Progress Michigan blog posts.
Ambassador Bridge billionaire mogul Matty Maroun’s mouthpiece, crazyman consultant Dick Morris, was bounced as a Republican keynote speaker, allegedly at the behest of Governor Rick Snyder. Now Morris, a Fox News bloviator, has found a new speaking life as the Michigan Tea Party’s keynoter at a June 9 fundraiser in Milford where Morris will share…
This post written by Clean Water Action’s Fran Brennan (Cross-posted at Michigan Liberal) “I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore. . . . I hear it in the deep heart’s core.”–William Butler Yeats For many of us who have grown up and live in Michigan, Memorial Day weekend kicks off the eagerly…
Right now, there are no national limits on hazardous air pollution such as mercury, arsenic, and lead. Unbelievable, right? This pollution is making us sick — causing asthma, developmental problems for children, and even death. But there’s good news. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is writing rules to update the Clean Air Act and…
Democrats in the state House of Representatives launched a tool today that will measure Michigan’s progress on education, clean air, job creation, etc. If it sounds a little bit like Gov. Rick Snyder’s dashboard approach, that’s because it is — intentionally. From the website: The Governor says state government should be outcome-based, and we couldn’t…
Say you’re an elected official that rammed through an anti-democratic Emergency Manager law that takes away the responsibilities and powers we afford our duly elected officials and replaced them with appointed Emergency Managers. Furthermore, imagine that you’ve fabricated a budget shortfall so you can cut education, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and hand out $1.8…
Citizens groups today filed a lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for ignoring state regulations when it approved an air pollution permit for a coal plant in Holland. “The State of Michigan should not be in the business of bending the rules and that’s what this lawsuit is about,” said Jan O’Connell of…
Hint: it’s public employees. Today, we’re pleased to partner with our friends at We Are the People to launch IMakeMichiganWork.org, a new website that showcases the personal stories of Michigan’s public service employees, who are being asked to accept an additional $180 million in wage and benefit cuts to pay for Gov. Rick Snyder’s $1.8…
Looking for a Emergency Manager destination to find out if your community is in danger? Click here. In Benton Harbor, one of Michigan’s first new local emergency managers under Public Act 4 described himself as an “angel of common sense” just days after he suspended democracy there by ordering the City Council to quit doing…
Americans for Prosperity, a Koch Brothers front group, is dedicated to stripping worker rights, destroying the middle class, and maximizing corporate profits. Their strategy? Pitting union employees against non-union employees. Public sector employees against private sector employees. Neighbor against neighbor. It follows Jay Gould’s philosophy, “I can hire one-half of the working class to kill…
Republicans in Lansing are debating a budget that would give a $1.8 billion tax cut to big corporations and pay for it by cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from education, raising taxes on middle class families and seniors, and pushing more than 14,000 children into poverty. It’s time for politicians to start standing up…