693 Days until election day.
No commentary today.
See the collection of today's articles below.
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/AUTO01/612120312
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
How General Motors supercharged a vital truck launch
Engineers beat clock to ready pickups 3 months early
Bill Vlasic / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- The marching orders came down from the top management at General Motors Corp. in March 2005.
With GM burning through cash and facing unprecedented losses, the No. 1 U.S. automaker needed a shot of product adrenaline as soon as possible.
It was Vice Chairman Bob Lutz who put the challenge to Gary White and the 20-person team responsible for the next generation of GM's full-size Silverado and Sierra pickups due to arrive in 2007.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006612120331
Buyout offers swirl at Ford
10,000 additional salaried jobs need to be cut
December 12, 2006
Monday was another in a series of Black Mondays this year for workers at Ford Motor Co.
The money-losing automaker kicked off its biggest wave of buyout offers yet for the white-collar workforce of nearly 40,000.
"I wore all black today," said a single, thirtysomething engineer who was offered a buyout early Monday.
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-19/116585490511730.xml&coll=3
County legislators call for action on taxes this year
Monday, December 11, 2006
By Susan J. Demas
sdemas@citpat.com -- 768-4927
While Republican leaders have dug in their heels against Gov. Jennifer Granholm's business tax plan, Jackson County lawmakers from both parties are united in urging the Legislature to act this year.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-33/1165852079228010.xml&coll=6
Cafe owner pays for city's mistake
Monday, December 11, 2006
By Julie Makarewicz
The Grand Rapids Press
KENTWOOD -- One man's art is another man's advertising.
And one city's mistake is costing a local businessman.
Sam Karadsheh, owner of 44th St. Bistro and a newly opened sports lounge, is butting heads with city officials over signs and murals painted on the north and east walls of the sports bar.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/NEWS06/612120316/1008/NEWS
State constitution may get a face-lift
Group to propose changes today
December 12, 2006
BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF and KATHLEEN GRAY
Like people, constitutions can show signs of age.
So a group of government experts today are to offer 63 ways to improve Michigan's founding document, perhaps through the first constitutional convention since 1962.
Among proposed changes are longer term limits for state House (currently 6 years) and Senate (currently 8 years) members, more money to renovate or build schools, not choosing Supreme Court candidates at political conventions and making it harder to amend the constitution with petition drives.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1165857614113300.xml&coll=7
Same old same old State again anticipating revenue shortfall
Monday, December 11, 2006
By Kathy Barks Hoffman
Associated Press
LANSING -- When state economists hold their January revenue-estimating conference next month, they're expected to report that tax dollars are flowing in slower than expected.
It's a pattern that has become depressingly familiar in recent years.
It's likely that Gov. Jennifer Granholm will have to issue executive orders making cuts, and that those who will bear the brunt of the cuts will have to trim staff, services or both.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/METRO/612120313
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Water rates jump 4.7% for suburbs
Robert Snell / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- Suburban customers across Metro Detroit will pay an average of 4.7 percent more for water next year under rates proposed by city officials on Monday.
The changes range from a 29.1 percent increase for Plymouth Township to a 33.4 percent decrease in Lenox Township. Detroit will charge its city customers 8.5 percent more.
The proposed increases are lower than the approximately 6 percent increase passed to the suburbs this year, but they follow six years of hikes that have heightened controversy over the lack of suburban representation on the Detroit-owned system that provides household water to 126 communities.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/NEWS05/612120391/1007/NEWS
For many, water rates set to rise
Average increase takes a small dip in Detroit suburbs
December 12, 2006
Suburban communities that buy water from Detroit face the smallest average increase in years -- 4.6% -- under rates proposed Monday.
That's down from a 5.7% average increase last year and well below the double-digit increases in recent years that have sparked heated debates over control of the nation's third-largest water and sewer utility.
http://www.mlive.com/news/sanews/index.ssf?/base/news-21/116584683649710.xml&coll=9
Sportsmen sticker shock Panel urges state to raise license fees
Monday, December 11, 2006
MICHAEL GREENLEE
THE SAGINAW NEWS
LANSING -- A committee that wants to double some hunting and fishing license fees has begun the slow, uphill battle to convince state lawmakers the increases are necessary.
The committee, which the Michigan Natural Resources Commission established, would double the cost of a firearm or archery deer license for Michigan residents to $30 from $15. For out-of-state residents, the cost would jump to $165 from $138.
Price tags for other hunting, fishing and trapping licenses would rise. An all-species fishing permit for state residents would increase to $40 from $28; a small game license would increase to $20 from $15; and a bear hunting license would climb to $50 from $15.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1165848659108490.xml&coll=5
Fees fair game?
State hunts, fishes for a way out of outdoor funding woes
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Monday, December 11, 2006
Michigan hunters and anglers are skeptical over a proposal to increase their license fees, which many feel are already too high or even among the nation's highest.
Whether in fact they are may depend on where you look or whom you ask: A survey of 11 Western states, for instance, showed deer licenses ranging from $11.50 with an $18 tag fee to $39.41. Michigan's is $15.
But perceptions can be as powerful as facts, and if state lawmakers adopt the Natural Resources Commission's recommendation to raise the fees - including doubling the firearm or archery deer license to $30, increasing the all-species fish license from $28 to $40 and boosting the bear hunting license from $15 to $50 - they must address the skepticism.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1165851765207960.xml&coll=2
Stem cell research bill a top legislative priority State can't afford to fall behind in research
Monday, December 11, 2006
Advocates for expanded stem cell research see promising signs on both the state and federal levels - we hope they're right.
Earlier this year, President Bush vetoed legislation to increase federal funding of research that uses embryonic stem cells. And in the Michigan Legislature, a bill that would have lifted state restrictions on this kind of research never made it out of committee.
Research involving embryonic stem cells is controversial, with opponents arguing that embryos should be treated with the same sanctity as all human life. Yet when fertility clinics regularly dispose of embryos that could be used for life-saving research, this argument is hard to accept.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/OPINION01/612120395/1008
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Editorial
Adopt time limits for welfare benefits
Bills would end payments after five years
Times are hard, and it's understandable that people want to help struggling families. But temporary assistance that turns into a lifetime of dependency does no favors for anyone.
Michigan has made a lot strides toward ending the culture of welfare dependency. It has eliminated General Assistance or welfare for able-bodied adults. And it has instituted work and education requirements for heads of households who are recipients of welfare.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/OPINION01/612120400/1008
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Michigan must make smooth roads a priority
E veryone complains about the roads in Michigan, but few can point to the exact cause. But what if we just aren't spending enough to properly maintain our roads?
It's time for Michigan's Legislature to seriously look at how we fund our roads. Our main revenue for roads -- the state's gas tax -- has been fixed for nine years at 19 cents per gallon, a considerably lower rate than other states in the Midwest, including Wisconsin at 29.9 cents, Ohio at 26 cents, and Pennsylvania at 29.8 cents.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/METRO/612120315
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Colleges ask court to delay Proposal 2
State schools want to stall action for Class of '07; U-M may back off challenge of affirmative action ban.
Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News
Calling the implementation of Proposal 2 an "immediate crisis," presidents of the state's three largest universities on Monday asked a federal judge to delay the start of the ballot initiative and said the legal challenge would be their only attempt to fight the new constitutional amendment.
