Party on the Peninsulas – Page 6

The WØRD – “Voting”

December 3, 2023 MDP Uncategorized

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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”

November 25, 2023 MDP Uncategorized

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:04 — 13.1MB)

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From the Chair

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.

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.