Sign the petition to tell Jase Bolger to step down
Legislators returned to Lansing today with a full agenda on their plate and a number of bills the Republican majority and Governor Snyder said were urgent to get passed.
Their aggressive agenda quickly fell apart, however, and what we saw instead is a Government paralyzed by corruption and fraud. The actions of Speaker of the House Jase Bolger to undermine the Democratic process and take the right of legitimate elected representation away from the people of Michigan have brought state government to a standstill by breaking the very trust the public has in the democratic process.
The report released yesterday by the Kent County Prosecutor makes it alarmingly clear that Speaker Bolger knowingly tried to defraud the public, lied about it and continues to deny responsibility for the damage it has caused. It has become all too apparent that the agenda he has pursued as Speaker of the House over the past 18 months has been focused squarely on a partisan election strategy without regard for the impact it has on the people of Michigan.
As a result of Speaker Bolger’s lack of honesty or integrity, the true intent of the bills before the legislature today could no longer be trusted. Whether right or wrong, his conduct has made it impossible for anyone to believe the motivation behind them was anything other than political gamesmanship.
To put it simply, a leadership change is needed to restore the faith the people of Michigan must have in their Government and it’s up to the Republicans to make that happen from within. They can stand up to their own failed leadership and send a message that fraud and election rigging have no place in Michigan’s capitol. They have the ability to affirm to the public that there is simply too much at stake for our state, our families and our future for Speaker Bolger’s selfish actions to stand in the way of what truly needs to be done to get our state back on track.
Should Michigan speak up, and Speaker Bolger step down or be removed as the Speaker of the House, then, and only then, can the people of Michigan begin to trust that their legislature is truly working in their best interests once again.
You can add your name to the growing list of voices calling on Speaker Bolger to resign his leadership position by signing the petition here: http://goo.gl/MYa2d
If you haven’t heard about the #mi2020 Scholarship, you’ve likely been hiding under a rock for the past couple of days. With $10,000 on the line, the competition is causing quite a stir. Here at the Senate Democratic Caucus, we’re pretty excited too. Not only does the competition have the potential to be the difference between pursuing and not pursuing a higher education for one special high school senior, it represents something much larger.
What the #mi2020 Scholarship will do for one Michigan student is what the Michigan 2020 Plan, to be introduced in bill draft form this week, could do for ALL of Michigan’s students. That’s right, roughly $10,000 per year toward a college education for all Michigan students who receive their high school diploma. For many, this will be the difference in whether they choose to pursue a higher education, or the dread that student loan debt represents will be simply too much to bear. The 2020 Plan could be the jumpstart that Michigan needs not only to come out of this recession, but to come out on top.
But we’ll get to all that when the time comes. In the meantime, we’d like to see ALL high school seniors in Michigan give us their best shot in a short video portraying why they, and perhaps many they know, would benefit from the 2020 Plan being enacted. Any high school senior can enter, whether they attend public school, private school or home school.
On the website, mi2020video.com, students and their parents can find all the information they need in order to enter the competition. Remember to focus on the 2020 Plan in your video, and the effect that the Plan being enacted (passed through the legislature) would have on your life. Not sure where to start? In the “How to Enter” section, and above in this post, you’ll find a sample video that we made to get your creative juices flowing. Don’t have access to some of the technologies you might need to create the video? Once you begin the registration process, you’ll come to a page where you can type in your zip code to find local libraries and other locations that may be able to help. We are also encouraging schools to get involved, and make IT resources readily available for students wanting to apply. This opportunity could result in a life drastically changed, will it be yours?