31 Days to Victory!!!
Broken Promises Calendar: No Results from Governor Granholm
PROMISE: "A Granholm-Cherry Administration will endsocial promotion." (Blueprint for Michigan, pg. 7, September 2002)
RESULT: No action taken and no results. Far too many children are still graduating from our schools without the skills they will need to succeed.
Yesterday we started out in Utica Victory Center and then traveled down to the Dearborn Victory Center where we met with volunteers and held a local press conference to discuss job losses in both Macomb county and the greater Detroit area. A nice group of volunteers were at the Dearborn center and I had a chance to take questions and discuss how the campaign was shaping up.
After that we headed to Grand Rapids where I taped a debate with Democrat Chairman Mark Brewer to be aired Sunday morning on channel 8’s To the Point on WOOD TV. The show will be available on the internet at www.woodtv.com after 10:30am Sunday morning. Yes, I called Mark Brewer a liar again, pointing out how he and the Governor have been attempting to mislead the voters of Michigan.
FACT:
Dick DeVos and Alticor NEVER outsourced a single job to China…EVER.
FACT:
Dick DeVos, his family and friends were “passive” investors in the nursing home company named Alterra Healthcare, they had no management or direct involvement in the operations of the company…EVER…NONE whatsoever.
FACT:
The Governor’s and Mark Brewer’s claims to the contrary are NOTHING more than lies. The facts speak for themselves. This is dirty politics at it’s worse.
Mike Bouchard will be holding a Results with Mike Straight-Talk Town Hall Meeting with special guest, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 from 10 11 AM in Southfield. This event will be open to ticketed guests only and open to credentialed media.
Limited tickets are available at http://www.resultstownhall.com to the public or can be obtained by calling the Bouchard for Senate campaign at (248) 566-1125.
We’re excited that Governor Mitt Romney will be joining us for our “Count Down to Victory” fall dinner on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids. Tickets are $500/person, $5,000/table of 10. It’s our last big push to get the needed money for our candidates before the election. Please contact the Finance Team at (517) 487-5413 to contribute to this event.
A special edition of Off the Record and in-depth view of ‘The Race for Governor’ was taped this week. Tim Skubick hosts DeVos spokeman John Truscott and I, as we face off with Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer and Graholm spokesman Chris DeWitt. After an introduction of both campaigns and the candidates, we participate in a give and take on the issues of the day. If you missed the show, you can catch it on the internet at the following site:
http://www.wkar.org/offtherecord/program.php?num=2007-101
ATTENTION 72-Hour VOLUNTEERS: Send in your AV Ballot application…you will be all over the state, where ever we need to target folks…so make sure you vote absentee. You should encourage all your friends who you know will be helping on election day to do the same, please encourage them to vote absentee.
There are still State Committee members and County Executive Members who have NOT volunteered or made any phone calls. We MUST lead by example. One shift a week for the last few weeks will help make a difference.
Off to the UM vs MSU tailgate party and game. I come from a “mixed marriage” so we’ll be “politically correct” at this game!?!
756 hours left until the polls close....756 hours left....we've got lots to do!
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1160160308159780.xml&coll=8
Time is running out fast: Please register to vote!
Friday, October 06, 2006
If you are reading this and haven't yet registered to vote, be forewarned: Time is running out, and fast. Tuesday, at the close of the business day in your local municipal clerk's or Secretary of State office, is it.
This November election will be a thrilling one, with plenty at stake for both parties. The problem is, you won't have a say unless you are registered to vote. If you are not registered, you cannot vote. You'll be turned away.
Merely believing you are registered may be a mistake on your part come Election Day, Nov. 7. If you have moved from your old residence in recent months, it may very well be that your old voter registration has expired, or your name has been crossed off the books.
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1160215550309940.xml&coll=3
Union chief: Democrats will prevail in vote
Saturday, October 07, 2006
By Susan J. Demas
sdemas@citpat.com -- 768-4927
The head of Michigan's labor movement said Friday that recent Republican scandals will catapult Democrats over the top on Nov. 7.
Mark Gaffney, president of the state AFL-CIO, touted Democrats' record on creating jobs, slashing unemployment and guaranteeing health insurance to children to a crowd of 150 at the 48th Annual FDR Dinner at the Commonwealth Commerce Center in Jackson.
"When Republicans are elected, you get tax breaks to the rich, tax breaks to the rich -- and then they do it again," Gaffney said. "You get the highest budget deficit we've ever seen. We're embroiled in a war we can't get out of that (the Bush administration) lied to get ourselves into."
http://www.humanevents.com/rightangle/index.php?id=16912&title=granholm_stabenow_vulnerable_in_mich
Granholm, Stabenow Vulnerable in Mich.
by Robert B. Bluey — 10-05-2006 @ 11:47 PM
The two incumbent Democrats running for re-election in Michigan -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Sen. Debbie Stabenow -- failed to crack the 50% threshold in new polls out Thursday.
Although Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos and Senate candidate Mike Bouchard trailed their Democrat opponents, the fact that neither Granholm or Stabenow have sewn up the race a month before Election Day has Republicans optimistic about their chances.
The EPIC/MRA poll put Granholm at 46% to DeVos' 40%. Stabenow led Bouchard 48% to 35%. Both had a margin of +/- 4 percentage points.
Tonight I asked state GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis how he viewed the results. Anuzis wasn't discouraged by the numbers. In fact, he said for the incumbents to be where they are -- 46% for Granholm and 48% for Stabenow -- spells trouble for the Democrats.
"These are very encouraging numbers," Anuzis said, "especially when you consider two women incumbents are below 50% in the polls with about 30 days to go!"
Bouchard's camp -- down 13 points -- is planning for a fight till the finish. In a memo to Bouchard supporters, a copy of which was obtained by HumanEvents.com, the campaign touts Stabenow's shrinking lead. In fact, Bouchard gained 6 points from the last EPIC/MRA poll.
But perhaps most interesting is the comparison the Bouchard campaign makes to the 2000 race that featured incumbent Republican Sen. Spencer Abraham and Stabenow. With one month left in the campaign, Abraham had a 9-point lead; by mid-October it was 10 points. Stabenow beat Abraham, 49% to 48%.
Following a highly successful visit from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani this week, Bouchard will soon welcome both Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to the state. The National Republican Senatorial Committee is also on the airwaves in Michigan, making Bouchard the first Republican challenger in the country to receive funding.
Don't count out Michigan yet.
http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061005/NEWS01/110050009/-1/NEWS
DeVos visits Flat Rock Rotary meeting
story updated October 05. 2006 11:13AM
FLAT ROCK - Dick DeVos, Republican candidate for governor, stopped Wednesday in Flat Rock to speak to members of the Flat Rock Rotary Club and other Rotarians from the area.
About 60 people attended the luncheon held at the Embers, said Cindy Blackerby, treasurer of the Rotary Club and business manager for Flat Rock Community Schools.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1160194934115190.xml&coll=7
Granholm: Education key to turnaround Diversification of economy will create new jobs, governor says
Saturday, October 07, 2006
By Julie Mack
jmack@kalamazoogazette.com 388-8578
Gov. Jennifer Granholm says she's seeking re-election to take care of ``unfinished business'' that includes restructuring the state's tax code, increasing the Merit Award scholarship, lifting the ban on embryonic stem-cell research and ``getting people more healthy in Michigan.''
But the big issue in her race against Republican Dick DeVos is Michigan's ailing economy.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-32/1160206504163180.xml&coll=6
SEC filings show DeVos' Alterra role
Saturday, October 07, 2006
By Chris Knape
The Grand Rapids Press
Hidden in plain sight amid hundreds of pages of arcane regulatory filings is this truth:
Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos and his Grand Rapids family had the ability to exercise influence over a troubled nursing-home chain that went bankrupt amid allegations of patient sexual and physical abuse.
But in politics little is so black and white, and arguments are escalating over whether that influence translated to control.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061007/POLITICS01/610070324/1022
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Decision 2006
Governor hopefuls may join up for ad
Camps debate decision for TV ad opposing affirmative action, education proposals.
Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
Will Gov. Jennifer Granholm and her challenger Dick DeVos appear together in a TV ad opposing the affirmative action ban proposal on the November ballot?
Just like everything else in this contentious gubernatorial election, there's a difference of opinion on that question.
