Tag Archives: ALEC

Michigan Republicans attempt a naked, lame duck power grab in advance of Whitmer, Nessel and Benson taking office

The Democrats, as you know, made huge gains across the midwest during this past midterm election. States like Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, that had helped put Donald Trump in the White House, all took big strides back in the other direction. Here in Michigan, not only did we flip two historically Republican House seats, […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Is the charter school industry paying off Michigan politicians to avoid oversight?

There’s a coordinated attempt afoot to dismantle America’s system of public education, and Michigan Republicans, for the past several years, have been at the forefront, passing laws to weaken our traditional, neighborhood public schools, while, at the same time, clearing the way for unaccountable for-profit charter schools to move in. While I don’t hold out […]

Posted in Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 58 Comments

Saying they “delayed our action plan,” Rick Snyder lays the blame for the Flint water disaster at the feet of “career civil servants” who cared more about process than people

You have to give him credit for having chutzpah. It took him a few days, but our Governor, with he help of multiple consultants and a few top flight PR firms, is attempting not just to deflect blame for what happened in Flint, but actually turn the deadly public health crisis into an anti-government parable […]

Posted in History, Michigan, Observations, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

The Devil went down to Georgia… ALEC caught on tape wining and dining state legislators on behalf of corporate lobbyists in Savannah

Have you ever wondered how legislation gets written and passed into law at the state level? Did you think, as I once did, that ideas for new laws percolate up from local constituents who contact their elected representatives with legitimate concerns that need to be addressed for the good of society? Well, thanks to a […]

Posted in Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

State Representative Jeff Irwin on the “frightened patriots” of the open carry movement, forest ecologist Ben Connor Barrie on local trees he’d love to kill, and Matt Siegfried on the racism of Rosie the Riveter… on episode 9 of The Saturday Six Pack

This is Michigan State Rep Jeff Irwin, my first guest on this past weekend’s episode of The Saturday Six Pack. Our interview, which started off with a weighty conversation on corporate money, gerrymandering, and tax policy, and how, together, they’ve nearly destroyed our state, ended on a significantly lighter note when a caller by the […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Politics, The Saturday Six Pack, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

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