early. But theres only one sane choice for voters to make when cast- ing ballots for our next congressman: DEAN VANDERSTELT. Left of the Line news magazine sees no point in waiting to hand out our endorsement for the 2nd Con- gressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. It goes to the Democratic busi- nessman Vanderstelt. Our cur- rent Republican congressman, Bill Huizenga of Zeeland, brings absolutely nothing to the table for citizens of the district. Zilch. Nada. Zero. Congressman Huizenga is the most destructive, far-right represen- tative West Michigan has ever sent to Washington and the results and his record prove it. Incredibly, Huizenga has support- ed shutting down our federal govern- ment and, in so doing, has given aid, comfort and his vote to those crazies on the far right who were willing and are still willing to drive the United States into a catastrophic debt default that would cripple the middle class and consign poorer Americans into a life of poverty. Huizenga loves the ruinous Paul Ryan Budget, and has in fact glee- fully voted for various versions of that same idiotic proposal that would destroy Medicare as we know it a program that is a savior for senior citizens - by turning it into a voucher plan that will bankrupt them. Huizenga has lent his support and his vote more than 50 times to the tea partys obsession with repeal- ing the Patient Protection and Afford- able Care Act without substituting any alternative whatsoever. Getting rid of Obamacare would drive children and the poor off the health plan, and return many to the days when pre-existing condi- tions meant you could not get insur- ance. But wait. Perhaps we exaggerated about Republicans not having a health care alternative. As one Democratic representative observed, the GOP does have plan. Here it is: Dont get sick. But if you do get sick, die quickly. Elsewhere in these pages, Huizengas bogus pose as a friend to the environment is exposed as a fraud. The congressman rates basically a zero from every meaningful environmen- tal interest group that isnt controlled by his pals, the Koch brothers, and his cronies at Fox News and in the tea party. But the forthcoming election isnt just about throwing the ridiculous Huizenga out into the street and onto his keister where he belongs. Its about breaking the GOPs dangerous stranglehold on the U.S. House of Representatives. Those yokels, having almost de- stroyed the nations economy under their heroes, George W. Bush and Dick Deficits Dont Matter Cheney, somehow survived to wrest a death grip on an important branch of the nations legislature. Beginning in 2010, when Demo- crats lost control of the House, Republicans then have used their wedge in the U.S. House to system- atically throttle any hope of a robust economic recov- ery engineered by President Barack Obama. They lied when they squawked that Obama would destroy America. Instead, the presidents administration single-handedly saved the auto- mobile industry when Repub- licans like Mitt Romney were rooting for the Big Three go bankrupt. Republicans, should they ever regain the White House and Congress, like they did completely from 2001-2006 - God forbid - would again take this nation into war for no good reason. Members of the GOP want to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran. Theyd have no problem, either, dragging America into war over the Ukraine crisis, Syria or over a phony, trumped-up crisis like Benghazi. As We See It Dean Vanderstelt for Congress Dean Vanderstelt
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America was founded on liberal principles and progressive ideas, and Left of the Line is dedicated to defending both going forward. Left of the Line Left of the Line is a free bimonth- ly Internet news magazine offering progressive and liberal views to residents of Michigans 2nd Con- gressional District. The newsletter is published by Left of the Line LLC, a privately held company not affili- ated with any political party, politi- cal action group or organization. Ofcers David Kolb Co-Publisher, Co-Editor Terry Judd Co-Publisher, Co-editor Michael Walsh Resident Agent/ Attorney Contact Information Left of the Line PO Box 1710 Muskegon, MI 49440 leftofthelinellc@gmail.com Letters Policy Left of the Line welcomes your letters, as long as they are verifi- able by us. We will print your name and city, a necessity because we believe that in our democracy no one should fear speaking out in public, and that your credibility and courage as a letter-writer should be recognized by your neighbors. Letters should be succinct, leg- ible, courteous and stay within the framework of a single topic. Re- member, there will be another issue of our news magazine, and you will be able to write again. Letters can be submitted through the wonderful efforts of our unionized friends of the United States Postal Service by writing: Left of the Line P.O. Box 1710 Muskegon, MI 49440 Or, if you prefer, send us your letter as an e-mail to leftoftheli- nellc@gmail.com
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We really enjoyed Vol. 1 No. 1: It was excellent. We look forward to reading your future publications and are pleased to offer our support. Best wishes and warmest per- sonal regards. James and Nancy Waters Muskegon Heights Editors note: Mrs. Waters is the Muskegon County Clerk.
Stop man-made climate change! Natural gas. We use it every day. We heat our homes, warm our water, cook our food, and use elec- tricity generated from natural gas. Many of us only think about the bill from the gas or electric company. Seems pretty straightforward, but there is more to the story. Lets go past the bill we pay and look into background of this product we use every day. In Michigan natural gas comes wells from 500 to 9,500 feet below the surface. Gas wells have been in Michi- gan since the 1930s. Once the wells stopped producing gas they were abandoned. But in the early 1950s a technique called hydraulic frac- turing, or fracking, was developed to extract more gas from the same well. The process uses a solution of mostly water, some sand, and a mix of chemicals. Some of the chemi- cals in the mix cause cancer. The mixture is forced into the ground under high pressure. This breaks up the rock holding the gas. Now the broken rock releases the gas and it flows through the well to the surface. When fracking started it took 10 tanker trucks to deliver about a 100,000 gallons of water to frack a vertical well. Newer wells go down vertically, then out horizontally for up to two miles. Fracking a larger well takes 20,000,000 gallons of water and require 2,000 tanker- trucks rumbling down the road to the wellhead. Most of the fracking mix comes back out of the ground and must be disposed. This polluted water is injected back into the earth for eternity, or so the plan goes. If the fracking mix does not follow the plan, it could migrate into the underground water that is used for drinking. Once natural gas exits the well it is piped to where it is burned. During transmission some of the gas escapes into the air. When burned, to produce heat or elec- tricity, the gas releases products of combustion into the air. These products of combustion, or air pol- lution, are major contributors to climate change. Man-made climate change is happening now. It is a looming ca- tastrophe to mankind and all life on the planet. We must stop man-made cli- mate change now! Technology exists to reduce the pollution that brings on climate change. Wind power, solar power, and energy efficiency can greatly reduce our reliance on burning fos- sil fuels that cause climate change. More than technology we need political will. The political will to make the change to a cleaner economy. Don Munski Spring Lake Editors Note: Mr. Munski is the Letters see LETTERS page 16 2nd congressional district Counties: Lake, Oceana, Newaygo, Muskegon, Ottawa and portions of Allegan, Kent and Mason. Cities: Fremont, Grand Haven, Grandville, Holland, Hudsonville, Jenison, Kent- wood, Muskegon, Muskegon