Michigan Progress: Tea Party fails to put health care repeal on the ballot

LANSING – Citizens group Progress Michigan praised the people of Michigan for rebuffing the Tea Party in its attempt to deny health care to more than 1.5 million Michigan citizens who lack health insurance because of the struggling economy.

The Tea Party announced on July 6 that it failed to collect enough signatures for a ballot attempt to repeal important federal health care reforms. Now law, those reforms would expand access to health care for tens of millions of people nationwide and hold insurance companies accountable.

“The people of Michigan deserve full praise for standing up to the special interests and protecting health care reforms that will benefit more than 1.5 million of our fellow citizens,” Progress Michigan Executive Director David Holtz said. “The people of Michigan refuse to fall for the irresponsible and baseless scare tactics of powerful insurance companies and right-wing extremists in the Republican Party, who are the real forces behind the so-called Tea Party.”

At a press conference outside the state Capitol building, tea party leader Wendy Day, who organized the failed petition drive, likened the effort to the first shot in a “war” and stood with two prominent Republican elected officials who vowed to take the federal health care repeal up this year in proposed legislation. Senator Wayne Kuipers from west Michigan and Rep. Tom McMillan of Oakland County also spoke, with McMillan acknowledging that the 150,000 to 175,000 signatures collected by the Tea Party would be used to drive outreach in this year’s election.