This is what happens when you elect people who hate the government to run the government Whether it’s the Tea Party Nation, TeaParty.org, the Tea Party Express, the Tea Party Patriots, or any number of the myriad local tea party groups across the country, their message is the same: We hate president Obama Shrink government and lower our taxes. “TEA”, […]

It’s all so much easier to govern when you stack the deck [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] This whole Republican shutdown thing is just so frustrating to Michigan governor Rick Snyder. Thing is, he has the solution. What’s amazing is how simple it is: Elect huge Republican majorities in both houses of Congress and […]

I understand the anger at Senator Ted Cruz. The junior senator from Texas — enabled by a feckless Speaker Boehner — has led an effort that has cost the economy at least $24 billion, putting Americans out of work while millions are still in need of jobs. Enabled by a vast network of right wingers funded by billionaires terrified by […]

Not so fast, governor [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] It’s common knowledge that one of Michigan governor Rick Snyder’s top advisors, Richard Baird, is being paid from a secretive slush fund called the NERD Fund. Because Snyder continues to refuse to disclose the donors to the NERD Fund, there’s no way to know what […]

Burning stupid hypocrisy Now that they have performed a near-perfect National Faceplant with the Great Hostage Taking of 2013, the Republican Party has decided to wave the white flag and return to actually helping move the country forward in a spirit of bipartisanship. Hah! Just kidding. In reality, after spending the past three years trying to destroy the Affordable Care […]

A few website glitches aren’t stopping people who want and need insurance coverage — including Republicans. Republicans in Washington were willing to put the global economy at risk, not to mention the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Americans, to cripple Obamacare. They didn’t succeed. In fact, their temper tantrum over the last two weeks seems to have increased the […]

This is the kind of leadership Michigan — and America — needs more of. Let’s have a round of applause for State Representative Sam Singh (D-East Lansing), who was selected as one of twelve rising leaders from across the country to join the NewDEAL. This national network is committed to highlighting innovative ideas from state and local elected leaders who […]

Photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog Here’s a rundown on how our Michigan Representatives and Senators voted last night on reopening the government and lifting the debt ceiling: SENATE Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin both voted “YES” HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Democrats voting YES John Conyers John Dingell Dan Kildee Sander Levin Gary Peters Republicans voting YES Dan Benishek […]

A hearty welcome to all of you joining us from GOP.com! I want to clear up a little misinformation you received from your Republican friends regarding rate increases in Michigan. Despite what they told you, the actual average increase in rates being asked for by health insurance companies is a scant 2.2%. Yes, some were higher but there were also […]

Meet Tom As much as things are changing for the LGBT community, the fact remains that, in Michigan, you can literally be fired for being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. This fact keeps many people in the closet, ruining lives, even forcing some people to take their lives. The Unity Michigan Coalition which includes the ACLU of Michigan, Affirmations, Equality […]

This level of hypocrisy is truly breathtaking Tim Walberg has sent out emails to his constituents twice in the past month bragging about his votes to “keep government running”. On September 20th there was this one: Then, on October 5th came this one: As I pointed out after first one, these weren’t votes to reopen government in any real sense. […]