Dave Bondy
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News they don't want you to see
Monday March 30, 2026
March 30, 2026

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Whitmer’s Legacy: Michigan second to last for income growth among ALL states since 1970, study finds

Recent research from the left-leaning Urban Institute is putting Michigan’s economic struggles into perspective.

The policy brief “ Is your state better off now than it was fifty years ago?” makes it clear the answer in Michigan is a resounding “no.”

Examining the percent change in inflation-adjusted household income between 1970 and 2023, the institute found only West Virginia, at negative 0.4%, fared worse than the Great Lakes State.

At a scant 2.9% growth, Michiganders are falling behind residents in nearly every other state, on pace to become among the poorest in the country over the next two decades.

It’s a problem that economists and business leaders have highlighted for years with little action from lawmakers in Lansing. Click here to read more.

 

Foreign big rig drivers lose licenses by the thousands, but ride-shares still use illiterate drivers

On Thursday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed to reporters that 17,000 non-English-speaking truck drivers have been removed from the road due to new administration rules. However, ride-share services like Uber and Lyft, along with taxis, still contract non-English-speaking drivers. According to Duffy, that’s a trickier problem to solve.

“The problem is that our states are the ones that issue these licenses. So with commercial driver’s licenses, we do have some federal control,” Duffy said Thursday during a Cabinet meeting, emphasizing that the work the administration has been able to do with Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDLs) differs from what their abilities are with state-administered drivers’ licenses. Click here to read more.

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Citizen Sleuths Spotlight Red Flags Galore in Government Spending

NEW ORLEANS, La.—Although they received millions of taxpayer dollars, it can be hard to find the offices of health service providers in the Big Easy.

Consider Faith and Hope of New Orleans, a home health agency that took in $11.6 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) between 2018 and 2024. The company’s website, as well as federal and state databases, lists its address at 3720 Gentilly Street.

But RealClearInvestigations only found an empty building at that location last week. Repeated phone calls during working hours to the listed number connected to a service, whose operator said, “I don’t know why they’re not answering.” Click here to read more.

 

‘Routine’ Vaccines Paralyzed Their Toddler. It Took the Government 11 Years to Approve a Payout

In October 2013, 15-month-old Hayes Heller received multiple, routinely recommended vaccines. Within two weeks, Hayes was paralyzed.

His parents suspected the vaccines were to blame — so they applied to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). Managed by the federal government, the VICP processes compensation claims for people injured after receiving recommended childhood vaccines.

But as the Hellers would learn, the path to compensation for vaccine injuries is complicated and fraught with delays.

Haye’s father, Heathe Heller, told The Defender the family’s claim ultimately succeeded — but it took more than a decade. And even then, it was incomplete.

The VICP, citing technical difficulties, still hasn’t reimbursed the family for all of the expenses related to Hayes’ care since 2013. Click here to read more.

 

500 groups with $3B in revenues are behind the #NoKings protests and communist call for ‘revolution’

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A network of about 500 groups with an estimated $3 billion in combined annual revenues is behind the coordinated nationwide “No Kings” protest Saturday, including communist groups who are using the day to call for a “revolution,” according to a Fox Digital News investigation.

According to a copy of the permit for the “flagship” march in St. Paul, Minn., Indivisible, a national well-heeled Democratic political advocacy organization funded by billionaire George Soros, is the lead coordinator for the protest.

But Fox News Digital has also identified key participation by a network of radical socialist and communist organizations funded by Neville Roy Singham, an American tech tycoon and avowed communist living in China. Click here to read more.

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September 16, 2026
Gas prices are climbing fast in Michigan, with some stations reaching nearly $5 a gallon. Here’s what’s driving the increase and what could happen next. Michigan GasPrices Economy

Gas prices are climbing fast in Michigan, with some stations reaching nearly $5 a gallon. Here’s what’s driving the increase and what could happen next.

#Michigan #GasPrices #Economy

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September 12, 2026
Michigan schools have lost more than 100,000 students in just nine years, but somehow, they’ve added more than 35,000 full-time employees.

Michigan schools have lost more than 100,000 students in just nine years, but somehow, they’ve added more than 35,000 full-time employees.

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September 09, 2026
E-bike crashes involving kids are getting attention in Michigan — and now a state lawmaker wants tougher rules. Would new age restrictions go too far? Michigan EBikes news

E-bike crashes involving kids are getting attention in Michigan — and now a state lawmaker wants tougher rules. Would new age restrictions go too far? #Michigan #EBikes #news

00:01:04
October 15, 2026
I may have to end my independent journalism

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September 28, 2026
Libertarian party disavows candidate for Governor Anthony Hudson
September 24, 2026
No show tonight.

I’m with my daughter at a school event which is way Morse important.

October 22, 2026
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Who Is Lady Budgetdown? The Mystery Account Raising Eyebrows and Uncovering School Finances
The anonymous figure behind a growing school transparency website says the project is run by one person, has faced threats of legal action and is expanding its reach across Michigan.

MICHIGAN — Who is Lady Budgetdown?