The discussion about producing a joint ad came up after a meeting Thursday at New Detroit. The two candidates, apparently in separate discussions, agreed at least to consider cutting a commercial opposing Proposal 2, the ballot initiative that would ban affirmative action in government hiring and contracting, and in college admissions.
http://www.mlive.com/news/sanews/index.ssf?/base/news-20/116021644630040.xml&coll=9
Stabenow touts federal pension bill
Saturday, October 07, 2006
BARRIE BARBER
THE SAGINAW NEWS
A new federal law requires companies to pay pensioners or face a financial penalty even if the business has declared bankruptcy, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Lansing told dozens of Delphi Corp. retirees in Saginaw.
"It's your money, and you should have it, and it's a promise that every corporation, including Delphi, should keep," the Democrat told a crowd of about 60 people during a re-election campaign stop Friday at the United Auto Workers Local 699 Hall, 1911 Bagley.
Stabenow, who also took aim at the imbalance in U.S. trade on auto imports, appeared with fellow Democrats state Rep. Carl M. Williams of Saginaw, a state Senate candidate, and Amos Williams, a candidate for state attorney general.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061007/POLITICS01/610070337/1022/POLITICS
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Decision 2006
No sparks in state judicial races
Campaigns are low key for candidates running for the Supreme Court and the Appeals Court.
Norman Sinclair / The Detroit News
With little sizzle and few open spots, this year's races for the Michigan Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals are quietly playing out below the political radar.
Two incumbent Supreme Court justices and two judges in the Court of Appeals First District are facing challengers in the November elections. The First District includes Wayne, Calhoun, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe Counties.
Supreme Court Justices Michael F. Cavanagh, a Democrat, and Maura D. Corrigan, a Republican, are challenged by lawyers Jane M. Bickering, Kerry L. Morgan and Marc Shulman for the two eight-year terms.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061007/OPINION03/610070325/1348
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Laura Berman
Candidates called carpetbaggers should be praised
I n this final, full-tilt rush of negative campaigning, the nasty political mailer is becoming an art form, with glossier graphics and snazzier copywriting than ever before.
But this political season, perhaps the weirdest attacks are those describing a couple of Oakland County candidates as carpetbaggers -- out-of-staters and opportunists unjustly seeking votes.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1160194989115190.xml&coll=7
Clerks busy with ballots
Saturday, October 07, 2006
By Kathy Jessup
kjessup@kalamazoogazette.com 388-8590
Kalamazoo County election officials are sorting through 158 different versions of the Nov. 7 ballot to make sure voters get the right form, whether they exercise their franchise at the polls or by absentee ballot.
Besides sending the right ballots to the right precincts on election day, city and township clerks already are dividing the forms, responding to heavy demand for absentee ballots.
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-1/116006437927640.xml&coll=3
Michigan passports: An economic issue
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Michigan, a border state, has good reason to be wary of a new federal law mandating passports for all those entering the United States. Though warranted, the mandate could hurt our economy. So, while we welcome a delay in implementing the mandate, it is important to use time wisely in coming up with a more secure, convenient document for routine border crossings.
Under the 2004 Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative law, starting in January 2007 (air and sea travelers only) and January 2008 (land travel), you would need either a passport or new identity cards to cross U.S. borders. The big issue in Michigan is how that change might affect travel and commerce with Canada. It certainly is not likely to facilitate either. With $400 billion in U.S.-Canadian commerce annually at stake -- and 170,000 Michigan jobs linked to that trade relationship -- it is reasonable to approach this mandate with caution.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1160144437135660.xml&coll=5
GM better off single
Company's improved prospects make alliance unattractive
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Friday, October 06, 2006
When you're holding a winning hand, it's no time to give away your cards, which sums up why General Motors walked away from alliance talks with Renault and Nissan this week.
Give GM Chairman Rick Wagoner full credit for knowing what each of the players brought to this table and concluding correctly that the Flint-born automaker had more to lose than win in a three-way partnership.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061006/OPINION02/610060342/1070/OPINION
ROCHELLE RILEY: Why Cosby wants to return to Detroit
Workshop's goal is to improve lives
October 6, 2006
Vaneeta Witcher dropped out of school at 12. She eventually got a job making CD players for an auto supplier. But she got laid off three years ago and hasn't worked since.
When she heard that Bill Cosby was coming to Detroit, not to preach, but to host a hands-on workshop to help people change their lives, she signed up. She didn't do it just for herself. She wants to be better for her 11-year-old son, Khalif, who she says is a good student at West Village Academy and a football player with the community team, the Detroit Broncos.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1160145968181800.xml&coll=2
Safety at local schools needs to be discussed We must talk about more than just plans
Friday, October 06, 2006
The tragedy of recent school shootings in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Colorado amplifies our awareness that violence can explode even in what we assume to be a safe haven.
Local educators and public safety officials are rushing to reinforce the assumption that schools are safe for our children.
http://www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1160147726304320.xml&coll=4
Old sugar plant might get new life making fuel of the future
Friday, October 06, 2006
Soybeans instead of sugar beets might be the crop to drive a revival of a mothballed sugar plant.
Here's to hoping that Michigan Sugar Co. finds a way to reopen its Carrollton plant to make biodiesel fuel.
We're big fans of the Michigan-made fuel.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_4453895
More GOP seats up for grabs
Foley page scandal intensifies congressional elections
BY ADAM NAGOURNEY, The New York Times
WASHINGTON - At least five more Republican congressional seats are now in serious contention, analysts said Friday, an unwelcome development for Republicans as they begin trying to confront a political environment further darkened for them by the congressional-page scandal.
The uproar about sexually charged messages sent to teenage male pages by former Rep. Mark Foley of Florida is undercutting Republican support among elderly voters, suburbanites and women, analysts from both parties said. More alarmingly for Republican strategists, who have looked to the party's powerful voter turnout operation to save the party this year, it is showing signs of sapping the enthusiasm of a group that was essential to their victories in 2002
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/05/AR2006100501811.html
Analysis
New Media A Weapon in New World Of Politics
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 6, 2006; Page A01
At first glance, three uproars that buffeted American politics in recent weeks have little in common.
Former congressman Mark Foley (R-Fla.) ended his political career over sexually charged e-mails to former House pages. Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) stumbled over his puzzling use of the word "macaca" and his clumsy response to revelations about his Jewish ancestry. Former president Bill Clinton had a televised temper fit when an interviewer challenged his terrorism record.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15159098/
Republicans rally round Hastert in face of scandal
By Edward Luce in Washington
Updated: 9:42 p.m. ET Oct 6, 2006
It was Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House and Republican leader, who best summarised his party's response to the scandal over a lawmaker's lewd internet messages to teenage interns. "There's a certain stench of hypocrisy," he said in reference to past sex scandals among Democrats.
For the time being, top Republicans are rallying behind Dennis Hastert, the current speaker, who on Thursday rejected calls to resign and who denied allegations that he knew of congressman Mark Foley's behaviour as early as 2003, when members of his staff on Capitol Hill were apparently informed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100601888.html
Staffer Cites Earlier Role by Hastert's Office
Confrontation With Foley Detailed
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 7, 2006; Page A01
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's chief of staff confronted then-Rep. Mark Foley about his inappropriate social contact with male pages well before the speaker said aides in his office took any action, a current congressional staff member with personal knowledge of Foley and his behavior with pages said yesterday.
The staff member said Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, met with the Florida Republican at the Capitol to discuss complaints about Foley's behavior toward pages. The alleged meeting occurred long before Hastert says aides in his office dispatched Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.) and the clerk of the House in November 2005 to confront Foley about troubling e-mails he had sent to a Louisiana boy.
http://www.mlive.com/news/sanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1160140823286130.xml&coll=9
Hypocrisy in Congress
Friday, October 06, 2006
One of the most telling moments in the scandal involving former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley came when Republicans, upon learning about Foley's creepy e-mails to former male congressional pages, failed to inform Democratic U.S. Dale Kildee of Flint of the suspicious behavior.
Kildee, the only Democrat on the House panel that oversees the page program, said he was disappointed he wasn't informed about the sexually explicit or inappropriate e-mails. Kildee, who has served on the bipartisan page board since 1985, called the omission "outrageous."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100601787.html
Speculation Centers on a Republican Former Page
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 7, 2006; Page A07
Likable and popular with female pages, a committed Republican who even as a teenager knew how to parlay chance meetings into political friendships, Jordan Edmund has emerged as a key figure in the Foley page scandal.
