Seriously, this is getting ridiculous MIRS has a damning report out this week about further examples of pay-to-play politics in the Snyder administration. According to their reporting, the Dickinson Wright law firm received a $225,000 contract with the state in July of 2013. The contract was signed by Attorney General Bill Schuette and former state Treasurer Andy Dillon. A week […]

Spin all you want, Governor. Voters KNOW. Rick Snyder and the Michigan Republicans want you to believe that they have done more to help fund education than any ever before in our state. By comparing what they are spending to what the state spent when we were receiving funds from the Stimulus program that offset prior spending, they show you […]

We’re pleased to announce our first three four five sponsors for the Eclectablog 10-year “Blogaversary” party that’s happening on May 1st, 7-9 p.m. at the Arbor Brewing Company Microbrewery (formerly the Corner Brewery) in Ypsilanti. GOLD LEVEL SPONSORS Michigan Democratic Party AFSCME SILVER LEVEL SPONSOR Michigan Nurses Association BRONZE LEVEL SPONSOR Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan Progress Michigan We are […]

Oh, that’s rich Michigan House Republicans are in a tight spot. With concessions made by every party swept up in Detroit’s municipal bankruptcy and a deal in place that mostly preserves retiree pensions and the Detroit Institute of Arts’ priceless art collection, the only hurdle remaining is the state ponying up $350 million. Given how much money they’ve essentially stolen […]

One of the recurring themes in the conversations that I have had with various teachers and administrators who work or have worked for the Education Achievement Authority is that when financial benefactors or members of our state government came to visit, the entire school transformed. Schedules were altered, often on the fly, to accommodate the visitors’ schedules. Kids ate lunch […]

Dude, are you for real? Keith Crain, editor-in-chief of Crain’s Detroit Business, has an op-ed out this morning titled “Maybe we need a permanent overseer”. The “we” in this case is the city of Detroit. This is not to cast aspersions on our current politicians. But we don’t know how long they will be in office and who will replace […]

We may be at a tipping point It’s Easter Sunday and that can mean only one thing: it’s time for the annual repost of our Peeps® post. Enjoy. Spring came incredibly late to southern Michigan this year so on Good Friday, my wife Anne and I put our kayaks in the Huron River and set out to document the effects […]

What’s say you and him fight? Kerry Bentivolio’s campaign to keep the U.S. House seat he accidentally won in 2014 is looking bleaker and bleaker. His opponent, foreclosure vulturist and corporatist poster child David Trott has over a $1 million in the bank, most of which is from his own personal bank account. Throwing people out of their homes is […]

The best government corporatist money can buy I have confirmation from two independent sources in the Michigan legislature that multi-millionaire Dick DeVos is using the threat of massive financial support for Republican primary opponents of vulnerable Senate Republicans to force them to vote for the bill that would expand the Education Achievement Authority statewide. The same approach was used to […]

I don’t know what happened here. Maybe Republican Governors Association Vice Chair Chris Christie is too busy dealing with his George Washington Bridgegate problem to be doing his job. This morning, the RGA released another attack video on Mark Schauer for supporting a bill that required criminal background checks for nursing home employees, paid for by a small fee on […]

Ken Cuccinelli, former Attorney General of Virginia, has a national reputation for outrageous extremism which he paints himself with as a “morality” suit of clothing. Here in Michigan, our current AG, Bill Schuette, is equally extreme but seems not garner quite so much attention. But the similarities are there. Cuccinelli fought to overturn Obamacare in the courts and lost – […]