Leaders at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University want to move the effective date of Proposal 2 from Dec. 23 to when fall 2007 admissions at the universities have been completed -- typically in the spring or early summer.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/NEWS06/612120301/1001/NEWS
Universities want some more time on Prop 2
They cite fairness; U-M drops threat
December 12, 2006
Backing off a threat to legally challenge whether it is bound by a voter-approved ban on race and gender-based affirmative action, the University of Michigan joined the state's two other largest public universities in federal court Monday to ask for something else -- more time.
U-M and Michigan State and Wayne State universities said changing admissions and financial aid programs by Dec. 22 -- as the constitutional amendment requires -- would cause unfair treatment of students who want to join the incoming fall class and be a logistical nightmare for the universities.
Mich. universities seek delay of affirmative action ban
12/11/2006, 7:05 p.m. ET
By TIM MARTIN
The Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's three major research universities on Monday asked a federal court in Detroit to delay an upcoming state ban on the use of race and gender preferences in university admissions and government hiring.
The University of Michigan — including campuses in Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn — and Michigan State University and Wayne State University want to complete this year's admissions and financial aid cycles using the same standards that have been in place since the process began earlier this year.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/OPINION01/612120399/1008
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Request of short-term stay of Prop 2 is fair
Colleges are caught in mid-cycle and need time to write new rules
The limited stay of Proposal 2 sought by the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University is a reasonable request.
The three colleges are asking the federal court only that the impact of the anti-affirmative action measure be delayed through the current applications and financial aid cycle, which began before the proposal passed last month.
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-1/116585494511730.xml&coll=3
MSU protest boorish
Monday, December 11, 2006
Free speech is a cherished right in our cultural and constitutional heritage. And protesting is an inherent part of free speech. But protests designed to smother someone else's speech are not cherished, only boorish.
U.S. Congressman Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., had been invited to speak by a campus group. Tancredo is known nationally for very strong views on illegal immigration -- views lots of Americans don't like.
This apparently was enough cause for a small group of people to disrupt the event, even apparently pulling a building fire alarm on two different occasions. A student of a sponsoring group also says he was spit on and kicked by protesters. And the State News quoted one protester as saying Tancredo "shouldn't be here."
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-19/116585492211730.xml&coll=3
DEQ waits for airport plan
Monday, December 11, 2006
By Josh Jarman
jjarman@citpat.com -- 768-4945
The state Department of Environmental Quality is still waiting to hear what the city of Jackson plans to do about possible contamination at the county airport.
The state first asked the city to investigate the contamination in 2005, when it was alerted by routine testing as part of a plan to realign the airport's two runways. The DEQ maintains the city would be responsible for cleanup because any contamination would have dated back to the period when the city operated a landfill on the site.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/NEWS06/612120404/1008/NEWS
EPA limits mercury emissions from plants
December 12, 2006
TRAVERSE CITY -- The federal government has set limits on airborne mercury emissions from cement kilns six years after a court order required them, but they don't apply to existing plants.
Once fully in effect, the rules announced Monday will prevent 1,300 to 3,000 pounds of mercury nationwide from escaping into the atmosphere each year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said. Mercury can damage the nervous system and cause developmental problems in children.
http://www.mlive.com/news/statewide/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1165858803153220.xml&coll=1
More kids get government help
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
By Sharon Emery
Lansing Bureau
LANSING -- With their parents struggling and often stumbling in Michigan's economic downturn, more children depend on the government for basic necessities such as food and health care, a report released today found.
Nineteen percent of Michigan's children -- more than 513,000 -- last year were fed in part through the federal Food Assistance Program, also known as Food Stamps, nearly double the 10 percent who were served in 2000, according to Kids Count in Michigan. The annual assessment of child well-being is part of a national effort supported here by the Michigan League for Human Services and Michigan's Children advocacy groups.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/NEWS02/612120304/1004/NEWS
Foster mom to stand trial
Murder and child abuse charged in 2-year-old's death
December 12, 2006
Despite an autopsy that could not determine whether 2-year-old Allison Newman died of an accident or someone's intentional act, the girl's foster mother, Carol Ann Poole, was ordered Monday to stand trial on homicide and child-abuse charges.
After hearing testimony from two doctors, another foster mother, three police officers and a Canton Public Safety dispatcher, 35th District Judge John E. MacDonald in Plymouth ruled that the 40-year-old Poole should stand trial in Wayne County Circuit Court on charges of first-degree felony murder, first-degree child abuse and involuntary manslaughter in Allison's death.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/NEWS06/612120352/1008/NEWS
Abuse affects fewer Wayne Co. kids
Data show dip in figure from 1997
December 12, 2006
Across Michigan, more children were taken away from their homes last year because of abuse or neglect than eight years ago. And fewer children were taken away because they were delinquent.
But while those trends prove true in nearly every one of the state's 83 counties, one in metro Detroit is bucking it: Wayne County.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006612120325
JEFF GERRITT: Death sentence, life mission
Bad prison care stole years, but not purpose, from an inmate's life
December 12, 2006
Lloyd Byron Martell lies on a bed in Dearborn's Oakwood Hospital, sets the disc player above the colostomy bag on his stomach and slides on the headphones. He shuts his eyes and smiles. For a minute or two, the old-school sounds of Sade make the world go away.
"Smooth operator," he sings, way off key. "Smoooooooth operator."
Then reality smacks him. He jerks up, coughing, spitting blood and phlegm into a plastic bowl. Waves of nausea run though him. His chest tightens, stomach spins, head pounds.
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1157988922275040.xml&coll=3
Police-secrets law: Lawmakers, don't
Monday, December 11, 2006
One of the many pieces of legislation to be decided this week by Michigan's lameduck Legislature is Senate Bill 647 -- an inappropriate bit of legal immunity for police officers.
Police departments must deal with their own dirty linen, and when they do, a chief might say to the officer, "If you don't tell me what really happened, you are history in this department!" The officer, of course, has a dilemma. Whatever he says could be the subject of criminal prosecution. Or at least that is how it used to be.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/1165854133306440.xml&coll=7
What did all that campaign cash buy?
Monday, December 11, 2006
Certainly there have to be better uses for the $56 million that were spent by Dick DeVos and Jennifer Granholm in their race for governor this year.
And for the roughly $1.9 million raised and spent by state Sen. Tom George, R-Texas Township, and state Rep. Alexander Lipsey, D-Kalamazoo, and state party organizations that poured money into their campaigns for the 20th Senate District race.
How many Michigan students could have been sent to college? How many more people could have received health insurance? How many laid-off factory workers could have been retrained for better jobs? How many housing vouchers could have been made available for low-income families with no decent place to live?
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/NEWS04/612120326/1006/NEWS
Warren clerk pushes election change
December 12, 2006
In what he calls an effort to save taxpayers money, Warren City Clerk Richard Sulaka will ask the City Council tonight to move the primary election scheduled for next September to August.
The move would bring Warren in line with other communities in Macomb County that combine local and county-wide elections. Sulaka said it would also save the city from having to hold a primary in August for a possible county election and then another primary four weeks later for city elections.
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1165853786291730.xml&coll=8
Donations help maintain manger scene
Monday, December 11, 2006
By Robert C. Burns
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
A freshly cut 50-foot Christmas tree isn't the only new addition to downtown Muskegon's Hackley Park this holiday season.
Two new shepherds -- or rather, molded fiberglass replacements of the two old shepherds that surrounded the creche -- have been added to the park's traditional manger scene.
