Ingham County Treasurer Eric Schertzing released an internal poll today showing him within striking distance of Republican Mike Bishop. Schertzing is down just 5 points, 42-37, in a poll with a 4.9 point margin of error. In the same poll, when respondents were read “a balanced series of positive messages about both candidates”, the two are tied at 43-43. This […]

Pam Byrnes, the Democratic candidate in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District received a key endorsement of her race to unseat Tea Party Caucus member Republican Tim Walberg. This morning was endorsed by the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce who call her “a champion of women’s economic priorities”. Here’s the endorsement statement from Margot Dorfman, CEO of the U.S. Women’s Chamber of […]

When Rick Snyder came into office, Michigan had the nation’s 5th highest unemployment rate. After nearly four years of his relentless positive Republican action, guess where we’re ranked now? Yup: 5th. That number doesn’t tell the full story either. The only reason we’re ranked 5th instead of 4th or less is because so many Michiganders have left the job market. […]

On October 8th, the fourth season of the FX hit TV show, American Horror Story will begin. However, you don’t have to wait until October to experience the real American horror show of corporatist governors that put corporate interests ahead of working families. People in states like Michigan get to “enjoy” that every day. Today, AFSCME is releasing a series […]

NOTE: With the impending election, trying to keep up with all of the news is like drinking from a firehose and, with a day job and other activities I’m involved in, I simply don’t have time to do an individual blog post for everything that is going on. I’m considering doing a “grab bag” like this one every day or […]

The scandals just keep piling up More evidence has emerged that being a business mogul associated with, a relative of, or even hired into the Snyder administration gives you some perks not enjoyed by others. You might, for example, have contracts with the state tossed your way like Snyder’s cousin, George Snyder. You can impact legislation that benefits you and/or […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

The national media has finally figured out what our Chris Savage has been saying all year — Republicans never wanted Terri Lynn Land as their candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan. Avoiding debates, skirting the press, and making no scheduled public appearances isn’t her strategy. It’s a reaction to self-destructing after just a few questions from the press during a […]