Democrats have the people; Republicans have the power For much of this year, I’ve been working on answering the essential question of politics, “How do Republicans win?” How did a Tea Partier who’d never be elected to anything that didn’t involve a homecoming game become governor of Kentucky by a margin of 80,000 votes after promising to take health insurance […]

Republicans in Michigan, including Governor Rick Snyder are bragging to anyone who will listen to them about Michigan’s low unemployment rate. And it’s true. Our 5% unemployment rate is below the national average and at its lowest level since the summer of 2000. What they don’t mention, of course, is that the wages of our workers is perilously low. In […]

According to a Utah judge, foster children are better of with opposite-sex parents and, due to his unfounded belief, has removed the child they had planned to adopt from the home of Beckie Peirce and April Hoagland who are married. “We love her and she loves us, and we haven’t done anything wrong,” Peirce told the Salt Lake Tribune. “And […]

Affordable insurance means better access to preventive healthcare services for everyone, but especially for women. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) isn’t just about making it easier for Americans to buy health insurance. It guarantees coverage for essential preventive services that can help people stay healthy, like annual check-ups and cancer screenings, and for services such as mental health care and […]

Some terrific reporting by John Wisely and Ann Zaniewski of the Detroit Free Press shows that Gov. Snyder’s failed experiment on Detroit school children, the Education Achievement Authority, is still a place where corruption is still a big problem. After former EAA Chancellor John Covington left under a cloud of scandal and corruption, Veronica Conforme was brought in to set […]

They rock In 2012, a group of Washtenaw County organizers from faith, labor, and other community groups came together to work toward improving their community by helping make progress on numerous issues confronting workers and voiceless citizens in Washtenaw County. They eventually dubbed their group the Washtenaw Regional Organizing Coalition or “WeROC”. In November of 2013, WeROC held their first […]

You have to give the group headed up by rabid tea partier Pasquale Battaglia credit; they are persistent. After having their request to charter their tea party charter school denied by Brighton Public Schools, they have turned their attention now to Whitmore Lake Public Schools. The WLPS voted on October 26th to put out a call soliciting a cyber charter […]

Lawmakers don’t belong in the exam room, especially when they’re legislating against safe, legal procedures. Would you want a politician or special interest lobbyist standing in the exam room while you and your doctor discuss the best, safest medical care for you and your family? Of course not. But that’s exactly what some Michigan Republicans are trying to do, especially […]

After legislation to ban straight-ticket voting passed out of the Senate Elections Committee yesterday, the full Senate quickly took it up and passed it last evening. As I mentioned yesterday, voters in Michigan have already shot down the same ban in 2002 when a ballot referendum overturned a Republican law to stop straight-ticket voting. In my piece, I predicted that […]

Right to Life-backed bills would legislate substandard care for pregnant women by making a legal procedure illegal. With their non-solution to road funding as a prime example, Michigan Republicans keep proving they’re not very good legislators. They’d make even worse doctors — especially since none of them have medical licenses. But that’s not stopping them from playing doctor. Legislation that […]

This morning the Michigan Senate Elections Committee voted to advance a Republican-sponsored bill – S.B. 13 – that will eliminate straight-ticket voting in our state. If it becomes law, you will no longer have the convenience of simply pulling one lever, filling in one oval, or punching one chad to vote for all the candidates in your preferred party. The […]