NOTE: This story has been updated HERE and HERE. Yesterday, in a post that has gone somewhat viral, I reported about how the owner of a proposed tea party charter school in Brighton, Michigan had an attendee, Glenn Ikens, arrested at what they called an “open house” because of his previous opposition to their efforts to be chartered by the […]

NOTE: This story has been updated twice below and in HERE, HERE, and HERE. Over the past few months, I have written about the efforts of a group formerly known as the American Christian Academies to form a tea party charter school in Brighton, Michigan that would use tax dollars to run as a public school. The name of the […]

If Republicans are trying to show people how crucial Obamacare is, King v. Burwell could be the perfect way to do it. The lawsuit that could end subsidies to the millions of Americans in 34 states who purchased insurance through the federal health care exchange will be argued on March 4. But we already have hints of what the impact […]

The annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) gives us all a raw look at how far conservativism has devolved from the days of Ronald Reagan. Instead of continuing down the path blazed by Reagan, conservatives have chosen instead to follow the racist bigotry and worship of all things corporate started by the John Birch Society in the middle of the […]

As Ramona Grigg discussed in her recent guest post “We Need Paid Sick Leave Because Workers Are Humans First“, Democrats in the Michigan legislature have introduced legislation mandating paid sick leave for all Michigan workers. As she wrote, nearly half of Michigan workers are forced to take vacation days or take unpaid leave to stay home if they are ill. […]

With all of the insanity in Michigan’s legislature these days with people like Cindy Gamarat and Todd Courser, I thought it would be a nice break to show that we’re not the only state with Republicans that are … um … “different”. Today I present you with Michele Fiore, a Republican member of the Nevada state assembly. Fiore has a […]

Jeb Bush has gotten an early start on his path to being 2016’s Mitt Romney. And the first non-Jeb to pull ahead of him is Scott Walker (and possibly Ben Carson, too). It’s the perfect time for Walker to have his moment in the spotlight because no Republican politician better reveals the GOP’s true agenda better than the governor of […]

The first bill introduced in the U.S. Senate this session was a bill to compel the federal government to issue a permit to allow the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. This afternoon, President Obama vetoed it. Here is his veto statement: February 24, 2015 TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES: I am returning herewith without my approval S. […]

As Michigan voters decide whether to approve Proposal 1 in May which will raise the sales tax to fund road repairs, a new study out by the University of Michigan Center for Local, State and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) details just how bad things have gotten. The study, done last fall, shows that only 19% of local leaders say their roads […]

If past experience is any indication, some healthcare services will no longer be available. This is the second in a multi-part series on the rise of Catholic health systems and the impact on patient care. You can read the first post in the series HERE. Refusal to treat patients on religious grounds in Michigan has made national news recently, with […]

In the spring of 2011 when I first began sounding the alarm bells at Eclectablog about the undemocratic Emergency Manager legislation that was quickly passed by the newly-elected, Republican-controlled state legislature, I warned that this was not a “Michigan only” problem. I have said repeatedly that Michigan is only the beta testing ground for an agenda and a way of […]