Articles of Interest 6-26-07
MORNING UPDATE:
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson did a great job yesterday in Detroit for the Michigan Republicans and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
TAXES vs REFORMS…the debate is on. Democrats are pushing for more TAXES while Republicans are pushing for REFORMS.
Union “Card Check” set for Senate action as a payoff to another Democrat special interests. First CAFE sell out…now this? Can we afford to have Democrats control Congress??? I hope folks are watching…and remember!
And you wonder why folks are talking about Right to Work?
John Edwards on unions? The rhetoric doesn’t match reality…he should visit Michigan and see why we are in a single state recession…and he wants to be President?
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/06/john-edwards-ta.html
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"Liberals love to talk about this or that human right, such as a right to health care, food or housing. That's a perverse usage of the term 'right.' A right, such as a right to free speech, imposes no obligation on another, except that of non-interference. The so-called right to health care, food or housing, whether a person can afford it or not, is something entirely different. It does impose an obligation on another. If one person has a right to something he didn't produce, simultaneously and of necessity it means that some other person does not have right to something he did produce. That's because, since there's no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy, in order for government to give one American a dollar, it must, through intimidation, threats and coercion, confiscate that dollar from some other American. I'd like to hear the moral argument for taking what belongs to one person to give to another person." ---Walter Williams
THE REST OF THE STORY:
- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson was our guest of honor at our POWER roundtable at the DAC in Detroit. The Senator gave us a legislative update and then answered questions from the group. State GOP Co-Chair Jane Abraham arranged for the Senator to spend an hour and take some pictures with our POWER group before the NRSC event over lunch. It served as a great networking opportunity and everyone enjoyed meeting a great leader who happened to have voted with Michigan against unrealistic CAFE standards!
Senator Hutchinson later hosted a luncheon for the NRSC as they prepare to go into 2008 with the hopes of wrestling control from the Democrats of the U.S. Senate. Mark & Claudia Valente along with Spence and Jane Abraham put together the luncheon for the NRSC and got commitments for several other events for swing Senate seats in 2008.
Texas is booming and I couldn’t help but wonder what Michigan might look like if we have Republican leadership like her representing us…just a little wishful thinking!
- TAXES vs REFORMS. Budget and tax talks to continue all week. As details emerge on the Governor’s SBT replacement, Republicans are attempting to “smooth” out some of the inequities and deal with some of the “unintended” consequences that are coming to light as the details of the plan emerge.
Revenue estimates from reviewing various models are showing there were “much more” than the Democrat’s “revenue neutral” proposal. Adjustments are in the works.
Republicans are analyzing what kinds of reforms and costs savings can be realized throughout state government. A number of very interesting and encouraging proposals are being discussed.
Taxpayers deserve NO less. The legislature should analyze how our dollars are being spent and how they can be spent more effectively.
Overall spending and general fund spending should be frozen FIRST. Then we analyze the reforms that are necessary and then reprioritize the savings to adjust the state budget.
Michigan is NOT under taxed.
- The Senate is scheduled to begin a bill called the "Employee Free Choice Act" .
The plan called the "Employee Free Choice Act" which gives employees the kind of "choice" favored by Tony Soprano -- the kind you can't refuse.
A vote could come as early as today. Let's make sure that vote is a vote to defeat union strong-arm tactics and to defend American workers. Call Senators Levin and Stabenow and tell him or her to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act. Let the Senate know that everyone else may have forgotten about this big labor payback act, but we're still paying attention.
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/OPINION01/706260332/1069
Get deal done on business tax
June 26, 2007
It's good to have goals. Even better to accomplish them. And so it would be very good for the Legislature to meet its goal of passing all the requisite bills for the new Michigan Business Tax by the end of this week.
Business owners and operators need to know their state tax obligations. Any company that is thinking about locating or expanding in the state has to figure taxes into the decision. And this struggle to replace the Single Business Tax already has gone on too long.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/OPINION01/706260328/1069
Tough times shut out parolees; jobs would pay off for state
June 26, 2007
Republican leaders keep fighting even modest efforts by Gov. Jennifer Granholm to lower the state's bloated prison population. But Michigan's brutal economy could keep even more people in prison than shortsighted legislators. If the state wants to reduce recidivism further, it must create more temporary jobs targeted at people just getting out of prison.
