Never gonna happen… Michigan Republican House member Tom McMillin who is on the House Education, Financial Liability Reform and Regulatory Reform committees is someone with whom I rarely agree. His attacks on education, in particular, make him one of the most reviled Republicans in the House. However, he has introduced legislation in this session and in the last session that […]

He was depressed don’tchya know [Photo credit: RTAmerica | Wikimedia Commons] John Pike, the UC-Davis university police officer who painted a line of seated, subdued students participating in an Occupy protest received a workman’s compensation payment last week to the tune of $38,059. Apparently, he was depressed and suffering from anxiety after receiving death threats for his inhumane treatment of […]

The Michigan legislature: bought and sold by corporate money Today at the Michigan House of Representatives, members of Represent.US and Restore Our American Democracy (ROAD) staged a demonstration, dumping hundreds of fake $1,000,000 bills from the gallery onto the House floor. One of those who threw the bills was Josh Silver, director of Represent.Us. “Woefully inadequate or nonexistent campaign finance, […]

Borrowing from Peter Barclays to pay Paul UBS and Bank of America As the trial to determine Detroit’s eligibility for Chapter 9 bankruptcy begins today, Emergency Manager and bankruptcy specialist Kevyn Orr has found a way to ensure that banks are paid off before the tens of thousands of retired city employees with modest pensions earned through their years of […]

We don’t blame you, Governor. We’d hide that, too. [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] With the announcement that Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is closing down the secretive NERD Fund without disclosing its donors, questions remain as to WHY he is keeping the donors secret. Considering that Charlie Secchia is the fund’s president, it’s possible […]

Who better to discuss education issues than the Teacher of the Year?! I am honored and exceedingly pleased to announce Eclectablog’s newest contributor, Michigan 2013-2014 Teacher of the Year Gary Abud, Jr. I normally introduce new contributors with an interview but Gary and I have already done an extensive interview (which you can read HERE.) Gary and I first connected […]

If it was such a good thing, why hide the donors? [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] WXYZ is reporting that Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is closing the shadowy, secretive slush fund — the “NERD Fund” — that was used, until last week, to pay the salary of his confidant and advisor Richard Baird, as […]

Corporate officials “can’t decide whether they want to close it or to keep it going” I wrote last about the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan back in August. At that time, there was evidence that radiation was seeping into the Pacific Ocean with the potential for much more contamination on the horizon: TEPCO has been pumping the water into […]

This is what happens when you elect people who hate the government to run the government Whether it’s the Tea Party Nation, TeaParty.org, the Tea Party Express, the Tea Party Patriots, or any number of the myriad local tea party groups across the country, their message is the same: We hate president Obama Shrink government and lower our taxes. “TEA”, […]

It’s all so much easier to govern when you stack the deck [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] This whole Republican shutdown thing is just so frustrating to Michigan governor Rick Snyder. Thing is, he has the solution. What’s amazing is how simple it is: Elect huge Republican majorities in both houses of Congress and […]

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 […]