The former House page has been targeted by conservative blogs as the young man on the receiving end of former representative Mark Foley's sexually explicit online instant messages, which have engulfed the GOP in a scandal that could affect the outcome of the Nov. 7 congressional elections.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HASTERT_PAGES?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Analysis: Hastert learned from wrestling
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A lesson from Dennis Hastert's years as a high school wrestling coach: There's no one to blame but yourself if you get pinned.
The speaker of the House appears to have pulled off an escape from a page scandal's hold amid calls he step down as the highest official in Congress, but the match is far from over.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061007/OPINION03/610070306/1008/OPINION01
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Clarence Page:
Egos let House scandal grow
T hey've been getting by on spin and raw power for so long that House Republican leaders apparently don't know how to handle a truly damaging scandal when it pops up and bites them in the e-mails.
Now, fingers are pointing every which as to exactly how top House Republicans responded to word that Rep. Mark Foley was sending creepy e-mails to a former teenage page last autumn.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061007/POLITICS/610070312/1022
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Dems capitalize on House scandal
Campaign ads seek to link Republicans to the House page cybersex uproar; GOP candidates dodge Hastert.
Andrew Taylor / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- More Democrats went on the attack Friday with campaign ads linking Republican candidates to the Mark Foley House page scandal while GOP candidates moved to distance themselves from embattled Speaker Dennis Hastert.
Today, Democrat Patty Wetterling, a candidate for an open House seat in Minnesota, will continue the attack in the Democratic response to President Bush's weekly radio address as the party looks to reap political gains in the upcoming midterm elections.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061007/OPINION03/610070309/1008/OPINION01
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Roland S. Martin
Religious right takes a pass on scandal
I f a Democratic member of Congress, who later admitted to being gay, resigned his post because he sent sexually explicit instant messages to teenage boys who worked on Capitol Hill, I would expect the firebrands on the religious right to come out in full force.
Yet when Florida Republican Congressman Mark Foley resigned once the messages were made public, all was quiet on the religious right front.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100600937.html
Victim Advocates, Fla. Diocese Urge Foley to Name Alleged Abuser
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 7, 2006; Page A06
The Roman Catholic diocese of Palm Beach, Fla., and national advocacy groups for victims of sexual abuse called yesterday for former representative Mark Foley (R-Fla.) to give police the name of the clergyman who allegedly abused him as a teenager.
"He should absolutely report the perpetrator, living or dead," said David Clohessy, national director of the 7,000-member Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. "He should do it now, not when his civil lawyer says it is convenient. Every day that a molester walks free is a day when he can hurt other kids."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061007/OPINION03/610070307/1008/OPINION01
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Kathleen Parker:
The pot and the kettle duke it out over Foley's follies
A s politicians square off over shamed congressman Mark Foley's cyber-sexcapades with underage boys, one question persists: Can we just get rid of the whole bunch?
Amid the blustery outrage of Democrats, whose house is hardly spotless -- and Republicans' denial and dereliction of duty -- one finds comfort in the thought that someday soon, some of these people will be gone.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061007/OPINION03/610070308/1008/OPINION01
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Froma Harrop:
What did Foley do, really?
E xactly what did Mark Foley do -- I mean, really do? He did not murder or rape or, as far as we know, even touch a congressional page. What he did was exchange dirty messages with a 16-year-old. He sounds like a sick man, but hardly the ghoul that the furor makes him out to be.
No, I'm not defending the Florida Republican's activities. Discovery of them rightly forced his resignation from the House. Foley's behavior was reprehensible: He obviously thrilled in leading the double life of high-profile protector of children and secret exploiter of them. Let the psychologists take it from there.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061007/OPINION03/610070305/1008/OPINION01
Michelle Malkin
It's the predation, stupid
W ashington is embroiled in another sex scandal. A sure-bet win for the Republicans in Florida is now imperiled. The Democrats look to be one seat closer to regaining control of the House. But the latest one involving disgraced GOP Congressman Mark Foley's predatory e-mails and lecherous instant-message exchanges is more than just a political nightmare.
It's a parental nightmare.
Foley's targets were underage high school students serving as congressional pages. I spoke with good friends of mine a few weeks ago who were positively glowing about their teenage son's experience as a page earlier this year. It is supposed to engender pride in our country and its institutions. It is supposed to inspire young people to public service. But irresponsible, selfish and sick adults have turned the Page Program into their personal sexual romper room.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061007/OPINION01/610070311/1008
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Page scandal exasperates weary pundits
Nancy Kruh
T he case of disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley has brought out all the familiar tropes.
There's the moral outrage. And the cries of hypocrisy. And the calls for head-rolling. But in this post-Lewinsky era, another, more world-weary genre also is emerging -- the sort typified by Eugene Robinson's exasperation.
http://patriotpost.us/alexander/edition.asp?id=500
Sin and Foley
Mark Alexander
From Patriot Post Vol. 06 No. 40; Published 6 October 2006
In the early days of 2001, amid the hasty removal of the letter "W" from White House keyboards and the theft of the presidential china from Air Force One's galley, the departing President Clinton was busily dispensing no fewer than 176 last-minute presidential pardons to convicted criminals from sea to shining sea. One of these was for Mel Reynolds, a former Democrat congressman from Chicago. Reynolds had been serving a five-year federal sentence for fraudulent-loan and campaign-finance practices, having completed a 30-month sentence for 12 counts of statutory rape of a 16-year-old campaign volunteer.
Clinton pardoned Reynolds at the behest of Jessie Jackson, who then snatched up the sleazy pol to work for his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. Of course everybody remembers Bill Clinton's infamous affair with 21-year-old intern Monica Lewinsky -- let's call that the "Clinton legacy." Perhaps fewer, though, recall Jackson's sordid four-year affair with a subordinate, one Karin Stanford, a staffer with Rainbow/PUSH.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061007/OPINION03/610070330/1071/OPINION
LEONARD PITTS JR.: No such thing as a Morals Party
October 7, 2006
So, anybody up for a chat about family values?
The term has been a registered trademark of the GOP -- the self-styled Morals Party -- for years, a bludgeon against Democrats who, by implication, oppose families and have no values.
Like most political language, it's a code, intended to be understood by those with ears to hear. "Family values" means the pol in question has God on speed dial and can be counted on to oppose gun control, the so-called "homosexual agenda" and abortion, while pushing schools to teach, as Tina Fey once put it, that Adam and Eve rode to church on dinosaurs.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUDGET_DEFICIT?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Budget deficit drops to $250 billion
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal budget deficit estimate for the fiscal year just completed has dropped to $250 billion, congressional estimators said Friday, as the economy continued to fuel impressive tax revenues.
The Congressional Budget Office's latest estimate is $10 billion below CBO predictions issued in August and well below a July White House prediction of $296 billion.
The improving deficit picture - Bush predicted a $423 billion deficit in his February budget - has been driven by better-than-expected tax receipts, especially from corporate profits, CBO said.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WHITE_HOUSE_ABRAMOFF?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
White House aide to Rove resigns
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The latest casualty in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal was a key aide to presidential political strategist Karl Rove who once worked for the disgraced influence-peddler.
Susan Ralston stepped down Friday from her post as a special assistant to President Bush. A congressional report showed she had extensive contacts with Abramoff and had accepted tickets to sporting events and concerts from him.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100600965.html
Rove Aide Linked To Abramoff Resigns
Scandal Claims Its First West Wing Job
By Peter Baker and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, October 7, 2006; Page A01
A top aide to White House strategist Karl Rove resigned yesterday after disclosures that she accepted gifts from and passed information to now-convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, becoming the first official in the West Wing to lose a job in the influence-peddling scandal.
Susan B. Ralston submitted her resignation to avoid causing political damage to President Bush a month before the midterm elections, officials said. "She did not want to be a distraction to the White House at this important time," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100601527.html
Bush Balks at Criteria for FEMA Director
Signing Statement Asserts Right to Ignore Parts of New Homeland Security Law
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 7, 2006; Page A02
President Bush reserved the right to ignore key changes in Congress's overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- including a requirement to appoint someone with experience handling disasters as the agency's head -- in setting aside dozens of provisions contained in a major homeland security spending bill this week.
