Man, I’m glad our Republican legislature and governor don’t have better things to do than making illegal abortions illegaler. Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill this week banning a type of late-term abortion. The legislation was approved last month by the legislature and mirrors a federal ban on the practice, called partial-birth abortion by opponents of the procedure, that was […]

NOTE: updated to correct info about Sen. Joe Hune, Rep. Pete Lund and the House & Senate versions of the bill. Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance is the GOP’s current target for reform. In what can only be described as a gift to auto insurance companies, they are looking to remove the requirement for unlimited lifetime coverage for victims of auto […]

It’s not like Mitt Romney was counting on Michigan for any sort of support already. As I said before, if Mitt Romney wins the GOP nomination, he should probably just skip Michigan after his New York Times editorial called “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” back in 2008: It will be interesting to see if Romney dares to show his face in […]

Yesterday, Senate Majority Floor Leader Arlan Meekhof introduced SB 729. This bill makes Michigan a “Right to Work (for Less)” state BUT ONLY FOR TEACHERS. This is the concept first floated by Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville last month. To remind you, here’s a transcript from the Off the Record show where he first floated it: Tim Skubick: Right to […]

A federal judge in Michigan today smacked down a new Republican-passed law that will throw tens of thousands of Michiganders off the welfare rolls with little notice, temporarily halting its implementation. A federal judge today accused the state of “sleight of hand,” and halted plans to end welfare benefits to nearly 41,000 Michigan residents. U.S. District Judge Paul Borman determined […]

Reporting by the Livingston County Press & Argus shows that Michigan schools will take hit of over a half billion dollars under a new plan by Michigan Republicans to eliminate the state’s Personal Property Tax (PPT). The elimination of a state tax on business furniture and machinery would further cut funding for Michigan’s public schools, state and school officials said. […]

Yesterday at their two-day state convention in Detroit, Michigan AFL-CIO members elected Karla Swift as the organization’s new president. Swift replaces Mark Gaffney who led the group for 12 years. Karla Swift (pictured right with UAW president Bob King in Lansing), is a long-time organizer for the International Union, the UAW and for various community groups. Most recently she was […]

Not surprisingly, there is a huge push to “Buy Michigan” to help our local economy these days. For example, there is Buy Michigan Now, BuyMichiganProducts.com, Buy Michigan First, and Think Michigan Made. With all of this, I was shocked to see this on my parking ticket last weekend: Click for a larger version Really, Ann Arbor? You’re outsourcing the processing […]

I’ve been on vacation with twelve of my wife’s family members in town so the blogging has been light. Normal blogging resumes this week. Here’s an update of what’s been happening in my fair state. Remember when Republicans took over Congress in Washington, D.C. and they reversed Nancy Pelosi’s “Green the Capitol” effort just to be dicks? Michigan Republicans are […]

The Committee to Recall Rick Snyder announced this morning that they have failed to gather enough signatures in the amount of time allotted by the Michigan Constitution to place the recall of Rick Snyder on the ballot. It is with a measure of sadness that we announce that the bid to recall Gov. Rick Snyder will come up short in […]

You know what I hate? I positively detest the phrase “union thugs” or “union goons”. It implies this organized group of people willing to harm others to make sure they get their way. When you look at what Republicans are doing to unionized teachers in Michigan, you realize that when Senate Majority Floor Leader Arlan Meekhof says making our state […]