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Phil Power is the founder and chairman of the Center for Michigan.
Articles
Phil Power | National service program could help combat coronavirus
Proposal to multiply the number of young national volunteers holds potential promise to help the country recover from the COVID-19 crisis.
Phil Power | Legislating at gunpoint takes protest too far
Protest, peaceful assembly and the right to bear arms are constitutional rights – but guns inside the state capitol go beyond reasonable definition of “peaceful.”
Phil Power | Searching for balanced political solutions in reopening Michigan
Is it time for compromise between the extremes in the debate over shutting down and reopening Michigan amid COVID-19?
Phil Power | Countering coronavirus conspiracy theories with small acts of togetherness
From torched cell towers to black helicopters, conspiracy theories can run as rampant as the virus itself. In response, spreading real news is one small act in which we might find more togetherness in this time.
Phil Power | From coronavirus crisis, innovation may sprout
Like the Great Depression, today’s global pandemic presents opportunity for governments and institutions to re-engineer approaches to public health and economic prosperity
Phil Power | Lessons of Great Depression and past pandemics come home to roost
The pandemic is the worst for most of us — but hardly the first in recent world history. Those events offer lessons for current times.
Phil Power | Our colleges require more support from Lansing to survive
Declining student enrollment, reduced state support, rising tuitions and political skepticism are all creating a perfect storm that's battering our state campuses.
Phil Power | Tax e-cigarettes to pay for enforcement and treatment
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s recent announcement of a ban on flavored vaping products comes amid hundreds of illnesses and a few deaths across the country. There is more to be done to protect teens.
Phil Power | Let’s hope Michigan third-grade reading law focuses priorities
With thousands of children facing the possibility of having to repeat third grade if state reading scores don’t improve, the stress on young students, teachers and parents will be considerable.
Phil Power | Labor Day has lost some luster, as partisanship pulls us apart
Unions have done a great job uplifting their members to the middle class. But partisanship and class divisions have eroded Labor Day, one of the most American of all holidays.
Phil Power | Michigan will miss John Dingell’s leadership
Imposing, funny, sometimes scary, John Dingell was a legend who left his mark on the state and the nation. We may never see his likes again
Phil Power | Please help Bridge expand its nonpartisan journalism in Michigan
Reader donations are the lifeblood of our work and powers our improvement and growth.
Phil Power | Reflections on a rainy Michigan Election Day
As political parties crouch behind competing notions of white identity politics and a celebration of diversity, how will America manage the inevitable shift in national demographics?
Phil Power | Michigan’s elections are rigged. Is redistricting proposal the answer?
Proposal 2 would take the drawing of legislative lines out of the hands of politicians. But it could also exclude people of good will who want to participate.
Phil Power | Noting the passing of Homer Neal, who worked to change the face of physics
The longtime U-M professor transformed how college physics is taught, making his mark in a field where African Americans remain a rarity
Phil Power | The leader Robert Kennedy might have become
Kennedy’s shooting, 50 years ago, ended the life of a presidential candidate who had established a remarkable emotional bond with an extraordinary range of Americans
Phil Power | The case for ending Michigan’s system for term limits
A quarter century after Michigan adopted some of the most restrictive term-limit legislation in the nation, a new report reveals the law’s failures
Facebook is hardly the only threat to our online privacy
We are living in a daunting new world in which technology companies can grab anybody’s personal data and and sell it for profit.
Barbara Bush spelled class. These 4 Michiganders also merit the term
Former Gov. William Milliken, lawmaker Paul Hillegonds, educator Marilyn Schlack and Judge Damon Keith bring civility and respect to the hard work of making Michigan better.
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.