Last night during his State of the Union Address, President Obama had some fun. You could tell he was feeling freed to be himself since he no longer has to run for office and because, frankly, despite his rhetoric otherwise, there isn’t going to be a lot of “working together” with Republicans. In other words, he doesn’t have to fake […]

I have written before about an effort by a group led by Pasquale Battaglia to get Brighton Area Schools (BAS) to charter his “American Classical Academies” school. This group used to call them “American Christian Academies” before changing the name, and only the name, to avoid being seen for what they are: a tea party influenced school steeped in religion, […]

Ray Holman is the Legislative Liaison for UAW Local 6000 and, for those of you not familiar with this Local, they represent over 22,000 state of Michigan workers that cut a wide path. Their membership, according to their website, “represents workers in every Department in State of Michigan government. We are the nurses, teachers, doctors, probation officers, social workers and […]

Jeb Bush has a Bush problem. He has a Mitt Romney problem. He has a Lehman Brothers problem. But his Jeb Bush problem may be his most telling problem of all. In The New Yorker, Alec MacGillis unravels Jeb’s adventures in education “reform,” which has increasingly become a euphemism for the right-wing’s conjoined agendas of siphoning taxpayer money into corporate […]

Last night during his State of the State Address, Gov. Rick Snyder broke very little new ground. Many of us were happy to hear him support further investments in education and to call for an expansion of civil rights for the LGBT community. One glaring point for me was that Gov. Snyder never once mentioned K-12 education in the part […]

Rick Santorum’s grandfather came to America in 1923 as an immigrant but that fact does not deter him from thinking that we have a big problem in this country that’s “almost as bad” as illegal immigration. The problem, according to Santorum, is LEGAL immigration. According to Santorum, all those legal immigrants coming into America are taking the jobs meant for […]

His medical bills would bankrupt him without insurance, which he might not have been able to buy before Obamacare. Things were looking good for David Wenzel in 2009. He was in the midst of starting his own business, which meant no longer having to work for someone else. But then he got the worse possible news: David was diagnosed with […]

So why did he wait until after the election?

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll is making news with President Obama at an approval ratings 50% for the first time in over a year. Other polls show his rating improving as well. Look at Gallup or Pew. It seems the rise is not just a blip in one poll but consistent across the organizations measuring presidential approval.

The press has noticed and seems to be crediting an improving economy. USA Today, for example, writes, “Good economic news appears to be fueling Obama’s improved ratings in a string of recent polls.”

Today marks the celebration and remembrance of the life and journey of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It took decades of struggle to set aside a day, and then another lengthy campaign to memorialize Dr. King in Washington, D.C., to honor someone this critical and authentically important. Given his great vision and what he did for the Civil Rights movement […]

“The Talk” painting by Michael D’Antuono, reproduced with permission by the artist. As we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Day across the country, artist Michael D’Antuono released his latest painting called “The Talk”. Here’s what D’Antuono has to say about his piece: In honor of Martin Luther King Day, activist artist Michael D’Antuono is releasing “The Talk,” his painting highlighting […]

In a recent article in The Detroit News, tea partier Todd Courser compared himself to the legendary gladiators: “We were not created by the genteel side of Republican politics,” said Courser, a 42-year-old Lapeer attorney. “We were created from the rough and tumble work of gladiators.” It’s a beautifully ironic statement given who the gladiators really were: A gladiator was […]