On April 1st, I ran an April Fool’s Day joke post that I titled, “BREAKING: EAA Chief unexpectedly quits to take new job – ‘Screw you, guys. I’m going home.’” This morning the Detroit News is reporting that my parody post was not far off the mark and that this is actually happening – John Covington, Chancellor of Gov. Snyder’s […]

After working until 1 in the morning the previous evening, the Michigan Senate was looking at another marathon session as they tried to tackle road funding and a last minute push to expand the Education Achievement Authority. Although EAA expansion had been considered dead earlier in the afternoon, a group of EAA lobbyists, representatives from their two law firms, their […]

This guest post was written by Sue Browne, Regional Program Manager for the BlueGreen Alliance. On Tuesday at the Michigan AFL-CIO offices in Lansing, labor and environmental leaders called on Governor Snyder and state and local lawmakers to take the lead in crafting a flexible state plan to help Michigan meet its emissions reduction targets, as laid out in EPA’s […]

New legislation is being considered today to expand the state school reform/redesign school district (SRRSD) to up to 50 schools statewide in Michigan. Currently the Education Achievement Authority is the only entity contracted with the state Department of Education to provide SRRSD services. No schools would be permitted to be ordered added to the SRRSD until January 1st of 2015 […]

In general, when you see a car with American flag and bald eagle stickers all over it, there’s also a “Support our Troops” ribbon sticker to go along with them. For some people, nothing says “patriot” like a “Support our Troops” sticker and nobody loves to wrap themselves in that patriotic swag more than Republicans. But, for some Republicans, that […]

A couple of years ago, I met with Michigan State AFL-CIO President Karla Swift to talk about the current state of the labor movement. During that conversation, she asked me what advice I had, if any, with regard to improving the labor movement in Michigan. I told her two things: change the face of labor in terms of people’s perceptions […]

po·lit·i·cal – /pəˈlitikəl/ – adjective: of or relating to the government or the public affairs of a country Updated with video of Rachael Siemen asking her question. Yesterday at a forum at the Michigan House Office Building, the Mackinac Center brought in a representative from another notorious corporatist front group, The Heritage Foundation, to spew propaganda regarding the raising of […]

Back in 2012, Pontiac Emergency Manager Louis Schimmel signed an agreement with Oakland County to manage monies from a substantial HUD grant. That turned out to be a nearly disasterous decision that would have resulted in a loss of upwards of $800,000 per year for Pontiac. Thankfully, Congressman Gary Peters stepped in a saved the day (and the money.) At […]

I’ve received word that a substitute bill to expand the EAA in Michigan is being rushed through the state Senate with a vote to come as early as today. The bill is, according to my sources, being championed by Republican Senator Bruce Caswell with the goal of getting it passed quickly before the Senate goes on it summer break in […]

When the choice is between an incumbent tea partier whose own brother calls “mentally unbalanced” with “serious mental issues” and a corporatist foreclosure specialist, the choice was easy for Mitt Romney. He went for the corporatist leech on the jugular vein of society and predatory vulture banker, David Trott: “As someone who grew up in Michigan and has family currently […]

We’ve been pretty serious on the blog lately so here’s a break from all the political intensity. It’s a pitbull playing chase with a deer. I don’t know who is having more fun, the deer or the dog!