extremists member of the Senate – are former state Reps. Leon Drolet and Jack Brandenburg and current state Rep. Kim Meltzer.

Drolet should be in jail because of his criminal acts in the attempt to recall Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, not to mention his recent campaign violation. Meltzer has been accused of being a carpetbagger because she just rented an address in the safe Republican district, and she also hired the person known for dirty tricks. Brandenburg had escaped notice; until now.

Brandenburg, as well as Drolet served as co-chairs of the crooked Proposal 2 campaign in 2006 that banned affirmative action programs that used fraud to get on the ballot.
Jennifer Gratz, who led the 2006 ballot proposal, said that a political action committee (PAC) she is involved with had mailed flyers into the district to accuse Brandenburg of lying about his role with the so-called “Michigan Civil Rights Initiative” campaign; Brandenburg claimed he was the co-chair. Gratz, now works for the American Civil Rights Institute, the California-based group that's primary purpose is to oppose affirmative action.

According to subscription only MIRS, when Gratz was asked what led to Brandenburg to leave the campaign, she had this to say:

"We were on a conference call with me, Leon, Jack and Ward," Gratz said. "There may have been some others on the call as well, but I can't remember exactly. "Ward (Connerly) asked for help more help from Leon and Jack. Then Jack said, 'F*** Off.'"
Gratz said that as far as she knows, that parting shot was Brandenburg's final involvement with the MCRI movement.

But Brandenburg had this to day to MIRS in response. "On that conference call Ward Connerly was basically chewing Leon and I out," Brandenburg said. "Leon and I had worked our butts off for a year. We weren't getting paid anything. It was voluntary. I think Gratz was getting paid at that time, but we weren't."
"So then Connerly wanted Leon and I to come up with $50,000," Brandenburg continued. "At that point, I said that even if I had $50,000 I wouldn't give it to him. He asked me if I could come up with the money tomorrow, and I said no. But when he said 'You haven't done anything,' that's what I really didn't appreciate. I said, "Hey Ward, F*** off."

But the story was even more explosive in Gongwer, and Gratz either didn’t tell MIRS the entire story, or MIRS chose not to include the allegation.

During an interview with Gongwer about the flyer, Gratz was asked why she just didn’t call Brandenburg and ask him to stop claiming he was the co-chair. Gratz apparently told Gongwer she would never contact Brandenburg because of “an incident that she said occurred in January 2006 when Mr. Brandenburg was serving his second term in the House.” Gratz claims she received a message Booth Newspapers columnist Rick Haglund had called to interview her.

Gratz said she “returned the call, and the first couple questions were standard journalistic fare. Then, "He said, 'Can I ask you a personal question?' He said, 'How do you feel about oral sex?'" Ms. Gratz said.”

Brandenburg denies the incident ever occurred.

Drolet served as co-chair of the ballot campaign with Brandenburg, but Drolet stuck with the racist campaign. Gratz is supporting Drolet in the primary election.

Senate Republicans try to score cheap political points with ‘meatout’ resolution

LANSING – With the State of Michigan facing a budget deficit and vital services for people who are hurting through no fault of their own being cut, Senate Republicans managed to take time out of a Senate session on Wednesday to pass a meaningless resolution with no teeth to protest a promulgation that has no teeth and carries no weight.

A proclamation issued by Governor Jennifer Granholm calling Saturday a "meatout" day in the state and encouraging people not to eat meat that day as part of a healthy diet drew protests from agriculture and hunting advocates that was way out of proportion. This is no different than those the Governor has issued supporting Michigan wine and egg farmers.

This is a national effort, and according to their website, “ Meatout is an international observance helping individuals evolve to a wholesome, compassionate diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains. The purpose is to expose the public to the joys and benefits of a plant-based diet, while promoting the availability and selection alternatives to meat and dairy in mainstream grocery stores, restaurants, and catering operations.”

Wednesday was also Agriculture Day in the Capitol where the Michigan Farm Bureau and farmers display home-grown fruits and vegetables in the Capitol and lobby their Representatives. Apparently, Senate Republicans think fruits, vegetables and grains are not grown in Michigan. The fact is it’s hard to know where your meat came from, but that’s not the case for fruits, vegetables and grains.

But Senate Republicans took the opportunity to score some cheap political points in an election year. During the Senate session, every Senator is allowed to make a short speech on any subject they choose, and it’s usually at the end of session. On Wednesday it was moved to the middle of the session, and three straight Republican Senators got up and railed at the Governor’s promulgation. Not much different was said between the three, but it’s their right to make a fool of themselves.