Besides objecting to Congress's list of qualifications for FEMA's director, the White House also claimed the right to edit or withhold reports to Congress by a watchdog agency within the Department of Homeland Security that is responsible for protecting Americans' personal privacy.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/J/JUDGE_GAY_MARRIAGE?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Same-sex rite stalls judge nomination
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A judge's elevation to the federal bench could be derailed because she helped preside over a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple four years ago.
Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas has placed a hold on the nomination of Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet T. Neff, saying her presence at the 2002 Massachusetts ceremony raises questions about her judicial philosophy.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-32/116020302753080.xml&coll=6
Same-sex ceremony stalls judicial nominee
Saturday, October 07, 2006
By Ted Roelofs and Theresa Mcclellan
The Grand Rapids Press
The nomination of Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet Neff to the federal bench is on hold because she helped lead a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple four years ago.
Sen. Sam Brownback, of Kansas, an opponent of gay marriage who has presidential aspirations, said Friday he wants to know whether there was anything illegal or improper about the ceremony in Massachusetts.
He also said he wants to question Neff about her views on gay marriage and how her actions might shape her judicial philosophy.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061007/OPINION03/610070310/1008/OPINION01
Saturday, October 07, 2006
George Will:
What 'State of Denial' really shows
W hile leading the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in the summer of 2003, David Kay received a phone call from "Scooter" Libby, Dick Cheney's chief of staff, who wanted a particular place searched: "The vice president wants to know if you've looked at this area. We have indications -- and here are the geocoordinates -- that something's buried there." Kay and his experts located the area on the map. It was in the middle of Lebanon.
This story from Bob Woodward's "State of Denial" would be hilarious were it not about war. The vignette is dismaying because it seems symptomatic of a blinkering monomania that may have prevented obsessed persons from facing facts.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Thousands of Iraq police hurt since 2004
WASHINGTON (AP) -- About 4,000 Iraqi police have been killed and more than 8,000 injured over the past two years, the U.S. commander in charge of the police training said Friday.
Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Peterson also said that it is hard to tell how many militia members have infiltrated the police forces, but said Iraqi officials are trying to weed them out.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHANISTAN_RUMSFELD?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Rumsfeld cites progress in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that despite Afghanistan's rising opium production and violence in the south, "the trajectory is a hopeful and promising one" five years after the Taliban's fall.
Rumsfeld, in an opinion piece in Saturday's edition of The Washington Post, said Afghanistan's economy has tripled in five years, its forces have grown by 1,000 soldiers a month, the number of students in school has grown fivefold and 80 percent of the population has access to basic health care, up from 8 percent.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TERROR_WATCH_LIST?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Report: Thousands wrongly on terror list
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Thousands of people have been mistakenly linked to names on terror watch lists when they crossed the border, boarded commercial airliners or were stopped for traffic violations, a government report said Friday.
More than 30,000 airline passengers have asked just one agency - the Transportation Security Administration - to have their names cleared from the lists, according to the Government Accountability Office report.
Pentagon to probe Gitmo beatings claim
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) -- The Pentagon said Friday that it will investigate a Marine's sworn statement that guards at Guantanamo Bay bragged about beating detainees and described it as a common practice.
The Marine, a paralegal who was at the U.S. Navy station in Cuba last month, alleges that several guards she talked to at the base club said they routinely hit detainees.
"From the whole conversation, I understood that striking detainees was a common practice," the sergeant wrote. "Everyone in the group laughed at the others' stories of beating detainees."
N.Korea urged to abandon atomic weapons
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- With speculation mounting of a North Korean nuclear test as early as this weekend, a unanimous U.N. Security Council urged the secretive, communist nation Friday to abandon all atomic weapons as it promised last year and cancel plans to detonate a device. Japan hinted the North could face sanctions or possible military action.
A statement adopted by the council expresses "deep concern" over North Korea's announcement that it planned a test - which would confirm strong suspicions it is a nuclear power - and warns Pyongyang of unspecified consequences if it carries through. The message also urges the North to return to six-party talks on scrapping its nuclear weapons program.
MIRS Capitol Capsule, Friday, October 6, 2006
John Reurink (517) 482-2125
Bringing Back The SBT?
Justified or not, Republicans successfully made the Single Business Tax (SBT) the bogeyman that helped keep Michigan's economy in the doldrums while most other states are thriving. So the idea that Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM wants to resurrect the SBT could be a powerful campaign issue for the GOP — and it's already trying to use it.
While Granholm likes to attack Republican gubernatorial nominee Dick DeVOS for not having a specific plan to replace the SBT, she doesn't seem to have a plan specifically developed to replace it either.
Recall that, due to the Republican-led citizen initiative, the SBT will be eliminated the night before New Year's Day 2008. Granholm takes DeVos and the GOP to task for the approaching elimination and chastises DeVos for not saying what "revenue enhancement" (a.k.a. tax) he'd replace it with.
But when the governor is asked what her plan is for replacing the SBT, she refers back to the tax cut-and-shift plan she announced in early 2005. The problem is the plan she's referring to was not a replacement for the SBT. It was a restructuring of the SBT — a tax that is (not maybe, but definitely under statute) on its way out.
So what , if any, are the political ramifications? If Granholm's only plan of action to replace the $1.8 billion revenue stream the SBT represents is to "restructure" the SBT, that means (at least according to the Republicans) that she wants to bring back the SBT, that economic bogeyman the GOP claims it has just managed to rid the state of.
Sources tell MIRS that, even prior to this week's debate, the DeVos campaign have been telling editorial boards throughout the state that Granholm wants to resurrect the SBT. Whether or not the subject will be broached in TV and/or radio spots remains to be seen, but it's likely that few would bet against it.
MIRS asked Granholm Press Secretary Liz BOYD this week if the governor has a plan to replace the SBT.
"She came out with her plan a couple of years ago," Boyd said.
"But wasn't that a plan to restructure the SBT, not to replace it?" MIRS asked.
"It's the concept," Boyd responded. "It would broaden the base and cut taxes for most businesses . . . and, by the way, it won't require cuts to education and other essential programs."
"So this would mean bringing the SBT back . . . or would it just be the same tax called something different?" MIRS asked.
"It's really about the concept, you know, a rose by any other name . . . ," Boyd responded.
MIRS asked Treasury Department spokesman Terry STANTON how the state would go about implementing the Governor's tax plan after the SBT has been eliminated.
"The governor's plan would have implemented so sweeping a change, that it really would have been creating a new tax," Stanton explained.
"So, would the SBT be used as the blueprint for creating the governor new tax idea?" MIRS asked.
"I think it would really start with someone designing the legislation," Stanton said.
The implication in all of this is that if Granholm's plan is to be considered as a replacement for the SBT, it's a conceptual plan, not a detailed plan.
Meanwhile, the political realities are less complex. By claiming she has already introduced a plan to replace the SBT, when she'd actually introduced a revamped SBT, Granholm has opened the door to GOP charges that she wants to bring the supposedly onerous tax back to life. Such technicalities as whether the plan would even resemble the SBT or not, aren't likely to be brought out in any 30-second negative campaign ads.
Though they almost certainly will have no bearing on the election campaigns, the real-world realities may be worth mentioning, as well. They seem to be:
1. The Granholm administration probably hasn't bothered to come up with a SBT replacement because she's not likely to have much say in what the replacement would be, at least not the first draft. Presuming that the Republicans keep control of the Legislature and Granholm is re-elected, the GOP-controlled Legislature would likely develop their own plan, pass it and see if the governor vetoes it. It's difficult to see why the Republicans would let Granholm play any meaningful role in drafting a replacement business tax.
Whatever the Republican proposal for a replacement tax would be, whether it would bring in $1.3 billion, or $1.5 billion, it would basically represent a revenue enhancement to recover a portion of the revenue stream the SBT currently represents. Granholm would be under intense pressure to sign it.
2. Granholm keeps claiming her current Republican opponents, in alliance with DeVos, have irresponsibly eliminated the SBT. In fact, during the debate Monday night, the governor at one point even remarked that, if the SBT was so bad, why hadn't the Republicans gotten rid of it during all of those former Gov. John ENGLER years. But, as a point of fact, they did.
