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Michigan Politics: Dem Trifecta!!!

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  • LowHitPointsLowHitPoints Sword of the Afternoon MichiganRegistered User regular
    Protesters gather outside MI SoS home
    "The individuals gathered outside my home targeted me as Michigan's Chief Election officer. But their threats were actually aimed at the 5.5 million Michigan citizens who voted in this fall's election, seeking to overturn their will. They will not succeed in doing so."

  • MorganVMorganV Registered User regular
    Protesters gather outside MI SoS home
    "The individuals gathered outside my home targeted me as Michigan's Chief Election officer. But their threats were actually aimed at the 5.5 million Michigan citizens who voted in this fall's election, seeking to overturn their will. They will not succeed in doing so."

    Awesome is for the response by SecState, not the dumb dickhead fascists protesting.

  • LowHitPointsLowHitPoints Sword of the Afternoon MichiganRegistered User regular
    What I noticed from the article is the State Police not affirming whether or not the protesters were in fact armed, merely saying "there were reports of armed protesters". My guess is that there were firearms present.

  • JaysonFourJaysonFour Classy Monster Kitteh Registered User regular
    Infamous local sheriff: *files yet another stupid fucking election lawsuit challenging the results because he likes to kiss orange ass*

    Federal judge: Yeah, I don't think so, Dar.

    Bonus: Dar Leaf is the same shithead sheriff of Barry County that is on tape joining a bunch of militia-types- who would be later arrested while planning to kidnap and murder Michigan Governor (and all-around bad-ass) Gretchen Whitmer- at an anti-lockdown rally.

    He has apparently not taken the hint that the entire state would love to see him fuck off forever.

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  • lwt1973lwt1973 King of Thieves SyndicationRegistered User regular
    Grandstanding for the MAGA crowd so you can say you supported Trump in your next election is better than supporting our nation.

    Such Silly Geese. I know they are all from deep red districts now BUT I hope and pray with the new districting that comes they will all be booted out.

    "He's sulking in his tent like Achilles! It's the Iliad?...from Homer?! READ A BOOK!!" -Handy
  • wazillawazilla Having a late dinner Registered User regular


    Tweeter is a reporter with AP

    2021 is shaping up to be a fucking rollercoaster year

    Psn:wazukki
  • AngelHedgieAngelHedgie Registered User regular
    wazilla wrote: »


    Tweeter is a reporter with AP

    2021 is shaping up to be a fucking rollercoaster year

    They fucked around, and are about to find out.

    XBL: Nox Aeternum / PSN: NoxAeternum / NN:NoxAeternum / Steam: noxaeternum
  • monikermoniker Registered User regular
    The city finished replacing all of the lead service lines last year, victims were awarded $641m in settlement, and now, with luck, he gets to go to prison. That is more justice than I would have thought possible back in 2015. Too slow, but I honestly figured it would be never.

  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    Fucking phenomenal

    Is this Cindy McNessel’s doing?

    Michigan elected some kick ass women

  • quovadis13quovadis13 Registered User regular
    edited January 2021
    Snyder will Be charged with two counts of willful neglect of duty.. Misdemeanor with up to 1 year of jail or a small fine, so he’s going to end up getting fined at most probably. More details tomorrow.

    quovadis13 on
  • zagdrobzagdrob Registered User regular
    edited January 2021
    I can't believe this is actually going to and can happen. Snyder will never get set in a cell, his name isn't Kwame.

    But if this is real, I will maybe start to believe justice can win. It's not enough, but I expected nothing so anything is more than i hoped.

    zagdrob on
  • SummaryJudgmentSummaryJudgment Grab the hottest iron you can find, stride in the Tower’s front door Registered User regular
    zagdrob wrote: »
    I can't believe this is actually going to and can happen. Snyder will never get set in a cell, his name isn't Kwame.

    But if this is real, I will maybe start to believe justice can win. It's not enough, but I expected nothing so anything is more than i hoped.

    Snyder is charged with a number of misdemeanors, but the other defendants are charged with shit that will get you years after you plead down

    Some days Blue wonders why anyone ever bothered making numbers so small; other days she supposes even infinity needs to start somewhere.
  • ProhassProhass Registered User regular
    edited January 2021
    So as an Australian I’ve never really dug into the flint water crisis. Holy shit. The details are mind blowing. The implications horrendous.

    It also was like a preview of covid, of just an unaccountable group of people who have no incentive to look after their constituents beyond who directly votes for them, for their block, and just callously cause deaths through gross incompetence and malice of people they see as having no power over them.

