2010 was a year of sweeping positive change

The past year was one of sweeping change that will have a positive effect on the lives of Americans for generations to come, on both a state and national level.

Those changes came even though the national Republicans were the most obstructionist in history, In fact, over the last two years; Democrats broke more filibusters than any Senate in recorded history. Here are the top stories of 2010:

1 Workplace smoking ban goes into effect
The popular and life-saving workplace-smoking ban that includes bars and restaurants went into effect on May 1 with little or no problems. Critics of the ban continued their misinformation campaign, but later in the year in December, the Michigan Department of Treasury found that overall sales tax collections in restaurants and bars were up 2.84 percent over last year, putting to rest the false talking point that the ban will hurt business.

2 Historic health care insurance reform passed
President Obama made history in March with the passage of the historic health care insurance reform bill. After decades of trying, stretching back almost a century, the U.S. House made history and a major progressive victory was achieved that will rein in the worst insurance abuses and expand health care to 32 million Americans. It was accomplished, of course, with nothing but Democratic votes. That $1.4 million a day the insurance lobby was spending to spread lies and misinformation and kill the bill was quickly diverted to unseat those brave Democrats who did the right thing.

3 Democrats blow the whistle of GOP mismanagement
In August the Livingston County Democratic Party helped break a story on the fact that several local townships may default on several local water- and sewer-assessment bonds backed by the county, and because of that county taxpayers may have to bail them out. The local newspaper ignored the story and chose more to smear the chair of the party. The county’s financial reports have failed to alert the public to the fact that townships are in danger of missing their payments for the $101 million in principal and interest backed by the county, and the party called for the all-Republican Livingston County Commission to hold a town hall meeting explaining the issue to the public. To date that has not happened.

4 DADT is dead
History was made in December when after 17 years the discriminatory and unconstitutional “Don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) policy was killed after the Senate voted 65-31 to end the Clinton-era policy banning gays from serving openly in the military. The Senate followed the lead of the House that passed the ban, and eight Republican senators joined almost the entire Senate Democratic caucus to approve the bill.

5 HPS suspends teacher
Howell Public Schools made the national spotlight again for its history of refusal to support equal rights and error on the side of protecting minority rights. In October Howell High School teacher Jay McDowell, who just happens to be the president of the Howell Education Association (HEA) that represents the teachers, was suspended for one day without pay because he sent two students to the office for disrupting his class. The incident occurred Oct. 20; the day people all over the country wore purple to support the end of anti-gay bullying that led to a rash of suicides by gay teens. Apparently, McDowell asked a student wearing a belt buckle sporting the Confederate flag to remove the symbol of racism, slavery, white supremacy and treason. The story quickly gained legs, and McDowell’s suspension has still not been settled.

6 Campaign cash kills 10,000 Michigan jobs
On the last session day of the 95th Legislature session, the entire Michigan Senate Republican caucus voted no on discharging House Bill 4961 from committee; a bill that would authorize Michigan to enter into a public-private partnership with Canada to build the planned International Crossing (DRIC) bridge. The $1 million in camping cash that Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun spent in the last election cycle to ensure he keeps his monopoly at the busiest border crossing in North America was money well spent.

7 House approves bill that will build DRIC bridge
On May 27, The Michigan House finally took up and approved House Bill 4961 that would authorize Michigan to enter into a public-private partnership with Canada and a private sector developer/financier to build the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) bridge over the Detroit river between Canada and Windsor. Not a single House Republican voted with the Democrats to save and create 10,000 Michigan jobs. That makes the only people against the DRIC bridge Michigan Republicans.

8 Tax cut compromise
In December President struck a compromise with Republicans on a temporary two-year extension of all the Bush-era tax cuts, including the bailout for millionaires, in exchange for a 13-month extension of unemployment insurance benefits and a one-year payroll tax reduction for all workers. The tax cuts will balloon the budget deficit, but the lifeline for the unemployed will keep the recovery out of the Bush recession moving forward.

9 Ambassador Bridge owner loses in court
In February, Ambassador Bridge owner and GOP sugar daddy Matty Moroun suffers the first of many setbacks in court when Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Prentice Edwards ordered him to tear down the illegally constructed gas pumps and duty-free store built on property owned by the city of Detroit. The U.S. government filed its own lawsuit in U.S. District Court telling the bridge company to "cease and desist" referring to itself as a "federal instrumentality" in any bridge or court proceedings. Over the years, the bridge company has frequently referred to itself in this way as leverage in obtaining property belonging to the city of Detroit and to exempt it from various state and federal regulations. In May 2008, the Michigan Supreme Court voted 7-0 that because it dealt in international commerce, the Ambassador Bridge was a federal instrumentality, which gave it the right to proceed with its twin expansion project, including the construction of toll booths, pumps and duty-free shop."

