Our political process was tested in 2020 in ways that it has never been tested before.  With the outbreak of COVID-19 nationwide, election administrators were forced to come up with creative ways to make sure voters could cast their ballots safely, while trying to avoid large gatherings at polling places, wherever possible. Election infrastructure and processes had to be updated […]

Steven Greenhouse on Twitter: @greenhousenyt Buy Steven Greenhouse’s book Beaten Down, Worked Up HERE. Steven Greenhouse at The Prospect: ‘Everyone in the Community Is Cheering Us On’ Steven Greenhouse at the Los Angeles Times: How workers at one Amazon warehouse could change the union landscape Karen Weise at The New York Times: Pushed by Pandemic, Amazon Goes on a Hiring […]

If unions didn’t make workers lives better, corporations wouldn’t mind if you joined one. You know the basic story of labor in this country. Unions used to represent as many as 1 in 3 private sector workers. That number is now just 1 in 16. And as union membership has fallen, the share of income sucked up to the richest […]

In the past few weeks, Republican Congressman Tim Walberg (MI-07) has made public statements about being “cancelled” — the latest GOP buzzword for being held accountable by your constituents — that suggest that he will use his position on powerful House committees to punish the corporate donors who will no longer fund his political campaigns due to his signing onto […]

There is a common convention that sunshine is the best disinfectant. While that does not apply to the COVID-19 pandemic (wearing a mask, washing your hands, using hand sanitizer, and getting vaccinated when you are eligible are the answers there, not sunshine), it does apply to another scourge that has plagued Michigan for decades; one that will hopefully be rectified […]

Anat Shenker-Osorio on Twitter: @anatosaurus Anat’s website: ASOcommunications.com Anat’s podcast: Words to Win By We Make the Future’s new website: WeMaketheFuture.us Molly Ball at Time: The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election Alexander Burns at The New York Times: How Democrats Planned for Doomsday Dante Chinni at NBC News: The GOP is rapidly becoming the […]

I’m seeing a lot of well-intentioned rhetoric lately about the importance of good ventilation in schools to mitigate the spread of Covid in school classrooms, with the best advice being to “just open a window,” and “use a simple box fan to circulate exhaled air.” The example shown was of a “real classroom” with an entire wall of windows, a […]

In Washtenaw County where I live, the COVID-19 infection rate of Black residents is 13%, about the same as the percentage of Black residents int the county (12.3%). However, of the people who are hospitalized, 27% are Black and Black residents are 23% of those who die from virus. Worse yet, statewide, less than 5% of the people who have […]

Nearly two months ago, the federal government made billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds available to the states. Michigan is in line for over $5 billion in relief funding, including $2.1 billion to re-open schools in our state. However, so far, none of that money has been allocated and, if its not used by the end of March, we […]

I really tried to see “both sides” of this “reopen the schools” debate for the longest time…I know how hard it is to try to get anything done with little kids at home in normal times–multiply that by 100 during this pandemic. And I get the frustration that comes with trying to juggle work, bills, child care, and all the […]

This past weekend, Michigan Democrats pulled off a remarkable feat: they held a statewide convention to choose leadership for issue caucus groups, Congressional District organizations, and the top spots in the Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) itself completely remotely. The event went remarkably smoothly. MDP staff were present in the various meetings to assist with voting and other procedural issues that […]