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The WØRD – “Vote!”

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Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson celebrates the first day of early voting in the presidential primary, casting her ballot on Saturday.

From the Chair

Early voting is underway in Michigan’s presidential primary.

A vote for any other presidential candidate or a vote as “uncommitted” does not help our cause against Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans. Trump and MAGA Republicans are a danger to our democracy and the health of our nation. Trump and MAGA Republicans are looking to undermine our democracy, remove gun safety measures, stall our nation’s economic progress, enact a national abortion ban, and much more. President Biden and our vision of unity must be at the forefront, and that begins with a united effort to support President Biden in the primary.

The nine-day early voting period, culminating with the election on February 27, is a result of one of the 142 new laws passed in 2023 by our Democratic Legislature that went into effect last Tuesday. The delay was thanks to ongoing Republican foot-dragging. The state constitution says a law can only go into effect immediately if it gets a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate. Republicans decided to delay the inevitable on all of those laws by denying the two-thirds immediate effect vote.

Regardless, the early voting law is part of a package of bills enacted by the Legislature to make it easier for Michigan citizens to exercise their right to vote. Other new election laws include secure drop boxes, electronic tracking and streamlined absentee ballot processes, including a permanent mail voter list. Another new law directs the state to automatically register people who are leaving incarceration to vote. Effective June 2025, this landmark legislation restores voting rights for historically disenfranchised people.

Against a backdrop of historical disenfranchisement, Democrats stand as fervent advocates for voting rights, and will continue working to strengthen voting rights and accessibility for all Michiganders, especially Black voters.

Election officials across Michigan have faced threats of violence since the 2020 election, hindering efforts to fully staff elections. A new law protects poll workers against intimidation and threats, ensuring a safe environment for election workers, and another makes it a felony to prevent an elected official from performing their official duties in conducting an election.

House Democrats have solidified Michigan’s commitment to accessible and secure elections with key bills reflecting ongoing efforts to strengthen the state’s democracy. The measures increase access to voting, safeguard the democratic rights of Michiganders and affirm Michigan as a place where every voice matters.
And best of all: Michigan’s chief elections officer is the nation’s best Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson. She is one of the nation’s leading experts on election law and literally wrote the book on running state elections. “State Secretaries of State: Guardians of the Democratic Process”  looks into their pivotal role in the promotion of a healthy democracy. The book provides the first in-depth study of the Secretary’s role in registering voters, enforcing voting laws and regulations, overseeing elections, and certifying results.

In the wake of these monumental legislative victories, Michigan stands poised for a new era of empowered voters and strengthened democratic values. The dedication of our lawmakers has made it easier for every voice to be heard at the ballot box.

—

State Senator Jeff Irwin (D-Washtenaw County)

While the 2023 legislative session was a record-setter for passing important laws, there is more to be done. One important effort will be expanding on the state’s contribution to fighting climate change. We’re joined on the podcast by Washtenaw County state Senator Jeff Irwin, a key leader on climate change.

Senator Irwin is a fearless advocate for the environment, public education, and criminal justice reform, among other areas. He is serving his second term in the Michigan Senate.

Since 2018, Senator Irwin has introduced legislation tightening regulations against polluters and ensuring our schools are properly screening students for dyslexia — and getting them the help they need. He has worked to allow more juvenile offenders to seal their records, expunge all cannabis-related offenses, ban PFAS in food packaging and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Irwin has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Michigan and lives in Washtenaw County. He represented the City of Ann Arbor in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017.

A new ad from the Biden-Harfris campaign focuses on how Donald Trump has become Vladimir Putin’s proxy in the United States: calls for abandoning our allies, encouraging Putin’s Russia to invade any NATO members that don’t meet Trump’s standards.

In the News

How to vote and when to do it: A Michigan primary primer – mlive.com

Michigan Policy

Michigan Politics

Trump, the Crimes and the Courts

National News on Policy and Politics

The WØRD – “Governing”

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From the Chair

Congressional Republicans proved this week that they are bad … very bad … at governing. When it comes to passing bills, sometimes they can’t even take ‘yes’ an answer.

Case in point: the border crisis. There’s no question that there is a law enforcement and humanitarian crisis on the border. Instead of working to solve the problem, Republicans are doing everything they can to weaponize the issue because they’ve got little else to use in their campaigns.

They don’t want to actually solve the border crisis. They just want to complain about it.

