Michigan Governor: The 300 Same-Sex Marriages That Took Place This Weekend Are ‘Moot’

BY ZACK FORD/Think Progress

About 300 Michigan same-sex couples tied the knot this weekend during a short window before Friday’s marriage equality ruling was temporarily stayed. Because of that stay, Gov. Rick Snyder (R) believes those marriages are “moot,” though he won’t clarify whether or not it to legally recognize them.

Snyder spokeswoman Sarah Wurfel told the AP that the administration is simply not weighing in yet:

We are not saying that we aren’t or won’t recognize the marriages that happened on Saturday, but that we’re awaiting further court or legal direction on this complex, unusual situation… Either way, this can’t be construed one way or another as not recognizing the validity of the same sex marriages.

The order is stayed (at least until Wednesday), [so the] issue is moot at this point until resolved.

The question is not moot, however, for the couples who married and are unsure of the legal validity of their unions. One couple, Jennifer Chapin-Smith and her spouse, filed their state and federal taxes jointly on Saturday before the stay was issued. They were previously married in Maryland, so the federal government would have already recognized their union, but they also married Saturday in Michigan, so the state will have to decide whether their marriage there is valid — most likely well before the case is resolved in the courts. If the state is “awaiting” further development, it is arguably not recognizing the marriages int he interim.

In Utah, after 1,300 couples married before a Supreme Court stay of the marriage equality decision there, the state decided not to recognize the validity of those marriages. The federal government and several other marriage equality states said that they would, however,recognize those marriages. A separate suit is now playing out in Utah as those couples seek recognition while the case challenging the state’s ban proceeds.

Rick Snyder Campaign Ad Touts State Recovery Over Images Of Broke Detroit

By Kate Abbey-Lambertz/Huffington Post Detroit

With the Michigan gubernatorial race more than 13 months away, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's first campaign ad was released Tuesday, a one-minute spot that draws attention to his role in resuscitating the state's economy. Snyder is receiving more attention than ever from the Republican party, causing at least one GOP presidential advisor to say this weekend that he "could be a top tier candidate for president" if he's reelected in 2014.

The "Michigan Is Back" ad (see above) starts in 2010 with grim, sepia-toned photos of Detroit in 2010 when Michigan was "50th out of 50. Dead last," according to the narrator. Enter Snyder, who last campaigned as "One Tough Nerd" and returns now as "One Successful Nerd": with his steering, Michigan is bouncing back, and Detroit returns to close out the minute-long spot with triumphant, aerial images.

"In record time, Michigan is back on a solid foundation," the narrator says.

Snyder has long touted his commitment to improving the economy, creating jobs and balancing the budget, so his ad's claims are nothing surprising. But there are a few elements that miss the mark:

• "Michigan's economy: best in 10 years. Best employment numbers in four years": The state has seen job growth over the last several years, with the latest month adding 8,000 new payroll jobs. But best employment numbers? The ad references a March article in the Detroit News as the source, which doesn't seem to take into account that in the last three months, theunemployment rate has risen, reaching 9 percent in August, the fourth-worst in the country. (To be fair, it is better than last August's rate of 9.3 percent or the August 2009 record of 14.2 percent in Michigan.)
• "This new governor has kept his word. Ignored politics": One of the complaints most often leveled against Snyder by opponents is that he hasn'tkept his word. Despite repeating numerous times that right-to-work was not on his agenda, he signed the divisive legislation last year. And though he won votes from Democrats in 2010 with his promise to focus on economic recovery over social issues, many saw his decision to sign a ban on domestic partner benefitsfor state employees and stricter abortion laws as bowing to pressure from legislators on his side of the aisle.
• Photos of Detroit blight make way for magnificent cityscapes: It's an easy argument to make that the ad ties Snyder's leadership to an improving Detroit. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened yet: Detroit is broke, and locked in bankruptcy proceedings. Though Snyder has cited Detroit's bankruptcy filing as a way to stop its downward spiral and "move forward and upward," the current situation is grim for residents, and the short-term effects are more likely to first hit downsized city employees and pensioners who may see cuts to benefits.

According to the Associated Press, the ad will run for two weeks on cable and network stations.

Snyder is leading Democrat challenger Mark Schauer by eight points, according to a recent poll.

Schauer's campaign manager issued a statement Tuesday after Snyder's ad appeared. "It’s unprecedented for an incumbent to be spending money on a political ad more than a year before an election," BJ Neidhardt said. "It’s clear candidate Snyder is desperate to repair the damage he’s done to his own brand."

Muckraker Alert: Road to bankruptcy paved in secrets, lies

by Steve Neavling/Motor City Muckraker 

This report is based on hundreds of public records and more than a dozen interviews with state officials and former aides to Mayor Bing. Some of this has been published, some not. This is the whole narrative. 

State and local leaders conspired to plunge Detroit into the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy in a series of surreptitious meetings that began soon after Mayor Dave Bing was elected to his first full term in 2010, the Motor City Muckraker has learned.

In early 2011, newly elected Gov. Rick Snyder and his executive team invited Bing and his aide, Kirk Lewis, to private brainstorming sessions. The topic – devising a strict emergency manager law that would allow an appointed official to break union contracts and privatize services in financially struggling municipalities.

