Kent County Democratic Party

Help collect signatures for Sen. Stabenow!

admin — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:20:40 +0000

Senator Stabenow needs to collect 30,000 valid signatures by May 1 to get on the ballot for this fall’s election. Want to help? Click here or contact Sammi McClain at 248-310-5797.

Paul Krugman: Money and Morals

admin — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:36:00 +0000

Lately inequality has re-entered the national conversation. Occupy Wall Street gave the issue visibility, while the Congressional Budget Office supplied hard data on the widening income gap. And the myth of a classless society has been exposed: Among rich countries, America stands out as the place where economic and social status is most likely to be inherited.

So you knew what was going to happen next. Suddenly, conservatives are telling us that it’s not really about money; it’s about morals. Never mind wage stagnation and all that, the real problem is the collapse of working-class family values, which is somehow the fault of liberals.

But is it really all about morals? No, it’s mainly about money.

Read the rest at nytimes.com

MDP Endorsement Convention & Training

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:54 +0000

On March 10th, join your fellow Democrats from around the state to pick which candidates we should endorse for the Michigan Supreme Court and Education Boards. Other events include constituency caucus and congressional district meetings, and of course the MDP 50/50 raffle.

Hurry, registration closes on February 9th!

Learn more

On March 11th, please join us for training on the upcoming Presidential Caucus and other valuable training for Party Leaders such as Basic and Advanced VAN, Putting together a winning campaign, Grassroots Organizing, Campaign Finance Guidelines and Reporting, Internet Fundraising and Press and Communications.

Please RSVP to Jody Weissler DeFoe at jweissler@michigandems.com to reserve a seat and a lunch.

Paul Krugman: Romney Isn’t Concerned

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:54:56 +0000

If you’re an American down on your luck, Mitt Romney has a message for you: He doesn’t feel your pain. Earlier this week, Mr. Romney told a startled CNN interviewer, “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.”

Faced with criticism, the candidate has claimed that he didn’t mean what he seemed to mean, and that his words were taken out of context. But he quite clearly did mean what he said. And the more context you give to his statement, the worse it gets.

Read the rest at nytimes.com

Paul Krugman: The Austerity Debacle

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:34:10 +0000

Last week the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, a British think tank, released a startling chart comparing the current slump with past recessions and recoveries. It turns out that by one important measure — changes in real G.D.P. since the recession began — Britain is doing worse this time than it did during the Great Depression. Four years into the Depression, British G.D.P. had regained its previous peak; four years after the Great Recession began, Britain is nowhere close to regaining its lost ground.

Nor is Britain unique. Italy is also doing worse than it did in the 1930s — and with Spain clearly headed for a double-dip recession, that makes three of Europe’s big five economies members of the worse-than club. Yes, there are some caveats and complications. But this nonetheless represents a stunning failure of policy.

And it’s a failure, in particular, of the austerity doctrine that has dominated elite policy discussion both in Europe and, to a large extent, in the United States for the past two years.

Winning the Future: The Michigan 2020 Plan

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:28:40 +0000

Too often in Lansing, we hear the phrase “Michigan can’t.” Whether it’s investing in our education, helping unemployed workers, or rebuilding our communities, the answer from the Snyder administration is inevitably: “Michigan can’t.”

Suggesting that we can’t create investment and can’t move our state forward signals the idea that Michigan is already defeated, but even worse, it also runs contrary to what every economist and business leader from across the nation say is necessary to get our state back on track.

As Lou Glazer, President of Michigan Future Inc said, “The choice we face is, do we do what is required to build the assets needed to compete in the knowledge-based economy or do we accept being a low prosperity state?”

In other words, we either continue the “race to the bottom” mentality that has dominated decision making in Michigan for years, or we reinvest in the future of our people and our state.

As study after study emphasizes the importance of a highly educated workforce in the economic vitality of any state in the 21st Century, the Senate Democrats have unveiled the Michigan 2020 Plan, a proposal that marks a significant investment in Michigan’s future by positioning our state as a leader in higher education and workforce development.

Under the plan, Michigan high school graduates would be eligible to have tuition and associated costs paid for at one of Michigan’s public community colleges or universities, creating a pact with our K-12 students that invests in their future as well as the future of our state by developing the highest educated workforce in the nation.

The best part about the plan? It doesn’t raise taxes one cent.

You can read the details of the Michigan 2020 plan online at michigan2020.com and learn more about how it works and how it’s fully paid for.