That led Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor to interject some sanity following the three rants.

“So, basically, what that proclamation does is not, I don’t think, try to harm any meat producers, but it encourages farmers who are producers of vegetables, fruits, and grains, of which there are many, many in this state promoting good health and reducing the risks of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases which take the lives of approximately 1.3 million Americans each day,” she said.

Brater also pointed out that the same proclamation has been offered by governors in many other states, including the cattle producing state of Texas and Alaska when Sarah Palin was the Governor. Then Brater actually read the promulgation:

“Whereas, March signifies a national celebration of the importance of agriculture in the United States as it provides almost everything we eat, use, and wear on a daily basis; and to recognize and celebrate the abundance provided by Michigan’s farmers and the agriculture sector; and

Whereas, Michigan’s farmers provide consumers with not only food and fiber, but also biofuels and other sources of renewable energy, which are essential to life; and
Whereas, Michigan’s food and agriculture industry, our state’s second-largest economic driver, contributes over $71.3 billion to our state’s economy each year; and
Whereas, Michigan’s agricultural industry provides a variety of wholesome and healthy products including but not limited to beef, dairy, field crops, fruits, horticulture products, pork, poultry, sheep, and vegetables; and
Whereas, Michigan’s agricultural economy expanded at a great rate of more than five times faster than the rate of the general economy; and
Whereas, I urge all Michiganians to join me in recognizing the importance of our agricultural industry, from farm to fork, and to help celebrate this day with meals made with a variety of local Michigan ingredients, including but not limited to meat, vegetables, and dairy products; and
Whereas, The first day of spring has been traditionally designated National Agriculture Day since 1973;
Now, Therefore, be it Resolved, That I, Jennifer M. Granholm, governor of the state of Michigan, do hereby proclaim March 20, 2010, Michigan Agriculture Day, and encourage people throughout the state of Michigan to partake in the abundance of Michigan’s agricultural commodities.”

That led to another ridiculous comment by Sen. Alan Sanborn, R-Richmond.
“Let’s just all go over to the Governor’s mansion and have tofu and seaweed,” he said. “Great Americans eat red meat. Great Michiganders eat meat grown in Michigan.”

And great Michiganders also eat fruits, vegetables and grains that we know are grown in Michigan.

The timing for statements was unusual, until Sen. Wayne Kuipers , R-Holland, introduced Senate Resolution 129. that would “urge the Governor to rescind her proclamation making March 20, 2010, Michigan Meatout Day.”

That resolution passed by a vote of 25-12. Sen. Gilda Jacobs, D-Hunntington Woods, summed up the debate over the resolution best.

“I wish we would spend this much time on finding funding for education,” she said.

Newspapers jumped all over the harmless promulgation, and some of the reaction was just ridiculous. The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus had a front page story.

In the story, Don Miller, butcher at Great Lakes Butcher Supply in Oceola Township, said one day will hurt his business. “Encouraging Michiganders not to eat meat — even if just for one day — constitutes a boycott,” the paper said.

But Judy Daubenmier, head of the Livingston County Democratic Party and a Catholic, had the best response when she said Catholics do not eat meat on Fridays.

“Aren’t they losing business on Friday? What’s the difference,” Daubenmier said.
“Don’t we grow fruits and vegetables in Michigan as well?”

One butcher even had the audacity to say eating meat was healthy. He said “implications that meat is unhealthy are irresponsible, “To imply that meat is unhealthful is uneducated, kind of reckless.”

Then maybe your doctor is full of crap when he tells you to cut down on red meat, and you should go to your butcher instead of a doctor for a check-up. The fact is taking an occasional break from eating meat is healthy.

Charges of carpet bagging and political operatives surround the 11th District Senate race

The race in the 11th Senate District just got a little more interesting; Capitol Newsletter MIRS is reporting that Rep. Kim Meltzer, R-Clinton Twp?, has hired John Yob’s Strategic National to run her campaign.

Yob is the youngest son of long-time Michigan National Republican Committeeman Chuck Yob, but Yob the younger already has a reputation. He served as the national chairman of the College Republicans while a student at the University of Michigan. That’s the same position some of his heroes sprang from, the kings of dirty tricks, Karl Rove and Lee Atwater.

