Last week, I chose to exercise my First Amendment rights and participated in the protest at the State Capitol.

When I first arrived at about 11:10 am, Walnut Street was backed up all the way to I-496. I drove the “back roads” to the State Museum and got on Allegan Street, heading eastbound toward the Capitol building. I was in the middle of three lanes and moved about eight feet in ninety minutes.

Governor Whitmer has gone too far, and she thinks she can get away with it. Sadly, that’s not surprising coming from someone who continues to spread lies about last week’s rally despite those lies being repeatedly debunked.

Governor Whitmer’s arbitrary and capricious lockdown of the state’s economy has made it illegal for Michiganians to go to work, and roughly a million of our friends, family members and neighbors have lost their jobs because of it.

This column originally appeared in the Detroit News.

On March 23, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the suspension of life as we know it.

In discussing her first stay-home order, Whitmer claimed that without action seven million Michiganians could get the coronavirus, one million could be hospitalized and 460,000 could die.

If true, Michigan was on track to experience the most devastating COVID-19 outbreak on the planet.

Part 1 - Meshawn Maddock

Part 2 - Tori Sachs

COVID-19 infection rates are rising more slowly, public health officials are talking about lights at the end of the tunnel, and models show Michigan hitting it’s viral “peak.” That’s good news and suggests that we’re moving in the right direction.

Late last week, Gov. Whitmer asked for an astonishing 70-day extension to the state of emergency she declared on March 10, that is set to expire today. Part of her supposed rationale was so the Legislature wouldn’t have to meet frequently. It’s for their own safety, of course.

This column first appeared in Crain's Detroit Business.

For the strength and safety of our state and its citizens, the partisan handwringing over the Michigan Legislature meeting this week and anytime in the future should end.

The Legislature has both important functions to perform, and very real constraints on how they can operate.

A global pandemic has a way of grinding things to a halt. Like you, we’re staying home, “social distancing” and doing our part to “flatten the curve.”