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The Michigan State Capitol. (Photo: Matt Katzenberger via flickr)
Michigan's Republican-dominated legislature on Thursday passed conservative, anti-worker, anti-women measures--controversial right-to-work legislation and a conscience clause that allows health care providers to deny services--sparking outrage and protests from Democrats and union members and leading police to use "chemical munitions" on protesters.
Protesters packed the Capitol building, news agencies report, as right-wing Gov. Rick Snyder and Republicans announced the right-to-work legislation. Some of the protesters who were inside the building attempted to get to the chamber floor and were met with a chemical assault. The Detroit Free Press reports:
"When several of the individuals rushed the troopers, they used chemical munitions to disperse the crowd," [Michigan State Police Inspector Gene Adamczyk] said. "It would be a lot worse if someone gets hurt and I failed to act."
The House passed the first of three right-to-work bills in a 58-52 vote.
Right-to-work laws mean dues cannot be required from non-union employees. Touted as "workplace freedom" by supporters, unions see them as an assault on their bargaining power and an attempt at further weakening the power of organized labor.
The Lansing State Journal reports that the right-to-work legislation was passed "after House Democrats walked off the chamber floor to protest the Capitol not being opened to the public."
Americans for Prosperity, which the Detroit Free Press describes as "the conservative non-profit organization that funded Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's efforts to strip that state's public employee unions of their collective bargaining rights," and was founded by the notorious Koch brothers, supported the legislation.
Scott Hagerstrom, Michigan director of Americans for Prosperity, said in statement that the
Michigan passage of right-to-work legislation will be the shot heard around the world for workplace freedom. A victory over forced unionization in a union stronghold like Michigan would be an unprecedented win on par with Wisconsin that would pave the way for right to work in states across our nation.
John Armelagos, a union nurse, also sees the far-reaching impact the legislation would have. Michigan Radioreports:
Unfortunately, when Michigan goes Right to Work....the home of organized labor....where 75 years ago...brave families occupied the auto plants to form the UAW...and set the foundation for a better way of life...not only for Michigan families but all those in the Midwest....and set the tone for the whole country ...in terms of collective bargaining and helping form the middle class...when Right to Work's instituted," Armelagos said with his eyes tearing up, "It's going to hurt everybody.
Geraldine Blankinship, who took part in the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936-37 as part of the Women's Emergency Brigade, said of the legislation, "It's the worst thing that can happen to people who work for a living," and added, "It would be a disgrace," MLive.com reports.
Unlike the state's controversial emergency manager law which was repealed this November, the right-to-work legislation's permanence is guaranteed, the Lansing State Journal adds:
State Rep. Vicki Barnett, D-Farmington Hills, who spoke against the bill to loud applause from the gallery, said it contains an appropriation of state funds designed to make it referendum-proof. Bills considered appropriation bills can not be repealed through a ballot measure, as happened with the toughened emergency manager law, Public Act 4, on Nov. 6.
If passed, Michigan would be the 24th right-to-work state in the country. It may work its way to the Senate tomorrow.
The Huffington Postreports that the Michigan Senate passed its own right-to-work legislation Thursday as well:
Following the Michigan House's lead, the state Senate passed right-to-work measures on Thursday evening -- just hours after Gov. Rick Snyder and top GOP Republicans announced the bills. [...]
The House and Senate bills are two of three separate right-to-work bills currently up for vote that will eventually be consolidated into two bills, according to the Detroit Free Press. Both the bills passed by the House and Senate pertain to private-sector employees.
Another bill passed in Michigan on Thursday allows healthcare providers to refuse to provide services based on their personal beliefs. The Detroit Free Press explains:
Health care providers could use a "moral objection" or "matter of conscience" standard to refuse service to patients under a bill passed by the state Senate Thursday.
By a 26-12 vote, the Senate approved the bill Thursday, which would allow health care providers -- as a matter of conscience -- to decline services they object to. It also would allow employers to refuse to pay for services for their employees that "violated the payer's conscience."
In more legislation passed Thursday that has a direct impact on women, MLive.comreports:
Health plans participating in Michigan's "Obamacare" health exchange could not cover elective abortions unless the coverage is offered as a separate optional rider purchased by women, under legislation that won approval mostly along party lines Thursday in the state Senate.
"Get the government from underneath women's clothes. This bill is disgusting. It has no business in political discourse," the Detroit Free Press reports state Sen. Coleman Young II, D-Detroit, as saying. "We've already had this conversation. Obama won, Romney lost, get over it."
