Party on the Peninsulas

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The WØRD – “Dictatorship”

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From the Chair

Donald Trump said it out loud: yes, he wants to be a dictator. (But he “promises” it would only be for a day.)

Michigan Democratic Party chair Lavora Barnes

This comes in the same week that one of the nation’s most conservative politicians, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney (Dick Cheney’s daughter!), said she had no doubt that if Trump is returned to the Oval Office he will not leave, and that he’s unfit to serve. She sees Trump moving in the direction of the dictators he calls “friend.” In their world, elections are meaningless: the results are pre-determined. It’s worked that way in Putin’s Russia, Xi’s China, Khomeini’s Iran and Erdogan’s Turkey.

Also in the last week: “The Atlantic” magazine has taken the unprecedented step of devoting its entire January/February issue to 24 essays on how a Trump-run anti-democracy government would change all of our lives. 

Trump has already told us a lot about his plans:

  • He would abolish freedom of the press, putting NBC and MSNBC on trial for treason; 
  • Demolish civil service and load up the federal government with pre-screened Trump worshipers;
  • Give lifetime federal court appointments to right-wing extremists pre-screened by the secretive Federalist Socity;
  • Repeal Obamacare, something we discussed in last week’s podcast;
  • Use the Justice Department and FBI against his political enemies; 
  • Use the military to shut down peaceful protests, just as he did in his first term when soldiers were brought in to end a peaceful D.C. demonstration;
  • And he would pardon many, if not all of the hundreds convicted for the January 6 insurrection including the leaders who were convicted of insurrection.

Imagine having someone like Rudy Guiliani as Attorney General and Sheriff David Clarke of Wisconsin running the FBI, both charged with investigating and jailing Trump’s political opponents beginning with Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and Adam Schiff. Imagine having General Michael Flynn, a convicted felon, as Secretary of Defense or head of Homeland Security.

The Trump agenda is being written by right-wing extremists now. The New York Times reported in July that “Trump and his allies are planning a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government if voters return him to the White House in 2025, reshaping the structure of the executive branch to concentrate far greater authority directly in his hands.”

Trump’s blueprint for amassing power has been developed by a constellation of conservative organizations that surround him, led by the Heritage Foundation and its Project 2025. This plan would elevate personal fealty to Mr. Trump as the central value in government employment, processes and institutions. 

The dangers of Trump have motivated a core group of traditional Republicans to actively work against Trump and his band of MAGA candidates. We’re joined by one of those former Republicans who is now devoted to saving our democracy by reelecting Joe Biden and a Democratic congress: Jeff Timmer, onetime Executive Director of the Michigan Republican Party who is now a senior adviser to The Lincoln Project.

The Lincoln Project’s latest: “Feeble.”

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The WØRD – “Voting”

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From the chair

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes

Choosing our government through free-and-open elections is the foundation of our representative democracy. Throughout our nation’s 234 history the right to vote has evolved multiple times to make that right more inclusive. For the first 131 years of our Constitution, half of us – women – couldn’t vote. Now not only can we vote, but In Michigan three of our top four statewide officials are women … and the fourth is a Black man whose ancestors’ right to vote was denied for the first 79 years of the Constitution. 

A majority of the Democrats in both the state House and Senate are women, including the Senate Majority Leader and the chairs of both Appropriations Committees. The Speaker of the House is Black and the Speaker Pro-Tem is a woman. Five of our seven U.S. Representatives (and one of our two Senators) are women.

As political scientist Larry Sabato has noted, “Every election is determined by the people who show up.” And all too often, people who crave power have worked to prevent those who disagree with them from showing up, or having their vote matter. They do it through gerrymandering, voter purges, manipulating the number and location of voting precincts, excessive voter i.d. requirements, and barriers to voting by mail.

Under Democratic leadership in Michigan, we are doing just the opposite: removing barriers that unfairly make voting a burden. This week, Governor Whitmer signed a package of 23 Democratic bills which further our goal of having every adult being able to readily exercise their right to vote. 

