Free Republic

(WXYZ) - Governor Rick Snyder has vetoed gun legislation that would have allowed concealed weapons in churches, schools and daycares. He vetoed Senate Bill 59 Tuesday after stating that he would give the legislation extra consideration following tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. The bill drew widespread criticism in the wake of the school massacre in Newtown where 26 people were killed - including 20 children. Under the proposed law, concealed weapons would have been allowed in schools and churches. “This type of violence often leaves society with more questions than answers,” Snyder said. “The reasons for such appalling acts usually are...

The great thing about Democracy – as I’m sure you’ll all agree – is that once the campaigns, debates and battles are over and the people have spoken, everyone can pick up the pieces and get on with productive work to advance the principles each side believes in. Clearly, such is the case in Michigan, where defeated but undaunted union advocates have already begun dusting themselves off and …Nope. LANSING — A speaker at a union protest against right-to-work legislation said if Gov. Rick Snyder signed the bill he would get “no rest” and that protesters would be at his...

Politics: The union mob that tore down that tent outside the Michigan state capitol was aiming at a free-market advocacy group on the president's enemies list promoting right-to-work and other pro-growth measures. In an editorial headlined "Drinking the Kochs' Kool-Aid," the Detroit Free Press, a newspaper in a decaying city with 18.9% unemployment, opined it was pressure from the Koch brothers, David H. and Charles G., who head a Kansas-based conglomerate with 50,000 U.S.-based employees, that moved Michigan Republicans to make the state adopt right-to-work legislation. Randy Richardville, majority leader of the state Senate, and Gov. Rick Snyder may have...

Organized Labor: The assault on a Fox News contributor protecting women and seniors in a tent is but the latest example of the civil discourse and respect for democracy the president's union supporters really have. Imagine the outrage and the mainstream media feeding frenzy had it been a Tea Party member punching an MSNBC contributor covering a protest over ObamaCare. Or if Tea Party members had descended on a tent full of Occupy Wall Street supporters, flattening and tearing it apart with total disregard for the people inside. Yet that is precisely what happened to conservative comedian and Fox News...

He forged a reputation as a moderate, can-do businessman-politician, but Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, has taken a leap into the political unknown by embracing a right-to-work bill that has put him at the center of an ideological battle with the state’s powerful union movement that shows no signs of dying down in the weeks ahead. With President Obama, who openly criticized the right-to-work drive, set to visit Detroit on Monday, opinions are sharply divided over the wisdom of the Republican push to make this longtime bastion of union strength into the nation’s 24th right-to-work state. Unions and Democrats...

Right To Work: Both chambers of the Michigan legislature pass bills banning union dues as a condition of employment as a Detroit city councilwoman wonders when the pork will arrive. The choice is growth vs. stagnation. Reports of the GOP's demise may be greatly exaggerated, at least at the state level, as Michigan, birthplace of the modern labor movement and unionism, stands poised to become the nation's 24th right-to-work (RTW) state. If it goes ahead, it will join recent addition Indiana in challenging union power as Gov. Scott Walker successfully did in Wisconsin. Michigan's Republican governor, Rick Snyder, is poised...

Folks, I got a phone call 10 minutes ago from someone close to this... Moderator do not pull this thread, this is breaking news, it is the Senate not the House, the House was this afternoon.No word when it hits the Governors Desk...

Folks, I just got a phone call from someone who is following this real close. The Michigan Senate just passed right to work. No word when it hits the Governors Desk All I can say is wow. I need to second source it !

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said today that a bill will be introduced that would make Michigan the nation's 24th right-to-work state. "When it arrives on my desk, I plan on signing it," he said. In a press conference with the House and Senate Majority leaders and three union members, the Governor suggested that a bill would be introduced today. Under the legislation, employees would only pay union representation fees (also called "agency fees") if they chose to do so. Federal law prohibits workers from being required to be union members and pay union dues as a condition of employment. However,...

On this point, the Governor must not bend to special interests and do what is right for the sovereign individuals in this State.  Speaker of the House, Jase Bolger is willing to go toe to toe with the Governor, to stop him from implementing a Healthcare Exchange. The Governor says that if we don't act by the end of the year, the Federal Government will impose an exchange upon us.  However, if he agrees to expand Medicaid, it will drown us financially in the years to come. This assessment by the Cato Institute is the right way to look at...

