I slipped out of the country for a few days’ vacation in Mexico this past week and was pleased to learn upon my return that the EAA expansion bill has not yet been passed. What I have heard is that the Republicans pushing this legislation are only one vote short or that they may, in fact, now have enough and […]

Yes, this is the best Republicans have to offer Chris Christie’s Bridgegate scandal has not been shut down and it’s only getting closer to the governor. Questions about his administration’s willingness to inflict traffic on taxpayers and a tangled web of conflicts of interest involving the governor’s associates at the Port Authority remain unanswered. Now, reporting by The Nation‘s Lee […]

He’s one of the 17 million Americans eligible for financial assistance to make coverage more affordable. Find out if you are, too — before the March 31 deadline. Michael Paul Goldenberg has lived without health insurance since 2009 — almost as long as he’s had type 2 diabetes. The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based part-time math teacher and consultant lost his insurance […]

SAVE THE DATE! On Wednesday night, I’ll be moderating an issues forum organized by the Plymouth and Canton Democratic clubs. The panelists are an all-star cast: Karla Swift, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO David Hecker, president of the American Federation of Teachers of Michigan Emily Dievendorf, executive director of Equality Michigan Libby McGaughey, Vice President of Planned Parenthood Advocates of […]

Global climate change, global schlimate change The day before the Dexter Tornado hit Dexter, Michigan on March 15, 2012, Anne and I were installing a new garage door opener in shorts and t-shirts. Swarmed by mosquitoes, we were forced to slather up with bug spray because it go so bad. The next day, after hitting a record-breaking 75 degrees, we […]

Yesterday we heard from a faculty member about the Education Achievement Authority “public forum” held on the campus of Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In that account, we learned that the forum was little more than a staged promotional event for the EAA. Today, we hear from David Chapman, an organizer with the EMU student group Students for Ethical […]

Republican Governor Rick Snyder is spending an enormous amount of effort trying to convince Michigan residents that he has increased school funding. In reality, it’s true. The state of Michigan is spending a bit more now than when Snyder took office. But that’s only because he includes temporary federal funding as part of the Stimulus spending legislation sent to states […]

Republican governors face the same challenge Democratic senators do. Indubitably, the odds are against the Democrats retaining the majority in the Senate this year. Democrats must defend all the seats they won in 2008. Seven of those seats are in states Mitt Romney won as he was getting squashed by the president. The GOP need only pick up six seats […]

When you don’t have facts, all you have left is lies Diane Ravitch recently posted a piece titled “The Abject Failure of Michigan’s Educational Achievement Authority”. In it, she highlights the excellent analysis of this year’s MEAP test scores done by Wayne State University professor Thomas Pedroni. Then, in the comments, Pedroni was attacked by someone named Curtis Linton: Diane, […]

I have received word that the House Republicans now have enough votes to pass the bill that will expand the State school Reform/Redesign district (HB 4369). Since the SSRRD is comprised exclusively of the Education Achievement Authority until February of 2015, the bill is essentially an expansion of the EAA. I have also heard the Senate is recessing this morning […]

Thanks to Right to Life and Michigan Republicans, elective abortion is effectively outlawed for women who can’t afford it. This is a historic week for Michigan women, and not in a good way. It’s the week the Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act becomes law, forcing women to buy a separate insurance policy just in case they might need an abortion one […]