The Facebook postings sometime show up just minutes apart. But it's not from a heart-broken teen posting about a fractured relationship.

State Rep. Justin Amash is using social networking to lift the cover on the inside maneuverings of the bill-making business at the state Capitol. Amash, a Republican from Kentwood, is giving his 5,000-plus Facebook fans the type of insight you'd expect from a political newsletter.

He can make as many as 20 to 30 posts a day during a legislative session as he explains each bill he is voting on, how he is voting and why.

After a first attempt by politicians to defund a state organization failed, the state Senate is now taking its turn at trying to get rid of the Michigan Home Based Child Care Council (MHBCCC).

A Senate subcommittee approved language that would stop the Department of Human Services from finding money to give to the MHBCCC. The appropriations committee tried last year to cut the money to the council, but the DHS found money elsewhere from within its budget to keep it alive.

Tax Day Tea Party rallies were held across the state and nation last week, with mixed results in turnout. Regardless of the exact attendance, the movement represents a potent new force on the American political landscape. Its leaders and members are currently focused on changing the composition of Congress in November, but their real challenge will be finding ways after the election to pressure the political class — especially Republicans — to stick to the fiscal restraint promises made in the heat of the campaign.

The state housing authority that one developer called the backbone for development and economic activity in Michigan is another victim of the collapse of the housing market.

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority's financial reports show it is in danger of losing money for the first time since the mid-1960s when it was created.

Amid declining revenues and increased delinquent payments on loans it has issued to support development of affordable housing, MSHDA's finances are on shaky grounds, says one expert.

Whether residents approve a constitutional convention on this November's ballot may come down to how much it would cost to rewrite the state constitution.

But there is a disagreement over just how much it would cost.

Standing before a crowd of TEA party activists last month, a member of the audience asked State Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, whether a constitutional convention was a good thing.

“That is a very bad thing,” Bishop told the crowd. “Any time you open a window, all the flies can come in. There are a lot of flies out there now.”

When Chrysler filed for bankruptcy on April 30, 2009, President Barack Obama publicly laid much of the blame at the feet of a group of hedge funds — investment firms that held Chrysler debt but did not initially cooperate with a deal being pushed by the White House as a means of preventing the bankruptcy. Those hedge funds had a far different story to tell, one of protecting investors large and small who had a legitimate right to a much better deal than what the White House was eventually able to impose. But a bipartisan coalition of Michigan politicians was in no mood that day to hear that side of the story.

A review and analysis of important state legislative policy issues that do not always receive attention from the general media. Michigan Capitol Confidential will make it easier to keep tabs on your elected representatives in Lansing.