The corporatist front group Mackinac Center is waging a no-holds barred, blatant attack to destroy teachers unions and they seem to have a particular hatred of the Michigan Education Association (MEA). The group, heavily funded by millionaires and billionaires like the Koch brothers and the DeVos family, is shameful in their approach. They have used the Teacher of the Year […]

Last week I wrote about how the corporatist front group Mackinac Center had sent a mass email to teachers in over 50 school districts in Michigan encouraging them to leave the Michigan Education Association, one of the two largest teachers unions in the state. Their effort didn’t stop there. This week, teachers across the state received postcards in the mail […]

po·lit·i·cal – /pəˈlitikəl/ – adjective: of or relating to the government or the public affairs of a country Updated with video of Rachael Siemen asking her question. Yesterday at a forum at the Michigan House Office Building, the Mackinac Center brought in a representative from another notorious corporatist front group, The Heritage Foundation, to spew propaganda regarding the raising of […]

NOTE: Updated to clarify the restriction on unions using official school emails to conduct business. NOTE 2: This post has been updated HERE. The anti-union corporatist group the Mackinac Center is using public school email systems to encourage teachers to leave the Michigan Education Association, one of two major teachers unions in the state. I have confirmed that at least […]

Of puppets and strings and doing the right thing This morning Democratic candidate for governor Mark Schauer called for increasing the minimum wage in Michigan to $9/hour. It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s wildly popular. A Gallup poll released last week shows that a full 76% of Americans support this move, up 5 points from just last […]

Nothing to see here except a corporatist front group trying to distract you from the fact that they are a corporatist front group You can always tell with the powerful corporatist groups around the country are feeling nervous about the light that’s being shone on them: they fire up the well-known conservative echo chamber to create a story out something […]

A web of money, power, and deception Earlier this year, I wrote about Lee Fang’s important piece in The Nation magazine titled “The Right Leans In”. In that piece, Fang detailed the pervasive influence of the corporatist network called the State Policy Network (SPN) in shaping public policy in states throughout the country. Funded heavily by corporate interests and wealthy […]

This is what happens when you vote Republican Since the beginning of this year, Eclectabloggers have written no fewer than 55 posts relating to Medicaid expansion, mostly centering on Michigan. When she came on as a contributor in April, Amy Lynn Smith instantly became a powerful voice for expansion of Medicaid in Michigan. There is no question in my mind […]

This should frighten EVERY Michigander [Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog] As we watch the drama related to the bankruptcy of Detroit play out on the national stage, it’s worth recalling something I have mentioned in the past: Governor Rick Snyder is guided by the “101 Recommendations to Revitalize Michigan” (pdf) of the corporatist front […]

Hardy har har har Judge Daphne Means Curtis of the Wayne County Circuit Court today dismissed a frivolous lawsuit filed by the corporatist front group Mackinac Center today. The lawsuit attempted to make new Right to Work rules retroactive to before the time when the contract was signed. The contract was negotiated and signed BEFORE the odious anti-union law went […]

Grassroots power in action! NOTE: This post has been updated. See below. A little under two weeks ago, my pals that run the Facebook page Save Michigan’s Public Schools announced a rally to support education and teachers in Michigan. Their page is the premier online resource for all things education in our state. It was started by Ann Arbor educator […]