Without insurance, Mark would have put off the care he needed to save his tooth. Sometimes, it’s the little things. Mark admits he’s not one of the people whose lives have been saved by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare. But having insurance did save his tooth. The 26-year-old, who lives in Portland, Oregon, is a bike commuter because […]

The following essay was written by Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, a Democrat who was reelected to a second term. Prior to serving as County Clerk, Byrum represented the 67th District in the Michigan House of Representatives for three terms. She is renowned for being banned from speaking on the House floor for saying “vasectomy;” for performing what has been […]

What started out as a typical lame duck session where legislative Republicans ram through scads of laws aimed at harming workers, restricting voting access, and benefitting corporations has started to calm down in the waning three days of the current session in Michigan. After backing down from diminishing the retirement benefits of first responders and teachers, it appears that other […]

We all do better when we all do better In a few short weeks, Michigan has fallen from being part of the “blue wall” to a state that some suggest Democrats should give up on in favor of sunbelt states like North Carolina, Arizona and Georgia. Nothing would be more depressing if life weren’t a Golden Corral filled with things […]

If insurance companies are allowed to deny coverage for people with pre-existing conditions as they did in the past, her story could be very different. Sarah was born with a pre-existing condition: a club foot. One of her feet was facing the wrong direction, a birth defect that required two surgeries by the time she was two years old. Surgeons […]

We all know President-Elect Donald Trump is not a big fan of the First Amendment. During the campaign, the Republican complained it has “too much protection” for free speech. He’s routinely targeted journalists at rallies and on Twitter as an intimidation tactic. After winning the election, Trump’s first tweet took aim at people protesting against him, which he whined was “unfair.” A […]

A column written last year by Stephen Mucher, Director of the Master of Arts in Teaching Program at Bard College, has attracted a lot of attention from those concerned about the health and vitality of public education. And for good reason. Mr. Mucher mentions the recent history of campus protests across the country, which he says he has noticed on his […]

Being able to semi-retire and move closer to her parents means being true to the family values that are important to her. When Laura’s parents began struggling with health issues in their 80s, she knew she didn’t want to wait for a “trigger event” — when one of them became seriously ill — to begin spending more time with them. […]

I just finished taping a TV panel discussion for a local cable news show (click here or scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the show) on the nomination of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. The panel featured two pro-Betsy DeVos, pro-charter, pro-choice advocates (the executive directors of the Great Lakes Education Project and the Michigan […]

I saw a tweet by my pal Roscoe Woods, the president of the largest American Postal Workers Union local in the state of Michigan that made my head spin. Here’s the tweet: MI AG says no evidence of voter fraud in 2016 election, Applauds decision to stop recount. MI House attacks our democracy anyway. #resist — Roscoe (@bluelapeer) December 8, […]

The worst of the worst during Michigan’s lame duck – or as I like to call it: inflamed duck – sessions and this year is no exception. Last night, House Republicans rammed through two particularly heinous packages bills. The first is one I have talked about before HERE and HERE. This three-bill package – House Bills 6066, 6067, and 6068 […]