The bills update voter registration with a more complete, streamlined and secure automatic voter registration process in Michigan, and allow 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote. Other bills expand and secure early voting, ban deep fakes and require disclosure if Artificial Intelligence is used to create campaign advertising, protect the safety of election workers, and clarify that only the Governor can transmit Michigan’s presidential to Congress.

At the bill-signing ceremony, House Elections Committee chair Representative Penelope Tsernoglou summed the philosophy behind Democrats’ efforts:
“Today, with the signing of these bills, we affirm Michigan as a place where every voice matters and that our state is dedicated to truly being a government for the people.”

Dr. Farhan Bhatti is on the front lines of affordable healthcare. He details what Trump’s promised repeal of the Affordable Care Act would mean for Michigan.

Another issue of importance to every Michigan family: healthcare.

Once again, Republicans are threatening the availability of healthcare for upwards of 750,000 Michiganders.

Even before taking office in 2017, Donald Trump was promising a new and better healthcare plan. It was always coming in two-to-three weeks. (Click here for video of 19 times he promised a replacement plan!)

What is certain: if he is elected and given a Republican Congress, the Affordable Healthcare Act will be repealed. Their replacement? We could go back to the pre-ACA days with out-of-control insurance premiums, tens-of-millions left with no medical coverage, and profiteering by pharmaceutical companies. 

To find out more about how the ACA has impacted Americans (and what repeal would mean for our state) we’re joined by Dr. Farhan Bhatti. Dr. Bhatti is medical director and CEO at Care Free Medical, a nonprofit clinic in Lansing which serves more than 13,000 uninsured and underinsured people each year. Since clinic founder Barry Saltman designated Bhatti as his successor in 2015, Bhatti is credited with tripling the size of the clinic and broadening its services. He also serves on the board of the Committee to Protect Medicare.


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The WØRD — “Hope”

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From the Chair

Michigan Democratic Party chair Lavora Barnes

Robert Kennedy famously said “Some men see things as they are, and say why. I dream of things that never were, and say why not.” Every era has its challenges, its turmoil and its potential. What gives me hope are the many thousands of people across Michigan who give of themselves, everyday people who are devoted to dream of things that never were, and say “why not?”

As we pause to celebrate the holidays, I think about them and give thanks:

  • The people who stand for local elective public office, jobs that combine endless hours of work, little recognition and low or no pay;
  • The people who become precinct delegates, the grass roots base for true democracy;
  • The thousands who gather petition signatures as a part of our direct democracy;
  • The journalists whose mission is to keep us informed of both the good and not-so-good in government;
  • And for me personally, the fabulous team who are your Michigan Democratic Party. I’m out front as your chair, but it’s our team that makes it work.

It isn’t always easy, but that doesn’t mean we stop trying. Dr. King may have said it best:
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

One of the newest victories for us that has been years in the making: a new state law which will provide some protections for victims of domestic violence. We’re joined this week by the sponsor of a package of laws taking deadly weapons out of the hands of domestic abusers, Detroit Senator Stephanie Chang.

Senator Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit)

Opportunity, access, equity, justice and service are the core values driving Senator Stephanie Chang, the first Asian American woman elected to the Michigan legislature. She worked as a community organizer in Detroit for nearly a decade before serving two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives and then as the Democratic Floor Leader for her first term in the Senate. She is currently serving her second term in the Michigan Senate and is the Senate Democratic Policy and Steering Chair.

In the state legislature, she has led on air quality and environmental justice, criminal justice reforms, affordable, safe drinking water, and immigrants’ rights issues. She has passed bipartisan legislation on a range of issues including sexual assault education and prevention, an address confidentiality program for survivors of domestic violence, the COVID-19 water shutoff moratorium, female genital mutilation, nitrous oxide “whip-its”, reentry services for wrongfully convicted individuals who were exonerated, improving Michigan’s maritime economy, support of community crisis response to mental health emergencies, and establishing Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution. She is proud to have helped secure a historic community benefits agreement for Southwest Detroit residents near the Gordie Howe International Bridge and is active in her district advocating for the community’s needs. She cofounded the Asian Pacific American Legislative Caucus in Michigan and served as the chair of the Progressive Women’s Caucus in 2017-18.

