Commentary
Rick Haglund: Why fixing the damn roads is so damn hard
How in the world are we ever going to fix the damn roads? Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s signature policy prescription — boosting the gas tax by 45 cents a gallon to raise $2.5 billion to repair roads and bridges — is going nowhere in the Legislature. Meanwhile, Republicans who control the House and Senate are […]
Demas: Same-sex marriage has been legal for 4 years. A Michigan Republican still thinks homophobia is a winning ticket to Congress.
It’s been a slow, simmering summer in Lansing. Republicans running the Michigan Legislature, who used to incessantly brag about their impressive fiscal prowess by finishing state budgets by June under a GOP governor, have instead retreated to ever-receding Great Lakes beaches for a little unearned R&R. But one West Michigan Republican is working, sort of. […]
5 things to watch in this week’s Democratic debates in Detroit
After months of Democratic presidential candidates — plus Republican President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence — flocking to Michigan, the state is set this week to be the formal epicenter of the 2020 campaign. Twenty Democratic hopefuls will participate in the next round of Democratic presidential debates on Tuesday and Wednesday.* Both feature […]
Column: After Supreme Court decision, gerrymandering fix is up to voters
In a 5-4 decision the Supreme Court has ruled that partisan gerrymandering is not unconstitutional. The majority ruled that gerrymandering is outside the scope and power of the federal courts to adjudicate. The issue is a political one, according to the court, not a legal one. “Excessive partisanship in districting leads to results that reasonably […]
In Michigan, the LG takes paternity leave
Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist is set on Wednesday morning to kick off a criminal justice reform task force in Detroit. That comes after he announced last week he was back from a four-week paternity leave after the birth of his third child. Gilchrist and his wife, Ellen, last month welcomed their daughter, Ruby, who joined […]
Rick Haglund: Steering students into skilled trades alone won’t rebuild Michigan’s middle class
For decades, Michigan policymakers have focused on attracting more high school students into skilled trades and other plentiful good-paying jobs that don’t require four-year degrees. Every governor since John Engler has pushed the notion that Michigan can rebuild a middle class decimated from the loss of auto assembly and other manufacturing jobs by growing “middle-skill” […]
Column: Most of my family was wiped out by the Nazis. There’s no ‘first place’ in persecution.
Six million Jewish men, women and children were killed in the extermination camps of Nazi Germany. They were dehumanized by a government policy that called for the extermination of the untermenshchen — of whom Jews were among the lowliest of the low. But should any group claim the exclusive right of suffering in the Holocaust? Is […]
Column: The 1990s are over. Remove Michigan’s felony drug ban on public assistance.
Since 1996, federal law has prohibited individuals with felony drug convictions and their families from receiving cash assistance from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or food assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This ban was put into place at a time when “welfare reform” and “getting tough on drug crimes” were popular political […]
Kara Hope: Trump’s Title X changes threaten health care in Michigan
The war on reproductive freedom has multiple fronts here in Michigan. On one front, petition signatures are being gathered to place two extreme anti-abortion measures before voters on the November 2020 ballot. On another front, the federal government threatens access to health care for more than 42,000 Michiganders. The latter threat comes in the form […]
Herbart and Hecker: Don’t gamble with school retirement funds for roads scheme
Some state lawmakers are proposing to dip into state retirement funds to pay for Michigan’s crumbling roads. This dangerous idea should be rejected because it could undermine the retirement of hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents, drive the state deeper into debt, and saddle taxpayers with massive future costs. Rather than face the fact that […]
Column: A long-running immigration problem: The government sometimes detains and deports U.S. citizens
We are law professors who have studied civil litigation involving citizenship disputes and thousands of cases involving citizens caught up in immigration cases. That includes the U.S. citizens who have been accidentally swept up in the government’s immigration enforcement efforts since the mid-19th century. In many cases, they have been detained and even deported. In […]
Susan J. Demas: Rick Snyder shows that civility is the last refuge of a scoundrel
Hell hath no fury like a rich white man scorned, even in the face of a major American city being poisoned. Former Gov. Rick Snyder’s place in history is presiding over the Flint water crisis, something for which even a panel he appointed blamed his administration. Progressives long warned that there were severe risks with […]