A fool and his money…

How does this make sense? Aetna Insurance company inadvertently revealed that it has donated $10 million to two groups, the US Chamber of Commerce and the American Action Network in 2011.

Both groups are actively fighting the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”.) But the insurance industry LOVES the ACA? Why? Because the individual mandate part of it ensures them a giant pool of money.

Oops.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you! (Applause.) Thank you, everybody. Good afternoon, everybody. (Applause.) It is great to be back in Cleveland. (Applause.) It is great to be back here at Cuyahoga Community College. (Applause.) I want to, first of all, thank Angela for her introduction and sharing her story. I know her daughter is very proud of her — I know […]

It’s all fine until it happens to you

As Republicans across the country move toward privatizing absolutely everything that isn’t nailed down, one Republican Township Supervisor in Michigan is decidedly NOT happy about the privatization of a prison in his municipality.

Details after the jump.

Oh, grow up.

Michigan House Representative Lisa Brown was banned from speaking on the floor of the state House today. Why? Because Michigan Republicans are afraid of vaginas.

The the terrifying and unconscionable act of verbal vaginaism that got her banned after the jump (video and SO much more.)

Halle-freakin-lujah Information is just coming out but various news sources are reporting that the Michigan Court of Appeals has declined to convene a special 7-member panel to review the correctness of a 30-year old decision regarding “substantial compliance” of referendum petitions. Because of this, for now at least, the referendum to repeal Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager law, WILL […]

Stop it. Adults are trying to run for president.

Late last month, Mitt Romney sent staffers to disrupt an Obama campaign event where David Axelrod appeared and had them shout, scream, and (I’m not kidding about this) blow bubbles to interrupt Axelrod’s speech.

Today, they are at it again.

We’re all in this together When will we face the fact that no one will ever cost us more jobs than Wall Street did in 2008-2010 and that no one will ever kill more Americans than the 45,000 who die every year for lack of insurance? Our enemies are corporate greed and those pretend that such greed is patriotism. It’s […]

Energized for the work ahead

This was my first year at Netroots Nation. I was one of the Netroots Nation staff photographers, and feel very privileged to be included in such a talented group. My first experience with Netroots might have been quite different if I had just bought a ticket and gone. I tend to be a little shy in those kinds of settings. I would have gone to the talks that interested me, hung with people I knew and maybe spent more time on my computer than I needed to. I would have had a great experience, but being a staff photographer enabled me to experience it in a unique way and it has inspired me to write this as a prologue to my clearer voice, my photographs.

Photos after the jump.

Over-achievers or show-offs? How about rock stars?! In a stunning display of the power of labor unions in Michigan, supporters of a ballot proposal to enshrine collective bargaining rights in the state constitution today turned in over twice as many signatures as they needed to but the measure on the November ballot. The group, Protect Our Jobs, needed less than […]

Hard to stop a freight train The Michigan House Republicans voted to pass one of the three anti-choice, anti-women bills that make up the omnibus package described as the most regressive legislation of its kind in the country. A deeply divided Michigan House on Wednesday approved new regulations for abortion providers after passionate floor debate on the issue. House Republicans […]

Ahhh…so that’s how it all got started Long ago (August of last year) in a galaxy far, far away (here in Ann Arbor, Michigan), I wrote a piece for another website that has since gone down the memory hole. In that piece, I interviewed a rising twitter sensation that went by the name of Pete Nicely or LOLGOP. That interview […]