Anti-tax. Anti-gay. Anti-Obamacare. That’s all you need to know about brash Tea Party favorite Tom McMillin. Or is it? A growing chorus of progressives are finding common bond with the Rochester Hills Republican.
David Ashenfelter
David Ashenfelter is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former reporter for the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News.
Posted inMichigan Government
What Tom McMillin wants
The brash Republican hasn’t had much legislation signed into law, but it’s not for lack of effort. McMillin’s nearly 200 bills and resolutions span the political spectrum, from deeply conservative efforts to restrict abortion and gay rights, to strange-bedfellows alliances with the ACLU and progressive Democrats on civil liberties issues.
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Rare book collector Ed Surovell started with little, now traces ‘footprints of mankind’
(Ed Surovell – courtesy photo/Bridge Magazine) Edward Surovell made his mark selling houses — thousands of them across southeast Michigan with trademark blue lawn signs. But his passion is books. One-of-a-kind-books. Michigan books published in the 1800s. The affable 73-year-old Ann Arbor real estate broker has acquired nearly 15,000 of them, making him one of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Why ‘dark money’ matters when you stand before a Michigan judge
The State Bar of Michigan this month urged Secretary of State Ruth Johnson to require everyone who contributes money to Michigan judicial campaigns to be publicly identified. It said a 2004 decision by then-Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land allowing those who bankroll so-called judicial “issue ads” to remain anonymous undermines the integrity of the […]
Posted inMichigan Government
The Giving Judge: Which comes first, impartial justice or partisan politics?
Henry Saad is a Michigan Court of Appeals judge who keeps on giving. To his church. To his profession. To the national Republican Party. Judge Henry Saad In 2012, the 65-year-old Bloomfield Township resident contributed an eye-popping $80,800 — more than half of his $151,441-annual salary — to Republican candidates and causes, according to the […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Why Michigan citizens should care about money in judicial politics
Rich Robinson is executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, a non-profit, non-partisan campaign finance watchdog group in Lansing. Here are his thoughts about judges who contribute big bucks to political campaigns and the role big money plays in judicial elections. Q. What do you think about Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Henry Saad […]
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Pipefitter’s daughter from Downriver becomes potent advocate for Michigan prisoners
WITH NEARLY 10 MILLION PEOPLE … : Each day, countless Michigan residents go about their routine business – but in the process do some far from routine things. Bridge will regularly feature some of their stories and the impact they are having on our state. (Bridge illustration/A.J. Jones) It began as a favor to a […]
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Michigan veteran’s service didn’t stop after discharge
WITH NEARLY 10 MILLION PEOPLE … : Each day, countless Michigan residents go about their routine business – but in the process do some far from routine things. Bridge will regularly feature some of their stories and the impact they are having on our state. (Bridge illustration/A.J. Jones) For many Americans, Memorial Day means cookouts […]
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Pushing 90, Avern Cohn not ready to adjourn career
WITH NEARLY 10 MILLION PEOPLE … : Each day, countless Michigan residents go about their routine business – but in the process do some far from routine things. Bridge will regularly feature some of their stories and the impact they are having on our state. (Bridge illustration/A.J. Jones) DETROIT — Notes on the family fridge […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Handshake deal with state haunts Detroit
DEAL BREAKER: Fifteen years ago, the state and Detroit agreed on a funding scheme – a deal that Detroiters say the state soon broke, helping propel the city into its current fiscal crisis. That agreement has been a point of contention between Detroit mayors (Dennis Archer, Kwame Kilpatrick, Dave Bing) and Michigan governors (John Engler, […]