#Michigan #MichiganPolitics #Politics #Podcast #Election2024 #Elections #Voting #UpperPeninsula #DeltaCounty #Democrats #MichiganDemocrats #MichiganRepublicans #Republicans #RightWing #MAGA #Democracy #ElectionFraud #Fascism #LeftofLansing #Progressives #Trump #Biden Here's this week's Left of Lansing "Friday Short" for May 17, 2024. Two MAGA Repub…

#Politics #Michigan #Podcast #MichiganDemocrats #MichiganRepublicans #RuralVoters #Rural #Elections #DeltaCounty #LivingstonCounty #Election2024 #Voting #Democracy #SheriffMikeMurphy #ChristianNationalism #Progressives #ProgressivePodcast #Democrats #MAGA #Republican #Fascism #Abortion #AbortionRights #GovernorGretchenWhitmer #GunViolence #GunSafet…

#Michigan #Politics #Transportation #Taxes #MassTransit #GenerationZ #GenZ #Roads #Environment #PopulationDrain #LeftofLansing #Progressives #Democrats Here's the Left of Lansing "Monday Musings" for May 13th, 2024! Detroit News Editorial Page Editor Nolan Finley believes all this increased attention on mass transit upgrades in Michigan is a waste …

#LeftofLansing #Michigan #Politics #Podcast #Environment #ClimateChange #Trump #MAGA #Democrats #Republicans #FossilFuels #Corruption #Economy #Progressives #Biden #DanaNessel #Subsidies #Government Here's the Left of Lansing "Friday Short" for May 10, 2024. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is planning to take the Big Oil industry to court ove…

Here's Episode 85 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! They did it! Delta County voters sent pink slips to three extreme Christian Nationalist MAGA county commissioners in recall races this week! This is an area that's recently turned from blue to red, which is why that extreme brand of right-wing politics gained a hold of the county board. B…

#Michigan #Politics #Progressives #Law #MichiganRepublicans #Republicans #ChristianNationalism #DanaNessel #MAGA #LeftofLansing #Podcast Here's the Left of Lansing Monday Musing for May 6, 2024 Former Michigan Republican Lee Chatfield, and his wife, Stephanie, pled not guilty to running a criminal enterprise, which includes numerous embezzlement an…

#Michigan #Biden #SCOTUS #Politics #Progressives #Podcast #LeftofLansing Here's the Left of Lansing "Friday Short" for May 3, 2024. Generation Z voters are protesting at college campuses across the country, showing their dissatisfaction and disdain for the United States' continued backing of the right-wing Israeli government. And for some, refusing…

Here's Episode 84 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! One reason I started this venture is that I wanted to help show the importance of local and state politics. For sure, progressives have made some outstanding strides in terms of state politics with Democrats taking the state trifecta last year for the first time in four decades! But on th…

Here's episode 83 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! Salon columnist Amanda Marcotte spends a few minutes talking with Pat about the Christian Nationalist Movement, and its ultimate goal of not just getting Dear Leader Trump back into power, but of ending religious freedom for all. Ms. Marcotte's written extensively on how Christian Nationa…

Here's this week's LoL Friday Short for this April 19, 2024 There's hope new legislation could be introduced in Lansing called The Working Parents Tax Credit. If passed, it could help around 250,000 Michigan kids in just one year. Supporters say this tax credit would incentivize work, and reward working families, and recent polling shows widespread…

Here's Episode 82 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! It's another week. That means it's another episode of the Republican Crime Syndicate! Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel announced several charges against former Michigan Republican state House Speaker Lee Chatfield, and his wife, Stephanie, for operating a criminal enterprise! Just …

Here's this week's LoL "Friday Short" for this April 12, 2024. The Michigan Board of Education passed a resolution this week asking the Democratic majority in the state legislature to pass laws requiring more transparency and accountability when it comes to charter schools. For years, charter schools haven't had to play by the same rules as public …

Here's Episode 81 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! On this week's episode, Pat talks about "Florida" Mike Rogers' audacity to run for Michigan's open Senate seat this Fall even though he hasn't lived in this state for years (because he wanted to make lobbying cash), and he's registered to vote in both Florida and Michigan! How can a guy, …

Here's Episode 80 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! This week, Pat takes the Michigan Republicans to task, and the handful of right-wing Michigan sheriffs, who stood on stage with Donald Trump this week in Grand Rapids. Trump showed-up in our state to exploit the death of Ruby Garcia, who was shot and killed by someone she knew. The allege…

Time for the LoL "Friday Short" on this March 29, 2024 Michigan Republican State Rep. Matt Maddock baselessly claimed on "X" that buses at Detroit Metro Airport were filled with "illegal invaders!" The only problem with such a claim? The people in those buses were members of the Gonzaga Men's Basketball Team, which is playing in the Sweet 16 of the…

