Jobs, jobs, jobs.
Please Governor, stick to the crisis at hand. Living in a state of denial, trying to find other issues to talk about, your far fetched “connect the dots” politics (see Toyota below) may distract some….but we need leadership.
As the Governor gets ready to give her state of the state address, the Granholm/Brewer spin machine is working overtime. They are trying to talk about anything other than the fact that Michigan is the ONLY state in the union to be losing jobs.
One job lost for every TEN minutes Governor Granholm has been in office!
There is a lot happening on the Congressional front. Cong. Mike Rogers race for Whip is in full swing. Cong. Thaddeus McCotter has annnounced his bid to Chair the House Republican Policy Committee. And Cong. Vern Ehlers emerges as a top candidate to chair the House Administrative Committee.
Great opportunities for Michigan to improve their position in Washington!
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007828
THE LEADERSHIP RACE
The Spirit of 1994
Republicans need to look again to the examples of Goldwater and Reagan.
BY JOHN SHADEGG
Wednesday, January 18, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON--Ten years ago, the American people put Republicans in control of the House of Representatives for the first time in more than 40 years. It was a historic achievement, made possible because we stood for the principles the American people believed in: smaller government, returning power to the states, lower taxes, greater individual freedom and--above all--reform.
Republicans Propose Restrictions On Lobbying
Some Object to Banning Privately Funded Trips
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 18, 2006; Page A01
Republican leaders proposed broad new restrictions yesterday on the lobbying of Congress, including a ban on privately funded travel for members, tight curbs on meals and other gifts from lobbyists, and an end to access to the House and Senate floors and congressional gyms for former lawmakers who register as lobbyists.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060118/NEWS06/601180365
State lawmakers skip work
Reasons vary, from illness to neglect
January 18, 2006
Some Michigan lawmakers missed so much work last year, you would think they didn't want the job.
McCotter seeking House leadership post
1/17/2006, 6:06 p.m. ET The Associated Press |
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, is mounting a campaign to become a member of the Republican leadership team in the U.S. House.
McCotter says he wants to chair the House Policy Committee and reform it to focus more on principles dear to the party instead of policy issues that have been stressed in the past.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060118/OPINION01/601180313/1008
Republicans must lead on tougher curriculum
Delaying implementation will slow state's recovery
State GOP lawmakers should stop wobbling over creating a tough mandatory curriculum for Michigan high schools. The Republican leadership is stalling the much-needed reforms, which would demand more intense math and science courses for students to graduate from high schools.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060118/OPINION03/601180351/1322
Daniel Howes
Daniel Howes: Super Bowl XL has game-changing impact on Detroit
A ttention Detroit Lions fans cheesed over who got the privilege to drop at least $600 to buy Super Bowl XL tickets: Get used to it, because this is only the beginning.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060118/OPINION03/601180312/1267
Thomas Bray
Alito hearings show Dems misunderstand mainstream
D emocrats are "glum" that their campaign to stop the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court appears to be failing, according to the liberal New York Times, which
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060118/AUTO01/601180385
Analyst: Wixom safe
Automaker will shutter 4 plants, but Michigan factory isn't on downsizing list, Global Insight says.
Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News
Ford Motor Co. plans to announce the closure of at least four assembly plants Monday, according to a respected industry analysis firm, but Michigan's Wixom Assembly Plant will not be one of them.
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/
January 17, 2006
Benator Says Sam I Am A SCOTUS
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) became the first Senate Dem to come out in favor of Sam Alito's confirmation to the Supreme Court. Considering Nelson's track record on Bush appointees, this isn't a surprise. What will be interesting is to see how many other Democrats follow Nelson's lead. The betting has been 7-10. Among those on our "Alito watch list": The senators up in '06 from swingish states, like Bob Byrd (WV), Bill Nelson (FL) and Debbie Stabenow (MI). Also, will Bob Menendez cast one of his first votes against someone from his own state?
BTW, here's a quote from Nelson's statement: "I have decided to vote in favor of Judge Samuel Alito to serve as the 110th Justice of the United States Supreme Court. I came to this decision after careful consideration of his impeccable judicial credentials, the American Bar Association's strong recommendation and his pledge that he would not bring a political agenda to the Court."
Posted at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)
http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Campaign/011806_state.html
Michigan
Republican Senate hopeful Keith Butler is expected to announce having raised more than $500,000 in the fourth quarter of 2005, setting the stage for a showdown with Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.
Bouchard announced last week that he had garnered nearly $800,000 in eight weeks of campaigning, stunning many Michigan Republicans.
Butler, a pastor and former Detroit city councilman, had been the emerging consensus candidate of leading Republicans in Michigan, including most of the GOP members of the state’s House delegation. But after Bouchard’s entry late last year, many party officials switched their allegiance.
Terri Land, Michigan’s Republican secretary of state, will endorse Bouchard this week, the Michigan Republican source said. “Of all the politicians out there today,” the source said, “she probably has the biggest machine.”
— Peter Savodnik
GONGWER
REPORT NO. 10 VOLUME 45 TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2006
BREWER HITS DE VOS ON TOYOTA ARGUMENTS
Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos was targeted Tuesday by state Democrats for arguments submitted by Midland-based Mackinac Center opposing the state’s efforts to sell property to Toyota for a research project state officials say will serve as a catalyst for further economic development.
