This podcast is sponsored in part by EPIC-MRA Opinion Research

This week: Economist Dr. Charles Ballard on twin challenges – the UAW Strike and pending U.S. government shutdown

Michigan’s economy is staring down the business end of a double-barrelled shotgun: the UAW strike which is causing huge losses for the state’s signature industry, and a looming shutdown of the federal government. We take a deep dive into the political and economic impact on Michigan with our guest, senior economist Dr. Charles Ballard.

Also this week:

Donald Trump is coming to Michigan to pretend he supports unions at an event scheduled to compete with the Fox TV reality show “Republicans Who Won’t Be President,” a.k.a. The 2nd GOP presidential debate…

One of those master debaters, Senator Tim Scott, says the way to handle a strike is fire the strikers, a sign that he’s not looking for any union endorsements…

Convicted bribe recipient and former state House Speaker Rick Johnson accepted in-kind services in lieu of cash…

and, 

The upcoming state GOP leadership conference is missing one thing: GOP leaders

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A foundation of our democratic system is that we elect the people who run our governments. But there’s an ominous trend developing in Republican-run states: elections only count when they win. We be focus on examples of this growing menace to the world’s oldest democratic government. The worst example (out of so many): Wisconsin. The highly gerrymandered GOP majority has:

Stripped Governor Evers and Attorney General Paul of many of the powers held by their predecessors;

Openly discussed impeaching newly elected Supreme Court justice for saying she thinks gerrymandering is bad;

Voted to fire the state's elections director who refused to back up claims of a stolen election

Also this week:

Jocelyn Benson says she won’t kick Donald Trump off the Michigan ballot…unless the courts stop her;

The U.S. House is in chaos with Matt Gaetz calling Speaker Kevin McCarthy pathetic, and lying like a dead dog;

A government shutdown looms as the Cuckoo Caucus takes over because investigating Joe Biden is what Donald Trump is demanding;

Democrats in the state Legislature are poised for a battle over abortion rights with a bill allowing Medicaid to pay for abortions

We are recording this podcast hours before the UAW strike deadline in its contract negotiations with GM, Ford and Stellantis. Obviously the economic and political impact is bigger in Michigan than anywhere in the country … but we don’t know what’s going to happen. Wait until next week…

This podcast is sponsored in part by EPIC-MRA Opinion Research

The bargaining between the prosecutors and various Trump-related defendants is ratcheting up, even as Trump’s numbers in the GOP nomination race also are moving up. But will Donald Trump even appear on the ballot if there’s a Republican presidential primary in Michigan? That question is up in the air with a potential lawsuit challenging Trump’s eligibility, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson stuck in the middle of a very sticky and unprecedented legal situation.

Also on our agenda this week: 

Michigan Democrats are turning up the heat on Republicans over reproductive healthcare rights with a new package of bills aimed at keeping the government out of these decisions. 

Courts in two states have thrown out congressional district maps because of Republican gerrymandering.

A couple of candidates make it official: Mike Rogers is moving back to Michigan to run for the Senate, and Carl Marlinga is looking for a rematch with John James.

We're joined this week by author and Lincoln Project Adviser Stuart Stevens.

Stu has worked at the top level of more presidential and senatorial campaigns than just about anyone. His first presidential effort: the Bob Dole campaign in 1996. His book The Big Enchilada is a chronicle of George W. Bush's 2000 campaign. Other campaigns on his resume include Mitt Romney, Governor Haley Barbour, Governor Tom Ridge, Senator Thad Cochran, Senator Dick Lugar, Senator Mel Martínez, Senator Chuck Grassley, Senator Roger Wicker, Senator Jon Kyl, Governor Bill Weld, Governor Paul Cellucci, Governor Bob RileySSS

Stevens is also a prolific writer. It Was All A Lie: How The Republican Party Became Donald Trump is his eighth book; his ninth book, The Conspiracy to End America Five Ways comes out October 10. He has also written extensively for dramatic television series, starting with Northern Exposure and including I’ll Fly Away, K. Street, Commander in Chief and others.

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EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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This week's podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA

While assorted Republicans are getting booked, arraigned, found liable for slander and generally spending millions on defense attorneys, Joe Biden and Gretchen Whitmer are talking about “what’s next.” For Biden - what’s next is a battle with pharmaceutical companies over prices; for Whitmer - an ambitious agenda for a fall legislative session where she has the smallest possible majorities in both chambers.

