Corporate officials “can’t decide whether they want to close it or to keep it going” I wrote last about the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan back in August. At that time, there was evidence that radiation was seeping into the Pacific Ocean with the potential for much more contamination on the horizon: TEPCO has been pumping the water into […]

It’s all so much easier to govern when you stack the deck [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] This whole Republican shutdown thing is just so frustrating to Michigan governor Rick Snyder. Thing is, he has the solution. What’s amazing is how simple it is: Elect huge Republican majorities in both houses of Congress and […]

I understand the anger at Senator Ted Cruz. The junior senator from Texas — enabled by a feckless Speaker Boehner — has led an effort that has cost the economy at least $24 billion, putting Americans out of work while millions are still in need of jobs. Enabled by a vast network of right wingers funded by billionaires terrified by […]

Not so fast, governor [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] It’s common knowledge that one of Michigan governor Rick Snyder’s top advisors, Richard Baird, is being paid from a secretive slush fund called the NERD Fund. Because Snyder continues to refuse to disclose the donors to the NERD Fund, there’s no way to know what […]

Burning stupid hypocrisy Now that they have performed a near-perfect National Faceplant with the Great Hostage Taking of 2013, the Republican Party has decided to wave the white flag and return to actually helping move the country forward in a spirit of bipartisanship. Hah! Just kidding. In reality, after spending the past three years trying to destroy the Affordable Care […]

A hearty welcome to all of you joining us from GOP.com! I want to clear up a little misinformation you received from your Republican friends regarding rate increases in Michigan. Despite what they told you, the actual average increase in rates being asked for by health insurance companies is a scant 2.2%. Yes, some were higher but there were also […]

The waiting continues… U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman heard final arguments today in the case of DeBoer v Snyder and Schuette which is a challenge to Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban. The case started as a lawsuit by Jayne Rowse and April DeBoer, a lesbian couple who wanted equal custody rights of their adopted children, something not permitted under Michigan law. […]

Thank you, tea party. May we have some more? Photos by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog As horrible as it is, the Republican shutdown of the U.S. government does have a silver lining: it’s positively KILLING Republicans’ chances of being winning in November of 2014. Two new polls show both Pam Byrnes, running for the 7th District Congressional seat […]

You know the GOP is ridiculous. They discovered the deficit they created on the day President Obama was inaugurated. They ran against Medicare reforms that they then adopted in their budget. They shut down the government then demanded negotiations they rejected 19 times. They spent much of the this useless government shutdown yelling at people for things they shut down […]

The height of GOPocrisy Michigan Republican Mike Rogers chairs the House Intelligence Committee and recently said the Republican shutdown of the federal government “is putting America’s national security at risk”. “Removing government funding is impacting intelligence staff which is making our nation less safe,” Rogers’ spokeswoman Kelsey Knight said Thursday. “He believes shutting down is putting America’s national security at […]

As I wrote about last month, the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, Michigan Center for Election Law, and Common Cause Michigan held a conference on election and campaign finance reform in Traverse City last Friday. Although I was unable to attend, my good friend and blogging pal Amy Kerr Hardin was there and put together a comprehensive report. At the request […]