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Union supporters attempt to blockade the Romney building, home to Michigan governor Rick Snyder’s office, in downtown Lansing across the street from the Michigan State Capitol to protest new Right to Work legislation. Calls of “Nobody in, Nobody out!” rang out after the buildings doors were closed and State and Lansing police took up position around other entrances to the building.
Right
Union organizers inflated “rat” effigies of the Michigan politicians behind the new Right to Work legislation in Lansing on 12/11/12.Left
Labor supporters cover their faces and move back after Michigan State Police used pepper spray to push back protesters from the entrance and first story windows around the Michigan State Capitol during a protest of new Right to Work legislation. — with Brian Laskowski in Lansing, MI.
Photographer Brian Laskowski sends along these shots from the Michigan Right to Work protests, which he covered in person.
Michigan lawmakers approve right-to-work bill for public employees
JUST IN: Lawmakers in Michigan’s House of Representatives have approved a right-to-work bill for public employees, 58-51. The bill was approved in the state Senate last week and will go to Republican Governor Rick Snyder for his expected signature as early as Wednesday.
More updates on BreakingNews.com.
Photo: About a dozen members of the Michigan Nurses Association stand on the state Capitol steps in Lansing, Michigan, on Dec. 10, 2012, protesting right-to-work legislation. (Carlos Osorio / AP)
We’ll be keeping an eye on this one throughout the day.
I’m not going to let them close her casket … They’re going to have to look at what the police did to my child.Martha Mae Williams, whose daughter was killed in Cleveland when police fired 137 shots into the vehicle she was in after the driver led police on a 25-minute car chase. Both Williams’ daughter and the driver were killed. According to Mansfield Frazier (see article at the link), records released after the incident suggest that police personnel violated numerous protocols, including department rules against involving more than two police cruisers in a chase, and ignoring direct orders to terminate pursuit of the vehicle. (via letterstomycountry)
Talk show host Stephen Colbert is South Carolina voters’ preferred candidate to replace Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), according to a new poll by the Democratic Public Policy Polling.
The Comedy Central host, who’s openly lobbied for the seat, leads a field where the rest of the names are Republicans: 20 percent of voters want South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) to appoint him to DeMint’s seat when the senator resigns from Congress.
Some of the other names that Colbert was up against include Rep. Trey Gowdy (14%), former South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford (11%), former South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster (8%) and former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (8%). Don’t get us wrong. We know that Stephen has a snowball’s chance in hell of actually being tapped by Gov. Haley. This certainly won’t do anything to end rumors that the comedian is considering a run for the Senate seat in 2014 though.
Conservative Sen. Jim DeMint is resigning, and Stephen Colbert wants the job. All he wants us to do is tweet #SenatorColbert at Gov. Nikki Haley.
Want to help make #SenatorColbert a reality? Check out Colbert’s pitch here.Reblog/share/like this if you want Senator Colbert to happen.
“Tweet @nikkihaley & tell her why I belong in the US Senate. For one, I wouldn’t just block legislation, I’d body-check it! #SenatorColbert”
For our money, we want Alvin Greene back in. Here’s why:
There is no scientific debate on the age of the Earth, it’s established pretty definitively, it’s at least 4.5 billion years old.Sen. Marco Rubio - During an interview with Politico’s Mike Allen, which briefly focused on comments the Florida Republican made during a GQ interview last month. Some were confused by the Senator’s answer when asked about the planet’s age, and many readers were left unsure as to exactly what the Republican believed himself. Rubio says he was simply trying to acknowledge those who have a hard time accepting data which seems to fly in the face of their religious teachings, but wanted to be clear that he knows there is “no scientific debate.” source
We are not going to be able to come up with comprehensive tax reform package that gets it all done just in the next two weeks. We are not going to be able to come up with necessarily a comprehensive entitlement reform package that gets it all done in the next two weeks. When you look at what Ronald Reagan did back in 1986 working with Bill Bradley and others, that was a year-and-a-half process … Let’s essentially put a down payment on taxes. Let’s let taxes on upper-income folks go up.President Obama • Demanding an end to top-end Bush tax cuts during his first post-election interview with Bloomberg News’ Julianna Goldman. While he may have signaled some willingness to compromise, the President told Goldman that Republicans needed to give more, and that the most recent “fiscal cliff” proposal from Speaker Boehner was “still out of balance.” source
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Lecture Night in America: Following the murder-suicide allegedly carried out by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Javon Belcher on Saturday, Bob Costas ruffled a few feathers when he decided to offer his own opinion on the need for better gun control during halftime of the Eagles/Cowboys game last night. Think he could/should have chosen a better venue for this?
This is a red line for the United States. I am not going to telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people. But suffice it to say we are certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton • Making clear that the United States will not remain idle on the sidelines any longer if the Syrian government uses chemical weapons on civilians or rebel forces inside the country. The United States and other nations have maintained a mostly hands-off policy with regards to the conflict in Syria, instead pushing for change via diplomacy, though international pressure has yet to yield any significant results outside of occasional political defections. The Syrian government has already responded with a denial that they own such weapons, saying officials would never do such a thing “under any circumstances.” source
Palestine appeals to UN General Assembly: The Palestinian Authority is expected to make major headway at the United Nations today, where a majority of the General Assembly is expected to vote in favor of granting the Authority “non-member state” status. The United States continues to oppose such a change, preferring instead to see a two-state solution arise from peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. source
I didn’t feel that PFC Manning should be detained more than 90 days in the brig.Daniel Choike, former commander of Marine Corps Base Quantico • Testifying on recommendations he made to the Pentagon regarding the long-term detention of Pfc. Bradley Manning during a pre-trial hearing today. The hearing in Fort Meade, Maryland is scheduled to last until Sunday, and Manning’s legal team hopes to convince the judge that the young soldier was subjected to illegal pre-trial punishment. If they are able to do so, Manning’s charges and sentence could be reduced or dismissed entirely. source
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