Would you rather keep cleaning off oily ducks or stop the oil spill? Yesterday, at a press conference in Flint, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder unveiled a plan titled “A Special Message from Governor Rick Snyder: Public Safety”. You can read his Special Message in its entirety HERE (pdf) and an Executive Summary HERE. I’m ambivalent about his proposals. Michigan has […]

It just goes on and on and on and on Lots of news to cover today. Make sure you click through to the jump page if you’re reading this from the front page of Eclectablog. Stand Up For Democracy coalition delivers 226,637 petition signaturesYesterday, the Stand Up For Democracy coalition and Michigan Forward delivered well over the 160,304 signatures needed […]

Take that! And THAT! Ingham County Circuit Judge William Collette is on a roll. Yesterday he delivered two rulings that set Michigan Republicans back on their heels. First, he ruled that an obscene and blatant power grab by Oakland County Republicans is unconstitutional. An Ingham County judge on Wednesday struck down a controversial state law that changed the way Oakland […]

Millionaire Faux-Moderates Unite! Rick Snyder isn’t the county’s least popular governor, anymore. But his anti-democratic embrace of the Emergency Manager law and the forthcoming “Tax Bomb” of 2012™ have put him on edge, reluctant to go full Scott Walker by signing the “Right to Bust Unions” legislation that may hit his desk. This isn’t the time when you imagine the […]

Penalizing struggling schools solves what exactly? The Detroit Free Press has an article in today’s edition titled “Rick Snyder’s push to tie school funding to performance still needs a scale”. They quote Governor Rick Snyder from last April: “In my 2013 budget message, I will be proposing that school districts receive a bonus beyond the per-pupil state foundation allowance for […]

This is becoming an every day thing… John Conyers & Rev. Charles Williams confront Gov. Rick Snyder in Washington, D.C.While Governor Rick Snyder was in Washington, D.C. yesterday, giving testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Education & the Workforce Committee, he was confronted by Congressman John Conyers and Rev. Charles Williams II about Public Act 4. U.S. Rep. John […]

President schmesident Michigan Governor Rick Snyder snubbed President Obama during his visit to Michigan last Friday. Instead of attending the speech at the University of Michigan, Governor Snyder instead gave a speech in Grand Rapids at the Michigan Press Association (MPA) convention. He also didn’t greet the President when he arrived in Michigan on Thursday night. [W]hen he got the […]

Warning, Warning! Danger, Will Robinson! Michigan Governor Rick Snyder took the unprecedented step of sending a personal letter (pdf) to the parents of the Highland Park school system. Dear Parent,As a parent of a Highland Park School District (HPS) student, you are probably aware of the dire financial situation that exists in HPS. Over the past few weeks, together with […]

Rick Snyder is the master of the “fake concession”. He takes money away from something, gives a little back and then paints it as a “concession”. It’s not. He did it on the Earned Income Tax credit in late April: Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s proposed budget eliminates the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) which helps the working poor, especially those […]

After reading a number of disparaging comments on the Facebook page of First Shift with Tony Trupiano, aimed at the organizers of Michigan Rising (formerly known as the Committee to Recall Rick Snyder, CRRS), I thought it would be a good idea to dig deeper and sort out truth from fiction. I have a piece up today at A2Politico titled […]

Last night was the second State of the State address by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. Pundits around the state are weighing in on how shallow it was, with no specifics or new initiatives announced. Before I get into my analysis, it’s worth noting how difficult the Republicans made it for me, my wife Anne and Christine Barry from Blogging for […]