The private sessions, which the mayor and governor had denied took place, marked the beginning of two years’ of secret meetings intended to deceive Detroiters, city workers and other stakeholders about the prospect of a financial takeover and bankruptcy, calling into question whether authorities ever intended to bargain in good faith, a requirement of Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

Involved was a surprising array of local and state politicians, including the governor, Treasurer Andy Dillon, Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, mayoral candidate Mike Duggan, former Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown and a host of others.

Gov. Snyder finds partner in Bing

Bing and Gov. Snyder hit it off immediately. In early 2011, they agreed the city couldn’t dig out of its debt without state intervention, but neither would say that publicly for nearly a year.

Even Bing wanted to be the emergency manager, former city and state officials said.

Bing and his staff “worked with stakeholders to ensure that Public Act 4 (emergency manager law) contained all necessary provisions to accomplish the goals of the strategy, which included Mayor Bing being named emergency manager for the city of Detroit,” according to a whistleblower suit filed by former mayoral aide Rochelle Collins, who received a quick $200,000 payout to prevent further discovery in the case.

Responding to questions from Motor City Muckraker, Bing acknowledged he met early on with the governor but had no hand in “crafting Public Act 4.”

“Obviously, I met with the governor on several occasions about issues here in the city,” Bing told us. “My job is to protect the city in every way possible. That’s what I did. It was the right thing to do.”

Nevertheless, Bing plowed forward with a plan to establish the basis for state intervention – a $1.7 million Ernst & Young report that showed Detroit was on the verge of running out of money. In October 2011, the mayor violated the Open Meetings Act by gathering privately with the City Council to discuss the report and its impact on the city’s future.

“This was a setup from the beginning,” said activist Robert Davis, who obtained damaging emails that showed state and local leaders cooked up plans for Detroit’s future behind closed doors. “Bankruptcy was the plan since January, and they made deliberate attempts to keep that information from the public.”

To hide his involvement, Bing communicated with Lansing officials through a private email operated by Sue Ray, an administrative assistant who told the governor’s team that she was a “trusted confidante” of the mayor’s and wanted to “stay below the radar.”

The ringleader of the clandestine meetings was Richard Baird, a longtime trusted associate of Snyder who maintains a low profile and is paid by a controversial nonprofit foundation called the NERD Fund.

Mayoral candidate Mike Duggan gets involved

In January, Baird donated $2,500 to Duggan’s mayoral campaign, making him one of the top donors. Duggan privately advised state officials on how best to handle the financial takeover and said he’d be a supportive partner of an emergency manager, if elected.

Duggan also is a close friend of Treasurer Dillon, who sought out the mayoral candidate for advice on state intervention. Duggan was to meet privately with members of the Financial Review Team, which would have violated the Open Meetings Act if a majority of the team was present. It’s unclear whether that meeting ever took place.

But publicly, Duggan emphasized that he was strongly opposed to an emergency manager, never mentioning his role in the process.

The former Detroit Medical Center CEO said he was tapped because of his experience turning around DMC, and he still he was “furiously lobbying not to get them to appoint of an emergency manager.” What he didn’t say was, he lobbied against the appointment until after the election.

“It has become painfully clear that Detroiters were sold on the false hope that bankruptcy would be the last resort, while all along, bankruptcy was always the desired and singular option,” mayoral candidate and frontrunner Benny Napoleon said. “As public officials, if they believed they were doing the right thing on behalf of the electorate, they should have had the courage to make the case for an unpopular decision, not conspire to dupe the voters because they thought we would never find out.”

More closed-door meetings 

As the plot unfolded behind closed doors, five to six city council members met with Dillon and other state leaders. The council was given a coded threat: Work with us on state intervention or we won’t need you.

And so a majority of the council members chose their jobs over public pledges to fight state intervention. While the rhetoric at the council table was decidedly anti-emergency manager, five of its nine members approved critical measures that helped pave the way for state intervention. The council even supported hiring Jones Day, the law firm where Orr worked before becoming an emergency manager.

But no one was more helpful than council President Pro Tem Gary Brown, who often met regularly with state officials and led the drive for drumming up support for state intervention. While Brown still publicly maintained that he opposed the appointment of an emergency manager, he and the state were talking about ways to make the EM transition an easy one.

On July 1, Brown resigned from his council position to accept a $225,000-a-year job working for Orr. By contrast, the mayor is paid about $150,000.

The fix was in

Most of the deception began in November 2012, soon after voters rejected Public Act 4, the emergency manager bill crafted by Snyder. Despite the public’s opposition to state intervention, Snyder’s team was quietly searching for a bankruptcy expert to take over Detroit’s finances.

But in public, Snyder and Treasurer Dillon were still insisting that state intervention was by no means a certainty and appointed a six-member review team in December to determine whether an emergency manager was the best choice.

Behind closed doors, Snyder was hunting for bankruptcy experts and found Orr’s law firm, Jones Day, one of the most renowned bankruptcy experts in the U.S.

On Jan. 31, a Jones Day attorney advised Snyder that bankruptcy clearly was the top choice. But Orr expressed concern that the new EM law looked like it was tailored for a Chapter 9 filing – a position that Snyder has publicly denied.