Nearly 12,000 parolees are released each year, more than one-third of them to Wayne County, where the economy is especially tight. Detroit's official unemployment rate of about 13% is nearly double the state average. But the city's real jobless rate, including unemployed workers who have simply given up, is probably closer to 20%. In some of the hard-knock neighborhoods that parolees return to, the rates exceed 50%.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/METRO/706260374/1022/POLITICS
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Detroit fears big wave of parolees
State to free up to 585 inmates from Wayne Co. to help budget
Ronald J. Hansen / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- As police grapple with the usual summer surge in crime, this year the department has a new worry: Nearly 600 extra criminals could be leaving prison soon and heading back to Detroit.
The Michigan Department of Corrections has begun releasing a wave of special parolees intended to save $92 million in next year's budget. Over the next three months, the state's parole board is considering up to 2,539 extra releases, with 585, or nearly a quarter of them, from Wayne County.
Nearly half the inmates eligible for the special parole have been in prison at least twice. A third of them are in prison for drug dealing or breaking and entering. Many have histories of drug or alcohol abuse or mental illness.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070625/OPINION01/706250305/1069
Put parolees on right track
June 25, 2007
One way to lower crime rates, and the cost of Michigan's $2-billion prison system, is to keep more people who were in prison from going back. After decades of doing little or nothing about the problem, the Department of Corrections is trying to reduce recidivism with the Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative, an overdue program to help parolees succeed.
MDOC wants to increase funding for the program from $12 million to $20 million in 2008. It's a wise investment that already has paid dividends. Legislators, looking for ways to control the state's costly prison system, ought to approve the request.
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginawnews/index.ssf?/base/news-23/118277942428920.xml&coll=9
Summer job hard to get
Monday, June 25, 2007
BARRIE BARBER
THE SAGINAW NEWS
Sara E. Rio has trekked to 20 or 30 potential employers looking for a job.
So far, no luck.
The 16-year-old Saginaw Township teen vowed not to work in the fast-food industry, but now she's having second thoughts.
"I need money, and my parents want me to get (a job)," she said.
But even getting a fast-food job isn't a sure thing, Rio realizes.
"It seems like whenever you go to McDonald's, it's older people working instead of teenagers," she said.
Many teens and young adults have found the search for a summer paycheck rough in the Saginaw Valley. It's a story playing out throughout Michigan.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/OPINION01/706260335/1008
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Keep reasonable changes to special ed programs
The Detroit News
Parents of special education students were to be in Lansing today to ask more of lawmakers than the state ought to give or is capable of giving.
The parents are particularly angry about federally mandated rule changes that could affect how much time some special education students get in the classroom. New federal rules scrap a provision that automatically gave the most severely impaired students a 230-day school year, instead of the standard 180-day year.
Under the new rules, children will be individually evaluated at the school district level to determine whether they need or could benefit from the longer school year. The only other alternative would be to allow all special education students, regardless of the severity of their disability, automatic entry into the year-round programs.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/NEWS06/706260389/1008
Tuition to jump 9.5% at UP tech university
June 26, 2007
In-state undergraduates at Michigan Technological University will pay 9.51% more this year in tuition at the Upper Peninsula school, an average of $10,578.
MTU's Board of Control unanimously agreed to the increase last week as it balanced its $135-million general fund for the coming fiscal year, which begins Monday.
The increase comes as state funding for Michigan's 15 public universities has fallen over the last six years. This year, the state Legislature approved $95.3 million in deferments and cuts in state aid from the public universities.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070616/NEWS01/706160348/1003/NEWS01
College fights for its accreditation
Black school to appeal ruling
June 16, 2007
Lewis College of Business, the only historically black college in the state, is fighting to hold on to its accreditation.
The college's interim president, Violet E. Ponders, is to travel Monday to Chicago for a meeting to appeal the Higher Learning Commission's March decision to pull the Detroit school's accreditation effective June 30.
Courses taken at an unaccredited school may not be transferable, and students attending such schools cannot receive federal financial aid.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/SCHOOLS/706260369/1022/POLITICS
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Feds tap MSU to develop ethanol
Gordon Trowbridge and David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Federal officials today will announce a $50 million research grant for Michigan State University aimed at turning ethanol into a realistic part of the nation's energy future.
