March 19, 2010
Tim Skubick: Little Red Hen
Education interests want to eat but are bashful about helping the governor in the kitchen. | more

•

March 12, 2010
Tim Skubick: Daddy-Daughter Dance
Tale of four candidates and their daughters points to personal sacrifices made by politicians and their families. | more

•

March 5, 2010
Tim Skubick: Experience Still Counts
New poll on governor’s race shows someone forgot to tell voters about the angry, anti-incumbent mood. | more

•

February 26, 2010
Tim Skubick: Truth in Advertising
For a guy who sells himself as a non-career politician, Rick Snyder sounds an awful lot like a career politician. | more

•

February 19, 2010
Tim Skubick: Tea Party Hijackers
Will John McCain’s re-election battle against Tea Party conservatives lead to a similar rift in Michigan GOP? | more

•

February 12, 2010
Tim Skubick: Reality State of the State
If the next governor is serious about change, the new chief executive should adopt a different State of the State format.| more

•

February 05, 2010
Tim Skubick: Granholm, Obama in Similar Boat
President Obama and Gov. Granholm both need Republican votes in order to push their agendas, but without getting pushback from Dems. | more

•

January 29, 2010
Tim Skubick: Game Face for State of the State
The governor has one last shot to wake everyone up with her address to the Michigan Legislature. | more

•

January 22, 2010
Tim Skubick: Bowman to Face GOP Brushback
Former state treasurer is an attractive candidate for governor, but GOP will throw high hard ones. | more

•

January 15, 2010
Tim Skubick: Dillon’s Dual Role Put to Test
Will Democrats risk “whirlwind of a mess” by trying to oust the speaker of the House? | more

•

January 8, 2010
Tim Skubick: Unimaginable Tip Was Right
Nobody could foresee frontrunner Cherry dropping out of the race. | more

•

January 1, 2010
Tim Skubick: Put Up or Shut Up
How much Virg Bernero raises in the next 30 days will determine whether he runs for governor. | more

•

December 26, 2009
Tim Skubick: Holiday Letter from Legislators
If the legislature penned one of those look-backs at 2009, here’s what you’d be reading. | more

•

December 18, 2009
Tim Skubick: Not-So-Special Interests
Lansing’s changing culture of power and influence alters special-interest politics. | more

•

December 11, 2009
Tim Skubick: Pick Your Conventional Wisdom
Does Cherry weaken or solidify his hold on the nomination if Dillon gets into governor’s race?| more

•

December 4, 2009
Tim Skubick: Virg for Governor?
Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero tosses his shoot-from-the-lip mouth into the ring.| more

•

November 27, 2009
Tim Skubick: Thanksgiving Postscript
Looking at all the turkey leftovers and finding a few things for which to be thankful.| more

•

November 20, 2009
Tim Skubick: Blown Away
Governor’s rose-colored speech line keeps coming back to haunt her.| more

•

November 13, 2009
Tim Skubick: China Waits
Before the governor says goodbye to Lansing, will she finally say hello to China?| more

•

November 6, 2009
Tim Skubick: Obama Watching Michigan
Will White House concerns over 2010 governor’s race boost Dillon’s chances?| more

•

October 30, 2009
Tim Skubick: Wrong Message on Texting
House panel outlaws texting while driving, but makes enforcement shamefully weak.| more

•

October 23, 2009
Tim Skubick: Ducking Tax Increases
Just because a measure raises more revenue doesn’t make it a tax increase.| more

•

October 16, 2009
Tim Skubick: Banana Republic
House vote on physicians tax leads speaker to use a time-honored, despot-like strategy.| more

•

October 9, 2009
Tim Skubick: Playing Defense
Governor’s tough political hide has suffered self-inflicted wounds over the budget.| more

•

October 2, 2009
Tim Skubick: Perception Games
When it came to budget politics, all sides tried to play the perception-is-reality game.| more

•

September 25, 2009
Tim Skubick: Trust Me
The issue of trust, or lack thereof, hangs over contentious state budget negotiations.| more

•

September 18, 2009
Tim Skubick: Speaker vs. Labor
Michigan’s top labor leader sees the Democratic House speaker pushing a Republican agenda to run for governor.| more

