He was depressed don’tchya know [Photo credit: RTAmerica | Wikimedia Commons] John Pike, the UC-Davis university police officer who painted a line of seated, subdued students participating in an Occupy protest received a workman’s compensation payment last week to the tune of $38,059. Apparently, he was depressed and suffering from anxiety after receiving death threats for his inhumane treatment of […]

The Michigan legislature: bought and sold by corporate money Today at the Michigan House of Representatives, members of Represent.US and Restore Our American Democracy (ROAD) staged a demonstration, dumping hundreds of fake $1,000,000 bills from the gallery onto the House floor. One of those who threw the bills was Josh Silver, director of Represent.Us. “Woefully inadequate or nonexistent campaign finance, […]

Borrowing from Peter Barclays to pay Paul UBS and Bank of America As the trial to determine Detroit’s eligibility for Chapter 9 bankruptcy begins today, Emergency Manager and bankruptcy specialist Kevyn Orr has found a way to ensure that banks are paid off before the tens of thousands of retired city employees with modest pensions earned through their years of […]

The GOP’s ongoing efforts to cripple Obamacare get more bizarre every day. And they’re not working. First, there was the refusal by most Republican-led states to create their own health insurance marketplaces, deciding instead to leave it to the federal government. It was a hypocritical stance given Republicans’ penchant for giving states more control but, hey, anything to get in […]

You’ve probably seen the new Gallup numbers that show that for the first time a majority of Americans want to legalize marijuana: With 58% of Americans supporting legalization, that makes it even more popular than the now very popular institution of same-sex marriage: Both are far more popular than the now unprecedentedly unpopular Republican Party, which is almost as unpopular […]

We don’t blame you, Governor. We’d hide that, too. [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] With the announcement that Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is closing down the secretive NERD Fund without disclosing its donors, questions remain as to WHY he is keeping the donors secret. Considering that Charlie Secchia is the fund’s president, it’s possible […]

Michigan teachers are among the finest in the nation, but the media attention given to public education recently has been far from flattering. The public does not view our teachers in a positive light. From Proposal 2 last fall to failing school districts and emergency managers, it is easy for people to believe that teachers are not living up to […]

Who better to discuss education issues than the Teacher of the Year?! I am honored and exceedingly pleased to announce Eclectablog’s newest contributor, Michigan 2013-2014 Teacher of the Year Gary Abud, Jr. I normally introduce new contributors with an interview but Gary and I have already done an extensive interview (which you can read HERE.) Gary and I first connected […]

If it was such a good thing, why hide the donors? [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] WXYZ is reporting that Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is closing the shadowy, secretive slush fund — the “NERD Fund” — that was used, until last week, to pay the salary of his confidant and advisor Richard Baird, as […]

That advice wasn’t good for consumers. But it sure must have been good for Trott’s business handling foreclosures.

David Trott, chairman and CEO of one of the country’s largest law firms specializing in foreclosure services for the mortgage industry — and a Republican candidate running in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District — has got some explaining to do.

In September 2007, subprime mortgage firms were declaring bankruptcy, other financial institutions were refusing to take on more subprime loans and millions of Americans were at risk of losing their homes. At that same time, Trott appeared on the Michigan TV program “Due Process” and called subprime mortgages “a perfectly appropriate product.”

Yes, David Trott defended subprime mortgages even as the subprime mortgage market was collapsing. That collapse contributed significantly to the larger financial crisis that wreaked havoc on the global economy.

Trott’s statements on “Due Process” make it clear he didn’t see anything wrong with endorsing a product he knew very well would result in even more foreclosures — risking the homes of average Americans while driving more business to his law firm.

Click through for video and more.

Corporate officials “can’t decide whether they want to close it or to keep it going” I wrote last about the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan back in August. At that time, there was evidence that radiation was seeping into the Pacific Ocean with the potential for much more contamination on the horizon: TEPCO has been pumping the water into […]