Environmentalists & unions – not-so-strange bedfellows Last week in Lansing, Michigan, leaders from labor and environmental groups around the country gathered to show a united front in their opposition to efforts by Republicans in Congress to weaken environmental protections. As John Walke at the National Resources Defense Council wrote about last fall, the drumbeats are incessant: The week of October […]

Board member says review team violated Open Meetings Act Today, newly-minted Emergency Manager Jack Martin had his first day on the job. To celebrate the occasion, school board secretary Robert Davis asked a Lansing judge to issue a temporary restraining order, halting Martin from taking over. A Highland Park school board member is asking a judge to void the recommendations […]

Look out, Indiana! It’s comin’ right for ya! A couple of weeks ago, I told you about Indiana’s slide toward an Emergency Manager law of their own. I have been wondering how long it would take for a state other than Michigan to pursue an Emergency Manager law. The wait is over. This week, a Republican-sponsored bill allowing the imposition […]

Anyone wanna buy a sewer? Lotsa Emergency Manager tidbits to report today. Highland Park schools Emergency Manager takes the reinsAs I reported last Friday, a new Emergency Manager has been appointed in Michigan, this time it’s the Highland Park school district that has been taken over. You can read about Jack Martin HERE. He’s also on the team that is […]

Deport the democrats! Congressman Allen West doesn’t like anyone who disagrees with him and his politics. He doesn’t even want them in the country. This past weekend, he said that President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz should “get the hell out of the United States of […]

Today, on their way from Michigan to Andrews Air Force Base, Press Secretary Jay Carney held a press gaggle. In it, he specifically laid the blame for obstructionism at the feet of Republicans; House Republicans in particular. Question: Some Democrats sometimes get upset when he refers to the obstructionist Congress, and they feel that he’s lumping them in with Republicans, […]

Being a battleground state has its privileges If the internet gods shine their benevolent faces on us today, I’ll be posting live updates from President Obama’s speech in Ann Arbor, Michigan this morning. During his last Michigan stop at the University of Michigan spring commencement, there were so many people uploading to their Facebook pages that I was unable to […]

Happy Birfday! Today is Michigan’s 175th birthday. As a proud, lifelong Michigander, I am so happy to wish my beautiful state a glorious happy birthday. It’s because this state is so beautiful, has so much spirit and is full of so many amazing people that I and so many others will never give up the fight against the powers that […]

Now you’re making me blush First, a big thanks to everyone who has made a donation this week. The support is so very much appreciated. In addition to the financial donations I have been getting, I have received so truly touching emails and comments. I got one yesterday that I would like to share with you. I’ve been reading your […]

This past year, the Emergency Manager of Pontiac at the time, Michael Stampfler signed a five-year contract with United Water to run their water and wastewater treatment systems. The move was said to save Pontiac an astonishing $2.8 million per year. I broke a story that made national news about the fact that, by hiring United Water, Stampfler had hired […]

Out of touch and out to lunch Republican state Senator Jack Brandenburg has an idea with what to do with the budget surplus created by taxing seniors’ pensions, cutting funding to cities and stripping $1 billion from schools: lower Michigan’s income tax. I’m not kidding. A proposal at the state Capitol would cut the Michigan income tax rate to 3.9 […]