It's episode 79 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast with the award-winning Pat Johnston! Pat's guest this week is Lou Glazer from Michigan Future, Inc., which is a nonprofit, and nonpartisan organization that focuses on helping Michigan succeed in a knowledge-based economy. And as Lou says, Michigan Future is also trying to make Michigan a mo…

Here's this week's Left of Lansing "Friday Short." Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office argued in a federal appellate court that the fight to shut down the Line 5 oil pipeline belongs in a state court, and not in federal court. Enbridge, which owns the pipeline, argues that due to U.S.-Canadian treaty from 1977 means the battle ought to r…

Welcome to Episode 78 of Michigan's Premier Progressive Podcast! Democratic State Representative, and House Majority Whip, Ranjeev Puri talks with Pat on a host of issues, including some key bills he helped pass the state legislature last year, such as gun safety, clean energy and climate bills, water filtration in schools and daycare centers, and …

Here's this week's LoL Friday Short! Members of the Michigan Republican "Freedom Caucus" in the State House introduced a resolution to censure House Speaker Joe Tate. Tate, who became the state's first Black House Speaker last year, stripped state Rep. Josh Shriver of his committee assignments and staff after he re-posted tweets pushing the white s…

Here's Episode 77 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! Vote on this week's Left of Lansing Online Poll via Twitter or X: Does Social Media help or hurt the political process? On this week's show, Pat talks about how Alabama Republican Senator Katie Britt's ridiculous and disturbing State of the Union response showed how the White Christian Na…

We've made it to another Friday, which means it's time for another LoL Friday Short! I continue my examination into the different aspects of White Christian Nationalism by concentrating on Alabama Republican Senator Katie Britt's response to President Joe Biden's strong State Of The Union address this week. Britt's breathy, high-pitch delivery is k…

It's episode 76 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! Lots of material in this week's episode, including Pat's examination of new Michigan GOP chair Pete Hoekstra's record as a former congressman, ambassador, Tea Party founder, Trump-backer, and lobbyist. Sure, Pete Hoekstra doesn't believe in demonic possession unlike his predecessor (at leas…

Here's this week's LoL Short on the how the GOP is all-in on a national abortion ban. Thanks to Distill Social for providing a video clip when they spoke with MAGA supporters before a recent Trump rally in Waterford, MI. Republicans try to minimize and hide their true intentions when it comes to abortion care. But as the Alabama Supreme Court rulin…

Here's the 75th episode of Michigan's premier progressive podcast. We've covered the ways Michigan Democrats are protecting the state's environment, and building a cleaner and more affordable energy future for both our environment and economy. Democrats also repealed the "No stricter than federal" law, which Republicans passed in 2018 that prevente…

Here's this week's LoL Friday Short! Last week, the Christian Nationalist Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embroys used in in vitro fertilization are "children." This is just another step in the attack on women's reproductive rights. It's just not a national abortion ban these extremists are pushing. They want a ban on contraception, IVF, an…

Here's episode 74 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! As we've seen in our state, elections have consequences, especially on the state and local state side! I talk about how within a year, Michigan Democrats passed some much-needed legislation to move the state forward in terms of women's reproductive rights, worker rights, union rights, set…

Here's this week's Left of Lansing "Friday Short." Michigan Republican State Representative Josh Shriver was stripped of his committee assignments, and of his staff, after retweeting a racist tweet on the "Great Replacement Theory," which pervades the radical, right wing world. Naturally, Shriver's got his online defenders, but also defenders withi…

Here's Episode 73 of Michigan's Premier, Progressive Podcast! As we've covered on the show, Michigan Democrats passed a rather robust package of clean energy bills last year. Many of those laws will go into effect later this year, including the 100% clean energy standard by 2040, energy efficient programs, increases in the state's energy reduction …

Here's episode 72 of Michigan's Premier Progressive Podcast! In my opening segment this week, I talk about the appalling and Islamophobic Wall Street Journal column declaring Dearborn, MI as the "America's Jihad Capital." Islamophobia within the right wing world never left, and it's putting lives in danger. I then cover some of the many new laws sc…

Here's this week's LoL Friday Short. It's being reported this week that Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has raised nearly $4-million in campaign contributions in the last three months. That's despite House Republicans censuring her last Fall for her stance against Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip. And that's despite being hung…

Here's episode 71 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! Please vote on this week's LoL Twitter Poll: What is the biggest winning issue for Michigan Democrats heading into the November election? If you have others, leave them in replies Susan Demas, Editor-in-Chief of Michigan Advance, joins Pat this week. Michigan Advance is a progressive, non…

Thanks for listening to this week's LoL Friday Short! The Justice Department released a damning report citing "cascading failures" in the way authorities handled the Uvaldi school shooting massacre in 2022. Like other school shootings, this was another example where "good guys with guns," didn't stop the bad guy with a gun. The common denominator w…

Here's episode 70 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! Please vote on this week's poll question: Polls show President Biden's losing to Donald Trump in Michigan. How do you feel about these numbers less than 10 months from Election Day? On this week's episode, I cover how Democrats across the country have been given a beautiful chance to show…

