Articles of Interest 3-6-07
609 Days until election day.
Governor Granholm continues her “staged” town hall meetings to “invite only” guests and is “surprised” when everyone agrees with her that we need a tax increase??? I just completed my 13th “Listen & Learn” sessions around the state last night in Jackson and NOT a single taxpayer expressed the need for a tax increase. If fact, most said we should try and live within our means first, cut spending next and make sure we can’t do without certain services before we even start discussing taxes. The Dem state party recorded some of the sessions…Governor, why don’t you listen in on those taxpayers “town hall” style meetings!?!
Governor Granholm and her allies in the House have introduced the bills they feel are necessary to raise taxes and “reform” government according to “their” plan. The problem is the Governor and the Democrat House Speaker can’t get their own members of their party to vote for their plan. So why would the Republicans? Negotiate what???
House Speaker Andy Dillon could move this process forward and take the first step…move at least something the Governor has proposed???
Instead, all we are seeing is political posturing. There is nothing to work on…nothing to negotiate from, if the Democrats can’t even put forward a united front…what’s the point?
Governor Granholm can’t get the votes…Speaker Andy Dillon can’t get the votes…what kind of plan is it, negotiate something that NOBODY wants to support???
Republicans are waiting for the Majority to lead. Why negotiate with ourselves? Michigan is spending $4,100,000,000 dollars in our General Fund.
Government is NOT too small…TAXES are NOT to low.
Governor Granholm, Speaker Dillon and the Democrat House Majority can’t pass a tax increase, can’t cut the budget and apparently are going to run us into a crisis situation…and then probably blame the Republicans.
They aren’t leading, they won’t follow and we can’t get them out of the way until the next election cycle.
Senator Schauer sent out the following email: “The budget crisis is set to advance this week with the first substantial negotiations taking place between the Governor and members of the legislative leadership. The Governor and Democrats have offered a comprehensive plan that reforms and streamlines government, protects critical services, allows us to invest in essential programs, and fixes our broken tax system. Unfortunately, Republicans have so far rejected these proposals...”
REALLY…negotiations means having discussions…proposing a tax increase and having the Republicans REJECT it, is GOOD public policy.
A proposal you can’t get the votes for is NOTHING more than wishful thinking.
Michigan Republicans are using “facebook” to get in touch with our younger voters and set up a series of working groups to help facilitate our internet program, blogging and activities via the web. Within 24 hours I picked up over 90 “friends” and joined about 20 “Groups”.
We received some nice recognition and kudos from David All who wrote:
http://www.davidallgroup.com/2007/03/05/michigan-gop-chairman-first-to-open-facebook/
Congratulations to the Sterling Group who received a letter from the Telly Awards letting them know they received a Bronze Trophy for the “United We Stand” video they produced for the state party. We used this video last year at our Lincoln Days around the state and played it during our Galas. Newt Gingrich commented that this was one of the best videos on message he had ever seen. Others seemed to have agreed. Congrats on adding another statuette to your conference room!
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.davidallgroup.com/2007/03/05/michigan-gop-chairman-first-to-open-facebook/
Michigan GOP Chairman first to open facebook
The Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, Saulius Anuzis, or simply “Saul” as he is known around Michigan and national Republican circles, has become the first state party chairman to launch a facebook profile to better connect with modern Republicans.
Saul gets it.
He’s been actively blogging every single day and blasting his “Articles of Interest” to a wide net of Michigan and national Republicans. But he doesn’t just blog incessantly. He’s at every single Republican (or Democratic) event in Michigan and he’s always a known quantity at national gatherings like CPAC.
Saul exemplifies a true modern Republican party chairman. He makes an effort to know and understand conservative bloggers and actively engages the discussion at their blogs.
Presently, the Republican Party is bleeding and conceding Gen Next to the Democrats. With Saul’s help, maybe we can turn that ship around in Michigan.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/NEWS06/703060420/1001/NEWS
Granholm pitches her vision
She uses live TV forum to emphasize budget crisis
March 6, 2007
FLINT -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm made a case for her proposed tax increase and more spending for public schools, state universities and health care, saying Michigan could not cut its way out of its economic crisis by slashing taxes or state services.
Granholm, appearing in the first of five televised town hall meetings around the state, told an audience of 50 Monday that the state has cut taxes enough and must start spending more on education and luring new cutting-edge businesses.
Granholm pitches her vision in TV forum
3/6/2007, 1:28 a.m. ET
By DAVID EGGERT
The Associated Press
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Jennifer Granholm hit the road and airwaves to talk to citizens about solving Michigan's chronic budget deficits with a mix of tax increases, spending cuts and government reforms.
At the first of five televised town hall-style events Monday night, the Democratic governor said the state no longer can cut its way out of budget shortfalls.
"We have cut and cut and cut," Granholm told a crowd of about 50 residents. "Many of the things that we value like education, higher education, training, health care for vulnerable citizens, public safety — they are all subject to massive cuts right now unless we make some decisions as a state to move forward."
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/117311181060880.xml&coll=7
Sniping, sparring on the way to 2010
Monday, March 05, 2007
Gov. Jennifer Gran-holm and Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox have not seen eye-to-eye on a broad range of issues.
She supported tax-paid benefits for same-sex couples and warned that the constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2004 would end them. When asked for an opinion on the issue, he struck down the benefits.
Granholm supports affirmative action; Cox opposes it.
The governor vetoed a bill banning partial-birth abortion; the attorney general fought a ruling that said the ban was unconstitutional.
