Our Mission For 2012 and Beyond: Continuing to Hold Their Feet to the Fire

In 2011, Michigan Capitol Confidential provided a level of government accountability that made politicians nervous on both sides of the aisle. For 2012, readers and politicians can expect more of the same.

The primary mission of CapCon is to tell the folks back home what their representatives are really up to in Lansing — especially when the latter appear to be serving the political system ahead of the people. As mainstream media coverage of the state Capitol dwindles, this kind of independent, outside scrutiny becomes ever more vital.

Readers have come to expect fair, substantive reporting aided by insightful analysis, hard data and legal expertise. That's what they'll continue to get.

CapCon has been an equal-opportunity critic of both Republican and Democratic politicians who tell voters one thing but do otherwise in Lansing, Washington, local governments and public schools. Among many other stories, in the past year we have exposed:

• Republican lawmakers helping keep alive the forced unionization of home health care providers.

• A costly special union favor surviving at the federal level with the help of two Michigan Republican members of Congress.

• A Republican-led Legislature sitting on union reform bills and continuing the film subsidy.

• A physician's response to Governor Snyder’s new child weight reporting program.

• A public school system in which only 0.001 percent of all tenured teachers ever get fired and educators caught kissing and assaulting students still get paid, with hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to attorneys as a consequence.

• School districts deliberately misleading taxpayers by claiming funding cuts when spending actually grew every year.

• Michigan government and public school employees who are among the nation’s top wage earners.

• An illegal teacher union strike being pushed by the state’s largest school employee union.

• A Democrat-sponsored attempt to mandate “Good Samaritans.”

• Wayne State University removing legally questionable political activism from its website.

• “Helpful Facts About Michigan's Public Sector.”

There’s still much work to be done, but CapCon will keep holding the politicians’ and bureaucrats’ feet to the fire. If you haven’t already, subscribe to our daily emails, “like” CapCon on Facebook, and donate if you are able. But most importantly, check back daily so you have the facts to hold your elected servants accountable.