Despite a rebounding auto industry and real estate prices beginning to turn around, Michigan is barely moving the needle in many other quality of life rankings against other states. That’s the somewhat humbling message of this year’s Michigan Scorecard, compiled through a partnership of The Center for Michigan and Kurt Metzger, Director Emeritus of Data Driven […]
Michigan Government
Citizens cannot do their job of running their government if they don’t know what their public servants are doing.
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan Scorecard solutions elude policymakers
This year’s Michigan Scorecard shows the state needs to boost educational performance, reduce poverty, repair crumbling roads and trim the percentage of residents without health insurance. Fortunately, there are proposals in Lansing that would address those issues that affect the quality of life in Michigan. Unfortunately, Gov. Rick Snyder and the Republican-controlled legislature have not […]
Posted inMichigan Government
The Tea Party’s tepid relations with Michigan business groups
As the Tea Party has gained political profile and headlines, it has crossed swords with business groups that would seem to be natural allies in the push for conservative policies. “Long before the Tea Party, the business community was the voice of fiscal responsibility and limited, rational government, and the business community will still be […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Tea Party teamwork: money and foot soldiers
Scott Hagerstrom, executive director of the Americans for Prosperity Michigan chapter, addresses a group of Tea Party members at a recent meeting in the state capitol. The room was reserved by State Senator Patrick Colbeck, a Tea Party favorite. (Bridge photo by Pat Shellenbarger) A Tea Party member had a question for the moderator of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan’s Tea Party battles for GOP's soul
It’s the second Saturday of August, as a group of political newcomers gathers in a classroom of a Baptist school near Lansing. They are plotting a political coup. Among their many goals, they want to dump Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Calley and replace him with one of their own. They’d like to repeal or at […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Kitchen table politics: Tea Party leverages social media to advance causes
Joan Fabiano, founder of Grassroots in Michigan, at her home computer. “I wanted to show that an ordinary person doesn’t need to have an organization in order to change public policy,” she said. (Bridge photo by Pat Shellenbarger) From a corner of her dining room, Joan Fabiano directs a Tea Party group she founded called […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan draws thin in new, high-stakes Indian casino tax negotiations
After 20 years of legalized Indian casino gambling in Michigan, the state is trying to claw back a piece of the action from six tribes as high-stakes talks to extend gaming compacts proceed. At stake: A share of a multi-billion-dollar industry and upwards of $40 million in potential annual revenue for the state. The tribes […]
Posted inMichigan Government
State seeks tighter oversight of Indian casinos’ local revenue sharing
Since Indian casino gambling in Michigan began in 1994, seven tribes have doled out more than $200 million in communities surrounding their casinos. It was widely presumed, under a federal decree governing these payouts, that 2 percent of slot machine and video gaming profits would go to local government to compensate for economic costs of […]
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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