Here's this week's LoL Friday Short. Michigan Democrats are hoping to make the new and popular free public school breakfast and lunch program a permanent fixture in the education budget. But that's making the right wing furious, not because of their daily abject cruelty, but because they know the program is a big hit with voting age parents. Also, …

Here's Episode 69 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! I'm thrilled to have Democratic State Representative, and Speaker Pro Tempore, Laurie Pohutsky back on the show this week! We cover a range of topics including abortion rights, clean energy and climate change, if the Michigan Democratic Party's messaging machine is improving, the establis…

My first Left of Lansing "Friday Short" for 2024 deals with GOP Presidential candidate Nikki Haley's failure to flat-out say the American Civil War was fought over the right for Southern states to continue the practice of slavery. But there's a reason why Haley couldn't give a straight answer to that simple question. She, like all of her Republican…

Happy New Year, and here's Episode 68 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! This week, I have lots to say after taking some time-off for the holidays. We have to cover the hypocrisy of Michigan's right wing, in particular the Christian Nationalist Moms For Liberty chapters throughout the state. As you'll hear, while they've been busy banning b…

Here's the final LoL "Friday Short" for 2023! To close-out the year, I talk about a story in Michigan Advance which details how business lobbyists formed a coalition in the hopes of stifling bills proposed by Michigan Democrats. These business lobbyists fail to understand that Michigan Democrats are simply passing pro-worker and pro-growth policies…

Here's the 67th, and the final episode for 2023, on Michigan's premier progressive podcast! Livingston County progressive activist Kasey Helton returns to the podcast this week as we discuss how "dirt road" Democrats are trying to move the political needle towards the progressive side in rural Michigan. And we've seen some of that hard work pay-off…

Listen to this week's Left of Lansing "Friday Short." Right after its inexplicable decision to build a tunnel around the Line 5 oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac, the Michigan Public Service Commission granted DTE Energy's rate hike request totalling over $360 million. Despite DTE being part of the reason why Michigan has the most expensive e…

It's Episode 66 of Michigan's Premier Progressive Podcast! This week, I can't hold back my disdain for the Michigan Public Service Commission's decision to green-light an expensive, and short-sighted, tunnel project for the stretch of the 70-year old Line 5 oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac. Despite studies showing why the pipeline must stop …

Listen to this week's Left of Lansing "Friday Short," where I highlight a major UAW organizational push to attract thousands of non-union workers with other automakers. Also, notice again how Republicans across the board are AWOL when it comes to standing up for workers' rights. Please, subscribe to the podcast, download each episode, and give it a…

Here's episode 65 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed some long overdue, albeit imperfect, clean energy legislation into law this week. I've covered the path The Clean Energy and Jobs Act had to take in Lansing throughout the year on the podcast. And while I believe Democrats missed an opportunity …

Here's episode 64 of Michigan's premier progressive podcast! It's great to have author and Pro-Publica reporter Anna Clark back on Left of Lansing this week. Anna's written an insightful article on Michigan's Emergency Manager Law, which allows state government to erase democracy by completely taking-over financially-strapped cities. Anna highlight…

Listen to my "Monday Musing," in which I agree with a Detroit Free Press column by Michael Griffie, who serves as Detroit Metro Leader for AECOM--an American multinational consulting firm. Mr. Griffie is pressing the need for a massive reinvestment in Michigan's lacking mass transit system, particularly in the entire Metro Detroit region. If we're …

Listen to my LoL "Friday Short" on while the Michigan Democrats' clean energy bills are indeed imperfect, they mark an important step towards much-needed changes in the state's energy and economic future. Yes, the bills fall short in many areas, like considering natural gas "clean energy," and ignoring environmental justice provisions to help those…

Here's Episode 63 of Michigan's Premier Progressive Podcast! Michigan Democrats passed a package of clean energy and affordable energy bills last week. While these bills are for sure a step in the right direction in revamping our antiquated energy grid, these bills still fall far short of the aggressive push many progressives were hoping would happ…

The Left of Lansing Friday Short this week applauds a trio of state Senate Democrats (Mary Cavenagh of Redford Twp., Kevin Hertel of St. Clair Shores, and Veronica Klinefelt of Eastpoint) for introducing the Death with Dignity Act. If passed, Michigan would become the 11th state to grant terminally ill patients the power to make their own end-of-li…

It's episode 62 of Michigan's Premier Progressive Podcast! MAGA Republicans suffered another beatdown at the polls this past Election Day, and once again, abortion rights proved to be the key reason. Abortion rights scored a major victory in Ohio, and played a major role in Democrats retaining the Virginia state legislature. Yet, MAGA is doubling-d…

In this week's "Monday Musing," I discuss an amendment introduced by Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Green would block the removal of monuments. MTG and her MAGA allies are outraged Charlottesville, Virginia decided to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. That statue was the focus of what led to the killing of a protester …