The President proposes, the Congress disposes. The Governor proposes, the Legislature disposes. And, in the case of the never-ending ‘Flint Water Crisis,’ the mayor proposes, the city council disposes. But the news media doesn’t seem to realize that. In their coverage of Flint Mayor Karen Weaver’s stunning announcement April 18 that her administration has reversed […]
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Sanctuary Cities: What Now?/Snyder, Stabenow, Peters Near Bottom in Popularity
Interview with Rep. LaFave re.: sanctuary cities and his bill to ban them. Snyder/Stabenow/Peters w/lowest approval ratings in nation. Is Snyder draining the swamp and Calley for gov.? https://soundcloud.com/user-595768561/sanctuary-cities-what-nowsnyder-stabenow-peters-near-bottom-in-popularity
Michigan’s Top Three Elected Officials are Nation’s Most Unpopular
Michigan’s Governor and two U.S. Senators are collectively the most unpopular trio in the country, according to a new survey conducted by Morning Consult, a weekly online polling firm. Gov. Rick Snyder finished 46th of 49 governors in popularity, with one governor (in North Carolina) not evaluated because he took the job just two months […]
Carl Levin to Harry Reid: “I Told You So!”
Everything former U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) warned against in 2013 has come to pass. Majority Republicans in the U.S. Senate have indeed changed their chamber’s rules to break a Democratic filibuster against the nomination by President Donald Trump of Neil Gorsuch. Gorsuch was confirmed by a simple majority, 54-45 with one absent Senator, this […]
Michigan Scores High in “Pivot Counties” That Voted for Both Obama and Trump
Michigan was among the top states in the nation in our number of “pivot” counties — those that voted for Barack Obama twice (in 2008 and 2012) and Donald Trump once, last fall. Twelve counties in Michigan (out of a total of 83) were “pivot” counties, tying us with Illinois for fifth-most in the country. […]
Letter to the Editor: Redistricting Expert Blasts Detroit Free Press for Bias and Hypocrisy
A former state legislative aide renowned for his knowledge of legal and judicial history has excoriated a Detroit Free Press reporter and the newspaper’s editorial policy that favors establishing an independent commission to draw Congressional and legislative maps. Bruce A. Timmons, for decades a key committee staffer for both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Lansing, […]
Legislation Introduced to License Weather Forecasters
LANSING — A bi-partisan bill to license and regulate meteorologists and TV/radio weather forecasters was introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives Friday. The measure’s primary sponsor, State Rep. Sam Yeotis (D-Engadine), said he had secured 96 co-sponsors from both major political parties, well more than the 55 votes needed to the pass the bill […]
Snyder on Verge of Overlooked Historic First
Rick Snyder is about to become the first governor in Michigan history to single-handedly appoint a four-member majority on the state Supreme Court, and he will have done it in just his seventh year in office. The only other governors with as many appointments to the high bench as Snyder were William G. Milliken and […]
Trump and Trade; Hertel v. Bishop; Mark Gaffney, Unions & Great Lakes Freighters
Bill Ballenger and Dennis Denno talk Trump and free trade, discuss Sen. Curtis Hertel v. Congressman Mike Bishop, and interview Mark Gaffney about unions and Great Lakes freighters. https://soundcloud.com/user-595768561/march-24/s-ljEDS
The New Yorker: Are Liberals on the Wrong Side of History?
Three new books interrogate the premises of the Enlightenment. By Adam Gopnik The true élite of modern societies is composed of engineers, mechanics, and artisans—masters of reality, not big thinkers.Illustration by Leigh Guldig Of all the prejudices of pundits, presentism is the strongest. It is the assumption that what is happening now is going to […]