Recall that it was Engler and the GOP-controlled Legislation that enacted the SBT phase-out. All that the current batch of Republicans did was move up the date of the elimination by two years — from the end of 2009 to the end of 2007. But don't expect the Republicans to try to correct Granholm on this one. They want to take credit for eliminating the SBT.
3. When legislative Republicans managed to kill Granholm's SBT-restructuring legislation (HB 4476), they were aided considerably by the fact that many legislative Democrats didn't like the plan either. None of the Democrats would ever say it, but it was only after Democrats started complaining about the plan in off-the-record complaints that MIRS considered the legislation dead.
Recall that under the plan nearly all of the tax cuts (that went mostly to the manufacturing sector) were to be offset by tax increases on businesses (especially in the insurance industry) that were supposedly currently paying less than their fair tax burden. This did not sit well with many businesses that stood to lose out - and those businesses made their feelings known to their representatives on both sides of the aisle in Lansing.
Another problem for lawmakers was that the insurance companies would most certainly have passed on the cost of the higher taxes to their customers, along with a note or two explaining why their rates had increased. In addition, there were those odd unintended consequences that came up during hearings on the plan — such as the huge tax increases it would have brought to businesses like Spartan grocery stores and Whirlpool.
4. Here's one Republicans don't especially want to have overly publicized. One of the key elements that emerged from the hearings on Granholm's plan was that if any form of a tax has been really hurting Michigan's economy, it's the Personal Property Tax, (PPT) not the SBT.
Most of leading legislative models of tax plans to replace the SBT, include measures to modify or eliminate the negative effects of the PPT, which some insiders say is the real bogeyman in Michigan's overall tax picture.
Republicans Try To Fight Fire With Fire
Looking in the face of at least a $1 million in media advertising buys against vulnerable Republican lawmakers from Kalamazoo millionaire Jon STRYKER, the House GOP is beginning to fight back with an offensive of their own against vulnerable Democratic members.
A new 401(C)3 called "Working for Michigan's Future" (WMF) was born this year to accept money from Republican sources to combat the cable buys with ad buys of their own.
WMF's first offering was newspaper advertisements taken out in the districts of Rep. Aldo VAGNOZZI (D-Farmington Hills), Rep. Marie DONIGAN (D-Royal Oak), Rep. Kathy ANGERER (D-Dundee) and Rep. Gary McDOWELL (D-Rudyard) that criticized the House members for supporting “extra funding” for Detroit Public Schools. The ad shows a picture of the Detroit teachers' strike with the headline “$14 million for what?”
Republicans have been going after McDowell, at least, with this type of regional warfare for the last several weeks in his campaign against Petoskey attorney Jay DUGGAN.
WMF Spokesman Bill NOWLING said the group was formed in April as a way for citizens concerned about the "real issues" of jobs, the economy and education to have their voices heard. He declined to release the names of the members of WMF outside of Board member Scott LIGGETT, a House Republican staffer. The group is not filed as a political action committee (PAC) like Stryker's Coalition for Progress, so they are not required to file the same periodic contribution and expenditure information.
As of now, WMF isn't up with television ads, but if the organization can collect that type of cash, that's where they plan on spending it.
"We want to bring issues up for discussion and this is the time of the year to do it," Nowling said.
The emergence of WMF comes as legislative Republicans grow increasingly concerned about the impact Stryker's anti-Republican cartoon ads featuring suited elephants are having in their key legislative districts. Republicans tend to outspend Democrats in legislative elections and Stryker's Coalition for Progress (CFP) is tipping the scales in a way the GOP isn't familiar with.
House Minority Leader Dianne BYRUM (D-Onondaga) brought attention to the WMF newspaper ads today by passing around a Detroit Free Press editorial that criticized the content as "the kind of garbage that keeps Michigan divided when the state so desperately needs to pull together." The editorial didn't mention the CFP ads.
"Speaker (Craig) DeROCHE (R-Novi) must denounce these outrageous, divisive ads right now," Byrum said. "In these tough economic times, we should be working to bring the entire state together - not using divide-and-conquer tactics to score cheap political points."
DeRoche Spokesman Matt RESCH responded with the following, "Considering the House Democrats and Dianne Byrum are blatantly trying to buy the State Legislature using the check book of a radical billionaire with a hankering for dancing cartoon elephants and opera, the shameless hypocrisy of their press release is the only thing to be disavowed."
Knollenberg Learns From Defeat How To Win
Losing his first bid for the state House may have been the best thing that ever happened to Marty KNOLLENBERG.
The son of U.S. Rep. Joe KNOLLENBERG (R-Bloomfield Twp.), the 43-year-old insurance agency owner took a step back in the fall of 2004 after finishing second in a competitive four-way primary election for the Republican nomination in the 41st House District to Rep. Bob GOSSELIN (R-Troy).
The former Oakland County commissioner said he revisited why he wanted to join the state House in the first place and began thinking about what he could do to make himself a better candidate and a better House member, if he were to be elected.
Knollenberg came to the conclusion that he needed a concrete jobs plan he could point to as he knocked on doors. The six-point "Marty's Job Plan" became the centerpiece of Knollenberg's second bid this August. He took 53 percent of the vote, won the Republican nomination and is poised to face Democrat Eric GREGORY in this 60 percent GOP district.
"I will be a better representative this time around than I would have been two years ago because I lost," Knollenberg said. "Losing is difficult. It's hard to accept because I didn't articulate who I was as well as I could have. I got in late and I didn't control my own destiny.
"This time, I felt I could make that connection to the community."
Knollenberg, a recreational hockey player who also likes to bike and swim, said he knocked on 7,000 doors during his 2006 campaign, during which he tried to erase any preconceived notions voters may have had about him. In 2004, Knollenberg was painted as a moderate who voted against a county resolution that emphasized that marriage should only be recognized as the union of one man and one woman.
Although Knollenberg said he voted against the issue because he didn't feel like it was a county issue, he was roasted in this conservative district over the vote. He supported the one man-one woman constitutional amendment in 2004, but the perception of him being in support of gay marriage was hard to shake.
Being the son of the area's congressman helps with name ID, but it can also rub some voters the wrong way, too.
"I had a lot of people say you're running off your dad's name," Knollenberg said. "I said, 'If that's the case, I wouldn't be at your doorstep. I'd be at home watching TV.'"
"I knew I was not going to run away with it. That's OK. I don't mind working for it."
This year, Knollenberg stressed a socially conservative platform of pro-traditional marriage and pro-life. The Albion College graduate is in favor of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), a rarity among those seeking public office. He also plans on voting in favor of a dove-hunting season. His background as a businessman helped him earn the endorsements of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business Association of Michigan and the National Federation of Independent Business.
Marty's Job Plan hits on six fairly familiar themes — cutting taxes, reducing spending, improving in education, investing in Michigan, limiting litigation and reforming regulation.
The basic concepts may be seen as standard Republican boilerplate talking points, but Knollenberg offers up specific spending cuts the state can make. He starts with $112 million in transit bus reform, suggests privatizing certain prison programs for $192 million more in savings and wants to reform the "prevailing wage" law so government entities can go with the true low-bid rate on construction projects.
He's taken the Americans for Tax Reform Taxpayer Pledge to vote against tax increases. He supports merit pay for teachers and reforming the "special-interest health insurance subdivision" of the Michigan Education Association (MEA), the Michigan Education Special Services Association (MESSA). He believes judges should have more flexibility in punishing lawyers for filing frivolous lawsuits.
He said he does support fixing existing roads before jumping into new construction projects.
"We need to create a jobs environment so we're all working," Knollenberg said. "In a nut shell, Michigan's problem is that we're losing jobs while our government has gotten bloated and gotten slow. It spends too much. We've always looked to the automobile industry to bail us out in the past, but in a global environment, that is no longer the case."
MDP Hit Ad, A Bit Early?
The Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) has been running a 30-second TV spot titled "Express" that claims gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVOS somehow got special treatment by Congress and the administration of Bill CLINTON back in 1997 - although the ad deftly avoids reminding viewers Clinton had to sign the bill in order for it to be enacted.
The bill involved was HR 2014 sponsored by U.S. Rep. John KASICH (R-Ohio). It was reported to the House Committee on the Budget on June 24, 1997 and passed the House on a 253-179 bipartisan vote two days later. The next day, June 27, the bill was passed by the Senate on an 80-18 vote and called for a conference.
