Phil Power

What happens to great ideas a few years after they’re hatched? That question was on my mind last week when I drove to Detroit last week to visit University Preparatory Academy, the public charter launched back in 2000 by my old friend, Doug Ross. Ross, a former state senator, Michigan Department of Commerce director, and […]

I think it was around six years ago when I first heard faint rumblings about a coming financial tidal wave that was going to break over our cities, townships and villages, bringing with it the risk of a new civil war between retirees and taxpayers. The phrases were dire – “Enormous unfunded liabilities.” “Retiree pensions […]

U.S. District Judge John Corbett O’Meara (courtesy photo) Last week I drove to the Federal Building in downtown Ann Arbor, and waited while the big black security gate slid open. I got off the elevator and was greeted by my old friend, U.S. District Judge John Corbett O’Meara, wearing his customary double-breasted gray pinstriped suit, […]

If we’re going to save America from repeated near-disasters like this month’s war over the government shutdown and the near-default on our debt, we’ve got to have an urgent conversation about gerrymandering, both in Michigan and the entire nation. Here’s why. The practice of “gerrymandering” — drawing congressional and legislative districts to favor one political […]

I don’t know just how close our country came to economic disaster last week, but I do know most Americans are sick and tired of the entire mess in Washington. Up to now, I never thought the country was close to ungovernable, but I’m beginning to wonder. It’s no secret we came near to chaos […]

Believe it or not, there is good news out there. The news from Lansing may be, at the very best, mixed, and Washington had, even before the shutdown, fallen into a vast sinkhole of dysfunction, fueled by partisan and ideological wars. Still, it may sooth the mind and rekindle a little optimism to consider these […]

The cover has a big picture of an ear. Underneath, the headline: “This is a politician’s ear. Bend it!” It’s the cover of the discussion guide for this year’s round of Community Conversations sponsored by The Center for Michigan. They’re small gatherings designed to call forth Michiganders’ views on where our state should be going. […]

How would you feel if you had a case in court — and suddenly realized that the judge’s campaign for office had been generously and secretly backed by the party opposing your lawsuit? “Shocked, outraged and mad as hell” is probably an understatement!Well, now for the really shocking part. In Michigan that can actually happen. […]

Last week marked moving-in day at college campuses all around Michigan. Normally, the start of term is a time of happy confusion: Excited kids going off to college, and anxious and proud parents wondering what the next few months will bring. But campus suddenly felt much more contentious this season. Last week an English professor, […]