She served as state director for NextGen Climate Michigan, alumni engagement and evaluation coordinator for the Center for Progressive Leadership in Michigan, deputy director for the Campaign for Justice and as an organizer for Michigan United/One United Michigan. She also worked as a community engagement coordinator for the James and Grace Lee Boggs School and assistant to Grace Lee Boggs, an activist, writer, and speaker. The senator is a co-founder of Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote-Michigan and Rising Voices; she also serves on the board of the Southwest Detroit Community Justice Center.

Chang earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s degrees in public policy and social work from the University of Michigan. She lives in Detroit with her husband, Sean Gray, and two young daughters.

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The WØRD – “Results”

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The do-nothing U.S. House GOP

Video: “One thing. I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing – one – that I can go campaign on and say we did. One.”

From the chair –

Michigan Democratic Party chair Lavora Barnes

Results.

There’s no other word to describe the work of our Democratic state legislature and Governor Whitmer in 2023. With the end of the 2023 session, Democrats can take pride in the most productive legislative session in memory. It’s a stunning contrast with the U.S. House of Representatives, where Texas Congressman Chip Roy went to the House floor to angrily concede that they have accomplished just about nothing in 2023.

In Michigan, it’s a different story. The list of highlights is a long one:

  • Reproductive rights with repeal of the law making abortion a crime, and eliminating bureaucratic red-tape enacted to make legal abortions difficult
  • Protecting your rights under the Affordable Care Act in case Republicans in Congress succeed in gutting the law
  • Expanding Michigan’s pioneering Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act to recognize the rights of LGBTQ+ people
  • Outlawing conversion therapy
  • Repealing anti-worker laws including the deceptively named Right to Work law
  • Repealing the Snyder-initiated retirement tax
  • Expanding the Earned Income tax credit for lower income working families
  • Voter rights legislation that runs counter to nationwide Republican efforts to suppress voting
  • Record investments in education from pre-K right through higher education
  • Record investments in repairing our long-neglected state highways and water systems
  • Enactment of common-sense gun safety laws including a red flag law and requiring safe gun storage in homes
  • A package of laws promoting clean energy, bills which help protect the planet from climate change and (at the same time) will create thousands of new jobs for Michigan.
  • Enactment of financial disclosure requirements for elected state officials and candidates for those offices

There’s still work to be done. Legislative Democrats and the Governor will continue their efforts in 2024 working on issues ranging from Artificial Intelligence to further improving public education and taking steps to expand Michigan’s economy. 

Thanks to some local electoral successes – and a do-nothing mentality amongst legislative Republicans – we may be delayed a little. Democrats have temporarily fallen into a 54-54 tie with Republicans in the state House due to the election of Representatives Kevin Stone and Lori Stone as mayors of Westland and Warren. Without Republican support, no bill can pass until those two vacancies are filled. Sadly, Republicans have shown little interest in serious bipartisan discussions on major legislation.

While we await the restoration of our majority, our members will be working individually and in committees on multiple issues. It is their goal to make 2024 as productive as 2023 in moving Michigan forward.

Some of the issues that are part of next year’s agenda:

  • Making prescription drugs more affordable
  • Paid family and medical leave
  • Police accountability
  • Rights for victims of sexual abuse
  • Regulating the use of Artificial Intelligence to deceive voters 
  • Expanding open meetings and open records laws to the Legislature and Governor’s office
  • Improving Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance laws

Democrats in Lansing are laser-focused on making 2024 as productive as 2023 in moving Michigan forward.

To update us on the prospects for 2024 we’re joined by East Lansing Senator Sam Singh.

Senator Singh is the first Indian American elected to the Michigan Senate, where he serves as Majority Floor Leader in his first term in office.

No stranger to Lansing, Singh served three terms as State Representative, from 2013-2018, where he was a passionate champion for K-12 education, environmental protection, and economic development. In his last term, his colleagues selected him to serve as the Democratic Leader.

