The latest in GOP 2012 Voter Suppression: Michigan Edition

I had to read this twice to believe it:

From Politicususa.com:



         
       Michigan Defunding Presidential Election in Predominantly Democratic Detroit

By: Sarah JonesApril 19, 2012


If Republicans took over the country with the White House and a majority in the House and merely maintaining filibuster ability in Senate, Michigan could be a blue print for what is in store for us.

Detroit is facing a crisis. It may not be able to conduct a Presidential election due to lack of funding in the budget. Detroit spent $1.49 million on the 2008 Presidential election, and this year requested $1.2 million but was only granted $737,000.

After Detroit Mayor Dave Bing (D) cut the budget for the Presidential election in half and cut the Department of Elections by 25%, Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey said there is no way they can conduct the 2012 Presidential election due to their inability to comply with federal law under the severe budget constraints. The Mayor tried to pass this off as shared sacrifices, but sacrificing the root of democracy itself is not exactly the same thing as cutting salaries.

The Detroit Free Press reported the clerk as saying, “You can’t do it. You just can’t do it. We’re mandated by law to do certain things, to have certain things in place, to have a certain number of poll workers. There’s no way we can conduct a presidential election.”

In Detroit, one out of two eligible voters turned out to vote for President Obama in 2008. Detroit is a big city in a state where a Republican presidential candidate hasn’t won since George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Romney should have a home state advantage in Michigan, with his father being a former Governor as well as being a Presidential candidate. But Romney’s stand against the auto bailouts have hurt him in Michigan. His exact quote was “Let Detroit go bankrupt.” Now, he and his Republicans are doing just that. The thinking seems to be that if the voters are going to punish you for your positions, you can just render them powerless to vote.

USliberals reports:

In the 2008 election, Democrat Obama was the victor among every age group of Michigan voter, but was particularly popular among voters under 30 years old (68% representing 20% of voters) and African-Americans (97% representing 12% of voters.)

In the last four presidential elections, Michigan voted as follows:
• 2008 – 57% for Democrat Obama, 41% for Republican McCain
• 2004 – 51% for Democrat Kerry, 48% for Republican Bush
• 2000 – 51% for Democrat Gore, 46% for Republican Bush
• 1996 – 52% for Democrat Clinton, 39% for Republican Dole, 9% for Other


The data for registered voters in Michigan shows Wayne County (Detroit is a large portion of Wayne County) with a total of 1,347,245 voters. Consider the impact if those voters can’t vote, in a state with a TOTAL of 7,286,556 registered voters. These numbers indicate that 18% of Michigan voters are in Wayne County. (Wayne County is bigger than Detroit, but Detroit is the major city within the County). McCain lost Michigan by 16% in 2008. Ostensibly, if Detroit couldn’t vote, it would be fair to say assume that it would create a huge opportunity for a Republican Presidential candidate to take the state, as well as assisting with down ticket votes.

Read the rest of the article at the link above.


More about Michigan from Rachel Maddow.

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The crookedness in the Michigan Emergency Managers Law

In case you didn't know, the Governor of Michigan and the crazy GOP there has instituted the ' Emergency Managers' Law. Basically, it strips the citizens of Michigan of the right to have their own locally elected governments.

Keith Owens has been reporting on the happenings in Michigan. Here is his latest on what the Governor is trying to do:‘Helpful’ Republican Gov. Rick Snyder eyeing Detroit for holiday meal.

The blogger Eclectablog has been doing a yoeman's job covering this story also.

December 3, 2011
Emergency Manager near for Inkster. With Detroit and Inkster, OVER HALF of Michigan blacks disenfranchised.
Lost in the media hubub regarding the possibility that Detroit may be put under the control of an Emergency Manager (EM) was related news about Inkster, Michigan. I reported in October and then again in November that Inkster is on a glide path toward a take over by an EM. The penultimate step toward that final outcome was taken this week as Governor Snyder established a team to review Inkster's finances.


The state took a big step today towards making Inkster the next Michigan city to fall under the oversight of an emergency manager.

