Mark Maynard | Mackinac Center for Public Policy

Coup d’etat in Michigan… following the money, connecting the dots, and assessing Snyder’s role

By Mark | December 12, 2012

This afternoon, as over 10,000 protesters surrounded the Capitol building in Lansing, Governor Snyder singed into law legislation that would make Michigan the 24th right-to-work state. When asked why it was so urgent that this be done now, during the lame duck session, outside of the accepted procedural process, Snyder essentially blamed the unions, who, […]

Posted in Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Americans for Prosperity, Cindy Estrada, collective bargaining, corporatocracy, Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation, Dick DeVos, Emergency Manager, Flint Sit-Down Strike, Frank Keating, John Engler, Koch brothers, labor history, Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Paul Singer, Proposal 2, Proposition 2, Rick Snyder, right-to-work, Ron Weiser, tea party, UAW, unions, West Michigan Policy Forum | 39 Comments

Public Education Finance Act of 2013… a bold gambit to dismantle public education in Michigan once and for all

By Mark | November 29, 2012

Saying “I’ve never considered myself a conspiracy theorist—until now,” Rob Glass, the Superintendent of the Bloomfield Hills School District, sent a letter out to parents in his district yesterday, outlining the education reform plans unveiled last week by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. “This package of bills,” said Glass, “is the latest in a yearlong barrage […]

Posted in Education, Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Bloomfield Hills, charter schools, dismantling of public education, Education Achievement Authority of Michigan, education reform, expanding the school year, failing schools, for profit schools, for-profit charter schools, Gretchen Whitmer, John Engler, Michigan 2020, Michigan Public Education Finance Act of 2013, Michigan State House Bill 5923, Michigan State House Bill 6004, Michigan State Senate Bill 1358, Michigan State Senate Bill 620, Mike Huckabee, Oxford Foundation, Parent Trigger, public education, Richard McLellan, Rick Snyder, Rob Glass, school, School Aid Act, school vouchers, taking back our schools, Vickie L. Markavitch, ] | 47 Comments

Michigan’s 6 ballot proposals and how I intend to vote

By Mark | November 5, 2012

Other than trying my best to convince folks to vote for Syed Taj and Barack Obama, and against the likes of “mentally unbalanced” Tea Party-favorite Kerry Bentivolio, the race-baiting Pete Hoekstra, and the climate change denying serial liar Mitt Romney, I haven’t really said much about the upcoming election. To be honest, I didn’t think […]

Posted in Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Alternative Energy, alternative fuels, ballot initiatives, Benton Harbor, Bill Clinton, charter schools, Citizens Research Council of Michigan, collective bargaining, Constitutional amendments, corporatocracy, disenfranchisement, dismantling of public education, Emergency Financial Manager Act, Emergency Manager, fear mongering, fracking, Headlee Amendment, home health care workers, House Judiciary Committee, Kerry Bentivolio, Koch brothers, League of Women Voters, Matty Moroun, Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Muskegon Heights, Pete Hoekstra, Proposal A, Public Act 4, racism, renewable energy, Republican lies, Richard Murphy, Rick Snyder, right-to-work, SEIU, Syed Taj, threats to Democracy, union busting | 49 Comments

Bob Sloan on the new slavery of the American prison factory system

By Mark | June 19, 2012

When I flew into Providence a few weeks ago, to attend the Netroots Nation conference, I caught a taxi from the airport to the hotel with a fellow by the name of Bob Sloan. Bob, like me, had won one of the Democracy for America scholarships, and we talked about our work as we made […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Corporate Crime, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged ALEC, American Bail Coalition, Bill McCollum, Bob Sloan, Boeing, Bureau of Justice Assistance, CAD, Charlie Crist, Clearwater, company towns, computer drafting, corporatocracy, corrections, cubicles, Dell, Democracy for America, Department of Correction, early release bond, Escod Industries, ex-prisoners, factory, factory work, Florida, Floyd Glisson, GEO Group, HP, IBM, Indiana, Indianapolis, Jack Eckerd, James Crosby, James McDonough, Janet Reno, Jeb Bush, job training, jobs, Keefe Commissary, Koch brothers, minimum wage, National Correctional Industries Association, NCIA, Netroots Nation, Newt Gingrich, Nordstrom, OnShore Resources, Pam Davis, Pat Nolan, PIE Program, PIECP, pride, Prison Fellowship Ministries, prison industrial complex, Prison Industries, Prison Industries Act, prison industry, prison labor, prison reform, Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises, prison sentences, prisoner advocate, prisoner rights, Private Correctional Facilities Act, private prisons, privatization, Ray Allen, recidivism, restitution, Right on Crime, slave labor, stand your ground, tethers, Texas, the cost of incarceration, tough on crime, UNICOR, unions, US Technologies, Wackenhut Corrections Corp, workers rights | 40 Comments

For-profit prisons… What could possibly go wrong?

By Mark | May 27, 2012

As it’s been a while since we’ve had a post here about the prison industrial complex, I thought that I’d pass along this clip from Charles Blow’s recent piece in the New York Times. “Louisiana is the world’s prison capital. The state imprisons more of its people, per head, than any of its U.S. counterparts. […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Baldwin, Charles Blow, Corrections Corporation of America, G4S, GEO Group, Group 4 Falck, honey holes, House Bill 5174, Joe Haveman, John Proos, Louisiana, Mark Ciavarella, Michigan Department of Corrections, Michigan House of Representatives, Natalie Holbrook, North Lake Correctional Facility, North Lake Facility for Youth, overincarceration, Pennsylvania, prison, prison industrial complex, prison industry, prison reform, prison sentences, prisoner rights, private prisons, privatization, Rick Snyder, security state, the cost of incarceration, unions, Wackenhut Corrections Corp, Wal-Mart, Wilkes-Barre | 18 Comments

Tag Archives: Mackinac Center for Public Policy

Coup d’etat in Michigan… following the money, connecting the dots, and assessing Snyder’s role

Public Education Finance Act of 2013… a bold gambit to dismantle public education in Michigan once and for all

Michigan’s 6 ballot proposals and how I intend to vote

Bob Sloan on the new slavery of the American prison factory system

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