    The fact that there was a successful referendum to stop the emergency appointments and repeal the law, and in response the legislature just made an even worse law that was immune to future referendums. Jesus Christ. That’s a fucking broken democracy

    I feel like a wilful neglect of duty that leads to kids getting fucking lead poisoning should be worth more than a misdemeanour. Also it was ongoing and prolonged wilful neglect, not one instance of like a fuck up or lapse in judgement

    Prohass on
  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited January 2021
    Michigan has a pretty robust referendum system, but it also has a ton of legislative cheat codes. I honestly can't remember the last time a meaningful referendum beyond local/county millages was actually enacted.

    My personal favorite, there was one on wolf hunting but since it named the previous law by code section the legislature preemptively put a second copy of the law somewhere else so only one could be repealed. This one was an especially funny one because it authorized widespread hunting of wolves in the lower peninsula, where wolves haven't lived for generations and SO MUCH political effort was expended on both sides of that farce.

    Our gay marriage ban was technically enacted but I still don't give credit because it was already banned TWICE and the referendum was moot out of the gate.

    Hevach on
  • MuzzmuzzMuzzmuzz Registered User regular
    I live across the border, but I always got the feeling that Flint got as bad as it did, because it was a city that no longer 'brought value' to Michagan. Had this incident happened back when it was a boom town, there would be no doubt that the government would bend over backwards to help, but because businesses and wealthy people fled after the collapse of the car industries (leaving behind the people who couldn't afford to move), they were content to ignore the place, especially as they already had Detroit to deal with.

  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    Even when Flint was a boom town, there was a distinct divide in which side of the river a problem had to be on to get fixed, and this was overwhelmingly on the north side.

  • MuzzmuzzMuzzmuzz Registered User regular
    Ah, I see. Most of my knowledge of Flint either comes from Michael Moore, (admittedly not the most unbiased of sources) or...my father's work union buddies, who got the heck out of Dodge the moment they retired. I'm going out on a limb and saying they all lived on the North Side.

  • JaysonFourJaysonFour Classy Monster Kitteh Registered User regular
    Whitmer has activated the Michigan National Guard ahead of expected chud protests this weekend. There’s also a six-foot high fence going up around the capitol building. I do believe they are done fucking around with these people.

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  • enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    Hooray, fortify all the things! Open democracy is for suckers.

    Biden's FBI better pursue these assholes to the ends of the earth so we can return these buildings to their rightful state.

    Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
  • mRahmanimRahmani DetroitRegistered User regular
  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    My hope is that the arrests around the 6th have removed key players and put the rest of god into the rest, so the state capitol and inauguration riots never happen.

    On the other hand, travel to state capitols is a lot less expensive than DC, so a lot more people will be able to go, which means more idiots who won't get the message until it comes from their arraigning judge.

  • JaysonFourJaysonFour Classy Monster Kitteh Registered User regular
    Several bowling alleys and roller rinks across the state have banded together to sue the Michigan government for "lost revenue".

    Essentially, they're equating the government shutting them down due to COVID to seizing their properties because suddenly none of them can raise enough in money to pay off their property taxes, and that's what happens when you can't pay your property taxes, so they want the state to pay them the money they would have made for the year if they'd remained open.

    I... don't really know what to think of this. I mean, I can understand being a little worried about property taxes, but "hey, we want a year's worth of profits because reasons" is kind of ridiculous. I mean, yeah, I feel for you guys, but shit is tough all over and you're not the only ones hurting, and maybe you ought to have saved some of that $$$ instead of just spending it all? I mean, you had an entire year to see this coming, it's not like it's the state's fault you don't know how to save and budget, guys...

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  • zagdrobzagdrob Registered User regular
    JaysonFour wrote: »
    Several bowling alleys and roller rinks across the state have banded together to sue the Michigan government for "lost revenue".

    Essentially, they're equating the government shutting them down due to COVID to seizing their properties because suddenly none of them can raise enough in money to pay off their property taxes, and that's what happens when you can't pay your property taxes, so they want the state to pay them the money they would have made for the year if they'd remained open.

    I... don't really know what to think of this. I mean, I can understand being a little worried about property taxes, but "hey, we want a year's worth of profits because reasons" is kind of ridiculous. I mean, yeah, I feel for you guys, but shit is tough all over and you're not the only ones hurting, and maybe you ought to have saved some of that $$$ instead of just spending it all? I mean, you had an entire year to see this coming, it's not like it's the state's fault you don't know how to save and budget, guys...

