It takes a community… As the wars the United States is engaged in around the world wind down and our troops come home to great fanfare and welcoming parades, it’s easy to forget that we still have thousands of men and women still serving overseas. These courageous members of the military sacrifice tremendously to help preserve peace across the globe […]

It’s time for Governor Snyder to prove the “tough” part of his self-proclaimed “one tough nerd” persona. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has famously done her share of finger-pointing at President Obama and his policies. But despite her vocal opposition to nearly everything the President stands for, Gov. Brewer has fully embraced Medicaid expansion. It’s the right thing to do for […]

Rick Snyder, your days as “leader’ of Michigan are numbered

This morning former Congressman Mark Schauer filed paperwork to run for governor of Michigan. In his announcement, he said, “We need a governor who will protect the middle class and invest in education to create good jobs for Michigan workers. Rick Snyder has taken our state in the wrong direction. Snyder’s school cuts and higher taxes on seniors and working families are hurting Michigan’s economy. Today I’m taking the first steps to form a campaign for governor. I’m ready to run, I’m ready to work, and I’m ready to win in 2014. It’s time to build an economy that works for everyone, not just the special interests.”

More after the jump.

Why it’s harder to end a war than begin one. This week we found out that President Obama’s policies on drone strikes are tighter than libertarian, anti-drone hero Rand Paul. We also heard a president of the United States make a nuanced, adult and — to many — an unsatisfying case for a course correction on the global war on […]

This is good. This is VERY good

Two Democrats first elected to Congress together in 2008 are rapidly becoming the unrivaled choices of the Michigan Democrats. This bodes well for uncontested primaries for both of them which will help them use their campaign treasuries for beating their Republican opponents and avoiding bruising primary races.

Details on this exciting news after the jump.

If everything good about Detroit is destroyed, is it still Detroit?

This past Wednesday, Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr was in Chicago talking to a group of philanthropists, some of whom are likely holding some of Detroit’s debt, and he told them, “We can’t liquidate or sell off Detroit like many of us do when we go into our representations…This isn’t a traditional reorganization for a profit-making enterprise, this is the saving of a great American city.”

This comment is in stark contrast to the news that came out yesterday that Orr has asked for an appraisal of the Detroit Institute of Arts’ priceless collection of art.

Click through for more.

More than 550 people signed the petition opposing SB 136. This week, opponents of Senate Bill 136 — the “Religious Liberty & Conscience Protection Act” — met with State Senator Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor). I was at the meeting, where we presented a petition for delivery to the Michigan Senate and learned even more about this troubling legislation from Sen. […]

Decline to sign

It’s not often that less than 3% of a state’s citizens get to create new law without having to let the voters decide or the governor to sign it into law but that is exactly what’s about to happen in Michigan. Yesterday, the State Board of Canvasser approved petition language submitted by Right to Life of Michigan that would force women to purchase a separate rider on their insurance to cover abortion. Not just government-subsidized or government provided health insurance. ALL health insurance. I’m calling it the “Plan Ahead for Your Abortion” law. If Right to Life can get only 258,088 in 6 months, the measure goes to the legislature which has 40 days to approve it. If they do, and they will, it becomes law. The rest of Michigan voters will have no say in it and it won’t require Governor Snyder’s signature.

It’s clever, for sure. Right to Life Michigan KNOWS they are on the wrong side of this issue from the majority of Michigan residents and from Governor Snyder himself so they have to bypass the normal process and exploit a loophole made possible by a legislature full of conservative extremists put in place by decades of Republican gerrymandering.

More, including video, awaits you after the jump.

It’s a one-word answer: Obamacare. Republicans who oppose Obamacare just don’t want to say “yes” to anything related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Medicaid expansion is part of the ACA, but the U.S. Supreme Court left the decision to accept Medicaid expansion up to the states. And Michigan is among those with Republican-controlled legislatures that are fighting against Medicaid […]

This MUST stop

The story of 22-year Cody Bailey being installed as president of a for-profit charter school in Michigan (posts are HERE and HERE) has rekindled my outrage about the demonization of teachers and the systematic kneecapping and dismantling of our public school system here in Michigan. Operating under the guise of “education reform”, corporatists like Cody Bailey, the Mackinac Center, and the DeVos family are engaging in an unsubtle effort to convert our nation’s schools into profit centers for corporate “education” businesses. Their approach has three primary components.

Click through for much, much more.

That had to have left a mark

Last night on the Night Shift with Tony Trupiano radio show, Tony and political consultant Joe Disano from Main Street Strategies discussed my piece on Cody Bailey, the newly-minted 22-year old for-profit charter school president. Joe and Tony have a history with Cody and they rode him suitably hard during the Democratic primary last year.

It’s worth a listen if only to hear them call Bailey “the human herpes virus”, compare him to a case of “shingles” and call him “reptilian”.

Enjoy this and more after the jump.