Yob also ran Terri Land’s successful Michigan Secretary of State campaign, the most partisan SOS in Michigan history. He also served as the deputy national political director for the unsuccessful McCain presidential campaign.

It was that connection that ties Yob to one of the Republicans’ more dirty tricks. You will recall in the fall of 2008, the Michigan Messenger broke the story that Michigan Republicans planned to challenge voters at the polls whose homes are in foreclosure. Only the publicity stopped them. While other state SOS addressed the issue, Land refused to address any questions on the matter.

Ironically, Meltzer has been the point person in the House fighting any attempt to increase voter turnout and make it easier to register and to vote. I guess she knew she was running for the Senate.

But she already has her problems in the right leaning 11th Senate District in Macomb County, and she has been accused of being a carpetbagger. Apparently, Meltzer moved from Clinton Township to a rented home in Macomb Township on Oct. 31, which allows her to run in the 11th District Senate race instead of the 10th District held by term-limited Democrat Mickey Switalski.

The 11th is held by term limited Republican Alan Sanborn, the most conservative member in the Senate, and it is considered a safe Republican district. In fact, the race has drawn some real rightwing tools. In addition to Meltzer, former state Rep. Jack Brandenburg is in the race. It would be polite just to call him an extremist.

Also in the race is former state Rep. Leon Drolet. He has led the “tea parties” and a crooked recall of Speaker of the House Andy Dillon. This is a guy who has never held a job in the public sector. It remains to be seen if he will stay out of jail long enough to even run.

The recall was accomplished with fraud and deceit, out-of-state money, illegal petition gathers, cash for signatures and illegal campaign contributions. Two men have already been charged with felonies over it, and it remains to be seen if the long arm of the law will reach to the people running that fraud, like Drolet.

Senate Republicans thumb their noses at Michigan consumers

LANSING -- Michigan Senate Republicans continue to stand up for the powerful and thumb their noses at Michigan consumers, but Sen. Buzz Thomas, D-Detroit, called them out on the Senate floor on Wednesday.

The House passed a package of 12-bills last week on Aug. 19 that holds insurance companies accountable who wrongfully deny customer claims. The package of bills were referred to the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Regulatory Reform today, and the chair of the Committee, Sen. Alan Sanborn, R-Richmond, is an extreme right-winger, and he has said publicly he has no intention of even holding a hearing on the bills.

That did not sit well with the Senate Minority Floor Leader.

“I object to those referrals and hope that the Senate would change that referral,” Thomas said. “I do so because the chair of the committee has already indicated, even before those bills were sent over to the Senate, that they would receive absolutely zero consideration or debate. In fact, one news report quoted the chair as saying, ‘Do you want these bills labeled do not resuscitate or dead on arrival when they come to the Senate.’"

The House Insurance Committee took some very emotional testimony as people talked about paying their premiums for years, but the insurance company simply refusing to pay at all or delaying it for years so they can settle for a much lower cost.

“Michigan citizens who routinely and regularly pay their insurance premiums expect, when they file a claim, to be offered an opportunity at some form of benefit, “ Thomas said. “The issue of insurance companies wrongfully denying consumers who have legitimate claims in their time of need deserves a thorough, open discussion in the Michigan Senate.”

The chair of the House insurance Committee, Rep. Barb Byrum, D-Onondaga, was targeted with robo calls, and she and Democratic members of the committee were subjected to attack radio ads by a group called the “Coalition to Insure Michigan's Future.” Sanborn even showed up at the House committee hearings to assure the insurance industry that they had nothing to fear as they continue to reap record profits.

“If the chair of the committee is so confident in his position that he is willing to attend a House hearing and declare this effort over before it's even begun, he should have the courage to hold the hearings and take a vote,“ Thomas said. “If he truly believes his own rhetoric and reasoning, debate your position and let us move on to a vote.”

Senate Republicans have routinely given insurance companies every protection possible at the expense of consumers. In fact, 46 other states have enacted similar protections proposed for consumers that have been bankrupted by profiteering insurance companies who put profits above people.

“If the majority expects anyone to take them seriously when they claim to care about the economic struggles of Michigan families, they will refer these bills to a committee willing to consider them, since again, regretfully, the chair of the committee now with jurisdiction is apparently unwilling to hear from those who have been wronged,” Thomas said.

Michigan insurance companies have also been allowed to legally discriminate against Detroit drivers and other urban drivers for years in the form of Redlining. Detroit consumers pay an average of more than $5,000 a year for auto insurance, the highest rate in the nation. Michigan consumers pay among the highest insurance rates in the nation.