Michigan’s new congressional and legislative maps, in effect for just one election cycle, face a growing challenge in federal court. Onetime Congressman Mike Rogers apparently will get into Michigan’s U.S. Senate race, but first he has to move back to Michigan from Florida and register to vote; Rogers may be joined in the race by another former congressman - Peter Meijer - who is "exploring" a candidacy. And the broken Michigan GOP gets another national profile (in the New York Times) … and it ain’t pretty.

We're joined this week by a Michigan legislator who – through no fault of her own – has become a national symbol of the growing political power of suburban moms: Senator Mallory McMorrow. McMorrow gained sudden national attention as a result of her ardent support of policies protecting reproductive rights. She became an overnight sensation for a floor speech standing up against false, bigoted, homophobic attacks on her and her colleagues.

Her legislative focus also includes empowering local communities, and making Michigan a business- and family-friendly state. Senator McMorrow is the Senate Majority Whip and serving her second term in the Michigan Senate. She has a deep affinity for the automotive industry after working for more than a decade in product design, media and advertising with companies like Mazda, Mattel, Gawker Media, Hearst and other global brands. Since becoming a state Senator she has won victories on policy changes such as ending Michigan’s tampon tax, helping struggling businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, and protecting certain individuals (including domestic violence survivors) by creating an address confidentiality program. She earned her bachelor’s degree in industrial design from the University of Notre Dame.

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EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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The battle for 2nd place in the Republican presidential campaign gets launched … with nobody winning. While the GOP's Wannabe Eight gathered in Milwaukee, the Defendant in Chief appeared in two new prime time specials, “Live at the Fulton County Booking” and “Conversations with a Fired Talk Show Host on a Failing Website."

Representative Julie Brixie (D-Meridian Township)

Also this week: the MAGA-inspired effort to recall a half-dozen state House members bogs down; and the UAW negotiations with the Big Three have major implications for the nation and Michigan's economy.

We're joined this week by a state legislator at the center of two major issues: gun safety, and added protections for victims of sexual abuse. Representative Julie Brixie’s district includes the MSU campus: site of a tragic mass shooting, and the starting point for the nightmare of Larry Nassar. Rep. Brixie has been active in community service for 25 years. With a Master’s degree in crop and soil sciences with a specialization in environmental toxicology, Brixie began as a citizen activist on environmental issues in the township. In 1998, she was named to the Meridian Township Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Commission. 

A year later she was elected to the Meridian Township Board, where she served her community for 18 years – two terms as a Trustee and three terms as Treasurer. She is now in her third term in the state House, where she serves on the Appropriations Committee, chairing the subcommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development and Natural Resources.

In December 2020, Rudy Giuliani brought his Big Lie circus to the Michigan House Oversight Committee in a session that was quickly mocked on Saturday Night Live. That appearance and what he said is part of the 19-defendant criminal racketeering indictment issued in Georgia, part of a major Michigan presence in the latest criminal proceeding against Donald Trump. With 19 defendants and 30 unindicted co-conspirators in the latest indictment, the obvious question is: will any of them flip?

But there are other things going on in politics. Really there are.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, a law that doesn’t really do much about inflation but has already had a huge impact on the nation’s manufacturing sector and creating a once-in-a-lifetime assault on climate change, as well as cut healthcare costs and guarantee that the biggest of the big corporations pay income taxes. The President is building his reelection campaign around this law in addition to the huge infrastructure bill which has sprouted orange barrels nationwide and the CHIPS Act which is bringing the manufacturing of all-important microchips back to the U.S. Will campaigning on policy work better than counting on running against a serial criminal?

Bernie Porn

Democrats finally go on the offensive as Republicans continue their efforts to tie Joe Biden to his son’s misdeeds. Democrats want to talk about the hundreds-of-millions the Trump family collected while The Donald was in the Oval office. And we’ve got some movement in the state’s U.S. Senate campaign – also part of the polling we will look at. But Mark and Jeff begin in Georgia. Trump has a Grand Slam of four criminal indictments this year, totaling 91 felony counts. Does anybody care?

Joining the conversation is Michigan's top pollster, Bernie Porn of EPIC-MRA. He provides new numbers on the top races, plus some insights into what will be a rocky and unprecedented 2024 campaign.

The Georgia 19. Who will flip first?

