The 2010 list of Michigan Notable Books includes a famous author, a biography on Michigan’s most well-known rocker and the story if perhaps the most famous Michigan sporting event that changed how we watch college basketball in March.
As the smoke clears following the passage of the historic workplace smoking ban yesterday that includes bars and restaurants, it has been interesting to read all the congratulatory messages and the news report.
Not surprisingly, Livingston County’s Legislative delegation all voted against protecting the public [...]
LANSING -- Michigan bars and restaurants will be smoke free on May 1 after the Michigan House and Senate passed House Bill 4377 with a bipartisan vote on Thursday.
The compromise exempts Detroit’s three casinos and so-called cigar bars, but gaining approval of the same [...]
LANSING – House Democrats continue to eliminate barriers to voting and make it easier for residents to register to vote and to discharge their duty as U.S. citizens and vote.
On Wednesday the House Ethics and Elections Committee took testimony on two bills that will [...]
We should see rightwing bloggers making corrections and retractions after the news today that their favorite boogieman, ACORN, was cleared of any wrong doing in the infamous “pimp” video.
You would have to have been out of the country or dead not to have seen the hidden camera [...]
After some nine years of Mike Rogers in Congress, the only thing we know for sure about the Brighton Republican is that he toes the GOP line until its no longer popular to dos so. His press release on the stolen emails from the Climatic [...]
With news that the workplace smoking ban, that includes bars and restaurants, may move in the Michigan Legislature this week, opponents of the ban are ramping up efforts to put out their false information to kill what 38 other state already have.
Gongwer News Service is reporting that a deal on the workplace smoking ban that includes bars and restaurants proposed by Sen. Sen. Ron Jelinek, R-Three Oaks, may lead to the bill finally be taken up by the Senate this week.
LANSING – State Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, has stood up for consumers and the vulnerable in the Senate, and now she wants to use the power of the law to stand up for those taken advantage of as she stumps for the nomination [...]
Apparently, publicly seeking socialites Tareq and Michaele Salahi actually have an invitation to an event, but they are turning it down.
You will recall that they crashed the White House’s first state dinner on Nov. 24 where they managed to meet and have their photos taken with President Obama. [...]
It’s that time of year again, and national Jobs with Justice is seeking nominations for its 2009 “Scrooge of the Year” award. JwJ is looking to highlight the greediest, most cold-hearted company or person of the year. This is the 10th year of the contest, [...]
LANSING -- Today is not only the first day of December, but it also marks the day that the smoking ban in the largest tobacco growing state in the nation goes into effect.
Come out this Saturday and party with the party party as the Livingston County Democratic Party celebrates the holiday season with their annual potluck dinner.
The party is set for 4 p.m. Saturday Dec. 5 at the party headquarters, 10321 E. Grand River, Suite [...]
Families all across the nation will sit down this Thanksgiving to a feast of turkey and pumpkin pie and to watch the Lions beat Green Bay, and we visit with family members we only see on holidays.
Although they are becoming scarcer, you may find [...]
Long-time Speaker of the U.S. House Tip O'Neill coined the phrase “All politics is local,” and it has been my experience as a former community journalist that the more local the office, the more petty and quarrelsome it can be. Hamburg Township is a perfect example.
Like you, I love listening to liberal talk radio, when I can find it, but who are the best liberal talkers? The blog LTR: The Alternative Media Resource, is again running its annual contest to pick the top 10 liberal talk radio hosts.
The Citizen’s watchdog group Progress Michigan sent a letter last week to the U.S. Attorney for eastern Michigan calling for the U.S. Justice Department to conduct an independent investigation of allegations that Attorney General Mike Cox and the Detroit police may have obstructed an investigation [...]
I am accustomed to Republicans rooting against the country just so they can regain control of something they say they hate, but I’m a little surprised at their reaction over holding the trial for the accused mastermind of the September 11 attacks in New York [...]
California’s Proposition 8 - misnamed the California Marriage Protection Act - took rights away from committed gay couples that the rest of us enjoy by putting discrimination into the state Constitution with this line, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized [...]
Good news Saturday night when the U.S. Senate voted 60-39 to allow debate on the historic health care legislation.
The majority of Americans want health care reform -since President Roosevelt, Teddy that is, yet every single Republican voted to block debate. They didn’t necessarily [...]
Detroit Free Press columnist Brian Dickerson hit the nail on the head with his column on Thursday when he said politicians’ Jobs, Jobs, Jobs mantra is just a campaign slogan for many.
It’s good news that the University of Michigan’s Research Seminar In Quantitative [...]
The Livingston County Republicans opened another temporary campaign office, but like the other previous offices under various names, this one will be soon be gone, too.
The name they are using this time is, of course, an oxymoron: “The Livingston Fix Michigan office.” The best [...]
A recently released study by the non-partisan and non-profit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) confirmed what most people already know: that the poor and middle class pay the freight for government services.
