Free Republic

Michigan’s Republican governor signed legislation on Tuesday that officially bans Tesla Motors and any other carmaker from selling directly to consumers in the state. But Rick Snyder, who is seeking re-election next month, maintained in a letter to lawmakers that the bill simply clarified the state’s existing law and that such direct sales already were not legal in Michigan, home to Detroit’s big auto companies. Now, state law requires that Tesla, or other car companies, must sell vehicles through networks of franchised dealers. If the company doesn’t have its own network, the state requires it to sell vehicles through another...

The 2014 Michigan gubernatorial election should be a referendum on the major changes to Michigan made by Governor Rick Snyder’s administration. Unfortunately, the debate is saturated instead with false claims of education cuts. Snyder’s opponent, former congressman Mark Schauer, centered his campaign around the allegation that Snyder “cut $1 billion from the schools.” Most school revenue in Michigan is channeled through the state. So the annual budget is closely followed. Overall spending on education is up over Snyder’s term. From the fiscal year 2011 budget — the last budget passed prior to the Snyder administration — to the fiscal 2015...

A new Mark Schauer for governor political advertisement features four teachers from four different school districts who claim that Gov. Rick Snyder has cut funding to their districts. But in fact, on a per-student basis, all four districts actually received more taxpayer money in 2013-14 than they did in 2010-2011, which was the last budget approved by Gov. Jennifer Granholm. The ad features seven teachers but only four specifically cite lower funding. For months Schauer, who is the Democratic candidate for the state’s top office, has claimed that Gov. Snyder cut funding to public schools. This claim has been refuted...

It is time to reassess Michigan’s gubernatorial race; and flipping a coin might be the best approach to picking the winner. Polls show Gov. Rick Snyder and Democratic challenger former Congressman Mark Schauer neck and neck with Gov. Snyder’s momentum heading downward. Maybe Gov. Snyder – said by some to be the smartest man in the room – knows precisely what he’s doing. Maybe his advisers have spotted something encouraging in the polling numbers others have missed, but the governor has slipped into a dead heat after being the favorite to win re-election only a few weeks ago. Gov. Snyder’s...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)There are 65 prominent people who might run for president in 2016. The Democratic and Republican fields contrast sharply. Hillary Clinton is the clear front-runner, while there is no front-runner on the Republican side. Twenty-three Democrats have been mentioned as a candidate or are eyeing a bid, according to an analysis by The Hill. The GOP side has 42. Most of the people on this list won’t run, and some have adamantly claimed that they’re not interested. But many politicians have changed their minds on seeking the White House. Before mounting his 2008 bid, then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said he...

A recent “fact check” from the Michigan Truth Squad, a project of the Center for Michigan, takes a look at an ad from Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer attacking Gov. Rick Snyder. In its analysis of K-12 state funding, the truth-checkers state, “In his first year in office, Snyder approved a budget that resulted in school funding $930 million lower than the previous year.” For the Record: The Truth Squad cites a Senate Fiscal Agency report, but they do not include $455.5 million in additional state funding used for “best practices” and retiree benefit costs. That amount is listed in...

The Islamic Society of North America or ISNA, the nation's largest Muslim group, will hold its 51st annual convention in Detroit's Cobo Center Friday through Sept. 1, and will feature former President Jimmy Carter as the keynote speaker. ... A “secret special guest” is also on the bill. The convention‘‍s opening session Friday will include words from Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, the national leader of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the first Muslim member of Congress,

<p>DETROIT, MI -- Candidate for governor Mark Schauer plans to announce his running mate in a series of news conferences Thursday.</p> <p>Two Lansing-based news services, Gongwer and MIRS, report that Schauer is expected to name Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown as his candidate for lieutenant governor.</p>

ttorney General Eric Holder said Friday that the federal government will recognize about 300 same-sex marriages performed in Michigan before a federal appeals court halted them, despite a decision by Michigan's governor not to recognize those unions. The decision means federal benefits will be extended to those couples -- including the ability to file taxes jointly, get Social Security benefits for spouses and request legal immigration status for partners. "These families will be eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages," Holder said in a statement.

Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday extended federal recognition to the marriages of about 300 same-sex couples that took place in Michigan before a federal appeals court put those unions on hold. Holder's action will enable the government to extend eligibility for federal benefits to the Michigan couples who married Saturday, which means they can file federal taxes jointly, get Social Security benefits for spouses and request legal immigration status for partners, among other benefits. The attorney general said the families should not be asked to endure uncertainty regarding their benefits while courts decide the issue of same-sex marriage in...

Michigan's governor has refused to recognize the gay marriage licenses issued after a judge declared the state's ban on same-sex unions unconstitutional. Gov. Rick Snyder stated that the approximately 300 gay marriages performed last weekend after the decision but before the stay on the decision will not be legally recognized. Snyder made the announcement Wednesday after an appeals court put a stay on the implementation of the recent ruling by federal Judge Bernard Friedman of Detroit. "Snyder's announcement Wednesday closes the door to certain benefits granted to Michigan married couples," reported the Associated Press. "Snyder says the marriages were legal...

DETROIT, MI -- Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade H. McCree is barred from presiding over a courtroom until January of 2021. The Michigan Supreme Court enacted a recommendation that the judge, suspended without pay since Feb. 3, 2013, be suspended from holding a judgeship for six years from Jan. 1,2015, should he be re-elected in this year's election. The 57-year-old must also pay $11,645.17 in costs, according to the Supreme Court opinion issued Wednesday.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he will follow however a federal judge rules on the legality of same-sex marriages in his state, and insisted he has never taken a public position on the issue.Snyder made the comments at a Bloomberg View forum with reporters in Manhattan on Monday, as gay couples who married in the last few days awaited clarity after a federal judge put a temporary hold on a ruling overturning Michigan’s ban on gay marriage.

PONTIAC, MI -- It was fun while it lasted for hundreds of gay Michigan couples who got married Saturday. With a voter-approved ban against same-sex nuptials out of the way for about 24 hours, couples rushed to tie the knot in four Michigan counties where clerks held special weekend hours to issue marriage licenses. But an appeals court put a stop to the immediate wedding planning, issuing a temporary stay of U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman's Friday ruling that called the Michigan Marriage Act unconstitutional. Friedman issued a decision that rejected all of the state's arguments that voters made a...

Michigan's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, a federal judge said Friday as he struck down a law that was widely embraced by voters a decade ago — the latest in a recent series of decisions overturning similar prohibitions across the country. U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman released his 31-page ruling exactly two weeks after a rare trial that mostly focused on the impact of same-sex parenting on children. He noted that supporters of same-sex marriage believe the Michigan ban was at least partly the result of animosity toward gays and lesbians.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan won't recognize more than 300 same-sex marriages performed last weekend before a court halted a decision that opened the door to gay nuptials, Gov. Rick Snyder said Wednesday. The announcement came a day after an appeals court indefinitely stopped any additional same-sex marriages. It will likely take months for the court to make its own judgment about whether a Michigan constitutional amendment that says marriage only is between a man and a woman violates the U.S. Constitution. U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman struck down the gay marriage ban Friday. Four counties took the extraordinary step...

Gov. Rick Snyder says Michigan won't recognize more than 300 same-sex marriages performed last weekend. The marriages were performed Saturday before a federal appeals court suspended a decision that overturned the state's ban on gay marriage. Snyder's announcement Wednesday closes the door to certain benefits granted to Michigan married couples. The move comes after a day after an appeals court indefinitely stopped any additional same-sex marriages.

HOUSTON, TX – The nation’s leading labor union will plan to spend $300 million in 2014 trying to unseat Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and four other Republican Governors. More: AFL-CIO to Target Walker, Other Governors People’s World reported that the AFL-CIO announced on Thursday morning during a press conference in Houston that they would spend money trying to unseat Governor Walker. Other Governors that the labor organization is targeting are John Kasich (R-Ohio), Tom Corbett (R-Pennsylvania), Rick Snyder (R-Michigan), and Rick Scott (R-Florida). The American Federation of Teachers backed the AFL-CIO’s plan. President Randi Weingarten said: “In many ways it...

The road back for Detroit seems to be getting longer. More than three months after its historic bankruptcy filing, city officials Friday offered up their proposed plan to pay bondholders, pensioners and other creditors holding its $18 billion debt substantially less then they're owed. "We think the plan is reasonable," emergency manager Kevyn Orr told reporters. "We really don't have time for a lot of acrimony and litigation." But even before Orr had a chance to formally unveil it, the plan was under heavy attack from investors, unions representing city workers and other creditors.

Mark Schauer, Democratic candidate for governor, is railing against tax breaks for businesses. In a recent ad Schauer alleges that Gov. Rick Snyder cut education spending and used the revenue "to give tax breaks to businesses even if they send jobs overseas." Schauer's spokesperson, Zack Pohl, reiterated the claim in a recent Detroit Free Press article: "Snyder chose not to find new revenue for education because he used that money to pay for his huge $1.8 billion corporate tax break." The media has recently given more scrutiny to this narrative. Yet over the past decade Schauer himself was one of...