Mark Maynard | Amway

How Dick DeVos made Michigan a right-to-work state

By Mark | January 26, 2014

If you haven’t read it yet, Andy Kroll has a great piece on the DeVos family in the most recent issue of Mother Jones. Of particular interest to me was the section detailing how Dick DeVos pretty much single-handedly orchestrated the passage of so-called “right-to-work” legislation last year. Here’s a clip. …For Dick DeVos, the […]

Posted in Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged ALEC, Andy Kroll, anti-union, Bill McInturff, collective bargaining, corporate money, Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation, Dick DeVos, Frank Keating, Greg McNeilly, Harold Simmons, Jennifer Granholm, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Michigan Freedom Fund, Proposition 2, Rick Snyder, right-to-work, Ron Weiser, Sheldon Adelson, union busting, unions | 25 Comments

Ted McClelland on fleeing “Michissippi” and why we’ll never be able to keep our brightest young people from Chicago

By Mark | December 24, 2012

Here on the site last week, I twice invoked an article that had appeared on Salon.con entitled Right-to-work bill: Michigan just gives up. Well, the second time I did so, the author of the piece, Ted McClelland, left a comment. And, from there, a short email exchange ensued, resulting in the following interview. I hope […]

Posted in Michigan, Observations, Uncategorized | Also tagged American Railway Union, and Hopes of America's Industrial Heartland, brain drain, Brian Dickerson, Caught in the Middle, Chicago, Edward McClelland, exit interviews, fiscal cliff, globalization, Grand Rapids, Hard Times, interviews, Lansing, MEDC, Michael Finney, Michigan Democratic Party, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Michigan State, Michissippi, Next: Young American Writers on the New Generation, Niowave, Nothin' But Blue Skies: The Heyday, Obama, Renaissance Center, Richard C. Longworth, Richard Marx, Rick Snyder, right-to-work, Salon, Ted McClelland, UAW, United Auto Workers, University of Michigan, Young Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President | 26 Comments

Grand Rapids shows us how economic development is done right… home-grown food entrepreneurship over dollar stores

By Mark | November 18, 2012

A few months ago, when I was in Grand Rapids, attending the annual BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) conference, I had the occasion to hear a speech given by the city’s Mayor, George Heartwell. I can’t find my notes at the moment, but I seem to recall that, buried somewhere in the long […]

Posted in Economics, entrepreneurism, Environment, Michigan, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Ave Maria, BALLE, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, David Frey, economic development, false equivalence, farmers market, food entrepreneurship, food hubs, Grand Action, Grand Rapids, hope, infrastructure, local food, local food production, national chains, Tom Monaghan, Water Street, Water Street Redevelopment Project | 42 Comments

ALEC, the move to codify the extremist Republican agenda, and the Michigan connection

By Mark | March 26, 2012

Reading a column by Paul Krugman just now on the role of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in pushing so-called “Stand Your Ground” legislation around the country, I was reminded by a recent article in Mother Jones about how ALEC, working through the Mackinac Center, played a role in passing Michigan’s Public Act 4, […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, Politics | Also tagged ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council, anti-immigration, Brit Satchwell, Center for Media and Democracy, collective bargaining, conservative legislation, crony capitalism, Dick DeVos, Emergency Financial Manager Act, Emergency Financial Manger, Exxon Mobil, gun laws, Jonathan Williams, Koch brothers, Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act, Louis Schimmel, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Paul Krugman, Pontiac, privatization, Progress Michigan, Public Act 4, Rick Snyder, stand your ground, tax the rich, the growing gap between rich and poor, Trayvon Martin, union busting | 10 Comments

Tag Archives: Amway

How Dick DeVos made Michigan a right-to-work state

Ted McClelland on fleeing “Michissippi” and why we’ll never be able to keep our brightest young people from Chicago

Grand Rapids shows us how economic development is done right… home-grown food entrepreneurship over dollar stores

ALEC, the move to codify the extremist Republican agenda, and the Michigan connection

Connect

Recent Comments

Elsewhere

Arts and Culture

Friends

Information, News & Politics

Organizations

SE Michigan Blogs

Special Projects

Ypsi Living

Search