Last week, the sparring got worse.
First, Cox claimed that Granholm had ``deserted'' the city of Detroit by doing nothing to combat the city's murder rate.
Then he complained that the Granholm administration was cutting his budget more than any other state department. He also pointed to changes in boilerplate language in her proposed 2007-08 budget that would cause extra work for his department and restrict the attorney general's discretion.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/UPDATE/703060430
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Comerica to move HQ to Dallas; officials promise to keep a presence in Michigan
Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- Comerica Inc. this morning announced that it is moving its headquarters form downtown Detroit to Dallas.
Comerica officials in a press release said that with 71 banking centers in Texas and a presence in the state for nearly 20 years, it made sense to make the move.
"Over the past three years, we have been advancing our strategy to diversify our customer base and extend Comerica's reach into key high-growth markets," said Ralph W. Babb, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Comerica. "Today, a significant percentage of Comerica's earnings is generated in the Texas, Arizona, California and Florida markets. Moving our corporate headquarters to Dallas will give us greater proximity to all of our markets, and the additional resources in these markets will lead to accelerated growth for Comerica.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/NEWS05/703060306/1007
Weak real estate market causes tax bill blues
Many owners say values are inflated
March 6, 2007
Dave Bean has had it with the more than $18,000 in annual taxes he pays on his 1946 colonial in Birmingham.
By the city's calculation, his Chesterfield Avenue home is worth about $900,000, a figure he says is inflated because the city grouped it with newer, multimillion-dollar homes nearby. He has an independent appraisal listing the home's value at $665,000.
Bean, 48, has fought his assessments unsuccessfully for four years, but he hopes this year to reduce his taxes -- or at least halt any increase -- by proving that he couldn't sell his home for its assessed value.
"It's frustrating," he said, "especially when you're trying to reduce your taxes and you're getting nowhere."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/COL06/703060409/1081/COL
Region is uniting in hard times
March 6, 2007
If the Detroit region is ever to emerge from its economic funk, our business, labor and government leaders must bury past differences and act together on critical issues.
At the risk of jinxing hope of this ever happening, I hereby offer evidence that the region's brain trust may be getting its act together:
On Valentine's Day, a delegation of economic development officials from southeast Michigan met with the state's congressional delegation and the Commerce Department in Washington, D.C. -- not to air gripes or ask for favors, but to push for one specific request, about $30 million for so-called economic accelerators. These are groups such as Automation Alley, NextEnergy and Ann Arbor SPARK, organizations that aim to attract or incubate new businesses in key industries. "What the region needs now is more companies," said Doug Rothwell, president of the Detroit Renaissance Group of southeast Michigan CEOs.
• Detroit's auto companies, the UAW and the Detroit Regional Chamber might take a unified approach on fuel economy to Congress this month. Lawmakers are starting to push for a big boost in Corporate Average Fuel Economy mandates that could hurt General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and the Chrysler Group. Dick Blouse, president of the Detroit Regional Chamber, said he hopes to enlist chambers in towns across the country that have Big Three plants to join an effort on CAFE and other issues of importance to automakers.
http://www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-9/117311140541280.xml&coll=4
SAVE MONEY OR SAVE JOBS City Commission's vote tonight could end city employment for bridge tenders
Monday, March 05, 2007
By SCOTT E. PACHECO
TIMES WRITER
Jeff Boks knows how close he was to packing his bags and leaving Bay City.
On Feb. 19, the Bay City Commission passed a resolution by a 5-4 vote to privatize bridge services for Independence and Liberty bridges, and layoff all of its bridge tenders.
However, Mayor Michael J. Buda vetoed the decision on Feb. 20.
''I was on the brink of losing everything with one vote,'' Boks said. ''I'm going to be stuck with an $800 house payment. How am I going to pay that in two months?''
The 37-year-old Handy High School graduate is among seven city employees who will be without jobs if the City Commission overrides Buda's veto at tonight's City Commission meeting. An eighth employee, a transitional worker who has served as a tender for the past year, would be given other duties.
To strike down the veto, the Commission would need six ''yes'' votes. The Commission meeting takes place at 7:30 p.m. today at the Bay City Hall, 301 Washington Ave.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/POLITICS/703060373
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Mich. House Dems push benefits cut
Proposal to slash health care for certain members of Legislature is part of $3.5M spending cut plan
Gary Heinlein / The Detroit News
LANSING -- The 148 members of Michigan's Legislature enjoy a lucrative health plan that provides lifetime coverage for any representative or senator with at least six years in office.
That, however, may end soon. House Democrats want to eliminate the long-held health benefit for future House members and slash medical coverage for current members -- all as part of an effort to cut their own spending 5 percent, or $3.5 million.
Current members will have a new co-pay of at least $1,500 a year, the same as for all other state workers and many privately employed Michiganians.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/NEWS06/703060348/1008
Dems cut House retiree tab
Health care trim to start on reps elected in 2008
March 6, 2007
LANSING -- House Democrats said Monday they would end lifetime health benefits for House members who retire after serving six years, the three-term limit.
The new rules would apply to legislators elected beginning in 2008. It's illegal to rescind existing benefits for state employees.
Democrats control the House and can change rules.
They also would impose higher health insurance co-pays on current members.
The changes are part of a plan to cut $3 million, or 5%, from the House budget. Some staffers also would be laid off.
"If we're asking our residents to make sacrifices to turn our state's economy around, House Democrats believe we must start with our own House," said Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township.
