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bfealk posted this on January 25th, 2012.  .
On Monday, Representative Tom McMillin held his monthly town hall meeting at Rochester Hills City Hall. A group of about 10 protesters also showed up confronting him about his proposed legislation HB 5039, a bill that would prohibit municipalities from passing ordinances that would protect gay, lesbian and transgendered individuals from discrimination.
Diane Young, a local financial planner attended the protest and said that the reason for the protest was that Representative McMillin, “Has been introducing a lot of hate legislation and we think he should stop and start working for Rochester.” Timothy Maurer was also in attendance and is a lifelong Republican. Maurer said he is opposed to HB 5039 and later Monday evening he introduced a resolution to the Rochester Hills City Council opposing HB 5039. “Mr. McMillin is using state money to pass this hate legislation,” Maurer said.
As Representative McMillin entered city hall on the way to his town hall meeting, the protesters shouted “Stop the hate. Shame on you.” McMillin ignored the protest as he entered the building.
Inside the town hall meeting things got heated between Representative McMillin and Rochester Hills resident Timothy Maurer and Ryan LeClair. Maurer told McMillin that his stance on gay and lesbian rights as expressed in HB 5039 is hurting his business by telegraphing to talented gay and lesbian job seekers see Michigan as a state that is unfriendly toward them. McMillin told Maruer, “I’m just merely agreeing with the ACLU and the others that it should be at the state level.”
The ACLU responded by saying, “The representative is mistaken that we are supportive of HB 5039 and we will clear this up with him. The proposed legislation raises a number of legal issues. Under Michigan’s constitution, municipalities have the right to “adopt resolutions and ordinance relating to its municipal concerns,” which clearly includes the right to pass human rights ordinances that provide for anti-discrimination protections. The ACLU stands for the full inclusion and rights of all Michiganders, including LGBT families.
Christine posted this on January 25th, 2012. Remember when Mike Bishop would go on tv and stomp his foot and complain about everything? “Michigan sucks! No one should come to Michigan! Everything sucks! This Governor sucks! And she has stupid hair!” He just made you feel bad about being in Michigan?
Remember that? Well based on what the Governor said at the #misots a few weeks ago, I thought those days were gone.
But you can always count on Nolan Finley and the Mackinac Center to pee in your cheerios.
Sources close to Raleigh Studios in Pontiac told me Wednesday that the owners have not made their required monthly escrow set-aside payments since October, and won’t have the money to meet their biannual bond obligation when it comes due Feb. 1.
…
That’s because the deal quarterbacked by former Gov. Jennifer Granholm in 2009 made the state employee pension funds the guarantor of the $18 million in bonds sold to help build the $80 million studio, located inside the abandoned facilities of the old General Motors Centerpoint truck complex
Here we go with the “sources close to …” He must be campaigning for a show on Fox “Sources say ..” News. But I digress.
So after the hand-off by Finley, The conservative Mackinac Center takes the ball and runs with it, using Finley’s article as basis for their own article titled “Michigan’s Solyndra.”
Insert eye roll.
The Republicans kill the business incentives, chase business away, and then call it Granholm’s failure. Even Senator Randy Richardville (barf) wasn’t comfortable with this:
“A few years ago we told some Michigan investors that if they invest in an industry that we would back them. And we gave them parameters and now we’ve changed that. We sent several businesses away that would help recoup that investment.”
There is no denying that Raleigh will miss it’s next payment. It expects to make its August payment as well as reimburse the pension fund, and it is in no danger of closing. The Republicans don’t tell you that part, nor do they tell you that Rick Snyder is defending the film credit cuts with faulty and disingenuous logic. The most glaring example: Snyder said it was better to fund Pure Michigan, because it has a higher return on investment than the film credits. What Snyder didn’t tell you is that Pure Michigan has been in action since 2006 and did not go national until Governor Granholm approved $45 million in funding in 2009.
 Good thing Snyder wasn’t in charge in 2006, or we wouldn’t have Pure Michigan either.
But Snyder must know that, as must Finley and of his like-minded goofballs at the Mackinac Center.
Meanwhile, Marvel Studios took The Avengers out of Detroit and went to Ohio, where they offer incentives up to 35%. And that’s not the only movie we lost.
If these were auto jobs, Republicans would be insisting that the workers make concessions so that Michigan would get the business. But since they are movie production jobs, Republicans are insisting that the employer has to “make their own business plan.”
This is just one more case of Republicans suffocating a new business and then using it as a political tool as it struggles to breathe. Meanwhile the rest of the film-making industry is looking at us wondering wtf we’re doing.
For the Republicans, Michibash just never gets old.
Christine posted this on January 25th, 2012. Note: This is part of an ongoing series on my interview with Dan Kildee. To view the series in its entirety, click here.
