GOP Donors Seek To Oust Michigan Tea Party Congressmen Over Shutdown

BY JEFF SPROSS/Think Progress

The growing rift between Tea Party conservatives and the moneyed GOP establishment may have just broken out into open hostilities.

According to a letter obtained by The Hill, prominent Republican donors in Michigan are asking for financial help to oust one of the state’s incumbent GOP congressmen, Rep. Justin Amash (MI). Their aid will be going to Amash’s challenger in the upcoming Republican primary, businessman Brian Ellis.

Seven individuals signed the letter, including prominent Michigan businessmen Mark Bissell, J.C. Huizenga and Mike Jandernoa. The move is punishment for Amash’s participation in the infamous “suicide caucus” that insisted on undoing Obamacare as the price for keeping the government opening, scuttled a deal House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) tried to put together, and thus precipitated the recent government shutdown. “[Amash] and a small group of like-minded legislators rejected Speaker Boehner’s plea to pass legislation requiring Congress and the president be subject to ObamaCare, and put on hold the special new tax on medical equipment,” the letter states. “This irresponsible action hurt over 50 great West Michigan businesses and was part of the chaos that led the nation to the edge of default.”

Amash is among the hardest of hard-right Tea Party congressmen in the legislature. He played a key role in the January effort to oust Boehner as House speaker, he’s pushing legislation to restrict abortion access in Washington D.C., and he denied the severity of a debt ceiling breach during the default standoff. On the health care front, Amash has dismissed concerns that a repeal of Obamacare would leave those with pre-existing conditions without recourse, and fought against the law’s expansion of Medicaid in Michigan — which would bring coverage to 470,000 people in the state currently going uninsured.

The turn against Amash among Michigan donors is part of a broader anti-Tea-Party revolt by the GOP establishment around the country, largely driven by anger over the shutdown debacle. Discontent with the Tea Party’s radicalism is growing amongst political donors on both sides of the aisle, Republican moderates have vowed to speak out more against the more extreme members of their party, and fundraising for the Tea Party legislators associated with the suicide caucus dropped by two-thirds in the July-to-September quarter.

But Amash is not without supporters. Dean Clancy, the vice president of public policy at the conservative group FreedomWorks, told The Hill, “We have heard that the K-Street establishment wants to knock him off — and we intend to defend him punch-for-punch.”

Michigan GOP Congressman Announces New D.C. Anti-Abortion Restrictions On Facebook

By Annie-Rose Strasser/Think Progress

A Michigan congressman used his Facebook page last week to announce that he is planning to introduce legislation that would further limit access to abortions for women in Washington, DC.

Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) posted that his bill would “requir[e] minors in D.C. to receive their parents’ consent before having an abortion, prohibits non-doctors from performing abortions, and provides conscience protections for individuals and health care facilities in D.C. that refuse to perform abortions.”

House Republicans have long sought to ban abortion in the District. The House Republican budget for DC prevents “the city from using its own taxpayer money to pay for abortions for low-income women” and Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) recently introduced legislation that wouldban abortions 20 weeks after gestation.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) condemned the latest Republican restrictions:

On Tuesday evening, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) decried Amash’s plans and ongoing efforts by the GOP to restrict abortions solely in the District.

“Rep. Amash is spending time in the House meddling in my district, instead of attending to the needs of his own constituents,” she wrote in a statement. “His bill would overturn our local laws with no accountability to our residents.”

Amash’s bill could have a particularly debilitating effect on women who have been raped or are victims of incest, while more expansive conscience clauses significantly limit access to abortion procedures.

MDP Blasts Michigan GOP Congressmen Amash, Walberg, and McCotter for Voting to Raise Taxes on the Middle Class

From Michigan Democratic Party

LANSING – Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer issued the following statement after Michigan Republican Congressmen Justin Amash (MI-3), Tim Walberg (MI-7), and Thad McCotter (MI-11) voted “no” on extending the payroll tax cut which will save the average family around $1,500 per year.

“This ‘no’ vote by these three Republican Congressmen is irresponsible and puts our economic recovery at risk. This tax cut extension was a bipartisan agreement that will benefit millions of working families throughout the country. Instead of voting to cut taxes for middle class families, Congressmen Amash, Walberg, and McCotter voted to raise them.

“They’re not representing their constituents nor the people of Michigan. Congressmen Amash, Walberg, and McCotter should be ashamed of themselves for this vote and the voters will hold them accountable at the polls in November.”

Tea Party Organizers Call Security On Seniors And Reporters At Event With Local Congressman

By Tanya Somanader

As the backlash against the GOP’s plan to end Medicare grows, so does the attempt to block reporters from covering it. As ThinkProgress has reported, several Republicans are clamping downon citizen journalists at their events. But this weekend, the Tea Party of West Michigan took this to the next level.

At the Prince Conference Center at Calvin College in Grand Rapids Saturday evening, the Tea Party group hosted a fireside chat with Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) for Tea Party supporters. The event was not open to the public, though numerous senior citizens were told the event was a town hall and were turned away at the door. A few seniors gathered outside on the sidewalk to discuss the various issues they had hoped to discuss with Amash, including their disapproval of Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) Medicare privatization plan. While seniors spoke with ThinkProgress and a reporter from the Michigan Messenger, organizers from the Tea Party group called campus security, summoning eight officers to force six seniors and two reporters off the premises.

According to security, the people who called them said the seniors had thrown things at the Tea Party organizers. Watch it:

According to multiple members inside, no objects were ever thrown. When asked, the conference center staff said they did not call security — indicating that the Tea Party asked security to move the constituents away from the building.

For an organization that’s campaigned for greater transparency from government officials, these actions seem to be anathema to its principles. Indeed, Tea Party organizer Lisa Dupont told the Michigan Messenger’s Sam Inglot that they intentionally blocked media from the event. “That’s our choice,” Dupont said. “We just wanted it to be laid back and comfortable, we’re asking the questions.” She then said she’d ask Amash if he minded. When Amash arrived, he demurred, saying “this is not an appropriate venue” and that this “happens all the time, whether I mind it or not.”

Attendees at the event, however, told ThinkProgress they were surprised reporters were not allowed in. One attendee went back inside to inform Amash that reporters were waiting in the lobby. However, according to Tea Party member Paul Meyer, the organization appointed him to keep reporters out, even after the event was over as we were considered a “security issue.”

After further questioning, security was summoned for a second time. According to the guards, the call again came from Tea Party organizers.

When leaving the event, one attendee stopped to tell ThinkProgress how Amash was a politician of principle. In singing his praises, she told ThinkProgress that “he is a big proponent of transparency.”

Amash, Benishek, Walberg and Michigan Republicans Pushing Extreme Budget Proposal

by John Tramontana

Some Michigan Congressional Republicans are proposing a budget much more extreme than Congressman Paul Ryan’s proposal that was announced last week. The Republican Study Committee (RSC) plans to cut $9.1 trillion from the budget – attacking Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and children’s nutrition programs.

Congressmen Justin Amash, Dan Benishek, Dave Camp, Bill Huizenga, and Tim Walberg are members of the RSC.

According to The Hill, the plan would raise the age of Social Security eligibility to age 70, privatize Medicare, reduce Supplemental Security Income, and reduce child nutrition spending.

“These are programs that are keeping many of our seniors, kids, and low-wage workers above the poverty line,” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer said. “These GOP Members of Congress would rather give tax breaks to oil companies, drug companies, insurance companies, big banks, and the wealthiest 1% of the population and force our kids, seniors, and low-wage workers to pay for it. That’s wrong.”