Tag Archives: Mackinac Center for Public Policy

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, Amway, 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, Michigan Freedom Fund, Proposition 2, Rick Snyder, right-to-work, Ron Weiser, Sheldon Adelson, union busting, unions | 25 Comments

Governor Snyder’s office and corporate interests conspire in “secret work group” to bring voucher system to Michigan K-12 education

By Mark | April 20, 2013

In November, I told you about an attempt on the part of the Michigan Republicans to create a parallel, for-profit education system, right alongside the Michigan public school system, unanswerable to anyone, save for an appointee of the Governor. Well, according to a report in yesterday’s Detroit News, things are progressing quickly thanks to the […]

Posted in Education, Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Bay Mills Community College, Bhushan Kulkarni, charter schools, David Behen, dismantling of public education, distance education, EduCard, edutainment, keeping the poor from education, MEA, Michigan Education Association, Michigan Education Card, Mike Huckabee, Oxford Foundation, public education, public school teachers, Rick Snyder, school vouchers, Steve Cook, teachers, threats to public education, top secret, trends in American education, value school | 38 Comments

Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer, without the support of the UAW, faces attacks from within… What’s next?

By Mark | February 2, 2013

According to a report on MLive, Michigan Republicans are demanding that the investigation into Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer’s involvement in a 2010 plot to split the conservative vote in Metro Detroit by running fake Tea Party candidates against establishment Republicans, be reopened. Here’s a clip: …Bobby Schostak, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, […]

Posted in Michigan, Politics | Also tagged Bob King, Bobby Schostak, Bruce Rendon, Eclectablog, Jack Lessenberry, James Hoffa, Jeff Irwin, Jennifer Granholm, Jessica Cooper, Kalkaska, lame duck, Lon Johnson, Mark Brewer, Michigan Democratic Party, Michigan Republican Party, Mike McGuinness, right-to-work, Sander Levin, tea party, Teamsters, UAW, union busting, unions, United Auto Workers | 32 Comments

Calling what happened during Michigan’s lame duck session “very, very bad,” former State Senator Joe Schwartz blames term limits and the unprecedented influence of corporate money

By Mark | January 22, 2013

As we recently discussed, Michigan Radio, as part of their Issues & Ale series, hosted a panel discussion in Ypsilanti late last week on the subject of Michigan’s newly passed right-to-work legislation. The panel, which included former Republican State Senator Joe Schwartz, Kristin Dziczek, the Director of the Labor & Industry Group at the Center […]

Posted in Media, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Ave Maria, Ave Maria graduates, Center for Automotive Research, collective bargaining, Community Capital Forum, Corner brewery, corporate takeover of politics, F. Vincent Vernuccio, get the money out of Washington, Gretchen Driskell, Issues & Ale, Jack Lessenberry, Koch brothers, Kristin Dziczek, MEDC, Michael Shuman, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Michigan House of Representatives, Michigan Radio, Michigan Senate, Mike Finney, money in politics, partisan politics, Proposition 2, Pure Michigan, right-to-work, Ron Weiser, tea party, term limits, Tom Monaghan, union busting, unions | 28 Comments

Jack Lessenberry to visit Ypsilanti and answer the question, “What does right-to-work mean for Michigan?”

By Mark | January 14, 2013

Tomorrow evening, at Ypsilanti’s Corner Brewery, celebrated Detroit journalist Jack Lessenberry will be hosting a panel discussion on Michigan’s newly passed anti-union (“right-to-work”) legislation, and how it will likely impact working Michiganders, their employers, and the financial prospects of the state. There’s scant information available online, but a friend who works for Michigan Radio tells […]