Sen. Debbie Stabenow has been standing up for us in Washington, D.C., for years now -- fighting for children, women, and working people. Just recently, she demanded that members of Congress forfeit their pay if they failed to avoid a government shutdown. There has been no stronger voice against the Republican extremists than Debbie Stabenow.
So you won't want to miss a chance to hear Senator Stabenow right here in Livingston County. Senator Stabenow is the featured speaker at the Livingston County Dems' annual Winans Dinner on Friday, May 20, at Lakelands Golf and Country Club, 8760 Chilson Road, in Hamburg Township.
The event begins at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets are $50 at the early bird rate, good through May 9, and $60 after that and at the door. Student tickets are available at $20. The price includes snacks, cash bar, dinner, and a silent auction.
Come hear Senator Stabenow update us on the battles in Washington to preserve Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, programs to protect women's health, and other progressive priorities.
You can reserve your tickets by calling Livingston County Democrats' headquarters at (810) 229-4212 or emailing the party at livcodems@sbcuc.net. You also can mail a check to Livingston County Democrats, 10321 Grand River Road, Suite 600, Brighton, MI 48116. Be sure to tell us how many tickets you would like and the names of the attendees.
Don't wait! Reserve now to hear Senator Stabenow right here in Livingston County!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Some People Find It Easier to be 'Positive'
Rick Snyder has some guts.
Since taking office, he has done nothing but beat up on teachers, police, firefighters, prison guards, and other people we hire to do the public's business.
In his spare time, he beats up on poor people and retired people who worked all their lives and now are drawing a pension. And then he squeezes in a little extra time to cut off unemployment benefits for people out of work more than 20 weeks. That will include the hundreds of people who will lose their jobs at retail stores due to his repeal of the item pricing law that lets people know the price of what it is they are buying.
And now he has the nerve to tell us that Michigan's problem is that we aren't "positive" enough.
Here's what he told the Lansing State Journal:
"Snyder said a key problem in the state has been a negative, self-defeating attitude that doesn't champion the state's strengths. As a result, he said, he's been spending much of his time pushing his 'relentlessly positive' message to overcome that."
Yeah, I guess if you've been out of work, had your house foreclosed on, and seen your unemployment benefits run out, you might have a little bit of a negative attitude.
But if you're a multi-millionaire living in a huge house in Ann Arbor, totally insulated from any economic problems and immune from any of the tax increases you are proposing for other people, you might find it a little bit easier to be "relentlessly positive."
Or you might just be out of touch.
Since taking office, he has done nothing but beat up on teachers, police, firefighters, prison guards, and other people we hire to do the public's business.
In his spare time, he beats up on poor people and retired people who worked all their lives and now are drawing a pension. And then he squeezes in a little extra time to cut off unemployment benefits for people out of work more than 20 weeks. That will include the hundreds of people who will lose their jobs at retail stores due to his repeal of the item pricing law that lets people know the price of what it is they are buying.
And now he has the nerve to tell us that Michigan's problem is that we aren't "positive" enough.
Here's what he told the Lansing State Journal:
"Snyder said a key problem in the state has been a negative, self-defeating attitude that doesn't champion the state's strengths. As a result, he said, he's been spending much of his time pushing his 'relentlessly positive' message to overcome that."
Yeah, I guess if you've been out of work, had your house foreclosed on, and seen your unemployment benefits run out, you might have a little bit of a negative attitude.
But if you're a multi-millionaire living in a huge house in Ann Arbor, totally insulated from any economic problems and immune from any of the tax increases you are proposing for other people, you might find it a little bit easier to be "relentlessly positive."
Or you might just be out of touch.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Too Many Schools for Too Few Students
At a time when Rick Snyder is telling everybody except rich people and business owners that Michigan needs "shared sacrifice," one area of possible savings is consistently being overlooked.
Charter schools.
This experiment has drained 100,000 students from Michigan's traditional public schools, contributing to the deficits many of them face, which will get worse under Rick Snyder's cuts to school aid, even as the school aid fund has a $600 million surplus.
The idea was that charter schools would provide competition and improve achievement. They've provided competition for students, but have done nothing to improve achievement. Charter school students do no better than public school students and they take money away from traditional public schools, dragging down achievement levels there.
The available tax dollars are being spread over more and more school buildings, each with its own overhead. In fact, a recent report forecasting that 150 public schools face deficits included many charter schools.
Even as Snyder calls for more and more consolidation of local governments and services, he has said absolutely nothing about consolidating charter schools back into traditional public schools. Could it be because their teachers are mostly non-union and lower paid?
