Stephen Tuttle | Author

Just Dumb

Dec. 2, 2017

Remember when a good education for our children was the top priority of nearly every politician? Not so much these days.

Spending on public K-12 schools and universities has been in decline since the recession approached rock bottom in 2008. According to the State Higher Education... Read More >>

First Steps

Nov. 25, 2017

The rogue's gallery of accused sexual harassers, abusers, and assaulters now includes

actors, directors, producers, record moguls, politicians including two former presidents and the current president, television broadcasters both behind and in front of the camera, and various bus... Read More >>

Hunting Witches

Nov. 11, 2017

Let's check in and see how Special Counsel Robert Mueller's “witch hunt” into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election is going.

We have to start by acknowledging the Russians did interfere. The CIA, NSA, FBI and all additional intelligence and law enforc... Read More >>

Tall Talk

Nov. 4, 2017

The endless argument over tall buildings in downtown Traverse City, now in court and likely to never go away, has percolated to the surface of public debate. Again.

The arguments remain essentially the same.

The more-height advocates tell us density is the key to a vibrant... Read More >>

More Dying in More Places

Oct. 28, 2017

Now we have combat deaths after militants supportive of the Islamic State ambushed four Green Berets in Niger. It's a good bet you, like several United States senators, didn't know we had troops in Niger. Or where it is.

Niger is the largest country in West Africa, with about 20.7... Read More >>

Try Again on Tax Reform

Oct. 21, 2017

We have a tax reform plan. Cobbled together in secret by six Republicans and supported by President Donald Trump, it promises much and delivers much less.

We're told it's going to cut almost everyone's taxes, including those of corporations, while stimulating the economy and creat... Read More >>

Awaiting the Candlelight Vigil

Oct. 14, 2017

Another day, another massacre, another pile of teddy bears and candles, another candlelight vigil and memorial service, another permanent memorial, another gun debate, another day, another massacre.  

We're good at this because we've had plenty of practice.

The F... Read More >>

Kneeling Tall

Sept. 30, 2017

As far as we know, a baseball game in 1897 was the first time the Star Spangled Banner was played at a sporting event. It's one of the few things about baseball that does not have endless statistics.

We do know the song was played in the seventh inning of the first game of the Wor... Read More >>

Coming Soon

Sept. 23, 2017

While we've been blissfully unaware, a 2018 Michigan gubernatorial race has broken out and will likely be coming to your neighborhood, television screen, mailbox, or computer screen soon. 

According to the Detroit Free Press which recently listed the lineup, 14 stalw... Read More >>

Downtown Money and Flashing Red Lights

Sept. 16, 2017

Traverse City must be the king, or queen, of corporate welfare. Every developer would like some, please, and there seems to be plenty to go around.

It is only sound business to avail themselves of the taxpayer largess, especially downtown, where land costs are preposterously high.... Read More >>

The New Normal

Sept. 9, 2017

For those who lost loved ones, the pain will likely never end. For the thousands whose homes or businesses were damaged or destroyed, the pain is just beginning. 

Hurricane Harvey was an equal opportunity destroyer. Neither skin color nor language nor bank accounts mattered. ... Read More >>

Come Home

Sept. 2, 2017

Alexander the Great was the first, or at least the first for which there are good records.

He and his gang breezed into what is now Afghanistan back in 330 B.C. a scant 2,347 years ago. After two years of being constantly attacked by local tribes, Alexander was no longer that grea... Read More >>

Getting Over It

Aug. 26, 2017

The president says the removal of Confederate statues and monuments is erasing history and destroying the cultural heritage of the South. He openly asks if there is any difference between George Washington or Thomas Jefferson and Robert E. Lee. 

Others believe those protestin... Read More >>

Trouble Near and Far

Aug. 19, 2017

This is not so good. There is trouble both near and far. Let's start with near.

The nurses at Munson Medical Center voted to unionize. Or not. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has questioned 81 ballots, a potential difference-maker in what was a 50-vote victory margin for... Read More >>

Is the Party Over?

Aug. 12, 2017

Robert Heghmann, a Trump campaign donor and former campaign volunteer from Virginia, has filed suit against the Republican National Committee (RNC), the Virginia Republican Party, and various officers of both organizations. He claims they are guilty of mail fraud and racketeering. Read More >>

The Difference

Aug. 5, 2017

When the ACA passed in 2010, Democrats controlled the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives. Republicans now control the White House, Senate, and House.

The ACA discussion played out over several months, including input from all stakeholders, moving through three commi... Read More >>

A Misunderstanding

July 29, 2017

“I, [name], do solemnly swear [or affirm], that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or pu... Read More >>

A Plan for the Boardman?

July 22, 2017

Nothing says “We want to protect our river” quite like the sound of chainsaws hacking down mature trees on the riverbank. 

Traverse City leaders have decided maybe they should create some kind of plan for the urban section of the Boardman River. That would probabl... Read More >>

Not Even Sancho Panza

July 8, 2017

Some Democrats in Washington, always willing to engage in a little windmill tilting, are talking about impeaching President Donald Trump. Or, in lieu of that, invoking the 25th Amendment. 

This is quixotic, a hopeless waste of time and energy. It's easy to understand the Demo... Read More >>

Kill Everybody

July 1, 2017

Jeff Sieting is the Kalkaska Village president. He has a Facebook page on which he  describes himself as a “white, Christian, conservative American.” He likes to post niceties he finds elsewhere. 

Sieting recently posted an especially noxious bit of business ... Read More >>