Not that this is any surprise but Michigan Republicans are poised to make sure that schools, counties, cities and the state itself do not offer domestic partner benefits to their employees. Michigan cities, counties, schools, universities and the state itself would be prohibited from offering domestic partner benefits to the live-in companions of their employees under legislation narrowly approved by […]

I’m reading former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm’s new book A Governor’s Story in preparation for a review I’ll be writing for its release in a couple of days. I came across a paragraph which reminded me why Mitt Romney should probably just skip right over Michigan if he were to win the nomination. He should probably skip over Michigan trying […]

The Detroit Tigers won the American League Central division title for the first time since 1987 and are going to post-season play for the first time since 2006. Good news for Detroit. Good news for Michigan. By the way, when did they change their logo from this: to this? Answer: never. The bottom one is on their caps only. Both […]

The Sugar Law Center is requesting that Michigan Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman recuse himself from anything related to their lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager Law: Lawyers fighting Michigan’s tough new emergency manager law want a Michigan Supreme Court justice to recuse himself from the case because his wife represents the government in a […]

I used to adore Michael Moore. I still like his “documentaries” mostly. But him, as a person who speaks for ‘liberals’? Ummm…not so much. Dude totally does not speak for me. To wit: I voted for the black guy and what we got was the white guy. Shut up, asshole. Seriously. Just shut the fuck up. H/T Angry Black Lady

I was taking a gander at one of the Republicans’ latest bits of anti-Obama pablum, a report called “Broken Government: How the Administrative State has Broken President Obama’s Promise of Regulatory Reform” (pdf). In it, the very first job-killing regulatory move they decry is described thusly: The removal of the opt-out provision in the EPA lead paint rule is a […]

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how Governor Rick Snyder has asked the Michigan Supreme Court to intervene in a Sugar Law Center lawsuit on behalf of 28 Michigan citizens, challenging Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager Law. Snyder asked the Court to expedite the process and make an instant decision, avoiding the discovery process and fact-finding that takes […]

An event took place this past week that didn’t get much attention but shows us that a lot happens in the White House that we never hear about. Efraim Halevy, an Israeli intelligence expert and former head of the Mossad spoke in New York about the recent uprisings in Cairo, Egypt. He tells the story of three Israelis who were […]

The state House passed a bill today that would prohibit schools from deducting union dues from teachers’ paychecks. The bill doesn’t say they don’t have to provide this service, it says they are prohibited from providing this service. Why? It’s definitely not a cost-saving measure. School administrators agree that the cost to schools for providing this service to teachers is […]

The city councils of two of Michigan’s major cities have weighed in on the repeal of Public Act 4 and both are in support. More accurately, the Flint City Council is in support of putting it on the ballot for voters to decide. The Detroit City Council voiced more full-throated support of the repeal. Here’s the scoop on Flint: The […]

I have a new piece up at A2Politico where I look at the Michigan Republicans attacks on teachers in our state. I also look at how, although teachers are fighting back, politically-speaking, they are also working hard to make things better for our schools, particularly the ones facing the biggest challenges. Teachers unions are also working to help poorly-performing districts […]