Several sources familiar with the program said MSU and the University of Wisconsin will team up to host one of three federal bio-energy research centers, hubs to figure out the science that would allow conversion of ordinary plant matter -- not corn -- into fuel to replace gasoline.
Renewable-energy experts consider the effort to be vital as the United States seeks to curb its use of oil imports and fight global warming.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/NEWS06/706260363/1008/NEWS06
MSU to receive biofuel grants
June 26, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Michigan State University is to receive $50 million in federal grants over five years to conduct basic research on biofuels, officials said Monday.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman is expected to announce today that Michigan State and other universities have been selected to share $375 million in federal funding to develop new bio-energy centers for research on cellulosic ethanol and biomass plants.
The Bush administration has touted the research centers as part of its overall strategy to improve the nation's energy security and reduce its dependence on foreign oil by developing alternative fuels from sources such as switchgrass and wood chips.
http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/index.ssf?/base/news-23/1182782419195720.xml&coll=2
Schools battle shapes up
Pittsfield may see hot competition for student enrollment
Monday, June 25, 2007
BY MARJORIE KAUTH-KARJALA
News Staff Reporter
Ann Arbor parent Beth Quillen needs a scorecard to keep track of the schooling options for her children.
She can send them to Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Milan - and now Saline, which is joining the competition this fall as the county's newest school of choice.
Parents like Quillen are highly sought in the districts' campaigns to attract new students and the $7,000 per student foundation grants that come with them.
Although schools of choice districts will accept students from throughout the area, one particular geographic region in Washtenaw County may become the main battleground for public and charter schools in the hunt for students.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070618/NEWS01/70618027/1003
Foster mom guilty in death of 2-year-old Isaac Lethbridge
June 18, 2007
A Wayne County Circuit Court jury found Charlsie Adams-Rogers guilty today of involuntary manslaughter and felony child abuse in the death of 2-year-old Isaac Lethbridge, a foster child who was in her care.
Adams-Rogers, 60, was found not guilty of a misdemeanor child abuse charge involving Isaac’s 4-year-old sister.
She faces up to 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charge when she is sentenced July 2. She could receive up to four years in prison on the child abuse charge. She was remanded to Wayne County Jail without bond.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/OPINION01/706260334/1008
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Streamlining bids should aid Silverdome sale
City officials wisely vow quick action, more realism in process
The Detroit News
Pontiac's leaders seem to be on the right course in their renewed efforts to sell the Silverdome and encourage redevelopment of the site. Foot-dragging and political meddling marred previous efforts by the city to make use of the land, located in a prime spot near major roads and freeways in Oakland County.
The key will be for the city's leaders to stay on their current path.
As The Detroit News reported Monday, the city has hired a well-known firm to market the dome globally. Municipal leaders have already issued requests for bids, which are due back in October.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/AUTO01/706260340/1022
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Big 3 lose with fuel rules, analyst says
Automakers will be forced to drastically cut SUV, truck sales to meet Senate 35 mpg plan.
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- A Senate bill to raise fuel economy mandates by 40 percent would force Detroit's Big Three automakers to dramatically reduce sales of profitable larger sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, according to one Wall Street analyst.
Under the Senate bill, which passed 65-27 last Thursday, fuel economy mandates would increase to 35 miles per gallon for cars and trucks by 2020. Automakers have said such a mandate would require them to add costly technology, reduce the size of some vehicles and stop selling some larger vehicles.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070625/SPORTS06/70625049/1008/NEWS06
Rep. Dingell has concerns about Big Ten TV network
June 25, 2007
WASHINGTON -- House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell said Monday he was concerned about the ability of fans to watch Big Ten sporting events on a new television network debuting this summer.
Dingell, D-Mich., wrote Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany with questions about the Big Ten Network, which is expected to launch sometime in August.
The congressman said many constituents have expressed worries about being able to watch University of Michigan football games this season because none of the state's cable systems carry the network.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-44/1182783027234870.xml&coll=5
Army specialist picking up pieces, putting life together
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Monday, June 25, 2007
By Beata Mostafavi
bmostafavi@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6210
FLINT - Robert Bates is trying to move on to life after the Army - but not without a price.
There's the scar winding down his knee - from the day his leg was dragged 16 feet underneath a speeding Humvee in Iraq, ending his career with a medical discharge.
