This is so damn patronizing. Flint Emergency Manager Michael Brown has issued an order restoring City Council meetings which he had previously cancelled. Here’s the agenda of the meetings (unless Brown modifies it): Call to Order by the Council President Roll Call by the City Clerk Pledge of Allegiance Presentation of Minutes Report by the Emergency Manager and/or his designee(s) […]

Not unexpected, just another drop in a torrent: Governor Rick Snyder has declared a financial emergency in Highland Park, and will appoint an Emergency Manager. Gov. Rick Snyder today said he would appoint an emergency manager to oversee the financially troubled Highland Park School District – just hours before state officials announced they are reluctantly giving the district a $188,000 […]

Much of the outrage about Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager law centers around its disparate impact on minority school districts and cities. But this law may be coming to city or school near you even if it’s not a so-called “majority minority” area. Take a look at the data that was assembled by Progress Michigan to see how obvious […]

At the moment, as egregious as the Citizens United Supreme Court decision was, it’s still illegal for corporations to give directly to candidates or political parties. If the GOP has its way, that will end. The century-old ban on corporate donations to federal political campaigns should be junked as unconstitutional, the Republican National Committee argued in a legal brief filed […]

There were some interesting revelations in statements made to day by Jay Carney, President Obama’s Press Secretary relating the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Recall that in the bill to extend the middle class income tax break, Republicans put in a requirement that he give his ruling on it by next month. Follow me over the orange squiggledegibbet for what went […]

It’s not often that I’m scooped in the blogosphere on news about Michigan’s Emergency Managers but, if I’m going to get scooped, I’d rather have it be by Laura Conaway at The Maddow Blog than anyone else. Today she reports that Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris removed Marcus Muhammad as Mayor Pro Tem and replaced him with Sharon Henderson. […]

Yesterday, I wrote about how Pontiac Emergency Manager Louis Schimmel signed an agreement with Oakland County to manage monies from a substantial HUD grant. This boneheaded decision, it turns out, would have resulted in a loss of upwards of $800,000 per year for Pontiac. Thankfully, Congressman Gary Peters stepped in to prevent this from occurring. Federal and local politicians lined […]

Generally speaking, the political writing I do is catharsis for me. It helps me to deal with the things that upset me in the realm of politics and government. But, every once in awhile, I write something that actually makes me more upset. My most recent piece for A2Politico is one of them. The piece is titled Whirlpool Corp — […]

The effort to recall Senate Education Chair Phil Pavlov got underway on January 7th. The group working toward his recall now has a webpage, RecallPavlov.org, and is actively seeking petitioners, petition signatures and financial support. Senator Pavlov voted to support the odious “anti”-bullying bill that was not anti-bullying. He has supported legislation that reduces tax credits used by many Michiganders […]

This is shocking to me (though I suppose it shouldn’t be.) Pontiac’s Emergency Manager Louis Schimmel that all but gave away millions of dollars dedicated to the City of Pontiac due to a single decision he made as EM. He was able to do this with no accountability because he is, after all, completely in control of the entire government […]

Republican Jon Huntsman comes across as the most reasonable of the presidential primary candidates. He is generally viewed as moderate, as well. This morning, Ezra Klein disabuses us of that notion, despite a confusing headline. In the end, the polls were right. Mitt Romney took first, Ron Paul took second, and Jon Huntsman took third. Huntsman’s weak finish led many […]