They have arrived as a result of a fundraising effort by the 119-member Women's Division of the Muskegon Area Chamber of Commerce. The group has tended to the manger scene since 1956, when its people and animals were made of chicken wire and papier mache.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/OPINION01/612120402/1008
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Faith and Policy
Let's put faith in celebrating nation's differences in public
Rabbi Aaron Bergman
Even though I passionately believe the separation of church and state is one of the chief safeguards of our democracy, I am perfectly comfortable with the display of Christmas trees and even Nativity scenes in front of government and public buildings. In fact, I encourage it. Christianity is one of the foundations of American ethics and freedoms.
I would like to see a menorah, the Jewish Candelabrum, displayed, too. The Jewish people gave the world the Bible and deserve some recognition.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-33/1165844102274190.xml&coll=6
GR Marine unit puts in long days in Anbar province
Monday, December 11, 2006
By Ted Roelofs
The Grand Rapids Press
Shrapnel from an explosion hit Lance Cpl. Bryon Bailey hard. It gave him a concussion and left his face pockmarked.
The blast last week was just another day on the job for a group of Grand Rapids-based Marines in Iraq.
While Bailey, 23, of Spring Lake, was injured, this time the blast took no lives. The roadside bomb rocked a Marine truck on patrol Dec. 4 outside Fallujah, Iraq, flinging three Marines and a photographer into the air.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/NATION/612120359/1022/POLITICS
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
2008 election
Kucinich planning 2nd run
CLEVELAND -- Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2004, said Monday he is planning another bid because his party isn't pushing hard enough to end the Iraq war. He plans to formally announce his candidacy today.
Clinton: No decision yet
ROME, N.Y. -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday she won't make a decision about running for president until after the first of the year. Clinton confirmed she is talking to people in New York and across the country about a possible run for president in 2008. It was the first time Clinton publicly confirmed what her aides and fellow Democrats have been saying about a possible presidential run.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/OPINION03/612120368/1022/POLITICS
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Laura Berman
Could the next prez be black or female?
Barack Obama, U.S. senator from Illinois, is busily shaking hands in New Hampshire.
Hillary Clinton, U.S. senator from New York, is hiking along a seemingly endless campaign trail.
And Jennifer Granholm, Michigan's governor, won re-election with greater ease than most, including the pollsters, thought possible.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/NEWS05/612120317/1007/NEWS
DESIREE COOPER: Let's talk to break a White House tradition
December 12, 2006
Junior Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's radiant -- if not premature -- sun is rising over territory that has long been staked out by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. If the two end up duking it out for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2008, the contest will pose an interesting question to the American public: Are we really ready for a woman or an African American in the White House?
Any successful political campaign hinges primarily on the candidate's qualifications. Yet, "qualifications" can be a squishy thing when candidates are non-traditional. In addition to convincing voters that she can handle domestic and foreign policy, Clinton must also prove that her hair and clothing will be stylish-yet-subdued, that she thinks independently from her spouse, and that she is beyond the pull of family. For the biracial Obama, who will have an uphill climb on the question of experience, the trick will be to be white enough to assuage color-shy voters, but black enough to be embraced by African-American voters.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121101227.html
A Battle Hillary Clinton Should Relish
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; Page A27
Hillary Rodham Clinton faces a maddening challenge. Many of the people who like and admire her, who believe she has good values and would make an excellent president, are not sure they are for her because they don't think she can win.
Many of these same people, as one prominent Democrat told me, actually feel guilty that they harbor these doubts, partly because the specter that haunts Clinton has little to do with anything she has said or done herself.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/NATION/612120360/1022/POLITICS
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Is Gore after Oscar or presidency?
Beth Fouhy / Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Al Gore is waging a fierce campaign for recognition and an Oscar statuette for his global warming documentary, while reviving talk that he's pursuing a bigger prize: the presidency.
His recent itinerary has been the ultimate in high profile. The former vice president made self-deprecating jokes on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," offered ideas on preserving the environment to Oprah Winfrey and parried questions on Iraq from Matt Lauer on the "Today" show.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121101268.html
Unhappy With Democrats Over Iraq, Kucinich Plans Another Bid for White House
By Zachary A. Goldfarb and Peter Slevin
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; Page A07
Citing dissatisfaction with his party's strategy on Iraq, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio) announced yesterday that he would run for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Again.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121101305.html
Democrats Freeze Earmarks for Now
Leaders Want Lobbying Changes Enacted
By Shailagh Murray and Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; Page A03
Democratic leaders declared a temporary moratorium on special-interest provisions known as earmarks as they attempt to cope with a budget crisis left by the outgoing Republican-led 109th Congress.
Congress adjourned early Saturday, having completed work on two of the 11 spending bills for the 2007 fiscal year that began Oct. 1. As a short-term fix, lawmakers extended current funding levels until Feb. 15. But the incoming Democratic chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations committees announced yesterday that they would extend current levels until the 2008 fiscal year begins next Oct. 1.
Dec 12, 4:33 AM EST
Dems plan to clean up spending bills
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats taking power in January have settled on a plan to clean up $463 billion worth of GOP budget leftovers, but they're not happy about it - and neither is the White House.
The plan by the incoming chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations committees would kill thousands of hometown projects, called "earmarks," that lawmakers add to spending bills. Staying within President Bush's thrifty budgets for domestic agencies like the Agriculture and Education departments is part of their proposal.
Dec 11, 8:39 PM EST
Dems take middle ground on drug plan
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats will take the middle ground on the Medicare drug benefit, pushing for government-negotiated prices but stopping short of creating a federal plan to compete with private insurers, a lawmaker said Monday.
Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., said a government-run plan would save money but is too ambitious for immediate action.
"That might draw a veto and then get us accused - which I don't mind, but most of my colleagues do - of price-setting and all that. ... There's a hesitancy to seem too radical," said Stark, a liberal in line to chair the House Ways and Means Committee's health subcommittee.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PELOSI_PAGES?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Dec 11, 8:39 PM EST
Pelosi promises steps to protect pages
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi said Monday she will take legislative steps to better protect House pages after the scandal involving a congressman sending salacious e-mails to former male pages.
Pelosi, D-Calif., said legislation would be introduced early in the new Congress to increase oversight of the page program, require regular meetings of the page board and add a parent of a current and a former page on that board.
"The Page School is a national treasure, and the young people who attend it and work in the Congress are our special trust," she said in a statement. "We must do all we can to protect them."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121101136.html
Pelosi May Give Jefferson a Lesser Committee Assignment
By Charles Babington and Allan Lengel
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; Page A06
House Democratic leaders, who have vowed to run a more ethical Congress, are struggling with how to respond to the reelection of Rep. William J. Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat whose Washington home freezer once held $90,000 in alleged bribe money.
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), poised to be the next speaker, stripped Jefferson of his seat on the influential Ways and Means Committee in June and has hinted that she may place him on no committee when the 110th Congress convenes next month. But a source close to Pelosi said yesterday that she is more likely to place him on a lower-profile committee and hope the controversy dies down.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MCDERMOTT_ETHICS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Dec 11, 9:17 PM EST
Panel: Leaked Gingrich call broke rules
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., violated ethics standards by giving reporters access to an illegally taped telephone call involving Republican leaders a decade ago, the House ethics committee said Monday.