•

September 11, 2009
Tim Skubick: Abuse of Power
House Democrats are silencing the party out of power, perhaps to the detriment of reaching agreement on the budget.| more

•

September 4, 2009
Tim Skubick: Get in the Game
It’s high time ordinary citizens got into the political game on the budget and demanded some action.| more

•

August 28, 2009
Tim Skubick: Closer to a Deal or Shutdown?
Talk turns to the political pluses and minuses of shutting down state government on October 1.| more

•

August 21, 2009
Tim Skubick: Fireman Andy
While House Speaker Andy Dillon reaps headlines for tackling the status quo, fires are burning in the Democratic ranks.| more

•

August 14, 2009
Tim Skubick: Freshmen Do Nothing
That big, bold, change-the-world freshman class now looks more like a puppy with its tail between its legs.| more

•

August 7, 2009
Tim Skubick: Closing Down Government
If no one wants another state shutdown, why do things appear to be moving that way?| more

•

July 31, 2009
Tim Skubick: Raised Eyebrows
Business community wonders what Detroit Renaissance’s Doug Rothwell is up to.| more

•

July 24, 2009
Tim Skubick: Dems at War
House Speaker Andy Dillon’s reform plan ignites a war with state teacher’s union.| more

•

July 16, 2009
Tim Skubick: Aiding and Abetting
The comments of Democrats Mark Brewer and Alma Wheeler Smith are helping Republicans in the race for governor.| more

•

July 10, 2009
Tim Skubick: Faster and Louder
Recent screw-ups in the prison system speed up the corrections ticking time bomb.| more

•

July 3, 2009
Tim Skubick: Troopers
State Police-layoff saga has been messy from the start, with plenty of blame to go around.| more

•

June 26, 2009
Tim Skubick: Unknown Wins
Voters’ anger could give an independent a 2010 shot at the governor’s office.| more

•

June 19, 2009
Tim Skubick: No More Golden Rule
Hearing exposes execs’ lack of humanity in auto dealer closings.| more

•

June 12, 2009
Tim Skubick: Shutdown
Is the stage set for another state government stalemate over taxes?| more

•

June 5, 2009
Tim Skubick: Face to Face
Political junkies got a sneak peek at the upcoming race for governor during a forum on Mackinac Island.| more

•

May 29, 2009
Tim Skubick: No Magic Elixir
Beware of candidates for governor promising to turn around Michigan’s economy| more

•

May 22, 2009
Tim Skubick: Chicken Little
In this time of serious budget cuts, every special interest group is crying out: “The sky is falling.” | more

•

May 15, 2009
Tim Skubick: Labor Works Over Dillon
Organized labor is not happy with Democratic House Speaker Andy Dillon. | more

•

May 8, 2009
Tim Skubick: New Pass-the-Buck Game
Lawmakers add new twist to latest budget cuts to avoid taking the blame. | more

•

May 1, 2009
Tim Skubick: Same Ol’ GOP
West Michigan snub of Utah governor shows split in state Republican Party ranks. | more

•

April 24, 2009
Tim Skubick: Big Four
Finding common threads among Govs. Milliken, Blanchard, Engler and Granholm. | more

•

April 17, 2009
Tim Skubick: Reform Schools
The worst thing that ever happened to education was when the politicians got involved. | more

•

April 10, 2009
Tim Skubick: Internet
All the political dialogue going on over the Internet is both a blessing and a deadly curse. | more

•

April 3, 2009
Tim Skubick: Maverick Pete
West Michigan Congressman Peter Hoekstra saddles up for a different kind of run for governor. | more

•

March 27, 2009
Tim Skubick: Same Old Business
Rick-who? thinks he can run for governor and away from the news media. | more

•

March 20, 2009
Tim Skubick: ‘Us’ vs. ‘Them’
Scuttling of Cobo deal reinforces legislature’s attitude toward Detroit. | more

•

March 13, 2009
Tim Skubick: 44 and 30
Large blocs of House freshmen and Senate veterans are new forces to reckon with. | more

•