* * *
Video by Laura Misjak/Lansing State Journal of the State troopers rushing protesters:
* * *
Video by Greg Deruiter/Detroit Free Press of protesters at the Michigan Capitol rallying against the right-to-work measure:
This post was updated at 8:45 PM EST to reflect the Senate right-to-work vote.
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Michigan's Republican-dominated legislature on Thursday passed conservative, anti-worker, anti-women measures--controversial right-to-work legislation and a conscience clause that allows health care providers to deny services--sparking outrage and protests from Democrats and union members and leading police to use "chemical munitions" on protesters.
Protesters packed the Capitol building, news agencies report, as right-wing Gov. Rick Snyder and Republicans announced the right-to-work legislation. Some of the protesters who were inside the building attempted to get to the chamber floor and were met with a chemical assault. The Detroit Free Press reports:
"When several of the individuals rushed the troopers, they used chemical munitions to disperse the crowd," [Michigan State Police Inspector Gene Adamczyk] said. "It would be a lot worse if someone gets hurt and I failed to act."
The House passed the first of three right-to-work bills in a 58-52 vote.
Right-to-work laws mean dues cannot be required from non-union employees. Touted as "workplace freedom" by supporters, unions see them as an assault on their bargaining power and an attempt at further weakening the power of organized labor.
The Lansing State Journal reports that the right-to-work legislation was passed "after House Democrats walked off the chamber floor to protest the Capitol not being opened to the public."
Americans for Prosperity, which the Detroit Free Press describes as "the conservative non-profit organization that funded Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's efforts to strip that state's public employee unions of their collective bargaining rights," and was founded by the notorious Koch brothers, supported the legislation.
Scott Hagerstrom, Michigan director of Americans for Prosperity, said in statement that the
Michigan passage of right-to-work legislation will be the shot heard around the world for workplace freedom. A victory over forced unionization in a union stronghold like Michigan would be an unprecedented win on par with Wisconsin that would pave the way for right to work in states across our nation.
John Armelagos, a union nurse, also sees the far-reaching impact the legislation would have. Michigan Radioreports:
Unfortunately, when Michigan goes Right to Work....the home of organized labor....where 75 years ago...brave families occupied the auto plants to form the UAW...and set the foundation for a better way of life...not only for Michigan families but all those in the Midwest....and set the tone for the whole country ...in terms of collective bargaining and helping form the middle class...when Right to Work's instituted," Armelagos said with his eyes tearing up, "It's going to hurt everybody.
Geraldine Blankinship, who took part in the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936-37 as part of the Women's Emergency Brigade, said of the legislation, "It's the worst thing that can happen to people who work for a living," and added, "It would be a disgrace," MLive.com reports.
Unlike the state's controversial emergency manager law which was repealed this November, the right-to-work legislation's permanence is guaranteed, the Lansing State Journal adds:
State Rep. Vicki Barnett, D-Farmington Hills, who spoke against the bill to loud applause from the gallery, said it contains an appropriation of state funds designed to make it referendum-proof. Bills considered appropriation bills can not be repealed through a ballot measure, as happened with the toughened emergency manager law, Public Act 4, on Nov. 6.
If passed, Michigan would be the 24th right-to-work state in the country. It may work its way to the Senate tomorrow.
The Huffington Postreports that the Michigan Senate passed its own right-to-work legislation Thursday as well:
Following the Michigan House's lead, the state Senate passed right-to-work measures on Thursday evening -- just hours after Gov. Rick Snyder and top GOP Republicans announced the bills. [...]
The House and Senate bills are two of three separate right-to-work bills currently up for vote that will eventually be consolidated into two bills, according to the Detroit Free Press. Both the bills passed by the House and Senate pertain to private-sector employees.
Another bill passed in Michigan on Thursday allows healthcare providers to refuse to provide services based on their personal beliefs. The Detroit Free Press explains:
Health care providers could use a "moral objection" or "matter of conscience" standard to refuse service to patients under a bill passed by the state Senate Thursday.
By a 26-12 vote, the Senate approved the bill Thursday, which would allow health care providers -- as a matter of conscience -- to decline services they object to. It also would allow employers to refuse to pay for services for their employees that "violated the payer's conscience."
In more legislation passed Thursday that has a direct impact on women, MLive.comreports:
Health plans participating in Michigan's "Obamacare" health exchange could not cover elective abortions unless the coverage is offered as a separate optional rider purchased by women, under legislation that won approval mostly along party lines Thursday in the state Senate.
