Not so fast, governor [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] It’s common knowledge that one of Michigan governor Rick Snyder’s top advisors, Richard Baird, is being paid from a secretive slush fund called the NERD Fund. Because Snyder continues to refuse to disclose the donors to the NERD Fund, there’s no way to know what […]

A hearty welcome to all of you joining us from GOP.com! I want to clear up a little misinformation you received from your Republican friends regarding rate increases in Michigan. Despite what they told you, the actual average increase in rates being asked for by health insurance companies is a scant 2.2%. Yes, some were higher but there were also […]

TMI Former Democratic House Speaker Andy Dillon, appointed by Governor Rick Snyder as the state Treasurer, has resigned from his office to deal with messy divorce that was becoming more and more public as time went on. Dillon, who has also had problems with substance abuse, was recently accused by his ex-wife Carol Owens-Dillon of assault after he tried to […]

Plausible deniability or intentional obfuscation? [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] Depositions were taken in an ongoing lawsuit this week that seeks to determine if the State of Michigan negotiated in good faith with unions before declaring bankruptcy in Detroit. Yesterday, Governor Snyder took his turn and some of the deposition is on tape. One […]

Trying to be nationally relevant, Governor? [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] In what may be one of the nauseating media efforts I’ve seen in a while, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has embarked on an internet tour to lecture Washington, D.C. lawmakers and President Obama on how to “end the gridlock”. He sent out this […]

So proud If you listen to the ad the Michigan Governor Rick Snyder recently released, an authoritarian narrator informs you that Michigan was once number 50. Dead last. He doesn’t actually tell you what we were last at but it’s clear that we were just the bottom of the barrel, the ole Mitten State. “Never again”, says the narrator. Governor […]

Dude, we KNOW the difference between a nerd and a corporatist [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] Rick Snyder has begun his campaign to remain governor of Michigan with a new website, a new video, and repeated statements that he hasn’t announced his candidacy. A website and Twitter and Facebook accounts used by the campaign […]

This must be the “great progress” Donald Trump was talking about… As I mentioned yesterday, Donald Trump was all “Heckuva job, Ricky” on Twitter a couple of days ago, complimenting Governor Snyder on Michigan’s “great progress”. I’m thinking he wasn’t aware that today the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget would be announcing that, for the third month in […]

You’re on a roll, Governor Snyder [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] Governor Snyder has scored the coveted Birther endorsement with this tweet last night from Donald Trump: Michigan has made great progress under Snyder-Calley. @MIGOP is out early energizing the grassroots. Keep it up! #JoinMITeam — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 16, 2013 Every […]

Strike three, governor. You are out. Rick Snyder got some good news in polling this week with an EPIC-MRA poll showing him up eight points, 44-36, over Democrat Mark Schauer. This is a big swing from the 39-38 result from last spring but not entirely unexpected given Snyder’s attempts to seem reasonable and moderate by signing Medicaid expansion into law. […]

An open letter to the soon-to-be-former governor of Michigan Yo Mr. Snyder: Your first campaign for governor was impressively banal. In the heat of a Tea Party year, you promised competence and nerdiness. What you’ve provided is an extremism cloaked by a nearly unprecedented lack of charisma. You’ve been a consistent rubber stamp for the far right as you raised […]