Articles of Interest 2-21-07
622 Days until election day.
We were back in Grand Rapids yesterday for a press conference at the county GOP headquarters to raise the fundamental issue that separates Republicans from Democrats in Michigan: how we view this financial “crisis” facing us today.
Republicans approach this from the spending side. Are we doing a good job of spending the state $41,500,000,000 in general funds…can we find some places to cut, reform or adjust before we raise TAXES.
The Democrats are approaching this from the revenue side. Governor Granholm and the Democrats are looking for ways to raise a NEW $3 billion in TAXES. This does NOT include most of the Governor’s NEW 17 spending programs she proposed during the State of the State address.
The time for reform…for living within our means…is now! Michigan is NOT under TAXED. State government is NOT too small.
Dust off the old boy scout motto: be prepared…the Democrats are ‘a coming.
National Journal’s Hotline reports that Mitt Romney will begin airing his first ads 2/21 in IA, NH, SC, MI, and FL in "select markets." The 60-second spot describes Romney as a "business legend" (Johnson, AP/Newsday, 2/20). Full text below, produced by Alex Castellanos et al:
ANN ROMNEY: "Every place that Mitt has gone, he has solved problems that people said were nearly impossible." ANNCR: "Mitt Romney. Business legend. Rescued the Olympics. The Republican Governor who turned around a Democratic state." MITT ROMNEY (from a town hall event of sorts): "I believe the American people are overtaxed and the government is overfed. I believe we're spending too much money and that's got to stop. I believe our laws ought to be written by the people and not by unelected judges. Look, these are critical times we face. We face attack from jihadists. We face tougher competition than we've ever known before coming from Asia. We;re spending too much money here. We're using too much oil here. Our schools are failing too many of our kids. This is not a time for more talk and dithering in Washington. It's a time for action. I believe in the people of America. Free American people are the source of this land's great strength." ROMNEY V.O.: "I'm Mitt Romney and I approve this message" (2/20).
To see the FIRST 2008 Presidential commercial to hit the airwaves goto:
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/02/romney_first_pr.html
Please mark your calendars: February 28 , 2007 - Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich will take the stage at the histroic Cooper Union Hall to have a dialogue about some of the biggest issues facing our nation.
This will be an unusual "discussion" of ideas...not soundbites or a structured "show".
This should be broadcast on C-SPAN nationwide and should prove to be a great political event/discussion...one that many of us miss in today's style of 30 second commercials and 10 second soundbites.
American Solutions will broadcast the event live and on-demand via web cast on www.AmericanSolutions.com.
We are on our way to the Upper Pennisula today, the snow starting melting down here due to all the “hot air” coming from the Democrats.
Got to love those Spartans, now that was some great basketball!!!
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/AUTO02/702210379/1022/POLITICS
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Daniel Howes
Say what? Gov's hubby gushes over Toyota's way
W hat is Michigan's first gentleman, Daniel Granholm Mulhern, thinking?
As Detroit's automakers plummet through various stages of free-fall, as home values slide, foreclosures rise and the very fabric of the state is stressed to the breaking point, he uses his weekly e-mail blast on leadership -- "Reading for Leading" -- to extol the leadership of Toyota.
In fact, is he thinking at all?
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/BUSINESS01/702210318
Chrysler workers await answers, weigh options
February 21, 2007
A week after executives unveiled a plan they said would provide a clear path to profitability, Chrysler Group workers say they're as confused as ever about the future of their company and their job security.
Details of the 13,000 job cuts have not been laid out, leaving many wondering if they'll be offered a buyout or early-retirement package -- and just what such an offer might look like. Analysts and media also continue to speculate about a possible sale of the Chrysler Group, a division of DaimlerChrysler AG.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/BUSINESS01/702210319
Views split on merger
GM-Chrysler link creates debate on its likelihood
February 21, 2007
Debate continued Tuesday about whether General Motors Corp. and the Chrysler Group should merge.
On one hand, a leading Wall Street auto analyst said that GM could be eyeing a deal to buy Chrysler as a way to increase its bargaining power with the UAW and hold off competition in the United States.
Meanwhile, Roger Penske, CEO of United Auto Group Inc., the second-largest publicly traded car dealer, doesn't foresee a GM-Chrysler deal.