They had a bill negotiated by the very conservative Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma. It was, by all accounts, a win for conservatives with just about everything they wanted in border protection. But Donald Trump said “no. I don’t want a solution. I want an issue to use against Joe Biden.”

So Republicans tanked a bill that gave them exactly what they wanted. They were afraid that a law helping solve the border crisis would help Joe Biden politically.

It comes as no surprise. In 2023 fewer than 3-dozen new laws were enacted as House Republicans devoted most of their time to Fox News inspired investigations, posturing, promoting bizarre conspiracy theories and repeatedly changing leaders (until they finally settled on letting Donald Trump call all the shots).

Here in Michigan, Democrats have proven they are very capable of governing. On Tuesday dozens of new laws will go into effect. They are laws passed in 2023 despite unified Republican opposition, laws that improve life for every Michigan citizen with tax cuts, affirming reproductive rights, strengthening voter rights, improving support for education, fixing our roads, and so much more.

Our guest this week: Macomb County Prosecutirg Attorney candidate Christina Hines. She has devoted her legal career to public service. Right out of law school she became an assistant prosecutor in Wayne County, followed by service as the Chief of the Appeals Division at the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office, and Chief of the Special Victims Unit Division. She was raised in Warren, a graduate of Warren Woods Tower High School, and then the University of Michigan and Wayne State University law school where she now serves as an adjunct professor of law.

Among those new laws: a series of gun safety measures that will help reduce the epidemic of gun violence in Michigan. Ironically these laws will become effective exactly one year after the horrific mass shooting at Michigan State University. Had these laws been in effect back then, the carnage on campus might have been averted. 

You can learn more about the new statutes on the Michigan House Democrats’ website.

Also on this week’s podcast:

  • My thoughts on the outrageous social media posts about the “Great Replacement” theory by Republican Representative Josh Schriver
  • Our focus on building the party at the local level, including an interview with Macomb County Prosecuting Attorney Candidate Christina Hines
  • The importance of voting in the February 27 Presidential Primary
  • Three new Trump outrages: his willingness to let Putin invade our NATO allies, his profound disrespect for active duty military, and the political hit job by a Republican special prosecutor.
How MSU will observe the anniversary of the February 13 mass shooting.

In the News

January 2024 Jobs Report: Hiring Surges, Wages Rise – J.P. Morgan

Michigan Politics
Michigan Policy
Trump Outrages
National

The WØRD – “Jobs”

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President Biden meets with autoworkers in Macomb County. Click HERE for the full video.

From the Chair

President Biden was back in Michigan on Thursday, meeting with auto workers in Macomb County, emphasizing his economic philosophy: growing the economy from the middle out. It was another demonstration that President Biden, the most pro-union, pro-worker president in history, has the backs of Michigan workers. Throughout his entire presidency, President Biden has delivered for Michigan workers – bringing jobs and manufacturing back to our state and ensuring that we are growing the middle class while leading in the global economy. Donald Trump, on the other hand, will say anything to try to rewrite his record of abandoning Michigan workers and creating incentives to ship jobs overseas, because he is part of the billionaire class and sees the world from Park Avenue instead of an assembly plant floor.

The President’s appearance came just a day before release of the latest jobs figures, which showed another 353,000 jobs added to our economy…along with an upward revision of November and December job gains by 126,000 jobs. The January gains were roughly double economists’ predictions of 177,000, underscoring how the labor market is propelling the economy forward and firmly out of recession territory. The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7 percent – 75 percent lower than the peak during the Trump years.

Average hourly wage growth accelerated sharply in January, rising by six-tenths of a percent, to $34.55 an hour, in part because higher paying industries boosted their payrolls. Over the past 12 months, hourly wages have risen by 4.5 percent, raising workers’ standard of living, especially the lowest earners.

While the Biden administration continues to focus on what is the world’s strongest economy, the other side seems obsessed with a pop star and a football player. Their latest fixation: crazy conspiracy theories about Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, the Super Bowl and the possibility that the pair will be endorsing President Biden’s re-election.

Republicans love having the open support of B list celebrities like Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and Jon Voight, but are appalled (and probably terrified) that the most popular entertainer on the planet might also have a political opinion. When it comes to issues that impact the lives of average Americans, Republicans seem to have little to offer. And on those rare occasions when they tell us their agenda, it is downright frightening. I highlight one of those proposals at the end of the podcast in my weekly “Trump Outrage” segment.