State Republican legislative leaders, who helped pass legislation sought by the Granholm administration authorizing the sale, have also joined in a legal brief asking the sale to Toyota over a higher-bidding competitor be approved.
The Mackinac Center opposed the sale in a brief filed Friday with the Court of Appeals, arguing that the sale and expedited action which the state requested of the courts, would in fact harm economic development because it would reinforce impressions that high-profile corporations get preferential treatment over smaller entrepreneurs.
Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer on Tuesday urged Mr. DeVos to repudiate the position of the Mackinac Center, which he has supported with contributions and membership on the board of directors, and “have them withdraw” the brief. “If Dick DeVos really cares about job creation, he must demand that the Mackinac Center drop its opposition,” Mr. Brewer said.
DeVos campaign spokesperson John Truscott denounced the criticism and said Mr. DeVos had no knowledge of the involvement of the Mackinac Center in the controversial case. “That logic is so pathetic,” he said of the Brewer demand. “That means that Mark should tell the KKK because they were once his client that they should renounce racism.”
Mr. Truscott said Mr. DeVos does not know enough about the details to determine whether the sale was conducted properly, but noted there are obviously diverse opinions about the transaction. “In the future it puts a premium on making sure things are done right so they are not subject to legal challenges,” he said. “When we get embroiled in these legal battles, it hurts the economic prospects of the state.”
The Mackinac Center brief said the 2004 law authorizing the administration to sell the Washtenaw County land to Toyota violates the state constitution without competitive bidding and without restrictions on the criteria to be considered by the executive branch. The law, said the brief, violates separation of powers and due process clauses.
The state sold the property to Toyota for a research facility, which it said would bring other economic development, for $11 million. DPG York had bid $27 million and brought the suit arguing the sale was done illegally.
In addition to the case before the Court of Appeals, which was ordered by the Supreme Court to consider more issues than when it affirmed the sale initially, Ms. Granholm has asked the Supreme Court to take control of the lawsuit and speed up its resolution.
COX: COMMUNITIES CAN SET SIZE LIMITS ON POLITICAL SIGNS
Local governments can set size limits on political signs, even on private property, but they cannot impose fees on those signs, Attorney General Mike Cox said. And the size limits cannot infringe on the exercise of the First Amendment, Mr. Cox said.
Political speech is protected constitutionally, Mr. Cox said in Opinion No. 7185, but there are permitted reasonable “time, place and manner restrictions” that are content neutral, serve a legitimate governmental interest and leave open alternative channels for communication.
Earlier opinions held that a community could not require that individuals post a bond before posting a political sign, and Mr. Cox said a permit and fee requirement is analogous to an improper bond requirement.
And the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized a “special respect” for individual liberty at one’s home, especially when there is an attempt to control speech at one’s home.
But a community can restrict the size of such signs on private property, so long as it regulates all signs and not just political signs, Mr. Cox said.
CAMPAIGN NOTES
BRANDON TO CHAIR DE VOS CAMPAIGN: Dominos CEO David Brandon, a frequent subject of speculation regarding his own potential candidacy for statewide office, has been named campaign chair for Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos.
“We have so much to offer, but it has become increasingly difficult to keep good people in Michigan. Not only is Dick a great friend of mine, he is a proven leader. I have witnessed him on the front lines making tough decisions and executing bold initiatives to create jobs here in Michigan,” Mr. Brandon said.
DeVos campaign officials said Mr. Brandon, an elected member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, will be involved in all facets of the campaign, including political strategy and fundraising.
Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm had named former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer as her campaign chair, but he stepped down after Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was re-elected in a campaign against Archer-backed candidate Freman Hendrix. Another chair has not been named, and Granholm spokesperson Chris De Witt said a “number of options are being considered.”
Mr. Brandon also brings grass roots political experience to the campaign, Mr. Truscott said.
CAPITAL NOTEBOOK
SIKKEMA IN THE HOPPER FOR G.V.S.U.?: The name of Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema (R-Wyoming) has apparently been tossed into the ring as a possible successor to outgoing Grand Valley State University President Mark Murray. Mr. Murray is stepping down as president at the end of the academic year to assume the presidency of Meijer Incorporated.
In an interview Mr. Sikkema said he had not put his name in, but that someone else had. Now in his last year in the Legislature, due to term limits, Mr. Sikkema said he is looking forward to a new challenge.
“If I had a short list” of possible career changes, “Grand Valley would be on that short list,” Mr. Sikkema said. “I believe greatly in the mission of Grand Valley.”
But he has not talked to anyone at the university about the presidency. The university has a search committee underway, and Mr. Sikkema said the committee’s first mission is to determine what they are searching for in a president before they look at whom they want.
EHLERS A SUCCESSOR FOR HOUSE COMMITTEE: U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-Grand Rapids) is among those who could be named chair of the U.S. House Administration Committee, succeeding Ohio Rep. Robert Ney who stepped aside on Sunday in the wake of the widening fallout from the Jack Abramoff scandal. Mr. Ehlers, a former state legislator and member of Congress since his election in 1992, is one of five Republicans on the committee in addition to Mr. Ney, though one other is also tied to the lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He has served on the committee since 1995.