There's the soldier's face beneath army badges tattooed on his shoulder - of a friend who died in war.
And two failed marriages - the realities of coming home.
"Things aren't ever the same when you get back. Things change. People change," said Bates, 33, pulling up his dress shirt sleeve to show a tattoo reading "Frater pro vita"- Brothers for Life.
"It's a hard transition to go from the military to the civilian world because you always leave a part of yourself there, and it will always be a part of who you are."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070616/NEWS06/70616007/1003/NEWS01
Personal items of missing Michigan soldier found
June 16, 2007
The identification cards and personal items of a Michigan soldier and his comrade missing since an attack on their unit in May were found in an al-Qaida safe house north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Saturday.
News of the discovery had made its way to the family of Army Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, late Tuesday, and was met with excitement.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1977477.ece
June 24, 2007
McCain could pull out of race by autumn
Presidential hopeful drops campaign staff as Republican consultants predict he'll be gone by September
THE former presidential front-runner, John McCain, may drop out of the 2008 race by September if his fundraising dries up and his poll ratings continue to drop, according to Republican insiders.
The speculation, vigorously denied by McCain’s camp, is sweeping Republican circles after a disastrous few weeks in which the principled Arizona senator has clashed with the party’s conservative base on immigration and also alienated independent voters by backing President George W Bush’s troop surge in Iraq.
Randy Pullen, chairman of the Arizona Republican party, said: “He’s a battler, so I’d expect him to carry on, but everyone is waiting to see what his new fundraising totals are. That’s pretty critical. If he doesn’t have the money, he won’t be able to run.”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0607/4637.html
Democrats tear into Fred Thompson
Even before his expected July announcement, Fred Thompson's all-but-declared entry into the Republican presidential stakes has prompted the Democratic National Committee to attack him as a potential GOP front-runner and to use his prospective candidacy to raise money.
Democratic strategists say Thompson's populist style and show-biz allure could prove extremely appealing in a general election at a time when voters are so down on Washington. So the party has launched a preemptive campaign against him that includes a DNC fundraising e-mail branding Thompson, "The inside-outsider."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/25/AR2007062501936.html
Obama on the Airwaves
By Politics
Tuesday, June 26, 2007; Page A04
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will begin airing the first television advertising for his presidential campaign today with two ads aimed at introducing himself to Iowa voters.
Both ads -- a 30-second spot and a 60-second spot -- are biographical. Each begins in black and white with the words "The Obama Story" on the screen before transitioning to color and showing snippets of his speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, a speech that made him a force in national politics almost overnight.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/25/AR2007062500548.html
5-4 Supreme Court Weakens Curbs on Pre-Election TV Ads
Ruling on McCain-Feingold Law Opens Door for Interest Groups in '08
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 26, 2007; Page A01
The Supreme Court yesterday substantially weakened restrictions on the kinds of television ads that corporations and unions can finance in the days before an election, providing special interest groups with the opportunity for a far more expansive role in the 2008 elections.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote the 5 to 4 decision, saying the McCain-Feingold campaign finance act's prohibition against the use of a candidate's name in such ads in the days before an election was an unconstitutional infringement on the groups' rights to advocate on issues.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/25/AR2007062500531.html
Justices Quash Suit Over Funds For Faith Groups
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 26, 2007; Page A06
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that federal taxpayers cannot challenge the constitutionality of White House efforts to help religious groups obtain government funding for their social programs, handing a victory to President Bush's faith-based initiatives program.
In a 5 to 4 decision, the court blocked a lawsuit by a Wisconsin-based group of atheists and agnostics against the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The court ruled that the suit, by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and three of its taxpaying members, could not go forward because ordinary taxpayers lack legal standing to challenge executive branch expenditures. The ruling reversed a January 2006 decision in favor of the foundation by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/25/AR2007062501573.html
A Loophole Reopens
The Supreme Court jettisons sense on campaign 'issue ads.'
Tuesday, June 26, 2007; Page A20
THREE TERMS and a different Supreme Court ago, a five-justice majority sensibly upheld a provision of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law designed to stem the flood of corporate- and labor-funded campaign commercials masquerading as "issue ads." The majority found "little difference" between "an ad that urged viewers to 'vote against Jane Doe' and one that condemned Jane Doe's record on a particular issue before exhorting viewers to 'call Jane Doe and tell her what you think.' " As the court explained, "although the resulting advertisements do not urge the viewer to vote for or against a candidate in so many words, they are no less clearly intended to influence the election."
