Michigan, My Michigan
THE best example of what happens when Dems are in control of a state.
Photo Credit: Chloe Trofatter | The State News
Issue #278 OpEd March 13, 2023
OK. Those of you who follow us regularly know that I am a progressive Democrat and that my hometown, where I also currently live, is Detroit, Michigan.
You also may or may not know that I am old enough to remember the Nat King Cole Show on TV, the "Little Rock Nine," and watching on TV as Alaska and Hawai'i became the 49th and 50th states admitted to the Union.
I also remember the first time I "voted." As a young child, I went with my Dad to the voting booth, the old-school kind with the privacy curtain that closed and opened when the big lever was pulled. When my Dad voted for Senator John F. Kennedy for president, he let me "pull the lever" that opened the curtain and registered his vote.
The first two Michigan Republican governors that I remember were George W. Romney (1963-1969), father of Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) and grandfather of current RNC Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, and William Milliken (1969 - 1983), the longest serving governor in Michigan history.
Neither of those "real" Republicans would be welcome in today's Republican party.
Read the rest of the article to find out why.
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The article continues…
The last two Republican governors, John Engler (1991-2003) and Rick Snyder (2011 - 2019), were farther right than the first two Republican governors I remember, but still not nearly far right enough for today's MAGA Republicans.
Michigan has had two women governors, current Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm (2003-2011), and current incumbent Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who was first elected in 2018 and re-elected by a wide margin over a woman MAGA candidate in 2022.
We affectionately and lovingly call our Governor Gretchen Whitmer “Big Gretch” and she LOVES it.
When the governor was receiving a lot of heat from the right wing because she temporarily closed down the state at the beginning of COVID, a local rapper wrote a song of support that included that name for her and also presented her with some “Buffs.” She couldn’t keep them, but she allowed herself to be photographed in them. They were donated to a local non-profit that sold them and kept the money.
When Trump called her “That woman from Michigan,” she claimed the title, put the phrase on a t-shirt, and proudly modeled it.
Also after the 2022 midterms, all three of the top elective offices (governor, attorney general, and secretary of state--all women) are re-elected Democrats and both houses of the Michigan Legislature have Democratic majorities, the first time in 40 years. Both of Michigan's current senators are also Democrats, as is the majority of our Congressional delegation (7 Democrats vs 6 Republicans).
Our re-elected Lieutenant Governor is a Black man from Detroit.
The Speaker of the Michigan House is also a Black man from Detroit, and the Senate Majority Leader is a very progressive white woman from Grand Rapids.
Although in recent history, Michigan voted twice for Barack Obama and once for Trump (by only 10,000 votes--enough to give him Michigan's 13 electoral college votes), Michigan has been trending "blue" for a while.
Governor Whitmer also nominated (and the Michigan Senate approved) a Black woman as a justice on the Michigan Supreme Court for the first time ever.
Now, my home state is a model for what can happen when a state is completely Democratic and actually works based on what the majority of people want to see accomplished.
Now do you understand why I'm doing the "Happy Dance" about my home state?
Michigan Bills Considered and Passed Since January 2023
While many states are tightening restrictions on women's reproductive rights, Michigan voted to enshrine the right to abortion into the Michigan Constitution in 2022 and rescinded the 1931 law that outlawed abortion in Michigan in all instances except for the life of the mother.
Michigan also recently upheld the Elliot-Larsen Act, which gives wide-ranging protections against discrimination to workers.
The Michigan Legislature also recently voted in favor of extending the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity, giving full rights to the LGBT community.
Governor Whitmer also recently signed into law the "Lowering Mi Cost" plan, which will repeal the retirement tax, boost the Working Families Tax Credit, and deliver pre-K for all Michigan children.
Governor Whitmer and the Michigan Legislature are also working on repealing the very contentious "right-to-work" law that allows workers to opt out of paying union dues while still enjoying the benefits won by union organizing.
Meanwhile, another woman governor, Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was also one of the lying press secretaries for Donald Trump, on her first day in office declared that CRT would not be taught in the public schools in Arkansas (“CRT” is NOT talk at any level below law school/PhD programs anywhere…), banned the term “Latinx,” and said that nothing “woke” would be allowed in Arkansas.
She also recently rescinded child labor protection laws in Arkansas:
Of course, the right-wing, here in Michigan and around the country call any programs that actually help people who are not wealthy "socialism," Marxism, and "wokeology" (a word actually just made up by Florida MAGA Republican governor Ron DeSantis). They have been calling anything they don't like but still have to pay for "socialism" since right after the Civil War.
Do you live in a red state or in a blue state? Let us know in the comments or Chat Room and also what legislation is passing (for better or worse) where you live!
Let us know in the comments or in the Chat Forum.
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