Retired lawmakers at age 55 qualify for lifetime health care if they've served at least six years.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/OPINION01/703060318/1008
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Lawmakers should follow through on benefit cuts
The Detroit News
State House leaders are to be commended for recommending increased contributions for their own health care insurance and an end to lifetime medical care for future members. If they follow through, the move will give them credibility in tackling soaring education health care and pension costs as well.
House Speaker Andrew Dillon, D-Redford Township, and other leaders announced the proposed health care cutbacks, staff layoffs and other measures Monday in an effort to "lead by example" and slice 5 percent, or $3 million, from their budget. A spokesman for the House GOP minority members said they "will do anything" to help address the state's budget situation.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1173106340102500.xml&coll=5
Limit lobbying
Slowing 'revolving-door' only part of regulation needed
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Monday, March 05, 2007
A bill the Michigan House passed last week, which would ban former lawmakers and executive-branch officials from becoming lobbyists for a year after they leave office, is only a start to controlling this special-interest activity.
The so-called revolving door between the Legislature and lobbyists does little to inspire confidence that the public's concerns come first.
What's being considered in Lansing is hardly revolutionary. Twenty-six other states already have such restrictions. Michigan would have them, too, if a similar bill that passed the House a couple years ago had ever come up for a vote in the Senate.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/NEWS01/703060324/1003
Schools executive is placed on leave
Financial chief, one other out in probe tied to wire transfers
March 6, 2007
The chief financial officer for Detroit Public Schools was put on administrative leave Monday while the district probes possible irregularities involving its risk-management office, which oversees several financial areas, including workers compensation and insurance.
The investigation centers on payments the district made by wire transfer, rather than the more typical check, to risk-management vendors and contractors.
Superintendent William F. Coleman III told board members Monday in a confidential memo obtained by the Free Press that he had placed CFO Dori Freelain and Delores Brown, identified as a cash manager, on administrative leave with pay.
The leaves were necessary, Coleman wrote, to remove "supervisory staff from the workplace while we continue to interview lower level staff involved in these transactions."
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/OPINION01/703060320/1008
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
New York is useful model for school reform
Detroit could learn from switch to small, innovative high schools
The Detroit News
F or years at New York City's Evander Childs High School, 31 percent of students graduated -- a pitiful rate that is similar to many of Detroit's high schools. Today, Evander Childs has been transformed.
Last fall, 90 percent of its graduates went to college -- many the first in their families to do so. This week, Detroit school officials are debating how to reinvent the city's high schools in the context of widespread school closings. We urge them to use New York as a model
If Detroit's school leaders say such transformations are impossible with current funding levels, all they have to do is look to New York City for guidance. Previously, the Detroit system had envisioned closing small academies such as the successful Communication and Media Arts High School in favor of large, 2,000-plus comprehensive high schools. This "big box," Wal-Mart approach to students would save the district money and be more efficient -- but at the cost of students' success.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-22/117311175660880.xml&coll=7
Mayor wants better police accessibility
Monday, March 05, 2007
By Kathy Jessup
kjessup@kalamazoogazette.com 388-8590
Saying ``we're going to have to change,'' Kalamazoo Mayor Hannah McKinney said she expects the City Commission to tonight call for improvement of Department of Public Safety relations with neighborhoods, especially minority residents.
Three commissioners who make up the city's Racial Equity Subcommittee are recommending city administrators present an improvement plan within 30 days to ``sustain an environment of credibility, approachability and inclusion'' within Public Safety.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the commission's chambers, on the second floor of City Hall, 241 W. South St.
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/NEWS01/703060318/1001/news
Published March 6, 2007
[ From Lansing State Journal ]
Statute of limitations nixed from drunken driving law
Special to the State Journal
A change in Michigan's drunken driving law could see more repeat offenders spending time in prison. Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed legislation effective Jan. 3 that eliminates the current 10-year statute of limitations between first and third, or subsequent, drunken driving offenses.
Under the prior law, a third offense of drunken driving would be considered a felony only if it occurred within a prior 10-year time period. However, with the revision, a driver arrested for drunken driving with two prior offenses - regardless of how old the prior convictions are - will face felony charges.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-35/117312990293950.xml&coll=6
Final steps for Wayland-area casino delayed
Monday, March 05, 2007
By Chris Knape
Hold on to those quarter rolls.
Hours before the federal government planned to set aside land for the Gun Lake Band of Pottawatomi Indians to use for a casino, a judge blocked the move pending a planned appeal of a Feb. 23 decision he issued in favor of the tribe.
The U.S. Department of Interior had been planning to take land in Wayland Township just off U.S. 131 into trust at 5 p.m. today.
The stay, which is a court-ordered halt of further action, by U.S. District Judge John G. Penn was issued at 1:39 p.m..
The stay keeps hope alive for Michigan Gambling Opposition to block the project. The group's next step is to file an appeal in the federal Court of Appeals within 30 days.
"MichGO has only prevailed in further delaying economic relief to the tribe and thousands of West Michigan residents," said James Nye, a spokesman for the tribe, also known as the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band.
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-2/117311258794090.xml&coll=3
A backpaddling ban
Monday, March 05, 2007
Sally Lieber, a Democratic state assemblywoman from San Francisco, announced recently she would introduce legislation to ban spanking. If passed, it would have made California the first state to join several countries with similar laws -- notably Germany, Austria, Sweden and Finland.
The news provoked enormous response in this country. "Saturday Night Live" did a parody. Conservative groups lambasted the legislation as an attack on parental authority.