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This week's podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRAEPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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Bridge Michigan state capitol reporter Jonathan Oosting

Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty: it’s being said so much by Republicans these days, it might have to be included in the platform of the onetime “law and order” party. We update the status of various investigations and pre-trial activities of the once Grand Old Party.with Bridge Michigan reporter Jonathan Oosting who has been looking at some questionable sweetheart funding for a buddy of former Michigan House Speaker Jason Wentworth.

The 16 fake Michigan electors have all had their initial dates in court; Michigan Democrats could temporarily lose their 2-vote majority in the state House; Michigan looks at paying for roads through a pay-by-the-mile plan; and Mike Rogers looks like he’s ready to rejoin the campaign trail a decade after leaving Congress. 

And we can't overlook the latest revelations about the many rich friends of Justice Clarence Thomas who apparently can't resist the urge to lavish him with outrageously expensive vacations and excursions to sports events.

Jonathan Oosting was named 2021 Journalist of the Year by the Michigan Press Association. He covered the state Capitol for The Detroit News and MLive before joining Bridge in September of 2019. He is in his 11th year of covering the shenanigans in downtown Lansing. He has two masters degrees: English Language and Literature from Grand Valley, and Journalism from Michigan State. He's from Grand Rapids, lives in Lansing and loves spending time Up North.

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This week's podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRAEPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

• Public Opinion Surveys

• Market Research Studies

• Live Telephone Surveys

• On-Line and Automated Surveys

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This has been a very very very very very bad week for Donald Trump … and Matt DePerno … and former Representative Daire Rendon … and the Michigan Republican Party. 

Spoiler alert: it's another week of our true-crime podcast.

But for six state House Democrats who were targeted for recall It was a pretty good week with the state Board of Canvassers rejecting the proposed recall petitions (all of them ably represented by their lawyer, Mark Brewer!)

The podcast was recorded minutes after Donald 'Jail-Adverse" Trump was arraigned for the third time this year on felony criminal charges. Joining the conversation as we mark a truly momentous moment in U.S. political history is longtime Trump critic Rick Wilson.

A former member of the Republican Party, Rick has produced televised political commercials for governors, U.S. Senate candidates, Super PACs, and corporations. He left the Republican Party following the 2016 United States presidential election, and in late 2019 went on to co-found The Lincoln Project.

In 2018, Rick released his first book, Everything Trump Touches Dies, in which he laments the re-alignment of the Republican Party behind Trump. The book reached number one on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list. Wilson's second book, Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump – and Democrats from Themselves, was published in January 2020.

He now hosts the podcast “Rick Wilson’s The Enemies List.”

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This week's podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRAEPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

• Public Opinion Surveys

• Market Research Studies

• Live Telephone Surveys

• On-Line and Automated Surveys

• Focus Group Research

• Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns

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• Ballot Proposals - Issue Advocacy Research

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We’re on indictment watch again this week. By the time you are listening to us, Donald Trump could be completing his 2023 "indictment hat trick", this time for his leadership of efforts to steal the 2020 election. In addition to his two already issued criminal indictments, he’s also facing a court date in the continuation of his losing civil battle with rape victim E. Jean Carroll … and he might get the indictment grand slam as Georgia prepares to step in.

Sam Inglot - Executive Director, Progress Michigan

In Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel appears on the verge of issuing multiple indictments for tampering with election tabulators. The likely targets are her 2022 GOP opponent Matt DePerno, along with former state representative Daire Rendon and Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf.

There’s no question the takeover of state government by Democrats - the first total control for the party in 40 years - has brought about a lot of change in Michigan law, changes that are being noticed nationwide. We talk aboutt what to expect in Chapter 2 of this governance story with the new Executive Director of Progress Michigan, Sam Inglot!