Fairly early on in the interview I asked Dan to speak about sustainable energy. Specifically I was interested in how we go about making America a green country when there are so many regulatory and resource differences between communities. The example I gave him was that I had once tried to put up a wind turbine at my place, but it cost thousands of dollars to tie into my electric system and I couldn’t afford it. Additionally, my township Supervisor wasn’t even sure if it was legal for me to put the pole up in my yard.
Dan’s response had multiple layers, from making the systems more affordable to creating national standards for certain pieces of the industries. The rest would be up to the states and local communities to figure out.
I had a few other questions along the lines of “how do we” and Dan stayed on that theme of letting the locals figure out what works for them. The federal government can be supportive, but they have to figure out what works for them.
Big red flags pop up in my head.
“So are you saying that the states and local governments should be working out their own problems, and the federal government has a minor supportive role in this?”
Nope. Not what he was saying at all.
“Clearly the federal government has to be involved in our national interests. For example, education is a national interest. We should have one standard for the entire nation. Wherever you go to school in this country you should get the same opportunity for education as you would anywhere else. This is a national interest to produce educated people.”
“Trade policy and the new economy are national interests. We have states that have to compete with one another for jobs. States shouldn’t be competing with each other, they should be finding ways to work together in regional projects, like sustainable energy.”
 Dan’s community work really shows through here. He is a firm believer that communities that are under water can help themselves and come up with long-term sustainable solutions, if they have a partner in the federal government.
I especially appreciated his comments on regional cooperation. How long has Michigan been competing with other states for jobs? As long as we compete with other states by lowering wages, we are in a race to the bottom. Indiana Republicans are pushing a Right to Work for Less law that Indiana Gov Mitch Daniels has promised to support: “Indiana gets dealt out of hundreds of new job opportunities because we have no right-to-work law.” Michigan Republicans are already using Indiana as an example to support their own RtWfL initiatives.
I wish this was on video because there was so much of this conversation that was just excellent. I know I’m not doing it justice.
Tomorrow: Education as a manufacturing policy
Visit Dan on the web at www.dankildee.com to sign up as a volunteer or make a donation to his campaign. You can also contribute through this site via the act blue widget on the right.
Chris Savage (aka Eclectablog) posted this on January 24th, 2012. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder took the unprecedented step of sending a personal letter (pdf) to the parents of the Highland Park school system.
Dear Parent,
As a parent of a Highland Park School District (HPS) student, you are probably aware of the dire financial situation that exists in HPS. Over the past few weeks, together with the Departments of Treasury and Education and a review team, we have been attempting to work with your local school officials to address this situation.
There is absolutely no question that the finances of HPS have reached a crisis stage. During the 2010-11 school year, HPS was $3 million over budget. Again this year, HPS fail to make its budget. On January 13, the district was unable to make its payroll for teachers and staff. In order to keep the schools open, the state forwarded an emergency advance totaling $188,000.
Recognizing the crisis, I authorized an independent financial review team to examine the school district’s finances. Since the release of the findings of this review team, projections show that HPS is in jeopardy of closing next month without immediate action.
Unfortunately, the district has appealed these findings and delayed efforts of the state to help fix these financial problems. We are not confident that the district can finish the school year without further state intervention and additional assistance. I am concerned about the welfare of the students at HPS and their educational opportunities. I am not willing to take a chance with your children. They are our number one priority.
One of Michigan’s most pressing responsibilities is ensuring that students have every opportunity to learn and succeed. I am committed to doing just that.
Students in HPS need to know that their community is behind them, that the state is committed to actively helping them learn, and parents can be excited about their future.
Please contact my office with any questions directly at 517-335-7858. I welcome and desire your involvement and feedback.
Sincerely,
Rick Snyder
Governor
Highland Park officials are indeed fighting back. They believe the state has made things more difficult for them and is not helping at all.
“The district does have a plan to alleviate the crisis — it’s called a Deficit Elimination Plan and it gives us targets to accomplish over a four-year period,” said Randy Lane, financial director for the district. He testified before state treasury officials and members of an independent review team, which determined a financial emergency exists at HPS.
“An emergency manager is not needed in Highland Park Schools,” Lane testified. “We have a competent staff that reflects the community that can solve problems.”
Lane said the state has been well aware of financial problems in the district dating to 2007, and district officials have reduced the budget by 48 percent since 2009.
But over the last year, Lane said the state chose to use “a heavy hand” with the district, pulling money back when enrollment came in lower than projected, denying a request to defer state aid to avoid cash shortages and losing federal dollars. Those actions created some of the district’s cash shortfalls, he argued.
“But no matter how hard we tried, the state decided not to work with us,” Lane said.
Governor Snyder’s letter is, in fact, a rather large load of hypocrisy. His claims that the school children of Michigan are his top priority are belied by the $1 billion in cuts to statewide school funding in his current budget, used to pay for a massive tax break for businesses. It’s one thing to be pro-business and have that be your top priority. It’s entirely another thing to lie about it.
School officials are justifiably outraged at Snyder’s letter.
