by Rob Smith On December 12, 2012 Governor Rick Snyder was quoted in the Detroit Free Press as saying that “Michigan is well-positioned for a comeback.” A few days later, for the third year, Forbes Magazine ranked Michigan 47th in Forbes’ Best States for Business and Careers list. In a piece accompanying the ranking Governor Snyder offered up a mess [...]
by Livia Gershon This summer, I was chatting with my parents, and I happened to mention that my husband and I pay pretty much no federal income taxes. My dad was shocked. What about withholdings from your paychecks, he asked. I said we get it all back in our refund. I was kind of embarrassed [...]
by B. Mann It’s morning. I think of what day it is. God, please let it not be the 15th. I don’t have the money for the payroll taxes. Oh wait… did I pay the truck? Shit! I didn’t pay the truck. I hope that check comes today. It’s Wednesday and we need it for payroll. And it’s mortgage week. Oh God, if we [...]
by Rob Smith In an August 28, 2012 video interview, Michigan’s Republican governor told WaPo interviewer Nia-Malika Henderson that he and Presidential candidate Mitt Romney “have a lot of similarities.” Snyder urged Romney to “get a positive message out there.” Several times during the interview, Snyder talked about “job creation” and “a future for our [...]
by Robert Paarlberg From Whole Foods recyclable cloth bags to Michelle Obama’s organic White House garden, modern eco-foodies are full of good intentions. We want to save the planet. Help local farmers. Fight climate change — and childhood obesity, too. But though it’s certainly a good thing to be thinking about global welfare while chopping [...]
by Rob Smith It’s been a tough couple of weeks for Governor Rick Snyder in the Michigan courts. First a Wayne County judge declared closed-door meetings of the finance team which had been evaluating whether Detroit should be forced to accept an Emergency Manager a violation of the state’s Open Meetings Act. Then, a judge in Flint [...]
by F. Zakaria Remember Mitt Romney’s infamous “poor” comment? If not, here it is again: “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich; they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95% [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
