Last August, a health care protest rally staged in front of the offices of MI-07 Representative Mark Schauer brought out Jackson County Commissioner Phil Duckham with a swastika sign. You can read more about that in my Huffington Post article. This Thursday, another such rally is scheduled.
So the question is: Will Phil Duckham stage a repeat performance?
A counter protest due to begin a 3:30 pm is planned and, if you have a chance to go, it might be worth a trip. If you take photos of any particularly "interesting" signs or activities, feel free to email me and I will be sure they get published prominently.
The official statement for the counter protest:
Dear Friend-
We urgently need your help. This Thursday, the Michigan Republican Party is planning to hold a health care protest outside Congressman Schauer's district office at 4:30pm. The GOP invitation says, "We need your help to stop Mark Schauer and the liberals from a radical government takeover of health care!"
During a similar protest last August, pro-health care reform activists outnumbered Tea Party protesters by a 4-to-1 margin, and we need your help to do it again. You can watch a video of Mark speaking at last summer's health care rally here.
If you agree with Mark that we need to fix our broken health care system, hold the big health insurance companies accountable, eliminate the prescription drug donut hole, and cut health care costs for working families, then you can show your support by attending a Rally for Health Care Reform this Thursday. Here are the details:
WHAT: Rally for Health Care Reform
WHERE: U.S Rep. Mark Schauer's District Office
800 W Ganson, Jackson, MI 49202
WHEN: Thursday, March 11, 3:30pm
WHY: To send a message that working Michigan families are ready to fight for health care reform
We're in the homestretch of a 62-year battle to fix our broken health care system. Mark is ready to get the job done, but the Party of No and their deep-pocketed friends are willing to do whatever it takes to defend the status quo for another 62 years. We can't let them get away with it.
Come show your support for health care reform and Mark Schauer this Thursday - and don't forget to tell your friends!
As I have talked about here before, I'm keenly watching the Republican contenders for MI-07. One of the top two candidates likely to win the Republican primary already held the seat for one-term: Tim Walberg.
On the City Pulse radio show February 3rd, former Republican Congressman Joe Schwarz, a Republican, said Mark Schauer has been a more effective legislator than Tim Walberg was during his tenure as the Representative of MI-07. The show can be listened to HERE. This section kicks in around 17:35.
Transcript:
Kyle Melinn: You've taken a look at two different people who have represented the 7th Congressional district that you once represented - Tim Walberg and Mark Schauer. Who do you think's done a better job or did a better job representing that district?
Joe Schwarz: Mark Schauer.
Kyle Melinn: Okay, why's that?
Joe Schwarz: I think Mark Schauer has made a legitimate effort at trying to represent the whole district and is far more aware of what the real issues that the voters in the 7th district care about might be than Tim Walberg. I think Schauer in his year has proven himself to be a more effective Congressman for the 7th district that Walberg was in his two years.
Given that Walberg defeated Schwarz in the GOP primary in 2006 due in large part to a huge influx of outside money (i.e., The Club for Growth) and that he actually endorsed Schauer in the 2008 General Election, it's not totally surprising. It is, however, gratifying and encouraging.
MI-07 Rep. Mark Schauer is questioning whether or not rules were broken during the apprehension of the so-called Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Flight 253 inbound to Detroit. Via the Detroit Free Press:
Was protocol violated when Flight 253 -- after a failed attempt to set off a bomb on the Christmas Day flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit -- proceeded to a gate at Metro Airport after the plane landed?
That's the question U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, a Battle Creek Democrat, pressed Thursday at a hearing before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Aviation Subcommittee.
The flight crew of Flight 253 was unaware that an attempted bombing had transpired in the cabin behind them. Because of this, "controllers in the tower didn't know either".
Schauer is pursuing this "information gap" to determine if protocols were violated that allowed the plane to continue to the gate.
I hate to give Brian Rooney more attention than he deserves because the only thing that would be worse than Tim Walberg regaining his seat in MI-07 would be if Brian Rooney were to succeed in defeating Mark Schauer. But his latest "press release" screams to be addressed.
It is a nauseating example of exploiting one's children, in this case a child with a serious medical condition, for personal political advancement.
We all saw that Frank Luntz used a picture of Congressman Mark Schauer in his memo to the Republicans on how to defeat financial reform. Keith Olbermann did his comment on it tonight.
This is brilliant. Republican Message Guru Frank Luntz recently sent out a memo to Republicans giving them his assessment of how they should best combat Financial Reform legislation that is being pushed by the Obama administration along with numerous Democrats.