Merrill Lynch analyst John Murphy issued a note Tuesday rating the chances of a GM tie-up with Chrysler at 50-50.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/COL04/702210321
Time to go? Ford has a better idea
February 21, 2007
DEARBORN -- Ford Motor Co.'s buyout plan drew an overwhelming response from white-collar employees ... prompting the automaker to begin saying no to some offers.
Detroit Free Press, Feb. 20
I was on the phone with my wife when Smithers stuck his head in the door of my office.
"Sorry!" he mouthed. "Didn't mean to interrupt!"
"No, that's OK," I said. "Honey? My soon-to-be-ex-boss wants a word. Let me call you back in a few."
"So, how's Sarah?" Smithers asked, looking uncomfortable. "Still, ah, looking for work?"
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/BUSINESS01/702210369
'07 looks critical for UAW
Analyst: Workers may have to give up more to keep jobs
February 21, 2007
Huge pay cuts at Ford.
GM shifting production to Mexico.
Chrysler expanding on its week-old turnaround plan.
It's no secret that Detroit automakers are expected to push for significant changes in UAW wages and benefits in the contract being negotiated this year.
But one of the nation's top auto economists raised eyebrows Tuesday among his industry colleagues when he suggested that hourly workers may have to give up more than ever before to protect U.S. assembly jobs.
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?editorials_archive
Polytorx's message: Is it valid ... or not?
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
When a new technology-based firm's CEO declares that Jackson leaders have been so unsupportive that his company will move out of state, he's got our attention. If true, such an indictment would warrant housecleaning in economic-development circles. But after a closer look, we conclude that state, local and economic-development officials offered plenty of help. So, there's more to this story than meets the eye.
The company in question is Polytorx, and its CEO is Bill Orabone. Polytorx began doing business about two years ago in the Enterprise Group's manufacturing incubator facility in Jackson. At the time Jackson's economic-development group was very excited to be working with the fledgling company. Using a technology developed at the University of Michigan, Polytorx makes small, twisted wires called Helix to strengthen concrete.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1171986312284490.xml&coll=2
Marginal buyers face ruin in housing bust Regulators, lenders must step in to help
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
There is no sugarcoating the latest news on the U.S. housing market. The slump in home prices from the end of 2005 to the end of 2006 was the biggest year-over-year drop since the National Association of Realtors started keeping track in 1982. There are no reasons to believe that's the worst of it.
Prices fell in 73 of the nation's 149 major markets in the last quarter of 2006, compared with 45 declining markets in the third quarter, revealing a downturn that is not only deep but wide.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/OPINION01/702210322/1008
Stop tax hike on working families
Bring state spending under control before trying uncapped 'excise' tax
Tricia Kinley
S adly, the sheer number of layoffs, home foreclosures and families leaving Michigan should be a sign; working families and job providers in Michigan cannot afford tax increases. Unfortunately, Gov. Jennifer Granholm's proposed 2007-08 state budget calls for more than $1 billion in tax increases on working families and job providers.
Michigan needs comprehensive spending reform that uses taxpayer dollars more effectively and efficiently. The governor did call for some modest reform measures, but stopped short of calling for real reform, for example, in the area of controlling skyrocketing public school employee health care and pension costs.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/OPINION01/702210333/1008
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Letters: Your opinion
Stop tax increases, cut state spending
Trim government to core
The governor cannot morally justify a tax hike. What she can justify is to start the divestiture of all government property not needed for police, military, judicial and administrative services. The proceeds could be used to pay off state debt and the phase out of all Michigan government services except for the police, military and courts.
Paul L. Gruchala
Westland
Tax Toyota purchases
The governor wants to place a tax on out-of-state companies. Let's go one step further: Why doesn't the governor place a tax on those people buying Toyotas, Hondas, Kias and the like? Those consumers are partially to blame for the mess we're all in. Let's also see the governor reduce her own salary because she doesn't seem to be doing the job she promised to do in her recent re-election campaign. Funny, she didn't mention tax increases back then.
Mike Cwik
Clinton Township
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070220/OPINION01/702200338/1069
Crime, punishment and tight budgets
February 20, 2007
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox is ending the two-year Joshua Project that had some success in reducing gun violence in certain Detroit neighborhoods. In pulling his prosecutors out of Detroit precincts, Cox cited budgetary problems but also blamed the Department of Corrections for refusing to cooperate and share information on parolees and probationers.