State officials reassured Orr that the state, along with select Detroit leaders, were engaged in a PR campaign to warm Detroiters to the idea of emergency management. The idea: Don’t mention bankruptcy, pension cuts or debilitating budget reductions. Stay positive.

On Feb.12, Snyder’s team sent Orr a contract and urged him to sign it as soon as possible. On the same day, Dillon and Snyder assured the public – again – that no decision has been made on whether an emergency manager would be the best choice for Detroit.

“Governor already asking me if you can start yet,” Baird wrote that day, saying “our folks are already behaving as if you accepted the job.”

Never mind that the financial review team was still a week from filing its report, which Snyder insisted would be the basis for his decision on whether to appoint an emergency manager, a move that would impact markets, Detroiters and potentially all Michigan residents.

Denials continue after financial review report 

On Feb. 19, the state-appointed financial review team declared the city was in bad financial shape, but Snyder and Treasurer Dillon insisted, yet again, that no decisions were made on whether to appoint an emergency manager.

“The governor is saying he’s not going to make a decision until he studies (the report) and is able to make a thoughtful decision” on whether an EM is needed, Dillon told reporters in Detroit that day.

Snyder’s aide, Baird, set up a clandestine meeting between Bing and Orr for Feb. 25. But it was too risky to meet in the Motor City, Baird warned, because the National Governor’s Association was in town.

“I think the lunch would be better held in our offices for the sake of privacy,” Baird wrote.

Bing’s office agreed about privacy: “We wish to stay below the radar,” his office wrote from a private email account.

On Feb. 21, the governor’s office privately arranged to announce Orr’s appointment on March 14 in Detroit. Hours later, Snyder told the media  that he was unsure whether he was going to appointment an emergency manager.

“It could take weeks before there is a firm decision,” Snyder told me in an interview that day.

In the meantime, his staff was preparing to lease a posh, furnished suite at the Westin Book Cadillac, where Orr would live during his 18-month contract.

Four days later, Baird wrote to Orr that the mayor “was very impressed and enthusiastic about a working relationship.”

On March 1, a few days after the press conference was scheduled, Snyder told me he hadn’t decided on emergency management “because I have to stay open-minded during the review process.”

In interviews with the media, Bing denied knowing anything about the new emergency manager.

Governor’s office denies doing anything wrong

On Sunday, I asked the governor’s office about the discrepancies between Snyder’s public and private comments.

“Good leaders always hope for the best but plan for the worst, and Gov. Snyder believes the state is best served when all contingencies have been considered,” his spokeswoman Sara Wurfel responded. “The governor has been transparent and visible throughout the process and in reaching and sharing his decisions.”

When Orr arrived in Detroit for the official announcement, questions about bankruptcy were quickly dismissed as too early.

“Let’s get at it and work together because we can resolve this without bankruptcy,” Orr said.

Soon after, Orr’s powerful legal team began preparing a 3,000-page bankruptcy filing.

While the EM met with creditors and unions in meetings intended to strike a deal to avoid bankruptcy, participants said the sessions were clearly designed to set the stage for Chapter 9.

“We were very displeased that we were told negotiations were going to take place; they never did,” Al Garrett, President of AFSCME Council 25, said.”Instead, they ran to a bankruptcy court.”

Snyder’s Big Corporate Tax Break Backfires

Amy Kerr Hardin/Democracy Tree

Remember when Gov. Snyder just willy-nilly gave away $1.7 billion in tax breaks to Michigan corporations, all completely untethered to any job-creating requirements, and then assured the state that his business buddies would come through with a flood of employment opportunities? Well, so do the 8.7 percent of officially unemployed Michiganders found in last week’s state jobs report (with a whopping 18 percent in Detroit, and only a .6 percent improvement since he was elected). Compared to the national average of 7.6 percent from the June numbers out of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Michigan continues to seriously lag.

On Sunday, the tired-looking governor appeared on Meet the Press to discuss the situation in Detroit. He anemically spoke about his committment to “focus on the citizens” of the city by providing them with more accountability in government. He additionally expressed that he was “empathetic” with those public sector workers that will likely feel a profound impact on their pensions and healthcare plans. He also talked about the importance of“blight removal” for the city.

Hello, jobs?

Immediately after Snyder, former Governor Jennifer Granholm came on. She launched into an energetic explanation of how the Motor City can move forward. She strongly advocated for a robust and coordinated federal manufacturing policy — an argument that makes good sense considering the ultimate futility of the ongoing state-against-state fight for businesses to relocate. Democracy Tree reported last month that Michigan has already given away the most corporate tax “mega-deals” in the country — 29 in total, costing an estimated $7.1 billion in tax incentives over the past thirty years, all to mostly Fortune 500 companies.

Barely two months ago, the Bloomfield Hills building firm, PulteGroup (listed as number 501 on the Fortune 1000), announced they were moving to Atlanta, Georgia after having been heavily wooed by their governor and city leaders in a full-court press that bagged the homebuilding giant some sweet cash. While Michigan will lose a little over 300 jobs, the Wall Street Journal reported on the Georgia bargain:

The city [Atlanta]and state are collaborating on an incentive package for Pulte that includes a $1.5 million state grant, as well as a city grant whose size has not yet been determined, according to Brian McGowan, chief executive of Invest Atlanta, the economic development arm of the city.

