Articles of Interest 5-25-07
529 Days until election day.
MORNING SUMMARY
Democrats are willing to work “over-time”, but only when they have a chance to raise taxes. If they would have only worked this hard to live within our means…we wouldn’t be in this position today.
The Democrats were NOT able to muster a vote on taxes yesterday. Governor Granholm and Speaker Dillon couldn’t provide the leadership or direction to their own party, let alone pick off any Republican votes.
Based on the Budget Estimating Conference, the state collected $185 MILLION more this year than it did last year during the same period of time.
Let me REPEAT that….Michigan collected an ADDITIONAL $185 MILLION in new revenues this year than we did the year before.
So if the Governor spent the same amount she did last year (election year spending) this year (rather than deficit spending) we would NOT be in the mess we are in today. In fact, she could have spent and extra $185 MILLION on revenue sharing or schools…without causing her “crisis”.
The Governor has violated the constitution and is attempting to blackmail the legislature into a tax increase….call your legislators today…let them know what you think.
Governor Granholm has already proposed increasing 2008 spending by 9.1%….while the consumer price index (inflation) increased only 2.1%.
We are losing jobs, we are losing taxpayers and we keep spending more on welfare and medicare….the only folks who will want to move here are folks from other states who’s welfare benefits run out…because Governor Granholm won’t support a limit like almost every other state has.
We have a SPENDING problem….NOT a revenue problem.
John Edwards once supported the War on Terror….when the politics made sense to him. This guy is a walking hypocrite…in the worse manner…check this out:
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/05/john_edwards_on.html
Right Michigan has compiled and posted a great list of state contracts that the Governor and state government has let get out of contol. You’ll be shocked!
http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/5/24/14027/4009
THE REST OF THE STORY
Here are some facts and figures the House Republicans put out about the Governor’s 2008 budget….know the facts, question your legislators.
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/05/republicans_tal.html
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
Granholm issues orders to consolidate government functions
By TIM MARTIN
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm issued orders Thursday to consolidate human resources, accounting services and some other state government functions.
Meanwhile, the Democratic governor's administration and the Legislature prepared to meet over the Memorial Day weekend if necessary to resolve the state's budget problems.
The Granholm administration said the executive orders are designed to cut government costs as Michigan grapples with an $800 million budget deficit for this fiscal year and an even larger hole for the budget year that starts in October. But an estimate of cost savings from the orders wasn't available.
Some of the consolidations, including the abolishment of the Department of Civil Service, would take effect in the summer while others wouldn't start until the fall. Some jobs could be eliminated during the consolidation, but it's not known how many would be affected or if layoffs would be required, Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/POLITICS/705250387
Granholm cuts dept., merges others
Vote on income tax hike next; it may come today
Mark Hornbeck and Charlie Cain / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
LANSING -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm Thursday ordered the elimination of a state department and consolidation of human resources, accounting and auditing services across state government as a way to streamline and save money in the face of an $800 million deficit.
The moves are seen as paving the way for what increasingly appears to be an inevitable tax increase. The House could vote as early as today to increase the state's 3.9 percent income tax to 4.4 percent or 4.6 percent.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070524/NEWS06/70524039
House inches toward raising taxes
May 24, 2007
By DAWSON BELL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
LANSING — The Michigan House of Representatives, moving by fits and starts, showed signs Wednesday that its members may be ready to raise taxes to help remedy the state’s deficit.
The leading option appears to be a 0.5% increase in the state income tax, from 3.9% to 4.4%, beginning July 1.
That move, outlined in a House Democratic memo circulating Wednesday at the Capitol, would raise about $225 million in the final three months of the 2007 fiscal year and about $900 million for 2008. Several budget-related measures to reduce the cost of government approved by the House late Wednesday were tied to passage of an income tax increase.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070524/BUSINESS06/70524043
State economy may have stopped its slide
May 24, 2007
BY ALEJANDRO BODIPO-MEMBA
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Michigan’s economy appears to have halted the precipitous declines from last year, though experts say it is still too early to say that the worst is behind us.
The Michigan Business Activity Index compiled by Comerica Bank remained at 103 in April, which is 1 point above the same period a year ago.