Here's the FAIL: On page 14 of the memo he shows an example picture of a happy couple in front of their new small business with a giant "GRAND OPENING" sign over the storefront. According to Politico, he has this to say:
"The most popular images of small business owners both projected optimism with signs saying 'grand opening' or 'open.'"
Who's in the picture? Solid Democrat Mark Schauer (MI-07) and his wife.
Meet Brian Rooney. Brian Rooney is running for the Republican nomination in MI-07 this year. He has only lived in Michigan since 2007 and he recently moved into MI-07 in order to run for this seat. Even his main Republican opponent, Tim Walberg, doesn't have much nice to say about him:
Walberg questioned if Rooney runs whether he can win over voters if he's just moved into their district.
"He is going to have to move in as a carpet bagger," Walberg said. "Unless you are a Kennedy or a Clinton, you don't do well as a carpet bagger."
At the Western Washtenaw Democrats meeting last Friday, Mark Schauer came out strongly in favor of pushing the Democrats' health care bill through the Senate without the standard requirement of 60 votes.
Ahhh. Finally. A Republican admitting that the threshold to pass legislation through the Senate in this country is no longer the Constitutionally-mandated 51 votes. Now it's 60.
For a Republican liar, you gotta give the guy credit for a brief moment of honesty.
Last night, MI-07 Representative Mark Schauer spoke to the 2010 annual membership meeting of the Western Washtenaw Dems. During his conversation, he came out firmly in favor of a reconciliation path to passing health insurance reform legislation and was outspoken about the atrocious decision by the Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) to allow nearly unlimited corporate funding of political campaigns.
We need to push a bill, maybe taking the Senate bill and modifying it, and put into it all the components that can be passed under reconciliation. The long and short of that is that it doesn't take 60 votes. It takes 51. That's actually what our democracy is about. Anybody that complains about that, I'm going to give it to 'em and say it's not 60 votes that's a majority, 51 votes is a majority.
As the son of a nurse who worked in primary care for many years, I've long held the belief that decisions about childbearing should be made by a woman in consultation with her family and doctor. The government doesn't belong in the room when these very personal, private decisions are being made.
Unfortunately, the debate over abortion - a legal, constitutionally-protected medical procedure - has become a wedge issue in the larger effort to reform our nation's broken health care system.
Since current federal law already bans the use of federal funds to pay for abortions, and nothing in the Affordable Health Care for America Act changes the Hyde Amendment, I didn't hesitate to vote against the amendment introduced by my colleague Bart Stupak.
This measure represents a dangerous step towards making abortion a class-based procedure that only wealthy women could afford.
Under Mr. Stupak's amendment, women who don't get their health insurance through their employer and purchase affordable coverage through the new Health Insurance Exchange, would be denied the ability to buy a health insurance policy that covers abortion services - even when using their own money. That's right: none of the private plans or public insurance options found in the Exchange would be allowed to cover abortion.
True health care reform can't happen unless there is a real public option. We need a way to ensure that everyone can get affordable heath care. And, you can help with this effort.
65 Democrats have pledged to vote against any health care reform bill that does not include a public option. We need to put pressure on every member of Congress to do the same. Here in Michigan only two members, John Conyers and Carolyn Kilpatrick have pledged so far.
Mr. Stupak, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Schauer, Mr. Peters, Mr. Levin, and Mr. Dingell, what say ye? Your constituents want to know.
UPDATE: See comments below. Kildee is co-sponsoring HR 3200. Dingell sponsored HR3200 so we know he also supports the public option. But the magic question is will they vote against a bill that does not include it?
When it comes to protecting the American middle-class and rejuvenating the domestic auto industry, talk is cheap. In Washington these days, it seems like everyone has an opinion about how the auto companies got into this mess.
While I certainly didn't run for Congress to defend the mistakes of the past, what's most important to me is protecting the working families in my district who rely on the auto industry to pay the bills and put food on the table.
For those who don't know, the 7th congressional district is home to the GM Lansing Delta Township Assembly plant, located just off I-69 in Eaton County. This world-class facility is where the GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave, and Saturn Outlook are built.
While the news of GM's bankruptcy filing one week ago today was certainly a tough blow for the state of Michigan, the Delta Township plant will actually be increasing production later this year as the Chevy Traverse is added to the plant's lineup. This is a move I personally advocated for to Fritz Henderson on his first day as CEO of GM.
