In the wee hours of the morning today after a marathon 12-hour session, House Republicans, led by House Speaker Tom Leonard, face-planted mightily in an effort to blow a $1.1 BILLION hole in the state budget by reducing the state income tax over the next four years. Their original salvo was to eliminate the state income tax altogether, an idea […]

Less than a year ago, the administration of President Barack Obama issued an historic guidance document instructing school administrators that anti-transgender rules, regulations, and laws are in violation of federal law including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. This guidance was received the full-throated support of U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr., Attorney General Loretta E. […]

It’s a well-worn technique used over and over and over again by Michigan Republicans: send up a trial balloon of something outrageous that even folks from their own party ask “What the hell???” Then, they come back with something slightly less outrageous but still truly outrageous hoping we’ll all fall for the head fake. I call this the “fake concession” […]

My son asked me today on the ride home from his after school jazz band practice if it ever bothered me that persons with less education than I had made more money–a lot more money–than I did. “That’s an easy one,” I told him. “No. Because how much money someone makes has nothing to do with their value in this […]

The costs to replace the lead service lines in Flint is estimated to be north of $50 million. Governor Rick Snyder estimates that it will take $2 billion a year to fix and maintain Michigan’s roads and bridges. Disinvestment in education and our cities has schools being closed and cities on the brink of insolvency. When you add it up, […]

Up until three years, the progressive watchdog group Progress Michigan, held an annual conference called “The Michigan Summit”. However, due a lack of participation and a lack of funding, they were discontinued. This year, thanks to the new progressive energy sparked by the ascension of Donald Trump to the Oval Office, the Michigan Summit is back. “Donald Trump has created […]

This is a serious ‘people should be in the streets with their flaming pitchforks of rage’ moment Here’s where we are at on repeal of the Affordable Care Act: It was supposed to happen on January 20. It didn’t. That’s good. Some Republicans in the Senate are demanding a replacement be passed along with repeal. Republicans can only lose 2 […]

Tomorrow, Friday, February 17, 2017, education activists in Detroit will hold a rally to protest the imminent closure of public schools there. The schools are slated to be closed under a draconian new policy in Michigan. The policy says that poor-performing schools that don’t show progress over a three year period may be shut down. 25 schools in Detroit and […]

Peter Greene, the amazing education blogger at Curmudgucation, broke a story this week that should send a chill down the spine of anyone who values both public education and the separation of church and state. In his piece “The Hard Right’s Planning Document for Education”, he reveals a new report out from the hard right group Council for National Policy […]

The following guest post was written by Ingham County Clerk and former State Representative Barb Byrum. Enjoy. Recently, President Trump assigned Vice President Mike Pence to oversee a special commission to investigate what he believes to be voter fraud. While I welcome this investigation, I believe the resources that will be expended could be better spent on strengthening the integrity […]

Last month, a group formed around The Indivisible Guide in the small city of Dexter, Michigan had their first organizational meeting. Over 150 people showed up. In fact, their “Indivisible Dexter” Facebook page now has nearly 650 people on it. That’s over 15% of the entire population of Dexter. The one question that seems to have this group’s attention above […]