McDermott, who at the time was the panel's senior Democrat, failed to meet his obligations as a committee leader, said a report released two days after Congress adjourned for the year. The panel took no action other than the report.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/opinion/12tue2.html
Consumption Gap
Published: December 12, 2006
Conservative economists often argue that wage stagnation and income inequality are not as big a threat to Americans’ standard of living as they’ve been made out to be. In their view, how much one buys — rather than how much one makes — is a better measure of economic well-being.
In a recent article in The National Review, researchers at the American Enterprise Institute asserted just that, saying that when you look at how much the middle class is consuming, they’re “even doing better than the upper crust.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/opinion/12tue1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Reckless With Food Safety
Published: December 12, 2006
The linkage is troubling. There are sharp cuts in the budget and staff for the federal agency charged with keeping the nation’s supply of fresh produce safe — and soon we are faced with repeated cases of food poisoning from vegetables and fruits.
Two outbreaks of bacterial poisoning from fresh produce over the past three months, and a possible third that is still under investigation, raise doubts about the Food and Drug Administration’s ability to inspect and monitor conditions on the nation’s farms and in the plants that package and process their produce.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MOWERS_SMOG?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Dec 11, 8:59 PM EST
California to limit lawnmower emissions
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency granted California long-awaited permission Monday to slash emissions from lawnmowers and other small-engine machines, a change it will seek nationally next year.
The EPA waiver will allow the nation's most populous state, starting Jan. 1, to require highly polluting small engines to be sold with catalytic converters that cut smog emissions by roughly 40 percent.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121101415.html
Foreign Service Hiring Gets A Re-Exam
Shorter Test, Resume Could Speed Process
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; Page A01
For generations, the United States has selected its diplomats through a two-stage test seen as a model of merit-based rigor. Pass hundreds of questions in a dozen subject areas and a day-long oral grilling by Foreign Service officers, and join the ranks. Fail, and find a different line of work.
No more. In a proposed overhaul of its hiring process slated for next year and to be announced to employees in coming days, the State Department would weigh resumes, references and intangibles such as "team-building skills" in choosing who represents the United States abroad, according to three people involved in the process. The written test would survive, but in a shortened form that would not be treated as the key first hurdle it has been for more than 70 years.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110009375
Gathering Intelligence
A prowl through the Spy Museum.
BY GEORGE MELLOAN
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON--"Do you think you could be a spy?" This provocative question is addressed to visitors to the International Spy Museum here. After I had browsed through all the deadly paraphernalia on display--including the type of umbrella that a KGB assassin used to fire a fatal poison pellet into the right thigh of Bulgarian anticommunist Georgi Markov in London in 1978--I decided, no, I don't think so. The horrible radiation-poisoning death of ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in late November, most likely inflicted by his former Moscow playmates, didn't change my mind.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061212/OPINION01/612120406/1008
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Sectarian peace starts at home
Clarence Page / Chicago Tribune
This country's first Muslim to be elected to Congress has not been sworn in yet, but he's already taking heat.
Dennis Prager, a conservative columnist and radio talk show host, objects to the holy book on which Rep.-elect Keith Ellison plans to take his oath of office on Jan. 4.
The Minnesota Democrat plans to use a Quran, the Muslim holy book, instead of a Bible.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121101411.html
Law Passes Retooling Effort on Bioterror
By Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; Page A15
The House and Senate have passed legislation that will revamp the Bush administration's $5.6 billion effort to counter bioterrorism threats, reorganizing management of the program and providing struggling companies with periodic cash infusions to help fund their research and testing.
"It's a relief," Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), one of the measure's principal backers, said yesterday. "We're a little further ahead of the fear of bioterrorism and pandemic because we've got a solid plan in place."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/12/AR2006121200278.html
Poll: 7 Out of 10 Americans Disapprove of Handling of Iraq War
By Jon Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; 7:04 AM
Negative assessments of the war in Iraq -- the central issue in last month's midterm election -- continue to hold down President Bush's job approval ratings and could cast an pall on the final two years of his presidency.
In a new Post-ABC News poll, seven in 10 Americans disapprove of the way the President is handling the situation in Iraq -- the highest percentage since the March 2003 invasion. Six in 10 say the war was not worth fighting.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110009374
Captain Obvious to the Rescue
The problem with the Iraq Study Group.
BY ROBERT TRACINSKI
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST
In my student days back at the University of Chicago, there was a campus comedy troupe modeled on Second City, their more well-known uptown uncle. The U of C group was pretty funny, if in a somewhat bookish way. (Who else does a comedy routine based on "Oedipus Rex"?) One of their funniest bits was a recurring skit about a superhero named Captain Obvious. In each scene, a character would face a mundane problem, only to be "saved" by the banal and utterly unhelpful advice offered by Captain Obvious. "I've locked my keys in my car. What am I going to do?" "Well then," replies Captain Obvious, "all you have to do is open the door to your car, and then you can get your keys." Each scene ended the same way, with Captain Obvious proclaiming, "No, don't thank me. It's all in a day's work for Captain Obvious.
I've been reminded of this skit many times since, because I frequently hear the same kind of advice being given in Washington. Take, for example, the recommendations offered, to much fanfare, by the Iraq Study Group.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH_IRAQ?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Dec 12, 3:58 AM EST
Bush reviews options on Iraq policy
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush, eager to show he can take advice on Iraq, embarked on a round of public outreach Monday and promised Americans the unpopular war eventually would make their lives safer.
Preparing for a major speech on the war's future, Bush took the short trip to the State Department to review options with advisers there, then hosted a handful of experts on Iraq policy in the Oval Office.
"Like most Americans, this administration wants to succeed in Iraq because we understand success in Iraq would help protect the United States in the long run," Bush said after his State Department briefing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121100508.html
Experts Advise Bush Not to Reduce Troops
President Looking Beyond Study Group's Plan
By Michael A. Fletcher and Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; Page A01
President Bush heard a blunt and dismal assessment of his handling of Iraq from a group of military experts yesterday, but the advisers shared the White House's skeptical view of the recommendations made last week by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, sources said.
The three retired generals and two academics disagreed in particular with the study group's plans to reduce the number of U.S. combat troops in Iraq and to reach out for help to Iran and Syria, according to sources familiar with the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the session was private.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/opinion/12press.html
Time to Offshore Our Troops
By EUGENE GHOLZ, DARYL G. PRESS and BENJAMIN VALENTINO
Published: December 12, 2006
THE Iraq Study Group’s recommendation that the United States withdraw its combat forces from Iraq reflects a growing national consensus that our military cannot quell the violence there and may even be making matters worse. Although many are hailing this recommendation as a bold new course, it is not bold enough. America will best serve its interests in the Persian Gulf by withdrawing its ground-based military forces not only from Iraq, but from the entire region.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Dec 12, 4:16 AM EST
Bush to meet with Iraqi vice president
WASHINGTON (AP) -- While seeking a new course in Iraq, President Bush has not changed his tone about the stakes involved in the war, the importance of victory or his definition of success.
His public remarks in recent days have given no hint of the new direction that White House officials expect Bush will announce in a speech before Christmas. The president's comments sound much as they did in the weeks before the November elections, in which public unhappiness with Iraq was a big factor in the Republicans' loss of Congress.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121101163.html
Tehran's Holocaust Lesson
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; Page A27
Yesterday the Iranian Foreign Ministry held an international conference. Nothing unusual in that: Foreign ministries hold conferences, mostly dull ones, all the time. But this one was different. For one, "Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision" dealt with history, not current politics. Instead of the usual suspects -- deputy ministers and the like -- the invitees seem to have included David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader; Georges Theil, a Frenchman who has called the Holocaust "an enormous lie"; and Fredrick Toeben, a German-born Australian whose specialty is the denial of Nazi gas chambers.
