Much is being made over at Michigan Liberal about Mike Bishop signing a pledge to the Norquist folks saying that he would never, ever vote to raise taxes.
It calls into question just how closely Bishop will follow Grover Norquist's philosophy. Maybe the next available reporter who isn't named Dawson Bell should take Mike aside and ask him about that pledge, and while they are at it, maybe they should also ask him if he agrees with this statement that Norquist gave to the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 1st. (courtesy of Think Progress)
NORQUIST: Nothing good happens in the next two years out of this Congress. Nothing good.
If you read in the newspaper that there’s a bill with a nice sounding name, and it sounds in the first sentence like the bill is good, you haven’t read the whole bill.
Nothing good happens. They’re not going to cut taxes.
Look, get married, develop a hobby, learn to belly dance, learn to golf — you know, we got two years free, but we gotta spend some time and effort playing defense here.
Because the Democrats are going to be like young men on prom dates — they’re gonna keep asking the same question of us over and over and over again. And our job is to say “no, no, no, no” for two years.
It doesn’t do us any good to go “no, no, yes” okay? It has to be “no” for two years in a row. It’s going to be tiresome, it’s going to be boring. People are gonna go, “oh maybe this bill isn’t as bad as it looks.” Don’t eat it, don’t swallow it, don’t touch it. Nothing good passes this Congress.
Plan for the future and read novels.
When you look at the bills that have passed in the Michigan House so far, and the statements/media impressions from Bishop's office that have followed, it appears that this is exactly the tactic the Republicans will take here in our state.
Which of the following bills have a chance to get through the Senate? Let's start with the auto accident damages bill-
Under the measure passed Wednesday, an injured person could sue for lost wages and noneconomic damages under broader terms than now defined in state law and through court decisions, making it easier for people injured in auto accidents to sue.
The response from the Republicans?
The legislation now goes to the Senate, where it may not be a high priority and may likely face opposition from Republicans who control the chamber.
-snip-
A spokesman for Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop said the House-passed bill would require extensive review and added that Bishop's top priority is resolving the current budget deficit, making it unlikely the bill will come up for consideration in the Senate any time soon.
That would be the budget deficit they "resolved" in one night. I'm sure they had to put some prior thought into which citizens they would cut the deepest, but it probably didn't take all that much time to read from the master list entitled, "Get the Poor". Just had to fill in the numbers.
OK, moving on. How about that drug company immunity bill? Jack Lessenberry had the best take on that in an article worth reading in its entirety, but here is the pertinent point-
Write, call, scream at or otherwise put pressure on your friendly homegrown state senator — especially Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, a Republican from Rochester. Here's why: Naturally, Bishop is going to oppose any bill that puts people ahead of corporations.
-snip-
What the Republican leadership will try to do is to bury this bill in committee and prevent it from ever coming up for a vote. Big Pharma has plenty of lobbyists who are working hard to help them do this, by the way.
And no way the anti-bullying law gets through as written. It struggled in the House as the Republicans objected to protecting those gay kids- what do you think All-Pro Homophobe Cropsey is going to say if it ever hits the Senate floor?
While the Democratic-led state House passed anti-bullying legislation the day Cheatham and 200 supporters visited the Capitol, it was opposed by Republicans and may die in the Senate, which is controlled by the GOP.
How about tax breaks on home purchases?
Allowing purchasers over the next 18 months to inherit the lower, constitutionally capped property tax bills paid by the sellers could be approved by the Democrat-controlled House as early as today. The House Commerce Committee approved it Tuesday.
Republicans are wary, and some local government groups are opposed. Leaders in the Republican-run Senate say the bill is not high on their list of priorities.
Noticing a pattern?
Watch for the phrase "not high on the list of priorities" from now on. There is a really good chance that we will hear it quite often. As we have learned from the recent budget negotiations, about the only thing that Mike Bishop seems to be able to say to the citizens of Michigan is "no".
Oddly enough, when someone says "no" back to the Republicans, it fails to register.
"The governor has said to force cuts that would hurt people is not acceptable. ... The Republicans have not taken steps to resolve the problem responsibly," Granholm's spokeswoman said.
"If they aren't aware of what this financial crisis is all about, I think the problem is bigger and deeper than we realize when it comes to the Senate Republicans. We've made it clear that we're in a financial emergency."
Republicans countered that they've laid out a plan for dealing with the deficit.
"We've not seen the House or governor accept the cuts by the Senate to balance a $900 million shortfall," said Matt Marsden, spokesman for Republican Senate Majority Mike Bishop of Rochester.
And you're not going to. And you've been told that. You would think that you would've learned that lesson from the last election.
"No" works both ways out here in the real world, whether Grover Norquist likes it or not.