Yesterday, Gov. Rick Snyder participated in a one-hour call-in show on Michigan Radio. The show was hosted by the incomparable Rick Pluta who did an excellent job of selecting questions from the Michigan Radio Facebook page, Twitter, emails, and actual phone calls. When Gov. Snyder tried to weasel out of answering a question, Pluta did a good job of pushing […]

For the past few weeks, I’ve been going out twice a week to knock doors for Pam Byrnes, the Democrat running to unseat Tim Walberg, the current Congressman for Michigan’s 7th District. Last week, while speaking to one woman, I asked her, “Can we count on your support for our Democratic candidates this year?” Her response was, “Of course. I’m […]

In June of last year, I was contacted by someone who works for the state government who told me a few things about Richard Baird, the man who shared office space and a phone number with Gov. Rick Snyder but, at the time, was paid off the books by the so-called NERD fund which was funded by secret financial contributors. […]

Yesterday I wrote about Gov. Snyder’s new campaign ad called “Numbers” in which he crows about being an accountant and whines about not getting credit for “laying the groundwork” for Michigan’s mythical recovery. In that video, Snyder appears in a t-shirt in front of a hilly, tree-lined road in perfect condition talking about “the Road to Recovery”, a sharp contrast […]

Richard Baird is the kind of guy you only hear about when he makes a mistake. That’s because he likes to operate behind the scenes, pulling strings, manipulating people, and using his power to get his way. Whether it’s secret meetings to bring back school vouchers with Gov. Snyder’s “Skunk Works” project, potentially illegal lobbying while working in the state […]

Governor Snyder’s reelection campaign released a new ad today that is about as puzzling as his previous ads. He has abandoned his frogman suit and creepy leering at the camera, instead appearing in a t-shirt. He starts the ad by telling us that he’s an accountant as if that should give us comfort when it comes to his political and […]

As part of the passage of a new law that did an end-run around citizen efforts to raise Michigan’s minimum wage to $10.10/hour over time, today Michigan’s minimum wage rises to $8.15/hour for non-tipped workers. The minimum wage for tipped workers will be 38% of that starting today, as well. Still, a new report by the United Way shows that […]

Gotta love a headline like this: “Schauer edges ahead of Snyder, 45% to 43%, in new governor race poll”. Mark Schauer is one of the most patient, methodical politicians I’ve ever seen. In my interview with him last fall, we had this exchange: Eclectablog: One of the things that I’m hearing from folks on my blog and elsewhere online is […]

If you go to Rick Snyder’s Facebook page, you’ll see a picture of him smiling smugly under the banner “Michigan’s Comeback Kid”. Putting aside the fact that “comeback kid” actually refers to a person who has come back from some personal trauma, something our Governor has not done, the suggestion that Michigan is somehow roaring back to economic prosperity under […]

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all… Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer breaks down a child’s play set to remove it from a flooded Royal Oak basement, courtesy photo Yesterday, Democratic candidate for Governor Mark Schauer got his hands (and feet) dirty helping a Royal Oak resident clean up after the epic flood that flooded their basement. From […]

Yesterday, Michigan Governor Snyder compared a hole in the roof of his $1.1 million “lake house” mansion (one of two mansions he owns) to the devastating impacts of the recent historical flood in Detroit. I’ve been through a lot of things like that, Frank. We just recently had holes in our roof from storm damage to our lake house. We […]