One year ago today, the election-rigging scandal now known as “Bolgergate” started to unravel. On May 16, the day of the 2012 election filing deadline, then-Democratic State Rep. Roy Schmidt announced he was switching parties to run as a Republican, and an unknown amateur bodybuilder named Matt Mojzak filed to run as a Democrat. Bolger…
“I believe in transparency in government.” –Speaker Jase Bolger Last week the Snyder administration announced that Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Speaker Jase Bolger, and Sen. Arlan Meekhof would be leading an official state trade mission to the Netherlands. According to MLive, “The MEDC is paying for its staff members and Calley, while companies and other…
Following our blog post about MLive and the Mackinac Center yesterday, I have been notified by the Saginaw-Bay City editor that they will no longer publish bill and vote tracking information from the biased MichiganVotes.org website. After speaking with the regional editor, Rob Clark, I believe he was simply trying to provide his readers with…
Pop quiz. Guess which corporate front group funded by billionaire Dick DeVos is now providing legislative tracking to MLive.com? That would be the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Today MLive began a new weekly series where they will “publish descriptions of bills and corresponding votes from the Michigan House and Senate as compiled by MichiganVotes.org.”…
One year ago today, I started my job as Progress Michigan’s new Executive Director. Progressive victories have been few and far between with Rick Snyder, Jase Bolger, and Ruth Johnson in power, but here are the Top Five Progressive Victories during my first year at Progress Michigan: 1. Ruth Johnson grants driver’s licenses to undocumented…
As a kid growing up in a house with a single mom, I didn’t have a lot of power when it came to the remote control. While my mom and I didn’t always agree on what TV shows to watch, one of my favorite memories was watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” together every Christmas. Without…
When it comes to recent news coverage of so-called “Right to Work” legislation, the question I keep asking myself is, “Where’s the beef?” First, let me say that I have the utmost respect for journalists. There are a lot of talented news professionals in Michigan, but there are far too few of them covering far…
Picture this: You roll out of bed on Election Day, ready to head over to your polling place to cast your ballot. But wait — what’s the address? How do you get there? When do the polls open, and who should you support? We’ve all been there. You’re probably ready to cast your ballot, but…
Earlier this month the Michigan League of Responsible Voters announced a new effort to educate voters about the proposals that will appear on the November ballot. The voter guide, which can be seen here, includes no-nonsense information about the proposals, and includes a balanced list of groups that are supporting and opposing Proposals 1-5. Take…
Today we are releasing the full Michigan State Police report investigating the election fraud scheme hatched by Speaker Jase Bolger and Rep. Roy Schmidt. You can view a PDF of the full +2,000 page report here (embedded below): http://bit.ly/Bolgergate. It includes a narrative of the investigation and countless text messages sent between Bolger, Schmidt, Rep.…