"Get the government from underneath women's clothes. This bill is disgusting. It has no business in political discourse," the Detroit Free Press reports state Sen. Coleman Young II, D-Detroit, as saying. "We've already had this conversation. Obama won, Romney lost, get over it."
* * *
Video by Laura Misjak/Lansing State Journal of the State troopers rushing protesters:
* * *
Video by Greg Deruiter/Detroit Free Press of protesters at the Michigan Capitol rallying against the right-to-work measure:
This post was updated at 8:45 PM EST to reflect the Senate right-to-work vote.
Michigan's Republican-dominated legislature on Thursday passed conservative, anti-worker, anti-women measures--controversial right-to-work legislation and a conscience clause that allows health care providers to deny services--sparking outrage and protests from Democrats and union members and leading police to use "chemical munitions" on protesters.
Protesters packed the Capitol building, news agencies report, as right-wing Gov. Rick Snyder and Republicans announced the right-to-work legislation. Some of the protesters who were inside the building attempted to get to the chamber floor and were met with a chemical assault. The Detroit Free Press reports:
"When several of the individuals rushed the troopers, they used chemical munitions to disperse the crowd," [Michigan State Police Inspector Gene Adamczyk] said. "It would be a lot worse if someone gets hurt and I failed to act."
The House passed the first of three right-to-work bills in a 58-52 vote.
Right-to-work laws mean dues cannot be required from non-union employees. Touted as "workplace freedom" by supporters, unions see them as an assault on their bargaining power and an attempt at further weakening the power of organized labor.
The Lansing State Journal reports that the right-to-work legislation was passed "after House Democrats walked off the chamber floor to protest the Capitol not being opened to the public."
Americans for Prosperity, which the Detroit Free Press describes as "the conservative non-profit organization that funded Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's efforts to strip that state's public employee unions of their collective bargaining rights," and was founded by the notorious Koch brothers, supported the legislation.
Scott Hagerstrom, Michigan director of Americans for Prosperity, said in statement that the
Michigan passage of right-to-work legislation will be the shot heard around the world for workplace freedom. A victory over forced unionization in a union stronghold like Michigan would be an unprecedented win on par with Wisconsin that would pave the way for right to work in states across our nation.
John Armelagos, a union nurse, also sees the far-reaching impact the legislation would have. Michigan Radioreports:
Unfortunately, when Michigan goes Right to Work....the home of organized labor....where 75 years ago...brave families occupied the auto plants to form the UAW...and set the foundation for a better way of life...not only for Michigan families but all those in the Midwest....and set the tone for the whole country ...in terms of collective bargaining and helping form the middle class...when Right to Work's instituted," Armelagos said with his eyes tearing up, "It's going to hurt everybody.
Geraldine Blankinship, who took part in the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936-37 as part of the Women's Emergency Brigade, said of the legislation, "It's the worst thing that can happen to people who work for a living," and added, "It would be a disgrace," MLive.com reports.
Unlike the state's controversial emergency manager law which was repealed this November, the right-to-work legislation's permanence is guaranteed, the Lansing State Journal adds:
State Rep. Vicki Barnett, D-Farmington Hills, who spoke against the bill to loud applause from the gallery, said it contains an appropriation of state funds designed to make it referendum-proof. Bills considered appropriation bills can not be repealed through a ballot measure, as happened with the toughened emergency manager law, Public Act 4, on Nov. 6.
If passed, Michigan would be the 24th right-to-work state in the country. It may work its way to the Senate tomorrow.
The Huffington Postreports that the Michigan Senate passed its own right-to-work legislation Thursday as well:
Following the Michigan House's lead, the state Senate passed right-to-work measures on Thursday evening -- just hours after Gov. Rick Snyder and top GOP Republicans announced the bills. [...]
The House and Senate bills are two of three separate right-to-work bills currently up for vote that will eventually be consolidated into two bills, according to the Detroit Free Press. Both the bills passed by the House and Senate pertain to private-sector employees.
Another bill passed in Michigan on Thursday allows healthcare providers to refuse to provide services based on their personal beliefs. The Detroit Free Press explains:
Health care providers could use a "moral objection" or "matter of conscience" standard to refuse service to patients under a bill passed by the state Senate Thursday.
