In the free-market Club for Growth's just-released 2009 Congressional Scorecard, the average score for Michigan's Republican members of Congress is more than a dozen percentage points below the average score of 82.7 percent posted by all GOP members in Congress.

Last year, Don Volaric offered his expertise in the insurance business to U.S. Congressman Sander Levin.

Volaric, who owns a small health insurance agency, was upset about what he said was incorrect information on health care coming from both parties. Levin was his congressman.

"They said, 'Thanks but no thanks,' " said Volaric.

Now, Volaric has decided to run against Levin in the 12th Congressional District, which is north of Detroit and includes Southfield, Warren and Clinton Township.

There was an $835,000 Michigan State University study on the ecology of plankton, a $440,000 University of Michigan study on galaxies with black holes and a $322,000 Eastern Michigan University study on languages of the Arctic.

All were paid for by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — the federal stimulus program that Congress approved in 2009 to help jump-start the economy.

While shovel-ready construction jobs got most of the media attention, there was $3 billion given out by the National Science Foundation to support academic research as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

It raises a question about the stimulus program's approach to solving Michigan's economic woes, said Jack McHugh, senior legislative analyst for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

The fallout over U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak's role in the passing of the federal health care reform bill has gone nationwide as the Tea Party Express has launched its own campaign to knock out the politician from Menominee.

The national Tea Party tour has raised $65,000 thus far in its "Defeat Bart Stupak" campaign, according to Tea Party Express Spokesman Joe Wierzbicki.

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.

While President Barack Obama started a nationwide campaign this week to promote the success of his economic stimulus program, two prominent economists grade it as an “F.”