Heights, Norton Shores, Walker and Wyoming. David Kolb The Outside 4 see OUTSIDE page 5 We can measure earthquakes. In laboratories across the west- ern United States, ink-filled needles poised above data paper jerk up and down leaving a red trail to record every response to the earths geolog- ical stimulus, measuring the magni- tude of every individual shift of plate, the grinding of Mother Earths teeth, if you will. Measuring the quantity and quality of Republican lies is another endeavor altogether. I propose the invention of a Lie-Ger-Counter so accurate that it can quantify these abominations to a more certain degree than simple Pants On Fire description. It would measure not only the enormity of the bewildering assault on truth, but the mind-blowing twist- ing of fact and the thimble-rigging fraud of public deception practiced daily by the front men in Congress who are working for everything the Grand Old Party believes in. A contender, absolutely, for our new Lie-Ger-Counter test is the recent publicity campaign ginned up to enshrine our Congressman Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, into the Pan- theon of Heroes dedicated to saving our environment. Readers, I kid you not. If you were to read without requi- site incredulity the recent headlines and stories flogged to the media pro- claiming Bills prodigious pro-envi- ronmental work, youd be convinced our congressman just loves him some trees, fresh water and national parks. This PR blitz resulted in headlines like these: Great Lakes Prioritized, or Lawmakers Press for Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness all featur- ing the efforts of our erstwhile, tree- hugging congressman. Its all smoke and mirrors, folks. The Huizenga Noise Machine is hoping that two or three votes here and there, padded with a hypocritical hoorah for bipartisanship the con- gressman doesnt actually believe in, in time for his next phony baloney re-election campaign, will be enough to make you forget about the man behind the curtain supporting all the anti-environment legislation Repub- licans have been pushing as part of their real agenda. You see, the speechifying and bell-clanging has only one purpose: to divert voter attention from the abysmal, awful, sickening, dismay- ing Huizenga environmental record. Take the Huizenga stance on Sleep- ing Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, signed into law by President Obama. It was very nice of Huizenga to actu- ally vote for this, since it was his first vote to protect a national park since he has been in Congress. Little did you know that the 2014 Sleeping Bear Dunes Protection Act happened to be the ONLY national parks protection legislation passed by Congress since 2009, a vote coin- ciding precisely when Democrats last held control of the House of Repre- sentatives. Since then, the House GOP includ- ing Huizenga has BLOCKED all other legislation to add lands to our national parks system. This annual achievement was a truly bipartisan initiative that was a standard for Congress until the tea party crazies ran the GOP off the rails in 2010. That was Bill Huizengas class of 2010, by the way. Huizenga this year is promoting himself as Mr. Bipartisanship and Mr. Environment. Last year, though, what he WASNT ballyhooing was his sup- port for the wretched bill HR 4089, which was given the ridiculous title of The Sportsmans Heritage Act by John Boehners spinmeisters. There isnt a true environmental group out there who didnt recognize HR 4089 for what it was a naked and blatant attempt by the anti-en- vironmentalists in the U.S. House to destroy the historic Wilderness Act of 1964. Heres what Wilderness Watch wrote about this disgraceful measure, supported by a Bill Huizenga vote: HR 4089 would give hunting, fishing, recreational shooting, and fish and wildlife management top priority in Wilderness, rather than protecting the areas wilder- ness character, as has been the case for nearly 50 years. This bill would al- low endless, extensive habitat manipulations in Wilderness under the guise of wild- life conservation and for providing hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting experiences. It would allow the construction of roads to facili- tate such uses and would allow the construction of dams, buildings, or other structures within Wildernesses. It would exempt all of these actions from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review. Finally, HR 4089 would remove Wilderness Act prohibitions against motor vehicle use for fishing, hunting, or recreation- al shooting, or for wildlife conserva- tion measures.
Bill Huizenga With friends like Huizenga, environment doesnt need enemies David Kolb is a reporter, edito- rial writer, columnist and author. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Interna- tional Herald Tribune, the Daily Kos and many other publications and media outlets. Kolbs journalism has earned numerous first-place awards from the Associated Press, Michi- gan Press Association, United Press International and the American Legion. A World War Chronicle, a collection of Kolbs editorials about World War II, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Kolb is publisher and editor of Left of the Line news maga- zine. 5 OUTSIDE from page 4 Oh, if that were all. Bill Huizengas environmental re- cord in his two terms has been rated one of the worst by any wildlife and wilderness protection group you can name. Huizengas lifetime score with the League of Conservation Voters? Eight percent. With the Sierra Club? Zero per- cent. Clean Water Action? Zero per- cent. Defenders of Wildlife? Zero per- cent. National Parks Conservation As- sociation? Zero percent. On the other hand, Huizengas loyalty to the finance, insurance and real estate lobbies is a true-blue, red- blooded 100 percent. You can find all of this, by the way, on the Project Vote Smart web page, at votesmart.org a great web site. Type in Bill Huizenga in the search field, and then click on the interest group ratings button on his page. There, our congressmans ex- treme right-wing leanings are dis- played in all their glory. So, yeah, we need a Lie-Ger- Counter. We also need an earthquake. An earthquake at the polls in November to shake up the 2nd Con- gressional District. An earthquake to shake out the most far-right, anti-environment rep- resentative elected to a position of high responsibility in West Michigan. They have no regrets at all for lying our brave military into a stupid, hopeless, incomprehensible, unnec- essary war in Iraq. Four thousand of our people dead. Tens of thousands of our military wounded, many of them grievously. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi casualties. Billions of Americas wealth sucked down that Republican-Halli- burton rathole. Right-wing, yes-man Huizenga would have been completely on board with all of this. Guaranteed. The GOPs last man in Congress from the 2nd, Pete Hoekstra, certainly was. Huizenga proudly stands with the political party hell-bent on turn- ing back decades of progress on affirmative action and voting rights. The hated Jim Crow laws of the evil Confederacy are embraced by the Grand Old Party, because re-implementing them means fewer Democrats going out to vote. Republicans want college stu- dent loan rates to soar disastrously higher. Republicans hate public educa- tion. They cant stand criminal attor- neys because lawyers win big cases against corporate raiders and right- wing cabals. They held up the farm bill for years in order to punish the working poor. Perhaps worst of all, Huizengas party insanely denies the existence of global warming, a threat not only to the United States but the world. In sum, todays lunatic GOP stands for NOTHING that would up- lift the average, ordinary American. Republicans have nothing in common with former party legends such as Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. Patriots like Dwight Eisenhower would never get elected today in a