[NOTE: Edited to clarify that the DPS budget was created by the DPS Emergency Manager Jack Martin, not the School Board.] When Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Jack Martin put together the Detroit Public Schools budget for the coming year, it included revenue from a $14.8 million county-wide school millage that did not pass in the August primary election. Because […]

The Sustainability Group, a group aimed at fostering socially responsible investment, along with Walden Asset Management, which offers portfolio management services to socially responsive investors, have been working with Microsoft to encourage it to end its relationship with the corporatist group American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC.) ALEC is responsible for much of the pro-corporation, anti-union, anti-regulation legislation introduced in state […]

In 2011, Gary Peters had an effective tax rate of 18.6%. In 2012 it was 18.9% and in 2013 it was 18%. Over that same time period, Terri Lynn Land paid 2.7% (2012) and 2.2% (2013.) Land says her absurdly (and questionably) low rate is due to her charitable donations. In 2013 she claimed charitable deductions of $44,865 on an […]

This Thursday, there will be a rally at the Detroit Courthouse to support marriage equality in Michigan and the 300 same-sex couples who were married in March. Here are the details, via Michigan for Marriage: Join us in Detroit at a rally for the freedom to marry After a federal judge struck down Michigan’s marriage ban in March, more than […]

If you go to Rick Snyder’s Facebook page, you’ll see a picture of him smiling smugly under the banner “Michigan’s Comeback Kid”. Putting aside the fact that “comeback kid” actually refers to a person who has come back from some personal trauma, something our Governor has not done, the suggestion that Michigan is somehow roaring back to economic prosperity under […]

Republicans know they are in deep trouble across our country. Their popularity is plummeting — their “unfavorable” rating is nearly 50% — largely thanks to efforts to stop people from voting, attacks on women and the LGBT community, and for making sure government doesn’t work and then blaming that on Democrats. In response, they have turned to deceptive strategies intended […]

Michigan Democratic Attorney General candidate Mark Totten Mark Totten started his campaign to be Michigan’s next Attorney General in 2013. He’s been one of the hardest working candidates I’ve seen in this election cycle, consistently making the case that our current AG, Bill Schuette, is an extremist that is hurting our state and, through a variety of actions taken on […]

NOTE: this post has been updated HERE. Terri Lynn Land’s website has a page titled “Energy Policy”. On that page, she talks about how things used to be so wonderful in the USA because we had stable energy sources but now those days are behind us. She lists three “Solutions” to this problem. The first one is “Respect the Environment.” […]

After what had been the worst night of unrest in Ferguson, Missouri in response the killing of 18-year old Michael Brown by a police officer, a flurry of statements from politicians on Thursday condemned the aggressive action of the local police. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Justin Amash issued nearly identical statements noting that this is America, not a war […]

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all… Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer breaks down a child’s play set to remove it from a flooded Royal Oak basement, courtesy photo Yesterday, Democratic candidate for Governor Mark Schauer got his hands (and feet) dirty helping a Royal Oak resident clean up after the epic flood that flooded their basement. From […]

It’s not just good for the state budget — it’s good for the health of current and former prisoners, which may help keep them from returning to prison. I wrote more than a year ago about the benefits Medicaid expansion would bring to Michigan, including a boost to the health of Michigan’s citizens and its economy, with $1 billion in […]