But Senate Republicans refuse to allow the redlining bills to move. Sen. Martha G. Scott, D-Highlander Park, is the sponsor of the anti-redlining bills, and a rally is planned for September 30 on the Capitol lawn to fight the practice of redlining and the high cost of auto insurance.

MLBA rewards Sanborn for betrayal

It’s hard to find the proper words to describe my reaction when I opened the latest edition of The Michigan Licensed Beverage Association (MLBA) monthly trade magazine and read that rightwing Sen. Alan Sanborn, R-Richmond, was named The MLBA’s 2009 Legislator of the Year. A few words that came to mind immediately were disgust, shock, betrayal, double cross and payback to name just a few.

The MLBA has been a harsh critic of the workplace smoking ban; going to the point of using debunked studies and ones financed by the tobacco industry to make the false claim that the ban will cost jobs. That is simply not true, and reliable, independent studies from the data from the 37 other states and entire countries that already have the ban debunked their lie.

But, according to the article, Lance Binoniemi, executive director, of the MLBA, said “He is also a strong advocate against the proposed smoking ban which the MLBA is currently fighting.” The word I think of here is payback.

On the smoking ban, Sanborn is quoted as saying; “This is an example of government telling business what to do. As part of the free market system, people can choose whether to go where smoking is permitted or to a non-smoking hospitality business.”

Someone should ask Sanborn does that mean the employees who really need the job can go elsewhere, too. The fact is, government tells businesses what do all the time, and it's actually their job to do so. It is about the state protecting the public's health just as it does with regulations about how restaurants store, handle and prepare food. We don't leave it up to businesses to decide if they will require their employees to wash their hands before preparing customers food, what temperatures they should maintain their food at, or what procedures should be taken when handling food. We require certain regulations be followed to protect the health of the public. It is no different with secondhand smoke.

If Sanborn doesn’t like the workplace smoking ban, then he should vote against the bill – like he did – and live with how the majority of Senators voted. He didn’t do that.

You will recall that last year both the House and the Senate approved a workplace smoking ban, but each body passed a different version. That happens all the time in the Legislature, and what happens is the leader of each body appoints three people from each body to a conference committee, and the six-person committee then meets to iron out a compromise to present that compromise to their full body for an up or down vote.

In other words, the majority is telling you to find a way to get done what the majority wants. The problem is Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop is against the ban, and instead of doing what the majority wants, he sabotaged the process. He assigned two staunch opponents to the committee: Sanborn and Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt.

We should have know what the result would be when we saw who Bishop assigned, and the conference committee never even came up with a compromise to present to the full Legislature. That’s because they did not bargain in good faith, and the bill died despite the majority voting for it.

Cropsey admitted four months later that he refused to negotiate or bargain, and we just saw Sanborn’s payoff. It would be interesting to see how much cash Cropsey, Sanborn and Bishop got from the MLBA PAC.

Senate takes up beer keg bill but continues to ignore popular smoking ban bill

LANSING - No one is buying the lame excuse that Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop is using to delay taking up the popular workplace smoking ban that he wants to concentrate on the budget, and that tale was further exposed by action on the Senate floor on Wednesday.

The Senate Committee of the Whole took up Senate Bill 470 for a third reading and passed it favorably. It was introduced by rightwing Sen. Alan Sanborn, R-Richmond. The bill would require a retailer selling beer kegs to attach an ID tag to it to create a paper trail to address underage drinking. Now, tags and beer kegs are important to someone, but I wonder how many people sent letters, emails and made phone calls to lawmakers urging passage of this? I wonder how many rallies have been held in Lansing to urge lawmakers to pass this?

Lawmaker’s offices have been overwhelmed with letters, emails and calls urging them to pass the workplace smoking ban. Bishop does not support the ban, so he is trying every thing he can to stall something that has overwhelming support.

Underage drinking is a problem, but it is no where near as pressing as the dangerous effects of secondhand smoke.

It seems ironic that Sanborn voted against the smoking ban last session because he apparently things business should make their own decision and does not like government interference and regulation, but the argument against his bill is that “the bill would impose an undue regulatory burden on retailers. The small business community needs less government intervention, not more, in order to thrive. Stores already are short-staffed and would have to bear the cost of compliance,” according to the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency.