The monthly snapshot of business in Michigan compiles 10 different measures of economic activity across the state. The seasonally adjusted index is corrected for inflation and has been compiled since 1957.
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/OPINION02/705250325/1087/opinion
Published May 25, 2007
[ From Lansing State Journal ]
Tim Skubick: Budget delay easy to explain
Why is this taking so darn long?
Everywhere, folks must be wondering what the heck are they doing - or not doing - in Lansing.
Nobody ever said resolving the state government budget mess would be easy. Everyone from the governor on down is proving it.
Let's start with inexperience.
The three major combatants in the room trying to bang this thing out have a combined 15 years of experience. That's 15 years total for the governor, House speaker and Senate majority leader.
Because they have not worked together for years, there is something else missing: trust. You can't do a deal without it.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/AUTO02/705250386
Daniel Howes
Governor tiptoes in speech
As tough crowds go, Gov. Jennifer Granholm stood before one of Michigan's toughest on Thursday afternoon -- 35 members of the board of Detroit Renaissance.
Officially, the visit to the penthouse dining room atop Ford Motor Co.'s headquarters had been on the governor's schedule for a long time, her office says, a response to a request from the region's most influential collection of CEOs.
How would the second-term governor break the budget logjam? Would she and the Legislature finally inject certainty into an uncertain business tax environment? Would she get serious about tackling the entitlement culture and steep costs baked into state and local public employment?
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/BIZ/705250381/1001
Michigan regional jobless rates drop
Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. -- Seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates declined in all of Michigan's 17 regional labor markets in April, state officials said Thursday.
However, 13 regions saw higher unemployment in April than a year ago, according to the state Department of Labor and Economic Growth. Total employment dropped in all regions from year-ago levels by an average of 1.5 percent.
Michigan's seasonally adjusted jobless rate rose in April to 7.1 percent after dropping each of the previous three months. The national unemployment rate for April was 4.5 percent.
The rate in Metro Detroit was 6.7 percent, down from 6.9 percent.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/OPINION01/705250307/1008
Ignore special interests in crafting tax policy
Democrats repeatedly tell us that "everything is on the table" when it comes to balancing the state budget. That would be nice if it were true, but we know better.
If it were, Gov. Jennifer Granholm wouldn't be stumping for the Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association and talking about holding them harmless from tax increases because such a tax would hit "too many" people (as if an income tax or sales tax hike wouldn't do the same).
And we'd have a definitive plan from House Democrats detailing their supposedly universal and fair tax increase strategies.
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http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/OPINION01/705250304/1008
Seek ways to trim state's expensive payroll
State employees often receive better pay, benefits than taxpayers
As state government careens toward a tax hike for Michigan's economically battered citizens, it's worth noting that Michigan government employees are very expensive, indeed.
In an analysis published earlier this year, Mackinac Center analysts Brian Balfour and Michael LaFaive noted the gap in pay and benefits between state employees and private-sector workers who will be asked by this administration and Democratic state lawmakers to reach into their wallets to support state government.
Their analysis was based on 2005 figures for state government. We checked with the state Department of Labor and Economic Growth for more recent figures. As of the first quarter of 2006, for state government, including universities and state hospitals, the average pay on an annual basis for state employees was $49,660. For private-sector workers, the comparable figure was $42,588. These figures do not include fringe benefits.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/NEWS06/705250376/1008
Justices will decide on gay health benefits STATE COURTS
May 25, 2007
BY DAVID ASHENFELTER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Michigan Supreme Court will wade into a legal brawl over the practice of public employers providing health insurance benefits to the partners of gay workers.
The high court agreed Thursday to review a February decision by the Michigan Court of Appeals that halted the benefits at public universities and state and local governments. But the Supreme Court refused to stay the appeals court decision pending its review.
Michigan ACLU Legal Director Michael J. Steinberg said "we are encouraged by the prospect that the Supreme Court might fix a grave injustice caused by the Court of Appeals decision."
The ACLU sued in Ingham County Circuit Court in March 2005 on behalf of 21 gay couples after Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox concluded that the November 2004 voter approval of a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriages also prohibited public employers from providing the benefits.
