Michigan Policast for Monday, February 25, 2019

Governor Whitmer signs a new executive order to move forward on clean water, the Senate and SCOTUS are stupidly skewed toward the conservative minority in this country, and Eric Freedman discusses the future of reporting on Michigan policy and government.

* Christine and Walt start with the new EO that remakes the DEQ into EGLE.  Will the GOP kill this one too, or can we please get to work now?

* There are some big themes in the Democratic Presidential primary.  How will the winner get anything done?  We discuss the Senate imbalance, the filibuster, and expanding the SCOTUS.

* The @MIGOP convention sounds like a giant obstruction-fest.

“What do Democrats stand for? Nothing,” @GOPChairwoman says before listing the Green New Deal, free college, Medicare for all, abolish ICE, and “infanticide” as things they support.

— Andrew Roth (@RothTheReporter) February 23, 2019

 

Eric Freedman

Our guest is Michigan State University journalism professor Eric Freedman. As a reporter at the Detroit News, Freedman won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting which uncovered a huge embezzlement scandal at the state House of Representatives Fiscal Agency.

Governor Whitmer executive order

* Executive Order 2019-6 (pdf) and the accompanying press release is here

* Executive Order 2019-6 non-pdf version with links to related documents

* Whitmer revamps environmental order after GOP rejection

* GOP signals support for Whitmer’s new environmental order

* Governor Whitmer’s request for a legal review of the ‘Polluter Panels’ that currently oversee the DEQ rules and permit process (pdf) and the accompanying press release is here

Senate, filibuster, and SCOTUS

* Pod Save America – section on the future of SCOTUS (podcast)

* The Top 15 Democratic presidential candidates, ranked 

* Why Democrats need to be ready to kill the filibuster

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