Proposal 1- A Referendum on the Emergency Manager Law (PA 4 of 2011)- If the President declared that Michigan was being mismanaged and he was going to suspend the power of our elected officials and appoint someone to run the state, we would literally be up in arms. No other state, to my knowledge, has [...]

I couldn’t watch the World Series, the local news, or even show my two-year-old daughter the Gummy Bear Song on YouTube without seeing Attorney General Bill Schutte’s face.  Schutte is the front man in an advertisement that urges us to vote no on Proposal 2, the ballot initiative that would guarantee collective bargaining rights in the Michigan Constitution.  Schutte says that “proposal 2 is about big special interest.”  The advertisements [...]

The Detroit Free Press (DFP) released its recommendationsfor voting on the statewide ballot proposals.  They say voters should “keep one, discard five.”  However, their rationale can best be described as a joke.   Here is why. On Proposal 1,  the DFP suggests a yes vote to keep in place the Emergency Manager Law (PA4) even though [...]

Representative Phil Potvin, like many Republican politicians, likes to highlight his business experience when running for office.  Potvin’s father James co-founded Western Concrete in 1946.  James Potvin ran Western Concrete until the mid-1980′s when Phil took over.  Under Phil’s leadership at Western Concrete the company effectively went out of business.  Potvin’s official bio states that he [...]

Senator Darwin Booher is one of the most out of touch politicians in Michigan.  I’m not saying Booher is out of touch just because he chose to ride in a BMW at the Lake City 4th of July parade.  Sure, these cars start at about 48,000, or as much as the median household income of [...]

There are a lot of red flags surrounding the casino ballot proposal called Citizens For More Michigan Jobs.  The proposal would add eight new casinos and increase the tax rate on all private casinos.  I immediately had concerns about the proposal when I read about it in my local newspaper.  The Cadillac News’ article quoted [...]

Michigan Republicans have been on a mission to prevent voter fraud.  Meanwhile, at least two high ranking Republican officials have been implicated in election fraud.  Michigan’s 11th Congressional Representative, and one time potential Presidential candidate, Republican Thaddeus McCotter submitted only 244 valid signatures to get his name on the ballot for reelection.  Apparently, the other [...]

According to a study by Metlife, as reported on in The Nation, job satisfaction is dropping amongst teachers.  Only 44 percent of teachers described themselves as “very satisfied,” and almost a third of teachers are considering leaving the profession.  This news comes as the conservative organization the State Government Leadership Foundation (SGLF) is set to [...]

The Michigan Education Association is going all-in with the Protect Our Jobs campaign.  The MEA, and most Michigan unions, are hoping that Michiganders will agree that collective bargaining rights should be protected under the Michigan constitution.  At a recent meeting of MEA leaders, five factions of the MEA emptied their savings accounts into a joint [...]

Bill Maher famously said “I’m not saying all Republicans are racist, but if you’re racist, you’re probably a Republican.”  Borrowing his style, I’d like to say that not all Republicans are for voter suppression, but if you are suppressing voters, you are probably a Republican. As most of you know, two Republicans were able to [...]

A number of times lately someone has said to me “either these Republicans are really smart or really stupid.”  I think the latter is far more likely.  I’d like to introduce two pieces of evidence to support the case for utter stupidity. Exhibit A: Cities around the state are in financial trouble because both state [...]

When I broke the story about Lon Johnson’s upcoming announcement as a candidate for the 103rd House seat, I was only able to provide some sketchy details about his background.  Since then I have found out a lot more about Johnson, and there is a lot to like. Lon grew up in Rockwood, 25 miles [...]