Governor Snyder has appointed a seven-member review team to delve deep into Inkster’s city finances. A preliminary review has already found the city is in ‘probable financial stress’.

The city has struggled to deal with a multi-million dollar deficit. This week, the city laid off 20 percent of its police officers and the police chief announced he’s leaving too.

If the review team finds Inkster is facing a ‘financial emergency’, the governor may appoint an emergency manager to solve the problem.

Emergency managers are already in place in Flint, Benton Harbor, Pontiac, Ecorse and the Detroit Public Schools.

If Inkster and Detroit are added to the list, the chart from my previous post will look like this:

City Population % African American # of African Americans
Benton Harbor 10,038 89.2% 8,954
Detroit 713,777 82.7% 590,294
Ecorse 9,512 46.4% 4,414
Flint 102,434 56.6% 57,978
Inkster 25,369 73.2% 18,570
Pontiac 59,515 52.1% 31,007
Total 711,217
[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]

Again, Michigan had 9,883,640 residents in 2010, 14.2% of whom were African Americans for a total of 1,403,477. With the addition of Detroit and Inkster, the percentage of African Americans in Michigan without representative local government will be 50.7%.

Over half.

Both Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz have done pieces recently on the happenings in Michigan.

Rachel Maddow's segment, which she calls the most underreported story of the year.

I still believe the story of Michigan's Emergency Manager law -- of what's being done to democracy in the name of fixing Detroit and Flint and Pontiac and Inkster and Benton Harbor -- I still believe that this could be the most important and under-covered story of the year. I know my colleague Ed Schultz feels the same way.

It's because along with the national story of Republican legislators making it harder to vote in this country, Republican lawmakers in Michigan have declared that your local vote could be rendered moot if your town falls on hard enough times.

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Under ' THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE' News: Foster children would be allowed to get clothing only from second hand stores

hat tip-djchefron
from TPM.com:

Foster children would be allowed to get clothing only from second hand stores
By Todd A. Heywood | 04.22.11 | 11:40 am

Under a new budget proposal from State Sen. Bruce Casswell, children in the state’s foster care system would be allowed to purchase clothing only in used clothing stores.

Casswell, a Republican representing Branch, Hillsdale, Lenawee and St. Joseph counties, made the proposal this week, reports Michigan Public Radio.

His explanation?

“I never had anything new,” Caswell says. “I got all the hand-me-downs. And my dad, he did a lot of shopping at the Salvation Army, and his comment was — and quite frankly it’s true — once you’re out of the store and you walk down the street, nobody knows where you bought your clothes.”

Under his plan, foster children would receive gift cards that could only be used at places like the Salvation Army, Goodwill and other second hand clothing stores.

The plan was knocked by the Michigan League for Human Services. Gilda Jacobs, executive director of the group, had this to say:

“Honestly, I was flabbergasted,” Jacobs says. “I really couldn’t believe this. Because I think, gosh, is this where we’ve gone in this state? I think that there’s the whole issue of dignity. You’re saying to somebody, you don’t deserve to go in and buy a new pair of gym shoes. You know, for a lot of foster kids, they already have so much stacked against them.”

Casswell says the plan will save the state money, though it isn’t clear how much the state spends on clothing for foster children or how much could be saved this way.

Contact info for the guy is here.

Phone: 517 373 5932
Fax: 517 373 5944
e-mail SenBCaswell@senate.michigan.gov

You know, everytime you think that these folks can't go any low...they always find a way to get lower. This is about humiliating these children. These folks are just evil. Period. Soulless, evil folks.

More Ramifications from the Michigan Financial Martial Law Bill:Look at what's happening in the Detroit School System

A question here ----where is the opposition from the CBC Members from Michigan? Why aren't they on tv talking about this?

................................

Rachel Maddow has done a yoeman's job in trying to be the town crier on the violence against communities that is resulting from the Financial Martial Law Passed in Michigan.

Here is a piece on a school in Detroit, a school that sends its graduates - teenaged mothers - onto college.