Yesterday, a changed court, without acknowledging that it was doing so, jettisoned that common-sense approach. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., in an opinion joined by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., said such ads would be considered "the functional equivalent of express advocacy," and therefore disallowed, "only if the ad is susceptible of no reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate" [emphasis added]. Three other justices who had dissented in the earlier case -- Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas -- said they would do explicitly what they said their colleagues had done silently and overrule the previous decision.
http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/mccain-regrettable-decision-2007-06-25.html
McCain: 'Regrettable' decision
June 25, 2007
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Monday called the Supreme Court’s decision to weaken part of his campaign finance law “regrettable.”
However, the presidential hopeful pointed out that the 5-4 decision leaves intact the main part of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, most commonly referred to as McCain-Feingold.
“It is regrettable that a split Supreme Court has carved out a narrow exception by which some corporate and labor expenditures can be used to target a federal candidate in the days and weeks before an election,” McCain said. “It is important to recognize, however, that the Court’s decision does not affect the principal provision of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which bans federal officeholders from soliciting soft money contributions for their parties to spend on their campaigns.”
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IMMIGRATION_CONGRESS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jun 26, 5:25 AM EDT
Pivotal vote looms on immigration
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senators urging the passage of a bill that would legalize millions of illegal immigrants hope to revive bipartisan support for the embattled measure and push it to passage by week's end.
President Bush's team is predicting victory Tuesday on the effort to allow the bill - among the president's top domestic priorities - to go forward.
"We're optimistic," said Joel Kaplan, Bush's deputy chief of staff. "Our intelligence suggests that there will be the votes there."
Conservative critics who paint the measure as amnesty for lawbreakers, however, said their efforts to stop the legislation were gaining momentum.
With GOP conservatives determined to block the legislation, backers need 60 votes to clear procedural hurdles and resurrect it Tuesday. Just 45 senators - only seven of them Republicans - supported such a move two weeks ago.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/25/AR2007062501637.html
GOP Backers Offer Immigration Bill Change
Provision Would Require Illegal Residents to Return Home to Gain Legal Status
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 26, 2007; Page A03
With a crucial test vote scheduled for today, Republican supporters of a sweeping immigration bill threw their weight yesterday behind a significant change to the legislation that would force illegal immigrants to return to their home countries to apply for legal status.
The change could rattle the delicate bipartisan coalition that forged the Senate's immigration overhaul, but supporters say it may be necessary to pull in enough Republican votes to secure passage by week's end. The bill's authors will have to muster 60 votes today to bring it back up for consideration. The legislation would then have to clear potential amendments before a showdown Thursday over whether to cut off debate and vote on final passage Friday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/25/AR2007062501645.html
In House, a Bottom-Up Immigration Push
By Paul Kane
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 26, 2007; Page A19
Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) looks across the Capitol and sees a mess on immigration reform, something that was caused by a senatorial process that shut too many players out of what is hailed as the "grand bargain."
Clyburn, the House majority whip, is concluding a series of "listening sessions" this week with all 233 members of his caucus. The goal is to build a consensus among House Democrats on a comprehensive package of immigration changes before the issue hits the floor, which could happen next month.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/25/AR2007062501644.html
Foreign Nationals Hired For 2 Calif. GOP Posts
By Sonya Geis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 26, 2007; Page A03
LOS ANGELES, June 25 -- The California Republican Party is having a tough time with immigrants -- but not because of the usual debates over Mexican border crossers. For the nation's largest state GOP, the troubles hit closer to home.
First the party was forced to admit it had hired a Canadian citizen with no political experience to be its new political director, under the H-1B visa program -- a program that grants temporary visas. Now revelations have surfaced that the party's chief operating officer, an Australian citizen, was ordered deported in 2001, spent one month in jail and then filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging wrongful arrest. The officer resigned on Sunday.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pdupont/?id=110010253
Security First
How to protect the borders while welcoming the immigrants America needs.
BY PETE DU PONT
Tuesday, June 26, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
The immigration bill may be back on the Senate floor this week, and the policies that are adopted will have a significant impact on the sovereignty, security, economic growth and opportunity of America in the coming decades.