Georgia’s aptly named Republican Gov. Nathan Deal boasted of his corporate coup thusly:

“Georgia is a natural headquarters for homebuilders such as PulteGroup. Pulte will not only be able to quickly build its growth markets from a strategic central location, it will also thrive in a dynamic business environment powered by the fourth-largest population growth in the country.”

And just today we learn that Georgia’s Department of Economic Developement has lured away Troy-based Field Services Engineering. The firm plans to invest $5 million in expansion and add 50 jobs to the Peach State’s economy.

Gov. Deal isn’t alone. Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been peppering other states with radio and television spots promising a better business environment. In New York state alone, he recently spent one million on TV ads, and $600,000 on radio.  The ads say:

“The new New York sounds a lot like the old New York. Higher taxes. Stifling regulations. Bureaucrats telling you whether you can even drink a Big Gulp. Texas is calling. Your opportunity awaits.”

Republican governors, with their tax deals and deregulation promises, are cutting each other’s throats, while greedy business moguls continue to vacuum up the dollars thrown at them, possessing no sense of corporate citizenship or loyalty to the workers, let alone to these foolish elected leaders showering them with cash.

Will the governors discuss this at their upcoming 30th Biennial Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference scheduled for September 20th through 22nd at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island? (Oh, how Democracy Tree would just love to arrange the seating charts at that gala affair.)

How The Tea Party Spoiled A GOP Governor’s Plot To Appear Competent

@LOLGOP/The National Memo

Let’s be clear: Michigan’s Republicans can get things done quicky — especially when they’re doing the bidding of their big donors.

Since taking over the governorship and winning a supermajority in the state Senate in 2010, they’ve shifted the tax burden from big business to pensioners and the poor. They’ve cut a billion dollars from education and twice implemented an emergency manager law that replaces local elected officials — almost exclusively in African-American communities – with appointed bureaucrats.

And late in 2012, just after President Obama won the state by more than 9 percent, legislation designed to cripple labor unions supported by Amway heir and one of the state’s largest GOP donors, Rich DeVoss, passed both houses of Michigan’s legislature and was signed into law by Republican governor Rick Snyder in just a few days.

They got all that done. No problem.

But the issue of Medicaid expansion, which could cover 300,000-500,000 poor Michiganders who earn too much to currently qualify for subsidized health care, was left to the last minute — because saving lives and eventually lowering everyone’s health insurance rates just isn’t a priority for Michigan’s Republicans.

It began in February. After his sudden attack on unions made him one of the most vulnerable governors in the nation, Governor Snyder followed fellow Republican swing-state governors Brian Sandoval (R-NV), Jan Brewer (R-AZ) and John Kasich (R-OH) in announcing that he wanted his state to accept Medicaid expansion as offered to states through the Affordable Care Act.

The Tea Partiers who dominated the state legislature opposed expansion as if it were Obama himself and for months, nothing happened. As the end of the legislative session neared without the law the governor needed to give his state and the federal government the six months they would need to implement expansion, Snyder stepped up the pressure. He brought in Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to beg Republicans to let the $1.5 billion Michiganders will be paying anyway go back into the state’s economy.

This was too much for the Tea Party.

“Governor Snyder has gone too far by seeking help from one of the most polarizing figures in modern history, a representative of the most destructive American President of our history as a nation,” local leaders wrote in a letter and vowed to sit out the governor’s re-election campaign in 2014.

But just days after Arizona’s Brewer overcame Tea Party opposition to pass expansion in her state, Michigan’s House of Representatives finally voted on the “Healthy Michigan” compromise.

About half of the Republican caucus joined Democrats in passing the bill.

Governor Snyder cheered the result and instructed the Senate to finish the deal while he made a week-long trip to Israel.

Of course, as the governor toured the Holy Land, Senate Republicans refused to take a vote.

Many of the same party funders who supported anti-union legislation  – including the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity — came out against Medicaid expansion, encouraging the Tea Partiers who were flooding their reps with calls and visits.

With just hours remaining in the legislative session, Snyder — a former CEO of Gateway computers who ran as “one tough nerd” — flew back to Lansing in order to rally his troops.

And Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe) decided to adjourn for two months. He did this knowing the measure likely had the eight Republican votes it needed to pass.

LOL.

Except it isn’t funny at all. Because Republican governors and legislatures are turning down expansion, the Rand Corporation estimates that 19,000 Americans a year will die. And that number doesn’t even factor in the states like Michigan, Ohio and Florida where the governors are being blocked from implementing the program they want.

Smarting from the early end of his travels and his most public defeat as governor,  Snyder held a press conference to denounce his own party.

“Take a vote, not a vacation,” he said.

Democrats blame him for leaving the state at a crucial time. But the fact is, now that the Tea Party machine is fueled by GOP donors,  Snyder praying at the Wailing Wall would probably be as effective as him lobbying Republicans directly.

As someone who had never run for political office before, the governor has no real political constituency. He was elected in 2010 in the Tea Party wave by promising competence over divisiveness.

And the GOP said, “Tough, nerd.”

Recognizing that he’s probably lost, Snyder has taken to saying that he simply wants to resolve the issue, to get it off the agenda, one way or another.

