Michigan GOP: The Party of Waste, Fraud and Disunity

From Michigan Democratic Party

Gov. Snyder, Lt. Gov. Calley and Speaker Bolger Highlight Fractured Party on Day After Primary

LANSING – The day after bruising GOP primary fights concluded in the U.S. Senate and 11th Congressional District races, the Michigan Republican Party’s attempt to demonstrate “unity” instead highlighted how fractured the party has become, how their candidates have neglected Michigan’s middle class and how their leaders in Lansing have perpetrated and ignored election fraud.

“The state of the Michigan GOP is complete disarray,” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer said. “The only thing the Michigan Republicans are united on is harming middle-class families. In the 11th Congressional District, a Tea Party extremist defeated a former state senator backed by the local GOP establishment who has said she won’t endorse her opponent.

“Not to mention, in a few weeks the old 11th District will have to hold a wasteful special primary election that will cost taxpayers about $650,000 to elect a representative that will be in Washington for less than two months. Michigan taxpayers will foot the bill for this waste because Congressman Thad McCotter decided to quit on his constituents in the middle of his term.

“Speaking of McCotter, we’re still waiting to hear from Attorney General Bill Schuette on the status of his investigation into the fraud found in McCotter’s nominating petitions. He’s had nearly three months to look into this, and he’s failed to report, even though the fraud was so obvious a child could see it.

“In other GOP fraud news, Speaker Jase Bolger continues to cling to power, despite the fact that he and his staffers have a campaign finance investigation hanging over their heads. Unlike Nancy Cassis, Winnie Brinks succeeded in her write-in effort and is well-positioned to take back that seat in November. She’ll be running against Bolger’s partner in fraud, Roy Schmidt, whom Republican voters backed even after he attempted to rig the election in House District 76.

“The Senate GOP primary came to an ignominious end last night, as former Congressman and lobbyist Pete Hoekstra limped over the finish line in his race against Clark Durant. Hoekstra has an out-of-touch agenda that would increase taxes on the middle class, cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires and privatize Medicare and Social Security while protecting loopholes for big oil and corporations that ship Michigan jobs overseas.

“Finally, the Michigan GOP has a presidential candidate that would have let Detroit go bankrupt and is touting a proposal that would raise taxes on 95 percent of Americans, with the average middle-class family with kids paying about $2,000 more to give a break to millionaires and billionaires. This is the state of the Michigan GOP: the party of waste, fraud, disunity and disdain for the middle class.”