You don’t know what you don’t know. That’s the problem.

NOTE: This post has an important update that I urge you to read (after the jump.)

It’s no secret that much of what happens in the Snyder administration regarding Emergency Managers and school funding/operations is secret. WDIV’s Kevin Dietz is reporting on more evidence that has been uncovered and this one is a real doozy. Based on emails procured through a lawsuit filed by Detroit activist Robert Davis, Dietz reports that the governor and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing were discussing who Detroit’s Emergency Manager would be long before any of it was public. They arranged for an office staffer to serve as a go-between in their correspondence, passing messages back and forth through a private email account so that the emails wouldn’t reside on state government servers.

Details with video after the jump.

We didn’t know you cared…

Yesterday, Michigan Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville announced he would introduce legislation that would save the Detroit Institute of Arts art collection from being sold off to help solve Detroit’s budget crisis. While it’s a welcomed move, it would be nice if similar moves would be taken to protect poor folks, union families and retirees in cities with Emergency Managers.

Details and analysis await you after the jump.

This isn’t going away, governor

Retired government employees from both Flint and Pontiac have filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court in Detroit to have Public Act 436 and its predecessor Public Act 4 — Michigan’s anti-democratic Emergency Manager laws — declared illegal under the Bankruptcy Clause and Contracts Clause of the US Constitution, as well as Chapter 9 of Title 11 of the United States Code. The complaint (pdf) rests largely on the argument that these laws favored one set of creditors over others. Namely, they claim retirees and unions have seen their contracts negatively impacted while businesses and banks have gotten away without taking a hit.

Details are after the jump.

A campaign from the 1970s???

This past week at the Mackinac Policy Conference, women with Governor Rick Snyder’s re-election campaign greeted folks with “Peeps” labeled “I’m a Rick Chick” and “One of the Gov’s PEEPS!”. They were also handing out “I’m a Rick Chick” stickers.

It’s been awhile since I’ve encountered the use of the demeaning and derogatory word “chicks” to describe women. Most people have come to realize how sexist and insulting it is.

More after the jump.

Some Republicans will say anything to see the Affordable Care Act fail. The best defense is the truth. Now I’ve heard everything. Well, probably not, when it comes to myths the GOP invents about Obamacare. But this one’s a doozy. On the May 29 edition of The Last Word, I saw Tea Party Republicans leading citizens at a town hall […]

Here it comes again

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is the king of the “fake concession” where he proposes (or actually makes) massive cuts of one kind or another and then later dials it back just a bit and takes credit for making a concession. I’ve written about it HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE in the past.

He’s about to do the same thing with the art collection held in trust by the Detroit Institute of Arts. Click through for more.

The candidate of Trump, Bush and Romney has savaged working families Maine, Pennsylvania and Florida all elected Tea Party governors who didn’t hide their disdain for government. And nearly four years later Paul LaPage (R-ME), Tom Corbett (R-PA) and Rick Scott (R-FL) are among the nation’s most vulnerable governors. Michigan’s Rick Snyder posed as a moderate and won easily. The […]

It takes a community… As the wars the United States is engaged in around the world wind down and our troops come home to great fanfare and welcoming parades, it’s easy to forget that we still have thousands of men and women still serving overseas. These courageous members of the military sacrifice tremendously to help preserve peace across the globe […]

It’s time for Governor Snyder to prove the “tough” part of his self-proclaimed “one tough nerd” persona. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has famously done her share of finger-pointing at President Obama and his policies. But despite her vocal opposition to nearly everything the President stands for, Gov. Brewer has fully embraced Medicaid expansion. It’s the right thing to do for […]

Rick Snyder, your days as “leader’ of Michigan are numbered

This morning former Congressman Mark Schauer filed paperwork to run for governor of Michigan. In his announcement, he said, “We need a governor who will protect the middle class and invest in education to create good jobs for Michigan workers. Rick Snyder has taken our state in the wrong direction. Snyder’s school cuts and higher taxes on seniors and working families are hurting Michigan’s economy. Today I’m taking the first steps to form a campaign for governor. I’m ready to run, I’m ready to work, and I’m ready to win in 2014. It’s time to build an economy that works for everyone, not just the special interests.”

More after the jump.

Why it’s harder to end a war than begin one. This week we found out that President Obama’s policies on drone strikes are tighter than libertarian, anti-drone hero Rand Paul. We also heard a president of the United States make a nuanced, adult and — to many — an unsatisfying case for a course correction on the global war on […]