A great evening’s entertainment for a great cause. In May, I wrote about a terrific independent after-school program in Pontiac called Bound Together. The program provides tutoring in math, reading and reading comprehension three days a week, followed by a nutritious meal. Every other week, there’s also a one-day art group, filling a void left when the Pontiac schools cut […]

Non-problem: solved! Michigan Republican Represenative Mike Shirkey introduced House Bill 4044 last January. The bill’s intent is to ensure that companies selling health insurance on the Michigan health care exchange that was made possible by the Affordable Care Act can sell insurance off the exchange as well. Here’s the bill in full: Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, an insurer […]

It’s the time of year to be thankful After going up for three straight months in a row, June through August, we now have some good news: Michigan’s unemployment rate has flat-lined at 9.0%: It’s an interesting chart. Michigan Republicans and Governor Snyder ensured us that making Michigan an anti-worker right to work (for less) state was going to create […]

Dear goddess, no. Just no. Senator Rand Paul, who has publicly told America that he does not support the part of the Civil Rights Act that forbids businesses from doing things like preventing African Americans from entering their premises, will be in Detroit on December 6th to open the Republican African American Engagement Office. Oh, the irony. Paul told the […]

Who woulda thunk it? In 2012, thanks to Republicans ending the tax break Michigan residents can receive for charitable giving, most people predicted that charitable giving would plummet. It wasn’t a risky prediction, of course. It’s common sense. It was a move made by the GOP to pay, in part, for a massive tax break they gave to corporations. Well, […]

Methinks thou dost protest too much A couple of days ago I reported on a bill Republicans have introduced that requires health insurance providers to tell you what part of your health insurance premium is the result of the Affordable Care Act. As wrote in the piece, this bill requires boilerplate language that the insurance companies must use that says […]

You will know them by the friends they keep Florida Congressman Trey Radel announced yesterday that he’s “taking a leave of absence” after being busted earlier in the week for buying cocaine from undercover police officers. Radel is a supreme hypocrite. Earlier this year he voted for legislation that would require anyone receiving food stamps to be drug tested. No […]

Who could have EVER seen this coming??? A downgrade of the bond ratings of 53 Michigan school districts is proving what charter school opponents have long warned against: charter schools are diminishing public schools’ ability to have stable budgets by siphoning off tax dollars into for-profit corporations. Moody’s Investors Service made this move this week citing “significant fiscal strain related […]

All the world’s a stage. Or at least Detroit will be if Sam White has anything to say about it. Sam White, founder and artistic director of Shakespeare in Detroit, has always had big dreams. This particular dream started with the successful production of Shakespeare’s Othello she produced and directed this summer in Grand Circus Park. But her dreams keep […]

As a perpetual optimist, I’m pretty sure this is the low point for what I consider to be the greatest victory for the middle class since Medicare/Medicaid — the Affordable Care Act. Approval of President Obama and the law are at new lows. Still, as The Washington Post‘s Greg Sargent keeps pointing out, support for repeal is still a minority […]

Who says the media doesn’t report good news? How refreshing to hear a positive story about Obamacare in the national media! The fact that it was my story is just a cool bonus. On Tuesday’s edition of “The Stephanie Miller Show,” Miller read snippets of the story I shared Monday about my great experience enrolling for insurance through the Affordable […]