After years of going without or paying steep premiums, he finally has insurance that covers the care he needs. Tom admits he’s made some bad decisions in his life. But signing up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act is not one of them. He contracted hepatitis C after using intravenous drugs for the first time at age 15 — […]

In a 2011 paper published in the journal Nature, Elsa Cleland studied the impact of biodiversity on ecosystems. Her study concluded with this summary: Evidence from multiple ecosystems at a variety of temporal and spatial scales, suggests that biological diversity acts to stabilize ecosystem functioning in the face of environmental fluctuation. Variation among species in their response to such fluctuation […]

Some on the right seemed ecstatic when Rolling Stone disavowed its story about a sexual assault on the campus of the University of Virginia because of discrepancies in the account of a gang rape from a woman named “Jackie.” The article clearly lacked the ethical rigor necessary for exposing a rape accusation to the world. Katie Klabusich called it a […]

This past summer, President Obama issued Executive Order 13672 which will add prohibitions against discrimination based sexual orientation and gender identity in federal contracts. EO 13672 modifies previous Executive Order 11478 by substituting “sexual orientation, gender identity” for “sexual orientation” and Executive Order 11246 by substituting “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin” for “sex, or national origin”. Last […]

Since last week’s hearing on expanding the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) to include the LGBT community, I have been sharing testimony prepared by members of the trans* community that were to be delivered at the State House Commerce Committee hearing. Since not enough time was alotted to hear these personal stories at the hearing, seven of them have been […]

Good thing that no own will ever ask Republicans to explain the best job growth of the last two centuries Cutting taxes for the rich and regulations for corporations are the foundations of conservative economics. But why does the American economy do best when the opposite happens? America’s recovery isn’t great — unless you compare it to the rest of […]

When the final numbers were tallied, the race in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District wasn’t even close. David Trott beat Bobby McKenzie by nearly 16 points, an astonishing feat even in the conservative 11th District. Being the wealthy guy that he is, Trott was essentially able to buy the seat. With the final campaign filings in, we now know just how […]

The table was set, the supporters were there and prepared, and the Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents in Ypsilanti were set to act on a resolution to end their contractual relationship with the increasingly controversial and toxic Educational Achievement Authority (EAA). Though it currently involves only a dozen Detroit schools now, Republicans want to take this state takeover district […]

Over the past two days, I have been sharing testimony prepared by members of the trans* community that were to be delivered at a State House Commerce Committee hearing on expanding the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) to include the LGBT community. Unfortunately, not enough time was alotted to hear these personal stories. You can read them HERE and HERE. […]

Taking the state backward. Again.

Every year, there are around 3,000 kids in Michigan who become eligible for adoption from foster care.

The Michigan GOP would rather these kids stay in foster care than be adopted by loving gay or lesbian parents. In addition to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act Amy has been covering so well, the Michigan House yesterday passed a law giving adoption agencies permission to discriminate against gay or lesbian families in adoption (I’m sorry, allow adoption agencies to “object on moral or religious grounds”). This is even though they receive taxpayer dollars, and even if such an adoption would be in the best interest of the child. …

Lame duck sessions in Michigan since 2010 are more accurately described as “inflamed duck” sessions. Michigan Republicans ram more bills through in a couple of weeks than they do nearly the entire rest of the year. Two years ago, for example, they passed – I’m not making this up – 282 bills during lame duck. So much happens so fast […]