NRDC Action Fund, the 401(c)(4) arm of one of the largest environmental organizations in the country, has selected the Top 20 #DirtyDenier$ and are rolling them out over Congress’s summer break. The #DirtyDenier$ are chosen because of they “allow polluters to foul our air by casting dirty votes and accept dirty money.” In the Top 20 are two Michigan Congressmen: […]

This new organization will keep Michiganders informed about legislation that could be hazardous to women’s health. Did you know that women in Michigan have to buy separate insurance for an abortion in case they’re ever raped or have a pregnancy that endangers their health — and that women who buy individual insurance on the private market can’t purchase that insurance […]

Democracy, deschmocracy First it was citizens overturning the majority vote of Michigan citizens to overturn our state’s anti-democratic Emergency Manager law. Then it was rape insurance. Then it was a drive to ban wolf hunting. Then it was the effort to raise Michigan’s minimum wage. In each instance, Republicans in the Michigan legislature decided that it wasn’t appropriate for us […]

I am reposting this as a reminder that there is a rally to support public education TODAY in Ann Arbor from 5:30-6:30 at Liberty Plaza. Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor Lisa Brown will be the headliner. Michigan Teachers and Allies for Change (M-TAC), a grassroots group of teachers and allies working on behalf of public education, is hosting a rally […]

Not much to add to this except that Terri Lynn Land and her handlers are very clearly petrified that someone might get a video of her speaking in public because we all know how well THAT usually goes. No wonder staffers from a Koch brothers front group are saying, “Michigan is a state that’s basically an uphill climb honestly.” Uphill […]

You know we’re in the steely grip of corporatocracy when this happens: West Bay Exploration Company has no plans to cease drilling at the corner of West Delhi and Miller roads northwest of Ann Arbor. The company’s oil rig is in Scio Township, where the Board of Trustees passed a moratorium last week against oil exploration activity. West Bay Exploration […]

In May of 2008, the Republican nominee for president John McCain broke with George W. Bush to support a cap-and-trade system for limiting greenhouse gases, a position that nearly every major Republican thinking about running for president supported at one time. In 2014, there isn’t one major Republican who supports doing anything to stop the heating of the atmosphere that […]

This post has been edited to clarify that the fine arts program at Detroit’s Renaissance High School is being saved. Just a week after Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Jack Martin, announced draconian cuts to schools, higher class sizes, a second round of pay cuts for teachers, and the closing of 24 schools, he has changed his mind: After a […]

Back in February, “Crazy Kerry” Bentivolio published an op-ed in the Detroit Free Press expressing his strong support for something called the “Transportation Empowerment Act” (TEA), legislation sponsored by ardent Tea Party Caucus members Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Representative Tom Graves (R-GA). The TEA would do the following: Grant “all authority regarding federal highway and transit programs to the […]

I am excited to announce the latest addition to our team at Eclectablog, my dear friend Tony Trupiano. I first met Tony shortly after he returned to the radio airwaves after an unsuccessful run to unseat Thad McCotter in Congress. Tony’s morning radio show, First Shift with Tony Trupiano, was a progressive breath of fresh air amidst the plethora of […]

For the past several decades, teachers have been able to “opt-out” of their membership in the Michigan Education Association (MEA), the teachers union that bargains collectively on their behalf for good wages, benefits, and working conditions and that is there for them when they are being treated unfairly. During the month of August, teachers that don’t see the benefit of […]