This Week’s “Party on the Peninsulas” ✹Condemning political violence ✹President Joe Biden’s  address to the nation ✹State Representative Kristian Grant on Democrats’ work to expand affordable housing in Michigan This Week in the (Other) News Editorial: Donald Trump Is Unfit for a Second Term – The New York Times ‘Unfit’ to serve, ‘con artist’: How Trump’s VP finalists once bashed him – The Washington Post Michigan Politics President Joe Biden impassioned, invigorated in Detroit speech – Detroit Free Press Biden goes on attack against Trump, media in Detroit – Detroit News “True Gretch” – Simon and Schuster March 2020 Biden rally looked like ‘superspreader,’ Whitmer says in new book – Detroit News VIDEO: “He’s Up For This” – Gov. Whitmer On President Biden’s Ability To Serve A Second Term – Late Show with Stephen Colbert Gov. Whitmer shuts down 2024 presidential talk but doesn’t hide her ambitions in timely book launch – AP News Once solidly red, northwest Michigan offers fighting chance for Democrats – Bridge Michigan Michigan Policy Michigan House Approves Critical Housing Legislation – housedems.com Gov. Whitmer Celebrates Record Construction Jobs in Michigan – Governor’s Office GM investment into Lansing Grand River plant expected to save 650 UAW[...]

This Week’s “Party on the Peninsulas” ✹MDP Chair Lavora Barnes on a return, after 248 years, of having a King preside over America ✹This week’s Trump/GOP Outrages The double-standard of Republicans and the media for judging Joe Biden and Donald Trump ✹Michigan political legend Mark Grebner on the quiet-but-critical role of county commissions, strategies for GOTV and the amazing career of Debbie Stabenow This Week in the News Michigan Politics Whitmer Disavows ‘Draft Gretch’ Movement — and Delivers A Warning to Biden – POLITICO Whitmer Slams Rival’s Leak That She Said Biden will Lose Michigan – The Daily Beast Michigan GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers connected to Saudi companies, including one with nuclear ambitions – Heartland Signal Republican rivals attack Rogers as Senate favorite and allies counter criticism – Detroit News Michigan Policy Michigan lawmakers want to outlaw deepfake sexual content: What it is – Detroit Free Press Macomb Prosecutor Peter Lucido sues county’s top attorney, ethics board Michigan HOAs can’t ban solar panels under newly passed bill – Bridge Michigan GOP/Trump Outrages Jobs report June 2024 – CNBC (From January 2021) Trump will have the worst jobs record in modern U.S. history – The Washington Post Sotomayor’s scathing Trump[...]

This Week’s “Party on the Peninsulas” ✹MDP Chair Lavora Barnes on the presidential debate: Joe Biden’s performance gets the headlines, totally obscuring the barrage of lies and outrageous statements from the increasingly unhinged Donald Trump ✹This week’s Trump/GOP Outrages The unconscionable partisanship of the U.S. Supreme Court, led by its delay of the ruling on Trump’s ridiculous claim of total presidential immunity from criminal accountability. And Oklahoma’s new mandate adding Bible study to public classroom. ✹Joe Biden bounces back with a fiery post-debate speech in North Carolina, labeling Trump for what he is: a convicted felon who lies at every opportunity. We have highlights from the speech. This Week in the News Michigan Politics Ex-Michigan GOP chair asks Court of Appeals to overturn her ouster – Detroit News Michigan GOP went to war with itself. Can it rebuild to win for Donald Trump? – Bridge Michigan Michigan Policy Judge blocks Michigan’s 24-hour mandatory waiting period for abortions – Detroit Free Press Michigan lawmakers approve $82.5B state spending plan for 2025 – Detroit Free Press Bill barrage: Michigan lawmakers pass ‘Taylor Swift’ bot ban in summer rush – Bridge Michigan Michigan’s $23B education deal: Free community college for all, pre-K for[...]

This Week’s “Party on the Peninsulas” ✹MDP Chair Lavora Barnes on the new GOP Campaign Tactic: “Cheap Fakes” that amount to video lies about Joe Biden. ✹This week’s Trump/GOP Outrage The U.S. Supreme Court’s six-month delay in deciding whether Trump had presidential immunity, i.e., the right to ignore the law whenever he felt like it. ✹Michigan Democrats versus “Deep Fake” A.I. generated X-rated videos. We’re joined by the chief sponsor of legislation reigning in A.I. deep fakes, East Lansing Representative Penelope Tsernoglou. Her bill requiring identification of political deep fakes is now law; her bill attacking X-rated A.I. generated images and videos has just passed in the House. In the News This Week The Ten Commandments as Practice by the GOP — Jimmy Kimmel Live — Michigan Politics ‘The Interview’: Gretchen Whitmer Wants a Gen X President — in 2028 – The New York Times Neil Friske arrest: Michigan state representative held after chasing adult dancer with a gun. – Slate Freep endorsements in Dem primary: Scholten, Dingell, Stevens, Tlaib – Detroit Free Press Black voters say Trump’s indictments don’t rally their support – Detroit Free Press Michigan Policy ‘Deepfake’ sexual content targeted by bills passed by Michigan House – Detroit Free[...]