On top of that, the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools wants to turn dozens of traditional public schools into charter schools to help solve the district's financial problems. How does that solve anything? If there are too few students for the number of schools -- due to the creation of many charter schools -- why does creating more charter schools solve that problem?
We're not getting anything for the money taxpayers are dumping into the schools. It is time to begin reigning in this failed experiment and not expand it.
Charter schools.
This experiment has drained 100,000 students from Michigan's traditional public schools, contributing to the deficits many of them face, which will get worse under Rick Snyder's cuts to school aid, even as the school aid fund has a $600 million surplus.
The idea was that charter schools would provide competition and improve achievement. They've provided competition for students, but have done nothing to improve achievement. Charter school students do no better than public school students and they take money away from traditional public schools, dragging down achievement levels there.
The available tax dollars are being spread over more and more school buildings, each with its own overhead. In fact, a recent report forecasting that 150 public schools face deficits included many charter schools.
Even as Snyder calls for more and more consolidation of local governments and services, he has said absolutely nothing about consolidating charter schools back into traditional public schools. Could it be because their teachers are mostly non-union and lower paid?
On top of that, the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools wants to turn dozens of traditional public schools into charter schools to help solve the district's financial problems. How does that solve anything? If there are too few students for the number of schools -- due to the creation of many charter schools -- why does creating more charter schools solve that problem?
We're not getting anything for the money taxpayers are dumping into the schools. It is time to begin reigning in this failed experiment and not expand it.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Is Snyder Going to Let Business Have It Both Ways?
Everybody knows about Rick Snyder's plan to let most businesses get away with paying no taxes in Michigan while shoveling the burden onto poor people and retirees, with no guarantee that the state will get anything in return.
Snyder claims that businesses will automatically flock to the state and create thousands of jobs -- not that any of those jobs would help retirees, of course.
As part of that deal, Snyder was supposed to get rid of the incentives that required businesses to actually produce jobs in return for getting the credits.
Except now it looks like he's waffling on that. According to the Detroit Free Press, economic development groups are telling the Snyder administration that they can't compete with other states that offer incentives. So it looks like the Snyder administration will raise the $50 million limit it wants to put on incentives.
Which means businesses will get the benefit of low or no taxes, plus incentives. All paid for by somebody else.
Who said there's no such thing as a free lunch?
Snyder claims that businesses will automatically flock to the state and create thousands of jobs -- not that any of those jobs would help retirees, of course.
As part of that deal, Snyder was supposed to get rid of the incentives that required businesses to actually produce jobs in return for getting the credits.
Except now it looks like he's waffling on that. According to the Detroit Free Press, economic development groups are telling the Snyder administration that they can't compete with other states that offer incentives. So it looks like the Snyder administration will raise the $50 million limit it wants to put on incentives.
Which means businesses will get the benefit of low or no taxes, plus incentives. All paid for by somebody else.
Who said there's no such thing as a free lunch?
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Come Help Livingston Dems Clean Up County Roadside!
Spring is on its way and that means spring cleaning -- especially on our roadsides.
Livingston County Democrats will participate in the Michigan Department of Transportation's roadside cleanup program again this year. The spring cleanup date is set for Sunday, April 10, with a rain date of Sunday, April 17.
Volunteers meet at 8 a.m. in the parking lot of the Ironwood Golf Course, 6900 East Highland Road, Howell, to pick up litter along a two-mile stretch of M-59. Bring work gloves and wear sturdy shoes. The party will furnish safety vests and pick up sticks.
The winter's accumulation of litter can be daunting, but a drive-by inspection shows this spring's pile is not too bad. A good turnout of volunteers will make the work go faster.
And the best part is having breakfast together afterward.
This is a long-standing tradition for Livingston County Democrats. In 2010, the party marked its 25th year of cleaning up this portion of the county.
Livingston County Democrats will participate in the Michigan Department of Transportation's roadside cleanup program again this year. The spring cleanup date is set for Sunday, April 10, with a rain date of Sunday, April 17.
Volunteers meet at 8 a.m. in the parking lot of the Ironwood Golf Course, 6900 East Highland Road, Howell, to pick up litter along a two-mile stretch of M-59. Bring work gloves and wear sturdy shoes. The party will furnish safety vests and pick up sticks.
The winter's accumulation of litter can be daunting, but a drive-by inspection shows this spring's pile is not too bad. A good turnout of volunteers will make the work go faster.