(Thank you Congressman Schauer! - promoted by Christine)
Today Congressman Mark Schauer (D-MI) helped a local contractor weatherize a home in Jackson. Earlier this week, President Obama and the U.S. Department of Energy that Michigan will receive more than $325 million for weatherization funding and energy efficiency grants as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Schauer comments on how the program will help create jobs, make homes more energy efficient and help our environment in the following video:
For more information about how the Recovery Act will benefit Michigan, click here.
Last fall I was sent to Congress to get results for my constituents. While I appreciate and welcome the speed with which the new administration has moved to address the nation's ongoing economic crisis, I believe swift action is needed to reform the unfair trade laws that have devastated Michigan's economy.
That's why I joined several colleagues late last week in sending a letter to President Obama outlining our priorities for establishing fair trade policies that will help states like Michigan compete for good-paying jobs. You can read the letter we sent to the White House here.
According to the MEDC, our state has lost 400,000 manufacturing jobs over the past eight years. A report released last fall by the non-profit Economic Policy Institute found that Michigan led the nation in the percentage of jobs lost to unfair trade agreements (7.49%) during 2007.
This is unacceptable - and unsustainable.
Last fall I made a pledge that the first bill I would co-sponsor as a member of Congress would address unfair trade, and that's a promise I kept when I signed on as an original co-sponsor of the Trade Enforcement Act of 2009 in January.
Introduced by Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Sander L. Levin (D-MI), this legislation will combat counterfeiting and piracy, improve import safety, promote market access for American goods and services, and strengthen our trade remedies against unfair trade (you can read more about H.R. 496 here).
In our letter to President Obama last week, my colleagues and I outlined additional priorities for implementing fair trade policies:
Remedying the failed U.S.-China trade relationship by addressing pervasive currency manipulation, which has devastated our manufacturing base.
Improving import safety by creating new import-safety policies to ensure that food and goods coming from China and all countries meet U.S. safety and inspection requirements as a condition of entering our market and homes.
Renegotiating NAFTA and CAFTA to address excessive foreign-investor privileges and private enforcement systems; limits on domestic procurement policy and food-safety protections and more. Additionally, we have urged the President to oppose Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Columbia, Panama and Korea, which represent the "more-of-the-same" trade-agreement model promoted by the previous administration.
Fixing these shortcomings in our trade laws won't be easy, and it won't happen overnight. But at a time when our country is facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, we can't afford not to take action to level the playing field for our businesses and workers to get our economy back on track.
I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress and President Obama to create American trade and globalization policies that promote our shared goals of economic justice, poverty alleviation, healthy communities, human rights, and a sound environment.
Please share your thoughts in the comments section, so I can take your message to Washington and fight for Michigan.
From 7:00pm to 9:00pm, I'm going to be away from a computer-- and, in fact, away from any televisions, radios, or other devices which report election results. During arguably the most exciting portion of the night, when Virginia may be called for Obama, or when the returns start coming in for the Georgia Senate race, or when our own district begins reporting, I won't be able to be a part of it.
For a political junkie like me, that's like missing the World Series, the Rose Bowl (Go 'Cats!I believe in you!), and the World Cup all at once, which, by the way, are also on Christmas. Tomorrow could be a really amazing day, and I’m disappointed that I’ll be missing a big part of it.
But when I do get to a computer, I’ll be looking for a few things. I don’t claim to have a secret formula or know which tiny town will be the bellwether, and I’m definitely not a Grebner-like expert. But I can tell you what I think a Schauer victory might look like, and where I’ll be looking for it.
It looks like change is finaly coming in the 7th and 9th Congressional districts of Michigan. Gary Peters and Mark Schauer have the policies, have raised the money and done the hard work to earn the endorsements of major newspapers in Michigan and the trust of the voters.
No matter what shape the state is in or how much Michigan voters gripe about Washington, they have a pattern of retaining their representatives in Congress. It's pretty tough to knock off an incumbent on these peninsulas. The result is challengers who are sometimes unqualified, usually underfinanced, and generally unable to offer assets equivalent to the experience and seniority that matter so much in the Washington power structure. This year, however, two challengers have made the case. In the 9th District, which spans Oakland County from Farmington Hills north through Pontiac, the Free Press endorses Democrat GARY PETERS of Bloomfield Hills over eight-term incumbent Republican Joe Knollenberg of Bloomfield Township. In the 7th District, which encompasses all or most of seven southern lower Michigan counties, state Sen. MARK SCHAUER, D-Battle Creek, would do a better job than incumbent Republican Tim Walberg of Tipton has managed in his first term.
