Several items of interest to report in Michigan’s 2014 gubernatorial campaign this afternoon. First, another poll out today shows Mark Schauer in a statistical dead heat with incumbent Republican governor Rick Snyder. This poll, by Vanguard Public Affairs, has Snyder up by just 3.2 points with a margin of error of 4 points. In the same poll, Gary Peters is […]

Back when Michigan legislators were debating whether to expand Medicaid in our state through the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), Rick Snyder expressed his concern that our state didn’t “have enough capacity to put essentially 400,000 more people into a medical home model with a primary care environment, as opposed to having them simply go to an ER”. That’s the sort […]

Former state House Representative Paul Scott earned a reputation during his time in office as one of the most anti-teacher legislators in Michigan. In his position as the Chair of the House Education Committee, he oversaw some of the most egregious attacks on teachers since Republicans swept into power following the 2010 election. It was bad enough that, eventually, Scott […]

In 2003, while Terri Lynn Land, was Secretary of State, Michigan received nearly $95 million under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). This money was targeted at improving election equipment, updating election technology, and addressing problems with provisional voting, voting information, statewide voter registration lists, and voters who register by mail. In order to receive HAVA funds, states […]

When Michigan Department of Corrections Director Dan Heyns told Rick Snyder’s Chief of Staff Dennis Muchmore that he was “concerned about [Aramark] losing control of a joint” in FOIAed emails released by Progress Michigan, he was predicting the future, it appears. This morning, the Detroit Free Press is reporting that an Aramark employee has been arrested for bringing drugs into […]

Most of the time, when I read stuff slithering out of the Mackinac Center’s propaganda arm Michigan Capitol Confidential, I just shrug it off with a Reaganesque, “there they go again”. But every once in a while their effluvium is so nonsensical that it makes me read and reread it again to make sure that it isn’t something coming from […]

During an interview with MIRS news service yesterday, Kerry Bentivolio said he is “seriously considering” a run as a write-in candidate in the November General Election to be reelected as the Congressman for Michigan’s 11th District: Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R), one of four sitting members of Congress to lose in a primary this year, says he is “seriously considering” waging […]

This past weekend, the Chairs of both the Michigan Republican Party, Bobby Schostak, and the Michigan Democratic Party, Lon Johnson appeared on Fox 2’s “Let it Rip!” program to discuss the upcoming election. Schostak showed up without a tie, carrying an aloof and almost derisive attitude. He struggled to defend his candidates time and again. In contrast, Johnson was well-dressed, […]

I’ve written plenty about Aramark in Michigan, the company that rakes in piles of your tax money as governments outsource key services to this for-profit corporation. I’ve also talked about how their for-profit prison food contracts have had problems in other states, as well. But Aramark isn’t just in the prison food business. One of the other things they do […]

The election to replace Kerry Bentovolio in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, one of the most absurdly gerrymandered districts in our state, has been one of the most interesting races in the state this election cycle. Multi-millionaire “Foreclosure King” David Trott massively outspent Bentivolio to win the Republican primary. On the Democratic side, Bobby McKenzie, a former Senior Advisor in the […]

This past week, David Dayen wrote a tremendous piece for the New Republic titled, “Michigan’s ‘Foreclosure King’ Is Trying to Win a Seat in Congress”. It’s a remarkable piece particularly because he takes what is an incredibly complex and inscrutable process – home foreclosures – and does a Clintonesque explainer on it. In the process, he details just how unethical, […]