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Whirlpool Corp—A Michigan Job Creation “Success Story”: Dodging Taxes & Profiting from Poverty
by Chris Savage
I have been following and writing about Public Act 4, the Emergency Manager law, since it was passed in March of 2011. The first impacts of the changes made by this law hit in Benton Harbor, Michigan. A tiny town on the…
Snyder Signs Bill Ending Same-Sex Benefits for Public Employees — Strips More Children of Health Care
by P.D. Lesko
Michigan Republicans sent House Bill 4770 and House Bill 4771 to Governor Rick Snyder and on Thursday December 22, 2011 he signed the bills into law. The bills prohibit public employers from including domestic partner…
Look Out Boys! The Über Spinster Lets Down Her Hair
by P.D. Lesko
I read it, and I laughed. Out loud. I read it again, and laughed even more. I kept reading. Sometimes, I get bored and quit in the middle. Other times, reading this stuff is like taking flax seed oil. It's good for me, so I…
Republicans in the Michigan Legislature Wildly Exaggerating Savings From Same-Sex Benefits Cuts
by P.D. Lesko
Michigan Republicans want to see House Bill 4770 and House Bill 4771 signed ito law by Governor Rick Snyder. The bills would prohibit public employers from including domestic partner benefits in their public employee…
A Local Political Machine Gets Sabotaged From Within — Again
by P.D. Lesko
How many direct hits from within can the Hieftje-Hive-Mind-Collective Cube withstand?
In summer 2009, the Cube took its first hit from within: Ann Arbor residents woke up to a front page piece in the Ann Arbor News that was…
Savaged: Michigan Supreme Court Quietly Affirms Access to Courts Is Based On Ability To Pay
By Chris Savage
In late November of this year, the Michigan Supreme Court issued a tersely worded order (pdf) that said simply this: On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the July 19, 2011 judgment of the Court of…
Pure Michigan: MSU Survey Shows Governor Snyder Has Lowest Approval Ratings in the Nation
by P.D. Lesko
For the past year, Governor Rick Snyder has been getting pretty much everything he wanted from the state's Republican-controlled legislature. Together, the state's Republicans have been accused of legislatively sucker…
Local Politico to City’s Voters: You’re “Xenophobic,” “Old,” “Selfish” and “Stingy.”
by P.D. Lesko
DDA Board member and former Second Ward City Council member Joan Lowenstein (right) is having a really tough time of it, politically speaking. Should you care? Absolutely. It's a better show than "Real Housewives," but with…
New Ward 2 Council Member Jane Lumm Scores Spots on Powerful City Council Committees
by P.D. Lesko
City Council committee appointments are out, and it looks as though newly elected Second Ward Council member Jane Lumm worked some black magic to get herself spots on two of the most powerful Council committees.
For…
Ann Arbor Crosswalk Ordinance Mess Gets National Attention
by P.D. Lesko
On The Atlantic's web site, writer Micki Maynard quotes David Askins of The AnnArborChronicle.com explaining how the pedestrian crosswalk ordinance mess has gotten so out of hand. Askins, with a straight face one presumes,…