Author: Eclectablog

Republican bill would repeal state income tax & blow an $8.3 billion hole in the state budget

Republican bill would repeal state income tax & blow an $8.3 billion hole in the state budget

Wait. What??? As I wrote about a month ago, Republican House Representative Bob Genetski has a solution to Michigan’s budget problems: blow an $8.3 billion hole in it by repealing the state income tax. Well, the bill has been introduced: House Bill 4898. Here is the part that eliminates the tax: HOUSE BILL No. 4898 July 18, 2013, Introduced by […]

Read more ›
With four years of a downward spiral, will Rick Snyder even run for another four as governor?

With four years of a downward spiral, will Rick Snyder even run for another four as governor?

“I tried to do stuff” isn’t really a platform, is it? [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] I find it a bit puzzling that Rick Snyder hasn’t yet confirmed that he is running for governor in 2014. Most people didn’t know about his 2010 candidacy until he ran the now-famous “one tough nerd” ad during […]

Read more ›
Some Good News: US Court of Appeals sends Emergency Manager suit back to lower court to decide constitutionality issues

Some Good News: US Court of Appeals sends Emergency Manager suit back to lower court to decide constitutionality issues

Well, this is pleasant news Earlier this year, public employee retirees from Pontiac filed a lawsuit to reverse a decision by Emergency Financial Manager Lou Schimmel to cut some of their health care benefits, increase their deductibles, and reduce their pensions. They said it was a violation of federal law regarding the impairment of contracts. In June, a district court […]

Read more ›
Detroit News prints Koch brothers-funded Franklin Center anti-union op-ed about Netroots Nation coming to Detroit

Detroit News prints Koch brothers-funded Franklin Center anti-union op-ed about Netroots Nation coming to Detroit

Rewriting history to blame unions for Detroit’s crisis is offensive and ludicrous

As I announced earlier this year at the Netroots Nation conference in San Jose, California, in 2013 the conference will be held at the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit. This will be an incredible shot in the arm for the city as thousands of progressive organizers and organizations come to Detroit for several days to share ideas and strengthen their relationships. It will also be a tremendously energizing moment for the many Democratic campaigns that will be in full swing next summer as we head into the final months of the 2014 election cycle.

This clearly has corporatist, Republican-supporting groups freaked out. They want to keep Michigan in the hands of their well-funded Republican legislators for as long as possible and the thought of losing the House or, even worse, having corporatist poster child Rick Snyder removed from office must give them cold sweats at night.

As part of their response, the Virginia-based Koch brothers front group the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity wrote an opinion piece for the Detroit News titled “Netroots nation comes home to the unions’ roost”.


Click through where I unpack the myriad lies and the blatant anti-union propaganda in this offensive op-ed.

Read more ›
Cleveland Indians fans chant “Detroit’s Bankrupt!” at last night’s baseball game

Cleveland Indians fans chant “Detroit’s Bankrupt!” at last night’s baseball game

Stay classy, Cleveland

Not much to say about Cleveland Indians fans chanting “Detroit’s bankrupt!” during their game with the Detroit Tigers last night other than it was in incredibly poor taste and truly disrespectful to the hundreds of thousands of Detroit residents who have to deal with this catastrophe.

Class it up a bit, eh, Cleveland?

Video after the jump.

Read more ›
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Team Eclectablog at the North Macomb County Dems meeting TONIGHT!

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Team Eclectablog at the North Macomb County Dems meeting TONIGHT!

Spreadin’ the Eclectagospel… If you are in the Macomb County area, Anne and I will be speaking to the North Macomb County Democratic Club this evening. During the talk, we’ll be showing a 30-minute slideshow of Anne’s amazing photos and she’ll have her historic Obama photomosaic posters on sale, as well. The event starts at 7:00 p.m. at the UAW […]

Read more ›
Detroit Emergency Manager Orr painting a much bleaker picture than reality suggests

Detroit Emergency Manager Orr painting a much bleaker picture than reality suggests

Detroit ruin porn from the Emergency Manager??? One of the most widely reported statistics about Detroit, thanks to Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, is that it takes, on average, 58 MINUTES FOR THE COPS TO ARRIVE OMG OMG OMG!!! It’s all over the news, Stephen Colbert had fun with it, and it’s giving people everywhere comfort in the fact that over […]

Read more ›
Detroiters have fun (and trouble) with write-in candidate names in yesterday’s mayoral primary

Detroiters have fun (and trouble) with write-in candidate names in yesterday’s mayoral primary

Heh, heh… Yesterday’s Detroit mayoral primary saw write-in candidate Mike Duggan come out on top with 46% of the vote (unofficially) and Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon getting around 30% (also unofficially.) The best part, though, is some of the names people wrote in. You can see the full list HERE. Here are some of the most comical examples: Mike […]

Read more ›
Attention Michigan environmentalists: Coal Ash Chronicles needs your stories/info about SS Badger coal ash dumping

Attention Michigan environmentalists: Coal Ash Chronicles needs your stories/info about SS Badger coal ash dumping

Four TONS of toxic coal ash are dumped into Lake Michigan every time it sails The S.S. Badger is a ferry that runs across Lake Michigan from Ludington, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. It is an old and outdated vessel that burns coal for fuel. Every day that the S.S. Badger makes its trip across Lake Michigan and back, it dumps […]

Read more ›
Remember the Fukushima nuclear disaster? It’s STILL leaking radioactive water into the ocean.

Remember the Fukushima nuclear disaster? It’s STILL leaking radioactive water into the ocean.

Corporate malfeasance that harms the planet is not exclusively American It’s been two and a half years since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant complex in Japan began spewing radioactive material into the air, land, and sea after it was destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami. Since that time, much of the world has turned its attention elsewhere with most […]

Read more ›
New polling commissioned by GOP-led PR firm still shows marriage equality making gains in Michigan

New polling commissioned by GOP-led PR firm still shows marriage equality making gains in Michigan

Even with a Republican skew, public opinion on marriage equality is still gaining ground Lambert, Edwards, & Associates, a PR firm led by Republican Jeff Lambert, released results last week from a poll they commissioned in late July that covered the topic of marriage equality in Michigan. Despite using a questionable data set, the results still show marriage equality making […]

Read more ›
Quantcast
Quantcast