The conference committee was held on July 11 and passed the measure on July 28. HR 2014 was then passed by both chambers of Congress on July 31. In the House the vote was 389-43. In the Senate the vote was 92-8. U.S. Sen. Carl LEVIN (D-Detroit) voted for the bill and was considered a strong advocate of the legislation. Clinton signed the bill into law on Aug. 5, 1997.
The MDP accusation is that HR 2014 had a last-minute provision added to it that gave DeVos' company Amway a $19 million tax break on its Asian branches. It's an accusation that doesn't explain why Clinton signed the bill and why Levin and nearly every member of Congress supported it.
MDP floated the attack on DeVos earlier this year, but (possibly after taking a close look at the allegation) few news media outlets wrote much about it. Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM made the accusation at Monday's debate as well. In response DeVos, after repeating several times that he was disappointed by the negative attacks, did actually get around to pointing out that Levin supported the bill and Clinton signed it.
Well-placed sources tell MIRS they're surprised that Democrats have brought the issue up again, because the accusations seem answerable and theoretically the 30 days between now and Election Day should provide time for DeVos and company to turn the tables. Arguably, it's the comparatively early appearance of this type of ad that is unusual. Their thought being that there were other issues DeVos would have been more vulnerable on that would have been more difficult to refute.
The MDP ad started running statewide on Sept. 29. It features a shot of the U.S, Capitol building at night, while classical music is provided as background. The voice-over states that DeVos spent millions in contributions to Republican causes in order to get a "middle of the night" $19 million tax break for Amway in Asia.
The ad mentions former Senate Majority Leader Trent LOTT and former House Speaker Newt GINGRICH, but never mentions Clinton, Levin or the fact that most Democrats voted for the bill. In fact, it's questionable whether the ad makes it clear that the legislation was at the federal, not the state, level.
DeVos Crew Using Robo Lee
Republican gubernatorial nominee Dick DeVOS' campaign obviously thinks it is on to something by using former auto icon Lee IACOCCA because the big guy is back, this time in a robo call.
A female voice announces, "Here is a message from Lee Iacocca" and he begins by defining what a good leader is and its "decisiveness … you gotta act" and, of course, his buddy Dick DeVos has it.
Using his patented Lee-lingo he says, "He's the right guy to lead Michigan. He's a doer" and then he invites the listener to "Join DeVos and turnaround" the state.
And the female voice returns, telling you that was Lee Iacocca.
A hidden agenda in all this, the DeVos folks are quietly gloating that they think Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM was not too happy to see the original Iacocca TV ad and went looking for someone to counteract that, but that certain someone, maybe Roger PENSKE, apparently had something better to do?
(Contributed by Senior Capital Correspondent Tim SKUBICK).
Gov's Weekly Radio Address
In her weekly radio address, Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM asked the Legislature to pass two bills that would lift the state's restrictions on embryonic stem cell research and asked anyone who supports lifting the ban to sign an online petition.
"Stem cell research holds the power to improve the lives of thousands of Michiganians," Granholm said. "The men, women, and children who suffer from conditions for which there is no treatment or cure deserve our help. So do the families and friends who care for them."
Granholm wants the Legislature to pass HB 4900, which is sponsored by Rep. Andy MEISNER (D-Ferndale) and SB 1345, which is sponsored by Sen. Gretchen WHITMER (D-East Lansing). These bills would lift the ban and also increase penalties for anyone violating the state ban on human cloning.
Granholm also urged people who support lifting the ban to sign an online petition. The Governor's online petition is located at www.michigan.gov.
"Join me by signing my online petition asking the Michigan Legislature to open the doors to medical research by passing the bills to lift the restrictions," Granholm said.
Granholm said that in addition to potentially saving lives, stem cell research could attract millions of dollars of investment in life sciences businesses that will create jobs in Michigan.
The likelihood of the two bills getting taken up this session is not very good. As of this week, Sen. Bev. HAMMERSTROM (R-Temperance), who is chair of the Senate Health Policy Committee, has not put Whitmer's bill on the committee calendar.
Bits And Tidbits
Why Cheney? Why Now?
Heads were scratching in the wake of the quick in-and-out visit by the Vice President Dick CHENEY on behalf of 7th Congressional candidate Tim WALBERG. Why Cheney? Why now?
The 7th Congressional district is predominately Republican and there's been no indication nationally or statewide up to this point that Democrat Sharon REINER is on anybody's radar screen as an upset-special possibility.
Michigan Republican Party (MRP) Chair Saul ANUZIS ended the scratching by explaining the trip had nothing to do with Walberg being in trouble, but rather, "Since Walberg is a 'new' member, and the House is technically at risk, the House leadership has asked Cheney to do a whole series of events to 'establish' these newer members so we have no surprise loses."
The VP is apparently hop-scotching the country, having attended over 100 to date. His appearances raise money for the candidates and the party and help to stimulate the Republican base to show up at the polls.
Summing up the unusual visit in two words, Anuzis told MIRS it is "insurance and money."
Bouchard Appearing With McCain
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike BOUCHARD will appear with U.S. Sen. John McCAIN (R-AZ) at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 10 Shriners Auditorium in Southfield.
This event will be open to ticketed guests only.
Bouchard: Foley Investigation Should Be Independent
Although he's running for the U.S. Senate, GOP candidate Mike BOUCHARD today issued a statement urging that the investigation into disgraced U.S. Rep. Mark FOLEY (R-Fla.) be conducted by an independent investigator.
"As a 20 year lawman, a long-time advocate for victims, and as a father, I know that our first priority when confronted with a situation of abuse is to protect the victim," Bourchard said. "To assure that this grievous behavior does not occur again in the halls of Congress, an independent investigation is necessary. The investigation must be taken out of the hands of politicians and put into the hands of trained investigators."
GONGWER- Volume #45, Report #193 --Friday, October 6, 2006
Larry Lee (517) 482-3500
HOUSE DEM LEADERSHIP RACE SAID TO BE NARROWING
The race to replace term-limited House Minority Leader Dianne Byrum (D-Onondaga) seems to have winnowed itself to five leading lawmakers and on Friday, members of the Detroit delegation were said to have interviewed those candidates, though it was unclear whether a decision had been made that day on whom they would to endorse.
The candidates perceived to be at the top of the heap: Rep. Andy Meisner (D-Ferndale), Rep. Barb Farrah (D-Southgate), Rep. Steve Tobocman (D-Detroit), Rep. Alma Wheeler-Smith (D-Ypsilanti) and Rep. Andy Dillon (D-Redford), sources say.
However, Gongwer News Service did not hear from any other Democratic members whose names have been floated as possible contenders that they were dropping out of the leadership race.
Elections for leadership spots will occur after the November 7 election.
Mr. Tobocman, who said he excused himself from Detroit delegation discussions on the endorsement so that he could solely be interviewed by his colleagues, said, "Detroiters are more united than in the past. Detroit is out in the forefront to bring a thoughtful process (to the selection of a leadership team)."
In total, 11 out of the current 49 members of the Democratic Caucus hail from the Motor City.
In commenting on where selection of a new leader stands (the caucus will also have to chose a new floor leader with the departure of term-limited Rep. Mary Waters (D-Detroit)) Mr. Tobocman classified it as a "wide open race.
"Nobody has more than five committed votes. A lot of folks are not decided."
Personal relationships, geography and common philosophical standpoints will all play roles in how the next leader is selected, he said.
Ms. Wheeler Smith said, "We're all working on campaigns where we have credibility and opportunity."
Contacted earlier this week, Ms. Farrah said she believes everyone in the caucus is still talking about what will happen in regards to a leadership team, but that members' first priority is still on winning House majority back in November, as has been the mantra of several Democratic members.
Ms. Farrah said she's been balancing her time between campaigning and fundraising for the caucus and her fellow colleagues while also taking care of constituent concerns and meetings back in her district.
She said that everyone seeking a leadership spot has been open to the process and that "there is a place for everyone" on the leadership team.
Mr. Meisner also said earlier this week that the caucus has "some fantastic candidates," and that he's had "very positive discussions with all of my colleagues."
Sources tell Gongwer that there is also some talk about having Ms. Farrah and Mr. Dillon team up, but Ms. Farrah said no such meeting has occurred. Mr. Dillon was out of the state earlier this week and could not be reached for comment.
There was also some talk of asking Ms. Wheeler Smith to take the top spot on the Appropriations Committee, with Rep. Rich Brown (D-Bessemer) leaving under term-limits, because of her past experience on the panel, but she said that a caucus leader should be one that is well-versed on Appropriations.
"We need a very strong, knowledgeable person to know how those budgets relate," she said. "I think my experience on Appropriations works better for me as a leader than being a member of the Appropriations panel."
Some criticism has been floated regarding Mr. Meisner, one dealing with his age compared to the other caucus members (he's 33) and the other regarding his views that may be more "liberal" than other members.
The caucus made seat gains in 2004, in part, due to recruitment of conservative-minded candidates.
Mr. Meisner countered the criticisms, saying that age is not a factor in the race and that his experience as a staffer in Washington, D.C. and time spent as an executive of a nonprofit group there, on top of his legislative career in Lansing, negate that.
He also said that the caucus' diversity is its greatest strength and that his approach is to "embrace those differences."
"My agenda for the caucus is very much a mainstream agenda for Michigan," he said, citing his support more entrepreneurial programs in the state.
When asked about his outspoken support for embryonic stem cell research and the effect that has on the race, Mr. Meisner said that most Michiganians actually agree with him.
"We need common sense solutions. Ideological extremes are not appropriate at this time."
2ND DEBATE OFFERS CANDIDATES A CHANCE TO BUILD
The second of three gubernatorial debates on Tuesday offers both Governor Jennifer Granholm and Republican Dick DeVos a chance to seize the advantage in charting a path for the state to take to emerge from its economic doldrums, a variety of political observers and partisans say. The advantage in debates usually lies with the challenger, they suggest, but at the same time they said Mr. DeVos must do more to define himself.
With four weeks to go before the election, the debate is hardly a make-or-break moment, but is important nonetheless for the candidates take whatever advantage they can in a race that has generated a great deal of interest, said those interviewed regarding the opportunities and obstacles that lie ahead for the candidates.
Mr. DeVos was seen as the comparative loser in Monday's debate to Ms. Granholm, and the political experts agreed that the governor succeeded in shifting the away from the economy and to the challenger with her criticism of his investment in the assisted living company, Alterra.
"As long as the discussion every day is Dick DeVos, that's probably one more day that she's won," said Tom Shields, president of Marketing Resource Group in Lansing, which does political services for Republicans. "He's got to do a better job to create the need for change. In the first debate, she's was trying to paint herself as the breath of fresh air and him as representing the old ways."
He said the battle for Mr. DeVos is to get the governor on the defensive about the economy, and get off Alterra and his company's investments in China.
"DeVos does much better when he is on specifics and in the next debate he has to get there and stay there," Mr. Shields said. "The battle for him is to keep it focused on the economy and tie her there. I expect she will move to something else like his philanthropy and try to move him off message."
EPIC/MRA pollster Ed Sarpolus said the challenge for Mr. DeVos is to earn the trust of voters in the upcoming debates and as he counts down through the rest of the campaign, adding he could do so with more defined responses to hot button questions such as his position on abortion and how he would replace the soon-to-die single business tax.
"Dick DeVos has got to be less concerned about Granholm and putting him on defensive and more importantly he's got to finally begin to tell voters who he is, what he believes in and what he's all about," Mr. Sarpolus said.
He said it would also be helpful if Mr. DeVos had a centerpiece proposal to talk about.
Mr. Sarpolus said Ms. Granholm needs to solidify her support by being "much more effective on the jobs and manufacturing issue. Voters need more specifics about her vision, her plan and pointing to a website is not a plan."
In the first debate, Mr. Sarpolus said Mr. DeVos did not directly state his position on exceptions he supports to a ban against abortions, saying instead that his position is consistent with many others including former Attorney General Frank Kelley.
"The more Dick DeVos refuses to answer questions, the more voters can't trust him," he said. "He's in a position where he's got to make a distinction."
Craig Ruff, senior policy fellow at Public Sector Consultants in Lansing, said voters are still sizing up Mr. DeVos, which is typical of a challenging candidate, but neither provided enough detail in the first debate regarding the direction of the state. "If there was one thing missing from the first debate, it was vision," he said. "Voters want a conversation of the state's problems and precisely what they are going to do and how is that going to reshape the state."
As it is for any challenger, Mr. Ruff said it is important for Mr. DeVos to continue to work to reveal his character to voters.
"Debates are an opportunity, whether they seize it or not, to look into the character as well as stances on issues and solutions to problems," he said. "They are far more apt to help the challenger unless the challenger makes a huge mistake."
Ken Brock, an aide to Senate Minority Floor Leader Sen. Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek) and a long-time Democratic strategist, said Mr. DeVos does face a daunting challenge in critiquing the governor, offering his own solution and describing who he is. And noting polling that shows the portion of voters with a negative view of him is larger than that of the governor, he said, "I don't think he makes up that ground by simply attacking Granholm."
"DeVos really does have to develop a relationship with the electorate. He piqued people's interest with his advertising, but the governor has raised doubts so now people are saying what is he really like."
For the governor, Mr. Brock said she appears to have an easier task even though the critique of her as a failed leader of the economy is "well-ingrained by the electorate. Now we know why not her, but why you? She has a natural style that connects with people. When I saw how facile she was with substance and facts and the storylines she wants to tell, I thought she's got it down."
Mr. Shields also said Mr. DeVos has to create a better level of trust with the voter and define an image that remains soft with voters. "The voter has to understand that voting for him, he'll make the difference," he said. "He really needs to address that." Part of that, he added, is for Mr. DeVos to talk more about other aspects of his life and what he believes in rather than just what he has done as a business executive.
"People don't necessarily know what he's about yet," he said, adding that the Democrats and Ms. Granholm have been trying to define him by Alterra and other things in which he has been involved.
Mr. Ruff said viewers may see some stylistic changes from both candidates, though he added too much of a change can raise questions in voters' minds about who the candidate really is. But he said DeVos supporters may want him to put Ms. Granholm more on the defensive while the governor's supporters may think she needs to tone down her aggressiveness.
The second debate will be far from a defining moment in time, Mr. Shields said, noting, "You're still a month out. That's when the back and forth really begins."
Mr. Ruff said he does not anticipate the debate to be as "interesting or galvanizing" as the first one, but does expect a discussion of a broader range of policy issues from the larger panel of journalists.
The debate at 8 p.m. Tuesday, co-hosted by Detroit's WDIV-TV and Grand Rapids station WOOD-TV where it will originate, will be carried by most NBC affiliates around the state.
SHULMAN HOPING TO STEER COURT FROM MAKING POLICY
Marc Shulman has had a hand in making policy. Now he wants a chance to help implement that policy and he says the Supreme Court, particularly with its current makeup, is the place to do that.
Mr. Shulman, now an attorney who is in private practice and former chair of the House Appropriations Committee, gave high marks overall to the bench to which he aspires, but said there have still been some indications, there and below, of judges trying to make policy and affect the law.
He said he would like to be another voice on the court guiding his would-be colleagues toward that practice of interpretation rather than policy-making. Mr. Shulman is the Republican nominee, joining Justice Maura Corrigan on the non-partisan Supreme Court ballot.
Justice Michael Cavanagh and Jane Beckering (See Gongwer Michigan Report, September 22, 2006) are the Democratic nominees and Kerry Morgan was nominated by the Libertarian Party.
"It's not our role to make policy but to interpret the law," Mr. Shulman said of the court in a recent interview with Gongwer News Service. "I'm running because I want to make the court stronger in that regard."
He could not name any particular cases on the spot that caused him concern, but he said there had been some policy-making in the courts of late. "Many of the cases, when you read some opinions, there's departure from the textualism from the actual word of law that seems to be the judge's inclination to make law."
Mr. Shulman acknowledged the high court has been under fire in recent years from some corners for overturning prior cases at an unusually high rate, but he said those cases, too, would have to be decided based on the text of statute. "If the overturning of the cases is based on something greater than the law itself, where they're actually going in and asserting their own will for that of the Legislature, that's a departure that should be examined a lot closer," he said.
But he could not say that any of the recent cases overturning prior precedent would fall into that category.
There are, however, some policy issues in which he said the court should involve itself. "How can we get juries more involved?" he said should be a key question for the courts.
