By now you’ve likely heard about Rick Santorum‘s offensive statement to a group of supporters in Iowa. “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money,” Santorum begins. “I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money and provide for themselves and their families.”Santorum did not elaborate on why […]

Today the Obama administration announced that it is updating the formal definition of rape. This move will help many rape victims who were previously unaccounted for achieve justice against their perpetrators and will more accurately reflect the extent of the problem of sexual crimes in our country. Attorney General Eric Holder today announced revisions to the Uniform Crime Report’s (UCR) […]

Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris shuttered the city’s only radio station this week, citing “efficient use of the city’s resources”. Two Benton Harbor city commissioners threatened the city’s emergency manager with a lawsuit Wednesday after he shuttered the city’s radio station. The low-power FM radio station WBHC-LP 96.5, which is broadcast out of City Hall, shut down Jan. 1. […]

Joe Harris has been on the job as Emergency Manager in Benton Harbor for over a year and a half now. However, a recent report indicates the success he is credited for at “turning Benton Harbor around” may not be based in fact. Michigan Radio has this important story. The State Treasurer’s office is reviewing an independent audit of Benton […]

[UPDATE: I have corrected this post to indicate that the Oakland County Democrats are the ones suing Governor Snyder over the redistricting there, not the Michigan Democratic Party as I initially (and incorrectly) wrote.] Governor Rick Snyder is facing two impending lawsuits. One is from the ACLU over new law prohibiting health insurance benefits for to same-sex partners of public […]

Good news is hard to come by in Detroit these days but, yesterday, they got some very good news. Chrysler announced it is adding a third shift at the Jefferson Assembly Plant, restoring 1,100 jobs. Chrysler Group LLC said Thursday that it will add a third shift — with 1,100 new jobs — at its Jefferson North Assembly Plant in […]

Scarily believable (unlike New Hampshire Republicans sponsoring a bill requiring that new legislation reference the fucking Magna Carta): PITTSBURGH—Citing three years of exhausting partisan politics, constant gridlock in Congress, and an overall feeling that the entire nation has “completely lost it,” President Barack Obama openly asked a campaign-rally crowd Tuesday why he’d want to serve another term as president of […]

I couldn’t believe this was true when I read it at Angry Black Lady Chronicles. Sadly, it is. As in other lines of work, lunchtime discussions among lawmakers at the State House often spur ideas. Sometimes those ideas become bills. And sometimes those bills seemed less strange over lunch. House Bill 1580 is the product of such a brainstorming session […]

The Emergency Manager juggernaut continues to roll unabated in Michigan. In early December, I reported that Muskegon Heights school district was requesting an Emergency Manager and that a state review had been initiated. Yesterday, the Snyder administration added Highland Park schools to the list. An emergency manager may soon take charge of the Highland Park School District. A state review […]

My lovely wife is tinkering around with an awesome new logo. You may see it change a bit over the next few days. Here are some current favorites: We’re wide open to feedback so let us know what you think.

Yesterday, I wrote about President Obama giving recess appointments first to Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and then to three National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) members. In a blockquoted piece from Talking Points Memo was this tidbit: On the unprecedented nature of the appointment, McConnell and Boehner have a decent case. Both parties have […]