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Before and after: A look at Whitmer’s legacy
By most metrics, Michiganders have fared poorly under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s policies. From the economy to education, the state has experienced significant declines in economic growth and education while seeing energy prices, gas taxes, and car insurance costs increase at higher rates than in neighboring states.
Whitmer took office in January 2019. The state increased its poverty rate from 13% in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, to 13.4% in 2024, with 1.3 million living below the poverty line.
The state has acknowledged this weak performance. “Michigan’s poverty rate was 13.4 percent in 2024, not statistically different from the 13.5 percent reported in 2023,” the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics reported in 2025. “During this time, the national poverty rate experienced a statistically significant decline, from 12.5 percent in 2023 to 12.1 percent in 2024. In 2024, the poverty rate in the United States, unlike Michigan, appears to have dropped below levels in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.” Click here to read more.
We can’t wait for a blackout to fix Michigan’s power problem
What happened the last time you flipped a light switch? The lights came on, right?
One of the electricity grid managers responsible for keeping the lights on has an urgent message: Current and future demand for electricity will eclipse our ability to generate power. This could lead to “catastrophic failure.” Michigan policymakers should take note.
PJM is the country’s oldest and largest regional transmission organization. It coordinates the movement of electricity for 67 million people across 13 states and the District of Columbia. Most of Michigan is served by a different regional grid operator, but PJM’s warning illustrates the problem facing electric grids across the country.
Getting electricity to your home involves many actors, including generators, regulators and utilities. It also involves a complex system of power plants, transmission lines and storage. Click here to read more.
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ACLU files lawsuit to prevent voter-approved girls’ sports initiative from becoming law
ACLU-WA and Pacifica Law Group filed a lawsuit to prevent IL-638 from going into effect. Voters approved the initiative last week by 11 points.
If the law is not struck down or put on hold by a judge, it will go into effect Dec. 3. The measure will mean all girls who want to play on a team designated for girls only must prove their sex assigned at birth, as part of a routine sports physical, via reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels.
“Every girl in Washington state deserves a safe place to play sports,” Diane Bedwell, co-chair of No Hate in WA State, said election night. Click here to read more.
Islamist Pilots Pose ‘Insider Threat,’ Warn Security Experts
When the Federal Aviation Administration reinforced cockpit doors after the 9/11 hijackings, it turned flight decks into fortresses to lock out terrorists. But what if a terrorist is already inside?
That question has new urgency following the harrowing Sept. 30 attack aboard a FlyDubai flight in which a Muslim extremist (Islamist) pilot was forcefully stopped by a heroic pilot and brave passengers from crashing a plane bound for Israel.
Former aviation security officials say the FAA needs to reassess threats inside cockpits and the measures intended to counter them. They say this review is especially urgent because the agency has made insider threats to the cockpit more likely by recently forcing airlines to add a secondary barrier to the cockpit in the form of a metal gate on new planes. Click here to read more.
Communist Getaways On Whose Dime? What Democratic Socialists Must Hand Over
Florida Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a subpoena to the Democratic Socialists of America on Tuesday, demanding records as his office investigates whether the group accepted money or other support from foreign adversaries, including Cuba and China.
Uthmeier said the inquiry focuses on foreign contributions tied to DSA delegations and travel fundraising, as well as whether the organization complied with Florida’s fundraising laws. The subpoena was issued under Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
“Floridians who give to organizations operating in our state have a right to know where that money comes from, and how it is used,” Uthmeier said in a video. Click here to read more.