This week Michigan legislators passed a package of bills dubbed “The Grand Bargain” that will help our state’s largest city, Detroit, get back on its feet. Missing from that package was a bill that would have prevented regional municipalities from renewing the existing voter-approved 10-year millage or the levying a new millage to fund the Detroit Institute of Arts. (Details […]

As I have written about before, Republicans are petrified of a drive to put raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour on the ballot in November. It’s such a winning issue for Democrats that Republicans know that they simply must kill it or risk losing big on election day as more Democrats than usual turn out to vote in […]

Oh, that’s rich Michigan House Republicans are in a tight spot. With concessions made by every party swept up in Detroit’s municipal bankruptcy and a deal in place that mostly preserves retiree pensions and the Detroit Institute of Arts’ priceless art collection, the only hurdle remaining is the state ponying up $350 million. Given how much money they’ve essentially stolen […]

This is referred to as “pulling a Chris Christie” Crains Detroit Business has a bombshell story out this week detailing how Republicans in the state legislature are withholding road repair funds for districts with Democratic representation. You would think that decisions about road repair would be made by the engineers and other experts at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) […]

As I have written about in the past, thanks to Republican redistricting after the 2010 midterm, I am going from having one of the most progressive state senators, Rebekah Warren, to one of the most regressive tea party type senators you could imagine: Joe Hune. Hune has been rated as the most conservative member of the Michigan Senate. Joe Hune’s […]

They hate it when you call them on their hypocrisy Yesterday I posted a tweet that went pretty viral on Twitter and on Facebook. Anne worked her magic and, by the afternoon, it had become this meme which went even more viral: Last evening, journalist E.J. Dionne retweeeted it (and again this morning). This caused all manner of self-described libertarians […]

More like “Didn’t say it, did it anyway” or “Said it, did the opposite” Eclectameme by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog Discussing possible campaign slogans during his non-announcement of his candidacy last fall, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said, “One that I really do appreciate, that I’ve used in my life is, ‘Said it. Did it.’”. In other words, according to […]

The GOP believes they simply need to talk about issues that African Americans care about, not actually do anything about them Kentucky Senator Rand Paul came to Michigan today to be part of the opening of the Republican’s Detroit “African American Engagement Office”. No, seriously. Before the Republicans got their day started, Democrats had a press conference nearby where they […]

It’s a good gig if you can get it See updates below. The Snyder administration recently gave three of its investment experts massive pay raises, making them some of the highest paid members of his administration. One of them, chief investment officer, Jon Braeutigam, makes more than the Governor and the Lt. Governor combined! The State of Michigan quietly increased […]

GOPocrisy, pure and simple Michigan Republicans are still working to demonize the Affordable Care Act in any way they can. The most recent example is a bill reported out of the House Subcommittee on Insurance last week, H.B. 4816, which was introduced by Rep. Mike Shirkey. The bill, which you can read HERE (pdf), requires health insurers to report to […]

You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead— your next stop, the Hypocrisy Zone! Things have really gotten hypocritically bizarre in Republican attempts to undermine the Affordable Care Act. Pundits across the country are outwardly […]