I've been a website developer for 9 years. While I've been active politically since 2003 (I'm your basic Deanocrat), I've only recently delved into political clients.
Recently, I had the good fortune to be asked to take over as the web developer for the MDP Justice Caucus, devoted to helping elect honest, progressive judges of integrity.
We in the Michigan Justice Caucus are trying to do our part to elect Judge Diane Hathaway, and get rid of the worst Justice (Michigan Lawyers Weekly, Jan. 21, 2008) on what has been rated the most political and least independent Supreme Court in the nation. We are doing a three-phase canvass, lit drop, and Election Day presence in targeted precincts across the state as part of the MDP's overall effort to elect Hathaway. So on top of my own campaign, and my other party work, I'm trying to coordinate volunteers for the targeted precincts in my congressional district.
But a great new ad has been released - some of you may have seen it already - comparing Cliff Taylor with Sleeping Beauty.. yes, he actually slept through the argument of the facts in a case we heard a presentation on at the Justice Caucus meeting at our recent state convention in Lansing.
Here's the ad:
We should have a shot at getting rid of our worst Justice in this, our BEST year. If you would like to help, drop me a line, and let me know where you are. I'll put you in touch with Justice Caucus organizers in your area.
The Justice Caucus held a session at the Michigan Democratic Party convention on Saturday with some of the victims of Cliff Taylor and the Michigan Supreme Court's rulings against ordinary people. This video is the stories of three of those people.
Chicago, IL – The "verdict" is not a good one for the Michigan Supreme Court. A University Of Chicago Law School ranking of the nation's 50 state supreme courts lists Michigan's at the bottom. The research combined such measures as judicial independence from political or outside influences, its numbers of published opinions, and how often the court's decisions are referenced in rulings by other courts.
The story goes on to say that the state Chamber, which represents the state's business community, gives the Supreme Court high marks; while the study itself finds that the state Supreme Court lacks independence from the state's business community. Perhaps one explains the other, no?
According to the study, the state's high court ranked 42nd among 52 courts examined in number of opinions cited by out-of-state courts and the least independent of the 52. Combined with the number of opinions issued, Michigan ranked at the bottom of the list when it came to aggregated score.
This is something recognized not just in out-of-state studies, by the way. A few months ago, I wrote a column for the local paper calling for changes to the state Supreme Court, and one of the pieces of feedback I got indirectly (letter to the editor) was from a local attorney, a fairly conservative fellow, who said that the way the Gang of Four is running the court makes it much more difficult for the state's attorneys to do their work with any sense of consistency, what with the high courts habit of reopening what everyone thought of as settled law and making changes to suit their own agendas (this would be that lack of independence speaking).
What do Cliff Taylor, the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, Nestle, Eagle Mine, and George Bush all have in common? Why, it's Dennis Muchmore, longtime Lansing lobbyist.
I first winced a couple of years ago when I first heard the name Dennis Muchmore, when he was named to head Michigan United Conservation Clubs. You see, the name Muchmore, Deb Muchmore, was familiar to me as the name of the P.R. flack for the Ice Mountain bottling facility in Mecosta County. Later, she added the Kennecott Mine Project to her client list. Indeed, she and Dennis Muchmore are wife and husband.
Today, among other things (we'll get to those later), Muchmore is the head of MUCC, an organization perhaps best known as the principle driver behind the state's bottle deposit law. The most notable thing about MUCC's history has been its willingness to break ranks with ... well, whomever, and go its own way. In recent years, as some of it's more pre-eminent presidents have passed away, the group's reputation has become that it is essentially a tool of the Sportsmen for Bush crowd, people who say they like to kill things with guns and eat them, but that the shape of the environment isn't so important to them (supporting President Breaks Everything He Touches is an easy fit). Indeed, not only have the Muchmores given money primarily to Republicans (Deborah Muchmore, who used to be Deborad Wudyka back when Ice Mountain was Perrier instead of Nestle, gave two grand to him in '04, as did he ... and someone bearing the name Dennis Muchmore and listed as a consultant for DHR International gave the RNC $2,100) over the years, but Dennis Muchmore himself was a Bush Pioneer in both 2000 and 2004 (that is, he raised more than $100,000 for Pres. BEHT). Muchmore isn't just a Lansing lobbyist whose firm previously defeated a public smoking ban and who raises lots of money for terrible presidents while also presiding over one of the state's most influential outdoors advocacy groups, but he's also a vice president of a proposed ethanol project in the Gratiot County city of Ithaca.