party primary. Ronald Reagan? To- days fanatics in charge of the party would call him a RINO a Repub- lican In Name Only as they like to put it. Who would they give us for president? Scoundrels and ignora- muses. Sarah Palin. Michele Bach- mann. Rick Santorum. Cliven Bundy, too, probably. Dont recognize the name of this pro-slavery Republican? Look it up, people. These are GOP heroes. The 2nd Congressional District has been transformed into an virtu- ally impregnable Republican politi- cal fortress, buttressed with millions of right-wing cash. But here at Left of the Line, we dont believe such a daunting pros- pect of unlikely victory should be cause to sit on the sidelines. It should be a rallying cry! Defeating Huizenga, even forc- ing him to the brink, would count for a victory beyond measure. Electing a moderate Democrat like DEAN VANDERSTELT, who sup- ports our president and most liberal and progressive policies, would send shockwaves across the nation. It would be akin to the shot fired at Lexington and Concord, the spark that ends the tyranny of Republican domination of West Michigan, and indeed, in the U.S. House of Repre- sentatives where that political party has been responsible for so much of the damage and misery that plagues ordinary Americans. Reprint this editorial endorse- ment. Share it with your friends and neighbors. Dont sit this election out. Do EVERYTHING you must do to register and then vote come Election Day, Nov. 4. Liberals and progressives are the REAL patriots. We must save our republic from the Republicans. And we can start doing the job by throwing Bill Huizenga out of of- fice and electing a good man, DEAN VANDERSTELT, as our next con- gressman. EDITORIAL from page 1 6 By The Very Rev. Jared Cramer Left of the Line Though Gov. Rick Snyder has previously vetoed a bill with similar provisions, this initiative was brought before the Legislature by a Right to Life petition that garnered 315,477 signatures around 4 percent of our states vot- ers. And, as a priest, I feel compelled to say that this bill is immoral and cruel. The new law requires not only that women purchase this coverage separately, but that they purchase it before they are pregnant. There are no exceptions for any circumstances not even rape or incest. Thus, this bill means that, in the State of Michigan, if a woman is raped she cannot have the abortion covered by her regular insurance and must pay out-of- pocket for it. If a young girl is violated by a relative and winds up pregnant by incest, she will have to pay out-of-pocket for an abortion. If a woman is pregnant and suffers severe complica- tions that put her life and the life of her unborn child both in jeopardy, she will have to pay out-of-pocket to have an abortion that would save her own life. No matter the circumstance, unless the separate rider is purchased in advance, there can be no insurance cov- erage for women placed in these horrible situations. The measure passed our Legislature despite the pow- erful and gripping stories of several women legislators, including Democratic Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, who revealed that she had been raped 20 years ago while she was in college. I want to be very clear: I agree with my own churchs teaching that abortion is always a tragedy but it is not a black-and-white question. Scripture itself acknowledges that life in the womb is different than life outside the womb (see the different penalties in Exodus 21:2225). That said, we should absolutely find just ways to low- er the amount of abortions that happen through increased education, contraception and social programs. However, this law uses money as a coercive force upon women in painfully difficult situations. It creates a situation where, once more, women who have money will have access to health care and freedom to make their own choices, but women in poverty will be forced to follow the misguided will of our Legislature no matter the horrific situation that resulted in their pregnancy. This is wrong. This is reprehensible. And the fact that this has been supported by so- called Christian organizations makes my face turn red with shame. I call upon all citizens of our state, and in particular all Christians in our state, to stand up and call for the repeal of this cruel law. Instead of using money as a coercive force, instead of forcing women to make the choices some people want them to make, lets work as a state to create communi- ties where women never feel like abortion is their only option. Lets pass laws raising the amount of money we provide for young families and single moth- ers in low-income households. Lets make our churches places of grace and welcome where women do not feel like shame in church makes this their only option. And, God help us, lets never put a woman who has been raped, who has been the victim of incest, or whose very life is in danger in the even more horrible situation of realizing that her insurance will not cover her abortion. We can do better and the justice and love of God calls us to be a very different community than the one created by this law. The Very Rev. Jared C. Cramer serves as rector of St. Johns Episcopal Church in Grand Haven and as dean of the Lakeshore Deanery of the Diocese of Western Michigan. GOPs new abortion law Immoral and cruel ...this bill means that, in the State of Michigan, if a woman is raped she cannot have the abortion covered by her regu- lar insurance and must pay out-of-pocket for it. 7 By Chris Savage Left of the Line The State School Reform/Rede- sign District was created by the state of Michigan in 2010 to take over the lowest performing five percent of Michigan public schools. A year later, the new entity signed an exclusive contract with a group calling itself the Educa- tion Achievement Authority. The EAA was headed up by John Covington, former superinten- dent of Kansas City Public Schools, and partnered with Eastern Michigan University through an interlocal agreement. The EAA was essentially the Re- publican answer to doing something about struggling public schools. Shortly after the EAA came into existence, Coving- tons former school district in Missouri lost its accredita- tion. This was the first of many red flags that have been raised since the inception of the EAA. The EAA was given control over 15 schools in the Detroit Public Schools system. Three of them were turned over to charter school companies and the rest are operated by the EAA itself. After the first year of its existence, it lost nearly a quarter of its students. As state legislators, primarily State House Rep. Ellen Lipton and State Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood, in- vestigated the EAA, they learned that students were being given a substan- dard education. A profound lack of resources, neglect of special needs students in violation of federal law, and a dis- ciplinary system in total chaos led Lipton and Hopgood to file FOIA requests for more information. Rather than providing the information volun- tarily, the EAA administrators forced them to pay thou- sands of dollars in exchange for the information they requested, despite the legislators roles on the House and Senate Educa- tion Committees. What Hop- good and Lipton found after sifting through the reams of information they obtained confirmed what they had already learned. In the meantime, Re- publicans in the Legislature were moving forward with legislation to expand the EAA statewide and codify it into state law. The House initially passed the legislation in 2013. The Senate made significant chang- es to the bill then sent it back to the House. This spring, nearly a year after it first passed the House, legislators passed a third ver- sion with the help of two Democrats, Harvey Santana and John Olumba. After the vote, I learned former gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos and other wealthy corporate charter school proponents had threatened uncooperative Republicans with mas- sive funding of primary