From Chairperson Lavora Barnes To listen to Republicans, we’re in the middle of an apocalyptic crime wave. The reality: the crime rates have dropped dramatically since they peaked in 2020 during the Trump administration.  In his “Popular Information” newsletter, investigative journalist Judd Legum reports: ‘In a speech earlier this year at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump said that under Biden, the United States is “plagued by bloodshed, chaos and violent crime.” A March press release by the Republican National Committee claimed that “crime [is] spiking” as a result of Biden’s policies. Trump’s claims are being repeated by other Republicans running for office.’ It’s all another Big Lie, ironically being promoted by a convicted criminal. New data released this last week by the FBI reveals that both violent crime and property crime have dropped dramatically this year. The data compares crime in the first quarter of 2024 with crime in the first quarter of 2023. It shows substantial drops in every category, including murder ( down 26.4%), rape (down 25.7%), robbery (down 17.8%), and property crime (down 15.1%). The only crime rate going up: indictments and convictions of the leaders of efforts to overturn the 2020 election, including indictments of[...]

From Chairperson Lavora Barnes Last Thursday, President Biden joined with French President Emanuel Macron to honor the Greatest Generation: the men and women who, 80 years earlier, began the liberation of Europe with the D-Day invasion. The two presidents honored a legacy: the selfless sacrifices of thousands to protect the world from the threat of a racist, paranoid sociopath whose ambition was to rule the world.​ Thousands gave their lives that day so that we could live free. We owe the Greatest Generation a commitment to continue to fight for their legacy which is constantly endangered by would-be dictators and despots, foreign and domestic. On Saturday, your Democratic Party celebrated its legacy with our annual Legacy Dinner. UAW President Shawn Fain was presented with the MDP’s Legacy Award for his inspiring leadership which led to a record-smashing contract settlement with the Big 3 domestic automakers, a contract which means a secure and prosperous future for not just UAW members, but for untold thousands more whose employment is directly tied to the auto industry. The keynote speaker on Saturday brought her own legacy to the stage. Kamala Harris is the first woman, and the first person of color, to be elected[...]

From chairperson Lavora Barnes A jury: 12 ordinary citizens who take an oath to put aside their personal beliefs and opinions, listen to testimony presented by both sides in a trial, and render a verdict based solely on that testimony and the law.Our jury system dates back to the founding of the nation. The Sixth Amendment states that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused criminal has the right to a trial by an impartial jury of the state and district in which the individual allegedly committed a crime. Attacks on the American jury system are, in fact, an attack on one of the constitutional rights that makes the United States exceptional. Yet that is what we are hearing in the aftermath of the unanimous finding of guilt against former President Trump. It’s no surprise that Trump is lashing out. Anytime he loses at anything, he attacks and never accepts responsibility. In his mind he’s never lost an election, his numerous bankruptcies were the fault of others, and his recent losses in multiple civl and criminal trials are the results of a rigged system and corrupt people. Donald Trump’s political campaign is based on grievance. He poses as a martyr constantly[...]

From Chairperson Lavora Barnes “Supremes”. No – not the legendary Motown trio. It’s the United States Supreme Court, and the importance of this year’s elections on the next 2 decades of the Court. There likely will be two or more vacancies on the Court during the term of the next President. Right wing extremists and ethically challenged Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas are 74 and 75 years old; Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sonia Sotomayor are both 69. The election of Trump, coupled with a Republican Senate, could result in a Court that has five or more Trump-appointed Justices. It would be a MAGA-dominated court for two or more decades. Even if we re-elect Joe Biden, a Republican Senate could well stymie restoring balance to the Court. Mitch McConnell showed what raw power and a lack of conscience can do to the Court. McConnell’s outrageous partisanship stole two seats on the Court which should have gone to appointees of Presidents Obama and Biden. Instead McConnell used his slim majority in the Senate to gift Trump with 2 appointments: 59-year-old Brett Kavanagh and 54-year-old Amy Coney Barrett. Those two appointments cemented a radical right-wing-dominated activist court that resulted in[...]

From chairperson Lavora Barnes Our courts are under attack led, of course, by four-time indicted, twice-impeached bankruptcy king Donald Trump. He’s still furious that more than 60 different courts dismissed his claims of election fraud in 2020 and, as we record this, on the verge of a verdict in the first of his four felony trials. He’s called the well-respected New York Supreme Court judge crooked, biased, unqualified and corrupt simply because it fits into his campaign strategy of painting himself as a victim. Adding to his attack on the system: summoning his D.C. red tie brigade to repeat the scurrilous attacks on witnesses, the jury and even the judge’s daughter: things he can’t say because of a well-deserved gag order. On top of that Trump has made it clear that if he gets reelected, he will order the Justice Department to indict special prosecutor Jack Smith, Georgia D.A. Fanny Willis and New York district attorney Alvin Bragg for the crime of indicting Trump. In Michigan, we have a much different story. We have an Attorney General who takes corrupt public officials from both parties without fear or favor, and works hand-in-glove with our Secretary of State to guarantee free[...]

From chairperson Lavora Barnes In political debates, the rhetoric sometimes overshadows the impact of those policy decisions on actual people: what’s the impact on individual lives. That is one of the many reasons Joe Biden is such an amazing leader: every decision he makes is influenced by a lifetime of experiences of “Scranton Joe,” the guy who grew up in a working class family that faced the same challenges that confront millions of Americans. Sadly, a lot of the debate over reproductive rights overlooks the real world. Opponents manufacture horror stories that are mostly fantasies unattached from the real world. They talk about late term abortions right up to the moment of birth, something that simply isn’t a thing. They trivialize what, in reality, is one of the most difficult decisions a woman can make. In the case of exceeding rare late-term abortions, those decisions are the direct result of a major emergency that’s life-or-death, but opponents make it sound heartless. In the last week, Michiganders had the opportunity to learn more about the real-world impact of the anti-choice movement from two victims of those laws. Texan Amanda Zurawski and Kaitlin Joshua of Louisiana both very much wanted a child,[...]