Over the weekend we started airing our second ad of the campaign season, and in case you hadn't seen it yet, I wanted to make sure you had a chance to check it out:
Congratulations to State Senator Mark Schauer (D - Battle Creek) for winning the Democratic nomination in Michigan's 7th Congressional District.
He will challenge incumbent Congressman Tim Walberg in the general election on November 4.
Schauer issued the following statement
"Tonight marks the starting gun for our sprint to changing Washington in November. Voters now have a clear choice between someone who will roll up their sleeves to help turn Michigan's economy around, one job at a time, and the current Congressman who is making things worse. I have a strong record of working with Democrats and Republicans to save and create jobs, I'll support an energy plan that puts the needs of consumers ahead of record profits for Big Oil companies, and I'll get started on day one fixing what's broken in Washington."
Tim Walberg will finally make himself useful to his constituents today - he will pump your gas at the Riverside C-Store, 240 E. Columbia Avenue in Battle Creek, starting at 1PM. Good to see him putting in an honest day's work. If you are in the area, might want to stop by and ask him a few questions.
For example, let's concede his talking point on new drilling. Just give it to him up front. The real question behind that is - what makes Walberg think that Big Oil will invest in physical operations, when currently they sink 55 percent of their money into the stock market, and only spend in the "mid-single digits" towards finding new deposits?
No one questions that Big Oil is rolling in cash. The cash the biggest oil companies bring in from running their businesses, or operating cash flow, is four times what it was in the early 1990s.
"It becomes a management decision," said Howard Silverblatt, a senior index analyst at Standard & Poor's. "It's not like they're going to the board and saying, 'Well, I can do one or the other or the other.' The balance sheets are flush with cash."
So what's Big Oil to do?
The companies say they are doing what they can to find more fossil fuels around the world, but the easy oil is gone. Exploring these days may mean expensive projects in thousands of feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico or costly ventures pulling petroleum from Canada's vast oil-sands deposits.
Even if we opened up new areas to drilling, there is no guarantee the oil companies would actually drill. They have shareholders that they answer to, not the consumer, and they have made it clear that is their priority. Wonder what Tim would say about that.
You also might want to ask him why he voted against lowering gas prices. A release from the reserves in the past has had an immediate effect on raising supplies, and that in turn has cooled the market. Granted, this is not a long-term solution, but it would help to curb the increasing inflationary pressures on products that are happening due to high energy costs that, coupled with the housing crisis, are curbing consumer spending in all areas and are pushing the nation's economy towards recession.
Walberg on Thursday voted against a bill that would have required the Energy Department to release 70 million of the 706 million barrels of oil stockpiled in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a network of underground caverns along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico. The 70 million barrels would have been replaced with a heavier grade oil, keeping the emergency reserve at capacity.
The bill failed, but proponents argued it would have put a bunch of oil on the market and, as a result of natural supply-and-demand logic, necessitated a lowering of gasoline prices across the country. That's how it worked with past releases in 1991, 2000 and 2005.
If there was ever a time for a strategic release, it's probably now. Why won't the Republicans help out regular people and our economy? Because they are more interested in giving Big Oil more breaks before they are ushered out of office. No other reason is plausible; the excuse from Bush about "an emergency" doesn't fly when the reserves will be replaced. Dick Durbin spells it out in no uncertain terms.
Top Senate Democrats also charge that Republicans are more interested in helping oil companies than finding solutions to high gas prices.
"Now they want to give them [the oil companies] a big, fat, sloppy smooch as they leave office by extending millions of acres for drilling across the United States and the outer continental shelf," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate Democratic whip. "It isn't going to happen."
Ask Tim why he wants to help the oil companies rather than the consumers. Ask Tim why they won't drill in the untapped space they have now. Ask Tim why he would vote against a measure that would help ease inflationary pressures on our economy and your wallet.
And just for fun, ask Tim to "check the oil" while he's pumping your gas today. It might be good for a laugh.
As I have talked about here before, I'm keenly watching the Republican contenders for MI-07. One of the top two candidates likely to win the Republican primary already held the seat for one-term: Tim Walberg.
Cross-posted at 
Last night, MI-07 Representative Mark Schauer spoke to the 2010 annual membership meeting of the 
As the son of a nurse who worked in primary care for many years, I've long held the belief that decisions about childbearing should be made by a woman in consultation with her family and doctor. The government doesn't belong in the room when these very personal, private decisions are being made.
When it comes to protecting the American middle-class and rejuvenating the domestic auto industry, talk is cheap. In Washington these days, it seems like everyone has an opinion about how the auto companies got into this mess.
