You didn’t have to watch today’s Detroit city council hearing on the latest consent agreement proposal to figure out that members are detached from reality. The reality is that Detroit can’t maintain the status quo and survive. It can’t fix its finances without state help. And if it doesn’t reach a deal with the state, … Continue Reading →
Remember Bubba Helms? He was the young Taylor man who joined the riots outside Tiger Stadium after the Tigers won the World Series in 1984. A photograph of Helms, beer belly surging from beneath his t-shirt, a Tiger pennant held proudly over his head, illuminated by an overturned and burning Detroit police car, became the … Continue Reading →
I’m watching the live stream of the financial review panel at Detroit City Hall. If the ignorance on display wasn’t so tragic, it would be downright hilarious. After nearly an hour of chanting, singing and shouting that drowned out the proceedings of the review panel, the meeting now has moved to the public comment period. … Continue Reading →
Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth — the hand wringing is in full swing over the much, much warmer and sunnier March weather. Kids are riding bikes and playing in parks, homeonwers are mowing lawns and thinking about planting flowers, the walleye are running in the Detroit River. All a good month … Continue Reading →
Before heading off for a European trade mission, Gov. Rick Snyder put his signature on a bill that bans school districts from automatically deducting union dues from employee paychecks. It’s a punitive piece of legislation, but one the teacher unions had coming. Unions are using their members’ dues to wage war on the reforms Snyder … Continue Reading →
By all accounts, voter turn-out in today’s Michigan Republican primary is very low, which would seem to be good news for Mitt Romney. Why? Because Romney, who started the day with a 1 percentage point lead in the final poll, apparently has a big edge with absentee voters. Pollster Steve Mitchell says Romney enjoys a … Continue Reading →
With less than 24-hours before the polls open in Michigan, the GOP primary picture is no clearer than it was two weeks ago. Both Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney have added appearances Monday and Tuesday, suggesting their internal polls tell them Michigan is still very much up for grabs. Former Massachusetts Gov. Romney had appeared … Continue Reading →
The sorry state of political coverage was on full display today at Mitt Romney’s speech before the Detroit Economic Club. The national media joined Democrats in fixating on the fact that the 65,000 seat Ford Field was barely filled by the crowd 0f 1,200, implying that a lack of enthusiasm for Romney was behind the … Continue Reading →
A member of Mitt Romney’s team told me before tonight’s debate in Arizona that the debate and Friday’s major speech to the Detroit Economic Club would decide whether he wins Michigan. Romney got though the first challenge in fine fasion. He clearly was the most presidential of the four candidates on the stage. He was … Continue Reading →
Newt Gingrich passed on a serious campaign in Michigan, figuring Mitt Romney had his home state in the bag. But the stubbornly lingering not-Romney vote turned out to be as intense here as it has been in other states. The absence of Gingrich on the campaign trail here has left Romney in a head-to-head race … Continue Reading →