For even more irony, Sanborn was part of the Conference Committee tasked to work out a compromise between the Senate passed version and the House passed version of the smoking ban last December, but he refused to negotiate in good faith and the bill died.

It will cost nothing to implement the workplace smoking ban, and it will not hurt a bar or restatement’s business. The same thing can’t be said for Sanborn’s bill.

The bill would increase the costs to the Liquor Control Commission. The LCC “would be required to provide retailers with identification tags for beer kegs and signs describing keg policies. The LCC also would be required to develop receipts to document keg sales.” The cost of the keg tags is estimated at $10,000, and it would also cost to administer the program.

When the Senate takes up SB 470 on Thursday they can also take up SB 114 and House Bill 4377.

Anti-foreclosure bills in jeopardy with choice of GOP conferees

LANSING – It may be some time before Michigan gets any real relief from the home foreclosure crisis if the move by Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop on Thursday is any indication.

Bishop named Sen. Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, to the conference committee trying to find a compromise between he House passed version of the anti-foreclosure bills and the Senate passed version. Bishop did a similar thing with the smoking ban bill in December when he assigned two Republicans who voted against the bill to the conference committee. That bill died despite a workable compromise.

Earlier this month the Senate approved a package of three bills, House Bills 4453-4455, along party lines that would have given a 90-day reprieve from foreclosure for homeowners who commit to working with their lender and a housing counselor that was approved by the House with bipartisan support in March. The bills passed by the House stipulated that if at the end of the 90 days a homeowner is eligible for a loan modification, but the lender does not give it to them for whatever reason, then the lender would be forced to take the foreclosure through the judicial process.

But Richardville, a shill for the mortgage industry whose greed plunged the country into a financial meltdown, stripped the third party provision out of the bill, and he fought off numerous attempts by Senate Democrats to put the provision back in the bill on the Senate floor. Richardville, carrying water fort he mortgage industry, used the lame excuse that it ads an extra step for mortgage companies and may cost them a few more dollars.

Consumer groups like the Michigan Advocacy Project and the Michigan Foreclosure Taskforce said stripping the judicial piece out of the bill will cost more people their homes.

In addition to mortgage industry shill Richardville, Bishop added extreme right-winger Alan Sanborn – who has a history of non-comprise and divisive rhetoric - to the three-Senator contingent. The only good news is the addition of Sen. Tupac Hunter, D-Detroit.

Misguided pay cut resolution approved in the Senate

LANSING – This is a pretty simple concept: if you want the best and the brightest, you have to pay for them.

That concept was lost Thursday when the Michigan Senate approved Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 11, which approved the State Officers Compensation Commission (SOCC) recommendation that would reduce salaries and expense allowances of members of the Legislature, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and the Secretary of State by 10 percent. It was a nothing but pure politics. State lawmakers will see their $79,650 annual salary go to $71,685 in 2011.

Here is an example of how it is being politicized: the official GOP blogger over at wrong Michigan gives us this lie of a headline: “MI Senate Dems oppose cutting their own pay, defend $80K salaries.”

First, they are not cutting their own salaries because it does not affect them. It does not take effect until 2011. Of the 37 current senators, 30 are term-limited and will not be back. It was a voice vote, and no votes were recorded. However, it passed with 29 votes. Considering there are 21 Republicans in the Senate, this was a bipartisan vote. Seven did not vote. and Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor, had the courage and good sense to vote no.

The money saved by this move is nothing in a $44 billon budget, and it doesn't even effect this budget. Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, tried to tie it to her Senate Resolution 15 that would save taxpayers $3 million by eliminating the current disparity in the budgets for Republican and Democratic Senators. Democratic offices would receive the same amount of money as Republicans. GOP Senate offices have five staffers, but Democrats only have three. Over in the Democratic controlled House, each office has the same amount of staffers; two in each office.

“The fact of the matter is that the Senate majority leadership runs it both ways,” Whitmer said. “They like to beat up on state employees and ask for another year of concessions and say, “Look, we’ve taken some cuts,” when the truth is these cuts don’t impact any of us.
“They just impact the next Legislature,” she said “So you still haven’t given up a darn thing. No nominations for profiles in courage here today.”

WrongMichigan then tried to take Sen. Ray Basham, D-Taylor, to task for standing up and telling the truth: if you want the best people available you have to give them a fair wage.