Phil Lawler of CatholicCulture.org offers an in-depth analysis of President Obama's accommodation of the religious Left in the flap over his administration's coercion of religious institutions, most obviously Catholic ones. Catholic Leftist's like Sr. Carol Keehan, D.C., President of the Catholic Health Association--known as Obama's nun; the presumptive Bishop of the American Church recognized by secularists and self-hating Catholics--approve of the State intruding upon the Church's internal governance. They won't object about that until Catholic governance reflects their beliefs, at which time enough will be enough, the lamb will lay down with the lion, and Church-State relations will achieve heights...

Republican Michigan Attorney General, Bill Schuette, joined with 25 other state AG's in a lawsuit against Obamacare. That lawsuit was decided by Judge Roger Vinson of Sarasota, Florida, and stands as one of the greatest arguments toward declaring Obamacare unconstitutional. Prior to the ruling, Schuette renewed the fight initiated by former Republican AG Mike Cox, saying, “For the first time in history the federal government is forcing us to buy a product under the threat of a penalty, in violation of the U.S. Constitution,” said Schuette. “I will fight Obamacare tooth-and-nail to protect our citizens from this constitutional overreach.” So,...

Gov. Rick Snyder plans to direct doctors in Michigan to begin monitoring the body weight of their young patients and provide the data to a state registry in one of the most extensive government efforts to address the growing problem of pediatric obesity, the Associated Press has learned. The move would help track the state's growing obesity problem while opening the way for doctors to be more proactive in offering advice, Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The Republican governor will announce the initiative Wednesday as part of his proposal for improving Michigan residents' health. The...

PITTSBURGH -- Pirates catcher Chris Snyder and his wife Carla came face-to-face with a man accused of attacking them during a road rage incident last month. Chris and Carla Snyder spoke to Channel 11 News after a hearing on Wednesday, in which all charges against Subhash Modhwadia, of Scott Township, were held for court. "It was a weird situation. Everything happened so fast," Chris Snyder said. With an Indian interpreter on video, Carla Snyder testified that when she turned into a BP gas station on Banksville Road, Modhwadia blocked her sports utility vehicle and accused her of cutting him off.

BANKSVILLE, PA (WTAE/CNN) - A man is accused of attacking the wife of a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball player in Banksville, PA. Police say the attack happened after a near collision between Carla Snyder and Subhash Modwadia. Pirate's catcher Chris Snyder was there at the time, but could not step in because of a back injury. Carla Snyder told police that after the near collision, she tried to pull into the gas station, but Modwadia would not let her, and followed them into the lot. "He threw his scooter in front of her truck and dropped it, got out and ripped...

Picking up the pieces after the passage of the budget, the governor's relationship with the right wing agenda, and the Island-Bridge conclave. The guest is Gary Glenn, head of the American Family Association of Michigan. He wants to push for Right to Work, even if the governor does not. Reporters Susan Demas, Bill Ballenger, and Dawson Bell join senior capitol correspondent Tim Skubick.

LANSING, Mich. -- Oh my, this could get mucho messy. The ultra-conservative wing of the state GOP has been patiently marking time since January when the Rick Snyder juggernaut rolled into town. The new governor told everyone he was all about getting a new budget and business tax in place and would not be diverted by “other” issues. Well the budget is in place, as is the business tax, and here comes Gary Glenn of the American Family Association of Michigan. Let’s just say Mr. G.G. is not a liberal...not by any stretch. And he’s got an agenda as long...

Conversation with Governor Rick Snyder, Live at 9:00AM from East Lansing on most public radio stations in Michigan. Webstream with video at: http://wkar.org/live/mprn/ webstream audio only at: http://wkar.org/stream/ (choose WKAR AM or WKAR FM) video archive should be posted early afternoon at http://video.wkar.org

The Emergency Financial Manager of the city of Benton Harbor has issued an order striping all city boards and commissions of all their authority to take any action. The order, signed Thursday, limits the actions available to such bodies to calling a meeting to order, approving the minutes of meetings and adjourning a meeting. The bodies are prohibited under the act from taking any other action without the express authority of the Emergency Financial Manager, Joseph Harris. Actions such as Harris’ are explicitly allowed under a newly approved law which granted sweeping new powers to emergency financial managers. That legislation...