10 BP oil spill
On April 20, an explosion of a giant BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico launched the worst ecological disaster in U.S. history, pumping millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf. Republicans immediately began spinning out of control trying to blame it and the resulting oil spill on President Obama. Discredited Right-wing tools from Sean Hannnity to Karl Rove have been spinning hard to try and sell it as President Obama’s Katrina, despite the fact that the Obama Administration was there from day one. Apparently, this will now be Hanity’s version of “where were the buses.” The President did a remarkable job securing of a $20 billion escrow account from BP to pay for the clean up and compensate Gulf Coast residents who have lost their livelihoods and way of life. Republicans and U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, the ranking Republican on the House and Commerce Committee, apologized to BP for the President making them pay for the damage they caused.

11 Outrage over community center
In August and throughout the summer right-wingers ginned up fake outrage over the proposal to build an Islamic community center close to the site of the so-called Ground Zero in lower Manhattan is, but it appears that right-wingers don’t want any mosques or community centers built anywhere. Teabaggers all over the country supported protests against plans to build mosques and even to burn Korans.

12 Election disaster
A flood of secret, unregulated corporate and foreign money that poured into elections following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last January in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case and a conservative, corporate media that helped spread misinformation helped the election pendulum swing to the right in November, giving Republicans control of the Michigan and the federal House.

2008 Year in Review Part I

What a year. Two thousand eight was a busy year, especially if you love politics like I do. There were a lot of newsworthy things, but by far was the election of Barack Obama as President. But here is a monthly recap of 2008 via the Conservative Media blog.

JanuaryThe month of January was consumed with news of the Michigan Presidential primary that was really a bust. Most of the leading Democrats removed their names from the ballot because Michigan dared to question the absurdity of Iowa and New Hampshire’s primaries going first every four years. The only names on the ballot on the Democratic side were U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Chris Dodd and Sen. Mike Gravel.

I was one of the Livingston County residents that got to see one eventual presidential nominee when then candidate John McCain and the “Straight Talk Express” made a stop in Livingston County’s Genoa Township for a town hall meeting.

On the labor front, friends of labor and the middle class geared up for a possible petition drive expected at the Jan. 15 primary polling places to make Michigan a “right to work for less” state, but the petition drive never materialized.

The petition drive by Health Care for Michigan got off the ground at the primary, but it eventually died The drive was put together by a coalition of labor, religious and activist groups that wanted to amend the state constitution to require the Legislature to pass laws to ensure that "every Michigan resident has affordable and comprehensive health care coverage through a fair and cost-effective financing system."

The maneuvering in the ridiculous and unsuccessful recall efforts against state legislators who voted to in October 2007 to increase the state income tax and place a sales tax on some services that helped balance the state budget and erased a $1.8 billon budget deficit began with a couple of court cases.

February
Recalls were in the air in February, and we saw a mixed bag. In the news in February were recall attempts against Rep. Marie Donigan, D-Royal Oak, Rep. Mike Simpson, D-Liberty Township, Marty Griffin, D-Jackson, Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, and Rep. Robert Dean, D-Grand Rapids. The recall attempts saw lots of smoke, but no fire. They all eventually died, and they were not popular. Even Former Republican Speaker of the House Rick Johnson, R-Leroy, published an editorial denouncing the recall attempt of Simpson. In the end, only the recall of Speaker of the House Andy Dillon made it to the ballot. It violated campaign the law to do so, and was easily defeated.

There were plenty of attempts at ballot issues, but only a few were successful. The Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care (MCCC) turned in 474,752 signatures -- 304,101 were required -- to put medical marijuana on ballot. The petition drive to implement the Michigan Fair Tax Proposal got underway, but it ultimately failed to get enough signatures. The Fair Tax Proposal would completely eliminate the Michigan Business Tax (MBT), personal property tax, the 6-mill business education tax and the Michigan Income Tax in favor of a 9.75 percent sales tax on goods, food and services purchased in Michigan.