And the best part is having breakfast together afterward.
This is a long-standing tradition for Livingston County Democrats. In 2010, the party marked its 25th year of cleaning up this portion of the county.
Mike Rogers Knows Better Than This, Doesn't He?
Mike Rogers has been in Congress for a decade now, so we can assume that he knows how a bill becomes a law, even though he has succeeded in pushing through few major pieces of legislation himself.
But he should have figured out how the process works just by watching other people do it.
So it's disappointing that he voted for a measure that so blatantly violates the U.S. Constitution -- the preposterously named "Government Shutdown Prevention Act."
The bill claims that if the Senate fails to pass a bill to keep the government running, the version already passed by the House would automatically become law.
This, of course, is contrary to the Constitution, which Republicans like Mike Rogers told the tea baggers they love so much.
Surely Mike Rogers knows the House just can't pass a measure and declare it law without the Senate passing the identical bill and the president signing it. Does he think Michigan voters are so stupid that they don't know how a bill becomes a law? Does he think Michigan voters just wouldn't notice? Is he counting on the news media being so lazy that they won't bother to point out what he did? (Always a good bet, BTW.)
Mike Rogers' vote is an utter lie and a massive insult to Michigan voters.
But he should have figured out how the process works just by watching other people do it.
So it's disappointing that he voted for a measure that so blatantly violates the U.S. Constitution -- the preposterously named "Government Shutdown Prevention Act."
The bill claims that if the Senate fails to pass a bill to keep the government running, the version already passed by the House would automatically become law.
This, of course, is contrary to the Constitution, which Republicans like Mike Rogers told the tea baggers they love so much.
Surely Mike Rogers knows the House just can't pass a measure and declare it law without the Senate passing the identical bill and the president signing it. Does he think Michigan voters are so stupid that they don't know how a bill becomes a law? Does he think Michigan voters just wouldn't notice? Is he counting on the news media being so lazy that they won't bother to point out what he did? (Always a good bet, BTW.)
Mike Rogers' vote is an utter lie and a massive insult to Michigan voters.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
GOP, Snyder Misdirection Hides Who REALLY Is Overpaid in This Economy
Rick Snyder and his fellow Republicans have been so busy attacking public employees like police officers, firefighters, and teachers for making too much money and failing to make any sacrifices during the economic downtown that the public is missing the real scandal.
Let's look at some facts. The public sector -- that's government -- has been shedding jobs for months, even as the private sector has been adding them. Take a look at the most recent jobs report.
"Overall, the private sector added 230,000 jobs. But local governments continued to struggle, shedding 14,000 jobs in March. Still, that was a major improvement over the 46,000 government jobs lost in February."
So the Republicans are lying when they say government is growing and public employees are insulated from bad economic times. It's just not true.
Meanwhile, the state of Michigan is having to pay millions to a consulting firm because the salaries it pays computer specialists are too low -- $12,000 less than the jobs they can get in the private sector. The state doesn't even bother advertising for them anymore because the pay gap is so great.
This only makes sense in Rick Snyder's world, where Michigan wastes money by overpaying a private company rather than pay a competitive wage to state employees because state employees are "overpaid."
But by using false accusations to keep the focus on public employees, Snyder and Republicans divert attention from the people who are really being overpaid -- CEOs.
Just look at the 27 percent increase in CEO pay during 2010.
Those aren't the people being asked to share in any of the sacrifices Rick Snyder proposes.
Let's look at some facts. The public sector -- that's government -- has been shedding jobs for months, even as the private sector has been adding them. Take a look at the most recent jobs report.
"Overall, the private sector added 230,000 jobs. But local governments continued to struggle, shedding 14,000 jobs in March. Still, that was a major improvement over the 46,000 government jobs lost in February."
So the Republicans are lying when they say government is growing and public employees are insulated from bad economic times. It's just not true.
Meanwhile, the state of Michigan is having to pay millions to a consulting firm because the salaries it pays computer specialists are too low -- $12,000 less than the jobs they can get in the private sector. The state doesn't even bother advertising for them anymore because the pay gap is so great.
This only makes sense in Rick Snyder's world, where Michigan wastes money by overpaying a private company rather than pay a competitive wage to state employees because state employees are "overpaid."
But by using false accusations to keep the focus on public employees, Snyder and Republicans divert attention from the people who are really being overpaid -- CEOs.
Just look at the 27 percent increase in CEO pay during 2010.
Those aren't the people being asked to share in any of the sacrifices Rick Snyder proposes.
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