Under the bill Lieber originally proposed, a parent would be charged with a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail or a fine of up to $1,000. A first offender would be subject to four years' probation, forced to attend a "nonviolent parental-education class" and the child would be subject to a court-protection order barring further "acts of violence."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/OPINION01/703060330
Team up to stop water invaders
March 6, 2007
As Michigan hangs out there alone in requiring treatment of discharged ballast water at its ports, pressure is building for a better national solution, which is really what's needed.
The combination of the state's action, a lawsuit filed by a coalition that includes Michigan, Senate legislation introduced by Michigan's Carl Levin, and increasingly feisty states on the West Coast have ratcheted up the pressure on shippers. They have to understand that Americans are not going to put up any longer with repeated invasions of new species -- or worse, the potential for transported diseases such as the virus sometimes called "fish ebola," which has caused fish die-offs around the lakes.
NATIONAL STORIES
Poll: Insiders favor Clinton, Romney in 2008
Party officials' opinions about presidential candidates often shape the race. Deep partisan divisions remain.
By Mark Z. Barabak, Times Staff Writer
March 4, 2007
Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Mitt Romney have emerged as the leading presidential favorites among party insiders, according to a new Los Angeles Times poll, which found deep partisan divisions over the country's direction and top issues in the 2008 campaign.
The survey showed former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina in second place among Democratic Party leaders, ahead of Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. It pointed up danger signs for Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who trailed former Massachusetts Gov. Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, the leader among Republicans in national voter surveys.
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/14953
Giuliani, Edwards Are Leaders in Iowa
March 6, 2007
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Rudy Giuliani is the most popular 2008 United States presidential hopeful for Republican Party supporters in Iowa, according to a poll by Strategic Vision. 29 per cent of likely GOP caucus voters in the Hawkeye State would vote for the former New York City mayor.
Arizona senator John McCain is second with 22 per cent, followed by former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich with 11 per cent, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney with nine per cent. Support is lower for Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel, former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson, Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo, Kansas senator Sam Brownback, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore, and California congressman Duncan Hunter.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/03/06/nh_may_change_presidential_primary_date/
N.H. may change presidential primary date
By Katharine Webster, Associated Press Writer | March 6, 2007
CONCORD, N.H. --Bill Gardner is a modest man with an awesome power: the ability to set the date of the nation's earliest presidential primary.
In 31 years as New Hampshire's secretary of state, Gardner has not hesitated to upset the best-laid plans of other states or national political parties by moving up the date -- and he's poised to do it again in 2008.
The Democratic National Committee wants to squeeze Nevada between Iowa's leadoff caucuses on Jan. 14 and the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 22, but state law requires Gardner to hold the primary on a Tuesday a week or more before any "similar election."
http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110009744
Searching for Mr. Right
Neither Giuliani nor Romney closed the deal at CPAC, and McCain didn't even show up.
Monday, March 5, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON--This weekend's 34th annual meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference was the largest ever, with 6,300 people registered. But attendees also couldn't remember a time when conservatives were so unsettled about their political future.
Former governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, one of eight announced or prospective presidential candidates to speak at CPAC, summed it up best when he said that perhaps for this year it should be renamed the "Conservative Presidential Anxiety Conference." He added, "The theme could be 'Dude, where is my candidate?' "
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/05/AR2007030501188.html
From Obama, a Map for a New March
Tuesday, March 6, 2007; Page A19
If you had to pick a winner in last weekend's Selma bake-off between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, it would have to be Obama. It is not just that he performed better than Hillary Clinton; it's that he had something very important to say to black America. It has to do, I think, with the extraordinary promise of his candidacy.
This is not an endorsement of Obama. At 45 years of age, questions about his youth, judgment and experience linger. We all have time to assess him on that score and glean -- and it will be no more than that -- whether, like Teddy Roosevelt (42), he is old enough for the presidency or, like Bill Clinton (46), he is still too young. For the moment, though, I wonder about something else: What impact will he have on America's abiding problems with race?
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1173109406249110.xml&coll=2
Obama, McCain have the right idea
Candidates say they'll back public campaign financing
Monday, March 05, 2007
Thanks to an innovative request from Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, the Federal Election Commission voted Thursday to try to salvage the endangered public financing system for presidential elections. Now it is up to presidential candidates who claim to support that system to put real commitment behind their rhetoric.
The FEC ruled that candidates can raise general election money now - as most top-tier contenders are doing - but change their minds down the road, return the private money and accept public financing instead. Candidates who are sincere supporters of public financing ought to be willing to pledge to stay within the system if they win their party's nomination and the other side's nominee promises to do the same.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/columns-2/117311181660880.xml&coll=7
Competing in the money marathon
Monday, March 05, 2007
From The New York Times
If nothing else, the disheartening frenzy to raise huge campaign donations in this front-loaded presidential race is making money -- lots and lots of money -- a public issue. In the cross-fire, federal election regulators are expected to approve Sen. Barack Obama's clever but cagey attempt to claim a reformer's mantle: He wants to let the nominees keep bagging unlimited private donations in the run-up to the primaries, then have the choice of returning a chunk of it after the conventions and accepting limited public financing for the general election.
Of course, Obama is proposing to adopt the even-money truce -- should he win the nomination -- only if the Republican nominee does the same.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/opinion/06tues2.html
Free to Vote in Florida
Published: March 6, 2007
Florida is notorious for running elections badly, but its new governor is trying to fix one of the state’s most unjust and undemocratic practices. He has called for tearing down the barriers that prevent as many as 950,000 ex-offenders from voting.