But, why today do we concern ourselves with Dennis Muchmore? Because he's putting his fund raising talents to work for Cliff Taylor. Muchmore is apparently part of the host committee (which itself includes Joe Schwarz and Tim Walberg) for a fund raising event in Jackson at the end of the month. Speaking there will be Steve Forbes. $500 gets you in the door, $3,400 gets you and a guest a seat at a special roundtable with Taylor.
I could leave open to contemplation of why the head of what is supposed to be the head of a non-partisan outdoors group is raising money for a supreme court candidate notable for his anti-environmental positions and reckless rulings that have given the state's supreme court the reputation as one of the most tainted and worst across the country, but we already have the answer. The head of MUCC is raising money for Cliff Taylor (and other Republicans) because he's primarily just a lobbyist and is very good at it.
Right from the start, Ingham County Circuit Judge William Collette struck down the law as unconstitutional. The Michigan Court of Appeals backed him up on it.
But the state Supreme Court said no, the law enlightened the public and encouraged an informed decision-making process. Blame Justices Clifford Taylor, Maura Corrigan, Robert Young Jr. and Stephen Markman for that one.
So, to them, the law didn't violate the state Constitution. Makes you wonder.
My emphasis. The court are supposed to be a neutral arbiter, not an enabler of law that is clearly both bad and not within any sane person's understanding of how things were designed to work. In this case, we didn't get that, and thankfully at least one of the state's newspapers has decided to share with its readers the names of the guilty.
We kick off the new year profiling a few of the key political races statewide that deserve -- nay, demand -- your attention. Vote, vote, vote these people out of office.--Eric B.
I'm told that Michigan's Supreme Court, in particular the gang of four that routinely puts special interests ahead of the public, is something of a joke among out-of-state lawyers and judges ... so bad is their reputation for rending reason and sanity in pursuit of judicial activism.
We could dig into history from the tenure of Cliff Taylor and create an indictment from his entire record for why booting him from the state Supreme Court should be one of our hottest priorities for 2008, but that's not necessary. We have plenty of lowlights from just 2006-07 that are crying out for recognition (enough that Taylor could have easily been nominated as the state's worst public servant for 2007). Roll the tape:
When we last checked in with Cliff Taylor and his merry band of judicial misfits, they were busying themselves applying legal principles over who can sue and under what conditions as though they came off the a la carte menu. This week, they popped up to enable corruption so shameless that it brought tears to the spectral eyes of history's great ward heelers and political pit bosses, looking on from whatever slice of the afterlife is set aside for those so evil Satan could reasonably expect them to engineer a coup if condemned to Hell. In a 4-3 vote, the state Supreme Court reinstated the mid-January presidential primary, which not only set an early date for the state's presidential primary, but also appropriated money from the state's general fund to do it. In an act of overt political graft, the state's taxpayers will cover this private process to the tune of $10 million, at a time when Secretary of State branches are closing, and police officers, firefighters and school teachers face the prospects of layoff. ... Taxpayers [--] well, naturally, they get stuck with the check. As such, this represents a $10 million donation on behalf of the residents of Michigan to the campaign coffers of Clinton and Romney. This is worth remembering the next time some of the princip[al] architects of this mess[,] most of them Republicans[,] start complaining about government waste of taxpayer dollars. For everyone but the party faithful who are true believers of the eventual winners, the state's taxpayers get the very nice privilege of paying $10 million for the right to say that we almost went first.
Amen!
It's not over yet, though: there're the options of implementation challenges, federal court challenges, and of course, your right to demand your MDP not participate in this primary and disenfranchise you by DNC rules which prohibit a January primary/caucus. Feel free to contact your MDP at 517-371-5410, and also to suggest to Mark Grebner (Practical Political Consulting, Inc. # 517-351-8274 may work) and others that you'd appreciate a federal court challenge to the state-o.k.'d thievery which picks your pocket to enrich others.
Unless you're into being a doormat and having your pocket picked (when you could stop it!), of course...
BFM: Sen. Hansen Clarke: It's Not Too Late to STOP Hate. Check out Sen. Clarke's post about his legislation that would expand Michigan's Ethnic Intimidation Act to include intimidation or hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Add this to the long list of important issues being ignored by Senate Republicans while they stall on the budget.
Bay City Times: nation need renewable energy standards. The Times gives a nice shout out to pending renewable energy legislation: "Bills introduced in June by Sen. Jim Barcia, D-Bay City, and Rep. Terry Brown, D-Pigeon, would require a 20 percent renewable standard by 2020. That's the one we want."