7th District congressional candidate Curtis Hertel, Jr.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has released its first list of priority contests, targeting 17 districts that either have Republicans in seats carried by Joe Biden in 2020, or are competitive open seats. One of those priority seats is Michigan’s 7th district, where Curtis Hertel is campaigning to succeed Elissa Slotkin as she campaigns for the U.S. Senate. Senator Hertel joins us on this week’s podcast.

As Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Director of Legislative Affairs, he led the state through passing bipartisan legislation that cut taxes for seniors and working families, expanded workers’ rights, and won additional new investments in advanced manufacturing that are already bringing good-paying jobs to Mid-Michigan and across the state. He was also instrumental in passing legislation that repealed the archaic 1931 law that banned abortion in Michigan, even in cases of rape and incest.

In the legislature, Hertel led the fight to preserve Michigan’s status as the world leader in auto manufacturing and bring thousands of next-generation electric vehicle jobs to Mid-Michigan by working with Democrats and Republicans to help pass the legislation that won GM’s $6.5 billion investment in the Delta and Orion Township battery cell and electric vehicle plants.

In the News

Michigan

“Taylorgate”

Trump Crimes-and-Courts Watch

National

The WØRD – “Comeback”

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Governor Whitmer, flanked by Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks and Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist, delivers her State of the State message.

From the Chair

This was a good week for Michigan and the nation. For President Biden, an excellent week on two fronts:

First, a boisterous and enthusiastic endorsement from the United Auto Workers and its amazing president, Shawn Fain.

President Biden joined striking Michigan UAW members, while Trump chose to speak at a non-union auto supplier.

And, much to the consternation of Republicans, the economy continued to show that Bidenomics is working. The nation’s gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic activity — grew at an annual pace of 3.3% in October, November, and December, according to a report Thursday from the Commerce Department.

It was a fitting end to a year of robust economic growth, defying projections that rising interest rates would tip the economy into recession. And it’s no surprise that Donald Trump immediately claimed that the numbers were fake, adding to his massive list of outrageous lies.

Michigan’s economic comeback got a boost from Governor Whitmer, who followed up 2023’s amazing legislative record with additional proposals to continue to restore Michigan’s economic dominance … an address focused on expanding educational opportunities, lowering the cost of living, responding to the crisis in affordable housing and continuing her efforts to Fix the Damn Roads.

We have expanded highlights from the Governor’s State of the State message on this podcast. For the full text of her speech, click HERE. To watch the speech, click HERE.


This week’s Trump Outrage: Trump’s efforts to derail immigration reform.

Matt Davis – Newsday

There’s no question that we have a big problem on our southern border, in large part because the law and the enforcement budget are woefully inadequate. There have been productive bipartisan talks that are closing in on a compromise solution which would strengthen border security … but Donald Trump is actively working to sabotage the compromise. Why? If there is progress on border enforcement, he will lose immigration as his top issue. Donald Trump is worried more about his own campaign than in what’s best for the nation.

Outrageous … but totally consistent with Trump’s priorities. It’s all about what’s best for him, not what’s best for the nation.


In the News

The U.S. economy boomed in 2023, thanks to consumers opening up wallets – The Washington Post
The latest GDP data shows an economy that continues to soar – NPR
GDP report: U.S. economy defies recession amid inflation cooldown – Axios
US economic growth ends 2023 with surprising strength – The Guardian

Michigan Policy

Michigan Politics

Trump’s War on Americans

National Politics and Policy

The WØRD – “Truth”

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From the Chair

Truth is an endangered species as the 2024 presidential campaign unfolds thanks, in large part, to Donald Trump. His campaign to return to the White House is based on lies, beginning with The Big Lie: that the 2020 election was stolen. Despite more than 60 court rulings and a total lack of evidence, a majority of Republicans believe the Big Lie. An NBC News entrance poll found a resounding 90% of Trump voters in Iowa didn’t believe Biden legitimately won in 2020.

The lying extends to just about everything else Trump says. He lied about Nikki Haley’s record as South Carolina Governor, and Ron DeSantis’ record in Florida. There’s no doubt he will continue to make up total untruths about Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. 

He’s already started, claiming the economy was soaring during his Presidency and is now in shambles when, in fact, just the opposite is true.

