Editorial

By JASON HAYES In her latest attack on Line 5, the pipeline that transports oil and natural gas liquids through the Straits of Mackinac, Michigan’s governor has moved to revoke the 1953 easement contract that allows it to operate. This arbitrary and ill-advised move will shutter a key part of the state’s essential energy infrastructure, increase the price of heating and transportation fuels, and threaten thousands of jobs. With the move to revoke the easement, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appears to be fleshing out her green energy … [Read more...] about Whitmer plan to revoke Line 5 easement threatens reliable, affordable energy for Michigan

By LEE H. HAMILTON If you pay attention to global affairs, you know that increasing numbers of people believe U.S. leadership in the world is coming to an end and the West more broadly is being eclipsed. I think these predictions are exaggerated, but they are not without some basis. Our challenges have grown. It is time for us to re-establish ourselves by showing our capacity for change and adaptation. The biggest external challenge we face, of course, is the rise of China and the competition it offers to the democratic model. … [Read more...] about It is time to show our resilience

The staggering student loan debt in this country — estimated to be around $1.6 trillion — stymies much of its young population. Many borrowers are putting off having families because they can’t afford the expense of raising children. Nor are they buying houses or cars, which would boost the economy. This has led some advocates to call for forgiving the debt, with President-elect Joe Biden vowing during his campaign to forgive up to $10,000 for each borrower. More liberal Democrats are fighting for up to $50,000, and the progressive … [Read more...] about Student-loan forgiveness should benefit neediest first

Sunday marks the expiration of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's second partial shutdown of Michigan's economy, and there's no reason to doubt it will be extended again. The ban on indoor dining and drinking has been in place nearly five weeks in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Whether it has worked is hard to say, due to the lag in reporting and the daily fluctuations in cases. What's certain is that it has placed many of the businesses selected for closure in extreme jeopardy. The Michigan Restaurant & Lodging … [Read more...] about Let businesses prove they can safely open

One of President Donald Trump’s foremost achievements has been to erect a formidable obstacle to his own post-election legal challenges. The federal judiciary, now seeded throughout with Trump-nominated judges, has given the back of its hand to pro-Trump election litigation, with Trump judges issuing notably harsh opinions. It’s always been strange that Trump, who will never be mistaken for a rigorous constitutionalist and who personalizes everything, has elevated a couple of hundred judges who, by and large, are deeply … [Read more...] about Trump hoisted with his own petard

“If at first you don’t secede, try again.”  It’s not that the secession of states is a good idea — it’s not — but the truth is, we are not a United States anymore, and never have been. Were it not for the fact that the motivation for the Confederacy to break off was so odious — it was really about the states’ rights to hold fellow humans as slaves and brutalize them — I would have said let them go. The Southerners were nothing more than a bunch of genteel backstabbers who talked funny anyway. But still, I see Lincoln’s point when … [Read more...] about A secession session

Just when it seemed some of the most disheartening trends in the U.S. economy were finally beginning to reverse, COVID-19 arrived to entrench them. The pandemic has been a neutron bomb targeted at the prospects of lower income working people. They had finally begun to benefit from the recovery from the Great Recession when the virus ravaged sectors of the economy that disproportionately employ them. The Washington Post has called the resulting economic damage “the most unequal recession in modern U.S. history.” As the paper puts … [Read more...] about The economic cruelty of the pandemic

“From the Rose Garden I always promised you a crime pardon” Lynn Anderson never belted out those lyrics, but that’s apparently the tune that outgoing President Donald Trump has been singing these days, using his powers to pre-emptively wipe the culpability slate clean for friends, family members, those who have done him favors, accomplices like Rudy Giuliani and, oh yeah, himself. But despite the presidential power afforded by the Constitution “to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in … [Read more...] about The grim future

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission, tasked with rooting out discrimination in the state, has in effect called for the discrimination against 150,000 charter school students by saying they should be funded less than other public school children. It’s hard to miss the irony. In a report released earlier this fall, “Education Equity in Michigan,” the commission made some valid recommendations, but it also jumped on the charter-bashing bandwagon. The most alarming advice the report offers is that the state change its school … [Read more...] about Charter students worth less? Wrong message