There’s no debate over whether or not there are problems with the Detroit Public School system. It’s a decades-old problem made worse by a dwindling city population, higher-than-ever poverty levels and, in some cases, malfeasance, corruption and outright criminal activity by some. Although they are improving with respect to school attendance, Detroit still has big problems in that regard, too. […]

With the ouster of Republican Paul Scott in a recall election earlier this month, Michigan Republicans chose a man considered “one of the most conservative members of the House Republican Caucus” to take his place on the House Education Committee, Tom McMillin. This retaliatory choice was predictable (and predicted). Rick Pluta of Michigan Public Radio described it as “a horse […]

You know that gigantic, $1.5 billion dollar tax cut Republicans gave Michigan businesses this year? I’ve been ranting and raving all year about how it was paid for in part by cutting a cool billion out of education. But there’s still half a billion that came from other places. One of the big cuts was to eliminate the tax exemption […]

Aw, geez… Things got out of control at one Wal-Mart near Little Rock, Arkansas on Black Friday as shoppers went wild over a good deal on kitchen appliances. Screams could be heard as the greedy shoppers struggled to grab one (or five) of the $2 waffle irons. A video of the scene was uploaded by a Twitter user who goes […]

On Tuesday of this week, Michigan Republicans held a public hearing on a controversial piece of legislation, HB 5002. As I have written about in the past, this bill makes law certain practices used by insurance companies to reduce or eliminate benefits for injured workers by using “imaginary wages” and “imaginary pensions”. While the legislation is highly controversial, Senate Reforms, […]

Newt is such a charmer, isn’t he? I love that, when he appears in the GOP primary debates, he spends 3½ of his alotted 4 minutes deriding the question and the questioner and castigating the media as a whole. There’s no better way to garner positive press than treat the members of the press as pariahs and sociopaths, is there? […]

While state officials mull over appointing an Emergency Manager for Benton Harbor schools, the state’s largest teachers union, the Michigan Education Association (MEA), has stepped up to help teachers there with much needed supplies. They put out a call to MEA teachers (flyer HERE (pdf)) to make donations and teachers across the state responded. When Republican lawmakers pushed through more […]

Ezra Klein makes a truly interesting point this morning with regards to the failure of the Deficit Commission “Super Committee”. Their failure to come to an agreement and the trigger pulled by that outcome is a dream situation for progressives. Imagine if the Democrats offered Republicans a deficit deal that had more than $3 in tax increases for every $1 […]

…some trombone Obama. You’re welcome.

I guess I ought to be flattered that Susan Demas at MLive took an entire article to tell me how wrong I am: Left complains about ‘almost secret’ workers’ compensation hearing on TV right now. I just wish she would have gotten my blog’s name spelled right. While promoting the liberal group We Are The People Michigan’s efforts against HB […]

Republican sponsored legislation, Senate Bill 619 recently passed the Senate. This bill represents what could be the first steps toward eliminating large numbers of teachers from Michigan classrooms. A proposal in Lansing would remove most restrictions on the ability of students to attend school over the Internet, in their pajamas, without setting foot inside a classroom. The proposal would remove […]