Trump inherited the Obama economy and took it down the drain. He was the first President since Herbert Hoover to leave office with fewer jobs than when he was inaugurated. He left office with thousands dying weekly from the Covid pandemic, in part due to massive inaction by his administration to protect the American people from the once-in-a-century health emergency. And he added a staggering $9-TRILLION to the national debt, the largest percentage increase in U.S. history. 

He calls President Biden a crook when it’s Trump who’s facing 91 felony charges, and it’s Trump whose administration has seen dozens of his closest advisers convicted or facing trial on criminal charges, and hundreds of his supporters jailed for the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

Calling Trump a liar may seem extreme to some, but it’s a fact that two separate courts in New York have found him guilty of being a liar — and it’s going to cost him hundreds of millions. 

In one courtroom, he’s been found guilty of lying on financial documents and faces fines of more than a quarter-of-a-billion dollars. In another courtroom, he’s been found guilty of lying when he denied raping E. Jean Carroll. He’s already been ordered to pay her $5-million for those lies, and faces another more-expensive judgment because he refuses to stop lying about her.

Make no mistake: his lies have power, especially when they are amplified by his media allies at Fox, The Daily Caller, Breitbart and right-wing talk radio. As Winston Churchill famously noted: A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. It was true when he said it, and even more true in the age of the internet and social media.

Trump learned an important lesson from the first leader of Communist Russia –  Vladimir Lenin – who said A lie told often enough becomes the truth. He repeats his core lies about 2020, about the economy, about his opponents and even about his own mental capabilities time after time after time … and his MAGA true believers accept the lies as truth.

Our challenge will be to counteract the lies with the truth about Joe Biden and the successes of his presidency. It will take discipline and persistence. 

Monday marks the 51st anniversary of Roe v Wade – the Supreme Court ruling that, for nearly a half-century, recognized the right of women to control their own healthcare. In response to the Dobbs decision voters in Michigan, Kansas, Ohio and Kentucky have already let their voices be heard in support of the rights taken away by the Trump Supreme Court.

On Friday, Governor Whitmer and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz hosted a national media teleconference on Roe, the Dobbs decision overturning Roe, and the implications for 2024. This week’s podcast shares their comments.


In the News

Top Stories of the Week

Michigan Policy
Michigan Politics
Trump Outrages
National Politics and Policy

The WØRD – “Corruption”

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From the Chair

Corruption.

As we approach the 2024 election, it seems to be the one constant in far too many campaigns – with most of the scandals involving Republicans.

All the news coverage over Donald Trump’s four criminal cases have virtually erased public awareness of a long history of his financial corruption, some dating back decades, that would in more normal times destroy a political candidate. The list is seemingly endless:

  • The well-documented tax scams his father Fred Trump used decades ago to transfer his wealth – more than $400-million – to his son Donald, which were finally revealed after a Pulitizer Prize winning investigation by the New York Times
  • Trump’s current civil trial which wraps up this week, on years of using fraudulent financial statements to bamboozle banks and insurance companies
  • His criminal trial on using tax-deductible corporate money to pay hush money to Stormy Daniels
  • The more than $7-million spent with Trump-owned companies by foreign governments, primarily China and Saudi Arabia, in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution … and that’s just during the first two years of his presidency, and at just 4 of his properties.
  • Millions more paid by taxpayers to Trump companies in the form of hotel and golfing expenses billed to the Secret Service for hotel rooms, meals and even golf carts (all at Trump-owned properties) during his almost weekly golfing junkets.
  • $2-billion, plus an annual $25-million payment, funneled to Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner just days after Kushner left Trump’s White House staff
  • Forbes magazine reported that the Chinese government granted a total of 41 trademarks to companies linked to Ivanka Trump by April of 2019. The trademarks she applied for after her father became president, according to Forbes, got approved about 40% faster than those she requested before Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 election.
  • And Trump donors have been paying Trump’s travel bills as he campaigns and shows up in court – with payments going to Trump’s company which manages his private Boeing 757. He makes a profit every time he travels.

And there’s lots more.

It’s not just Trump. There are the millions lavished on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and the many credit-card and campaign fund frauds of George Santos. Democrats are not totally immune: the bribery charges against New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez and his wife are, if true, just as reprehensible.

In Michigan, the story is almost as bad.