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This week's podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRAEPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

• Public Opinion Surveys

• Market Research Studies

• Live Telephone Surveys

• On-Line and Automated Surveys

• Focus Group Research

• Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns

• Political Campaigns & Consulting

• Ballot Proposals - Issue Advocacy Research

• Community - Media Relations

• Issue - Image Management

• Database Development & List Management

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Stories We're Following This Week

New charges against Trump in Mar-a-Lago classified documents case. Here's what to know - AP News

Democrats plot middle-class message to retake economic high ground - The Washington Post

July is already the warmest month on record, scientists calculate - AP News

60% of the US population under extreme weather advisories | AP News

Whitmer signs energy bills to advance Democrats' climate goals - Detroit Free Press

Federal infrastructure, clean energy spending is powering the economy and lifting GDP - The Washington Post

Q2 GDP stronger than expected: - Fox News

GDP Grew at 2.4% Rate in Q2 as US Economy Stayed on Track - The New York Times

Biden signs an order designed to strengthen protections for sexual assault victims in the military - AP News

Larry Nassar survivors sue Michigan State over released documents - Detroit Free Press

2023 Michigan State University shooting - Wikipedia

Larry Nassar - Wikipedia

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expands teacher union rights, critics say it sets back students - Bridge Michigan

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs law to make Michigan 22nd state to ban conversion therapy - Bridge Michigan

‘I have been indicted,’ says suspect in Michigan vote machine tampering probe - Bridge Michigan

Former Michigan GOP co-chair pleads not guilty to fake elector charges - Bridge Michigan

Voters Largely Oppose Conservative Amendments to Defense Spending Bill - Data for Progress

How Supreme Court Justices Make Millions From Book Deals - The New York Times

How George Santos Used Political Connections to Fuel Get-Rich Schemes - The New York Times

Republicans Reframe 2024 as a Race Versus Harris – Not Biden - The Messenger

The GOP’s lengthy impeachment and censure lists - The Washington Post

Alabama’s Proposed Congressional Map Is Still Biased Against Black Voters - FiveThirtyEight

Trump wants to see Biden impeached, and other Republicans are quick to pile on - AP News

What a week:

Donald Trump on the cusp of another criminal indictment - if you’re keeping score, it would be his third…

16 of the more prominent names in the Michigan Republican Party are indicted for the Fake Electors plot…

And Marjorie Taylor Greene appears in a Biden campaign commercial – supporting his record of accomplishment.

As much as we wanted to focus on BarbenHeimer, we’re also look at possible criminality by still another former Republican state House speaker … and a brazen attempt by the very broke Michigan Republican Party to force a do-over of 2022’s state House election.

We're joined by the Detroit Free Press’s outstanding political reporter Clara Hendrickson, who maintain her equilibrium despite a very wild week! Clara covers Michigan politics with a focus on the governor's office and the state Legislature. She has previously covered voting rights, election administration and redistricting in Michigan. 

She came to The Detroit Free Press by way of Report for America – an initiative of The GroundTruth Project – to fact-check Michigan issues and politics in partnership with PolitiFact during the 2020 election. She previously worked as a research analyst at the Brookings Institution and freelance journalist in Washington, D.C.

At Brookings, she wrote on a range of public policy issues, including rising regional inequality, domestic and international efforts to regulate “Big Tech” and the financial challenges confronting local newsrooms. Her journalism has appeared in Boston Review, Democracy Journal, The Atlantic and Politico Magazine. She has also contributed feature articles for the non-profit outlet DCist, such as the impact on service workers of eliminating late-night public transportation routes and efforts to provide residents affordable exercise options in neighborhoods that don’t have a gym.

Hendrickson holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Pennsylvania where she was an op-ed columnist for The Daily Pennsylvanian, frequently covering labor and income disparity issues on campus and in Philadelphia.

Attorney General Dana Nessel announces indictments of 16 Republican "Fake" presidential electors.

President Biden celebrates his "endorsement" from MGT!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This week's podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRAEPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

• Public Opinion Surveys

• Market Research Studies

• Live Telephone Surveys

• On-Line and Automated Surveys

• Focus Group Research

• Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns

• Political Campaigns & Consulting

• Ballot Proposals - Issue Advocacy Research

• Community - Media Relations

• Issue - Image Management

• Database Development & List Management

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News Stories We’re Following This Week

Michigan Politics and Policy

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel Charges 16 ‘False Electors’ with Election Law and Forgery Felonies - Attorney General's Office

Transcript: Attorney General Nessel's statement on the Fake Electors indictments

Trump's fake electors in Michigan face criminal charges - Detroit Free Press

GOP officials call Nessel's Trump elector charges a 'witch hunt,' defend slate - Detroit News

Opinion | Michigan indicts alleged plotters in fake elector scheme. Here’s what it means. - The Washington Post

What we know about the 16 Michigan Trump electors facing charges- Detroit News

Records: Wentworth secured $6.8M grant to dredge lake where former aide lives - Bridge Michigan

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