opponents if they chose not to support expand- ing the EAA. This was a tactic DeVos used to force enough Republicans to vote for Right to Work in December 2012. In the midst of this mostly parti- san legislative battle, I began run- ning a series of well over a dozen interviews with former and current EAA teachers and administrators. Many were done anonymously be- cause of a culture of fear and intimi- dation that exists with John Coving- tons EAA. These interviews confirmed what Rep. Lipton and Sen. Hopgood and al- ready learned: the EAA was in disar- ray. Students were being physically abused. Resources were severely lacking. Special needs students were being neglected. Educational prog- ress, simply put, was not being made. The EAA uses a computer pro- gram called BUZZ as the basis for what it calls Student Centered Learn- ing. Students are taught and tested using this platform. However, the first year the EAA opened, there were not enough computers for the students and the BUZZ platform was nonfunc- tional. Half of the EAA educators are first-year teachers and half of those are from Teach for America, which provides the new teachers with just a few weeks of training before putting them into some of the most challeng- ing classrooms in the country. These inexperienced teachers were being asked to create curriculum for the EAA. The EAA uses its own testing regimen to show student progress. It claimed that, after just one year, their students were advancing more than a year in their test scores. However, recently released MEAP scores show something quite different: students are not only not progressing, they are actually getting worse in some areas. The DeVos threat of funding primary opponents was used on state senators in late April as they looked to take up EAA expansion legislation Chris Savage The Education Achievment Authority Michigans failed experiment on Detroit students see AUTHORITY page 18 The EAA was essentially the Republican answer to doing something about struggling public schools. 8 By Mary Valentine Left of the Line Politics is such a nasty busi- ness. I heard that repeatedly when I ran for office back in 2005. And yes, it can be. But if we good people fail to participate, thats who we leave our decision-making process to, those nasty people. So lets all engage and lift it up out of the basement of nasty business. Nowhere is it more important to do that than in the 91st, the dis- trict presently being served by our own Democratic State Rep. Collene Lamonte. As an educator, Collene stands up for our students in Lansing. It is critical for each of us who wants a top-notch education for our students that she retain that seat. The 91st is what is sometimes called a swing district, swinging wildly back and forth between Dem- ocrats and Republicans. In Lansing it is called a marginal seat. Whichever party holds that seat only has a marginal hold on it, be- cause it could slip back to the other party at any moment. Democrat Paul Baade was the only representative who held that seat for more than two terms over the 26 years I have lived here. Back and forth it goes from Republican to Democrat and back again. Why is it important to know this? Because in Lansing, whoever holds the gavel, whoever has the majority, sets the agenda. If it is in the hands of Repub- licans, as it is now, education funding is in the sewer and our students suffer. What we all know is that when our citizens are less edu- cated, there is more crime, higher prison rates, lower wages, a whole pile of bad news. In the hands of Democrats, though, there is hope for reasonable funding of education, which leads to an in- formed citizenry, not to mention more and better jobs and less crime. It only makes sense to educate the next generation, and not on the cheap, either. So if we Dems carelessly let the 91st slip through our fingers in the next election, our chances to set the agenda shrink dramatically. When Collenes Republican op- ponent was in the Legislature, fund- ing to education was CUT by an un- precedented $480 per student. When the Republicans got that gavel, they raised taxes on the poor, the old and the middle class. They decimated funding for educa- tion. Thats why voters threw her out. But the other side has no intention of sitting idly by and letting Collene con- tinue to do her good work. They will throw wild accusa- tions at her, just as they do every elec- tion year. They will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on television ads, mailers and robo calls, dragging up every piece of information and skullduggery at their fingertips to tear Collene down. Remember when they hurled hateful, lying accusations at Nancy Frye? When they tried to lead Dont let the right wing capture the 91st District Collene Lamonte High stakes see VALENTINE page 17 9 West Michigan Plumbers Fitters and Service Trades Local Union No. 174 The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry We do it right the first time. 10 By Tony Roberts Left of the Line I would like to tell you what made me a liberal. I grew up a short distance from the Old Dutch Refinery (now owned by Marathon) in Muskegon. A creek marked half of the property line of our 13-acre mini-farm. I re- member sitting on a makeshift bridge across that creek when I was a small child, watching the fish swim under me. We had a garden in the lowland next to the creek. This was in the early 1950s. By the time I was old enough to go play with the neighborhood kids, there were pretty rainbows float- ing on the creeks surface and if we stepped into the creek, we went up to our ankles in squishy black muck. This was due to the fact that the refinery was dumping waste into the creek, which ran into Mona Lake. The smell was horrible and on many days it traveled all the way to neighborhoods as far as the corner of Apple Avenue and Quarterline Road. In the 1960s, our neighbor found a dead duck floating in the creek. He spread the word and the neighborhood decided to sue the refinery. There were township meetings where it seemed that the state was supporting the refinery, rather than the people of the neighborhood. In the end, the neighbors, thinking they couldnt win against such a big company, accepted a buyout from the refinery and dropped the lawsuit. Each neighbor received $3,000 - minus the lawyers fees. In return, they signed a document saying that they, or their heirs, could never sue the oil company for the damages to the neighborhood. The oil company dredged the muck out of the creek. It looked fine when they were finished, but the smell remained. Shortly thereafter, the oil company drilled test wells on our property to check the water quality. All the neighbors were immediately given water tanks for their kitchens and were warned not to drink the water coming from their wells (this after many years of happy days entertaining family and friends around the kitchen table, drinking endless cups of coffee made with that poison water). Many in our neighborhood died of cancer over the years. Both my parents and all of my mothers (and some of my dads) siblings died of cancer as well. This brings us to recent history, when Marathon Oil, probably at the urging of the EPA, bought up all the houses in that area, tore them down, and made a green space out of the whole area, so nobody could ever build a house and live on that poison piece of land. It seems they had found a plume of benzene underground, moving by osmosis from the refinery toward Mona Lake. I talked to a civil defense worker about five years ago, who said if you fly over the refinery property, you will see trenches full of oil. He said they used that oil to make asphalt for area roads. In the last year or so, they have FINALLY started attempting to clean up the refinery site. That plume of benzene is still under there, headed for Mona Lake and on to Lake Michigan. So, when conservatives talk about deregulation and defunding the EPA, I go a little crazy. This is the main (though not the only) reason that I am a liberal.
