Ballenger and Denno talk Trump’s visit to Michigan. They also discuss the latest on the MI gubernatorial race and Denno Research’s poll on the Detroit mayor’s race. Finally, there is an update on Sunshine Week, Ballenger talks Puerto Rican assassination attempt on a MI Congressman. https://soundcloud.com/user-595768561/trump-visit-mi-guber-detroit-mayors-race-more/s-hragi
News
Bloomberg: Democrats Strike Back in the Redistricting Wars
By Albert R. Hunt Kelly Ward is determined not to bang her head, politically, against the wall. She spent four years running the Democrats’ House Campaign Committee where, thanks to the Republicans’ prodigious gerrymandering of congressional districts, she made little progress. Convinced that under the current structure Democrats have little chance to win a majority in […]
A Strange Confluence: Statehood, Education and Michigan Politics
Puerto Rico, Gov. Rick Snyder’s 21st Century Education Commission, and a long-forgotten Michigan Congressman — what could they possibly have in common? The answer: Alvin M. Bentley of Owosso, whose widow, Billie, endowed the University of Michigan’s famous Bentley Historical Library. Bentley was the only man ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from […]
Income Tax Cut Update & Status of Wolf Hunting in MI
Bill Ballenger and Dennis Denno talk income tax cut and interview Jill Fritz, Director of Wildlife Protection for The Humane Society of the United States, about a potential wolf hunt in Michigan. https://soundcloud.com/user-595768561/march-10
Top Democratic Lawyer Mark Brewer/Gerrymanders/Trump’s SOTU
This week we interview top Democratic lawyer Mark Brewer. We discuss his latest work fighting gerrymandering and Trump’s SOTU. https://soundcloud.com/user-595768561/march-3/s-pmFD4
Beer tax increase, Trump’s SOTU, DeVos and LGBTQ community, Prison football, and Democratic Tea Party movement?
Bill Ballenger and Dennis Denno talk Trump’s State of the Union (SOTU), the movement to lower the MI income tax, DeVos and the LGBTQ community, and a potential liberal Tea Party movement. They also interview former Rep. Tom Hooker’s bill to increase the beer tax and his experience playing football at Ionia prison. Caution, there […]
What’s the future of the media? What’s going on in state gov.?
What’s the future of the media? What’s going on in state government? Bill Ballenger and Dennis Denno asked the pros–John Reurink and Kyle Melinn of MIRS Newsletter. https://soundcloud.com/user-595768561/whats-the-future-of-the-media-we-asked-mirs-newsletter/s-AeWZu
In Flint, a Squeaky Wheel Doesn’t Get the Grease
Two of the most outspoken activists in the Flint water crisis have seen no effort by government authorities to replace their allegedly lead-tainted pipes under Mayor Karen Weaver’s “Fast Start” program. Melissa Mays and LeeAnne Walters have testified repeatedly at various public forums over the past two years, claiming their families have been exposed to […]
Split decision? Not Really. Big GOP Win!
President Donald Trump seems to have limited regard for the judiciary, but maybe that’s because his main experience so far has been with the “Notorious Ninth” on the issue of immigrant/refugee “travel bans.” Trump should be pleased to know that, closer to home, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals is a lot friendlier. Maybe […]
Can State House Dems Break Through?
Between 2010 and 2016, for the first time in Michigan history three out of four straight general elections for the state House of Representatives wound up with exactly the same 63R/47D split. Only in 2012, when Republicans managed only 59 seats and the Democrats climbed to 51, was there anything different. That means that Republican […]