MARCH
The year also saw the demise of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. In March, he laid out his vision for the City of Detroit in his seventh State of the City Address, but he inexplicitly marred an excellent speech to take shots at his critics, including TV stations, for what he called “a hate-filled, bigoted attack on his family” over the growing text-messaging scandal.

The Iraq war entered its fifth year and the 4,000th American soldier was killed in combat -- 169 of those from Michigan -- this month. Don Bortz of Waterford, who served a year in Iraq as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve, called out the media for its lack of coverage on the war.

APRIL
The U.S. Congressional race for Michigan’s 9th District between long time incumbent Joe Knollenberg, R- Bloomfield Hill, and Democratic challenger Gary Peters got underway in earnest. Peters went on to unseat Knollenberg in his bid for his 9th term in Congress.

In the first of many recall attempts that will crash and burn, the one against Rep. Robert Dean, D-Grand Rapids, is the first to publicly admit defeat and throw in the towel.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger was the featured speaker at the Livingston Democrats' 25th annual Edwin B. Winans Dinner put on by the Livingston County Democratic Party. Gettelfinger, who negotiated the historic labor contract with the big 3 automakers last year that included the union taking control of retiree health care costs, made national news this year in the fight to save U.S. automakers.

Rightwing wacko and conservative hero Rush Limbaugh continued to flirt with the law by urging his lemmings still voting in primaries to waste their vote by crossing over and voting for Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton because the GOP nominee has already been chosen. Limbaugh has labeled his perverting of the democratic process “Operation Chaos.” He took it a step further when he urged his listeners to incite riots at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

MAY
The workplace smoking ban was in the news this year. Iowa began the latest state to protect the health of innocent nonsmokers and enact an indoor smoking ban.

The Michigan Townships Association (MTA) joined in the growing chorus of people against the recall of primarily Democrats in the state House. The MTA called the attempted recall of Michigan House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, recall abuse. In its weekly Legislative Report, the bipartisan MTA headlined the brief that goes to elected officials across the state “recall abuse spreads to state level.” That call was echoed by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which never endorses a Democrat, calling it "counterproductive.” Even House Republicans got into the act, introducing House Resolution 358 that would "express the sense of the House that recalls should be based on specific misconduct, criminal activity, or abuse of office and should not be based on a single vote and to denounce the effort to recall Speaker Andy Dillon."

After more than a decade of debate, a smoking ban in Michigan workplaces, including bars and restaurants, was finally approved in the Senate by a vote of 25-12. The Senate approved a substitute to House Bill 4163 that calls for a total ban on indoor smoking in workplaces with no exceptions.

More than 600 people gathered at the Lansing Center for the Second Annual Michigan Policy Conference, sponsored by the Michigan Prospect. The all-day summit to featured breakout sessions, skills workshops and speakers, like author and journalist Amy Goodman and author and humorist Jim Hightower.

After 10 years of the workplace smoking ban not even getting a committee hearing, the House held its second vote on the ban. The Michigan House approved a smoking ban by a vote of 65-39 that put the exceptions for non-Native American casinos, bingo-halls and so-called “cigar bars” back into the bill. The House approved a substitute to House Bill 5074 and sent it to the Senate where it died.

The evidence keeps piling up that a workplace ban, including bars and restaurants, will be a good thing for public health and will help business and not hurt it. Grand Valley State University marketing professors Frederic Kraft and Suzeanne Benet have just concluded a study that shows non-smokers are more likely to go to a place that bans smoking and it’s less likely that a smoker will not go to a place simply because it bans smoking.

JUNE
Dave Dishaw, chair of the Kent County Republican Party, is claiming a weekend break in at their headquarters is the work of Democrats without an ounce of proof. What is even more predictable than a baseless allegation without proof, is he is using the incident as a fundraiser. Dishaw posted a letter on the web site saying, “We knew the Democrats would do anything to win, but we didn't expect this! For the first time in history, the Kent County Republican Headquarters was broken into, vandalized and burglarized.”
And what will make it all better for Dishaw, “Your contribution of $100, $50 or just $25 will help support our candidates and spread our conservative values across Kent County!”

A new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found the number and restrictiveness of state laws regulating smoking in private-sector worksites, including, restaurants and bars, increased substantially over the past three years. The analysis found the number of states with strong smoke-free laws tripled between December 31, 2004 and December 31, 2007. The report also says “eliminating smoking in indoor spaces is the only way to fully protect nonsmokers from second hand smoke exposure.” To that end, the CDC’s “A Healthy People 2010 objective” calls for establishing laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that make indoor public places and worksites completely smoke-free.

