Yesterday at the Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder did an about-face on his position regarding civil rights for members of the LGBT community. His actions or, rather, lack of actions on behalf of the LGBT community are well-known so the abrupt change is cause for considerable skepticism. Snyder spelled out his new-found interest in LGBT […]

There’s something going on that is truly amazing: Rick Snyder is slowly transforming into his Democratic opponent Mark Schauer on major issues voters are concerned about right now. First it was raising the minimum wage. One day he’s saying it would harm the economy and wasn’t important to him. The next day he’s signing legislation into law that is almost […]

This week politicians and politicos from around the state gather on Mackinac Island for the Mackinac Policy Conference. This morning, attendees will receive a copy of the newspaper “The Mackinac Island Tipsheet”, a parody publication published by the Michigan Democratic Party. The Tipsheet has articles with titles like, “Rick Snyder’s Economy Not Working”, “Wall Street Execs, Political Cronies Cash In […]

It’s been more than three years since Rick Snyder took the reins of power in Michigan and, despite having Republicans in charge of both chambers of the legislature along with all of the major administration posts, his favorability is still under 50% with 52% giving him failing grade. Among the data was a question asking how voters would rate the […]

It’s good to be know the king A Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) permit has been issued to Russian steel corporation Severstal this week, allowing the company that DEQ once called “the most egregious facility in the state” to continuing spewing pollutants in Dearborn and Detroit at levels far in excess of state regulations. As I wrote about earlier this […]

Last year, Governor Snyder was asked about revising Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to extend coverage to members of the LGBT community. The fact that it currently doesn’t means that people like me can be fired from our jobs simply because we are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Governor Snyder’s response was, in effect, “it’s not on my agenda” and […]

This is getting ridiculous More revelations are emerging about apparent cronyism by the administration of Republican Governor Rick Snyder. This time it’s benefitting one of Detroit’s most egregious polluters, the Severstal Dearborn steel plant. The Michigan Economic Development Corp., Gov. Rick Snyder’s business-promoting agency, worked for months behind the scenes with one of the state’s most flagrantly polluting businesses as […]

Republican House Jase Bolger is on what appears to be a one-man effort to extort money from Detroit labor unions. He recently laid down a new condition for state support of the so-called “grand bargain” in Detroit, a carefully-crafted and complex agreement that would protect the priceless art collection held by the Detroit Institute of Arts and dramatically minimize the […]

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 […]

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 […]