By a 26-12 vote, the Senate approved the bill Thursday, which would allow health care providers -- as a matter of conscience -- to decline services they object to. It also would allow employers to refuse to pay for services for their employees that "violated the payer's conscience."
In more legislation passed Thursday that has a direct impact on women, MLive.comreports:
Health plans participating in Michigan's "Obamacare" health exchange could not cover elective abortions unless the coverage is offered as a separate optional rider purchased by women, under legislation that won approval mostly along party lines Thursday in the state Senate.
"Get the government from underneath women's clothes. This bill is disgusting. It has no business in political discourse," the Detroit Free Press reports state Sen. Coleman Young II, D-Detroit, as saying. "We've already had this conversation. Obama won, Romney lost, get over it."
* * *
Video by Laura Misjak/Lansing State Journal of the State troopers rushing protesters:
* * *
Video by Greg Deruiter/Detroit Free Press of protesters at the Michigan Capitol rallying against the right-to-work measure:
This post was updated at 8:45 PM EST to reflect the Senate right-to-work vote.
"Trade and tariff wars have no winners," said China's foreign ministry. "We urge the U.S. to stop doing the wrong thing."
The Chinese government on Friday responded to U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping new tariffs with 34% import duties on all American goods beginning next week, intensifying global blowback against the White House and accelerating a worldwide financial market tailspin.
China's tariffs on U.S. imports, which match the tariffs the Trump administration moved this week to impose on Chinese goods, are set to take effect on April 10. Trump's 34% tariffs on Chinese imports come on top of the 20% tariffs the U.S. president imposed earlier this year.
"The U.S. approach does not conform to international trade rules, seriously damages China's legitimate rights and interests, and is a typical unilateral bullying practice," China's Ministry of Finance said in a Friday statement.
Additionally, China's Commerce Ministry announced immediate export restrictions on rare earth materials and "added 16 entities from the U.S., including High Point Aerotechnologies and Universal Logistics Holdings Inc., to its export control list," according to the state-run China Daily.
"Under the new rule," the outlet reported, "Chinese companies are prohibited from exporting dual-use items to these 16 U.S. entities. Any ongoing related export activities should be immediately halted, said the Ministry of Commerce."
Retaliatory tariffs from the world's second-largest economy mark the latest step in a global trade war launched by the Trump White House, which—despite warnings of disastrous impacts for working-class U.S. households and the broader economy—plowed ahead this week with a 10% universal tariff on imports and larger tariffs on a number of trading partners, including China.
Following Trump's official tariff announcement, Beijing condemned the duties as "unacceptable" and vowed to "take measures as necessary to firmly defend [China's] legitimate interests."
"Trade and tariff wars have no winners. Protectionism leads nowhere," said the spokesperson for China's foreign ministry on Thursday. "We urge the U.S. to stop doing the wrong thing, and resolve trade differences with China and other countries through consultation with equality, respect, and mutual benefit."
Other nations hit by Trump's tariffs are expected to respond in the coming days.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters Thursday that the E.U. was "already finalizing the first package of countermeasures in response to tariffs on steel, and we are now preparing for further countermeasures to protect our interests and our businesses if negotiations fail."
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed that "we are going to fight these tariffs with countermeasures."
"In a crisis, it's important to come together and it's essential to act with purpose and with force," Carney added. "And that's what we will do."
"What Republicans are trying to jam through Congress right now is a level of economic recklessness we’ve never seen before," said a group of Democratic lawmakers.
A new analysis indicates Republicans' plan to extend soon-to-expire provisions of their party's 2017 tax law, as well as their push to tack on additional tax breaks largely benefitting the rich and big corporations, would cost $7 trillion over the next decade, a figure that a group of congressional Democrats called "staggering."
The analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), published on Thursday, updates previous estimates that suggested the GOP effort to extend expiring provisions of the 2017 law would cost $4.6 trillion over a 10-year period. The new assessment shows that extending the law's temporary provisions—which disproportionately favored the wealthy—would cost $5.5 trillion over the next decade.
The projected cost of the GOP agenda balloons to $7 trillion after adding Senate Republicans' call for $1.5 trillion in additional tax cuts in the budget resolution they advanced in a party-line vote on Thursday. The GOP has come under fire for using an accounting trick to claim their proposed tax cuts would have no budgetary impact.
"The Republican handouts to billionaires and corporations will come at a staggering cost, and it's unconscionable that their plan to pay for those handouts includes kicking millions of Americans off their health insurance, hiking the cost of living with tariffs, and driving up child hunger," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), and Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) said in a joint statement issued in response to the CBO figures.