Mr. Shulman said he would support at least reviewing court rules changes that would open the door to such things as jurors taking notes or asking questions during trials.
He noted the court has already begun some work in those areas and would support more steps toward more active juries.
In addition to his time as a legislator - he served from 1999-2004 including two terms as Appropriations Committee chair - Mr. Shulman said he has a variety of other experiences to bring to the court. "Using my experience as an attorney, as a business man and a former legislator would provide a good foundation for serving as a justice," he said.
Mostly, though, he is looking for another opportunity at public service. "Term limits has taken people that perhaps want to continue to serve out of that role and this affords me an opportunity to perhaps get back in," he said. "I enjoyed public service, and I wanted an opportunity to continue to do that."
The trick will be doing what has largely been impossible: defeating an incumbent justice. "To defeat someone that has a designation is historically difficult," he said. "I have a message and I hope to be able to get my message out enough that people will hear."
Getting that message out so far has meant hitting as many gatherings as will hear him, but he said he hopes to have some cable advertising up closer to the election.
"We'll see how much money I have toward the end, where the best use is to get the message out," he said.
One thing this race does not feature, as some have in the past, is a united front of the Republican nominees. Mr. Shulman said he's largely going this one on his own.
"It's an honor to have been nominated with Justice Corrigan, but I am doing my own campaign, my own literature, my own fundraising," he said.
While he expected there would, at some points, be joint appearances, they were not intended to be a feature of the either campaign.
Mr. Shulman said he also sees the campaign as practice for one of his roles as justice: spokesperson for the court. "People don't really know and don't understand what the Supreme Court does and the impact that it has and the type of cases it deals with," he said. And he said it should be up to the justices, and to the rest of the judiciary, to be out in the community explaining how the system works.
ALTERRA FORMER EXECS CHALLENGE DEMOCRATIC ASSERTIONS
Three former top executives of the Alterra Healthcare Corporation have said in a joint statement that Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos "did not participate in managing the operations" of the company and charged that statements made by Democrats involving Mr. DeVos's involvement in the company were "misleading and inflammatory."
But a Democratic spokesperson said the letter is part of the "continuing coverup" by the DeVos campaign and Republicans over the investment.
The three - Patrick Kennedy, Steven Vick and Robert Haveman - identified themselves a senior executives in the company which has since been merged into the Brookdale Company, and it operates hundreds of assisted living and homes aimed at assisting Alzheimer's patients across the United States. And while charges of abuse and neglect were made at Alterra staff at several of its homes, the letter said the company's "remarkable growth" was "strong evidence that the company was very successful in delivering excellent care to seniors."
In their debate on Monday, Governor Jennifer Granholm accused Mr. DeVos of effectively owning a controlling interest in the company, which was accused of allowing for patient abuse at several homes. Mr. DeVos said the total investment of $173 million amounted to no more than 1 percent of the common shares of the company's stock.
The issue has inflamed the gubernatorial campaign all week, with Democrats pointing to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission showing that RDV - the investment company of the DeVos family - shareholders held a combined 91.2 percent of the company's preferred stock. The also said the group had the power to appoint four members of the company's board and held effective veto power on the board.
But Mr. DeVos's campaign has charged back that its total actual ownership was less than 1 percent of the company, and that while it had the power to convert a debt instrument into shares it did not do so. Plus, officials said, the DeVos family held only 30 percent of the entire assets of the RDV company.
And because Alterra went bankrupt, the RDV investors made essentially nothing from the investment.
In the letter from Messrs. Kennedy, Vick and Haveman, the three assert that Mr. DeVos "was never an officer or director of Alterra, and did not participate in managing the operations of our residences. Nor did any DeVos-affiliated entities, as financial investors in Alterra, ever have any influence on or participation in the care we provided our residents."
The letter said that while the company strove for perfection in its care of residents, the "painful reality is that perfection is a goal we can only strive for, especially when serving over 10,000 residents. Isolated incidents and accidents can and did occur."
But, the three said, to "suggest (Mr. DeVos) had responsibility for any isolated and unfortunate incidents which occurred at one of Alterra's more than 300 residences is a senseless fabrication."
And they charged that "politically-driven efforts to attack Mr. DeVos by impugning the reputation of Alterra and its dedicated employees are irresponsible and highly offensive."
But Jason Moon, a spokesperson for the state Democratic Party, called the letter "not believable."
The three executives "owed their jobs to DeVos and the other investors. They are not objective and credible. They are Alterra insiders. They were all executives when these charges of abuse took place," Mr. Moon said.
"We think this letter is more of the coverup of the DeVos control of Alterra," Mr. Moon said.
BYRUM CALLS ON DE ROCHE TO YANK SUPPORT FOR ADS
Saying that the content of recent advertisements put out by the group Working for Michigan's Future amounted to race-baiting and degradation of the House and Speaker's office as an institution, Minority Leader Dianne Byrum (D-Onondaga) on Friday called on Speaker Craig DeRoche (R-Novi) to denounce the ads.
The content of the advertisements, first discussed in a story a few weeks ago (See Gongwer Michigan Report, September 22, 2006) relate to some Democratic member support for legislation that provided additional funding to Detroit schools. The ads ran in the wake of a 16-day strike by teachers in the district.
The ads have apparently hit the districts of Rep. Kathy Angerer (D-Dundee), Rep. Gary McDowell (D-Rudyard), Rep. Marie Donigan (D-Royal Oak) and Rep. Aldo Vagnozzi (D-Farmington Hills).
Ms. Byrum said discussion on public policy couldn't occur when the other side is using smear tactics like these on what were appropriations bills that passed the chamber with support from a majority of members of both caucuses.
She said the group's funding is coming from a c4 account set up by Mr. DeRoche, so that the organization can put out issue advocacy ads.
Matt Resch, a spokesperson for Mr. DeRoche, said that the speaker has helped fundraise for the group but is not a member of the board and has no say over what the it puts out.
Ms. Byrum, who will finish up her career in the Legislature at the end of this term after serving since 1990, said she has never seen anything like this. Mr. Resch's response to that was, "Sounds like with comments like that she has as much experience as her daughter." Barb Byrum is running to replace her mother in the House 67th District.
Mr. Resch said the criticisms hailed from Ms. Byrum are shamelessly hypocritical, "considering the House Democrats and Dianne Byrum are blatantly trying to buy the state Legislature using the check book of a billionaire radical with a hankering for dancing cartoon elephants and opera," referring to the Coalition for Progress headed by Jon Stryker.
A spokesperson for Working for Michigan's Future could not be reached for comment.
SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY IS 'OMINOUS,' EXEC SAYS
A survey indicating that Michigan's small businesses did poorly during the summer season, especially concerns that the small companies will hire fewer workers, should be viewed as "ominous," said an executive with the Small Business Association of Michigan.
Mike Rogers, the communications vice president for the association, said the quarterly survey the association conducts of the business conditions of its members said the report was the "most discouraging" he had seen.
The survey has been conducted for 13 years (beginning after the recession of the early 1990s when state unemployment topped 10 percent. The August unemployment rate stood at 7.1 percent) and Mr. Rogers said the survey showed that 24 percent of those polled reduced their employment. That is the highest level ever for that category.
SBAM surveys 200 businesses each quarter.
The survey also showed that 44 percent of those surveyed said their sales declined during the summer. In the spring survey, 27 percent said their sales declined.
It also showed that 47 percent of those surveyed said their profits had dropped compared to 30 percent during the spring quarter.
And those polled were more pessimistic about the future, the survey showed. Following the summer, 29 percent said they expected to hire more workers over the next year. In the spring, it was 36 percent.
"Coming as it does just a month before the election, it should be a clanging alarm bell for political candidates," Mr. Rogers said in a press release. He also said the survey showed that employment problems were not limited to the state's auto industries.
CAMPAIGN NOTES
BOUCHARD ON FOLEY: Republican U.S. Senate candidate, Oakland Sheriff Michael Bouchard, said Friday that the U.S. House should have an independent outside investigation into the matter of former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, who resigned last week when he was confronted with sexually suggestive e-mails and instant messages he had sent to House pages. "To assure that this grievous matter does not occur again in the halls of Congress, an independent investigation is necessary. The investigation must be taken out of the hands of politicians and into the hands of trained investigators," he said.