This is what the Tea Party won in 2010, the ability to deny the working poor health care that their state will pay for anyway. And that they get to do it while humiliating a Republican who is trying to seem moderate is just a little bonus.

Rick Snyder is no Jan Brewer. And thanks to the Tea Party, Michigan is now less progressive than Arkansas.

Records: Snyder pledged to raise funds for Orr performance bonus

CHAD LIVENGOOD/Detroit News

Lansing — Gov. Rick Snyder's administration initially pledged to raise private money to provide Washington, D.C., bankruptcy attorney Kevyn Orr with a "performance" bonus on top of his $275,000 annual salary to be Detroit's emergency manager, according to records disclosed Wednesday.

Emails obtained in a lawsuit related to the emergency manager appointment process indicate Snyder was ready to put Orr to work fixing the city's finances a month before his official appointment.

"Governor already asking me if you are ready to start yet," Snyder aide Rich Baird wrote in a Feb. 12 email to Orr. "Honestly … dog years!"

"Dog years" is Snyder's saying for the private-sector-style efficiency he's tried to inject into state government since taking office in January 2011.

Baird's email detailed an initial compensation package offered to Orr for an 18-month contract that included a $275,000 annual salary, security, a furnished apartment, commuting expenses for traveling back to his home in Maryland and the "intent to raise private funding for performance measures/outcomes bonus."

The bonus was not included in Orr's final contract, Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said.

Wurfel said the administration was courting Orr before a financial emergency was declared as a precaution.

"Everything was done on a contingency basis to be prepared just in case for any scenario," she said.

Orr made $700 an hour during Chrysler Group bankruptcy proceedings in 2009 and told The News in March that he was taking a significant pay cut to become emergency manager, but didn't disclose his annual compensation.

Records show Orr replied in a Feb. 12 email to Baird that he needed more time to "transition out" of his law firm, Jones Day, which landed a contract to provide restructuring legal services to the city before Orr was appointed emergency manager.

Baird, whose title is Snyder's "transformation manager," is not a state employee but works for the governor through his consulting firm, MI Partners LLC, which is paid a $100,000-a-year contract through Snyder's not-for-profit civic group, New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify, or NERD Fund.

Union activist Robert Davis released the records Wednesday following a court hearing related to his effort to get Orr's appointment voided.

Davis claims the Snyder administration violated the Open Meetings Act by offering Orr the job a month before a state panel hired him March 14 in a public meeting. The state's financial review team determined Detroit faces a financial emergency on Feb. 19 — one week before Orr and Baird's correspondence.

At a Wednesday morning hearing, Ingham County Circuit Court Judge William Collette said he wants state Treasurer Andy Dillon and other top state officials to sign sworn affidavits attesting they've turned over all documents in a lawsuit related to Orr's appointment.

Andrew Paterson, an attorney for Davis, said Wednesday the state has turned over just one email from Dillon, who played a key role in Orr's March appointment, yet he's separately obtained additional emails Dillon received through a subpoena of Baird's records.

Baird, who is a private contractor for Snyder and not a state employee, was recently deposed in the lawsuit and claimed an executive privilege for not releasing records related to 20 different individuals interviewed for the emergency manager job, Paterson said.

"He claimed executive privilege and refused to answer those questions on his deposition," Paterson said. "It's curious to me how somebody who's not a state employee can claim executive privilege, but so be it."

At a mid-day Wednesday news conference in his Lansing office, Snyder was asked under what authority Baird could invoke an executive privilege in the case.

"I'm not going to comment on ongoing legal proceedings," Snyder said. "With respect to hiring Kevyn Orr, we followed proper procedure, and he's doing a fine job."

Wurfel said late Wednesday the administration turned over 265 pages of Baird's emails but withheld records that named the other candidates for the emergency manager position to protect their identities.

At a Wednesday morning court hearing in Mason, Collette expressed frustration over the slow pace of the discovery process in Davis' lawsuit, which claims the Snyder administration violated the Open Meetings Act in appointing Orr to takeover City Hall.

"I want affidavits from the people involved," Collette told two assistant attorneys general representing Snyder and Dillon. "If in fact people are not turning over stuff and they file false affidavits, it's a very serious manner."

Affidavits are signed under the penalty of perjury.

Paterson said he's obtained eight pages of emails from Snyder aide Richard Baird through a subpoena that show Dillon was the recipient of other emails related to Orr's appointment. But those records were not turned over separately, said Paterson, who questioned whether the Snyder administration is concealing other records.

"Your honor, this is the first I've heard of this," Assistant Attorney General Michelle Brya told the judge.

The judge questioned how Dillon could have sent just one email to members of the Emergency Loan Board in the days and weeks leading up to the appointment.

"To anybody to expect that Mr. Dillon sent one email to one person on this issue doesn't seem realistic at all," Collette said.

The two sides were in Ingham County Court Wednesday morning for a show cause hearing Collette scheduled to determine whether Dillon, Orr and other state officials should be held in contempt over failure to produce records. Davis is suing Snyder, Orr, Dillon and members of the Emergency Loan Board, a three-member panel consisting of gubernatorial appointees who actually hired Orr.