The United States stands alone in the free world when it comes to laws that strip convicted felons of the right to vote — sometimes for life — even after they complete their sentences and go on to crime-free lives. Of the more than five million citizens who were barred from the polls in the last presidential election, virtually all would have been free to vote in nations like Canada, France or Britain.
http://www.cato.org/view_ddispatch.php?viewdate=20070305#1
Democrats Propose Tax Cuts
"After years of complaining that Republicans were cluttering the tax code with provisions that enriched the wealthy, leading Democrats in Congress now want to add tax credits and deductions to benefit narrow groups of largely middle-class constituents," reports the Los Angeles Times. "Among potential beneficiaries: people with elderly parents in nursing homes, new parents, college students, volunteer firefighters and organ donors. All these goodies raise questions about how the Democrats can give away tax revenue while keeping their pledge not to deepen the government's deficit."
In "Will Democrats Raise Taxes?" Chris Edwards, Cato's director of tax policy studies, writes: "The Democrats say that they favor [Alternative Minimum Tax] relief, but they also favor 'pay-go' budget rules. Those rules require that proposed increases in spending or reductions in taxes be offset by other tax and spending changes. How will the Democrats offset the roughly $50 billion needed for AMT relief this year? Democrats are talking about reducing the 'tax gap' of untaxed income, which the Government Accountability Office puts at $345 billion. But the vast majority of that gap is individual, not corporate, with the largest share stemming from small businesses. It makes no sense -- politically or economically -- to crush the nation's entrepreneurial sector with more intrusive tax reporting and enforcement."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/POLITICS/703060328/1022
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Mass U.S. attorneys firing sparks inquiry
Rebecca Carr / Cox News Service
WASHINGTON -- The mass firing of eight U.S. attorneys is sparking outrage on Capitol Hill.
Six have been subpoenaed to testify before the House and Senate Judiciary committees today about whether they were ousted for political reasons.
All of them were appointed by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate.
The Justice Department dismissed seven U.S. attorneys by telephone Dec. 7 without warning or explanation.
Another was told in the fall that he would be replaced.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CONGRESS_PROSECUTORS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Mar 6, 2:39 AM EST
Fired U.S. attorneys to defend records
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Six former U.S. attorneys said they got little or no information about why they were fired, as another Republican lawmaker reportedly acknowledged contacting one of the federal prosecutors about an investigation.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., had complained repeatedly to high-level Justice Department officials about New Mexico prosecutor David Iglesias, the department said. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., late Monday said that she, too, had spoken with Iglesias about one of his pending cases.
But like Domenici, Wilson denied pressuring the New Mexico prosecutor, The Washington Post reported in Tuesday's editions.
Democratic lawmakers want to know whether the Bush administration dismissed the U.S. attorneys for political reasons. As many as six of eight former prosecutors dismissed in recent months were expected to tell House and Senate committees Tuesday that they were given little or no information about the reason for their firings.
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1173131103147510.xml&coll=8
By law or by faith?
Monday, March 05, 2007
THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Supreme Court (is hearing) arguments today in a case that could have a broad impact on whether the courthouse door remains open to ordinary Americans who believe that the government is undermining the separation of church and state.
The question before the court is whether a group seeking to preserve the separation of church and state can mount a First Amendment challenge to the Bush Administration's "faith based" initiatives. The arguments turn on a technical question of whether taxpayers have standing, or the right to initiate this kind of suit, but the real-world implications are serious. If the court rules that the group does not have standing, it will be much harder to stop government from giving unconstitutional aid to religion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/opinion/06tues1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
The Right to Organize
Published: March 6, 2007
There are many reasons for the long decline in the membership rolls for private sector unions, including powerful changes in the economy and the unions’ past corruption scandals. And there is little doubt that federal rules and regulations for union organizing have also become increasingly hostile to labor, helping to drive unions’ share of the work force down from a peak of 35 percent in the 1950s to a mere 7.4 percent today.
The House of Representatives passed a bill last week that would strengthen the rights of employees to form unions, and it drew an immediate veto threat from President Bush. But if Mr. Bush were, as he claims, truly concerned about rising income inequality and truly committed to improving the lives of America’s middle class, he would support the legislation and urge the Senate to approve it.
Mar 5, 9:43 PM EST
Ex-Senate leaders join bipartisan effort
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Four former Senate majority leaders are heading a new group aimed at putting aside partisan politics and offering solutions to the nation's biggest issues.
The Bipartisan Policy Center, to be announced at a news conference Tuesday, will be directed by former Sens. Howard Baker, R-Tenn.; George Mitchell, D-Maine; Bob Dole, R-Kan.; and Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
"We've all been leaders and you know how difficult it is," said Dole, who served as both majority and minority leader between 1985 and 1996. "We're all partisan in a way," Dole said in an interview Monday, adding they also hope to show that "compromise is not a bad word."
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/bminiter/?id=110009749
Rontrell's Choice
Why a South Carolina teen has to work his way through high school.
BY BRENDAN MINITER
Tuesday, March 6, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST
JOHNS ISLAND, S.C.--At 16 years old, Rontrell Matthews has a better idea than most of his peers what an education is worth. This past summer, he made his way through this rural, poor community not far outside of Charleston to show up at the doorstep of Capers Preparatory Christian Academy. In his hand was his first paycheck, a meager sum of $32.86 that he'd earned making sandwiches at the local Subway shop. Spurring him along was a determination to buy his own way out of one of the state's many failing public schools.