Over the past 25 years, Singh has made a career of supporting the mid-Michigan area through his work with philanthropy, public service and nonprofit board service. In 1995, at the age of 24, he was elected to the East Lansing City Council where he served three terms, one as Mayor. He has also served as president and CEO of the Michigan Nonprofit Association, senior consultant for the New Economy Initiative, and CEO of Public Policy Associates.

Singh is a graduate of Michigan State University and lives in East Lansing with his wife, Kerry, and their son, Remy.



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The WØRD – “Freedom”

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From the chair:

Michigan Democratic Party chair Lavora Barnes

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt laid out this nation’s core principles 83 years ago, in his 1941 State of the Union speech given even as a totalitarian dictator, Adolph Hitler, was assaulting democratic freedoms across Europe.

Too often, we take freedom for granted. But it under assault today by leaders of the Republican Party:

  • Attacking free speech by banning books, calling anyone who speaks out against them Socialists or Marxists or Communists; and re-writing history by banning the teaching of anything that makes them uncomfortable;
  • Attacking freedom of religion by demanding all of us live under their religious beliefs and promoting discrimination against non-Christian faiths;
  • Attacking freedom from want by slashing the social safety net that guarantees basic subsistence: food and shelter, and demanding cuts in Social Security;
  • Attacking freedom from fear by instead stoking fear with claims of crime waves when, in fact, crime has been going down for the last two decades – and claiming without foundation that Democrats want to defund the police when it’s Republicans who call for defunding the FBI … and adding to fear of devastating illness by opposing guaranteed access to healthcare.

Republican leaders demand that government make medical decisions for women over the objections of the women and their doctors.

They fight against free-and-fair elections with outrageous gerrymandering, voter purges targeting minorities and young people, limiting the number of polling places in Democratic-leaning locations, and seizing control of elections so that elections are controlled by gerrymandered legislatures.

Donald Trump has even gone so far as to say publicly that he’d use the Department of Justice and FBI to indict and jail anyone who spoke out against him. That’s what they do in Russia, North Korea, Iran and China. It’s what Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler did to seize and hold onto power in the run-up to World War II.

Democrats stand by FDR’s Four Freedoms. Republicans do not. That fact is mirrored by the record of our Governor and Legislature this year, a year in which dozens of bills have been signed into law advancing the Four Freedoms, many strongly opposed by Donald Trump’s Republican Party.

As Coretta Scott King has told us, “Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.”

We must never take our freedom for granted, or we will lose it.

Joining the podcast this week is Representative Helena Scott, chair of the state House Committee on Energy, Communications, and Technology.

Rep. Helena Scott (D-Detroit)

Rep. Scott is a former organizer and longtime labor and social justice community activist. She was appointed to serve on the House Democrats’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Planning Committee and the House Committee on Committees. Scott graduated from Marygrove College with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and political science.

As the lead organizer for Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice, she spearheaded a petition drive to gather over 5,000 signatures for the One Fair Wage ballot proposal initiative. More recently, she served on the Steering Committee to Protect and Defend One Fair Wage. Her sister-in-law, former Detroit City Council Pro Temp Brenda Scott, fostered her passion for service.

Scott’s commitment to the community led her to volunteer and serve on many boards and organizations. Formerly, she was an executive board member for the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Detroit League of Women Voters, and vice chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus. Currently, Scott is a vice chair of the 14th Congressional District and was recently elected to serve as the vice chair of the Detroit Caucus. Additionally, she serves as the chair of the bicameral Legislative Care Caucus and the historian of the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus. Before joining the Legislature, Scott worked in the airline industry for over 20 years as a sales and service instructor. She also worked for her predecessor, former Rep. LaTanya Garrett, as her community liaison.

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The WØRD – “Scandals”

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Senator Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) has been the lead in the state Senate’s drive to enact much-needed financial disclosure requirements for elected officials.

From the Chair

Nothing undermines trust in our democracy more than scandals, and it seems as if the number of scandals have been increasing.