Collette instructed the Attorney General's Office and Paterson to compare lists of which emails Davis has received in the case and appear back in his court at a later date. He also suggested Dillon and other state officials involved should review their records to make sure they haven't withheld something subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

Brya also asserted emails Snyder sent or received are not subject to disclosure because the governor is exempt from provisions of FOIA.

Collette suggested he may have to take the case to trial, where Snyder could be subpoenaed to testify.

"It's been apparent for whatever reason it appears things are not being done here," Collette said. "At some point, Ms. Brya, people need to have the facts here."

Schauer leads Snyder by 4

Public Policy Polling:

I gotta tell Nolan, Huel and
Timmy they gotta work harder for me.

PPP's first poll of the Michigan Gubernatorial race since Mark Schauer's official entry finds the Democrat leading incumbent Rick Snyder 42/38. PPP's polling of this match up over the last six months has been very consistent- in March Schauer also led Snyder by 4 points and in December he had a 5 point advantage.

Schauer's initial lead has a lot more to do with Snyder than it does with himself. Even after his official candidacy announcement, he has just 38% statewide name recognition. But Snyder continues to be one of the most unpopular Governors in the country with only 40% of voters approving of him to 52% who disapprove. He's at 40/51 with independents and Democrats (78% disapproval) dislike him a good deal more than Republicans (68% approval) like him.

Schauer's low name recognition at this point means that things could actually get worse for Snyder. The undecideds for Governor voted for Barack Obama by a 16 point margin, and only 22% approve of Snyder to 64% who disapprove. Those are folks likely to move into the Schauer camp once he becomes better known.

Snyder's role in the passage of right to work legislation continues to be a big problem for him. Just 40% of voters support that law to 50% who oppose it, numbers that have not seen any improvement since the initial furor after it passed in December. Snyder continues to have issues with his brand, as only 34% of voters now consider him to be 'one tough nerd' to 45% who don't.

Snyder obviously has a lot of time between now and next November to improve his standing but our 3 polls over the last six months have been very consistent in their findings: he's way under water on his approval ratings and running behind his potential competition for next year.

Republicans in the legislature continue to face backlash from the voters as well. Just 27% have a favorable opinion of them to 59% with a negative one, and their 25/61 spread with independents is even worse than their overall numbers. The Democrats in the legislature aren't popular either- a 38/43 favorability rating- but they look good enough in comparison to the Republicans to hold a 48/38 lead on the generic legislative ballot.

And finally 49% of voters in the state support raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour, compared to 43% who are opposed to that idea.

We will have the Senate portion of our Michigan poll tomorrow.

Full results here

Democrat Mark Schauer to challenge Gov. Rick Snyder in 2014

By Paul Egan/Detroit Free Press

LANSING — Former Democratic congressman Mark Schauer announced Tuesday that he is running for governor of Michigan in 2014.

“I’m in!” Schauer said on Twitter. “Today I’m announcing my campaign for governor. I’m ready to run, I’m ready to work & I’m ready to win.”

Schauer, from Battle Creek, made the announcement online on the eve of the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island, where he is to appear today. He is the only announced candidate seeking to challenge Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who took office in 2011 and is expected to seek a second term. Snyder also is from Battle Creek.

Several prominent Democrats have announced they will not run and are backing Schauer, meaning he stands currently as the likely Democratic nominee.
Schauer represented the 7th Congressional District in 2009-11.

“Rick Snyder has taken Michigan in the wrong direction — cutting schools & raising taxes on seniors,” Schauer said on Twitter.

“We need an economy that works for everyone — not just the wealthy and not just the special interests.”

Snyder is “focused on sound policy” and “will continue to make the long overdue, tough decisions that will help keep our state moving forward and building a strong future for all,” spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said.

“Every stop we do, we come across Michiganders of all backgrounds, communities, small businesses who say they may not have agreed with everything he’s done, but they’re starting to see it make a difference and to keep going,” she said.

Schauer, a former state lawmaker and member of the Battle Creek City Commission, used to run the Community Action Agency in Battle Creek.

Right to Work Could Cost Him His Job as Democrats Are Tied With Rick Snyder

By: Jason Easley/politicususa

A poll by EPIC/MRA has found that Rick Snyder will be facing a battle for reelection. Snyder has seen his approval rating plummet, and two unknown Democrats are tied with him in the poll.

The latest EPIC/MRA poll revealed that Gov. Snyder’s declining political fortunes can be partially tied to his ramming through of right to work legislation. The governor’s personal favorability rating before right to work was 55%. Since December, it has fallen to 42%. Snyder now has a net (-20) job approval rating in the state. Gov. Snyder has a 38% positive job approval rating, and 58% negative job approval rating.

The signs of an anybody but Snyder feeling among the voters can be seen in the fact that two relatively unknown Democrats are tied with Snyder in the poll.

Despite the fact that Democrats Mark Schauer and former congressman Bart Stupak are pretty much unknown by the electorate, they are both even with Gov. Snyder in the poll. Seventy five percent of those polled did not know who Schauer was, but he leads Snyder 39%-38%. Fifty six percent did not know who Stupak was, but he trailed the governor by a single point, 39%-38%.

A large sign of Snyder’s weakness is that his level of support versus the two Democrats matches his job approval rating. This suggests that Snyder has very little support outside of the Republican Party.