    I have a lot of sympathy for restaurants / entertainment venues in all of this because there's not much you can do to plan ahead for an entire year basically shut down. Most of those businesses are already barely getting by as is and the failure rates for those sorts of businesses even without COVID are astronomical.

    Some of it is certainly poor planning and mismanagement, but you can't put it just on them and I would hate to be in a position where I'm trying to figure out how to support / keep my employees, keep my business, and pay the bills that don't stop accruing just because you are shut down.

    This is why Trump failed everyone so badly - a more effective stimulus combined with better handling of the pandemic would have gotten these businesses open sooner and would have given them the support they needed to survive through it. People would be less desperate and lashing out because as scary as COVID is, facing destitution and losing a business you poured your blood sweat and tears into is much more concrete. It doesn't excuse the businesses that ignore the bans but it makes it more understandable.

    Really the state / localities should be working with these businesses to forgive or defer tax bills until they can get back on their feet, but again the municipalities are also hurting right now with their budgets being gutted by COVID and states lack the tools they need to offer real relief not just in Michigan.

    It's basically all a shit show that goes back to the Trump administration's stunning incompetence.

    But expecting the state to make up for a year of lost profits instead of offering some support and assistance is nuts.

  • lwt1973lwt1973 King of Thieves SyndicationRegistered User regular
    I signed up for the vaccine as I'm a "essential worker" but I'm in Phase 1B so who knows when exactly I'll get the call/email/text. I've heard that last count there were at least 20,000 people ahead of me in my county and I know I'll get understandably bumped for Phase 1A people. I've also heard from some people that Spectrum Hospital execs got the vaccine ASAP but that's not making any of the news.

    I still want to know why Gordon resigned abruptly as that's very strange. Usually it's because something bad happened under their watch or they disagree with something.

    "He's sulking in his tent like Achilles! It's the Iliad?...from Homer?! READ A BOOK!!" -Handy
  • zagdrobzagdrob Registered User regular
    lwt1973 wrote: »
    I signed up for the vaccine as I'm a "essential worker" but I'm in Phase 1B so who knows when exactly I'll get the call/email/text. I've heard that last count there were at least 20,000 people ahead of me in my county and I know I'll get understandably bumped for Phase 1A people. I've also heard from some people that Spectrum Hospital execs got the vaccine ASAP but that's not making any of the news.

    I still want to know why Gordon resigned abruptly as that's very strange. Usually it's because something bad happened under their watch or they disagree with something.

    I'm speculating based on the timing, but I suspect it's related to the B.1.1.7 variant outbreak and disagreement about how to handle it. Having the state put UM athletics on the two week hold the following day seems to be quite a coincidence.

    There is so much going on it could be just about anything though, from disagreements over vaccines to Gordon being overwhelmed and needing a rest.

  • lwt1973lwt1973 King of Thieves SyndicationRegistered User regular
    House GOP plan threatens to withhold school funds — unless Whitmer gives up pandemic power.

    Seeing that they can't legislate a solution to anything, Republicans are now saying that won't give federal funds to Michigan schools UNLESS the governor gives all the pandemic closing power for schools and sports to the local health departments. Also the governor would have to report to the legislature before receiving any federal funds.

    Should I be surprised by this petty and vindictive plan? Yes.

    Am I surprised by this petty and vindictive plan? No.

    "He's sulking in his tent like Achilles! It's the Iliad?...from Homer?! READ A BOOK!!" -Handy
  • XaquinXaquin Right behind you!Registered User regular
    lwt1973 wrote: »
    House GOP plan threatens to withhold school funds — unless Whitmer gives up pandemic power.

    Seeing that they can't legislate a solution to anything, Republicans are now saying that won't give federal funds to Michigan schools UNLESS the governor gives all the pandemic closing power for schools and sports to the local health departments. Also the governor would have to report to the legislature before receiving any federal funds.

    Should I be surprised by this petty and vindictive plan? Yes.

    Am I surprised by this petty and vindictive plan? No.

    wouldn't withholding those funds have to be approved by the governor?

  • JaysonFourJaysonFour Classy Monster Kitteh Registered User regular
    lwt1973 wrote: »
    House GOP plan threatens to withhold school funds — unless Whitmer gives up pandemic power.

    Seeing that they can't legislate a solution to anything, Republicans are now saying that won't give federal funds to Michigan schools UNLESS the governor gives all the pandemic closing power for schools and sports to the local health departments. Also the governor would have to report to the legislature before receiving any federal funds.