Toni Roberts is a retired educator and union secretary. She is married, with two sons. Toni earned an associates degree from Muskegon Community College, where she studied biology and ecol- ogy. A gardener of 40 years, Toni tends her garden in the woods in Dalton Township, and sells books and papers at The Secret Garden store in Pentwater. ...when conservatives talk about deregulation and defunding the EPA, I go a little crazy. Tony Roberts Creek in Muskegon taught an important lesson 11 By Roger Rapoport Left of the Line Muskegon County Clerk Nancy Waters proudly made history Sat- urday morning March 22 when she flung open city office doors and began issuing marriage licenses for same sex couples from across the state. Her decision was applauded as a long overdue response to the rights of gay, transgender and bisexual partners denied marital benefits and the freedom to raise children as they saw fit. Like 250 couples across the state, the 48 quick marriag- es performed in Muskegon were cause for celebration. But not for long. Less than a day after Reagan-ap- pointed U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman in Detroit struck down the states constitutional ban on gay mar- riage, she was forced to stop thanks to an appeal filed by Republican At- torney General Bill Schuette. Despite the fact that the Defense of Marriage Act was partially struck down last year by the U.S. Supreme Court, Schuette was quick to lavish more taxpayer money on his parade of embarrassing expert witnesses ridiculed by the court. Judge Friedmans decision, which made Michigan the 18th state to recognize gay marriage, affirmed the right of two Detroit area women to lawfully wed and adopt their three foster children. In Washington, At- torney General Eric Holder quickly declared that the Michigan marriag- es were legal. But Gov. Rick Snyder, who had recently stripped same sex couples working at state agencies or universi- ties of their domestic partner ben- efits, declared that while the mar- riages were legal they would not be recognized. This is CFO Snyders attack latest attack on the middle class that includes raising taxes on pensions, reducing homestead tax credits, cutting earned income credits, raising public em- ployees health costs and slashing revenue sharing to cities that have been forced to cut back on essential services such as police and fire to avoid winding up under state admin- istered emergency financial manage- ment. Snyder has argued successfully that a constitutional protection of state employees retirement benefits were no longer valid due to the citys bankruptcy. But he has proved less flexible on same sex marriage. The case of Deboer and Rowse vs. Snyder and Schuette is not the first time Michigans Attorney Gen- eral has challenged well established federal law. Schuette was part of a multi- state coalition of attorney generals who unsuccessfully challenged the Patient Protec- tion and Affordable Care Act. Now the right-wing AG has gone back to court again to challenge portions of the U.S. Supreme Court-approved law that is giving hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents reasonably priced medical coverage for the first time in their lives. Ironically, one of his co-plain- tiffs in the original challenge to the Affordable Care Act, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, has dropped his defense of a same sex marriage ban in the former slave state. Like attorney generals in California, Illinois, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Ne- vada, Herring now refuses to oppose the rights of same-sex couples: I cannot and will not defend a law that violates Virginians fundamental constitutional rights. Judge Friedmans ruling on the same sex marriage case brought by DeBoer and Rowse could become a low point in Schuettes political career one with serious consequences for his re-election campaign. Sociologist Mark Regnerus, a taxpayer-funded expert state witness, was ridiculed by Judge Friedman for delivering testimony entirely unbelievable and not worthy of serious consideration. The judge criticized a third-party funder behind this hastily prepared study who clearly wanted a result and Regnerus obliged. Judge Friedman concluded that this supposedly scientific study of- fered at the behest of Schuette was flawed on its face and added that the witnesss own sociology depart- ment at the University of Texas has distanced itself from Dr. Regneruss views.
see MARRIAGE page 17 Roger Rapoport Shame on Snyder. Shame on Schuette. Snyder and Schuette disgrace Michigan by fghting against basic decency for gay couples The antidote: Mark Totten Rick Snyder Bill Schuette 12 By Eric Justian Left of the Line What do we get from newly proposed Republican en- ergy laws? Theft of land rights. Higher fuel costs. More ground water pollution. Future energy insecurity. More potent greenhouse gasses threatening the weather pat- terns that allow West Michigan to be one of the nations most productive fruit growing regions. These are the things our Republican Legislature is trying to ram through into law RIGHT NOW with a new set of pro-fracking bills. Renewable energy, like wind and solar, is the best and most responsible thing Michigan can do to ensure energy security, ensure CHEAPER energy going forward, along with cleaner energy, cleaner air and cleaner water. But Michigans GOP-dominated Leg- islature is insistent on clinging to an ancient and uncertain fossil fuel model that has failed our state and has given Michigan the most expensive and uncompetitive electricity in the Mid- west. Meanwhile, our neighboring states are ramping up renewable energy and seeing a cost savings from it. At the end of Janu- ary Michigans Repub- licans introduced a set of bills that basically expand toxic fracking and oil extraction in our beautiful water-rich state while raising the costs with new, more expensive extraction methods in a desperate attempt to scrape the bottom of the barrel for hydrocarbons. Even stranger, House Bill 4885 lowers Michigans compensation when a private company takes our natural resources out of the ground it actually REDUCES the amount of money Michigan gets for a HIGHLY sought-af- ter commodity. Its beyond any Earthlike economic sense. Unless, of course, somebodys paying you handsomely to sell out the people of your own state. All the other related House bills (5254, 5255, 5274) basically expand the type of crap that can be piped through a pipeline, or for which a corporation can con- demn and claim public property for transporting stuff like that. The specific extra crap in question here is referred to as gaseous or liquid substances, consisting primarily of carbon dioxide, that will be used to produce hydrocarbons in secondary or enhanced recovery opera- tions. Carbon dioxide injection is an attempt to extract even more oil and gas from a well. Think of it this way: you do your hydrofracking and youre limited to how much natu- ral gas you get by the amount of pressure is already in the ground. Once the pressure falls, the wells productivity falls. Bummer. So how do you fix it? Why, you hydrofrack ANOTHER hole on the opposite end of the field, and then pump a mysterious carbon dioxide mix into the ground to basically blow the last crumbs of natural gas toward the well! Thats why its called secondary or enhanced recovery operations. This type of tech- nology should terrify us. Heres why: On one hand our law- makers and their oil company cronies tell us theres plenty of fossil fuel to be had and not to worry, while on the other hand theyre desper- ately turning to tech- nologies that scrape the bottom of the barrel at much higher prices with a much lower energy yield: secondary natural gas recovery and tar sands oil which needs to be heated by other hydrocarbons just to flow. By comparison, just 60 years ago, old Jed Clampett could go shootin at some food and up from the ground would come a bubblin crude. Oil. Texas tea. Easy as that. You used to be able to jam a pipe in the ground and get oil. Not anymore. Now we need to drill miles under the ocean, oil companies are turning to tar sands and oil shale and trying to call it oil, were trying to grasp at the last remaining whiffs of natural gas, all at a higher cost with significantly reduced energy yield. Tar sands give a 6 to 1 yield. That is, it takes one bar- rel of oil to get six barrels