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http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/OPINION01/705250332/1069
Vote shows old habits die hard
May 25, 2007
After a dozen years under the thumb of a Republican majority, Democrats promised to do things better, smarter and more ethically when voters gave them control of the House this year. Facing their first test, they caved in to old Washington ways.
In a vote that went largely down party lines, House Democrats rejected a Republican effort Tuesday to censure Rep. John Murtha, a crusty pork-barreler from Pennsylvania who was out of line in an angry remark he made to Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich. Rogers had tried unsuccessfully to erase a $23-million Murtha earmark -- a specific spending item to benefit one member -- for a drug intelligence center in Murtha's western Pennsylvania district. Afterward, Murtha, who chairs the House defense spending subcommittee, told him: "You will not get any earmarks, now and forever."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/COL04/705250326
Pols cash in on economic ignorance
May 25, 2007
BY BRIAN DICKERSON
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
It's easy, as we busy ourselves with travel plans for the Memorial Day weekend, to overlook the holiday's deeper purpose: allowing fatuous politicians to pretend they are doing something meaningful about high gasoline prices.
Last year, you may recall, it was Republicans such as President George W. Bush and Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox who demanded a federal investigation to find out whether oil producers were manipulating prices at the pump.
This year, in keeping with Michigan's proud tradition of bipartisan posturing, it's the Democrats' turn to mount their own toothless assault on rapacious retailers and wholesalers.
The most elaborate Memorial Day ruse is taking place in Washington, D.C., where 283 brave Congresspersons voted this week to back a bill by Michigan Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Menominee authorizing fines of up to $150 million for producers and retailers found to be taking "unfair advantage" of consumers or charging "unconscionably excessive" prices for gasoline and other fuels.
http://www.mlive.com/news/citpat/index.ssf?/base/news-21/118001552487520.xml&coll=3
State plans to add inmates
Thursday, May 24, 2007
By David Eggert
Associated Press Writer
LANSING -- Two Jackson prisons would get more inmates -- and jobs -- under a state plan outlined Wednesday to boost bed space at nine minimum-security prisons.
Officials want to add inmates at the Cooper Street and Parnall facilities, plus seven others, so another prison could be closed.
The state Department of Corrections said the move, which was detailed Wednesday to the Senate Appropriations Judiciary and Corrections Subcommittee, would save $10 million a year. It is part of a plan to save Michigan's cash-strapped state government $92 million in the budget year that starts Oct. 1.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/OPINION03/705250303/1008/OPINION01
Frank Beckmann
Stop Democrats from gouging taxpayers into income oblivion
Our state Legislature -- or at least the Democrats in Lansing -- doesn't grasp the concept of adjusting the size of government to match available tax dollars.
Instead, they insist on solving their self-created budget mess with a tax increase to continue growing the bureaucracy while ignoring the decline in personal income among Michigan taxpayers, who are becoming fewer in number.
The effort to raise the state income tax is the latest head scratcher.
Noted economist Arthur Laffer's analysis of state tax rates last December ranked Michigan as the 15th most competitive state in the nation.
That's because our state income tax rate is among the lowest in the country at 3.9 percent. And now, the Democrats want to surrender that advantage in the name of bigger government.
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginawnews/index.ssf?/base/news-22/1180016629144140.xml&coll=9
City voters might see charter on August ballot
Thursday, May 24, 2007
JOE SNAPPER
THE SAGINAW NEWS
Voters in Saginaw are the governor's signature away from deciding whether to overhaul the political and business structure at City Hall.
Reversing its March rejection of the proposed City Charter revision, the state attorney general's office has given a clean bill of health to the rewritten city constitution and delivered it to Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm.
While charter supporters praised the approval by Mike Cox's office, some Charter Commission members are furious over an assistant attorney general's decision to include information critical of the charter in the submission to Granholm.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/AUTO01/705250367&theme=Autos-UAW
GM pushes job changes
Plants where UAW balks may lose new work
Sharon Terlep / The Detroit News
ORION TOWNSHIP -- Contract talks between Detroit automakers and the United Auto Workers don't officially begin for months, but critical battles already are under way at General Motors Corp. plants around the country.