  • One former Speaker of the House is in prison after pleading guilty to bribery charges.
  • Two aides to former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield are charged with pocketing $525,000 from political nonprofits.
  • Their former boss is under criminal investigation, as is another former House Speaker and one of his key staff members.
  • Former northern Michigan Representative Larry Inman is on trial in Grand Rapids this week accused of attempted extortion and soliciting a bribe.
  • Also under investigation: two former Senate Majority Leaders for alleged misuse of secret campaign funds. 

The common denominator in all of this: so-called dark money. In this week’s podcast we hear from Attorney General Dana Nessel who has been at the forefront of investigating and prosecuting public corruption.

Dana Nessel is The Peoples’ Attorney. A former criminal prosecutor and civil rights attorney, Michigan’s 54th Attorney General is in her second term after winning reelection in 2022.  Her core initiatives have been fashioned in the image of her promise to Michigan’s residents — to give the Department of Attorney General back to the people that it serves.

A graduate of the University of Michigan and Wayne State University Law School, Attorney General Nessel lives in southeast Michigan with her wife and twin sons.

Trump Outrages of the Week

We’re initiating a new segment to our weekly podcast: the Trump Outrage of the Week. It’s hard to keep up with all the horrendous things he says and does, but we’ll try. In just this week: four outrages.

  1. His efforts to white-wash the January 6th insurrection by calling the hundreds who have been convicted or plead guilty by calling them hostages. They aren’t hostages. They are criminals.
  2. Resurrecting his race-based lies about his political opponents’ right to run based on the circumstances of their birth. Barack Obama. Ted Cruz. Kamala Harris. All of the, he claimed, didn’t meet the “natural born citizen” requirement in the Constitution.. Now, he’s saying the same thing about Nikki Haley. In every case, he’s lying.
  3. In a campaign speech, Trump said he was hoping for a recession in 2024 because a 2025 recession would make him look bad. It’s reminiscent of the early days of COVID. He didn’t want a COVID-infected cruise ship to dock in the U.S. because the increase in COVID cases would make him look bad. In both cases, his concern was his image and not protecting the American people.
  4. The most outrageous Trump moment of the week: the claim made by his attorneys in federal court that, as President, he had the right to break criminal laws – even to order a political assassination – not face criminal prosecution after leaving office: literally, he had a license to kill.


In This Week’s News

Michigan Policy

Michigan Politics

Is There a Republican Party in Michigan Right Now?” – MSNBC

 

National Politics and Policy

The WØRD – “Insurrection”

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From the Chair

Three years ago, Donald Trump fueled the flames on one of the darkest days in American history when thousands of rioters stormed the United States Capitol. This treasonous act was intended to undermine our democracy and override free and fair elections, and since then the GOP has never drifted from that goal. Three years later, the fate of our country rests with the 2024 election.

The stakes could not be higher here in Michigan. It’s easy to forget, in light of all the progress we have made over the past few years, that Michigan was ground zero for the tools that built the insurrection. January 6th must serve as an ever-present reminder that under the wrong leadership, the very foundation of our democracy is at risk.

While Michigan Democrats have taken significant steps to protect our democracy and ensure an insurrection like January 6th never happens again, the threat is far from gone. Michigan voters know how high the stakes are this November, and will stand with President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Michigan Democrats up and down the ballot as they fight to protect our democracy and defend every American’s freedoms.

As we observe this anniversary, it is important to remember that after taking control of the state legislature for the first time in 40 years, Michigan Democrats took action in the face of the January 6th insurrection and have done vital work to protect democracy in our state including:

• Expanding our automatic registration system
• Repealing our arcane 1895 ban on hiring transportation to the polls on Election Day
• Establishing 9 days of in-person voting before Election Day
• Setting penalties for intimidating or preventing election officials from performing their duties
• Allowing Michigan clerks to begin processing absentee ballots before Election Day
• Strengthening our state election certification timeline and duties to remove any ambiguities
And we have one more safeguard in place: the best Secretary of State in the nation, Jocelyn Benson. If you missed our discussion with her last month, check out the podcast from our archives.

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority – better known as MSHDA estimates the state is short about 190,000 homes. That lack of supply is pushing up costs and making housing increasingly unaffordable. With this crisis at hand, the state is trying to find innovative ways to meet housing needs. Ann Hovey, the executive director of MSHDA, says “We have people scrounging for housing.”