District officials said the letter sends a deceptive message and could be taken as a warning to parents to get out of the district.
“If you were a parent this would be intended to scare you,” said Highland Park School Board Secretary Robert Davis. “This is unprecedented communication with the parents. Why wouldn’t you notify district officials?” [...]
Some parents said the letter did cause them to panic.
Snyder’s letter has one purpose: to get the parents of the Highland Park School District to tell school officials to back down and let the state come in to run their affairs. This situation is not primarily the result of mismanagement, it is the result of the fact that HPS student population has plummeted from around 3,000 to just over 1,000 in the past six years. Every student lost is money to the district lost and that is why they are struggling. Governor Snyder’s answer is to shove the elected officials aside to come in and run things their own way which will surely include outsourcing everything not nailed down and eviscerating the collective bargaining agreements of teachers and other school staff.
Can someone please alert the tea party? I think we have a Nanny State clean up in aisle two.
Cross-posted from Eclectablog.
Christine posted this on January 24th, 2012. I have just received word that Mike Huckleberry will be announcing his candidacy for the 70th District seat. He plans to announce this Saturday, 1/28/12, at Huckleberry’s in Greenville, at 11:30am. Senator Carl Levin, Representatives Roy Schmidt (76th) and Brandon Dillon (75th), and former 16 year Representative Bus Spanoila will be there. Senator Levin will be speaking.
Very awesome!!!
Chris Savage (aka Eclectablog) posted this on January 24th, 2012. Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has a problem. A Michigan Problem. It’s not just that he penned an op-ed for the New York Times calling for the bankruptcy of our domestic vehicle manufacturers. It’s not just that he then doubled down on that statement in one of the presidential debates. It’s not just that, as former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm put it, if he had been president in 2009, our state would be far worse off than it is now (and it ain’t in very good shape at the moment as it is.)
No, it’s also because just last December, he mocked the technology behind latest piece of awesomeness to come out of Detroit: the Ford Fusion.
What’s the Ford Fusion? Just the car that won Autoweek’s Best in Show vehicle at the Detroit International Auto Show a couple of weeks ago. It’s a plug-in hybrid electric car and it is beautiful.
What did Romney say about the technology that led to the creation of the plug-in hybrid electric car? THIS:
Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was born in Detroit, but critics say he’s turned his back on the industry that has long-defined the Motor City.
The latest example, they say, occurred last night when a caller on a Boston-area talk radio program asked Romney how he would describe the Chevrolet Volt.
“The Chevrolet Volt? Let’s see. An idea whose time has not come,” Romney said, chuckling.
To quote former GOP contender Rick Perry: Oops.
The impetus for the design and manufacture of these new hyper fuel-efficient vehicles are federal mileage standards that have been heavily promoted by the Obama administration. These cars also will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, another target for the Obama adminstration. Not missing an opportunity to kick Detroit once again, Romney has vowed to repeal these environmental standards, standards that are spurring innovation and the current success of our domestic auto companies, if he is elected.
The EPA wants to be able to get in and grab more power and basically try and move the whole economy away from oil, gas, coal, nuclear and push it into the renewables. Look, [...]
Christine posted this on January 24th, 2012. Note: This is part of an ongoing series on my interview with Dan Kildee. To view the series in its entirety, click here.
It’s funny that Chris blogged this yesterday,
Every once in a while you have to rise above principle and do the right thing.
because that ties right in with the topic for today.
One of the first things I asked Dan was how he planned to work with people who had such an extreme and rigid ideology. Let’s face it; it doesn’t matter what your values are if you can’t get anything accomplished. If we don’t take back the House and expand our hold on the Senate, Dan’s going to be boxed into a corner by the Republicans.
Dan’s answer:
“It’s not an ideology. It’s a narrow interest dressed up as an ideology. … Corporate profits do not make an equitable society. Profit doesn’t balance the budget and it doesn’t create jobs. We’ve been delivering profit for years. Where are the jobs? … to give our society to the wealthy, to the 1%, is just plain wrong.”
I’m sure Dan would be thrilled to see that Brian Calley agrees that right-wing “principles” are not right.
Dan spent a lot of time talking to me about how to align our tax policy and other national works with values such as education, equal opportunity, and fairness for everyone. Citizens United was a particular sticking point for Dan.
“To say that corporations are people is a sad statement. We have an unusually high number of people who feel disconnected from their government. It’s no coincidence that the right has been demonizing government and labor unions for so long. These are the institutions that give normal people the same opportunity as the wealthy.”
Without these institutions in a strong and healthy state, the nation has “fallen to the wealthy.”
You can’t spend your life working for community renewal, and not come to understand the damage that has been done by the Republican policies that siphon wealth and production away from our lower and middle classes. Progressives generally understand this, but I think [...]
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Michibash alive and well at Mackinac Center, Detroit News
Governor Snyder sends letter to Highland Park school parents: BE AFRAID!
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