Somewhat tellingly, media people got the word last week from Cox's office before Corrections administrators, who said Cox's complaints were new to them.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/OPINION01/702210336/1008
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Don't place State Police officers on chopping block
The Detroit News
There are a lot of items in the state budget that Michigan needs less than State Police troopers. Yet troopers are on the chopping block. That's unacceptable.
Budget priorities ought to be reshuffled to prevent layoffs in the State Police.
The Detroit News has reported that as many as 30 officers could lose their jobs by April 1. This information, The News reported, came from the State Police Troopers Association, the union for the officers. A State Police spokeswoman confirmed that layoffs are in the offing, but said the final number has not been determined.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/NEWS06/702210402
Prison to be closed by July; 1,500 to be freed
Plan aims to save state $92 million
February 21, 2007
LANSING -- The state will close one of five prisons in Jackson by July and free 1,500 inmates, the first step in Gov. Jennifer Granholm's plan to cut costs by releasing 5,500 low-risk prisoners.
The release plan ultimately is expected to save the state $92 million as it faces a potential deficit of more than $1 billion for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
The closures would be the first major downsizing of a prison system that has expanded since the early 1980s and swelled to 51,000 inmates -- one of the biggest in the Midwest.
The Southern Michigan Correctional Facility will be closed and its 1,481 inmates either released or moved to other prisons, Russ Marlan, spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said Tuesday. Included are 500 inmates to be removed from the nearby Egeler Reception & Guidance Center.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/POLITICS/702210380/1022
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Budget ax falls on prison in Jackson
1,500 inmates will be shifted to other locations
Gary Heinlein / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
LANSING -- Michigan's Corrections Department plans to close a prison containing four cell blocks with 1,500 prisoners in Jackson, the second substantial cut implemented by Gov. Jennifer Granholm to deal with the state's budget deficit.
The Southern Michigan Correctional Facility will close by July, according to department spokesman Russ Marlan. It's one of five Jackson corrections facilities, containing 7,888 prisoners.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-3/117189664251190.xml&coll=5
Deliver the message
Reducing Flint crime requires more than jail-reopening plan
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Monday, February 19, 2007
Planning to reopen the city jail as part of a "safety emergency," Flint Mayor Don Williamson and other city officials say they want to send a message that crime won't be tolerated.
Opening the jail, closed since 2001, is the centerpiece of an anti-crime package that includes gun buybacks and a plan to pay tipsters to turn in illegal firearms owners. It follows a spate of four separate slayings in the city within 24 hours last weekend and more than 50 Flint homicides last year.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/NEWS05/702210388/1007/NEWS05
Neighborhood programs help keep crime down
February 21, 2007
A few years ago, Jacque Nickerson's neighborhood had a problem with stolen vehicles being parked on the street all day and stripped for parts at night.
Not anymore.
Today, as the vice president of the Russell Woods Sullivan Area Association -- a collection of neighborhoods on Detroit's west side -- Nickerson, 80, said she and her neighbors "don't let a car sit on our street for two days."
Neighborhood groups have been around for years, but they're increasingly important. With cash-strapped police departments and a rise in petty crime, frustrated residents are taking action and teaming up to form watchdog groups that try to police the streets and protect children without being a nuisance to the real cops.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-34/1171977903292380.xml&coll=6
Day-care centers may have to report investigations
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
By Kameel Stanley
The Grand Rapids Press
Licensed day-care facilities would be required to notify parents within 24 hours of becoming the target of a high-risk investigation, under legislation unanimously approved in the state Senate.
Last year, that would have meant notifying parents of children at 14 day-care centers in Kent County for suspected cases of serious abuse -- 74 across the state.
"I think this is a very valid change," said Sen. Bill Hardiman, R-Kentwood, who sponsored the bill. "It gives the parent the option of withdrawing the child or not."
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1172007942120740.xml&coll=8
Schools are in the headlights as cash crunch looms
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Last week's rejection by Republicans in the Michigan Senate of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's emergency executive order to pare spending in the face of a looming state cash crunch has thrust schools directly in the glare of oncoming headlights.