“I personally don’t think, coming out of the auto industry as an auto worker, that this is too much money,” Basham said. “We do not make any more money than a school teacher, police officer, or firefighter.
“As a matter of fact, some $70,000 is what one of my mayors said her dogcatcher makes,” she said. “So I will look anyone in the eye and say I earn my pay, and I hope that other legislators would do their work and earn their pay too.”

You will recall the uproar over the 38 percent pay raise state elected officials received in 2000. But when you consider the last time they had a raise, it comes out to about 1 percent a year; that’s less than the rate of inflation. And nine years later, 2000 was the last raise they have received.

Many of the 148 state lawmakers travel from places as far away as the UP to be in Lansing. Because that is so far away, many rent rooms in Lansing in order to do business. Granted, the Legislature only meets three days a week, but the demands on their time is tremendous.

I cringe when I hear people advocating for a part-time legislature. If we pay people so little or go part-time all we will get are retired people, independently wealthy people and very young people who do not yet have a fulltime job. I don’t want 148 Dick Devos, Dennis Lennoxs or Joe Hunes in the Michigan Legislature. I want a cross section of the state that is at the top of their field. Asking them to take that big a pay cut will not attract the best.

How people can defend the salary of someone like GOP Gubernatorial candidate and Domino's CEO and pitchman David Brandon who makes $13 million – making him the second highest paid CEO in Michigan, but you think lawmakers overseeing a $44 billon budget make too much money at $79,000? That’s ridiculous. Domino's earned $54 million in 2008, but it’s OK to make $13 million a year? CEOS make 262 times what the average worker makes. In 1965 the average CEO was only earning 24 times more.

The most disgusting display was that of rightwing nut Alan Sanborn, R-Richmond. In the debate over the resolution, he went on a babbling tirade about the Democrats in general; from the President all the way down to the Macomb County Board of Commissioner. This was the first time I ever saw a Senator that had to be warned to stay on topic. This is also the same nut who thought he was Nikita Khrushchev and banged his shoe on the gavel last month. I wonder if he was a drama major in school.

He even took out after House Democrats who passed a simple three-part ethics package earlier this week that the GOP-led Senate killed last session.

“I find it a bit ironic that the party that brought you Kwame Kilpatrick and Barny Frank would be leading on ethics reform,” he said.

I find it a lot ironic that the party of “Casino” Jack Abramoff, Bob Ney, Ralph Reed and Duke Cunningham would even open its mouth about ethics, but it is fitting that they continue to be the people who block ethics laws. What was even funnier was his insincere apology afterward.

At the end of session, he “apologized” if he "offended anyone in any way today.” How about apologizing for your stupid, offensive display instead of for what other people may have felt?

Sanborn channels Nikita Khrushchev

LANSING -- The Russian are Coming; the Russian are coming!

At least Sen. Alan Sanborn, R-Richmond, seems to think so. The extreme rightwing Senator has used the statement portion of the Senate session the last three days to rail against the alleged "creep of socialism" in the country, and addressing his fellow Senators as "comrades." He also used it the last three days to attack the President of the United States, the U.S. Congress and especially Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

The time is normally used by the Senators to recognize a special day, event or speak about a pet project issue or bill. Sen. Martha Scott, D- Highland Park, uses the statement section to give an original and impassioned speech on her pet project, insurance reform, every single day, and she always ends it with the cry of "move my bills." A session is not complete until we hear from Sen. Scott.

What they don't do is insult each other, and the deliberative body never addresses a colleague by name, using the phrase "the Gentlemen from Howell" or "the Lady from the Second District." But Sanborn's rant was a little over the top on Thursday, even for him, and he took out his shoe and banged it on the rostrum. I though he might consider throwing it at someone considering how unbalanced the man seems to be.

But, apparently, he thought it was October 1960 and he was Nikita Khrushchev in the UN General Assembly held in New York. His boorish behavior certainly reflects that he was Khrushchev, but Sanborn was on the floor of the Michigan Senate in 2009.

His ridiculous behavior was too much for an exasperated Sen. Gilda Jacobs, D-Huntington Woods, and she appealed for respectful behavior on the floor.

"We have young people here witnessing this unusual and weird behavior," she said. "This whole thing just saddens me that we have to stoop to these theatrics."

Workplace smoking ban dies despite a workable compromise ignored by GOP

Despite overwhelming support for an indoor smoking ban that includes bars and restaurants, the bill - House Bill 4163 - died in the early morning hours of Friday as the Conference Committee tasked to work out a compromise between the Senate passed version and the House passed version could not reach an agreement to present to their perspective bodies.