America's modern immigration trend began in 1986 when President Reagan's bill granted amnesty to some three million illegal immigrants yet failed to improve border security. That amnesty sent a message to people across the border: If you slip into America you will be able to work and live here, and nothing negative will happen to you. Almost 20 years went by before any serious effort was undertaken to secure our borders, so that three million 1986 illegal immigrants have turned into 12 million today. About eight million people have entered the U.S. during the current Bush administration, half or more illegally, and according to the Washington Post, undocumented workers now make up "about 5 percent of all employees nationally."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SENATE_UNIONS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jun 26, 4:53 AM EDT
GOP sure they can block unions' bill
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Unions seeking to make employers recognize them without secret-ballot elections are portraying a test vote in the Senate as only an early skirmish in their drive to make it easier to get a better foothold in workplaces.
The Democratic-controlled House passed the bill in March but Republicans are confident they have the 41 votes needed to block it in the Senate. That's all it takes under Senate rules requiring a three-fifths majority to advance controversial legislation over opponents' objections.
"It deserves to be defeated and I am confident that it will be," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said leading up to a vote Tuesday on what Democrats have labeled the Employee Free Choice Act.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/NEWS05/706260375/1007/NEWS05
New federal rule could add to hassle of getting a passport
June 26, 2007
As if getting a passport wasn't hard enough these days, the government has added a new wrinkle.
The U.S. Department of State announced a rule Monday prohibiting a government office from issuing both birth certificates and passports to the same person. The move aims to reduce fraud and identity theft by having different offices issue each document.
"One of the strongest parts of our passports is the rigorous review that the determination of citizenship has been made without bias," said Steve Royster, a State Department spokesman.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/on_taxes_44_trust_democrats_40_favor_the_gop
On Taxes: 44% Trust Democrats, 40% Favor the GOP
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Once again, Rasmussen Reports tracking polls show that voters trust Democrats more than Republicans on ten key issues. The latest Rasmussen Reports update on five of these issues show little change over the past month.
Republicans picked up a little ground on the tax issue, Democrats still retain a four-point advantage on that topic. Forty-four percent (44%) of voters now trust the Democrats more on tax issues while 40% have a preference for the GOP.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/chapters/a_strong_push_from_back_stage/index.html
A Strong Push From Back Stage
By Jo Becker and Barton Gellman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, June 26, 2007; Page A01
Air Force Two touched down at the Greenbrier Valley Airport in West Virginia on Feb. 6, 2003, carrying Vice President Cheney to the annual retreat of Republican House and Senate leaders. He had come to sell them on the economic centerpiece of President Bush's first term: a $674 billion tax cut.
Cheney had spent months making sure the package contained everything he wanted. One thing was missing.
The president had accepted Cheney's diagnosis that the sluggish economy needed a jolt, overruling senior economic advisers who forecast dangerous budget deficits. But Bush rejected one of Cheney's remedies: deep reductions in the capital gains tax on investments.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/OPINION01/706260330/1069
Why Rove's political e-mails matter
June 26, 2007
Congressional oversight hearings have revealed that White House senior political adviser Karl Rove and White House staffers working for him make liberal use of political e-mail accounts maintained by the Republican National Committee and the Bush/Cheney '04 campaign. This is in addition to their official White House e-mail accounts.
Here's why it matters. If Rove & Co. are spending a majority of their time engaging in political activities, they have no business being on the public payroll. Their salaries, like political consultants working for previous presidents, should be paid by the national party organization or the president's campaign committee.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/OPINION03/706260306/1008/OPINION01
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Eugene Robinson
Cheney should end all impeachment talk
I'm often asked why, given my lower-than-low opinion of this administration, I don't at least raise the subject of whether George W. Bush should be impeached. I answer with three scary words that tend to end the discussion: President Dick Cheney.
Then again, Cheney would probably think of moving into the Oval Office as a demotion. The president, at least, has some accountability to public opinion -- if he's going to defy it, he has to offer some explanation. The president has to hold an occasional news conference, tolerate meetings with his opponents on Capitol Hill and endure lectures from world leaders who question his policies. Cheney can just blow it all off.
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Jun 26, 4:19 AM EDT