John Hieftje sat down to an interview with AnnArbor.com’s “editorial board,” almost one year ago to talk about the city’s budget. The city’s CFO Tom Crawford tagged along, primarily to nod, as it is commonly known around City Hall that Crawford uses his fingers to count, and that certain staffers in the finance department do [...]
by Darla Carmichael I was going through my facebook photo albums yesterday, reminiscing about when my five-year-old was still a baby/toddler. There are no pictures from the hospital when he was born and only a couple quick, fuzzy snap shots from the subsequent year that was such a mix of turmoil and chaos for us. [...]
by James Jackson I can not stand the idea of entitlements. An entitlement is something that a person believes s/he deserves without any questions or limitations. An entitlement is something a person receives because s/he believes it is owed them, because it is their right, and they accept without thanks, because no thanks are needed [...]
A2P Notes: At A2Politico.com everyone is a political insider. That’s the way it should be. Local, state and to a lesser degree national politics have increasingly become the baileywick of professionals: candidates, their staffers, ad agencies, and political analysts. Voters go to the polls less informed than ever before in increasingly smaller numbers. As the [...]
by Sophia van Buren She sat there on the couch across from me, arms crossed, chin slightly jutting out from her face, her sharp features contorted into a look of disapproval. Her pale blue eyes looked sternly into mine, like a mother admonishing a child. It was a look I’d seen before, many times. Every [...]
by K. Frank I line up with about twenty others in the waiting room. Each one of us is holding a white envelope containing information and forms to fill out to apply for food stamps. We’re escorted by a uniformed police officer through the door, down a hallway, past cubicles where workers have photos of [...]
by Leslie Basden I got a job interview yesterday and was offered a position. It’s the first interview I’ve had in about a year. I can blanket my field with resumes and not receive a single call. My job consists of counseling others to help them locate tools to remain sober outside of locked facilities, [...]
by J.D. Berman Now that we’re officially in the 2012 election cycle, candidates for office may want to take note of a new poll on voter attitudes toward poverty and opportunity. According to a survey commissioned by Spotlight on Poverty, an astounding 88 percent of voters think a candidate’s position on poverty is important in deciding their [...]
by Pete Nicely Far too rarely does the Republican Party get exactly what it deserves. It happened in 1964. It happened in 2008. And it’s going to happen, in a way, today in Florida. Mitt Romney is the epitome of modern Republicanism in three ways: 1) He has no sincere beliefs except that he should [...]
by Kristina Lakes I don’t understand IEP’s. If you are blessed enough to not have a child on one, you might not know that it stands for Individualized Education Plan. Basically, it means that if your child has “special needs,” he or she will receive curriculum accommodations in school. This could be anything from getting [...]
