Last week a new group released an ad titled “Smiling”. The ad claims that, “All across Michigan small business owners are smiling.”, as images of smiling people flash across the screen. That got us thinking, who are these smiling small business owners? We looked — and we didn’t find any Michigan small business owners. That’s…
My Grandfather suffered from “Black Lung” disease, but because of the labor movement, he had lifetime healthcare to fight his illness and healthcare coverage for his family when they got sick. His union was the United Mine Workers, led by the legendary John L. Lewis. Who was John L. Lewis? That’s the question I asked…
Bill Schuette likes to claim he defends the will of the people in his role as attorney general. He used this phrase when explaining why he defended Michigan’s ban on marriage equality. The people voted, after all. Blatant bigotry aside, the argument that Schuette is blindly following the collective voice of the people just doesn’t…
It’s Tax Day in Michigan – the day that many of us will rush to our nearest post office or computer to file our taxes in time. The long lines, the news coverage and people dressed up like the Statue of Liberty urging us to give their tax service a try have become traditions each…
Today is Equal Pay Day, symbolizing the day that a woman working full time will have made as much as a man made the year before. That’s right, it takes women 100 additional days of work to make up for the 23% pay gap that exists for equal work. Many view equal pay for equal…
Today, Governor Rick Snyder was challenged to explain why he protected and doubled a contract that benefitted his cousin, while at the same time he was cutting education funds and taxing pensions – a fair question. The Governor’s response has me scratching my head: “His company has been doing office furniture with state of Michigan…
He’s Got a Cousin in the Furniture Business “They will involve difficult but necessary changes to bring Michigan’s budget into structural balance. There will be shared sacrifice, but through that shared sacrifice, Michigan will emerge as a stronger and more vibrant state.” –Governor Rick Snyder’s Executive Budget: Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013. When he first…