FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Contact: Jessica Tramontana, jessica@progressmichigan.org, 517-974-6302
Thanks for “firing your muskets…keep your powder dry,” Jack Hoogendyk proclaims
LANSING – Progress Michigan condemned the dishonest and unhinged rhetoric of conservative leader Jack Hoogendyk regarding the expansion of Medicaid in Michigan. Hoogendyk sent out an op-ed from Florida’s Tea Party Gov. Rick Scott from July 2012 in which he opposed Medicaid expansion. Gov. Scott has since come out in favor of expanding Medicaid. Hoogendyk also asked his list to “keep your powder dry for the next battle.”
“The violent rhetoric and scare tactics from conservative Republicans must stop,” said Jessica Tramontana, Communications Director of Progress Michigan. “It’s troubling and revealing how often conservative leaders like Jack Hoogendyk and Scott Hagerstrom revert to over-the-top violent rhetoric when talking about people they disagree with. We’re calling on conservatives to drop the irrational attacks and join the adults in a real conversation about moving Michigan forward.”
In January at a “Citizens Watchdog Training” sponsored by Tea Party advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, AFP’s state director Scott Hagerstrom explained the group’s plans to shut down grassroots efforts to put RTW on the ballot, saying “I call it hand-to-hand combat with Michigan citizens.”
In February 2011 at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Hagerstrom explained in a panel discussion the plan to “take the unions out at the knees” in Michigan.
Jack Hoogendyk is chair of several different Tea Party groups, but this particular email “blast” was sent out to his “Center Right Coalition” list. The only group by that name that has filed a Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service is based in Irvine, California, and hasn’t filed since 2004.
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NOTE: The email can be viewed here.
UPDATE: Jack Hoogendyk emailed us. He wasn’t pleased.