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Question 1): Michigan Republicans cheered the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on June 27 in a case involving President Donald Trump’s order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship that limited lower courts’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions overall. The 6-3 decision held that lower courts must decide whether a more narrowly tailored decision, applying to the specific plaintiffs […]

Question 1): There are plenty of aspirants who claim they’re running for the Republican nomination for Michigan governor next year, but that didn’t stop former state House Speaker Tom LEONARD from announcing last week that he’s getting into it, too. Meanwhile, the likes of Kevin RINKE, Tudor DIXON, and even Perry JOHNSON and possibly others […]

This year marks the 160th anniversary of a famous battle linking two states on opposite sides in the Civil War — Michigan and North Carolina. The two states would appear to have little in common, then and now, but actually that’s not quite true. Yes, Tar Heels and Wolverines (or denizens of the “Great Lakes […]

This past week, both chambers of the Michigan Legislature inched (awkwardly) toward final “conference” floor votes on a Fiscal Year 2025-26 state budget, including K-12 school aid. However, state House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Kalamazoo area) has refused to commit to finalizing the FY 2026 budget by its legal deadline. For years, lawmakers have worked to […]

When it comes to Michigan business organizations lobbying politicians and public policy makers in the state capital in Lansing, it’s an open question as to how effective they really are. For starters, MIRS newsletter reported last week that, for the 10th straight survey, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce received the most votes from “insiders” when […]

The irrepressible Bob LaBrant, a retired attorney living in Perry, Michigan, has ben puzzling over the question of whether Donald Trump can run for a third term as President of the United States. LaBrant has decided that we should look to the “Qatar 747” gift airplane for the answer: “HOW CAN TRUMP RUN FOR A […]

Question 1): Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has hit a rough patch in her nascent campaign to be the state’s next governor. Her bungling of the official campaign finance/transparency website forced the passage of emergency legislation to extend the deadline for officials to report, and she’s been roundly criticized, even by members of her […]

Does anybody remember Richard Nixon’s “Silent Majority” from more than half a century ago? What was it? Did it ever really exist? If so, whatever happened to The Silent Majority? William S. Bishop, a retired attorney born and raised in Flint but now living in Idaho (and sometimes Florida), says it still exists. By the […]

Question 1): What should we make of University of Michigan President Santa ONO leaving for the same job at the University of Florida after less than three years in Ann Arbor?  Answer 1): It looks like 1-800-CALL SAM is more than just a bloviating law firm. As one of the four Democratic regents who were […]

Last Sept. 9, TBR published an article that detailed how Michigan Democrats’ ability to raise ‘outside’ money from donors who have no real idea whom they’re giving to in a distant state had reached unprecedented levels. Michigan Democrats were garnering a huge majority of their donations in small dollar amounts from outside the state, and […]