GM is pushing UAW locals at its factories to agree to money-saving work rule changes -- from reduced break time to more leeway to outsource jobs -- that mirror policies in plants run by foreign competitors, especially Toyota Motor Corp.
Ford Motor Co. was able to put such so-called competitive operating agreements in place with relative ease in more than three dozen of its U.S. plants, but GM is having a much tougher time convincing the UAW.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/METRO02/705250326
Pontiac
District to lay off 100 teachers, 221 others
Cuts that include 100 teachers aim to address expected enrollment drop, $17M budget gap.
Shawn D. Lewis / The Detroit News
PONTIAC -- At least 321 employees will be laid off from the Pontiac School District, including 100 teachers, as the district struggles to balance the budget.
Declining enrollment, with 1,000 fewer students expected in the 2007-08 school year and an anticipated cut of nearly $125 per pupil in state funding, are prompting the the layoffs. Along with the teachers, executives from central office and support staff will be laid off.
Neil Winton: European Perspective
Daimler, minus Chrysler, expected to prosper mightily
This isn't going to make very pleasant reading in Detroit, but now that Daimler has apparently wriggled free of Chrysler, investors and experts predict a rosy future for the German company.
There are potential problems though, which might trigger some "Schadenfreude" -- the only big German word most people know -- taking pleasure from the misfortunes of others.
Some investors believe that a standalone Daimler could fall victim to a predator because it lacks a friendly-family shareholder like BMW's Quandt family, or the kind of legalistic, peculiarly German protection that made VW and therefore its premium subsidiary Audi, untouchable by takeover artists. Porsche's recent stake building in VW has replaced the previous security blanket provided by the "VW Law."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/BIZ/705250380/1001
Local spotlight
Web site lets service providers bid for jobs
Businesses pay a fee for leads and marketing assistance, can also rate customers they work for.
Neal Haldane / Special to The Detroit News
BLOOMFIELD HILLS -- A couple dozen down, thousands more to go.
That's the road map for Needhelpers.com, a new Web site designed to match consumers with electricians, plumbers, landscapers, caterers, insurers and other service providers.
So far, Gene Gizzarelli, chairman, and Mike Fisher, chief information officer, have signed on more than two dozen companies that have paid $350 for 18 months' worth of leads and marketing assistance on Needhelpers.com.
"We've had an excellent response, but when you first start, it takes a little time to advertise and bring people to the site," Gizzarelli said about the business that debuted April 1.
http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1180016194121020.xml&coll=8
Economy has park rangers spread a bit thinner
Thursday, May 24, 2007
By Corinne DeVries
It should be camping as usual for those heading out to state parks on Memorial weekend.
Despite a $3.8 million reduction in the state budget for the Department of Natural Resources, campers aren't likely to see a decline in services, park officials say. But, there will be a reduction in staffing at many area parks.
"We'll have to work harder with fewer people, that's the bottom line," said Pete Lundborg, park manager of Silver Lake State Park in Mears. "I'm not worried, but we get spread a little thinner in places.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/BIZ/705250315/1003/METRO
Farm bill may dig in to Michigan crops
Legislation could cut agricultural spending by $18 billion, end subsidies to some state farmers.
Ken Thomas / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The gladiolus, peonies and sunflowers that bloom on Bob Mayer's farm in Bronson, Mich., are always susceptible to the state's varied weather patterns -- but more research could help in the annual tangle with Mother Nature.
When the growing season starts in March, Mayer chooses varieties that can handle the cold weather at the onset and the intense heat at their peak in early July. Other varieties might be planted in the summer so they can handle dampness and fog that are common for the autumn harvest.
Mayer, 40, says choosing the right variety at his south Michigan farm is "more of a feel rather than an exact science" but highlights the need for more research into specialty crops.
http://www.mlive.com/news/citpat/index.ssf?/base/news-21/118001555387520.xml&coll=3
Demand for housing down Jackson mirrors state, national trends
Thursday, May 24, 2007
By Holly Klaft
hklaft@citpat.com -- 768-4944
Jackson's suffering housing market has home builders shying from starting new ventures.
