SOS: Jocelyn Benson Rocks the OCDP house!

by: Brainwrap

Thu Mar 12, 2009 at 17:26:05 PM EDT

Seriously, though, aside from the other various and sundry items on the agenda, the most interesting event of the evening IMHO was the special guest speaker, Prof. Jocelyn Benson, who is running for Michigan Secretary of State in 2010.

This is significant for a number of reasons: First, Prof. Benson has a hell of a resume. Rather than try to parrot it, I'll just give a summary from her official campaign website:

RMGN Article II (Elections)

by: William Allen Simpson

Sat Jul 19, 2008 at 04:12:16 AM EDT

The RMGN site finally appears to have an electronic version of the petition language.  The petition separately lists the changes, followed by "Provisions of existing constitution altered or abrogated by proposal, if adopted".

This posting attempts to show the changes to Article II (Elections) by a literal difference of the two parts.  Note that by listing sections in the latter part, but not in the former part, this removes the latter language by implication.

While I agree with some of the proposed changes, the poorly drafted language makes the proposal unpalatable, and may have accidentally abrogated sections that should not have been removed.

Other problems should be detailed in the comments.

Memo to the RMGN Proposal Backers

by: rich

Fri Jul 18, 2008 at 11:20:26 AM EDT

If you want to reform government, it's best if you're not seen as being biased towards one political party at the expense of another. Reform always ought to serve the interests of the state's citizens, not one political party.

Having a PowerPoint presentation with the title, "Government Reform Proposal: Changing the rules of politics in Michigan to help Democrats" is not the way to seem unbiased. It tends to undercut the proposal's credibility, no matter how sound some portions of the ballot proposal might be (cutting legislative pay), and tends to expose the unsound ones more blatantly so (cutting the number of legislators).

It also doesn't help that so many who were backing this proposal have remained hidden until recently. It was MIRS that reported this:

"It's called shared sacrifice. It's a very sound principle. That's what's going to pull us out of the economic doldrums in Michigan."

-- AFL-CIO President Mark GAFFNEY on why unions are financially supporting the Reform Michigan Government Now ballot proposal, which cuts the pay for public officials in the Legislature, executive branch and judiciary.

Funny, I thought this was suposed to be about reforming our state government. I'm not sure how no-reason absentee voting or cutting the number of legislators is going to get us out of the economic doldrums. Companies making products people will buy is what will get us out of the economic doldrums.

Massive election law change on ballot?

by: William Allen Simpson

Tue Jul 08, 2008 at 13:12:34 PM EDT

Dawson Bell at the Freep is reporting that the so-called "Reform Michigan Government Now" proposal could be on the ballot in November. Anuzis has an editorial against it.

Grebner posted about this at the outset, but didn't think they'd get enough signatures quickly. They must have had scads of money to be done in only a few weeks!

Only Edwards and Obama Respond to Midwest Democracy Network's Questionnaire on Government Reform

by: philgoblue

Wed Nov 28, 2007 at 22:25:50 PM EST

As reported by Media Mouse, Grand Rapids' independent enewspaper.

Tuesday, the Midwest Democracy Network -- a nonpartisan alliance of 20 political reform advocate groups committed to improving democratic institutions in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin -- released the responces of former U.S. Senator John Edwards' and U.S. Senator Barrack Obama's to their questionnaire (warning: pdf) on federal political and government reform issues. The questionnaire was sent to all Democratic and Republican Party presidential candidates, but the two Democrats were the only ones that responded.

Regarding the limited participation in their questionnaire, the Midwest Democracy Network issued a statement saying that

"Unfortunately, the vast majority of the presidential candidates chose not to address voters' concerns about the health and direction of American democracy. Their silence is disappointing, and, of course, the American people have every reason to feel let down and badly treated."

Go K'zoo!

by: jmgear

Fri Jul 06, 2007 at 13:06:11 PM EDT

Instant runoff voting deserves a closer look
Thursday, July 05, 2007, Kalamazoo Gazette Editorial

Completely sick of Democrats?

Republicans don't do anything for you, either?

For some voters, that doesn't leave many other choices.

However, the Michigan Third Parties Coalition -- a group that includes the Green, Reform, Libertarian, Socialist and U.S. Taxpayers parties -- would like to make it easier for minor-party candidates to get on the ballot in Michigan.

(cont)