School choice is always controversial, and often opposed on the grounds that it will undermine public schools, subsidize middle-class parents and cherry-pick the "best" kids for a private education. After meeting Rontrell in Capers' cramped conference room on a recent afternoon, it's hard to disagree that school choice in this state would help one of the best kids get a better education. Rontrell is now excelling in school, encouraging his younger brother to study hard. He has landed a partial scholarship and continues to work at Subway to pay part of his $400-a-month tuition bill. He's a good kid.
http://www.cato.org/view_ddispatch.php?viewdate=20070305#1
"The Great Global Warming Swindle"
"Research said to prove that greenhouse gases cause climate change has been condemned as a sham by scientists," reports Britain's Daily Mail. "A United Nations report earlier this year said humans are very likely to be to blame for global warming and there is 'virtually no doubt' it is linked to man's use of fossil fuels. But other climate experts say there is little scientific evidence to support the theory. In fact global warming could be caused by increased solar activity such as a massive eruption. Their argument will be outlined on Channel 4 this Thursday in a program called 'The Great Global Warming Swindle' raising major questions about some of the evidence used for global warming."
In "New Climate for Global Energy Policy," Patrick Michaels, Cato senior fellow in environmental studies and author of Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media, explains how pundits miss the main point of the UN report: "Hundreds of scientists have been involved in the review process, and it is safe to say that means hundreds of bored scientists, because there is very little in it that is scientifically new. For example, it [reports] with increasing certitude that humans are responsible for most of the surface warming that began in the mid-1970s. That's been pretty obvious for years."
The real importance of the UN report is less newsworthy: "Unless the collective conclusions of all of the models is wrong, we can confidently estimate a warming of about 1.8 degrees Centigrade from 2000 to 2100. That's very near the low end of the range of projections released today. The fact that the most logical distillation of observed and predicted warming yields such a modest heating should be reassuring, rather than alarming. The new estimate for maximum rise in sea level, assuming a middle-of-the-road estimate for carbon dioxide changes, is going to be lower than in previous IPCC reports."
This Friday, March 9, at 4:00pm, Vaclav Klaus, the president of the Czech Republic, will address the topic of contemporary environmental issues facing Europe and the world, such as global warming at the Cato forum "Facing a Challenge of the Current Era: Environmentalism." Recently, Klaus asserted that "Global warming is a false myth and every serious person and scientist says so. It is not fair to refer to the U.N. panel. IPCC is not a scientific institution: it's a political body, a sort of non-government organization of green flavor. It's neither a forum of neutral scientists nor a balanced group of scientists. These people are politicized scientists who arrive there with a one-sided opinion and a one-sided assignment." Klaus also said, "other top-level politicians" do not express their global warming doubts because "a whip of political correctness strangles [their] voice."
To learn more or register for the event, click here.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/POLAR_BEARS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Mar 5, 11:23 PM EST
Government hears polar bear concerns
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Environmental activists, hunters and oil industry representatives spoke at a public hearing Monday night on whether the U.S. government should list polar bears as a threatened species.
Some speakers said scientific evidence supports the listing and urged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to adopt protections so polar bears would be present for future generations.
"We need to ultimately recognize the threat that global warming poses not just to polar bears but countless other species, from Caribbean corals to the California butterflies to us as well," said Melissa Waage of the Center for Biological Diversity.
But others said listing the polar bear as threatened could hurt the hunting industry, whose revenues help local economies.
"They are not endangered," said Patterk Netser, an environmental minister for the Nunavut Territory of Canada. "They are not threatened at the moment. We have an abundance of them in our area."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CHENEY_BLOOD_CLOT?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Mar 6, 6:43 AM EST
Tests reveal blood clot in Cheney's leg
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Doctors discovered a blood clot in Vice President Dick Cheney's left leg Monday, a condition that could be fatal if left untreated.
The 66-year-old Cheney, who has a history of heart problems, will be treated with blood-thinning medication for several months, said spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride.
She said Cheney visited his doctor's office in Washington after feeling minor discomfort in his calf. An ultrasound showed the blood clot - called a deep venous thrombosis - in his left lower leg.
Blood clots that form deep in the legs can become killers if they break off and float into the lungs. This is called a pulmonary embolism. Deep vein thrombosis strikes an estimated 2 million Americans each year, killing 60,000.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/POLITICS/703060330/1022
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Blood clot in Cheney's leg could be fatal if untreated
Ben Feller / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Doctors discovered a blood clot in Vice President Dick Cheney's left leg Monday, a condition that could be fatal if left untreated.
The 66-year-old Cheney, who has a history of heart problems, will be treated with blood-thinning medication for several months, spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said.
She said Cheney visited his doctor's office in Washington after feeling minor discomfort in his calf. An ultrasound showed the blood clot -- called a deep venous thrombosis -- in his left lower leg.
Blood clots that form deep in the legs can become killers if they break off and float into the lungs. This is called a pulmonary embolism. Deep vein thrombosis strikes an estimated 2 million Americans each year, killing 60,000.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/POLITICS/703060339/1022
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Army: We are at fault
Cheney vows 'no excuses, only action' to fix Walter Reed problems; lawmakers fear failings not isolated.
