MIDWESTERNERS HATE conflict more than we hate freezing rain, haughty vegans and screaming kids/ineffectual parents in the grocery store. We smile. We’re solicitous. We want to get along. We want other people to get along. The truth of the…

by P.D. Lesko Ward 2 Democratic City Council candidate Kirk Westphal moved to Ann Arbor in 2004 and in 2006 was appointed by John Hieftje to the city's Planning Commission. It was, perhaps, another example of what one local politico…

REPUBLICANS, TEA PARTIERS and malcontents have blamed Obamacare for the rise in health insurance premiums. Republicans in Washington complain that Obamacare will result in soaring costs for health care providers. Progressive Washington DC…

by P.D. Lesko Jesse Jackson, Rachel Maddow, Michigan blogger Chris Savage and a host of left-leaning pundits have been punditing and writing themselves blue in the face over the past 10 months since Public Act 4 was passed by the Michigan…

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…

By Chris Savage When A2Politico's editor Pat Lesko asked me to write about where I get my "news," my first thought was, "Hah! She wants all my secrets!" Then, my second thought was, "Hmmm...where do I get my news?" Because, frankly,…

by P.D. Lesko The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, one of the nation’s premier policy organizations working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and…

Two professors from Columbia University who study how well elected state and local officials translate public opinion into policy, have determined that Michigan ranks fourth in the nation among states in which elected officials are most…