It’s a question that has circulated among Michigan educators, school administrators, taxpayers and social media users as a mysterious online watchdog continues digging into school district finances, superintendent salaries, bond proposals and public spending.

Now, the person behind the increasingly visible project is revealing new details about its origins, operations and future — while refusing to disclose their identity.

In an exclusive written interview, Lady Budgetdown confirmed the operation is run by a single individual, not a larger organization or political group.

 

“It started with just me, and it currently is only me,” Lady Budgetdown said.

The anonymous researcher said the project receives technical assistance with website development but independently oversees the research, reviews public records, creates content and determines what information gets published.

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October 22, 2026
News they don't want you to see
Thursday October 22, 2026

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Michigan school funding tops inflation since before the pandemic

Funding for public schools in Michigan has grown faster than inflation since before the pandemic.

Yet some school teachers, like Amanda Walker of Bay City Schools, have said that schools are being defunded. Walker is vice president of her district’s chapter of the Michigan Education Association.

“I do think there’s been a concerted effort to dismantle public education by defunding, by diverting funds to private schools, by tearing down teachers and accusing them of all sorts of nonsense. People see it, and they feel it, and they don’t like it,” Walker told an MEA news publication recently.

It can feel that way at school districts such as Bay City, where the student count dropped 16% between 2018-19 and 2025-26, according to MiSchoolData.org. Fewer students means less in per-pupil funding. Click here to read more.


 

Data centers become midterm minefield as candidates scramble to answer voter backlash

President Donald Trump has made no secret of his support for building new data centers across the country, but candidates in both parties are trying to show voters they are listening to growing concerns about the technology. With the midterms two weeks away, the issue could help decide who voters ultimately choose.

The debate is playing out in city halls nationwide. In Memphis, Tennessee, the city council voted down a proposal Tuesday that would have halted new data center development for a year, following a heated meeting. “We demand a healthy environment, clean air, clean water, which we have a human right to. We also demand representation that chooses us, the people, over the profits of a billionaire’s experiment,” said KeShaun Pearson, who attended the meeting. Click here to read more.

Stay in contact with family with push to talk nationwide waterproof walkie talkies. Click here to learn more and get an extra 10% off.

 

Click here to learn more and get an extra 10% off.

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Cops Release Woman Who Plowed Through Soccer Field: No Charges, No Explanation

The debate is playing out in city halls nationwide. In Memphis, Tennessee, the city council voted down a proposal Tuesday that would have halted new data center development for a year, following a heated meeting. “We demand a healthy environment, clean air, clean water, which we have a human right to. We also demand representation that chooses us, the people, over the profits of a billionaire’s experiment,” said KeShaun Pearson, who attended the meeting.

In Hermantown, Minnesota, a rural community of about 10,000 people in the northeastern part of the state, the city council moved closer to approving a new Google data center. Some residents said officials haven’t pushed hard enough. Click here to read more.

 

Consumers Energy’s rate hike request comes days after $139M increase approved

Consumers Energy is looking for a rate hike on natural gas prices less than a week after the public service commission approved a $139 million increase.

The utility provider filed its notice of intent with regulators on Monday, which is required before it can submit its rate request.

The previous rate hike came out to about a 4.3% bump in monthly payments for natural gas.

Big picture view:

Consumers Energy has not said how much more it is asking for it its latest failing, but did say the new rate would last 12 months, ending Oct. 31, 2028.

Utility companies cannot set rates themselves. Instead, they submit a request to increase rates for either natural gas or electricity with the Michigan Public Service Commission.

After making the request, both parties and any other stakeholders weigh in on the case.

The Michigan Attorney General frequently intervenes in these cases. Click here to read more.

 

Trump and Vance announce $25M whistleblower program to encourage public to report alleged fraud

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday announced a $25 million program to encourage the public to blow the whistle on suspected fraud in the U.S. government as they ramp up efforts to end the abuse of federal programs and dollars.

The White House said that under the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, anyone who submits a tip that leads to a fraud conviction or a significant federal enforcement action is eligible to receive up to $30,000, and that the Justice Department will administer the program.

During the announcement, Trump said payments will amount to a 1% commission on the amount of fraud the tip helps uncover. Trump also said he will decide who gets reward money in cases where more than one person claims to have provided the tip.

“I will be the arbitrator of all of these decisions,” Trump in the Oval Office with Vance and other administration officials standing behind him. “It’ll be a binding arbitration.”

Trump said journalists could participate in the program. Click here to read more.

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October 20, 2026
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Michigan Audit Raises Questions About Medical Procedures Performed on Children in State Care
State auditors also identified problems with adoption approvals, oversight of children under state guardianship and security of confidential records.

LANSING, Mich. — Children under Michigan's guardianship underwent medical procedures without required consent or documentation, while thousands of others were not being consistently tracked by the state agency responsible for them, according to a new audit.

The Michigan Office of the Auditor General released a 40-page report Oct. 15 identifying significant deficiencies within the Michigan Children's Institute, which operates under the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

The institute serves as the legal guardian for children whose parental rights have been terminated.

Auditors concluded that the institute's selected guardianship activities were not sufficient, identifying problems with

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