Tag Archives: ALEC

If Detroit was a person, Kevyn Orr would be selling its kidneys

By Mark | May 27, 2013

This weekend, upon hearing Kevyn Orr’s suggestion that we explore the possibility of selling the art collection of the DIA in order to satisfy the creditors of Detroit, it occurred to me that our newly appointed Emergency Manager might find it a bit more difficult to pillage the public coffers on behalf of Wall Street [...]

Posted in Art and Culture, Detroit, Uncategorized | Also tagged DIA, Diego Rivera, Emergency Financial Manager, Emergency Manager, Graham W. J. Beal, Kevyn Orr, Koch brothers, Michigan Business Tax, plunder, Rick Snyder, transfer of wealth, Vincent van Gogh | 26 Comments

Raising the minimum wage in Michigan is the right thing to do

By Mark | April 15, 2013

At the end of last week, Democrats in Lansing, led by State Senator Bert Johnson, proposed that we increase Michigan’s minimum wage to $10 an hour, from $7.40, where it’s been set for the past five years, in spite of the rising cost of living. Given that it would make Michigan’s the highest minimum wage [...]

Posted in Economics, Michigan, Uncategorized | Also tagged Bert Johnson, Elizabeth Warren, Idaho, income inequality, minimum wage, Obama, poverty, shifting the tax burden to the working class, slavery, Subway, trickle down economics, Wal-Mart, Washington State, wealth inequality | 15 Comments

Exploring the role of ALEC in Lansing’s lame duck attack on Michiganders

By Mark | December 26, 2012

A week or so ago, I put together a rudimentary post on how the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) contributed toward the recent flurry of regressive legislative activity that took place in Michigan. Well, our friend Bob Sloan, writing for PolicyMic.com, just dug quite a bit deeper. Here’s how his piece begins. Fact: 282 bills [...]

Posted in Michigan, Politics | Also tagged Amanda Price, Aric Nesbitt, Bob Sloan, HB 4003, HB 4054, HB 4305, HB 5221, Immigration Law Enforcement Act, Judson Gilbert, Kenneth Horn, Kenneth Kurtz, lame duck, Lansing, Michigan House of Representatives, Michigan Senate, Mike Green, Peter Lund, right-to-work, Tom McMillan, Voter ID Act | 8 Comments

Protecting us from the nonexistent threat of Sharia Law, putting guns in classrooms, restricting reproductive health care access for women, and resurrecting an Emergency Manager law that the people of Michigan have already said no to… these are the new priorities of our legislators in Lansing

By Mark | December 13, 2012

Do you remember, a week or so ago, when we were discussing the anti-abortion omnibus bill (HB 5711), often referred to in the national press as “the country’s most restrictive anti-abortion bill“? Well, it passed the Michigan Senate today, and, after a quick trip back to the House, where a few edits need to be [...]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, Politics | Also tagged 5711, abortion, Emergency Financial Manager Act, Emergency Manager, HB 5711, Islamophobia, Michigan House of Representatives, Michigan Senate, personal property tax, Proposition 1, reproductive justice, Senate Bill 865, Sharia law, women's rights | 36 Comments

Agenda 21… Are America’s city planners in on the United Nations plot to enslave us, and force us onto bicycles?

By Mark | November 26, 2012

There’s only one thing people on the far right hate more than the United Nations, and that’s the United Nations setting international guidelines for sustainable development. I learned this a few days ago, while listening to a special episode of Glenn Beck’s radio program about a secret UN initiative to deal with the looming threats [...]