Phil's Column
Phil Power is the founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan.
Articles
How to bring the Michigan Truth Tour to your town this election year
The Center for Michigan and Bridge Magazine tour is designed to elevate citizen engagement as the state faces critical decisions on how to lift Michigan’s fortunes going forward.
Lawmakers fiddle as Michigan burns
The public wants Lansing to fix the roads, improve education and keep our water safe and clean. In response: Nothing.
Michigan’s #1 election issue is education
Tolerating continued deterioration of our schools contributes to the long-term abuse of our children. Don’t vote for any candidate who lacks a detailed, long-term turnaround plan.
The best hedge against fake news is the Michigan Truth Tour
The Center for Michigan and Bridge Magazine are countering the pernicious effect of misleading online “news stories” by bringing rigorous, fact-based events and reporting to Michigan’s 2018 elections.
Why Michigan schools fail, and what to do about it
Absent changes to the state constitution, the pressure is on lawmakers to rescue our schools from the abyss
Will Florida shootings shift Republican dogma on guns?
High school students around the country seem to be executing the transformation from observers of repeated classroom shootings, to survivors, and finally to drivers of political protest.
Allowing governor to name college boards is a quick fix. But is it wise?
There are risks in any sudden and hasty attempts to radically impose change on a system that has served Michigan pretty well over the years.
As Gov. Snyder fades, searching for bipartisan solutions in Lansing
Public revulsion at the nakedly partisan nonsense in Lansing and Washington has grown so strongly that it's possible there might emerge an opening for a bipartisan effort to undo our deadlocked democracy.
Amazon to Michigan: Fix your schools!
The link between struggling schools and a paucity of job talent has been clear for years. Those running for state office in 2018 need to make education gains job one.
Feel ignored in Lansing? Let us help you find your voice.
The Center for Michigan and Bridge Magazine are devoting 2018 to making Michigan residents the best informed, most factually grounded electorate in our history. Check out what we’re doing.
Forget the gossip, focus on the character of our elected leaders
If we focus solely on candidates’ backgrounds and policy positions, we won’t learn enough about how they are likely to behave in office.
Remembering an icon of the Upper Peninsula
Marquette Mayor Tom Baldini never forgot his roots and nourished the soil that rooted him
Sander Levin and a family’s good name
America's reserve of thoughtful, decent and able politicians continues its seemingly remorseless decline.
Singing Christmas carols in an age of narrow sectarianism
Our national culture trumps political correctness every time.
Help Bridge Magazine deliver the facts in 2018 elections
Bridge is expanding watchdog coverage of the capitol, fact-checking political ads, and adding unbiased environmental reporting. Your support is critical to our nonpartisan mission.
Michigan GOP to invasive species: Welcome to the Great Lakes
The Republican-led Legislature just passed a bill that would make it easier for oceangoing vessels to dump ballast water (along with invasive species) into the Great Lakes. Will Gov. Snyder sign it?
U-M leading drive to cut opioids given after surgery
The University of Michigan Medical School is teaming with public health officials and insurers to curtail doctors who overprescribe opioids for pain, leading to addiction and abuse.
With the passing of Peter Pratt, the loss of a good and great man
His premature death leaves a sadly diminished group of Michigan leaders devoted to nonpartisan ideas for improving our state’s future.
The Michigan Board of Education must go
The politically elected, eight-member board, however well meaning and thoughtful, makes it more difficult to establish accountability for Michigan’s sprawling public school system.
Finding a solution to gerrymandering in Michigan
A U.S. Supreme Court case could lead to a profound upheaval in both political parties’ ability to act out their parochial and selfish political impulses.