The straw that seems to have broken the camel’s back was governor’s ramming through of right work legislation. The emergency manager law, the tax increases on the middle class and poor, the gutting of the education system, Snyder might have survived all of that, but his underhanded handling of right to work is something that voters may never forget.

Republicans think that the 2010 wave of tea party governors are their future stars, but 3 of the 5 most well known governors from that election could lose in 2014. Rick Scott looks like a dead man walking in Florida. Tom Corbett has lost the support of his own party, and everyone else in Pennsylvania. Rick Snyder is in for the political fight of his life if he wants to win a second term. (The only two high profile survivors from the Republican class of 2010 may be Walker in Wisconsin, and Kasich in Ohio.)

All three of the endangered Republican governors come from blue states where Democrats didn’t show up to vote in 2010. The Democratic Party and Organizing For America are each planning massive get out the vote efforts for 2014. If Democrats show up to vote next November, it won’t be a surprise if these three states who voted for Barack Obama twice elect Democratic governors.

Rick Snyder tried to make a blue state red through an imperial governorship, but in 2014, Big Blue’s (and Sparty’s) Democrats fight back.

Poll: Gov. Snyder in dead heat with 2 Democrats

By Kathleen Gray/Detroit Free Press:

Even though a big majority of recently polled Michigan voters don’t know who Democrats Mark Schauer and Bart Stupak are, the two politicians are in a dead heat with Gov. Rick Snyder in head-to-head matchups for the 2014 gubernatorial election.

Schauer of Battle Creek and Stupak of Menominee are both former state lawmakers and congressmen, and have been mentioned as potential candidates for governor, although neither has made an official announcement about running.

The poll of 600 people done April 13-16 by EPIC/MRA of Lansing showed that 56% of the people surveyed didn’t know who Stupak was and 75% didn’t know who Schauer was. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

And yet, Schauer holds a slim 39-38% lead over Snyder, while Stupak is a point behind Snyder at 38-39%.

“If they’re running even with Snyder and no one knows who they are, that’s an indication that Snyder is losing support,” said Bernie Porn, EPIC/MRA’s pollster.

The governor’s favorable rating hit a high of 55% in early December. But that was before controversial right-to-work legislation was passed in the raucous final days of the legislative session. Since then, Snyder’s ratings have been slipping. In the April survey, 42% of the people had a favorable view of him, while 46% had an unfavorable view. His job rating was 38% positive to 58% negative.

The poll was taken after Snyder proposed higher driver registration fees and gas taxes — as well as being done right around tax filing time when many Michiganders found their state refunds much lower because of new state policy pushed by Snyder.

“Those are not going over very well,” Porn said. “And now, people are doing taxes and realizing ‘I’m paying higher taxes.’ ”

But a majority of the people surveyed — 56% — said they think the economy has already bottomed out and is getting better, while 23% said the economy isn’t getting any better, with 18% saying it’s still getting worse.

President Barack Obama’s favorability ratings in the April survey are 52% favorable to 44% unfavorable.

Michigan Democratic Party Statement on Gov. Snyder Appointing Kevyn Orr as Detroit’s Emergency Manager

From Michigan Democratic Party:

LANSING — The Michigan Democratic Party released the following statement today in response to Gov. Rick Snyder appointing Washington lawyer Kevyn Orr as Detroit’s emergency manager.

“Governor Rick Snyder and Lansing Republicans have deliberately starved our communities of billions in revenue, while giving corporate special interests a huge tax break,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lon Johnson. “Snyder and Lansing Republicans are forcing an unnecessary, hostile takeover as a solution to the problem that they themselves created. Meanwhile the democratic rights of Detroit’s citizens are being trampled to protect the interests of Snyder’s wealthy CEO friends and their lobbyists.

“Just yesterday, a Bloomberg report revealed that Wall Street banks have reaped nearly half a billion in fees from the city of Detroit. Now Snyder is making sure Wall Street continues to get their handsome cut, while services dwindle to nothing and assets are sold off for a song.

“Let’s not forget that a mere six months ago the voters of Michigan tossed out the emergency manager law, only to have Lansing Republicans re-enact it during lame duck. It’s not just Detroit voters who are being snubbed with this move; it’s every Michigan voter that showed up on Election Day and rejected the emergency manager law.

“Kevyn Orr may have an impeccable corporate background, but if Rick Snyder wants him to run Detroit, he should move to Detroit and run for mayor.”

To view the Bloomberg story, click here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-14/only-wall-street-wins-in-detroit-crisis-reaping-474-million-fee.html

New Poll Results Show Michigan Voters Rejecting Gov. Rick Snyder

Polls? Who need polls? I got love from
the Michigan media.

From Michigan Democratic Party:

LANSING — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will face an uphill battle for re-election based onnew poll results released today by Public Policy Polling, which found the Republican governor trails all potential Democratic candidates tested and holds a 37 percent job approval rating.

“The more Michigan voters learn about Rick Snyder and what he has done to our state, the less they like, and that is why only 37 percent give him a passing grade as governor,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lon Johnson. “Snyder’s record of giving more breaks to corporations at the expense of middle-class families will lead to his defeat in November 2014.”