Rachel said this towards the end of the story : "What is new here is that this state has decided that local elections, locally elected officials are a problem that has to be done away with, that democracy is in the way of fixing problems in the United States now, of making things more efficient, particularly in poor places. Not that democracy is the way we fix problems but that democracy is the problem and it therefore needs to be sidestepped for efficiency sake, for our own good. Governor knows best.

"The point here, what makes Benton Harbor a national story and Katherine Ferguson Academy a national story is that the whole idea of choice for them anymore is purely hypothetical. The state has chosen for them. And that they've got is, frankly, that aforementioned dictator. Their hope -- their one hope -- is the dictator is benevolent.

"Is that how we think problems should get solved in America now?"

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Here's more background on this story:

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The Greening of Detroit

People who are smart in planning their future will look for jobs in industries that are growing, not shrinking. Smart people, then, will go green.
Earth Day is an opportunity to focus on the tremendous job growth potential in green industries. I have written extensively about how labor union jobs are not the future (even though I support them), how Black workers need to ditch service jobs, and how STEM jobs (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) are the way forward.

A great city to see the future up close is Detroit. Of all places, a city best known for old school manufacturing might actually lead the way in green job creation.

Read the rest at The Loop.

McCain PULLS OUT of Michigan

From DailyKos:

John McCain is pulling out of Michigan, according to two Republicans, a stunning move a month away from Election Day that indicates the difficulty Republicans are having in finding blue states to put in play.

McCain will go off TV in Michigan, stop dropping mail there and send most of his staff to more competitive states.

This is the importance of Obama's 50 State Strategy. Barack Obama has tried to forge many paths to 270. If he had just stuck with the same Electoral College Map, that would have enabled McCain to concentrate on a certain number of states. Now that Obama is fighting all across the country, McCain has to stretch resources even thinner.

THIS is a big deal. That's why he dumped it on the day of the VP debate, to try and blunt the underlying message of what this means.

Republicans Attempting to Foreclose On The Right To Vote In Michigan

Talk about a double whammy. Voters in Michigan who have already gone through the difficulty of losing their homes, may now face the threat of losing their right to vote. This has to do with an effort by Republicans in Michigan to take advantage of the high numbers of foreclosures in the State. In order to register and vote, residents must have a permanent address. However, those who have lost their homes are obviously temporarily displaced. The Republicans are preparing lists of foreclosed homes.... in an effort to challenge voters on election day. They may also attempt to send mailings to these homes, knowing that the mailings will be sent back w/ "return to sender".... this could also be a pretext to disqualify voters. It should be no surprise that many of the targeted voters will be African Americans - standard M.O. for Republican strategists who use voter suppression to give Republican candidates an advantage.

However, there is no law requiring anyone to be a homeowner in order to vote. Many of these voters may not remember to re-register (with all the hectic and tragic events in their lives)....and Republicans may attempt to make it difficult for these voters to do so, even if they try. If these voters are temporarily living with family or friends, then that should suffice. But this is why we need national standards on voting... that would put an end to this kind of trickery. The current system of 50 separate and unequal voting systems is inadequate and leaves open too many opportunities for voter suppression, intimidation, caging, destroying ballots, disqualifying legitimate registrations and other trickery.

Democrats have had to file a lawsuit to stop Republican dirty tricks in Michigan.

Hear/Watch report from Democracy Now

Amy Goodman also talks with Professor Andrew Hacker about voter Suppression nationwide.

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A Few Previous Posts On This Topic

Watch an Excellent Video On Caging

McCain Camp Sends Out Bogus Ballot Applications

Rikyrah Posts About Voter Suppression

Obama's Race May Be a Growing Issue In Michigan & Beyond

The issue or Race is leading to a tough fight for Obama in Michigan, as well as other States. Certainly the Kilpatrick debacle didn't help (which is why Idiot Kilpatrick should have been aware of the big picture and left the stage quietly, months ago).

Obama is also struggling in Pennsylvania & Minnesota - States that had been a given for Democrats. Ohio, Missouri, Florida, and Virginia? Those may be lost at this point.... it would take a miracle for Obama to win one of the four. Right now, Obama has to concentrate on stopping the bleeding so that he can hold on to States that had been seen as safe for Democrats - Pennsylvania, Michigan and Minnesota.