    Should I be surprised by this petty and vindictive plan? Yes.

    Am I surprised by this petty and vindictive plan? No.

    No, you shouldn’t be surprised by this at all, because they attached $415 million in “grants to businesses negatively affected by the pandemic” that I imagine are going to their donors and lobbyist buddies- great big ol’ hunks of pork marked for “small businesses” that have highrise offices and thousands of workers, with actual small businesses lucky to get a few hundred bucks.

    There’s also this wonderful little gem buried in the article:

    The lawmakers also initially would provide only $22 million in federal funds to speed up vaccination efforts, despite repeatedly criticizing Whitmer and her administration for the rocky rollout.

    The $3.2 billion plan is more than $2 billion less than a plan presented by Whitmer recently. But the House plan also relies heavily on federal funds already approved and allocated for Michigan to speed up the COVID-19 vaccination efforts, increase testing and otherwise battle the pandemic.

    Albert argues the governor cannot be trust to use these funds in a suitable fashion. In addition to bartering with federal education funds, his plan would only allow the state to receive its full allotment of COVID-19 funding "when they are needed."

    “The governor simply wants a blank check to continue a broken vaccine rollout strategy. Our plan requires transparency and accountability, forcing the administration to start delivering results. It’s in everyone’s best interests for the Legislature to be heavily involved in the state’s COVID-19 recovery plan – and we’re getting involved," Albert said.


    This is the same legislative body that thought PSAs to encourage hand washing were the only anti-pandemic countermeasure that needed to be taken, who refuses to pass a mask mandate, and is stomping their feet and holding their breath because they want to open schools to before-times with full contact everything.

    They also got wined and dined by a former orange ex-president to help him overthrow the election, so I imagine there’s also election sour grapes in there too.

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  • INeedNoSaltINeedNoSalt with blood on my teeth Registered User regular
    zagdrob wrote: »
    But expecting the state to make up for a year of lost profits instead of offering some support and assistance is nuts.

    Wasn't there a multi-trillion dollar bill whose function was to buoy businesses through the covid shutdowns and enable them to support pay their employees through it?

    I get that most of it was stolen in untraceable giveaways or whatever but I imagine we could do it again and run it a little more honestly. I guess. I don't know how many Bonus Trillions the US can keep pulling out of thin air but it seems like we've had a bunch handy.

  • PolaritiePolaritie Sleepy Registered User regular
    zagdrob wrote: »
    But expecting the state to make up for a year of lost profits instead of offering some support and assistance is nuts.

    Wasn't there a multi-trillion dollar bill whose function was to buoy businesses through the covid shutdowns and enable them to support pay their employees through it?

    I get that most of it was stolen in untraceable giveaways or whatever but I imagine we could do it again and run it a little more honestly. I guess. I don't know how many Bonus Trillions the US can keep pulling out of thin air but it seems like we've had a bunch handy.

    The US can pull quite a lot of money out of nowhere if it wants to. See all the money burned in the Middle East the last twenty fucking years.

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  • chrisnlchrisnl Registered User regular
    Polaritie wrote: »
    zagdrob wrote: »
    But expecting the state to make up for a year of lost profits instead of offering some support and assistance is nuts.

    Wasn't there a multi-trillion dollar bill whose function was to buoy businesses through the covid shutdowns and enable them to support pay their employees through it?

    I get that most of it was stolen in untraceable giveaways or whatever but I imagine we could do it again and run it a little more honestly. I guess. I don't know how many Bonus Trillions the US can keep pulling out of thin air but it seems like we've had a bunch handy.

    The US can pull quite a lot of money out of nowhere if it wants to. See all the money burned in the Middle East the last twenty fucking years.

    Only when it benefits the already rich, though. (Spoiler, it always benefits the rich though sometimes it might accidentally benefit the poor along the way)

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  • lwt1973lwt1973 King of Thieves SyndicationRegistered User regular
    Xaquin wrote: »
    lwt1973 wrote: »
    House GOP plan threatens to withhold school funds — unless Whitmer gives up pandemic power.

    Seeing that they can't legislate a solution to anything, Republicans are now saying that won't give federal funds to Michigan schools UNLESS the governor gives all the pandemic closing power for schools and sports to the local health departments. Also the governor would have to report to the legislature before receiving any federal funds.

    Should I be surprised by this petty and vindictive plan? Yes.

    Am I surprised by this petty and vindictive plan? No.

    wouldn't withholding those funds have to be approved by the governor?