The guest list was selective: No one with any academic eminence, or indeed any scholarly credentials, was invited. One Palestinian scholar, Khaled Kasab Mahameed, was asked to come but then barred because he holds an Israeli passport -- and also perhaps because he, unlike other guests, believes that the Holocaust really did happen.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121101434.html
In Russia, A Secretive Force Widens
Putin Led Regrouping Of Security Services
By Peter Finn
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; Page A01
MOSCOW -- On Nov. 15, the Russian Interior Ministry and Gazprom, the state-controlled energy giant, announced three new senior appointments. Oleg Safonov was named a deputy head of the ministry. Yevgeny Shkolov became head of its economic security department. And Valery Golubev was appointed a deputy chief executive at Gazprom.
All three men had something important in common beyond the timing of their promotions: backgrounds as KGB officers and experience working directly with President Vladimir Putin when he was a KGB operative himself in Germany or later, when he was a rising presence in the local government of St. Petersburg, his home town.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CHINA?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Dec 11, 9:02 PM EST
Report criticizes China's trade policies
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration on Monday criticized China's record on opening its markets and said the U.S. would not hesitate to seek economic sanctions if that record does not improve.
Calling China's record "decidedly mixed," U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab released a 100-page report that accused it of failing to live up to commitments it made five years ago when it joined the World Trade Organization.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121101167.html
After Opportunism
Reason prevails on port security, half a year too late.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; Page A26
EARLIER THIS year a depressing outbreak of anti-Arab hysteria in Congress and elsewhere doomed an effort by a company called Dubai Ports World to take over the management of some American ports. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it will work with several port authorities abroad to scan cargo before it is loaded onto ships bound for the United States. Among the facilities identified to host this Secure Freight Initiative is Britain's bustling Southampton seaport, operated by, yes, Dubai Ports World.
So far, even the loudest objectors in Congress to the earlier deal haven't publicly questioned Homeland Security's choice to inaugurate a major security initiative in a facility operated by the once-controversial United Arab Emirates-based firm. That's encouraging as well as telling.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121101166.html
A Dictator's Double Standard
Augusto Pinochet tortured and murdered. His legacy is Latin America's most successful country.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; Page A26
AUGUSTO PINOCHET, who died Sunday at the age of 91, has been vilified for three decades in and outside of Chile, the South American country he ruled for 17 years. For some he was the epitome of an evil dictator. That was partly because he helped to overthrow, with U.S. support, an elected president considered saintly by the international left: socialist Salvador Allende, whose responsibility for creating the conditions for the 1973 coup is usually overlooked. Mr. Pinochet was brutal: More than 3,000 people were killed by his government and tens of thousands tortured, mostly in his first three years. Thousands of others spent years in exile.
One prominent opponent, Orlando Letelier, was assassinated by a car bomb on Washington's Sheridan Circle in 1976 -- one of the most notable acts of terrorism in this city's history. Mr. Pinochet, meanwhile, enriched himself, stashing millions in foreign bank accounts -- including Riggs Bank, a Washington institution that was brought down, in part, by the revelation of that business. His death forestalled a belated but richly deserved trial in Chile.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009376
The Pinochet Paradox
A Cold War dictator who paved the way for democracy.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST
Augusto Pinochet died on Sunday at the age of 91, more than 18 years after he agreed to a 1988 plebiscite that turned him out of power. The standard Pinochet narrative is to emphasize the loss of liberty during the 17 years he ruled the country as a military dictator. The real story is more complicated.
Though General Pinochet became a devil symbol of the international left, he was a far more complex figure and cannot be understood apart from the global Cold War conflict of which he and his country were a part. Pinochet's legacy is a paradox--a long string of them.
MIRS Capitol Capsule, Monday, December 11, 2006
John Reurink (517) 482-2125
Video Franchise Deal Struck
The administration, Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats struck an agreement today on the video franchise bill that clears the way for a sped-up authorization process for AT&T and anyone else who wants to get into the local television market.
The Senate is scheduled to run a new substitute to HB 6456 through the upper chamber Tuesday that doesn't touch the net neutrality issue ginned up by Internet giant Google and doesn't take care of all of the issues pitched by local units of government.
However, the new version does double the amount of money locals can collect from video subscribers for public access channels known as PEG channels (public, educational, governmental programming) from 1 to 2 percent.
The Michigan Municipal League (MML) and the Michigan Township Association (MTA) are not on board with the deal. They are protesting a provision that would allow cable companies to get out of their existing cable contracts so they can take advantage of whatever deal AT&T is able to reach when it begins offer video in Michigan soon.
The locals argue allowing cable companies to break its existing contracts violates a Constitutional provision that bans the Legislature from impairing a party's right under an existing contract. But supporters argue case law is clear that since municipalities are creatures of the Legislature, state law can lay out the terms in which local units can require "franchise agreements" for video services. If this issue were dropped, support from the Michigan cable industry would go from neutral to opposed.
Under the agreement, video franchises would still be run through a state prescribed system that is run locally. The local units of government would be under a "shot clock" to move the process along quickly as opposed to dragging out a franchise agreement for months and years. The locals, not the state, would continue to receive money from the franchise agreement.
Google, Yahoo and other Internet services were hoping to add a provision onto HB 6456 that deals with the national theory known as "net neutrality." They want a law that prohibits Internet providers such as AT&T and Comcast from creating a tiered Internet system that would charge customers to access certain Web sites.
However, since Google got into the franchise discussion late in the game and the issue of net neutrality is more of a federal issue than a state issue, it was not addressed in the compromise, which is in S-3.
Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM's Press Secretary Liz BOYD neither confirmed nor denied the deal, saying, "We're anxious for the Senate to take its action tomorrow and we're hopeful it's a bill the Governor can sign."
In other action expected this week, the Senate is expected to send the Governor a bill changing the $2,500 Merit Scholarship to her $4,000 Michigan Promise Scholarship. The Senate may also take up legislation that creates a four-year lifetime limit for welfare recipients, a bill ending item-pricing, a bill to end to preliminary exams and a new way for counties to bond to cover future retirement costs.
The House is expected to take up the video franchise bill, the welfare changes and the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Capital Outlay bill.
A decision has not been made on whether to move supplemental appropriations bill that would address the cost overruns of three state departments — Department of Human Services, Department of Corrections and State Police — in FY 2006.
Kleine: MBT May Look Different In '07
State Treasurer Bob KLEINE said he doesn't know what the governor's Michigan Business Tax (MBT) plan will look like in January or if the new tax proposal would include the $600 million property tax cut that's in the MBT.
"We haven't made that decision, yet," Kleine said about deciding what the MBT will look like in January. "This is a good proposal and I'm sure a lot of features will be retained, but the environment is going to change and I'm not sure what it's going to look like."
Kleine was then asked if some of the provisions of the MBT would not be retained.
"The business community might want to tweak a few things," Kleine replied.
When asked about the retaining the $600 million tax cut, Kleine said a decision hadn't been made, "but I don't think we want to raise taxes on businesses."
Kleine also said he would favor a statewide ballot proposal to expand the state sales tax to services while at the same time reducing the overall sales tax rate.