LSJ Op-Ed: Sen. Alan Cropsey: Releasing felons isn't answer. It's not a "reform" unless Senate Republicans say so.
BFM: Senate Republican SOD for 8/16 - Why does Mike Bishop hate jobs? Wizardkitten asks, "Will Andy sell us out to his buddy Mike? Will the House Democrats hide behind whatever underhanded, quick fix solution these two come up with? Will we have to do this dance all over again next year because they refuse to do their jobs and get this state on solid financial footing?"
FarLeftField: Thank You Michigan Bloggers! The Left Fielder sends a thank-you to Michigan's progressive bloggers for stepping up in the fight against Right to Work (for less) legislation.
Elections
MDP: Taylor Under Fire While Judges Gather for Conferences. Brewer has his sights set on Cliff Taylor: "Taylor’s misuse of his taxpayer-funded car, the highly publicized infighting on the Michigan Supreme Court, and his recent controversial decisions denying justice to victims of vicious sex crimes and hurting our environment mark a very troublesome 2007. Michigan must end the reign of our national embarrassment, Cliff Taylor."
Walberg Watch: Seagraves on the Walberg Recall. Speaking of recalls, Fitzy hints that the Congressman has filed a lawsuit to block it. I'm assuming we'll have details soon.
Walberg Watch: Tim Walberg and the Club for Growth. Fitzy paws through Rep. Walberg's financial records and shares some information about the Club for Growth. Look, this race will be competitive next year no matter who the Democratic candidate is, but if the Club for Growth doesn't dump a truckload of cash in Walberg's lap like they did last year, I think his goose is cooked.
Media Mouse: Report Highlighting Cost of Iraq War Delivered to Rep. Ehlers. Hop on over to No on Joe to see video of Knollenberg getting the check for his district's involvement in the Iraq war.
Peters for Congress: CWA, Operating Engineers, and more Endorse Peters. Jordan's got the scoop on the latest endorsements.
Odds & Ends
Media Mouse: New West Michigan Local Food Guide Available. "The guide, produced annually by the Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council includes a variety of resources designed to assist people in eating more locally grown food."
Red Tape: Michigan State Government Web Pages Rank 2nd Best According to Brown University Study. Oh, come on... we came in second behind Delaware?! Who lives in Delaware?
Did I forget anything? Drop your links in the comments section...
The person that said Supreme Court business was boring has obviously never heard of Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice 'Conservative' Cliff Taylor
Mark Brewer, Michigan Democratic Party Chair, announced that the MDP purchased the taxpayer-funded car used by Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Cliff Taylor at a public auction on Saturday. The car, a 2005 Ford Five Hundred, had just over 52,000 miles on it, compared to Brewer's MDP Ford Taurus with nearly 250,000 miles.
If you recall, Conservative Cliff was recently quoted in the Detroit Free Press bragging about his flagrant use of the vehicle operated on your dime -
Supreme Court Chief Justice Clifford W. Taylor said he uses his car, a 2005 Ford 500, for work, commuting, law school visits, ceremonial functions, and occasional trips to the grocery and for dinners out. While his vacations don't typically involve a state car, he said, using one "would be perfectly permissible."
"That is the reigning interpretation. I've never heard anyone challenge it."
Why? Just because Saul likes to tool around in his Cadillac Escalade (License Plate: MI GOP) and Amway Guy enjoys his Navigator (often without his seat belt), and they never say anything? Apparently money speaks louder than the voice of justice for Tilted Taylor.
Calling Taylor the "most prominent defender of use of this perk", Brewer said the MDP would use the car to fight against the abuses that Taylor stood for.
But don't fool yourself into thinking this is a partisan issue. Check out what our good friends over at the MSM have been saying about Taylor the Terrible, and the best one by far comes from The Freep's editorial on 1/7/07 - Odor in the Court.
Also from the Freep, Brian Dickerson (4/25/07) had this to say about Taylor -
Have Taylor and his fellow justices been too busy reversing industry unfriendly jury verdicts to notice that none of them has made a car payment since gas was $1.25 a gallon?
Brewer stated that the car will be used for MDP business and even though it's not a taxpayer-funded car, he won't be using it for dinners out and grocery getting. He's got his personal vehicle for that.
Our discussion of the 2008 elections continues today with our focus shifting to the reelection of U.S. Senator Carl Levin, to our challenge of Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Cliff Taylor, and our efforts to keep the majority in the State House. Watch my video below and tell me what you think:
