Schuette: Won’t somebody please think of the poor private schools? You’ve got to hand it to Michigan’s Attorney General Bill Schuette: He’s consistent, if only in his inconsistency. . . . The cost of fighting to keep Michigan from recognizing gay marriage was monetarily steep: $1.9 million in plaintiffs’ legal fees, and almost a quarter of …
May 16, 2018
Brian Calley: Schuette’s land deals reveal his hypocrisy on transparency When confronted about his ownership interest in businesses that control a $40 million real estate development in the Virgin Islands, his first instinct was to lie. . . . So why didn’t he complete a personal financial disclosure for the assets not in trust? Maybe it’s …
May 16, 2018
Documents: Staffers signed Schuette real estate deals Schuette initially told The Detroit News he had “no idea” what Calley was talking about, but his campaign later said the property was inherited by Schuette and his sisters, was not part of the blind trust and does not represent a conflict. Documents obtained Friday by The Detroit …
May 11, 2018
Trump’s Trade Moves Put U.S. Carmakers in a Jam at Home and Abroad — Mr. Trump’s efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, to impose tariffs on imported aluminum and steel and to reduce America’s trade deficit with China could limit the reach of companies that produce cars in the United States and …
May 11, 2018
In assessing his Republican opponents, Colbeck said electing either Schuette or Lt. Gov. Brian Calley would mean “politics as usual.” He points to hundreds of thousands of dollars Schuette has received over the years from political action committees representing corporations such as DTE Energy and Consumers Energy and said, based on that, consumers would have no hope …
May 11, 2018
Attorney General Bill Schuette has quietly made multimillion-dollar real estate transactions involving inherited oceanfront property in the U.S. Virgin Islands while in office and used state employees to complete one transaction in November 2016, documents show. . . . Schuette’s executive assistant, Lori Gay, notarized the transaction and the attorney general’s communications director, Andrea Bitely, and …
May 11, 2018
”The People of Michigan deserve to know their elected officials are serving the public, not themselves,” said Schuette. “That is why I am again voluntarily releasing my tax returns and taking steps to assure the public I will serve as their Attorney General without the potential for conflicts of interest.” . . . In order to …
May 11, 2018
“If I had as few accomplishments as the Attorney General I’d probably fall back on endorsements too. Bill Schuette will say or do anything to get elected, literally anything. Politicizes tragedy, he uses the criminal justice system like it’s a launching pad for a gubernatorial campaign,” Calley said. (TV 9 & 10)
May 10, 2018
As the debate aired, a group of six undecided Republican voters from Kent County was watching from the WOOD TV8 Media Arts Center at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. . . . They said they wanted to see substance, and most said they found it from the lesser-known candidates, Colbeck and Hines. . . . They …
May 10, 2018
More than one hundred fast-food cooks, Head Start workers, healthcare workers and other voters across Michigan will flood the GOP gubernatorial debate Wednesday blasting candidate Bill Schuette’s refusal to protect vital healthcare for nearly 700,000 people who rely on the state’s expanded Medicaid program enacted under Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. The protest follows a recent …
May 9, 2018
“Working families need a governor who has the backbone to stand up to Republicans when they push anti-worker legislation. Whitmer has spent her entire career fighting back against attacks on our wages, our benefits, and our freedom to negotiate together. When Gov. Rick Snyder locked the people out of the Capitol to pass right-to-work legislation, …
May 9, 2018
Lt. Gov. Calley last week repeated his contention the charges against Lyon and Wells are politically motivated and a “gross abuse of power.” . . . Dr. Jim Hines of Saginaw, another gubernatorial candidate, said the legal process is taking too long, costing taxpayers too much and raising questions among people about whether Flint “is being politicized by …
May 9, 2018
Schuette highlighted this on his facebook page: Without a doubt, Schuette has outpaced his Republican rivals in making government transparency and accountability a central tenet of his run for governor. He’s consistently spoken and written about the topic since he announced his candidacy and he devotes a chunk of his campaign site to explaining his …
May 8, 2018
Trump proposes $15 billion spending cuts, targets children’s health program: “It appears that sabotaging our health care system to the detriment of middle-class families wasn’t enough for President Trump and Republicans; now they’re going after health care dollars that millions of children rely on, especially during outbreaks of the flu and other deadly illnesses,” [Sen. Schumer] said …
May 8, 2018
Witness says Snyder aides were alerted about Legionnaires’ — A member of Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration [Eric Brown] says the governor’s senior aides were told about a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in the Flint area months before it was publicly announced. . . . He says Lyon warned Snyder’s top advisers that cases were rising at the …
May 8, 2018
Coming to a TV screen near you soon: Democratic commercials attacking President Trump and Betsy DeVos to convince voters to support Democratic House candidates. “I think Betsy DeVos and Trump are people who are activating our base of supporters,” said Rep. Kristy Pagan. “And motivating our voters to come out to support our Democrats who are …
May 8, 2018
Schuette trails in latest polls: A new poll from EPIC-MRA shows if Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette wants to be governor, he has an uphill battle. Democrats Gretchen Whitmer and Shri Thanedar are both ahead of the Republican frontrunner in the survey, and Thanedar’s advertising blitz is paying off with his name recognition nearing that of …
May 8, 2018
Flashpoint 5/6/18: Gubernatorial candidate Colbeck defends Muslim comments about El-Sayed (WDIV)
May 6, 2018
“Gov. Snyder and the Republicans poisoned the City of Flint,” Whitmer claimed. “And our attorney general didn’t do a darn thing about it for over two years. Children were brushing their teeth every night with poison. They failed the people of this state.” (Midland Daily News)
May 5, 2018
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos casts a large shadow in her home state of Michigan, having left a trail of failed, for-profit charter schools that have diverted scarce funding from neighborhood public schools. Gretchen Whitmer, a front-runner in the state’s election for governor, wants to take Michigan out from underneath that shadow. A former prosecutor and state Senate …
May 4, 2018