The House passed a version in December of 2007 that included exceptions for casinos and others, and the Senate passed a complete ban in May after intense pressure from non-smoking advocates finally forced a vote. The six-person bipartisan committee met for three days to find a compromise, but the bill was sabotaged by Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, who assigned two staunch opponents of the ban to the committee.

All bills not passed on Thursday and Friday die, and they must be reintroduced in the new session that begins in January. Sen. Ray Basham, a tireless advocacy for smoke free workplaces in Michigan for the past decade, vowed to reintroduce the bill next month.

“I am absolutely crestfallen over this; as close as we came to seeing this effort through only to come up empty-handed, it’s very difficult,” He said in a press release. “But I haven’t given up hope over the last 10 years, and I don’t plan to start now. Going into year 11, this will remain my top priority, and I don’t care whose name is on the bills as long as this issue gets some traction.”

Although this is the farthest the bill has ever progressed in Michigan, Basham vowed to push a ballot proposal in necessary.

“This is certainly a setback, but not a defeat,” Basham said. “I will keep pushing for the health of all men, women and children in this state, and if the Legislature won’t take action on behalf of the people, I’ll see to it that we put this issue on the ballot and before the voters. I know I will see smokefree air for all Michigan workers some day, it’s just too bad it won’t be today.”

In fact, this is the first time a ban ever received a vote in Michigan, and it was voted on three times in the House and once in the Senate. The majority of lawmakers voted for it in some form. Anti-smoking advocates wasted no time in bombarding legislative offices with emails expressing their disappointment in the failure to protect the health of Michigan residents

Detroit area lawmakers were under the mistaken belief that a ban in the Detroit casinos would send people to the Native American casinos, costing Detroit much-needed jobs. Numerous studies have shown that is not true. The conference committee found a workable compromise, but the Republicans members didn’t bother to meet to consider it. The House and Senate session lasted a marathon 25 hours, beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday and continuing into 11 a.m. Friday.

The chair of the Conference Committee, Rep. Brenda Clack, called a meeting for 12:30 a.m. to consider the compromise, but subscription only MIRS reported that because Clack “was a little late,” Sen. Alan Cropsy, R-DeWitt, and Rep. Dave Hildenbrand, R-Lowell, left and could not be bothered. Alan Sanborn, R-Richmond, never bothered to even show up. All three GOP members voted against the bipartisan public health issue.

The promising compromise was to pass a complete ban with an exemption for casinos until 2011. By that time, the state would be renegotiating compacts with the Indian tribes and at that time the state would insist that the tribal casinos go smoke-free.

This is a bipartisan issue, and both Democrats and Republicans have voted both for and against the bill. We need to protect the health of Michigan residents like 34 other states and 50 foreign countries have protected their residents.

Bishop and Senate Republicans work to kill smoking ban

Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop and Senate Republicans on the Conference Committee are turning a bipartisan public health issue into a partisan political issue, and they are trying to kill the workplace smoking bill as the last Legislative session day before all bills not approved die.

Bishop and the two Republican members of the conference committee tasked with coming up with a compromise between the House-passed ban and the Senate passed total indoor smoking ban- Sens. Alan Cropsey nad Alan Sanborn - all voted aginsat the bill, but Bishop assigned people who want to kill the bill to come up with an 11th hour compromise.

The confrence committee met early this morning before the session today, and for the third straight day, nothing was accomplished. The three obstacles who voted against the bill are now preaching the public health benefits of a complete ban over the House passed version that exempts casinos. That has to be the height of hypocrisy. The benefits of partial ban are better than nothing, which is what we have now.

The House and Senate are expected to meet until midnight, but it does not look good for any kind of smoking ban, despite the overwhelming support for it. All bills not passed today die and they must be reintroduced in the new session that begins in the New Year.

If this fails the blame belongs to Bishop and his two cronies. The Detroit Free Press called for passing the ban in its editorial today.

“What a nice Christmas present that would be for the nonsmoking majority and for bar and restaurant employees whose health is imperiled daily by secondhand smoke. What a great opportunity to send children a message that the leaders of Michigan know smoking is dangerous and public health is important.”

I could not agree more.

“Michigan is among 16 states without a ban, which perhaps, in the current economy, could be justifiable if people from all the other states were flocking here to light up. But there's no evidence Michigan is profiting as a destination for nicotine junkies -- and plenty of evidence of the health costs associated with smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke.”