Michigan Democratic Party chair Lavora Barnes

At the federal level, revelations about millions in gifts, luxury vacations and private jet service for Justice Clarence Thomas … along with high-paying jobs for his wife … have accelerated calls for a Supreme Court code of ethics. In Congress, Senator Bob Menendez and Representative George Santos continue to serve despite multiple serious federal indictments, many of the charges about illegally obtaining hundreds-of-thousands of dollars. And right now we have former President Trump on trial for financial fraud in the hundreds-of-millions of dollars.

In Michigan, one former Republican House Speaker has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes. Another former Republican Speaker and two former Senate Republican leaders are under investigation for their use of money from dark-money political funds.

It’s said that sunshine is the best disinfectant. Last year the voters of Michigan agreed. By your vote you said “enough is enough” and enacted a constitutional amendment demanding some critical sunshine: financial disclosures from elected officials. It’s something Democrats have long advocated. Now, with Democrats in the majority, it is happening. Bills long stymied when Republicans were in the majority are now moving through both chambers. We’re joined on the podcast by the Senate’s lead sponsor of financial disclosure legislation, Southfield Senator Jeremy Moss.

Senator Moss is the President Pro Tempore of the Michigan Senate, where he is also serving his second term. Always looking to build relationships across the aisle, Moss has successfully had legislation signed into law to reduce unfair employment barriers for people with past criminal records, help homeowners make home improvements by lowering property taxes, allow public-private partnerships to rebuild crumbling bridges, and to create more pathways for students who dropped out of high school so they can complete their degree.

Moss holds the distinction of having been the youngest-ever elected official on the Southfield City Council (2011) and has not let up on public service since. After City Council, he was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives, serving as the Democratic Caucus Whip, and then became the Assistant Democratic Leader in his first term in the Michigan Senate.

Moss earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University, where he participated in multiple student-led humanitarian aid missions nationally and across the globe. He lives in Southfield.

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The WØRD – “Danger”

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Rep. Jasper Martus (D-Flushing) is one of the lead sponsors of legislation addressing the needs of Michigan workers in the transition to a green economy.

From the Chair:

DANGER!

Michigan Democratic Party chair Lavora Barnes

There’s an old saying “beware of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” After 3 weeks of chaos, Republicans in the U.S. House lined up 100-percent behind an unknown Louisiana back-bencher, Michael Johnson, as Speaker. Republicans unanimously elected the affable Johnson only after Donald Trump instructed Republicans to oppose the member they nominated hours earlier, Minnesota’s Tom Emmer. Emmer’s sin: he publicly recognized that Joe Biden was elected in a fair and honest election. To Trump, that’s all he needs to hear to attack someone.

Johnson has a charming, low-key demeanor. But his political views are anything but. He’s a radical right extremist – anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ and even openly anti-democracy. Based on his political record, the soft-spoken Michael Johnson poses a threat to our democratic system of government. 

“MAGA Mike” Johnson still doesn’t admit that Joe Biden won the 2020 election which Johnson has repeatedly said was stolen. He openly promotes the same lies that led to 3 Trump attorneys pleading guilty to election fraud-related charges. Johnson led efforts in the U.S. House to have the Supreme Court overturn Biden’s decisive victory in Michigan and three other states. When that failed, he joined the majority of House Republicans in voting against certifying Biden’s victory. On the day of Johnson’s elevation to the most powerful position in Congress, his Republican colleagues booed a reporter who asked about Johnson’s leadership is trying to overturn the election. They even told the reporter to shut up. They are totally under the thumb of the man accused of 91 different crimes in four courts.

What could it mean for democracy? Consider this scenario:

It’s January 6, 2025. After still another close election, Joe Biden prevails again in the electoral college vote. But the House of Representatives, operating under instructions from Donald Trump and implemented by Michael Johnson, votes to reject the results from one or more swing states, denying Biden the electoral college majority. Without any candidate getting 270 electoral votes, the President is then chosen by the House with each state getting one vote. That means Wyoming’s one Congressman’s vote is equal to the combined votes of the 53 from California or the 13 from Michigan. 