If he can hold on to those... he will likely have to beat McCain in November by winning Colorado and New Mexico.

Things could change in six weeks... hopefully they will change for the better. I keep hoping that Obama has finally bottomed out and will rebound at any moment... but that's not what the data is telling me. So far, the bottom is continuing to fall.
From a logic standpoint, I can't make any sense of it. But when you factor in the sickness of America and look at the whole picture, I understand it from a functional, technical point of view. But from a common sense point of view, it is driving me crazy because I can't wrap my head around it.

The impact that race is having on this election is even more than I had imagined. It's making me sick to my stomach.

One bright side might be the fact that Kerry also struggled a little in Minnesota and Pennsylvania in the polling (although not so much in Michigan). But then again I can't compare Kerry's performance to Obama's....and any "pundit" or "expert" who does is wasting their time... you can probably throw many of those conclusions out. Why? Because Kerry had the benefit of being White. Obama faces many more political and social challenges and the voting might be hard to predict in many of these battleground States. Kerry didn't have to worry about racist and xenophobic propaganda, didn't have to worry about the Bradley Effect, etc.

I am hoping that the debates will give Obama a small boost before the election... but then again, we saw John Kerry destroy George W. Bush 3 times in a row...and Bush still won. We are dealing with an electorate with a low aptitude for politics, for the issues, and are generally ill informed. So the debates may not necessarily help Obama. This is another factor that is driving me crazy.

Meanwhile, Obama is losing the propaganda war.... the Republican machine is destroying him so far. And the Democrats seem clueless, even though THEY KNEW about the Republican playbook ahead of time. How could they not be prepared? One big problem for the Democrats is that they don't have a propaganda machine or at least they don't have anything that comes close to the infrastructure and information network that Republicans have.

McCain Making Serious Push for Michigan and Pennsylvania

Obama is losing ground in Michigan - A State that should be a Democratic stronghold. See Dave Leip's Michigan Page.

Obama is also beginning to struggle in Pennsylvania. See here.

These tend to be safe States for Democrats, at least that has been the case in recent elections.
The fact that these two States are in play this year may be a sign of trouble for the Democrats. I don't believe that Obama should lose either State, considering the urban vote in Philadelphia and Detroit, but the race should not be this close. It will depend on whether the current trend holds & Obama continues to slip or if he can stop the bleeding and recover....and how soon.

Check Dave Leip's interactive map on the sidebar to check State by State polling.

Of course this has everything to do with Race and xenophobia, and not much else.
This is why running a Black candidate is such a risk. I'm willing to admit and accept that America is sick.... has been sick for most of its history, going back to slavery, and it will most likely always be sick in terms of its racial polarization. I embraced this a long time ago.

I'm willing to accept that there will likely never be a Black President. So much so, that it is not a part of my agenda... never has been. Some folks are more concerned with having a Black President than having a Progressive in the White House. I'd much rather have a "safe" white Progressive candidate who could win (and who would probably be beating McCain by double digits at this point) than the current social experiment, which is flirting with disaster. White and Blue are more important colors to me than Brown when it comes to the Presidential election, especially when Brown has to struggle so hard just to stay afloat. What's more important to me are the issues that are important to a particular candidate and the values that he or she represents.

The idea that Democrats might be headed for another defeat - with all that we know... with all the evidence- is absolutely unthinkable. But here we are... I predicted the current situation, which is turning out to be a trainwreck for Democrats. Bad year for this kind of social experimentation, especially in a Country that is this sick. Terminally ill in fact. In another 50-100 years, you won't recognize this Country. If it stays on its present path (straight down) it will be a profoundly different Country in 50-100 years, perhaps even sooner. It will be a shell of what it used to be.

This wouldn't be so bad if it had a silver lining... if another loss could cause a collapse of the impotent and ineffective Democratic Party. Something new is desperately needed. A smarter, more savvy, Progressive Party that knows how to win. A Party that understands the habits of the American electorate.