The problem is multifaceted:
An aging population means the average household size has decreased, according to Hovey. So even though Michigan’s population growth is on a decline, the number of households grew from 3.8 million to 4 million in the past decade, census data shows.
Another contributing factor: vacation homes eating away at supply. Half of the country’s second homes are concentrated in eight states including Michigan, according to the National Association of Home Builders. In six Michigan counties, more than half the housing stock is second homes. That creates a housing crunch for full-time residents.
Democrats in the Legislature are working tirelessly to come up with solutions. One of the leaders in that effort is Traverse City Representative Betsy Coffia. She discusses the challenge and possible solutions with our Walt Sorg.

In the News

‘Democracy Is on the Ballot’: Biden Decries Trump in Campaign Speech – The New York Times

Biden calls Jan. 6 a day ‘we nearly lost America’ – AP News

Michigan Policy

Michigan Politics

Trump Court & Crime Watch

National Politics and Policy

The WØRD – “Next!”

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From the Chair

You may remember that great TV show “The West Wing.” In it, President Bartlett was always focused on moving forward. He regularly made it clear he was ready for the next challenge with a simple phrase: “what’s next.”

We’re preparing for what’s next: a year-long campaign culminating in what will be the most important election in my lifetime. To set the stage, our Walt Sorg talked late last week with one of the pivotal leaders in determining “what’s next”: Speaker of the House Joe Tate.

Speaker Joe Tate is serving his third term and now represents the 10th House District, a diverse community that covers Detroit’s northeast side and the communities of the Village of Grosse Pointe Shores, Grosse Pointe Woods, Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe city, Grosse Pointe Park and part of Harper Woods.

Tate is Michigan’s first Black Speaker of the House, now holding the gavel and setting House priorities in a legislative term in which Democrats have the majority for the first time in over a decade. His policy priorities include uplifting Michigan families; protecting the rights of all people; ensuring workers are valued; and investing in a world-class education system, a strong infrastructure, and a thriving economy.

The Speaker decided to run for office as a part of his deep and lifelong commitment to public service. The value of service was taught to him by his parents — a teacher in the Detroit public school system and a Detroit firefighter. His life has been shaped by teamwork, commitment and community.

As a teenager, Tate earned a scholarship to play football at Michigan State University before joining the National Football League. After the NFL, he went on to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps, deploying twice to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.

After an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps, he earned both an MBA and a master’s in environmental policy and planning from the University of Michigan. Before joining the Legislature, Tate helped small businesses grow their capacity as a program manager for the Detroit Economic Growth Corp.

In the News

Michigan Policy

Michigan Politics

Tracking Trump

National Politics and Policy

The WØRD – “Service”

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From the chair

“Our purpose in life is to help others along the way. May you each try to do the same.” Those words are from Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Conner, in a letter to her three sons, and read at her funeral last week.

It is the consummate description of the term “public servant.” All too often in the day-to-day turmoil of politics, we tend to overlook the thousands of people around us whose mission is not power, fame or riches: but to serve.

For our final podcast of 2023, I wanted to focus on those people. It is easy to take them for granted. Sadly the only time we think of them is when they temporarily disappear. A federal government shutdown – something we may see in a matter of weeks – will take away from us some of those services.

Part of the problem is that doing a good job doesn’t make for very interesting news stories. News focuses on the unusual, the unexpected. So when we read about public service, it too often is in the context of something bad. 

It’s also a shortcoming of our competitive political system. Candidates focus on what they see as the flaws in the performance of their opponents. For example, we’re hearing a lot of rhetoric about a failed economy from those seeking to regain power. The leading Republican candidates for president – including the former president – speak incessantly about how our nation is in trouble when the facts demonstrate just the opposite. Our economy is thriving. It isn’t perfect, but it’s the strongest in the world. Inflation has come down, prices of things like gasoline, travel and many food items have come down. Unemployment is at record-low levels, wages are increasing, and the predicted post-pandemic recession never happened.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be focusing on public service that is quietly succeeding. In January we’ll talk with Attorney General Nessel about the literally thousands of actions taken by her team that never make news, but improve the lives of Michiganders every day. We’ll hear from House Speaker Joe Tate on what the 2023 legislative record means to improving your life.

This week we go behind the scenes with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and the work of her team on so many customer-service related efforts that don’t make headlines, but improve the service you receive from your state government. Since her election as Secretary of State in 2018, Secretary Benson has worked tirelessly to make the service you receive from her department more efficient, less costly and even more pleasant. While her department’s work on elections makes the headlines, it’s the other work of the department that impacts your life on a regular basis. 

