Tag Archives: checks and balances

Saying they “delayed our action plan,” Rick Snyder lays the blame for the Flint water disaster at the feet of “career civil servants” who cared more about process than people

By Mark | January 27, 2016

You have to give him credit for having chutzpah. It took him a few days, but our Governor, with he help of multiple consultants and a few top flight PR firms, is attempting not just to deflect blame for what happened in Flint, but actually turn the deadly public health crisis into an anti-government parable […]

Posted in History, Michigan, Observations, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged accountability, ALEC, bureaucrat, career civil servants, Cher, civil service, crisis communications, Dana Milbank, Emergency Manager, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, framing, individual responsibility, lead, lead poisoning, public employees, public health, public health emergency, public relations, Republican framing, revisionist history, Rick Snyder, water | 19 Comments

Rick Snyder, who spent his first six years in office laying waste to checks and balances, blames the Flint water crisis on the lack of sufficient checks and balances

By Mark | January 18, 2016

He’s still not as open as I’d like, but, based on the National Journal interview with Rick Snyder that was just posted, it would appear that our Governor is beginning to accept the fact that this isn’t just going to go away, and that he needs to start actually answering questions. I still don’t like […]

Posted in Michigan, Uncategorized | Also tagged Chris Buhalis, Emergency Manager, Flint, Flint River, lead, lead poisoning, Rick Snyder, threats to Democracy, water | 26 Comments

Senate Bill 652, which will likely be signed into law Friday, ensures that handpicked Republican judges will hear cases brought against the State by the citizens of Michigan

By Mark | November 7, 2013

Remember how, last winter, Michigan Republicans, flush with corporate money and well armed with legislation drafted in far right think tanks, set out to kill unions, and systematically roll back women’s rights, gay rights, and public education? Well, it would appear that they weren’t quite done… Unsatisfied with having just control over the House, Senate […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged coup d’état, Court of Appeals, Court of Claims, endgame, Gretchen Whitmer, Ingham County, Ingham County Circuit Court, legislative end run, Michigan Republican Party, Michigan Republicans, Michigan Supreme Court, NERD Func, Open Meetings Act, partisan politics, Rick Jones, Rick Snyder, Senate Bill 652, threats to Democracy | 13 Comments

State Representative Jeff Irwin on the illegal use of “immediate effect” by Republicans in Lansing

By Mark | April 7, 2012

Last night, I posted something about a procedural trick being employed by Michigan Republicans in Lansing in order to speed their legislation into effect, bypassing traditional waiting periods, in apparent violation of state law. As luck would have it, this morning, Jeff Irwin, one of the Democrats in the Michigan House who is leading the […]

Posted in Michigan, Politics | Also tagged Clinton Canaday, domestic partner benefits, immediate effect, Jeff Irwin, Kate Segal, loopholes, Mark Meadows, Michigan Constitution, Michigan House of Representatives, Rachel Maddow, Richard Hammel, Rick Snyder, Steven Lindberg, Woodrow Stanley | 8 Comments

Could it really be possible that 96% of the legislation passed by Michigan Republicans over the last year was implemented illegally?

By Mark | April 6, 2012

According to Rachel Maddow 544 laws passed by the Republicans under Snyder have likely been rushed into implementation in violation of state law. Someone correct me if I got any of this wrong, but here’s the gist of what I heard… Historically, there’s always been a lag in Michigan between the time when a law […]