of oil. 50 years ago we had a 100 to 1 yield. Tar sands oil takes almost as much en- Drill baby drill GOPs insanity bared for all in new pro-fracking bills Eric Justian Commentary see JUSTIAN page 13 13 ergy to produce it as we get from it. And its nasty, dirty stuff to transport. Just ask the folks along the Kalamazoo River who are still recovering from a massive tar sands oil spill in the Kalamazoo River. These new types of energy and extraction are not signs of a plentiful fuel supply as our Repub- lican leaders want us to think. These are signs of desperation in the face of dwindling supply and rising demand. Were scraping the bottom of the barrel and paying more and more and more for it. Creating laws to build MORE pipelines and use MORE fossil fuels wont solve our energy crisis. It wont. It just makes it come sooner, puts more burden on future generations and at a horrific cost. Cli- mate change is already digging into the Michigan economy and way of life with lower water levels restricting Great Lake shipping volume and erratic weather patterns wiping out 95 percent of some West Michigan fruit crops in 2012 and another close call in 2013. It should be noted that natural gas well failures are releasing far more methane into the atmo- sphere than previously believed. Methane is a greenhouse gas twenty times more potent than CO2 so we may not be getting any traction from reduced carbon dioxide emissions by using natural gas. We may in fact be losing ground. The only responsible thing to do is to move Michigan toward renewable energy: wind, solar, geothermal heat- ing and cooling. Wind power is now cheaper than coal plants, and it rivals conventional natural gas prices. Holland, Michigan, recently signed two power pur- chase agreements for wind power at 4.5 cents per KwH! That is cheap electricity! Add to natural gas prices the higher cost of enhanced natural gas recovery and wind puts them all to shame. Not to mention, we manufacture wind turbine components here in Michigan. And RIGHT HERE in MUSKEGON. It puts our friends and family to work and puts food on their tables. Meanwhile, the price of solar power is experiencing dramatic drops to the point where a national consortium of utilizes called rooftop solar an existential threat to the current utility business model. And Michigan, despite what many may believe, is an excellent place for solar power. If theres enough sun to grow crops theres enough sun to make electricity. If you want to drop the cost of fossil fuels, USE LESS of it. Create LOWER demand. If you want to stretch out our supply of fossil fuels, USE LESS of it. Create LOWER demand. Renewable energy is now a proven source of power, used for decades to reliably energize regions across the United States and growing in use every year. Lets use more of THAT and stop trying to hasten the energy crisis by trying to increase supply of a commodity so clearly dwindling. These new pro-fracking Republican laws are beyond irresponsible. Theyre insane. Natural gas has always been an unreliable and errati- cally priced commodity. Natural gas prices were strato- spheric just six years ago. Through the roof. And now with just a couple years of low prices, Michigan seems to be ready to go All In on natural gas as a power source with plans for more, and very costly, pipelines and nearly billion-dollar gas power plants that will take decades to pay off with no guarantee of continued low natural gas prices. Meanwhile the one thing were absolutely certain of is that renewable energy is already rivaling natural gas in price. And the cost of renewable energy is falling dra- matically by the month while rising in efficiency. The world has changed. Renewable energy technol- ogy has caught up with our needs. There are no techno- logical barriers to widespread use of renewable energy anymore. Now we need our politicians to get with the program, and do whats right and whats best for Michigan: More renewable energy. Eric Justian is a professional writer living near the natural sugar sand beaches and singing sand dunes of Lake Michigan in Muskegon. As Muskegon Critic, he is one of the 50 most-recom- mended active authors at Daily Kos (dailykos.com) and has been a front-page blogger at BloggingForMichigan. org, focusing largely in Great Lakes, renewable energy and Michigan topics. Erics work also appears at TriplePundit. com and LiberalAmerica.org . Eric co-founded a non profit organization dedicated to strengthening independent businesses and diversifying Michigans economy into sustainable industries. JUSTIAN from page 12 Graphic/Occupy Denver 14 From the suburban Chicago Arlington Heights Daily Herald: A Republican candidate who believes that God dictates weather patterns and that tornadoes, autism and dementia are Gods punishments for marriage equality and abortion access won the GOP nomination to challenge Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) in the Chicago-area 9th Congres- sional District. Susanne Atanus, of Niles, Ill., garnered 54 percent of the vote in her (March 18) win over (GOP primary challenger) David Earl Williams III. I am a conservative Re- publican and I believe in God first, Atanus said. She said she believes God controls the weather and has put torna- does and diseases such as autism and dementia on earth as in response to gay rights and legalized abortions. God is angry. We are provoking him with abortions and same-sex marriage and civil unions, she said. Same- sex activity is going to increase AIDS. If its in our military it will weaken our military. We need to respect God. Reported by RIGHTWINGWATCH.ORG: Former Republican Presidential front-runner Michele Bachmann on the Lars Larsen radio show. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is still not pleased with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewers (R) decision to veto SB 1062 late last month. In an interview with conservative radio host Lars Larson during last weeks Conservative Political Action Conference, Bachmann said the downfall of the bill, which would have allowed businesses to refuse service to gay indi- viduals on religious grounds, illustrated how LGBT activists have bullied voters and politicians. Theres nothing about gays in there. But the gay community decided to make this their measure, Bach- mann said. I think the thing that is getting a little tire- some, the gay community, they have so bullied the Ameri- can people, and theyve so intimidated politicians. The politicians fear them, so that they think they get to dictate the agenda everywhere. Bachmann said, however, that liberals likely wouldnt attempt to change the U.S. Constitution to take away religious rights because activist judges and President Barack Obama will simply ignore the document instead. Hes a lawless president whos violating the Con- stitution with every executive order, Bachmann said of Obama. Also reported by RIGHTWINGWATCH.ORG: Former Fox News TV star Glenn Beck chose to de- clare that recent tragedy a stabbing spree at a Penn- sylvania high school by a deranged student had more ominous implications. BECK FROM HIS OWN LIPS: Pray. Pray. Pray. I know with everything in me that God lives, that God loves us, that God doesnt punish us. We punish ourselves by going against universal prin- cipals. We end up going down this road. That is not God mak- ing somebody stab somebody. That is because we have be- come disconnected from uni- versal principles. The hunger, and dare I say it, starvation, we will face in the coming years will not be a punishment from God. It will be an acceptance of principles that are wrong. That are just wrong. God didnt punish the people in Zimba- bwe. He didnt punish the people in the former Soviet Union. He didnt punish people where theyre starving to death because theyve embraced Marxist principles. Thats not a punishment. This is a blessed land. Theres no reason why we dont have energy, all the energy we need. There isnt a reason we dont have all the clean water we need, all the clean air we need all the food that is required. But we are now doing things that go against The contents of Other Side of the Line may be ofensive to some of our readers, but we believe you really need to read exactly what the extremists of the right wing are saying in public. Only by peeking under the rock can you see their true agenda. see OTHER page 15 For your pleasure: A selection