Unless the governor has a few tricks to pull out of her hat, or the GOP has a change of heart, it appears as if Michigan is going to be entering a new era of greatly diminished expectations for public education. Now more than ever local districts must find a way to share services or, in the case of a last resort, look seriously at consolidation.
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-21/1171986079284490.xml&coll=2
Parents' priority: class size
Ann Arbor schools seek input on ways to cut $7.5 million
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
BY DAVID JESSE
News Staff Reporter
Ann Arbor school administrators and board members face a conundrum as they prepare to cut $7.5 million out of next year's budget.
Parents want them to keep class sizes as low as possible, but they also want the district to live within its means.
"They (class sizes) are pretty high already,'' parent Mike Timmons said after a community meeting on the district's budget Monday. "But they have to make cuts. They just don't have the money.''
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-34/1171990461140500.xml&coll=6
Minority students, enrollment up at GRCC
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
By Nardy Baeza Bickel
The Grand Rapids Press
The student population at Grand Rapids Community College increased by 4.9 percent this winter, compared to last winter semester -- a bump of nearly 700 students, according to an enrollment report presented to the GRCC board on Monday.
"The winter semester is getting to be as full as the fall semester," GRCC President Juan Olivarez told board members, adding many students who can not enroll in the fall do so in winter because traditionally, there are fewer students on campus.
Also increasing was minority enrollment, which reached 21.2 percent of the student population. Enrollment figures for white students dipped to its lowest mark, 76.5 percent.
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1171986333299360.xml&coll=8
Racial tension mars development hearing
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
By Nancy Stier
Chronicle correspondent
Emotions flared at times Monday after more than 100 citizens streamed into Reeths Puffer Intermediate School cafeteria to argue for and against a development of up to 96 "affordable" single-family homes proposed for the northwest corner of Muskegon Township.
Although some vehemently denied race was a factor in the 40-minute debate, during which Muskegon Township Supervisor Pat Jordan limited comments to two minutes per person, most who argued in favor of Chapel Hills Estates were African-American. It was primarily white citizens who spoke against the subsidized homes proposed for landlocked property set back the intersection of River Road and North Getty Street.
http://www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-1/117198812641870.xml&coll=4
Energy plan should power debate on state's future needs
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Global warming, wind rattling the windows outside and your TV set have come together in Michigan's first proposed plan for electrical energy in 20 years.
It's high time.
Gov. Granholm ordered the plan in April, after last winter's soaring price of natural gas, and as the world's scientists honed their recently released manifesto on global warming.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/OPINION01/702210330/1008
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
More stick, less carrot, for municipalities
State should be tougher in demanding consolidation
The Detroit News
S tate lawmakers should take their own consultant's advice and find more aggressive ways to encourage local governments and schools to consolidate.
Michigan State University researchers today will present such overdue recommendations -- and the merits of consolidation -- as they report their findings of a 15-month study to the state House Committee on Local Government Affairs.
Consolidation alone isn't going to solve the state's current budget woes. But it could make a significant dent in a long-term problem. Michigan is in for a long period of lean times.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/OPINION03/702210324/1008/OPINION01
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Sandra E. Pierce: Reviving Metro Detroit
Region must learn from past, embrace change to progress
W e have a real opportunity to transform our region and to rightfully position it among the world's most admired communities. But it will only happen if we adapt and embrace change.
It was President John F. Kennedy who said, "Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."
To put things in perspective from an industry I know well, look at what's happened in banking. The 50 largest banks in 1985 have been consolidated into what are now eight banks. That's how dramatic change can be. And yet if change is something that is fought instead of embraced, there simply is no future.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/117198881056740.xml&coll=7
Hard work downtown pays off
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The state of downtown Kalamazoo is one of optimism.
And that's not something many downtowns, especially in Michigan, can say right now.
The bad economic news that has been afflicting many Michigan communities has been tempered here.
That's not to say downtown Kalamazoo hasn't faced major challenges. Pfizer Inc.'s announcement last month that it would move research and development jobs out of downtown Kalamazoo will certainly hurt. And Western Michigan University's decision to pull out of the purchase of a building on Pfizer's downtown campus was another setback.