She talked with us about those services, and how her team has improved them. (The interview was recorded before the federal court ruling on Michigan’s legislative districts, and before The Detroit News revealing the existence of an audio recording of President Trump and Republican National Chairperson Ronna Romney McDaniel attempting to overturn Joe Biden’s Michigan victory in 2020.)

“Dictator Donald” – Republican Accountability Project


In the News

Biden Year-end Memo: A Year of Record Successes – via Politico

Michigan Policy

Michigan Politics

GOP Crime Watch

MI GOP Senate Circular Firing Squad

National

The WØRD – “Futility”

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From the Chair

As the year comes to a close, the contrast between the Republican-run U.S. House of Representatives and the Democratic-majority state Legislature is stunning.

In Washington: futility. Republicans have produced the least productive legislative year since the Great Depression. Republicans took control of the House in 2023. Over the year they’ve managed to enact a paltry 23 laws. The all-time record for doing next-to-nothing was set in 1931, during the Herbert Hoover administration, when only 22 were enacted. 

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell says it best in her latest weekly report to her constituents: “We have become a Congress of too much gotcha, and not enough let’s solve these problems.”

Their big accomplishment: they did manage to elect and then fire a Speaker of the House only to elect an even more extreme radical to replace him. Representative Dingell was right about the “gotcha” – they have held more than a few committee hearings to create sound bites for Fox News but which produced nothing.

What’s missing from the 2023 record of the Republican House?

They didn’t:

  • produce anything to cut costs for families
  • promote jobs creation
  • protect the planet from climate change
  • protect voting rights
  • reduce crime rates
  • pass critically needed funding for Ukraine’s war with Russia, or
  • pass funding for increased border security

They couldn’t even manage to pass a full-year budget for the government … just a 60-day kick-the-can down the road continuing resolution.

In Lansing things have been completely different. Democrats gained the majority in 2023 and set records for legislative successes including new laws on gun safety, worker rights, green energy, reproductive medical freedom for women, improving K-12 and higher education, protecting your right to vote and to have your vote accurately counted.

Republicans bring futility. Democrats bring results.
Keep that in mind as we campaign in 2024.

I also want to address two of the latest GOP outrages: the shameful treatment of Kate Cox in Texas, and the ridiculous Trump-ordered impeachment vote in the House.

You’ve probably heard about Ms. Cox. She and her husband were eagerly looking forward to the birth of their third child when they got the horrible news that the fetus has a fatal genetic defect that guaranteed her baby would die a painful death within days of birth, and that she could lose her ability to have another child … and might even die. Thanks to a draconian abortion ban law passed by Texas Republicans, backed up by the state’s corrupt Republican Attorney General and the all-Republican state Supreme Court, she was denied an abortion that doctors unanimously agreed was vital to protect her life and to avoid needless suffering for her baby. It was inhumane and outrageous. Ms. Cox was fortunate enough to have the ability to travel out-of-state to get medical help. Untold thousands of women in states like Texas and Florida won’t have that option.

“Kangaroo Court” by Pete McDonnell

House Republicans launched an impeachment investigation into President Biden this last week with no proof of “high crimes and misdemeanors” — a fishing expedition ordered by Donald Trump that is retribution for the two impeachments of Trump.

Imagine that you get a notice from your county prosecutor saying you are being investigated by a grand jury on a hunch that you might have committed a crime: “we think there might be something there. We don’t know what it is, but we’re going to look anyway.”

That’s exactly what is being done to President Biden. It’s a brazen, unconscionable effort to destroy the reputation of a man known for his integrity … all because their likely presidential candidate is charged with 91 felonies and has demanded that his MAGA puppets slime Joe Biden with baseless insinuations amplified by their right-wing media patrons. It’s a repeat of McCarthyism, but this time with the backing of an entire political party.

Sen. Sam Singh
Rep. Abraham Aiyash

Joining the podcast this week are the Majority Floor Leaders of the state Senate and state House: Senator Sam Singh and Representative Abraham Aiyash. They are the “traffic cops” for legislation, guiding bills on the floor of each chamber in consultation with the rest of the leadership team. Among the many victories the two of them help orchestrate: significant climate change legislation.

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