It takes a certain kind of person to claim the answer to the epidemic of gun violence is more guns, but that’s the solution some 2nd Amendment zealots continue to push.
Every year in this country guns kill over 30,000 people, and 70,000 more [...]
There’s one thing for certain: if you want to keep a secret, don’t tell it to Pete Hoekstra.
Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, has a history of loose lips. Last February “Twitter” Pete revealed a secret congressional trip to Iraq on Twitter, [...]
The wind has gone out of the sails of the Astroturf teabaggers riled up by rightwing Washington, D.C. lobbying groups paid for by the insurance industry, but Republicans are trying to get it going again.
U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, will be in the [...]
I am impressed with the qualifications of Wayne State University law Professor Jocelyn Benson, a Democratic candidate for Michigan Secretary of State, but I have been reluctant to support her 100 percent until I see what other Democrats enter the race. But, a screechy [...]
Happy Veterans Day to my fellow Veterans, even to Eric B. over at Michigan Liberal. The Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) said it best in its Veterans Day message. Clearly, the Democratic Party has done more for the veterans who have served after they hung up [...]
All too often, Michigan residents have to go around the obstructionist Michigan Senate to get good legislation passed, and that is the case with legislation dealing the high cost of insurance redlining.
The Michigan Board of Canvassers approved ballot language on Monday for a petition [...]
Now that voters have recalled Hamburg Township Clerk Matt Skiba, a special election to fill the almost three years remaining of his term is set for Feb. 23.
Because it’s a special election because of a recall, there is no primary election to fill the partisan office, and [...]
I was not feeling too well about Tuesday’s election. But I tuned into her show on MSNBC on Wednesday, and she put it in proper perspective. Now, I’m looking forward to the election in 2010.
Another brief state government shutdown has illustrated what a disaster term limits are, and a recent survey proves people are fed up with the 14-year experiment.
The latest results from Michigan State University’s State of the State Survey - conducted by the Office for Survey Research in the [...]
The Livingston County Democratic Party is marking Veterans Day by honoring all military veterans and their families with a special luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Saturday Nov. 7 at the party headquarters, 10321 E. Grand River, Suite 600, Brighton.
I know lots of Republicans who as individuals are great people, but the Republican in them can’t stop them from engaging in the favorite GOP tactics: scare tactics. Livingston County Republican Sheriff Bob Bezotte is trying to get townships [...]
The Livingston County Republican Party is scraping the bottom of the barrel for people to speak at its annual Reagan Dinner this week. It has tapped “Sam the digital converter box promoter” to speak.
Sam - AKA “Joe the Plumber” AKA Samuel Wurzelbacher [...]
Supporters of Rep. Martin Griffin, D-Jackson, have been working hard to make up for the massive amount of money spent by his opponent to buy the vacant seat in the 19th state Senate seat with hard work.
It’s crunch time. The Nov. 3 Special Election for the vacant seat in the 19th State Senate District is less than a week away, and Michigan and Rep. Martin Griffin, D-Jackson, need our help.
The campaign is gearing up for the all important “get-out-the-vote,” and [...]
My friends at the Monroe County Democratic Party are grieving over the loss of their close friend and dedicated activitist Otis Henderson.
He suffered a very severe brain aneurysm on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, the doctors removed him from all equipment, except for the ventilator, [...]
Just in case there was any doubt cast on the U.S. Surgeon General’s and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) conclusion that there is no safe amount of second smoke and that it kills, the nonprofit, nongovernmental Institute of Medicine (IOM) confirmed that with a report [...]
I thought this crap blew up with the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City 14 years ago, but apparently it’s making a comeback with the election of President Barack Obama.
It must be terrible to cheer against your own country.
I’ll bet the right-wingers and the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus editorial board cheer for the Communist Chinese athletes during the Olympics. I’ll bet they cheered for the Russian Ice Hockey Team during [...]
I thought I had seen the height of hatred and the quest to get someone at any cost with the election of President Bill Clinton in 1992, but the election of President Obama has unleashed unprecedented levels of insane hatred.
With just 15 days left until the Nov. 3 Special election that will send Rep. Martin Griffin, D-Jackson, to the Michigan Senate to fill the 19th District seat vacated by the election of Congressman Mark Schauer, the Republicans are pulling out all the stops to capture [...]
I have been a Detroit Tiger fan since I was 9 years-old, and I really loved Tiger Stadium before that historic gem was destroyed in favor of a corporate stadium financed in large part by public money.
Residents of Southwest Detroit are outraged that Grosse Pointe billionaire and Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun has been named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Arab American Chaldean Council.
They are so outraged that they are sending a petition of protest to the Council, and [...]
LANSING – At least one Michigan lawmaker thinks protecting residents from deadly secondhand smoke is a little more important than being able to hang fuzzy dice from your rearview mirror.
Sen. Tupac Hunter brought up the fact that action on the workplace smoking ban has [...]
Now that the bulk of the budget bills are out of the way, it’s time for the Michigan Legislature to take action on the long overdue workplace smoking ban.