Unfortunately, even as the details of the plan were first announced, the familiar phrase “Michigan can’t” came quickly from the Governor’s office in response. It’s time for Michigan to challenge that thinking and tell Governor Snyder that Michigan CAN move forward and MUST move forward.

Or, as Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer said, “It’s time for us to be bold and there’s no better place for us to start than by giving each and every child in Michigan the chance to compete in the 21st Century job market. It’s not about whether Michigan can afford to do this, it’s whether we can afford not to.”

Valerie Keefe
Michigan Senate Democratic Caucus

Texas Hold Em’ Fundraiser

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:44:52 +0000

Come have some fun and support the Kent County Democratic Party at our Texas Hold Em’ Fundraiser, February 9-11 at Westgate Bowl!

Not a poker player? We also need volunteers – contact Traci Kornak 458-8000 TKornak@kornaklaw.com or Mike Kolehouse 293-6302 to sign up or for more information!

When

Thursday Feb. 9 5:00 PM – 2:00 AM
Friday Feb. 10   5:00 PM – 2:00 AM
Saturday Feb. 11   12:00 PM – 2:00 AM
Sunday    Feb. 12   12:00 PM – 2:00 AM

Where

Westgate Bowl
4486 Alpine, Comstock Park

Bitter Politics of Envy?

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:30:15 +0000

You’re just jealous. At least that’s how Mitt Romney sees it. The millionaire who posed for a picture with the boys at Bain Capital with the long green clinched between their teeth and poking out of their collars and jackets now says that people who question what he did there, and what rich people do now, are just green with envy.

In his New Hampshire victory speech on Tuesday, Romney lambasted his Republican opponents (who have raised real issues about his role at the private equity firm Bain Capital) for following the lead of President Obama, whom he described as a leader who divides us “with the bitter politics of envy.”

The next day on “Today” on NBC, Romney defended the statement, rejecting the notion that there were questions about Wall Street behavior, saying the whole discussion was about class warfare. He even went so far as to suggest that such talk shouldn’t even be openly entertained. When the interviewer asked, “Are there no fair questions about the distribution of wealth without it being seen as envy, though?” Romney responded, “I think it’s fine to talk about those things in quiet rooms and discussions about tax policy and the like.”

Read the rest at NYTimes.com

The GOP plan to block your vote

admin — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:54:04 +0000

If you are a member of a racial minority, student or young voter, working poor, elderly or disabled, your ability to vote may be a lot harder in 2012 — especially if you live in states that have a history of racial repression during the Civil Rights Movement. Simply put, the Republican Party knows which segments of society helped to elect President Obama and other Democrats in 2008, knows tens of millions of these people did not vote in the 2010 midterms, and has worked very hard to stop these people from voting again next year.

Their strategy has been simple: raise the barriers by complicating the rules to register to vote, to get a ballot, to vote early or speedily. What follows are seven major trends that will affect you if you live in a state with new rules. Republicans know that most people do not pay attention to the fine print of election law. They get excited in the final days before presidential votes. But that may not be good enough in 2012.

Read the rest at Salon.com

Sign On to Protect Workers Compensation

admin — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:23:31 +0000

A bill that guts Michigan’s exemplary workers’ compensation program has passed the State House of Representatives. There is an opportunity to stop this legislation, House Bill 5002, in the Senate before this becomes law.

In response to this action, Chuck Tawney has created a petition to the Michigan Senate and Governor Rick Snyder on SignOn.org, which says:

Both on the national and state level, cuts are being proposed and enacted that attack the 99% of U.S. citizens who work for a living—the ones who have created the real wealth that this nation has achieved. The most recent example of this attack is Michigan House Bill 5002 which, if enacted, will gut workers’ compensation. There is no economic rationale for this bill. It further benefits the wealthy at the expense of our hardest-working citizens.

House Bill 5002 harms injured working people by: changing the review panel from independent career judges to political appointees; denying injured workers the right to choose their own doctor for 45 days; making the suffered “disability” harder to prove; and setting compensation to arbitrarily determined wages, then denying the worker compensation if those jobs are not available.

We oppose federal and state bills that further impoverish those who work and add real wealth to our nation. They undermine the means by which we can ensure economic security and human dignity. We need jobs, not cuts. We oppose Michigan House Bill 5002.

Will you sign the petition? Click here to add your name, and then pass it along to your friends:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=268558&id=33641-5860583-D8k_zLx&t=2