Another report that says indoor smoking bans are benefiting the health of people was released, this one from Italy. In just one year after Italy enacted a national smoking ban, researchers in Rome found an 11.2 percent reduction of acute coronary events in persons 35 to 64 years and a 7.9 percent reduction in those ages 65 to 74, according to a study in, “Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.”

Representatives from the Detroit International Bridge Company, the private company that owns the Ambassador Bridge, played hooky from the House Transportation Subcommittee that was anticipating taking testimony on the DRIC (Detroit River International Crossing) study. The lobbyist for the bridge company, Mickey Blashfield, and company president Dan Stamper were supposed to testify before the panel , but they opted out by sending a letter to Subcommittee Chair Rep. Lee Gonzales, D-Flint, in which he said it was "not possible to adjust pre-existing schedules and prepare further testimony,” according to the subscription only MIRS. But in a mid-day news conference, according to MIRS, Gonzales told reporters that he'd spotted Blashfield in the lobby of the House Office Building shortly after he'd adjourned the hearing.

In further bridge news, the Canadian government announced its decision on where it will locate a new Detroit to Windsor bridge in a press release from Transport Canada.
The Canadian crossing will be the Brighton Beach section in west-end Windsor, and the new crossing would alleviate frequent traffic jams and long delays on the Ambassador Bridge and through the Windsor-Detroit tunnel caused by the 17 traffic lights semi-trucks must go through in downtown Windsor to reach the highway. The Ambassador Bridge is the busiest commercial border crossing in all of North America.

Debates have long been a way for people to hear directly from the candidates, but only the Republicans choose to use it as a fundraiser. The Livingston County Teen Age Republicans (TAR) sponsored a candidate forum for the two open Michigan House seats, but they are charging you 5 bucks to attend the forum and hear from the candidates.

The Michigan political scene was a busy one in 2006

As the New Year approaches, this is right about the time we begin to see the Year in Review stories from our local newspapers. I must admit as a former staff reporter for a daily newspaper, often the only thing the year-in-review stores did was allow the newspaper extra copy while reporters and sources took the holidays off.

Back in the days when I was a staff reporter, one newspaper I worked for centered the staff holiday get together around picking the top stories of the current year as we prepared to do the annual year in review stories. We would list them all, and then we would come back and rank them.
I propose to do that here. Since this is a Michigan political and media blog, I would like to see nominations come from there. I have mine, and I would like to see some others. Here are my nominations in no particular order.

1. Governor wins big –Despite predictions of Gov. Granholm losing or this being one of the tightest governor races ever in the state, the governor won easily by 14 percentage points.

2. The Amway gut spends a record amount of money, much of it his own, in a vain and unsuccessful attempt to buy the governorship.

3. In March, the Legislature passes the new Minimum wage after years of Democratic efforts to help workers. The Republicans only got off the dime when they realized a successful petition drive to place the question on the ballot will increase Democratic voter turnout in November.

4. Democrats did what they hadn't been able to do since the 1996 election - reclaim control of the House. When the House convenes for the 94th Legislature, the chamber will sit 58-52 in favor of Democrats who enjoyed a wave of support for the party not only at the top of Michigan's ticket, but nationally as well.

5. The new $100 million Green Oak Village Place opened in November on Lee Road and U.S. 23, but the real news was the developer had to pay for the road improvements himself instead of the taxpayers. Rep. Chris Ward, R-Brighton, drafted an amendment to the law establishing a Downtown Development Authority that would have allowed the township to form a DDA just to benefit the mall to capture county tax revenue for road improvements. Luckily, Ward’s tax giveaway was caught, and the amendment was rescinded.

6. In one of the most cowardly acts of a Legislature that accomplished little in two years, the House voted 64-36 to repel the Single Business Tax early, leaving a $1.9 billon hole in lost revenue. The effects were immediately negative, and Standard & Poor's gave Michigan a negative outlook on its credit rating just hours after the State House and Senate voted to repel the SBT.

7. In August state Democrats gathered in Detroit’s Cobo Hall for a rousing two-day state convention. Those on the floor got the opportunity to witness a floor fight as the nominees for Attorney General and Secretary of State came down to an actual vote. Party insiders said they could not remember the last time that happened.