Still, the tone was upbeat Monday at the annual State of Downtown event at the new Rave theater downtown -- and with good reason.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1171990353140500.xml&coll=6
New route for mass transit
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The possibility of streetcars in Grand Rapids has gotten a lot of buzz and someday may track well here. But the far better bet is the one that has been quietly moving ahead for several years: a new system of pseudo light-rail buses.
The local transit system -- the Interurban Transit Partnership -- plans to submit a proposal in June to federal authorities for a grant to fund a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. The ITP Board and Director Peter Varga have been studying light rail and other mass transit options for the past few years. A system of buses with light rail features is where they have landed. BRT includes a number of features designed to make a bus service operate with the comfort and reliability of rail transit but without the high cost.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/NEWS06/702210393
Life quality, no-fault rule clash
House could alter Mich. standard
February 21, 2007
It doesn't take much for Richard Kreiner to get a painful reminder of how life has changed since the automobile accident a decade ago.
Too much time working on a ladder does it. So does trying to pick up a heavy load. For the 43-year-old self-employed carpenter from Lapeer County, hours on the job can trigger throbbing in his back, hips and legs.
Kreiner, who was hurt in a 1997 crash caused by another driver, has become the poster boy in a legislative showdown between the state's insurance industry and a coalition of trial lawyers, medical associations and two dozen other groups. They're battling over a 2004 Michigan Supreme Court ruling that made it harder for motorists to successfully sue the drivers who caused their injuries.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/POLITICS/702210360/1022
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Bill targets dog bite-and-runs
State lawmaker wants owners held criminally liable if they flee scenes involving their pets.
David Eggert / Associated Press
LANSING -- A state lawmaker wants to stop the canine equivalent of the hit-and-run, proposing criminal penalties for dog owners who flee the scene after their dogs bite people.
The legislation, set to be approved today by a House panel, would make it a misdemeanor to leave the scene of a dog-biting incident, punishable by up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Rep. Jeff Mayes says he sponsored the bill after a Bay City woman complained that a pit bull had attacked her and her little dog on a sidewalk, and the pit bull's owner drove away.
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1171986413299360.xml&coll=8
Drive starts for bottler ballot issue
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
By Jeff Alexander
jalexander@muskegonchronicle.com
The bitterly divisive issue of water bottling in Michigan could end up on the state ballot next year.
Environmentalists and some Michigan lawmakers are working on a plan to put a proposed constitutional amendment before voters in November 2008. The plan was disclosed at a town hall meeting in Whitehall Monday on the issue of water diversion.
The proposed ballot initiative would tighten regulations on water withdrawals and require the state Legislature to rule on every water bottling project, said Cyndi Roper, Great Lakes policy director for Clean Water Action's Michigan office.
http://www.dowagiacnews.com/articles/2007/02/20/news/dnnews2.txt
Anuzis speaking at Lincoln Day
Tuesday, February 20, 2007 9:14 AM EST
EDWARDSBURG - Saulius "Saul" Anuzis, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, will be keynote speaker at the 2007 Cass County Lincoln Day Dinner next month.
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The GOP dinner will take place Saturday, March 10, at American Legion Post 365, 25751 U.S. 12, Edwardsburg.
Social hour begins at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7.
Tickets cost $25 for adults and $10 for students 18 and younger.
Reservation deadline is Thursday, March 1.
http://hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070218/NEWS02/702180340/1019
Presidents Day special: Political consultant picks Hillary and Mitt
BY JAY M. GROSSMAN
The presidential election is more than a year away, but Steve Mitchell is ready to declare his candidates of choice.
The nationally known political prognosticator is picking Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democrats and Mitt Romney for the Republicans.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-34/1171990416140500.xml&coll=6
Arizona senator endorses McCain for president
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
By Ted Roelofs
The Grand Rapids Press
GRAND RAPIDS -- To GOP Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, abortion is by no means the sole test of aspiring Republican presidential candidates.
But to Thune, it does not hurt that Arizona Sen. John McCain has been a consistent foe of abortion.
"Sen. McCain, particularly on the life issue, has a record that is very consistent over time," Thune said Monday prior to his appearance at the Kent County GOP Lincoln Day dinner.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/POLITICS/702210374/1022
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
High Court rejects Fieger's free-speech appeal
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court declined Tuesday to get involved in the nasty dispute between Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger and Michigan's judicial establishment.