With a glut of existing homes on the market, builders aren't applying for permits because there is little demand for new housing.
"If people can't sell their homes, they're not going to build a new one to replace it," said Jerry Herendeen, president of the Home Builders Association of Jackson.
The number of home building permits in Jackson County took a dive last year -- dropping 34 percent from 2005, according to reports by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Permits for this March also fell by 47 percent since the same time in 2006.
But Jackson County isn't alone. Its drop in newly constructed homes reflects national and statewide trends.
http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/index.ssf?/base/news-22/1180017786211950.xml&coll=2
U-M picks fewer minority students But enrollment may hold steady in the fall
Thursday, May 24, 2007
BY DAVE GERSHMAN
News Staff Reporter
While fewer black, Latino and Native American students were admitted to the University of Michigan for the next freshman class, university officials are not predicting a big drop in minority student enrollment when students arrive this fall.
The number of admitted students from those three minority groups, who are considered underrepresented on campus, dropped 7 percent to 1,399, a decrease of 111 students compared to the last cycle.
However, preliminary figures released Wednesday show 688 of the underrepresented minority students who were admitted paid enrollment deposits to reserve spots in the freshman class - which is five more than last year. Paid deposits are a key indicator of how many students will actually enroll in the fall.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/METRO01/705250342/1003/METRO
Livonia
Empty schools rile neighbors
Residents say sites become teen hangouts, downgrade property values; district says plan in works for buildings.
Karen Bouffard / The Detroit News
LIVONIA -- Pamela Panagos says she bought her home on Hardy Street because it's kitty-corner from a neighborhood elementary school.
But her home's proximity to Tyler Elementary has become more of a liability than an asset since the building was shuttered last fall along with six other Livonia schools as part of a sweeping cost-cutting initiative, Panagos said.
Panagos and other residents say the vacant buildings are a nuisance that could end up hurting their property values. But district officials maintain they're mowing the lawns and caring for the sites, while making progress on developing long-range plans for the buildings.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/NEWS06/705250323/1008
Lawmaker is likely to miss key votes
May 25, 2007
The Michigan Legislature may cast some of the most critical votes in memory in the next few days as it decides how to resolve the state's budget crisis.
But for at least a little while longer, it'll have to do it without state Rep. Marsha Cheeks, D-Detroit. She has been away all week on what party insiders said is a vacation cruise in the Caribbean.
There were suggestions circulating Thursday at the Capitol that House leaders weren't entirely pleased to have unavailable a member who could be counted on to vote for a tax increase. But, officially, they tendered no comment. Cheeks, the aunt of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, could not be reached.
By Dawson Bell
Mich. shortchanged on beach test funds
Congressional members call for new formula to allocate monitoring grants.
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Water at the beaches that thousands of Michiganians will enjoy this weekend could be cleaner if a federal program didn't shortchange Michigan and other Great Lakes states, a federal report released Thursday suggests.
The report, requested by members of Congress from Michigan and other states, says the formula used to distribute federal money for monitoring beaches is flawed, and rewards southern states with longer summers at the expense of Michigan and its 3,200 miles of shoreline.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/washington/25cong.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Congress Passes War Funds Bill, Ending Impasse
WASHINGTON, May 24 — Congress voted Thursday to meet President Bush’s demand for almost $100 billion to pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through September, providing a momentary truce in a bitter struggle over war policy.
Even before the House and the Senate acted, Mr. Bush welcomed the legislation, which does not set the timetable sought by Democrats for withdrawing troops but requires the Iraqi government to meet a series of benchmarks as a condition of receiving further American reconstruction aid.
The measure also calls for reports from Mr. Bush in July and September about how his strategy is unfolding in Iraq and requires independent assessments of the performance of the Iraqi government by Sept. 1 and the abilities of Iraqi military forces within 120 days.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/POLITICS/705250376/1022
Iraq funding is big setback for Pelosi
Dems slammed by anti-war left after backing down on push to tie cash to withdrawal.
Edward Epstein / San Francisco Chronicle
WASHINGTON -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi suffered the most significant setback in her five months running the House when she backed down in the legislative battle with President Bush over paying for the war in Iraq, but even some of her critics suggest she and her top deputies had little chance of prevailing.
