Rick Snyder the MINO: Moderate in Name Only Today, the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club released a scorecard rating Governor Rick Snyder on his record regarding energy, environment, good government and related issues. Spoiler alert: He failed. Miserably. He received a rating of 25%. The Scorecard includes 32 key decisions made by Gov. Snyder on environmental issues including 25 […]

Comeback state? Ferreals? The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its November unemployment numbers and, for the first time since May, Michigan’s number went down. To 8.8%. Almost 2 points above the national average of 7.0%. Here’s how our numbers have tracked the national average since late 2010 (November data not included): You can play with this graph yourself HERE. The […]

Every Friday I’m posting the latest enrollment figures for the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) here at Eclectablog. Full details can be viewed daily at ACASignups.net. I won’t rehash how crazy things have been for me lately. Anyone who’s been following me knows that in the past 10 days I’ve been linked to, cited or featured in stories ranging from Forbes to […]

They think you’re stupid and gullible. Don’t prove them right. In February of 2012, I penned a piece titled “The tax timebomb that explodes in Michigan in 2012 is MUCH worse than you thought”. In it, I showed how Michigan Republicans raised taxes on over half of the people in our state. Worse than that, the brunt of the tax […]

The state is bleeding money because Senate Republicans refused to give Medicaid expansion immediate effect. The Michigan Republican senators who voted against giving Medicaid expansion immediate effect have lost the right to call themselves “fiscal conservatives.” Fiscal cons is more like it, because they only care about Michigan’s financial well-being when it suits their political ideology. Now, courtesy of the […]

Listicle this 2013 was a big — no, a HUGE — year for Eclectablog. Although we had more visitors in 2012 thanks to the presidential election, we experienced tremendous growth in 2013. In May, we brought on the extraordinarily gifted writer Amy Lynn Smith. Her coverage of health care issues and women’s issues has been stellar and she’s brought a […]

Federal sign-off on the “Healthy Michigan” plan puts start date on target for April 1, 2014. It should have been sooner. It should have been easier. But Medicaid expansion is coming to Michigan. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) approved Michigan’s waiver request to expand Medicaid to individuals at 133 percent of the federal poverty […]

Hopefully driverless cars can navigate around potholes Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed legislation last week that will allow driverless cars to be tested on Michigan roads. Snyder released a statement saying that, “By allowing the testing of automated, driverless cars today, [Michigan] will stay at the forefront in automotive technological advances that will make driving safer and more efficient in […]

How the right justifies cutting 1.3 million Americans — including 20,000 veterans — off emergency unemployment insurance The economic case for emergency unemployment insurance is pretty simple. When the long-term unemployment rate is high, offering unemployment benefits to those who have been out of work for six month puts money immediately back into the economy, as there is little-to-no chance […]

More like “Didn’t say it, did it anyway” or “Said it, did the opposite” Eclectameme by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog Discussing possible campaign slogans during his non-announcement of his candidacy last fall, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said, “One that I really do appreciate, that I’ve used in my life is, ‘Said it. Did it.’”. In other words, according to […]

Every Friday I’m posting the latest enrollment figures for the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) here at Eclectablog. Full details can be viewed daily at ACASignups.net. OK, after the insanity of the past few days in terms of both the ever-shifting January enrollment deadline (changing from 12/15 to 12/23 and then 12/24 Federally; ranging from 12/23 to 12/24 to 12/27 […]