"Even after making painful cuts that will inflict hardship on typical American families, Republicans will still risk sending us into a catastrophic debt spiral that does permanent harm to our economy," the Democrats added. "What Republicans are trying to jam through Congress right now is a level of economic recklessness we've never seen before."
The CBO's updated cost analysis came as President Donald Trump plowed ahead with what's been characterized as the biggest tax hike in U.S. history, one that will hit working-class Americans in the form of price increases on household staples and other goods.
Trump administration officials, not known for providing reliable numbers, have claimed the president's sweeping new tariffs could produce roughly $6 trillion in federal revenue over the next decade. The Trump tariffs have sent financial markets into a tailspin, heightened recession fears, and prompted swift retaliation from targeted nations, including China.
In an appearance on MSNBC on Thursday, Boyle—the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee—said Trump's tariffs represent "the single largest tax increase in American history."
"It's a tax that everyone will pay in this country, based on the goods that they buy," said Boyle. "However, it's also a tax that is highly regressive—the poorest amongst us will end up paying a higher percentage of their income."
The new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator joins "a team of snake oil salesmen and anti-science flunkies that have already shown disdain for the American people and their health," said one critic.
Echoing a party-line vote by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee last week, the chamber's Republicans on Thursday confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, former televison host Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Since Trump nominated Oz—who previously ran as a Republican for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania—a wide range of critics have argued that the celebrity cardiothoracic surgeon "is profoundly unqualified to lead any part of our healthcare system, let alone an agency as important as CMS," in the words of Robert Weissman, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
After Thursday's 53-45 vote to confirm Oz, Weissman declared that "Republicans in the Senate continued to just be a rubber stamp for a dangerous agenda that threatens to turn back the clock on healthcare in America."
Weissman warned that "in addition to having significant conflicts of interest, Oz is now poised to help enact the Trump administration's dangerous agenda, which seeks to strip crucial healthcare services through Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act from hundreds of millions of Americans and to use that money to give tax breaks to billionaires."
"As he showed in his confirmation hearing, Oz will also seek to further privatize Medicare, increasing the risk that seniors will receive inferior care and further threatening the long-term health of the Medicare program. We already know that privatized Medicare costs taxpayers nearly $100 billion annually in excess costs," he continued, referring to Medicare Advantage plans.
CMS is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, now led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—who, like Oz, came under fire for his record of dubious claims during the confirmation process. Weissman said that "Dr. Oz is joining a team of snake oil salesmen and anti-science flunkies that have already shown disdain for the American people and their health. This is yet another dark day for healthcare in America under Trump."
In the middle of Trump's tariff disaster, the Senate is voting to confirm quack grifter Dr. Oz to lead the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services.
[image or embed]
— Jen Bendery (@jbendery.bsky.social) April 3, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Oz's confirmation came a day after Trump announced globally disruptive tariffs and Senate Republicans unveiled a budget plan that would give the wealthy trillions of dollars in tax cuts at the expense of federal food assistance and healthcare programs.
"While Dr. Oz would rather play coy, this is no hypothetical. Harmful cuts to Medicaid or Medicare are unavoidable in the Trump-Republican budget plan that prioritizes another giant tax break for the president's billionaire and corporate donors," Tony Carrk, executive director of the watchdog group Accountable.US, said ahead of the vote.
"None of Dr. Oz's 'miracle' cures that he's peddled over the years will help seniors when their fundamental health security is ripped away to make the rich richer," Carrk continued. "And while privatizing Medicare may enrich Dr. Oz's family and big insurance friends, it will cost taxpayers far more and leave millions of patients vulnerable to denials of care and higher out-of-pocket costs."
Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), was similarly critical, saying after the vote that "at a time when our population is growing older and the need for access to home care, nursing homes, affordable prescription drugs, and quality medical care has never been greater, Americans deserve better than a snake oil salesman leading the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services."
"Dr. Mehmet Oz has been shilling pseudoscience to line his own pockets. He can't be trusted to defend Medicare and Medicaid from billionaires who want to dismantle and privatize the foundation of affordable healthcare in this country," the union leader added. "AFSCME members—including nurses, home care and childcare providers, social workers and more—will be watching and fighting back against any effort to weaken Medicare and Medicaid. The 147 million seniors, children, Americans with disabilities, and low-income workers who rely on these programs for affordable access to healthcare deserve nothing less."