Daily Kos is the most widely read political blog on the planet and, according to Alexa, the 515th most highly trafficked site in the USA. So, when they make an endorsement, something they don’t often do, it rings loudly throughout the progressive blogosphere. Yesterday, Daily Kos took the unusual step of endorsing Mark Schauer for Governor of Michigan because, as […]

Yesterday at the Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder did an about-face on his position regarding civil rights for members of the LGBT community. His actions or, rather, lack of actions on behalf of the LGBT community are well-known so the abrupt change is cause for considerable skepticism. Snyder spelled out his new-found interest in LGBT […]

Seriously, this is getting ridiculous MIRS has a damning report out this week about further examples of pay-to-play politics in the Snyder administration. According to their reporting, the Dickinson Wright law firm received a $225,000 contract with the state in July of 2013. The contract was signed by Attorney General Bill Schuette and former state Treasurer Andy Dillon. A week […]

Peters, Totten: Hit your opponents on Obamacare

If you are watching basketball and the play is constantly at one end of the court, you have a pretty good guess who’s winning, right? (HINT: not the team that’s spending all its time defending). The same thing goes for hockey, soccer, football…and communications.

When Chris interviewed me when I started writing here he asked about the mistakes I see progressive communicators make, and I answered that playing defense instead of offense is one of the biggest ones. I see too many candidates and advocates spend their time defending against attacks, trying to justify to the public why their views aren’t wrong, rather than going on the offense against their opponents and forcing them to explain the ways they are out of touch with American values.

Hallelujah! Photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog The nearly 300 same-sex couples who were married last Saturday in Michigan will have their marriages recognized by the federal government. The Snyder administration has said that they will NOT recognize them or give the couples the benefits afforded heterosexual married couples even though they believe the marriages are legal. The […]

She and her husband found insurance for just $227/month. What are you waiting for? 2014 enrollment ends March 31. Dawn Erina is frustrated with all the lies she’s heard about the Affordable Care Act (ACA). That’s because she knows first-hand what a difference having affordable health insurance can make in someone’s life. Her husband, Leonard, lost his job last year. […]

Pretzel logic at its finest This afternoon Governor Snyder acknowledged that the nearly 300 same-sex marriages that were performed last Saturday are legal. He then said his administration won’t recognize them. With respect to the marriages, we believe those are legal and valid marriages. The stay being issued makes it more complicated. Because of the stay, we won’t recognize the […]

12 million success stories and counting… You have to admire Ted Cruz’s honesty. Dude wants to repeal Obamacare and do pretty much nothing about the nearly five million uninsured Texans, except point to their bootstraps. He’s proud that his state rejected Medicare expansion, which could have covered about one million of his constituents. He does not like the ACA in […]

“We are on it…” This morning the Michigan Democratic Party released emails obtained through a FOIA request suggesting that Richard Baird, Governor Rick Snyder’s “Transformation Manager” who was once paid from the New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify (NERD) Fund, intervened on behalf of Governor Snyder’s cousin George Snyder to ensure he was protected from budget cuts in 2011. The […]

Republicans on the wrong side of history yet again Governor Rick Snyder is refusing to recognize over 300 same-sex marriages that took place on Saturday. None of the rights and privileges extended to heterosexual married couples will be given to these newlyweds as Gov. Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette pander to their homophobic base in an election year. Unfortunately […]

Wasting taxpayer money to appeal to a homophobic Republican base Anne and I spent an incredibly emotional day in the offices in Washtenaw’s and Oakland’s County Clerks today, watching hundreds of same-sex couples getting married. It was a unique experience in both of our lives, one we’ll never forget. We’ll have a full report tomorrow with lots of great photos […]