Under that scenario, despite losing the popular vote for a third time, Donald Trump would reinstalled in the White House…possibly as a convicted criminal.

Far fetched? It shouldn’t even be a possibility, but with all Republicans in the House operating under orders from Donald Trump, and Michael Johnson as Speaker, it could happen.

So what do we do? We start by holding Michigan’s 6 Republican members accountable for endorsing an election denier as their leader. With that vote, none of them is worthy of the honor of representing our state. And we need to retake the majority in the House so that Hakeem Jeffries is Speaker of the House on January 6, 2025. We do that by increasing our majority in the Michigan delegation (and also holding Debbie Stabenow’s seat in the Senate). The mission is clear.

In Michigan, legislative Democrats are working on issues that impact families across our pleasant peninsulas. One increasingly discussed issue is the impact of fighting climate change on jobs and our economy. Change can be frightening. The transition of our major industry from internal combustion engines to EVs is happening. That decision has been made by the manufacturers. What does it mean for their employees and other industries that could be impacted by clean energy initiatives?

According to Bridge Michigan, nearly 20 percent of the jobs in our state are tied to auto manufacturing. Even more jobs are connected to electric power generation. Both are undergoing major transitions: autos from gas-powered to electric, power generation from coal and natural gas to renewables.

The Legislature is considering bills that would establish an economic transition office focused on helping workers and communities facing job losses related to those transitions. We’re joined on the podcast by a lead sponsor of the bills, Flushing state Representative Jasper Martus.

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The WØRD – “Contrasts”

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House Majority Whip Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton Township) is one of the main sponsors of legislation requiring the use of A.I. for political ads to be disclosed.

From the Chair:

MDP Chair Lavora Barnes

Contrasts.

As the world watched, President Biden flew into a war zone to provide leadership in protecting Israel from the terrorism of Hamas, and working to prevent that war from growing. At the same time, Republicans in Washington continue to embarrass themselves and the nation as they can’t even elect a Speaker of the House, paralyzing Congress for more than two weeks – making it unable to do anything in support of America’s allies in Israel and Ukraine.

In Lansing, Governor Whitmer and legislative Democrats continued the work of governing. Just this week, the Governor signed into law Democratic bills guaranteeing Michigan citizens their rights under the Affordable Care Act, and another bill creating a first-in-the-nation guarantee of clean, healthy water for every school child. The state House approved legislation reforming our juvenile justice system. The state Senate passed bills expanding reproductive healthcare rights. 

Republicans, meanwhile, held a news conference in support of the aging and environmentally dangerous Enbridge 5 pipeline … amazingly on the same day another oil pipeline ruptured spilling thousands of gallons of oil in Branch County.

While Michigan Democrats were passing reproductive rights laws, a Republican would-be U.S. Senator was working to hide his anti-reproductive rights record. The non-profit online publication “The Gander” exposed Mike Rogers record of supporting a complete ban of abortions, even in the case of rape or incest – a position he’s now trying to hide. There’s a link to the exposé on our website.

While Michigan Democrats were enacting legislation to protect and expand voter rights, 5 Michigan Republicans in Congress were voting to elect as their Speaker a leader of the efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. And the other Republican, John James, waited until every other Representative had voted before casting a totally symbolic vote against Trump ally Jim Jordan. 

Jordan, by the way, has never had a bill signed into law during his 16 years in Congress. None. Zip. Nadda. He’s been a disrupter, a constant guest on Fox News and a fast-talking attack dog in committee hearings. He’s never shown an interest in actually legislating.

Bottom line: one political party governs. The other major party shows it is incapable of governing.

Also this week, a state House committee approved a three-bill package regulating the use of Artificial Intelligence in political campaigns. It used to be the “seeing and hearing was believing.” With deep fakes so easy to create, that’s no longer true. The state House Elections Committee has approved a three-bill package aimed at preventing deception of voters through the use of deep-fake audios and videos. We talked with one of the sponsors of the bipartisan package, House Majority Whip Ranjeev Puri of Canton Township.