    It's all part of the legislation that they want her to approve. It's blackmail in the form of them saying the government is mismanaging the funds they get so the state government should have to report on why they get it before they get it. They're just double down on government/governor bad after the election. I can't even imagine the primaries that are going to happen on the Republican side.

    "He's sulking in his tent like Achilles! It's the Iliad?...from Homer?! READ A BOOK!!" -Handy
  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    Polaritie wrote: »
    zagdrob wrote: »
    But expecting the state to make up for a year of lost profits instead of offering some support and assistance is nuts.

    Wasn't there a multi-trillion dollar bill whose function was to buoy businesses through the covid shutdowns and enable them to support pay their employees through it?

    I get that most of it was stolen in untraceable giveaways or whatever but I imagine we could do it again and run it a little more honestly. I guess. I don't know how many Bonus Trillions the US can keep pulling out of thin air but it seems like we've had a bunch handy.

    The US can pull quite a lot of money out of nowhere if it wants to. See all the money burned in the Middle East the last twenty fucking years.

    Notably though, the federal government can do that but the state government cannot.

  • ButtersButters A glass of some milks Registered User regular
    zagdrob wrote: »
    But expecting the state to make up for a year of lost profits instead of offering some support and assistance is nuts.

    Wasn't there a multi-trillion dollar bill whose function was to buoy businesses through the covid shutdowns and enable them to support pay their employees through it?

    I get that most of it was stolen in untraceable giveaways or whatever but I imagine we could do it again and run it a little more honestly. I guess. I don't know how many Bonus Trillions the US can keep pulling out of thin air but it seems like we've had a bunch handy.

    If we accept what you are saying at face value this still leaves issues.

    A) The shutdowns have lasted much longer than originally expected and the size of that bill reflects that. Maybe we should have known better but many people at all levels and on all sides imagined a more normal world by Fall 2020.

    B) Paycheck Protection and the forgivable loans help the employees and the businesses but they don't take into account sales tax revenue which is essential for any state to operate. Most states can't deficit spend like the federal government can.

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  • lwt1973lwt1973 King of Thieves SyndicationRegistered User regular
    Some on the MSP have been using Signal on their state issued phones.

    Signal encrypts messages so no one can see what you text at all. It came to light during a whistleblower lawsuit and the MSP types didn't turn over much so people got suspicious. When you download Signal and you give access to your contact list, you can see who on your contact list has the app. "Someone" did this for the Free Press and saw that 12 MSP types have the app.

    I love the MSP response:
    "For your background, I would note that the screenshots are based on the individual’s contact list in their phone," Banner said. "Therefore, it would only be as accurate as their contact list."

    *laugh* So these phone numbers might be wrong? Whatever.

    "He's sulking in his tent like Achilles! It's the Iliad?...from Homer?! READ A BOOK!!" -Handy
  • JaysonFourJaysonFour Classy Monster Kitteh Registered User regular
    The sky is blue, the snow is cold, Michigan Republicans refuse to give the governor anything while they throw a tantrum over her pandemic powers.

    They seem content to sit there and hold their breath while they demand they be given the power to screw the health of everyone in the state.

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  • enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    Both of our Democratic Senators voted for an amendment to block COVID relief money from going to undocumented immigrants. So phone calls tomorrow.

    Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
  • Captain InertiaCaptain Inertia Registered User regular
    Both of our Democratic Senators voted for an amendment to block COVID relief money from going to undocumented immigrants. So phone calls tomorrow.

    What in the god damn hell

  • JaysonFourJaysonFour Classy Monster Kitteh Registered User regular
    Oh, brother. One of Michigan's biggest embarrassments is at it again.

    Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf- the same one who took the stage with the bunch later arrested for plotting to kidnap and kill Governor Whitmer- is at it again:

    "We've already seen the tyranny that has been happening with government orders since the whole COVID-19 thing started. With Joe Biden as President, it's time for patriots to become educated on the constitution and their rights and begin standing up and taking action," Leaf wrote on his campaign Facebook page.

    The group behind it is pretty much what you would expect- mega-pro gun, mega-MAGA chuds, activists pushing a bunch of COVID misinformation, and believes that local governments supersede state and federal governments in powers and authority. Sheriff Leaf was a fucking featured speaker at their 2020 conference.

    But don't look to the Michigan Sheriff's Association to do anything about it: they don't condone or endorse the course being offered, but they're not going to do much more than that.

    How is the FBI not crawling in and out of this man's orifices for something like this? Just that Facebook quote ought to be enough to get him on the damn radar.

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