The height of GOPocrisy Michigan Republican Mike Rogers chairs the House Intelligence Committee and recently said the Republican shutdown of the federal government “is putting America’s national security at risk”. “Removing government funding is impacting intelligence staff which is making our nation less safe,” Rogers’ spokeswoman Kelsey Knight said Thursday. “He believes shutting down is putting America’s national security at […]

As I wrote about last month, the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, Michigan Center for Election Law, and Common Cause Michigan held a conference on election and campaign finance reform in Traverse City last Friday. Although I was unable to attend, my good friend and blogging pal Amy Kerr Hardin was there and put together a comprehensive report. At the request […]

Middle-class Michigan families can watch their taxes increase $50 every second. And they have Gov. Rick Snyder and legislative Republicans to thank for it. For a party that says they want lower taxes, Republicans in Michigan sure like taxing the middle class. During the last legislative session, Governor Rick Snyder and the Republican-led legislature made severe changes to the Michigan […]

They’re trying to turn back the clock to re-fight the 2012 election. Or the Civil War. At first, many of us had trouble keeping track of what the Tea Party GOP wants in exchange for ending the government shutdown and raising the debt ceiling. But now it’s clear: What they’re really after are the same things they’ve wanted since 2010, […]

Will blog for change. You know the scene: you walk by a street performer and something about them makes you stop. Something about their playing is compelling enough to get you to pause your life and listen, even if only for a half a song. Maybe you drop some change or some folding money into their guitar case or tip […]

Where are your actual loyalties, Mr. Schuette? In a Detroit Free Press article yesterday, two legal experts suggest that Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s claim that there is no conflict of interest between his representation of the State of Michigan at the same time he’s defending the rights of retired pensioners in the Detroit’s bankruptcy. Indeed, many people (including me), […]

We Will Make Them Famous And You Will Know Their Names Things are not looking good for the Republican Party these days. Poll after poll shows that they are bleeding support in literally historic fashion. Here’s the most recent Gallup poll: [Image credit: Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog] With the Republican-controlled House of Representatives engaged in a tense, government-shuttering […]

Head, desk. The inability of Tea Partarians to spell words correctly on their crazysigns is legendary. But we now have what might be “The Mother of All Misspelled Tea Party Signs”: [Photo credit: GoodDream | Imgur/Reddit] Michigan contiguous with Missouri, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas? No, of course they meant Mississippi. A state whose two-letter abbreviation is MS. Phew! I’m so […]

One big happy One of the most gratifying things about Eclectablog for me is how many of you are regular readers and, in your own ways, contributors. For example, in the past six months, Eclectablog has had over 625,000 visits from about 445,000 visitors. That means many of you are regular visitors, checking in once a day, once a week, […]

Gee, why would ANYONE be offended by THAT? After several years of rampant vandalism and arson on Devil’s Night (the night before Halloween) in Detroit, Mayor Dennis Archer created “Angels’ Night” in 1995 which enlisted the help of Detroit citizens in the evenings around Halloween to help law enforcement stem the tide. As part of Angels’ Night, city officials have […]

A little blog that grew up I first started blogging at a site called Modblog. It was more of a blogging community than anything and I met some friends there that I still stay in touch with today. That was in 2003, right before the Bush/Kerry election, and the site was called “I’m just sayin’”. I probably had 50 people […]