of assorted nuts Susanne Atamus Michele Bachmann Glenn Beck photo/Greg Skidmore 15 natural law. And because of that, we will pay a very heavy price. Finally, what would a bag of assorted nuts be with- out Sarah Palin? Heres the right wing tea party queen, another GOP presidential hopeful, at the recent National Rifle Associa- tion convention in Indianapolis: The former half-term governor of Alaska accused the Obama administration of adopting counterterrorism policies that coddle adversar- ies. Come on. Enemies, who would utterly annihilate Amer- ica, they whod obviously have information on plots, to carry out Jihad. Oh, but you cant offend them, cant make them feel uncomfortable, not even a smidgen, she said. Well, if I were in charge, they would know that waterboarding is how wed baptize terrorists. Palin also objected to any efforts to rein in the NRA- fueled weapons mania that organization promotes 24/7: Do you know why those clownish little Kumbaya- humming fairytale-inhaling liberals want to be tough all of a sudden and control your guns? Its cuz guys like (U.S. Sen.) Al Franken (D-Minnesota), and (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid, (D-Nevada), they are not satisfied with just taking your money and your job, your truck and your property and your rights, your health care - they didnt want to just stop at that. OTHER from page 14 Why are young Americans today destined to bring about the largest political shift in 50 years? (page 29) What were the Boston Tea Partiers really protesting? (page 9) Alexander Hamilton was never president. What achievement earned him his place on our $10 bill, and why have we forgotten it? (page 47) What does the film Ferris Buellers Day Off have to do with the decline of the American middle class? (page 89) Why cant our government seem to do anything right anymore? (page 133) What can you do to make a difference? (page 167) We The Future Order online: SeanMullally.com ` About RIGHTWINGWATCH.ORG RIGHTWINGWATCH.ORG is a great web site to see Republican crazy in all its glory. Rightwingwatch. org is affiliated with People for the American Way, and is dedicated to monitoring and reporting on the activities of right-wing political organizations. Their researchers monitor dozens of broad- casts, emails and websites, and use their expertise on right-wing movements to analyze and distill that information for the general public. Sarah Palin 16 Democratic candidate for the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners, District 10. Gated Community Governor Rick Snyder is a GCG a gat- ed community governor. Too elite to live in the governors mansion in Lansing, he resides in a gated community in Ann Arbor where his daughter attends a posh private school. At taxpayer expense, the governor is chauffeured round-trip to Lansing every day. This aloof, privileged lifestyle is reflected in Snyders governance. He refuses to relate to ordinary people. The governor rushed to declare Detroit bankrupt and put city em- ployees and elderly pensioners at risk in federal court. While Snyder could have legally shielded pen- sioners from financial ruin, he sided with banks. He did not wish to slow down the bankruptcy process. Snyders choice of Kevyn Orr, a bankruptcy attorney, for Detroits Emergency Financial Manager, is proof that the governor planned bankruptcy from the start. This cold, heartless action undermines the Michigan Constitution and jeop- ardizes the individuals Snyder has sworn to serve. It is time to show Snyder the door and to elect a servant of the people, Democrat Mark Schauer! Bob Bird Holland Thank you, Left of the Line! Thank you for what you are all doing with Left of the Line. I read the first issue and feel hope stirring in my heart. We have a strong and dedicated group of liberals in this area. To- gether, we can well make a differ- ence. Lisa Fox Muskegon The Comatose Kid rides again
Gov. Snyder is The Comatose Kid and not The Comeback Kid. The Nerd must be in a deep coma in his Gated Community to think that Michigan is living in prosperity. Are the following signs of prosperity? Emergency Financial Managers dictate in 12 cities and townships and in 6 school districts At least 56 public school dis- tricts are in deficit Detroit, Michigans largest city, is in the throes of bankruptcy with city retirees fearful of losing their pen- sions and health benefits The Detroit Institute of Arts, a world class museum, worries that its treasures will be sold to appease creditors One out of every four children in Michigan (half a million) are living in poverty Michigan is last in per-capita spending on roads and bridges Wake up, Gov. Snyder! Wake up, taxpayers! The only groups benefit- ting from Snyders management are corporations and the rich! Vote for Democrat Mark Schauer for governor in November! Mark is an experienced legislator in tune with the needs of Michigan families! Bob Bird Holland LETTERS from page 3 Democrat Sarah Howard is challeng- ing a Republican incumbent for Michi- gans 30th State Senate District. Howard will face incumbent Sen. Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, in the November election. The 30th District includes all of Ottawa County as well as Sparta Township and Grandville City in Kent County. Howard mentioned education, eco- nomic growth, equality and the environment as key issues for her campaign. Until recently, Howard was a partner at a Grand Rap- ids law firm, where she represented individuals, nonprofit organizations and companies of all sizes. Working with many and diverse clients from the business community has given me a background that helps me understand the challenges businesses face and has prepared me to find solutions to these challenges, Howard said in a news release. Howard also spoke of her experience as a mother who appreciates Michigans long tradition of supporting and properly funding a strong public education system. Howard was listed in the Best Lawyers in America for commercial litigation in 2013 and 2014. She is a 1994 honors graduate of Mount Pleasant High School, a 1998 honors graduate of Western Michigan University, and a 2001 honors graduate of University of Michigan Law School. Howard lives in Grand Haven with her husband, Kevin; their two young daughters, Thia and Clara. Sarah Howard seeks 30th State Senate District Sarah Howard Turn 2 Blue events launched by Vanderstelt Democratic U.S. Congressional District candidate Dean Vanderstelt is attempting to turn the district blue. The Vanderstelt campaign recently launch a series of events to raise awareness and to work collaboratively with other Democratic candidates within the 2nd Congressional District, The event series is called Turn 2 Blue, ref- erencing the number of the 2nd U.S. Congressional District and the goal to turn the district from a Re- publican (red) represent- ed, to a Democratic (blue) represented district. In addition to the event series itself, the campaign has introduced the Twitter hashtag #turn2blue. 17 people to believe I had ties to Iraqi terrorists? They think that if they throw enough mud at good can- didates, Democrats will become discouraged and stay home from the polls. So the first job of each of us who cares about the edu- cation of our students is to ignore the mud-throwing and make sure we and all of our friends and family get to the polls to re-elect for Collene. But in these days of stiff partisanship, that simply is no longer enough. So make a contribution to Collenes campaign in order to give her the resources to fight back against the mud- slinging. No amount is too small and the maximum is $1,000. If every person who loves public education gave a mere $25, we would have the Republicans running scared in no time. You can also knock on doors for her, take Election Day off to get voters to the polls, bring food down to the headquarters when the election is going at a fever pitch, make phone calls, stuff envelopes. Even liking her FB page and that of other Dems can boost our chance to retain that seat. The 91st District race is one of the most important battles liberals and progressives can fight in this upcom- ing election. Victory means we have a chance to take back the House. Defeat means the Republicans will have the means to continue to destroy public education, and hurt our neighbors and friends. Will you stand with me and fight to re-elect Colleen Lamonte?