Kleine said this is "one option" the state could explore in order to revise its tax system to make it more responsive to growth segments in the economy.
"If we want to improve our tax system in terms of responsive to economic growth that's one option … I think that's one approach," he said.
Kleine made his remarks during the weekly taping of the "Off the Record" public TV broadcast where he told the panel it "makes sense to extend the sales tax to services," but he was careful to add that such a move has to be decided in the context of other issues, as well.
"I'd be willing to put on the ballot, give the voters a chance to vote on, whether they want to extend the sales tax to services" … and to look at a "lower rate."
Kleine does not expect to see any economic growth and increased state revenues until 2009 as the auto industry continues to down size. He expects the industry to lose another 60,000 jobs in the meantime.
(Senior Capitol Correspondent Tim SKUBICK contributed to this report.)
Report: DeVos Wins With MCRI Support
If Republican gubernatorial nominee Dick DeVOS had received the votes of the Republicans, ticket splitters and only 5 percent of the Democrats who voted yes on the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) and for Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM, he would have won the 2006 election, a recent report concluded.
The post election report by Mitchell Research and Communications doesn't imply that had DeVos supported the MCRI-embodied Proposal 2, he would have won in November, but "clearly he would have done better."
Steve MITCHELL noted that 20 percent of all voters cast a ballot in favor of the anti-affirmative action/racial and gender preference proposal known as MCRI, which was opposed by Granholm and DeVos but passed overwhelmingly.
Mitchell makes the point in his report that had DeVos and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike BOUCHARD supported the proposal, both would have done better on Election Day. If DeVos had only received all of the ticket-splitters and Republicans who voted for Proposal 2 and Granholm, he would have lost by only 2 percentage points as opposed to the 14 he did lose by, Mitchell said.
MCRI ended up winning in Michigan by 16 percentage points, 58 to 42 percent. Sixty percent of all white voters and 13 percent all African-American voters backed Proposal 2. Labor households split 50/50 on MCRI and non-labor households supported the proposal by a 17 percentage-point margin.
Among Republicans, MCRI passed by 57 percentage points. Among Democrats, it passed by 32 percentage points.
In general, the report "1966 and 2006 — GWB Becomes LBJ" says Democrats were buoyed in Michigan by a strong national environment that's reminiscent of the anti-Vietnam War sentiment of 1966. He said voters 40 years ago were so outraged by the policies of Democrat President Lyndon JOHNSON regarding the war they voted against his party in the off-year elections.
In Michigan of that year, Republican Gov. George ROMNEY was re-elected, Republican Robert GRIFFIN won the U.S. Senate and five new GOPers were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. State House Republicans gained 19 seats and went from a 37-73 minority to a 56-54 majority.
This year, the Republicans were hurt by the national unpopularity of George W. BUSH and the Iraq War. Immigration issues and the national scandal involves lobbyist Jack ABRAMOFF and former U.S. Rep. Mark FOLEY (R-Fla.) also played a role.
"Whenever your problems can be defined in just a few words, you're in real trouble politically," Mitchell said. "This allows the opposition to define your negatives easily to the voters. And that's exactly what happened."
Group Proposing Constitutional Changes
A band of 20 Lansing long-timers will suggest changes to the state's term limit law and the selection process for the Supreme Court, university trustees and State Board of Education at a press conference Tuesday morning.
Citizens for Michigan, headed by former bond attorney John AXE, former Attorney General Frank KELLEY, longtime Macomb County Commission Chair John HERTEL and Oakland County Executive Brooks PATTERSON are scheduled to roll out 63 recommended changes to the state's 43-year-old Constitution.
Group Spokesman Rick SIMONSON, a 40-year-veteran of the Lansing government scene, said Citizens for Michigan is not ballot proposal committee and will not be asking voters to make any changes. However, the report will go to policymakers as a way to strengthen the impact of the document.
Among the changes will be proposals to make it easier for local governments and schools to obtain infrastructure money, as well as proposed ways the state can avoid becoming a lightening rod for out-of-state ideological ballot proposals like the Stop Overspending initiative that nearly missed the ballot this year.
The group started meeting three and a half years ago (See "Study Group Adopts Historic Name: 'Citizens For Michigan,'" 7/29/03).
Some notable group members include U.S. Rep. Joe SCHWARZ (R-Battle Creek), former Sen. Harry GAST, Debbie DINGELL, former Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGROW and former House Speaker Paul HILLEGONDS. The group received legal input from around 25 experts in their field, include Lucille TAYLOR, Mike HODGE, Doug DRAKE and Bob LaBRANT, among others.
Every 16 years, Michigan voters are asked if a new constitutional convention is needed. The people will be asked again in 2010. The bi-partisan group wanted to provide some suggestions to current and future decision makers.
Simonson said the most attention was focused on local financing issues and how to make infrastructure money available to locals, schools and counties. It also discussed the need for a governor to appoint their entire cabinet. Currently the directors of the Department of Agriculture, Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Education are chosen by separate commissions or boards.
Citizens for Michigan isn't focused much on the 25 constitutional amendments or the 70-some proposals that have been offered since the 1963 state convention, Simonson said.
Judge Calls For More Prison Health Care Workers
U.S. District Court Judge Richard ENSLEN, who has jurisdiction over the Western District of Michigan, has told the Department of Corrections (DOC) that it must hire another physician for the southern Michigan Correctional Facility in Jackson or be subject to a $1 million fine.
The judge handed down the ruling this month after reviewing progress made on an agreement that the DOC made in January stating that it would bulk up health care efforts in prisons.
The DOC agreed to several provisions in January as part of the ongoing Everett HADIX vs. Patricia CARUSO, case No. 4:92-CV-110. The case was filed in the mid-1990s in response to several alleged cases of medical abuse and neglect on behalf of the DOC.
The case is still ongoing, but included examples of how prisoners in the Jackson facility were mistreated, misdiagnosed or simply ignored when they had medical problems. In January the judge told the DOC it needed to change the way it handled health care.
The DOC agreed that some changes could be made and so it agreed to comply with a prisoner health care plan. One of the provisions laid out in the plan was for the DOC to provide one more full-time physician to the Jackson prison staff. Currently the facility has three physicians and one mid-level physician, but it's supposed to have four physicians.
DOC Spokesman Russ MARLAN said the department fully intends to comply with the order before it gets fined, which is roughly 120 days from now.
"It was a plan that was agreed upon by both parties and we had not met those staffing levels," Marlan said. "While we don't think it puts us below our constitutional mandate to provide quality health care service, it was a plan we agreed with. We will assure that level meets the agreed upon plan."
Marlan said he couldn't give an exact reason as to why the fourth position has not yet been filled. The DOC has a hard time finding doctors and other medical staff that want to work in the prisons.
In fact, the DOC was having such a hard time finding health care personnel that it hired a contractor to find staff for the department. In 2000, which is right when the change over was made, 46 percent of the health care positions that were open in the department were full, Marlan said. Since the jobs contractor was hired, the vacancy rate has decreased to three percent.
The number has decreased because independent contractors can adjust a physicians hourly rate according to what area they're going to work in. The state can't do this so a physician in Jackson makes the same as a physician working in a less hostile environment.
"It's very difficult to get health care people to work for the DOC not only here, but in the rest of country," Marlan said. "There's a shortage in the health care field out in the free society so it's hard to then recruit and retain people to work inside of the prison."
