Not much to add to this except that Terri Lynn Land and her handlers are very clearly petrified that someone might get a video of her speaking in public because we all know how well THAT usually goes. No wonder staffers from a Koch brothers front group are saying, “Michigan is a state that’s basically an uphill climb honestly.” Uphill […]

You know we’re in the steely grip of corporatocracy when this happens: West Bay Exploration Company has no plans to cease drilling at the corner of West Delhi and Miller roads northwest of Ann Arbor. The company’s oil rig is in Scio Township, where the Board of Trustees passed a moratorium last week against oil exploration activity. West Bay Exploration […]

This post has been edited to clarify that the fine arts program at Detroit’s Renaissance High School is being saved. Just a week after Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Jack Martin, announced draconian cuts to schools, higher class sizes, a second round of pay cuts for teachers, and the closing of 24 schools, he has changed his mind: After a […]

Back in February, “Crazy Kerry” Bentivolio published an op-ed in the Detroit Free Press expressing his strong support for something called the “Transportation Empowerment Act” (TEA), legislation sponsored by ardent Tea Party Caucus members Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Representative Tom Graves (R-GA). The TEA would do the following: Grant “all authority regarding federal highway and transit programs to the […]

I am excited to announce the latest addition to our team at Eclectablog, my dear friend Tony Trupiano. I first met Tony shortly after he returned to the radio airwaves after an unsuccessful run to unseat Thad McCotter in Congress. Tony’s morning radio show, First Shift with Tony Trupiano, was a progressive breath of fresh air amidst the plethora of […]

For the past several decades, teachers have been able to “opt-out” of their membership in the Michigan Education Association (MEA), the teachers union that bargains collectively on their behalf for good wages, benefits, and working conditions and that is there for them when they are being treated unfairly. During the month of August, teachers that don’t see the benefit of […]

As we enter the so-called “silly season” of political campaigning in the run-up to the general elections, the airwaves are being bombarded with negative ads. Terri Lynn Land and her conservative/corporatist supporters have spent $10 million on ads attacking Congressman Gary Peters, many of which have been debunked by national fact checking groups. Land, who is behind in 16 recent […]

Michigan Teachers and Allies for Change (M-TAC), a grassroots group of teachers and allies working on behalf of public education, is hosting a rally in support of public education this Thursday, August 28th, from 5:30 to 6:30. The event will take place at Liberty Plaza in downtown Ann Arbor. Speakers include Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor Lisa Brown, State Representative […]

Last week I wrote a post titled “Terri Lynn Land’s campaign is a visible demonstration of waste & excess with a $100K truck that gets 8 mpg” about the monstrous, gas-guzzling truck Terri Lynn Land has been driving around the state in. The truck gets less than 10 mpg and retailed for over $100,000. The outrage at the fact that […]

[NOTE: Edited to clarify that the DPS budget was created by the DPS Emergency Manager Jack Martin, not the School Board.] When Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Jack Martin put together the Detroit Public Schools budget for the coming year, it included revenue from a $14.8 million county-wide school millage that did not pass in the August primary election. Because […]

The Sustainability Group, a group aimed at fostering socially responsible investment, along with Walden Asset Management, which offers portfolio management services to socially responsive investors, have been working with Microsoft to encourage it to end its relationship with the corporatist group American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC.) ALEC is responsible for much of the pro-corporation, anti-union, anti-regulation legislation introduced in state […]