Michael Abramowitz and Steve Vogel / Washington Post
WASHINGTON -- Senior commanders of the U.S. Army offered profuse apologies Monday for the poor treatment accorded many soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but lawmakers expressed skepticism that the generals had been unaware of the problems until they were spotlighted by the media two weeks ago.
Congress opened a round of investigative hearings into the Walter Reed scandal only days after a major shakeup at the Army that followed Washington Post reports on squalid living conditions and bureaucratic tangles for soldiers receiving outpatient care. Walter Reed's commander, Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, and Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey lost their jobs, and the Bush administration has established several panels to investigate the care being provided to wounded soldiers.
At one point during several hours of hearings in the auditorium at Walter Reed, Weightman turned to the soldiers and families behind him and apologized "for not meeting their expectations, not only in the care provided, but also in having so many bureaucratic processes."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/opinion/06eaton.html
Casualties of the Budget Wars
By PAUL D. EATON
Published: March 6, 2007
Fox Island, Wash.
IN his 1997 book “Dereliction of Duty,” Col. H. R. McMaster wrote that “the ‘five silent men’ on the Joint Chiefs made possible the way the United States went to war in Vietnam.” So it is today with the war in Iraq. Regrettably, the silence of our top officers has had a huge impact not just on the battlefield but also on how we have brought our injured warriors home from it. These planning failures led to the situation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center recently reported by The Washington Post, which resulted in the firings of the hospital’s commander and the secretary of the Army.
The sad truth is that The Post’s reports weren’t entirely new: Mark Benjamin, of United Press International and the Web magazine Salon, and Steve Robinson, the director of veterans affairs at Veterans for America, have been reporting on the disgraceful treatment of our war wounded since 2003. More important, the Walter Reed scandal is simply the tip of the iceberg: President Bush, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Congress all pointedly failed to provide the money and resources for our returned troops wherever they are, both the obviously wounded and those who may seem healthy but are suffering mentally and physically from their service.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WALTER_REED?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Mar 6, 7:36 AM EST
Lawmakers vow Walter Reed scandal probe
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lawmakers say they want to know why U.S. troops returning from combat are being stuck in dilapidated housing and battling excessive red tape to get medical care.
"We want answers," said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. "We want to know why things were overlooked and why matters were not addressed when brought to the leadership's attention."
Nelson and other members of the Senate Armed Services Committee were expected to pepper Army officials Tuesday with questions about Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where wounded soldiers have said they experienced neglect and substandard living conditions.
During a hearing Monday, two soldiers wounded in combat and a spouse of a wounded soldier recounted nightmarish stories of frustration as they tried to get medical attention and disability compensation.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GATES_NOT_RUMSFELD?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Mar 6, 8:04 AM EST
Gates being called the 'anti-Rumsfeld'
WASHINGTON (AP) -- After heading the Pentagon for less than three months, Robert Gates is showing an instinct for decisiveness without the reflex for defensiveness that was a hallmark of his sometimes prickly predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld.
In both style and substance, Gates is being called the "anti-Rumsfeld."
Gates has not been confronted with the kind of tough decisions that faced Rumsfeld in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, nor is he attempting to press as broad an agenda as did Rumsfeld, who took over as defense secretary in January 2001 with a mandate from President Bush to transform the military.
Yet in ways large and small Gates is displaying more pragmatism in managing the Pentagon, even as he faces the mammoth task of overseeing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has taken a less confrontational approach to the news media and has improved relations with Congress. And in some cases he has publicly criticized what happened on Rumsfeld's watch.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TERROR_PRIVACY?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Mar 5, 9:13 PM EST
Privacy board clears U.S. spy programs
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A White House privacy board is giving its stamp of approval to two of the Bush administration's controversial surveillance programs - electronic eavesdropping and financial tracking - and says they do not violate citizens' civil liberties.
Democrats newly in charge of Congress quickly criticized the findings, which they said were questionable given some of the board members' close ties with the Bush administration.
"Their current findings and any additional conclusions they reach will be taken with a grain of salt until they become fully independent," said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SCOTUS_GUANTANAMO?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Mar 5, 9:12 PM EST
Detainees seek legal rights guarantee
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lawyers for Guantanamo detainees held more than five years without charges asked the Supreme Court Monday to step in a third time to guarantee that they can challenge their confinement in U.S. courts.
The detainees want the justices to hear their case and issue a decision before the court ends its term in early summer.
"Not only are these questions of paramount legal importance, but the extreme and worsening plight of the Guantanamo detainees make them questions of great humanitarian urgency as well," lawyers for the detainees wrote in court papers urging the justices to decide the case.
The court has twice ruled that foreigners imprisoned at the U.S. naval base in Cuba can pursue their cases in American courts, rejecting Bush administration arguments.
The latest Supreme Court appeal follows a federal appeals court ruling last month that limited detainees' legal rights. The 2-1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld a key provision of the Military Commissions Act, which Bush pushed through Congress last year to set up a Defense Department system to prosecute terrorism suspects. Now, detainees must prove to three-officer military panels that they don't pose a terror threat.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009751
Unions vs. Security
Organizing airport screeners like postal workers.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST
It's getting to be a full-time job keeping track of the favors that Democrats in Congress are doing for Big Labor. The latest two episodes are especially notable because they'd benefit unions at the expense of national security.