The DOC has already exceeded its health care budget, but Marlan said funding the last physician for the facility shouldn't be a problem since that position was already budgeted for.
Lawmaker-Elect Puts In For Drug Immunity Bill
Before the final chapter on the 93rd Legislative Session has been written, an incoming freshman from the 94th Legislative Session today announced a bill introduction.
Rep.-elect Mike SIMPSON of Jackson County announced today that he has requested legislation to repeal Michigan's so-called drug immunity law. The incoming Democratic House member made the announcement during a press conference with the group Drug Industry Immunity Must End (DIME).
"As a legislator, I plan to make good on my promise to fight to repeal this unfair law," Simpson said. "Victims like Leslie RICHTER, whose husband died after taking Vioxx, need a voice and I'm going to Lansing to be a voice for those who were victimized by the drug industry."
The drug-industry immunity law has been a political bread and butter issue for the House Democrats for the past two years. During his race in the 65th House District against incumbent Rep. Leslie MORTIMER (R-Horton), Simpson repeatedly made the drug-immunity an issue in advertisements against Mortimer.
House Speaker-elect Andy DILLON (D-Redford) has also put the business community on notice that passing an end to legal immunity for drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is a top priority. He placed the agenda item in the subhead of his first press release.
Bits And Tidbits
MRP Reports Party Debt Free
Michigan Republican Party (MRP) Chairman Saul ANUZIS reported over the weekend that the party finished the 2006 election cycle in the black, marking the second time in "decades" the party will not need a "debt burner" drive after an election cycle.
"I will admit, there wasn't much cash in our account the day after the election, but we had previous commitments that continue to come in and some of our regular fundraising that has continued and so we are on our way toward preparing for 2008," Anuzis said.
Brewer Headed To China
Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) Chair Mark BREWER left for the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Japan today.
Brewer will stop at many historical sites while on his visit and will also meet with members of Democrats Abroad, the Democratic Party organization for Democrats living overseas.
"I am particularly looking forward to visiting Tiananmen Square, site of the 1989 political protest crushed by the government," Brewer said. "The PRC is a country of sharp contrasts — a rich cultural heritage with social unrest and an undemocratic, repressive and corrupt government that is among the worst human rights violators in the world on issues such as religious freedom, worker rights, free speech and many others. Amidst the frenzy to develop commercial relationships with the PRC, that dismal record cannot be ignored."
Brewer's trip is privately funded and is his third trip to China as the state's Democratic Party chair. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry PAULSON also announced that he would lead a delegation to Beijing, China this week.
GONGWER- Volume #45, Report #236 --Monday, December 11, 2006
Larry Lee (517) 482-3500
UNIVERSITIES SEEK DELAY OF CIVIL RIGHTS INITIATIVE
The state's universities have already begun their admissions process for the 2007-08 school year, so Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University have asked federal courts to delay any application of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative until the 2008-09 school year.
Voters approved in November the constitutional amendment banning affirmative action in university admissions as well as university, state and local hiring and contracting, but the universities argued that applying it to their current admissions process would be unfair to students who had already applied. It goes into effect December 23.
The motion, which also encompasses UM Dearborn and UM Flint, was filed in a case seeking to find the amendment violates the U.S. Constitution. The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action by Any Means Necessary, one of the groups that opposed the measure on the ballot, sued the universities to block them from removing affirmative action measures from their admissions processes.
A similar measure in California was upheld by courts.
The universities have pledged to work within the measure and are reviewing their policies for needed changes.
In a statement, U-M President Mary Sue Coleman said, "It would be extremely difficult, and unfair to prospective students, to change our admissions and financial aid processes in midstream."
MSU President Lou Anna Simon, in a statement, said the issues surrounding Proposal 2 require legal interpretation and that the effective date - midway in the cycle of admission and financial aid decisions for the class beginning in the fall of 2007 - support the need for a short-term delay in implementing the proposal.
"This creates a dilemma: it is not possible to begin the admissions process over, yet proceeding under a new set of strictures is likely to lead to perceptions of unfairness even if we are already in general compliance with Proposal 2 in the matter of admissions," she said. "In essence, we are seeking a legal time-out in order to be fair to our students and in order to obtain more clarity from the courts and from the state."
She also said MSU must work with private donors and corporate partners to find new ways to deal with agreements governing their support that included consideration of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin, adding that restrictions on the use of the funds this admission cycle will hurt access to higher education.
Rep. Leon Drolet (R-Clinton Township), spokesperson for MCRI, said the universities should have been prepared for the passage of the proposal and should have adjusted their admissions process accordingly.
"They knew that proposal 2 was going to be on the ballot. They knew they had 45 days after it was passed to comply," he said. "So you put up a plan to prepare to do that."
He argued it would be reasonable to keep those students who were accepted before passage of the amendment. "Any future students, their skin color would not play a factor," he said.
CABLE BILL LIKELY WON'T ADDRESS CONTRACTS, NET NEUTRALITY
It appears the cable bill is headed for Senate sign off sans wording that would address abrogation of current franchise agreements with local governments or tackle the issue of net neutrality, which Google has been pressing hard for.
The chamber is expected to vote on HB 6456
"Certainly the two big ones that everyone is talking about will not be taken up," said spokesperson Ari Adler.
Liz Boyd, spokesperson for Governor Jennifer Granholm who has made a point of insisting on consumer protections in the legislation, declined to comment on whether the lack of language on the bill addressing those points of contention would affect the chances of the bill being signed.
The administration has been privy to discussions on the cable bill, but Ms. Boyd said, "We'll want to see what language emerges tomorrow," before further commenting.
The legislation was moved out of the Senate Government Operations Committee last week to the floor in a substituted form, which Mr. Sikkema had then postponed a vote on to give members time to review. The amended version had provisions clarifying that companies will get credit for the franchise fees they pay, that consumers cannot have services switched on them, that fees charged for public access channels cover the cost of operations, that school districts are not viewed as video franchisers, and that cable operators would have to guarantee that local emergency alerts are broadcast.
Sen. Nancy Cassis (R-Novi) is expected to offer an amendment she had also offered in committee that would prohibit local franchise agreements from being eliminated unless a second, non-satellite provider came into a community and began providing service to 5 percent or more of the population.
That amendment puts more reasonableness back into the legislation, said David Bertram of the Michigan Townships Association, because it ensures cable companies will not up and drop their local franchise agreement under the new law.
"That amendment alone would go a long way," he said, otherwise build-out provisions in more rural communities may get lost.
Local governments would also like to see the bill amended to further address the METRO Act. Although the committee did address the issue, Mr. Bertram said the wording could still mean the Public Service Commission could offer a partial credit or deny a credit to AT&T Metro Act payments.
On Monday, the Michigan Catholic Conference also sent a letter to all Senate members stating that net neutrality protections should be added to the bill to ensure that Internet-based religious speech is protected.
"If the Internet becomes, as it inevitably will without strong protections for net neutrality, a medium where speakers must pay to deliver their messages, religious speech will be effectively barred from the Internet," said Paul Long, MCC's vice president for public policy.
It appears that interested parties have one last shot at getting the bill amended in the Senate as the House is not expected to amend the bill further once it returns to that chamber. House Republican spokesperson Matt Resch said lawmakers are simply expecting to vote on concurrence with the Senate changes.