After more than three months of deadlock over Bush's request for war funding, the California lawmaker and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada were forced this week to drop their effort to tie the money to a U.S. troop withdrawal and readiness standards for units being deployed into war.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/24/AR2007052402256.html
After Victory on Hill, President Shifts Tone on Iraq
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 25, 2007; Page A04
President Bush faced reporters for his first full-scale, solo news conference in three months savoring what may be a last victory in his battle with Congress over the course of the war in Iraq.
Hours later, the House and Senate would deliver to the White House $100 billion in war funding, shorn of the timelines intended to end the U.S. mission by early next year.
By refusing to budge on demanding a no-strings-attached bill, Bush forced congressional Democrats to back off, at least temporarily, from their efforts to end the war by including conditions on a war funding bill. It was a sign that while Bush's popularity may be scraping historic lows, he still has some stick in Washington.
Dems: Fight Over Iraq War Has Just Begun
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats may have lost the first round with President Bush on ending the war in Iraq since taking over Congress in January, but they say their fight has just begun.
In the months ahead, lawmakers will vote repeatedly on whether U.S. troops should stay and whether Bush has the authority to continue the war. The Democratic strategy is intended to ratchet up pressure on the president, as well as on moderate Republicans who have grown tired of defending Bush administration policy in a deeply unpopular war.
"I feel a direction change in the air," said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House panel that oversees military funding.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0525/p02s01-uspo.html
from the May 25, 2007 edition
An uproar over '08 primary calendar
Florida's decision to move its primary to Jan. 29 in defiance of both parties' rules fuels speculation about penalties.
By Linda Feldmann | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Page 1 of 2
Washington - Forget, for a moment, the battle among all those presidential candidates. The hot contest right now is over the order in which states hold their primaries and caucuses – and, as a result, which states wield the most influence in the selection of nominees.
The latest bombshell is Florida's decision to move up its 2008 primaries from March to Jan. 29, signed into law on Monday by Gov. Charlie Crist (R). That maneuver – in defiance of both parties' rules for scheduling nomination contests – has set in motion a wave of speculation over whether other states will leapfrog to an early date and whether the penalties that could ensue would wind up costing a candidate the nomination.
For the still-fluid primary calendar, the result could be primaries and caucuses held in 2007. That would be a first, primaries held in the calendar year before the general election. Iowa and New Hampshire have made clear they will do whatever it takes to protect their franchise as the "firsts" – first caucus and first primary. The national parties' calendars show the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 14 and the New Hampshire primaries on Jan. 22, but those decisions are made at the state level.
Congress Approves Minimum-Wage Increase
WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's lowest-paid workers won a $2.10 raise Thursday, with Congress approving the first increase in the federal minimum wage in almost a decade.
President Bush was expected to sign the bill quickly, and workers who now make $5.15 an hour will see their paychecks go up by 70 cents per hour before the end of the summer. Another 70 cents will be added next year, and by summer 2009, all minimum-wage jobs will pay no less than $7.25 an hour.
For years, the idea of increasing the minimum wage has been stalled by partisan bickering between Republicans and Democrats.
http://www.nysun.com/article/55264
Skip This CAFÉ
By DIANA FURCHTGOTT-ROTH
May 25, 2007
New Yorkers enjoy their café lattes. But they won't like the higher CAFE standards that were voted out of the Senate Commerce Committee earlier this month, a warning to drivers this Memorial Day weekend that Congress is after their minivans and pickup trucks.
CAFE stands for Corporate Average Fuel Economy. Enacted in 1975, CAFE generally requires automakers to calculate average fuel economy — miles per gallon — across their fleets. For Democratic senators Barack Obama and Dianne Feinstein, as well as President Bush, more CAFE is better than less.
If the proposed bill becomes law, CAFE standards would rise to an average of 35 MPG in 2020 for cars, SUVs, minivans, and light trucks, defined as pick-up trucks, from levels of 27.5 MPG and 22.2 MPG for cars and light trucks respectively. Standards would rise 4% annually between 2020 and 2030. One blogger wrote about his beloved engine as "RIP V8."