A couple of weeks ago, I published an essay titled Betsy DeVos and the Koch brothers must be so proud: Michigan teacher salaries down 16% from 2009. The title is pretty self-explanatory and the bottom line is that there is a very predictable (and predicted) teacher shortage in our state now because of how we have demonized, diminished, and demeaned […]

In what can only be described as some of the best news I have heard this year, particularly regarding Michigan, a three-judge federal panel declared many of Michigan’s Congressional, State House, and State Senate districts to be unconstitutional. Their decision (which you can read HERE) was unanimous: The “predominate purpose” of the redistricting plan approved by the GOP-led Legislature in […]

For those of us following the news, each new day brings a bevy of unbelievable and shocking stories… Reports of Russian election meddling! A national emergency (that’s not a national emergency)! Cabinet secretaries wreaking havoc on the environment, education, and human rights! Kids in cages at the border! The Mueller Report! And in the middle of each of these stories? […]

This isn’t just a website. This is a community. Today is the last day of our 2nd Quarter fundraiser for 2019 here at Eclectablog. We try not to do this too often. The fact is, none of here enjoys asking you to send us money. In truth, I am probably the worst fundraiser in progressive politics. But, I am so […]

In times like these, it’s… Screw it. There have never been “times like these” in American history. Yes, we’ve had presidents who were incompetent or narcissistic and who surrounded themselves with like-minded, power-hungry sycophants. And we’ve had Congresses that have abdicated their duty to hold our leadership accountable. But we have never had the sort of confluence of all of […]

Michigan can be the model for turning purple and then red states back into functioning democracies. Your support of Eclectablog can help. Rep. Fred Upton is on the run. In 2017, he single-handedly kept Obamacare repeal alive with the “Upton Amendment” that made House Republicans more comfortable with gutting protections for Americans with pre-exisiting conditions. In 2019, he’s playing up […]

Every time the Republicans who run Michigan do some new incredibly regressive thing, I hear it from several people: “WHY DON’T YOU JUST LEAVE?” When Republicans imposed the most draconian, anti-democratic law on our state — our infamous “Emergency Manager” Law — I heard it. When Republicans passed a huge tax cut for corporations and paid for it by raising […]

I’ve got issues. We all do. For me, it’s all about public education. It’s what I’ve dedicated my professional life to, and I have pretty strong feelings about supporting public schools, teachers, and students, and protecting the institution of public education from attacks by persons like Michigan’s own Betsy DeVos. Your issue may be affordable health care. Or making sure […]

Michiganders tried. We REALLY did. We TRIED to warn America about Betsy DeVos. We tried to tell the country that she is the epitome of everything that is wrong about the corporatist and dominionist approach to the destruction of public education. And nobody was more outspoken about her and her horrid goals than the writers here at Eclectablog. We’ve written […]

America is in big trouble these days. It’s not just that we have a narcissistic liar “leading” the country. It’s that our elected officials are unwilling to hold Donald Trump and his band of merry grifters accountable for their un-American policies and actions. Accountability. That’s the foundation upon which our republic is built. Elected officials and other leaders must be […]

Most Americans are happy with their current insurance, but they may have no idea what it is costing them Let me start with some truisms. America cannot go on being the only rich country on earth that lets tens of millions of its citizens go without insurance or enough health insurance. We cannot go on spending more on health care […]