Mary Valentine is a former Democratic state represen- tative for the 91st District in Muskegon County, where she served two terms. Prior to that, she was a speech patholo- gist in the public schools of Michigan for more than 30 years. Presently, Mary is the secretary of the Progressive Democratic Womens Caucus and the S.S. Milwaukee Clip- per board. Additionally, she is chair of the NAACP political action committee, involved with Citizens to Preserve Public Education, and is a member of the Muskegon Heights Opti- mist Club. Mary lives in Norton Shores with Phil Valentine, her husband of 35 years, and is a proud mom of two adult children and proud grandma of two precious granddaugh- ters. You can contact her at maryvalentine08@gmail.com . VALENTINE from page 8 MARRIAGE from page 11 Responding to critics over the cost of continuing his case, Schuette petitioned the appeals court to fast-track the matter. That motion was denied in April. Meanwhile. Michigans Republican leadership, including its disgraced national committeeman Dave Agema continues to send the wrong message to same sex partners thinking of moving to our state. Unable to marry, receive domestic partner benefits or enjoy full custody of children they are raising together, its easy to see why they would choose to live and work elsewhere other than Michigan. For plaintiffs DeBoer and Rowse, dedicating their lives to raising three foster children, Schuettes action stigmatizes their relationship. And living as second-class citizens, denied the finan- cial benefits received by heterosexual couples, they also run the risk of losing custody of their respective adoptive children should one of them die. Under state law they are not even eligible for surviv- ing spouse death benefits. Perhaps Judge Friedman summed up the weakness of Schuette and Snyders defense best in his opinion that attempts to bring Michigan into the 21st century: In attempting to define this case as a challenge to the will of the people, state defendants lost sight of what this case is truly about: people. No court record of this proceeding could ever fully convey the personal sacrifices of these two plaintiffs who seek to ensure that the state may no longer impair the rights of their children and the thousands of others now being raised by same-sex couples. Shame on Snyder. Shame on Schuette. Roger Rapoport is the author of Citizen Moore and Hillsdale, and is the producer of award-winning movie Waterwalk. Rogers forthcoming feature film Pilot Error is based on his novel about the mysterious disappearance of a French jet in the South Atlantic. Roger and his wife live in Muskegon. Upcoming Events for Collene Lamonte May 25: 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Lost Boat Ceremony with U.S. Sen. Carl Levin. May 26: noon-4 p.m., Fruitport Old Fashioned Days. May 31: 3-5 p.m., Cheese and Chocolate Recep- tion at 2097 Norman, Norton Shores. June 1: Campaign Office soft opening (Grand Opening to be announced) 986 W. Norton, Norton Shores. June 2: 9:30-10:30 a.m., Conversation and Cof- fee at Suzis Village Inn, Fruitport; 5-6 p.m., Conver- sation and Coffee at The Brew House, 255 Seminole, Norton Shores. June 6: 8:30-9:30 a.m., Conversation and Coffee at The Ravenna Round Table, 12396 Stafford, Ravenna. June 7: 10-11 a.m., Conversation and Coffee at The Book Nook and Java Shop, 8726 Ferry, Montague. June 9: Conversation and Coffee at Wolfies Pizza, 420 S. Wolf Lake, Egelston. June 29: Ken Dobson Fund-raiser. July 4: Independence Day July 12: Lamonte Summer Bash at Kruse Park: Fun for the whole family, including the canines! 18 MAY May 21: 5 p.m., Muskegon County Young Demo- crats May Meeting, Muskegon Community College Stu- dent Union. Snacks provided. Special guest is R.O.A.D. May 24, Saturday: 3-5 p.m., 18827 North Shore Drive, Ferrysburg, fund-raiser for Cathy Forbes, Democratic candidate for Ottawa Countys 34th Senate District. Guests should park at Coast Guard Park, 18161 North Shore, Ferrysburg. Volunteers will be available to provide transportation. May 26: 6:40 p.m., Canvas Kick-Off for Sarah Howard, Democratic candidate for 30th State Senate District, Lemonjellos outdoor patio, Holland. May 29, Thursday: 6-8 p.m., Fund-raiser for Sarah Howard, Democratic candidate for 30th State Senate District, at the home of Darryl Fischer and Dan Gleason. RSVP at info@sarahforsenate2014.com for home address and other details. Suggested contribu- tion of $50 to the Committee to Elect Sarah Howard to State Senate, PO Box 911, Grand Haven MI 49417-0911. May 29: 7 p.m., Muskegon County Young Dems Bowling/Mixer, Sherman Bowling Center, 1531 Sher- man, Muskegon. May 31: 3-5 p.m., Garden Party featuring cheese and chocolate with State Rep. Collene Lamonte. Hosted by Joy Fairfield and Branden Gemzer, 2097 Norman, Norton Shores. Tickets: $25.
JUNE June 1-30: Young Dems Call to Action Month to get all young democratically minded people in Muske- gon County engaged. June 8: 3-4:30 p.m., Join Mark Schauer, Demo- cratic candidate for governor, for an afternoon of music featuring Legal Rehab at the home of Marcia Hovey- Wright and Bill Wright, 425 W. Webster, Muskegon. Tickets: $50. Parking is available on Webster and in the lot across Fifth Street. June 18: 5 p.m., Muskegon County Young Demo- crats Meeting, location to be announced. JULY July 7: Last day to register for the August Primary. Details available at local or county clerk offices. C A L E NDA R for a second time in a year. However, as the clock ticked down to the filing date for the August primary, Repub- licans still found themselves without enough votes. As the deadline passed, EAA opponents breathed a sigh of relief. Its still possible the EAA expansion will take place. However, its clear that the pressure being applied through exposing the failings of the EAA has improved the legislation and may, in fact, kill it. This would be a huge blow to Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who has championed EAA expansion from the start. It would, however, be a very positive thing for Detroit EAA students. While they deserve something better, the EAA is decidedly not that something. Chris Savage is the publisher of eclectablog.com, Michigans most widely read progressive blog. His work has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and in The Nation magazine and has been featured by numerous other nation- al media outlets. He lives in Dexter with his photographer wife Anne C. Savage. Chriss blog handle Eclectablog is famous on the Daily Kos web site dailykos.com for its pen- etrating looks at the destruction wrought by Republicans on our state. AUTHORITY from page 7 19 MEMORIAL DAY TO THANK TO HONOR TO REMEMBER Left of the Line Vietnam Veterans Memorial 20 Left of the Line "...ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." John Fitzgerald Kennedy 1961 The Challenge The Response Were working on it, one congressional district at a time. Left of the Line 2014 Contact us at P.O. Box 1710 Muskegon, MI 49440 Or email us at: leftofthelinellc@gmail.com Bless your liberal hearts! We need your support donations are always welcome, or buy an advertisement. Rates are cheap now, but just you wait!