It’s growing stronger communities, one garden at a time. Spring is finally springing in Michigan, more or less. But at Keep Growing Detroit, gardening season is well underway. You could call Keep Growing Detroit an urban gardening and farming project, but it’s much more than that. Established in 2013 as an offshoot of The Greening of Detroit, Keep Growing Detroit’s […]

We don’t do this very often — it’s a big deal

Regular Eclectablog readers will know that (a) I’ve only brought on a new writer one other time (LOLGOP) and (b) lately Amy Lynn Smith has been guest-posting some dynamite content at Eclectablog. Today I’m extremely pleased to announce that we have brought Amy on as a regular contributor to Eclectablog. This means she will share in blog revenues with me, Anne, and LOLGOP and, more importantly, you’ll get to enjoy her excellent writing on a regular basis.

Amy and I have followed each other on Twitter for quite awhile. However, our mutual friend and organizer extraordinaire, Sarah Burris sent me and email last February saying, “If you ever need someone who is very very well versed in health care policy to write something for the blog [Amy would] be a genius at it. I think she should start blogging in more high profile places. She’s brilliant!”

This connection led to Amy guest posting a few pieces, much of which was about Medicaid expansion in Michigan, something near and very dear to my heart. Amy’s style fits in perfectly at Eclectablog. She brings a unique voice while at the same time fitting into our overall vibe absolutely perfectly.

I’m thrilled to have Amy on the team and I know that you’ll all enjoy her creative content as well. In addition to her writing here, you can learn more about Amy’s professional writing by visiting her website ALSwrite.com and following @alswrite on Twitter.

Our interview is after the jump.

Don’t even get any of that birther stink on you Ted Cruz’s mother was a U.S. citizen when he was born in Calgary. This makes him a “natural born citizen” and eligible to become president of the United States. For this same reason, Barack Obama would be eligible to be president even if he were born abroad — he wasn’t. […]

This is how you get people to actually think

This video is five years old but it just came to my attention and I think it’s got a lot to teach us about communicating with straight people about being gay. It’s important because too many people are against equality for LGBTQ people because the very honestly believe it’s a lifestyle choice, not a characteristic you are born with. While this is absurdly irrational — who would choose a lifestyle where you are shunned, often in physical danger and where your rights are severely limited? — it does inform these people’s opinions on the expansion of rights for the LGBTQ community on things like marriage equality.

Travis Nuckolls and Chris Baker from Colorado Springs went around asking straight people if they thought being gay was a choice. If the person said yes or they weren’t sure, they then asked them very casually, “When did you choose to be straight?” and “Do you think it’s the same for gay people?” As Nuckolls and Baker say on the YouTube page for the video, these interviews “prove that asking the right question can be more important than anything you can tell someone.”

It’s brilliant.

Watch after the jump.

CorporationsFirst

The move by Michigan Republicans to tie teacher pay to their students scores on statewide tests is being portrayed by the corporatist, anti-teachers’ union group StudentsFirst as a system to “reward excellent teachers”. The recently sent out a deceptive email encouraging people sign a petition to support these bills which are simply an effort to depress teacher salaries even further.

Click through to see the deceptive email.

It’s just another end-run around Obamacare that’s almost certain to fail — and could drag Medicaid expansion down with it.

Don’t let the Michigan House GOP fool you. They don’t really want Medicaid expansion in Michigan. They just want you to think they do.

Click through for the full story.

Actions speak louder than words

As Michigan Republicans continue their corporatist agenda of eviscerating the middle class, destroying unions, harming public employees and taking women’s rights back to the middle of the last century, Michigan Democrats are proposing important pieces of legislation that solve actual problems.

The first comes from Representatives Jim Townsend, Vicki Barnett, and Andy Schor. They are introducing a package of legislation designed to reduce gun violence in our state and to increase public safety. A separate package of bills will be introduced by State Representatives Gretchen Driskell, Jeff Irwin, Adam Zemke and state Senator Rebekah Warren that will reverse some of the restrictions Republicans have put on women’s health care, educate women about health care options, support rape survivors and address health care inequities women face.

Details after the jump.

Democrats are working together. Don’t wake me up.

Yesterday education leader John Austin, the President of the Michigan Board of Education and potential candidate for Lt. Governor in 2014, stepped back to clear the way for a gubernatorial bid by Mark Schauer.

Today, another potential Democratic contender did the same. Bart Stupak, former Congressman from Michigan’s enormous 1st Congressional District threw his support behind an as-yet unannounced Schauer candidacy.

His statement after the jump.

Oh, I see how this works

Over the past two years, Michigan Republicans have stripped over a billion dollars from schools and are working to defund them another $825.1 million this year, as well. They’ve also reduced teachers’ benefits and made their ability to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions more difficult.

Now that they’ve done so much to make a teacher’s job so much more difficult, one Republican is ready to make their pay primarily based on student progress. Current law says that teacher pay should be using job performance and job accomplishments as a significant factor. House Bill 4625, introduced by Republican Pete Lund, would make teacher pay based primarily on these factors.

More after the jump.

One more step toward a Schauer gubernatorial candidacy

This morning John Austin, President of the Michigan State Board of Education, announced that he will not run for Governor of Michigan, something he has openly shown interest in over the past six months. Instead, he released a statement throwing his support behind yet-to-announce candidate Mark Schauer.

Click through for President Austin’s statement.

Make yourself heard

As I reported yesterday, the Michigan House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure voted to eliminate the sales tax on aviation fuel. This bill is in addition to House Bill 4539 which if passed, will eliminate the sales tax on gasoline sales in our state. My piece said that this would take $770.1 million out of the School Aid Fund (SAF). However, that amount is only for the repeal of the gasoline tax. According to a statement by State Rep. Brandon Dillon, yesterday’s repeal of the aviation fuel tax will remove another $55 million . That means if both bills are passed, $825.1 million more will be taken from our kids’ schools. This represents over two-thirds of the $1.2 billion Governor Snyder has asked for for road repair.

Click through for more including details on how you can make your voice heard on this issue.