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The WØRD – “Violence”

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This week’s guest: House Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash on Democratic efforts to promote job-creating energy conservation programs.

From the chair

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes

Violence is infecting our political system both directly and indirectly.

Last week in Lansing, one of our party’s local volunteer leaders was gunned down while canvassing on behalf of a city council candidate. The shooting was not motivated by politics. 

Ted Lawson, secretary of the Ingham County Democratic Party, was the victim of a holdup attempt in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. He was allegedly shot by a 15-year-old who had asked him for money.

A GoFundMe account has been established to help defray funeral expenses for murdered Ingham County Democratic Party officer Ted Lawson

It wasn’t directly political. But this random act of deadly violence wouldn’t have happened if Ted hadn’t been out there knocking on doors. This growing street violence is something that weighs on the minds of every volunteer knocking on doors. It amplifies the recommendation that when you canvass, you do it in teams of 2 or more … just to add a layer of safety.

As tragic as this senseless murder if, even more frightening is the open advocacy of violence by some political leaders. In a time when political leaders should be speaking out against using violence in politics, some are actually encouraging it. Donald Trump regularly speaks in praise about violence, topped by his open praise for the January 6 rioters. But that certainly wasn’t the first time. He’s done it often – there are links below to Trump’s history of advocating violence.

We’ve had more than our share of violence and intimidation attempts in Michigan. Among them: the April 2020 armed invasion of the Capitol; the plot to kidnap and murder Governor Whitmer; the gun-toting protesters outside Jocelyn Benson’s home after the election; the angry mob outside the TCF Center when the 2020 ballots were being counted; the countless death threats against public officials at all across Michigan (including Attorney General Nessel). Sadly, the examples are endless.

We need to begin with all political leaders, Democrats and Republicans, forcefully and repeatedly speaking out against violence and against those advocating violence. There’s no room for politicians who talk about “2nd amendment solutions” to political disagreements, and certainly no room for a candidate for President openly encouraging people at his rallies to physically attack protesters, or hint that they physically assault the news media.

It has to stop. 

—

There is some good news from our elected Democrats this week. While DC Republicans play out their leadership soap opera that’s paralyzed Congress, Michigan Democrats are focused on a future that combines clean energy and good-paying jobs. Joining the podcast this week is state House Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash who is sponsoring a package of bills that are good for the planet, and good for Michigan workers.

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The WØRD – “Paralysis”

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Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids) talks about the chaos in the U.S. House, and her efforts to craft a bipartisan immigration reform bill.

From the Chair

MDP Chair Lavora Barnes

Paralysis.

That’s exactly what Republicans have given us in Congress. With the Matt Gaetz fringe wing of the party firing Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the House of Representatives can’t do anything until it elects a new speaker. There’s no consensus on his replacement, the talk of installing accused felon Donald Trump into the job is pretty much a fantasy, and the federal government faces another shutdown deadline in about 40 days. Republicans are once again demonstrating they are unable to govern.

We got more great news this week about jobs. We have record-low unemployment for the 20th consecutive month, wages are growing, and inflation is coming down. Under President Biden’s leadership more than 13.9 million jobs have been created. That’s the biggest two-year job creation number of any President in history. 

There’s also more Democrat-led action at both the federal and state levels to reduce the price you pay for healthcare. At the federal level, the manufacturers of 10 expensive medications have agreed to negotiate with the federal government for lower prices for Medicare recipients. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, called the decision by the companies “another major step in President Biden’s fight to lower health care costs for seniors and families.”

In Michigan, the state Senate has approved (on a party-line vote) legislation creating a Prescription Drug Affordability Board which would focus on the prices you pay for your prescriptions.

We’re joined on the podcast by U.S. Congresswoman Hillary Scholten. Representative Scholten is part of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group of centrist House members focused on finding bipartisan solutions to the nation’s challenges. An attorney with two decades’ experience in immigration law, Rep. Scholten is at the center of finding answers to one of those challenges: Immigration Reform.

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