In a one-line ruling, the nation's high court denied Fieger's request to hear his contention that the First Amendment protects his right to criticize the state's judges without fear of penalty.
At issue was the state high court's reprimand of Fieger over public comments he made about state Court of Appeals judges in 1999. The court had reversed a medical malpractice ruling Fieger had won; after the reversal, on his daily radio show, Fieger referred to the judges as "jackasses," compared them to Nazi leaders and made other vulgar comments. The state Attorney Discipline Board ruled that Fieger's comments violated Michigan courts' procedural rules; on appeal, the state Supreme Court upheld the reprimand.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/NEWS06/702210336/1008
Supreme Court declines Fieger case
U.S. justices won't hear his appeal of judicial reprimand for verbal attack
February 21, 2007
The disciplinary case against Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger -- which began with a tirade he directed at a trio of judges who ruled against a client in 1999 -- ended quietly Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the decision that he be reprimanded for misconduct.
The reprimand carries no financial penalty and does not affect Fieger's license to practice law, but it marks the first time he has been formally sanctioned for his sometimes-abrasive criticism of judicial decisions with which he disagrees.
NATIONAL STORIES
Through Restoration of Core Principles, Freshman Sees Bright Hope for GOP
By Tim Walberg
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Since I began my first term in Congress last month, I've been asked numerous times if I feel the Republican Party has a problem with its "brand."
As I travel across my south-central Michigan district and meet with my constituents, I realize a great amount of uncertainty exists as to what the Republican brand really is.
I agree with my respected House colleague Mike Pence, who often says Republicans lost the majority in Congress last year "because we walked away from the limited government principles that minted the Republican Congress."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SENATE_MCCONNELL?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Feb 21, 2:22 AM EST
McConnell proves biggest hurdle for Dems
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats may be in charge of the Senate these days, yet Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is no powerless bystander.
The Kentucky Republican made that clear when, despite grumbling from within his own ranks, he engineered the two-week standoff over Iraq and allowed the House to move first to challenge President Bush's troop buildup.
Then, when a nonbinding resolution opposing the buildup finally came to the Senate, the Democrats couldn't muster the 60 votes needed to push the measure through in a rare Saturday session that delayed senators from leaving for the weeklong President's Day recess.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001575.html
TAKEOVER The Left's New Hit List
The Woman in the Middle
Moderate Democrat Is New Target of Liberal Bloggers
By Juliet Eilperin and Michael Grunwald
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, February 21, 2007; Page A01
The Democratic majority was only three weeks old, but by Jan. 26, the grass-roots and Net-roots activists of the party's left wing had already settled on their new enemy: Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D-Calif.), the outspoken chair of the centrist New Democrat Coalition.
Progressive blogs -- including two new ones, Ellen Tauscher Weekly and Dump Ellen Tauscher -- were bashing her as a traitor to her party. A new liberal political action committee had just named her its "Worst Offender." And in Tauscher's East Bay district office that day in January, eight MoveOn.org activists were accusing her of helping President Bush send more troops to Iraq.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070221/NEWS06/702210310/1008
Romney takes to airwaves to push for nomination
February 21, 2007
Michigan native and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has stepped forward to fill the void for those of us who think life hasn't been the same these last four months without political ads on television.
The former Massachusetts governor is scheduled to begin today the first broadcast TV campaign for next year's presidential election, and he is targeting the places in which his campaign no doubt feels it needs to do best during the '08 primary/caucus season for him to have a shot at the GOP nomination.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/02/mitts_media_blast.html
Mitt's Media Blast
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's decision to begin his television advertising campaign in a series of early primary states today signals a new phase in the run for the Republican presidential nomination.
To date, the Republican and Democratic candidates seeking the White House have played an inside game -- recruiting key activists and donors, putting into place a national organization and visiting early-voting primary and caucus states. All of that activity flies under the radar of the average person who likely has no idea the presidential race has even begun.
But, in going up with a 60-second commercial in select markets in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Michigan and Florida, (over the next week) Romney is vastly expanding the universe of people he hopes to reach and forcing his opponents to re-evaluate when they might begin their own paid advertising campaigns in early states.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001998.html<