In a bit of great news, former State Representative Doug Spade, D-Adrian, formally announced today he is a candidate for the 16th District State Senate District that covers Lenawee, Hillsdale, Branch and St. Joseph Counties.
“With two government shut-downs in the past three years, [...]
It’s a little sad that in the important race for the vacant 19th District seat in the Michigan Senate next month there is only one, solitary head to head debate, but that’s the case in this important race.
As expected, Livingston County’s state Legislative delegation is toeing the Republican line on the budgets cuts that will devastate the state, but the comments of Rep. Bill Rogers, R, Brighton, are becoming screechy.
Just minutes after that the House adjoined on Tuesday after a marathon session that lasted until [...]
State Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, became the first Democratic candidate for Michigan Attorney General, according to a story in the Lansing State Journal.
According to the paper, she filed paperwork announcing her intention to run for state attorney general in 2010. She [...]
It was no surprise that Livingston County’s state Legislative delegation is against any new tax revenues to save essential programs, but the comments coming from them are still a little surprising.
The comments from freshman Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Brighton, were a little surprising. Rogers is a genuinely good guy [...]
If you’re tired of paying some of the highest auto insurance rates in the nation even you have never had an accident or even a traffic violation, then the place to be is at noon on Wednesday on the Capitol lawn to fight the practice [...]
“Community smoking bans have an immediate and dramatic effect on reducing heart attacks, according to two new analyses of laws in the USA, Canada and Europe,” says a story that appeared in USA Today this week.
“Two separate analyses released Monday each found that [...]
LANSING - There is little doubt that Sen. Bruce Patterson, R-Canton, is running for Michigan Attorney General, and because the nominee is chosen at the party convention, Patterson has been very busy playing to the base that has taken an extreme right turn.
Common sense says the primary job and responsibility of the Michigan Secretary of State is to ensure the ease and security of elections. Somebody better tell that to Sen. Michelle McManus, R-Lake Leelanau, one of the GOP candidates for Secretary of State.
LANSING – Diverse groups from the Michigan Municipal League (MML) to the Michigan Association of School Administrators expressed shock that House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford, agreed to use the all cuts budget proposed by Senate Republicans as targets for balancing the 2010 budget.
Join like minded Democrats and progressives this Saturday for the “Battle in Battle Creek” sponsored by the Justice Caucus for the first battle in the war to take back the Michigan Senate from the obstructionist Republicans.
LANSING – At least one Michigan Democratic Senator expressed his frustration at the Senate majority’s refusal to move any bills sponsored by a Democratic.
Sen. Ray Basham, D- Taylor, expressed that frustration Wednesday during the statement portion of the Senate session after bombastic Sen. [...]
We already know corporate money has fueled the attack on real health care reform by financing attacks on Democratic Congressman and paid huge expensive buses for fake demonstrations, but now they are going after an organization that is synonymous with fair elections and unbiased [...]
Rightwing whacko Glenn Beck will be the keynote speaker at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday Sept. 15 at the Kellogg Center on the campus at Michigan State University, 55 South Harrison in East Lansing, and the MSU College [...]
The body of radical anti-choice demonstrator James Pouillon was not even cold when a few Michigan rightwing bloggers were saying, ‘why isn’t the murder of Pouillon on Friday in Owosso receiving as much coverage as the murder of Kansas Dr. George [...]
A business group of 70 Michigan CEOs calling itself “Business Leaders for Michigan (BLFM)” says it has a plan that will turn Michigan around, but it will do it at the expense of the poor and middle class and line their pockets even more.
There are a few things you can count on in this world, rain in April, the Detroit Lions breaking your heart and rightwingers making a hero out of someone who makes an ass of themselves. The latest rightwing hero is U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina. [...]
LANSING -- If you were in the Senate gallery for the last two sessions of the Michigan Senate on Aug. 27 and Wednesday, you got to see another example of Senate Republicans calling out Democrats for something they routinely do.
LANSING -- Michigan State University economics Professor Charles Ballard dispelled the myths that the public employee system in Michigan is bloated and that state workers are overpaid and have Cadillac health care benefits.
In yet even more free publicity and promotion from the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus for the promotion of the big money, Anti-Obama partisan “Tea Party Express” bus tour sponsored by the rightwing “Our Country Deserves Better PAC that will be in Brighton today, the paper let’s [...]
“And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it.”
Only in the world of conservatives, can those words President Obama will say in a nationwide speech to students tomorrow be considered propaganda [...]
We have all seem the “tea baggers” disrupt health care townhall meeting put on my Democratic members of Congress, courtesy of scripts provided by the two rightwing Washington, D.C. lobbying groups that are behind the fake, Astroturf “tea parties,” but why haven’t we seen many town halls put on by [...]
Mike Rogers is a liar, but he is even taking the standard lie that the proposed health care reform plan will cancel your private health insurance and put everyone on Medicare, but he is even going farther and scaring senior citizens who love Medicare and telling [...]