REST OF AGENDA: Except for the cable bill and capital outlay, much of the agenda for both chambers is still up in the air. There is some talk that the welfare reforms will pass both the House and Senate, though the administration is still keen on letting the jobs, education and training program (JET) run its course. Ms. Boyd said officials believe the program will get the state to the 50 percent work requirement expected by the federal government by October.
There is also a possibility that legislation regarding vaccinations for the human papillomavirus (SB 1416
Other possibilities for action in the Senate include the item-pricing bill HB 4636
LAWMAKERS REVIEWING BUDGET SHORTFALLS BUT ACTION MAY LAG
Both the House and Senate Appropriations committees have scheduled meetings for this week in which one explicitly states it will address the overspending in the current fiscal year by three state departments, but whether majority Republicans will come to the rescue is still a matter of debate.
In a letter sent to the chairs of both panels, State Budget Director Mary Lannoye said that the Department of Human Services, Department of Corrections and Department of State Police all are reporting overexpenditures - from increased fuel costs and overtime payments for employees to higher welfare caseloads - that total $47.6 million.
While the state needs lawmakers to pass a supplemental budget to ensure those departments don't end 2006 in the red, Ms. Lannoye said that general fund lapses from other agencies should offset those overexpenditures and the state should still close the year near the $25 million estimated that would carry over into 2007.
"Each agency has also been charged with developing a corrective action plan to insure that the situation does not recur in fiscal year 2007," Ms. Lannoye wrote.
Spokespersons for both Republican caucuses said talks were continuing Monday but that no decisions have been made as to whether a budget supplemental should be passed to bail out the three departments.
"I'm not sure there's a feeling the Legislature should fix this at this point," said House Republican spokesperson Matt Resch. "There's a lot of questions about this."
The State Budget Office believes the Legislature does have at least one vehicle bill a supplemental could be put in (a House appropriation bill that is already over in the Senate) as to abide by the five-day rule and the timeline lawmakers plan on being in session - until Thursday.
Greg Bird, spokesperson for the office, said Monday that officials would like to see the Legislature complete action on a supplemental prior to the end of the year. Asked what happens if lawmakers chose not to act on such a request, Mr. Bird said officials would cross that bridge when they get there.
There would be pitfalls to the state not having its budgets evened out in those departments, he said, including the fact that some vendors would not get paid.
"That's certainly something we don't want to see happen," Mr. Bird said.
But Mr. Resch contended that there are some expenditures that have obviously been accumulating over the year, particularly in overtime pay, and that it was strange departments were just figuring out their budget woes.
DHS is facing the largest budget shortfall of the three agencies, with its total at $30.7 million, although the department has operated within its gross authorization. The department needs to pay $4.6 million for an outstanding debt to an EBT vendor.
The major problem here is that Family Independence Program benefits have come in at a higher rate than expected. The consensus agreement reached in May estimated an average annual caseload of 78,450 cases when in fact that number has been 80,360.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant spending has also been above estimations with assumed expenditures at 99 percent, when the consensus agreement had budgeted for 97 percent. Retained child support and public assistance recoupments have also come in lower than anticipated.
The department has taken steps to correct some of its problems, including putting a freeze on all discretionary administrative spending and monitoring expenditures in the field to tap other sources of funding, receiving additional federal funds for Hurricane Katrina victims in the state, making the internal review process for exceptions to the hiring freeze more stringent and collecting more local chargeback revenue than anticipated (a supplemental appropriation was approved in July which allowed DHS to increase the local chargeback funding to foster care lines and a pending bill would allow the department to collect an undetermined amount of additional revenues.
DHS is also attempting to prevent such occurrences from happening next year by, among other actions, reviewing FIP caseloads on a weekly and monthly basis to better identify trends in the expenditures. TANF expenditures are also being monitored.
The $13.9 million in overspending by Corrections comes even after it cut some $30 million by restricting purchases, managing its staff vacancies and delaying maintenance projects as well as getting a previous supplemental of $10 million for fuel and utility cost increases. The $54.5 million deficit it had been facing was due largely to $19 million in increased health care costs and $18 million in additional overtime, as well as the fuel costs, increased prisoner intake and county jail services.
Recently approved year-end transfers will cover most of the department's vendor payments, though a supplemental will address those that can't be covered as well as the money owed by DOC to other state agencies.
Also, the State Police is in a $3 million deficit because of a failure to realize administrative cost reductions included in the original budget, a 1.5 percent unfunded state employee economic expense, restricted revenue shortfalls and inter-agency charges in excess of original amounts. The department coped with this by using trooper banked leave time savings as well as retirement savings, a $1.9 million supplemental and selling fixed wing airplanes, DROP savings and general fund vacancy savings.
The department is also undergoing a internal strategic review and are implementing new procurement standards.
BISHOP NAMES TOP STAFF
Senate Majority Leader-elect Sen. Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) on Monday named Matt Miner as his chief of staff, a position he currently holds, as well as other executive staff.
Mr. Miner, a graduate of Michigan State University, has also served as Mr. Bishop and former Sen. Harry Gast's legislative director.
Coming to the new leader's office will also be Cami Pendell as deputy chief of staff and legislative director. Ms. Pendell, who earned an undergraduate degree from Central Michigan University and a law degree from MSU College of Law, currently serves as director for the Office of the President of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan. She previously worked in both the House and Senate as legislative assistant for former Senate Majority Leader Dick Posthumus and as chief of staff and legislative director for former House Majority Floor Leader Andrew Raczkowski.
Carmel Roberts was also named as deputy chief of staff and director of policy and communications. Ms. Roberts, who earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and a law degree from Cooley, currently serves as general counsel and senior vice president of governmental affairs for the Michigan Association of Insurance Agents. Ms. Roberts previously worked for the Department of State as legislative director and as a policy analyst and assistant majority counsel for the House.
Matt Marsden was also named to Mr. Bishop's staff as director of external affairs. Mr. Marsden, an MSU graduate, most recently served as chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz (R-Battle Creek). He has also done presidential advance work for the Bush for President campaign, worked for Gordon C. James Public Relations in Washington, D.C., and owned MSM Consulting. Mr. Marsden started his career in former Governor John Engler's constituent relations office and communications division.
"I am pleased to recruit a team of such talented individuals. The skill and experience level they bring to the Senate is extraordinary," Mr. Bishop said. "I look forward to working on a new agenda and starting the new session. These are tremendously talented public servants, and I am proud they have joined the team."
Mr. Miner said additional staff appointments will be announced as early as the end of the week.
CAPITAL NOTEBOOK
POSTPONED: The trial of Rep. George Cushingberry (D-Detroit) for campaign finance violations relating to the 2004 election was postponed Monday as an unrelated trial continued from last week. The Cushingberry case, which is before Judge James Giddings in the Ingham County Circuit Court, has not been rescheduled yet.
BREWER TO ASIA: Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer, who has embarked on his third trip to Asia with visits this time to China and Japan, expressed hope Monday that the Bush administration will address trade policy issues in an upcoming delegation by the treasury secretary. Mr. Brewer also said the push to develop commercial relationships with China must not obscure the rapidly developing country's human rights violations.
With the visit to the People's Republic of China by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Mr. Brewer said he hopes that is a signal that "the Bush Administration will finally address the PRC's trade abuses, currency manipulation and product counterfeiting. These practices have seriously harmed Michigan and must be stopped."
Aside from cultural and historic sites, Mr. Brewer will meet in both countries with members of Democrats Abroad.
