Stephen Tuttle | Author
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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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 ...
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Secret Money
June 24, 2017
Georgia's 6th Congressional District just held a special election. The candidates, various political action committees (PACs), and third-party independents spent nearly $55 million campaigning, the most expensive House race in history. It is truly absurd.
This is just the la...
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Symptoms of an Old Disease
June 3, 2017
The man in the airline terminal screamed at the Hispanic man, an American citizen, telling him to go home. The woman at the Walmart scored a rare 2-for-1 hate special when she insulted a Latina, then hurled a racial slur at an African American woman in the same encounter.
Th...
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Explaining a Parallel Universe
May 27, 2017
Take a moment, please, and think a kind thought for the tortured souls of Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kellyanne Conway, and any other spokesperson for President Donald Trump. It isn't their fault.
Theirs has been a bumpy road right from the beginning. Immediately after el...
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Not Quite Free Speech
May 13, 2017
Our publicly funded universities and colleges are having a bit of a problem with that pesky constitutional free-speech business. Some students attending those institutions seem to have no clue at all.
These schools — considered an arm of the government because of their...
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Our Future As Past
May 6, 2017
Our bridges might not be falling down but way too many are getting close. The rest of our infrastructure isn't doing much better.
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) completes a quadrennial survey of our infrastructure; their most recent report card gives us a D-plus.&n...
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The 100-Day Fever
April 29, 2017
President Donald Trump is right about one thing: The first 100 days is a ridiculous way to judge a new president.
This began in the first 100 days of FDR's first term when a compliant and fearful Congress passed huge chunks of legislation designed to bring the country out of the G...
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Bumpy Skies
April 22, 2017
United Airlines and their passengers are having a relatively bad couple of weeks. United dragged a man off a flight with cell phone cameras rolling, and their CEO botched a number of explanations and apologies. A few days later they removed a couple on their way to their wedding over seat...
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Deeper Into The Quicksand
April 15, 2017
Already sick from the dirt diet that is the Middle East, we've decided to add Syria to the menu. We should be asking why.
Syria became an independent state and an original member of the United Nations in 1945. Things deteriorated after that.
Regular coups bedeviled t...
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Locally Grown Issues
April 8, 2017
We have parking, tree and communication issues, all locally grown.
Some people are now claiming downtown Traverse City has a parking problem. No kidding.
Parking is scarce downtown, at least in part because planners and decision-makers from a couple decad...
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Awash In Drugs
April 1, 2017
We are the sickest, most pain-riddled and depressed country on the planet. It's not even close.
We consume more prescription drugs than the rest of the world combined. And we take them for almost everything. According to research published in the Journal of the American ...
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March 25, 2017 President Trump and his Republican allies are in a nasty two week slump. Perhaps we should check in. That American Health Care Act the Republicans rolled out, initially and enthusiastically supported by the president, wasn't received warmly. At all. They're now stuck with it...
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March 18, 2017 Northern Michigan continues to move in unexpected and mysterious ways. There is talk, and that's all it is at this point, of Munson Medical Center (MMC) nurses unionizing. They've taken no formal steps to do so and have started no real organizing effo...
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March 11, 2017 “I'm a very big person when it comes to the environment. I have received awards on the environment.” That's what President Donald Trump said in a meeting with business leaders on January 23. We'll just ignore the fact that no one can find any awards he's ever won...
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Feb. 25, 2017 Sigh. The President of the United States is a liar. There are politer ways to say it, but if he was your child you would have to take away his toys and make him go stand in the corner. We begrudgingly accept that politicians exaggerate their accomplishments and minimize thei...
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The Two Week Slump
Unions and Pot Farms and Beer, Oh My!
Environmental Backtracking
Be The President