First up is Senator Jim DeMint's (R., S.C.) proposal to bar certain convicted felons from working in ports. Members of Congress professed to be outraged last year when a few U.S. ports would have been managed by Dubai Ports World. But a far larger concern is that 750,000 workers currently have unescorted access to secure port areas, and felons are obvious recruitment targets for any number of bad actors, including terrorists.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1173109775270620.xml&coll=6
Worth a try in the Mideast
Monday, March 05, 2007
The Bush administration apparently has decided to pursue a diplomatic "surge" to go along with its troop surge in Iraq. Last week's decision to attend an upcoming conference in Baghdad that includes Iran and Syria adds a diplomatic initiative to U.S. policy in the region.
The idea of engaging two of the principal outside agitators in Iraq's escalating violence was rejected when recommended by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group in December. Whatever the reasons the about-face has to be welcomed. Talking with Iran and Syria about security and stability in Iraq is worth a try. For sure, nothing is being advanced by not talking with them.
Coming to the table with these two bad actors is not easy. Evidence is strong that Iran supplies the sophisticated roadside bombs that are killing American troops in Iraq. Syria is suspected of harboring insurgents. But as the Iraq Study Group noted, during the Cold War, the United States didn't give the Soviets the silent treatment. We kept the lines of communication open, understanding the importance of dialogue to reach common ground.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/opinion/06bogdanos.html
Fighting for Iraq’s Culture
By MATTHEW BOGDANOS
Published: March 6, 2007
WITH the situation in Iraq growing seemingly graver by the day, Americans are increasingly reluctant to risk American blood to save Iraqi lives. So it’s a pretty tough sell to ask people to care about a bunch of old rocks with funny writing.
But what if they understood that the plunder of Iraq’s 10,000 poorly guarded archaeological sites not only deprives future generations of incomparable works of art, but also finances the insurgents? Having led the United States investigation into the looting of the Iraq National Museum in 2003, I know that millions of dollars’ worth of antiquities flow out of the country each year. And it would be naïve to think the insurgents aren’t getting a major share of the loot.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/NATION/703060342/1022
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
38 killed in Iraq suicide bombing
Brian Murphy / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A suicide car bomber turned a venerable book market into a deadly inferno, and gunmen targeted Shiite pilgrims Monday as suspected Sunni insurgents brought major bloodshed back into the lap of their main Shiite rivals. At least 38 people died in the blast, and seven pilgrims were killed.
The violence -- after a three-day relative lull in Baghdad -- was seen as another salvo in the Sunni extremist campaign to provoke a sectarian civil war that could tear apart the Shiite-led government and erase Washington's plans for Iraq.
The Shiite Mahdi Army militia has resisted full-scale retaliation through a combination of self-interest and intense government pressure.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/NATION/703060340/1022
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Allied strike kills 9 Afghan relatives
Amir Shah and Rahim Faiez / Associated Press
JABAR, Afghanistan -- A coalition airstrike destroyed a mud-brick home after a rocket attack on a U.S. base, killing nine people from four generations of an Afghan family, including a 6-month-old, officials and relatives said Monday -- one of the latest in a string of civilian deaths that threaten to undermine the government.
It was the third report in two days of U.S. forces killing civilians. The airstrike took place late Sunday in the Kapisa province north of the capital, 12 hours after U.S. Marines opened fire on civilian cars and pedestrians following a suicide bombing in eastern Nangahar province.
In the other incident, an American convoy in the southern city of Kandahar -- where suicide attacks have become commonplace over the past year -- opened fire Monday on a vehicle that drove too close, killing the driver, said Noor Ahmad, a Kandahar police officer who said he witnessed the shooting. A NATO spokesman said he did not have any information.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NUCLEAR_DETECTORS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Mar 6, 1:41 AM EST
U.S. working to develop new nuke detectors
WASHINGTON (AP) -- At a busy border crossing, a truck passing through a radiation scanner sets off an alarm. It could be a nuclear device, but it's far more likely to be kitty litter, ceramic tile or a load of bananas.
The machines, first installed after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, measure gamma radiation, but cannot distinguish between low levels of gamma rays that occur naturally in innocent materials, and the makings for weapons that terrorists might use.
So the inspectors must pull the truck or container aside for a second inspection with a hand-held scanner, which, at the nation's busiest ports or border crossings, can lead to backed-up lines that anger drivers and slow commerce.
http://www.cato.org/view_ddispatch.php?viewdate=20070305#1
Bloggers in Egypt take Center Stage
"Egyptian bloggers have come into the spotlight, on the one hand as an important forum for political debate, on the other as the target of government attempts to limit their freedom of expression," reports Reuters. "Earlier this month, Abdel-Karim Suleiman, a 22-year-old former law student at al-Azhar Islamic university, became the first Egyptian jailed for his blogging when he was handed a four-year prison sentence. 'Despite their small number, the bloggers have established themselves as an alternative media outlet,' said Ehab el-Zalaky, a senior editor at the independent weekly newspaper al-Dustor, who has written extensively on bloggers."
In "The 'Crime' of Blogging In Egypt," Tom G. Palmer, Cato senior fellow, and Raja M. Kamal, associate dean at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, write: "Egypt is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the 'freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media.' The exceptions allowed are narrowly drawn and require proof of 'necessity' before restrictions can be imposed. The posting of opinions on a student's personal blog hardly qualifies as a threat to national security, to the reputation of the president or to public order. Soliman is not a threat to Egypt, but this prosecution is."
They conclude: "Whether or not we agree with the opinions that Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman expressed is not the issue. What matters is a principle: People should be free to express their opinions without fear of being imprisoned or killed. Blogging should not be a crime."
Nicole Kurokawa, editor, nkurokawa@cato.org