Democrats also lead in a generic matchup for the state legislature by 48 to 36 percent. Legislative Republicans have a 56 percent unfavorable rating with voters.

“As families sit down and fill out their taxes this year, they are finding out they owe more thanks to Lansing Republicans and their $1.8 billion tax giveaway to corporate special interests,” said Johnson. “It’s not surprising that Michiganders are rejecting the pLansing Republican agenda of more breaks for wealthy CEOs and their lobbyists while leaving seniors and our middle-class families to pick up the tab.”

Public Policy Polling was found to be one of the most accurate polling firms in the country during the 2012 election. The complete poll results can be viewed here:

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2013/03/snyders-numbers-still-down-in-the-dumps.html

Gov. Rick Snyder’s “Metrics and Measurements” Demonstrate Lack of Progress

From The Michigan Democratic Party

MDP Releases New Video Highlighting Snyder’s Failure to Make Michigan a “Top 10” State

LANSING – The Michigan Democratic Party today released a new video, “Metrics and Measurements,” that highlights Michigan’s lack of progress under Gov. Rick Snyder, who told the Heritage Foundation last week that the “role of government is customer service.”

“If Rick Snyder likes to think of Michiganders as his customers, then we haven’t been getting very good customer service,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer. “Snyder has said his goal is to make Michigan a top 10 state, but he is failing on nearly every metric. Michigan’s recovery has stalled compared to the rest of the nation.”

Snyder has been touting Michigan as the “comeback state,” but Michigan remains at the bottom in key measures on the economy, education, quality of life, public safety and government accountability. A year ago Michigan’s unemployment rate ranked 41st among the states, but as of December 2012, Michigan had fallen to 45th in the nation, behind competitor states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Other statistics highlighted in the video include:

• Michigan’s per capita income — 36th
• Violent crime — 38th
• Credit rating — 45th
• Adults with a bachelor’s degree — 35th
• Pupil/teacher ratio — 43rd

To view the video, click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV-GzsHHha8

Rick Snyder's broken promises

BY DALE HANSEN/Detroit News Blog

Nolan have this man fired.

If you follow Rick Snyder you know that he is very proud of his “accomplishments” as governor. Even going as far as to use taxpayer funds to promote legislation he previously termed “too divisive,” because nothing attracts new business to a state like leadership that is not only willing to openly retaliate against its opposition but also to completely contradict itself.

Governor Snyder’s most recent self promotion involves a collection of corporate investments in Michigan that the governor claims will create 4,590 jobs. The numbers for this promotion come from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), which is a taxpayer funded organization that acts as the state’s marketing and business development arm.

Unfortunately for the governor, past MEDC job creation projections have severely exaggerated the number of jobs created. According to Michigan Capitol Confidential, the actual number of jobs created is around 28% of the MEDC estimate. This means that the 4,590 jobs the governor is promoting will end up being more like 1,285 jobs.

While the governor is more than happy to discuss the $1.1 billion invested by the 14 companies in the report, he seems less interested in talking about the $44 million dollars in tax breaks these companies will receive to create these jobs. Additionally there doesn’t seem to be any requirement that these companies use Michigan labor or products made in Michigan as part of their investments. For all we know the materials and labor for these projects could originate from out of state or overseas instead of from struggling Michigan construction and supply companies.

Of course the bigger concern here is the long list of broken promises that these investments exemplify.

The governor ran on the premise that his business background would help create jobs in Michigan and he laid out a specific vision for this job creation that he appears to have completely forgotten.

On the campaign trail when asked about government incentives for business,  the governor stated, “As a practical matter, my view is government shouldn’t be picking winners and losers because those incentives aren’t free. Basically, they come on the backs of other people having to make up those tax differentials.”

Yet here he is picking 14 different companies as the winners and using taxpayer funded incentives to do it.

In the gubernatorial debate the governor stated that “government doesn’t create jobs,” yet his press release regarding the 4,590 jobs coming to Michigan certainly appears to give his administration credit for these jobs.

Also in the debates he was asked about taxing pensions and his response was, “That’s not how you address tax reform,” yet that is percicsly what he did to pay for his 83% tax cut for Michigan businesses. It was a move that the governor said was made to increase jobs in Michigan, yet the number of people employed in Michigan has gone down since this bill was signed into law, while the number of unemployed in Michigan has steadily increased since last January.

In a later portion of the debate the governor spoke about his opinion on increasing the tax on gas. His answer to the question was, “I don’t support an increase in the gas tax” – yet just this past week that is exactly what he proposed to improve Michigan roads.

Of course the governor will also point out that he is for “giving the voters a choice” on how to pay for these road improvements, yet when the voters chose to repeal the emergency manager law Rick Snyder was quick to dismiss the voters’ choice and signed new legislation that included funding for new government jobs which eliminates the voters’ choice to repeal the law in the future.

Whether you support the governor or not, this list of broken promises is embarrassing and concerning. Rick Snyder came to this job touting his business roots and his ability to turn things around with a laser-like focus on “jobs, jobs, jobs.” His willingness to constantly abandon the ideas that got him elected in favor of big government self-preservation doesn’t instill confidence in the leadership capabilities of a man who can now be more aptly described as “One Unprincipled Nerd.”