Politics + Gov
At ‘emergency’ summit, Congressional Black Caucus calls for Trump’s defeat
WASHINGTON — Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) laid out its agenda for the year last week at an “emergency summit” at the U.S. Capitol. Atop their to-do list: ensure a full and accurate count of people of color in the decennial census this year and elect a new president in November. “There’s a […]
Test scores, learning rates tell different student achievement stories in Michigan’s poorest schools
A recent study shows a concept that we have seen for a long time — children’s scores are much higher in richer districts in Michigan. But the study also shows that test scores don’t paint the whole picture for student achievement when comparing poorer and more affluent schools. The Educational Opportunity Project, a study done […]
Susan J. Demas: What the national media keep missing about Michigan in 2020
“So I should go to Macomb County, right?” That’s the blue-collar metro Detroit area many analysts credit for Donald Trump’s surprise 2016 Michigan win. Ever since then, it’s been the subject of endless diner safari stories from folks whose only previous time in Michigan was a 90-minute layover at Detroit Metro airport. As the 2020 […]
Bloomberg wants to turn Michigan blue in ‘20 at all costs — literally
With a highly unconventional campaign strategy and no shortage of funds, billionaire former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is laying the groundwork for Michigan to vote blue in November – even if he’s not the Democratic presidential nominee. Bloomberg’s huge investments in battleground states like Michigan come as the rest of the Democratic field travels to […]
Native American women have gone missing. Many have been murdered. Will Washington act?
WASHINGTON — Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind was 22, eight months pregnant, and looking forward to her baby shower the following day when she went missing on a sunny August afternoon in 2017. She had gone to a neighbor’s apartment in Fargo, N.D., where she had been asked to help with a sewing project. She never went home. […]
Rick Haglund: Amazon shows how the the tax break system is gamed
Just how outrageous has the tax incentives game become? Consider: Amazon chief Jeff Bezos reportedly was so jealous of the $2.4 billion in incentives that Tesla chief Elon Musk had extracted from state and local governments that he pushed his team to top that number for the company’s planned second headquarters. State and local governments […]
After Iowa, Whitmer challenges presidential nominating schedule
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday declared that snafus for the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses should cause the political parties to rethink the presidential nominating process. “I think it speaks to why we need to have a real conversation about how we can improve this process,” Whitmer said to reporters after her presentation to the Detroit Economic […]
From diapers to doctorates: How Whitmer’s budget expands support for all stages of education
Improving the quality and affordability of education in Michigan has been a top priority for Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who’s rolled out a budget proposal to that end. The governor’s Fiscal Year 2021 plan released Thursday offers $15.9 billion investment for the School Aid budget — a 4.9% increase from last year. Michigan hasn’t seen […]
Effort to stop mine near Boundary Waters divides Democrats
WASHINGTON — As the President Trump administration pushes to allow mining near Minnesota’s iconic Boundary Waters, U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) is waging an attempt to thwart the plans. A bipartisan group of four Michigan lawmakers back her legislation, U.S. Reps. Dan Kildee (D-Flint), Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Twp.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly). Upton […]
Lucido couldn’t hold a coffee hour at a hospital. He wants a bill to ensure that won’t happen again.
State Sen. Peter Lucido (R-Shelby Twp.) said he was told by a hospital that he could not host a coffee hour earlier in January, and he wasn’t happy about it. On Thursday, he made his case on legislation to the Senate Local Government Committee that he said would bar county-owned facilities from denying lawmakers from […]
Farm subsidies favor South, irking other regions
Lenci Sickler, a fifth-generation farmer who oversees more than 10,000 acres in western North Dakota, stops short of saying whether farmers in southern states are better off than his peers in the Midwest. The payment rates vary by county, but a 2019 federal payment program intended to help farmers facing low prices caused by President […]
Buttigieg hangs on to narrow lead with 100% of precincts reporting
With 100% of Iowa’s caucus precincts finally reported on Thursday evening, Pete Buttigieg held on to the narrowest of leads over Bernie Sanders. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., had 564.02 state delegate equivalents or 26.2%. Sanders, an independent U.S. Vermont senator, had 562.44 state delegate equivalents, or 26.2%. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren […]