Articles of Interest 7-12-07
482 days until election day.
MORNING UPDATE:
County GOP meetings start…big success…the troops are excited and planning ahead!
Tom Casperson is lining up support to challenge Congressman Bart Stupak…who has joined San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi’s team.
Mayor Rudy Giuliani in town today!
THE REST OF THE STORY:
- We had our first set of county GOP meetings last night at the MRP headquarters. Representatives from Oakland, Macomb, Wayne, Livingston, Washtenaw, Kent, Ottawa, Ingham and Kalamazoo counties were present.
Special thanks to the Ottawa County GOP for making an impressive presentation on their GOTV efforts and leading the “sharing/best practices” discussion with the group. We shared some great ideas from every county, reviewed successes and discussed challenges and prepared for 2008 with the attitude that we can clearly do better.
Norm Shinkle and I ended the meeting with a discussion of the work the 2008 Presidential Committee was doing on our nominating process. We received some great input from the participants and had an interesting and spirited discussion about options that should be considered as we prepare for the “presidential primary” and the “alternative convention” to select our Republican nominee.
We spent over 3 hours going over all kinds of details and plans…most didn’t get out of the headquarters until well after 9:00pm…thanks again for your participation and commitment to the Republican Party!
- Bart Stupak has lost touch with northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Rumors are flying that Stupak is considering a lobbying position in Washington DC or running for Governor in 2010.
Stupak is someone who went to Washington, got caught up in the “power structure” and has lost touch with his district. He is part of San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi’s leadership team and has chosen to vote with her…rather than his district.
State Representative Tom Casperson has emerged as the consensus candidate amongst Republicans throughout the First Congressional District. Almost the entire leadership in the First District have already joined the “Draft Tom Casperson for Congress” movement…and he hasn’t even announced his candidacy.
Tom is a “logger” versus Stupak the “lawyer”. A great contrast in backgrounds, on the issues and as to who really represents the voters and taxpayers of northern Michigan.
Check out the “Time for Tom” web page listed below, that lists the initial endorsements as Republican across the district rally behind Tom’s candidacy!
- Mayor Rudy Giuliani will be in Michigan today helping the State Party and the House Republican Campaign Committee raise funds to take back the Michigan House in 2008. Mayor Giuliani will be the special guest at a dinner at the Novi Expo Center and then will head off to another late night fundraiser for his presidential efforts in Oakland County.
The Mayor has been a frequent guest and supporter of Michigan Republicans over the last year or so…raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Republican candidates and committees.
Every time I get a chance to see the Mayor again, I’m reminded why he’s so often referred to as “America’s Mayor”. The guy exudes leadership and charisma that would make for a great President.
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/OPINION01/707120317/1008
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Time off could be good for Lansing
Governor and lawmakers need a cooling-off period
The Detroit News
Maybe it's a good idea that the warring parties in Lansing are disengaging for a while.
We don't begrudge lawmakers their summer vacations, which they took this week over the objection of Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who demanded they stay in the Capitol until a budget deal was reached. They didn't, but we doubt their brief time-off will make a difference in negotiations that seem to be going nowhere anyway.
Likewise, we wish Granholm well next month on her job-scrounging trip to Sweden and Germany. Republicans are dubbing the trip "Granholm's European Vacation" and saying she's boondoggling while Michigan spirals out of control.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1184167004229120.xml&coll=4
Legislators have dallied long enough: It's time to raise state taxes
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Get on with it, Lansing.
Save public services with a combination of cuts and tax increases that were negotiated last month.
Our elected representatives in the Michigan House and Senate have piddled away far too much time ignoring this solution, and arguing over government reform wish lists.
Meanwhile, the state edges closer to a projected
$1.6 billion deficit in the budget year that starts on Oct. 1.
Schools, cities and colleges have had to guess what they'll get from the state as they wrote budgets that were due on June 30.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1184164928134500.xml&coll=2
Police opposition to tax gives pause
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
If a proposed $1.35 fee on all phones to help fund law enforcement in Michigan is such a great idea, then why are so many law enforcement organizations against it?
It's not surprising that the Telecommunications Association of Michigan is against it.
But those who don't want to see House Bill 4852 enacted include the Michigan Sheriff's Association, the Deputy Sheriff's Association of Michigan, the Police Officers Association of Michigan, the Oakland County Chiefs of Police Association, the Small Business Association of Michigan, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/POLITICS/707120375/1022
Thursday, July 12, 2007
GOP-led panel to probe child deaths
Dems call GOP-only task force that replaces bipartisan one redundant.
Karen Bouffard / The Detroit News
LANSING -- Frustrated with progress in reforming child welfare in the state, House Republicans established a task force Wednesday to investigate the deaths of four Michigan foster children in the past two years.
The Child Protection Task Force replaces a bipartisan committee formed last year to investigate the deaths, but disbanded when Democrats took control of the state House in November. The new panel comprises Republicans and already is criticized as partisan and unnecessary.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-3/118415641476720.xml&coll=5
Teacher pay
Fair merit system not impossible to create
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
In virtually every school, we'll hazard to guess, the teachers know who among them are the hardest working and most effective, yet the nation's largest teachers union continues to throw cold water on the notion of merit pay for its members.
Somehow, U.S. education has to get beyond such staid thinking if this country is to compete in a world in which academic achievement will determine not only individual incomes, but the relative wealth of nations. And one of the most important factors in a child's learning is the person at the head of the classroom.
Yet members of the National Education Association, at their recent convention in Philadelphia, remained skeptical about financial rewards for good teachers. They're particularly leery of Congress adding bonus money for teachers who raise achievement as part of the No Child Left Behind Act, which is up for review. Such quantitative measures called for in the legislation, teachers say, don't allow for student variables that have much to do with performance, such as the stability of the home, whether parents speak English and family income.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070711/NEWS06/70711040/1008
MSU's tuition up 9.6%, Oakland's up 13.9%
July 11, 2007
Michigan State University and Oakland University each weighed in Wednesday with significant tuition hikes for the fall.
Oakland’s board approved a 13.9% increase in tuition, the largest percentage increase approved by the four public universities who have already decided their rates for 2007-08. An incoming, in-state freshman at Oakland will pay and average of $373 more next year, university spokesman Ted Montgomery said.
MSU students will pay an additional 9.6% for tuition next year. An incoming, in-state freshman will pay an average of $798 more for tuition and fees than last year’s incoming class — the largest dollar increase approved so far.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/NEWS05/707120436/1007
At MSU, it's $798 more this fall
Oakland sets increase in tuition at 13.9%
July 12, 2007
Michigan State University and Oakland University each weighed in Wednesday with significant tuition increases for the fall.
Oakland's Board of Trustees approved a 13.9% increase, the largest percentage approved among the four public universities that have decided for 2007-08. An in-state freshman will pay an average of $373 more than one in last year's incoming class, university spokesman Ted Montgomery said.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-24/118416366464710.xml&coll=7
University deals with challenges privately Lawmaker says discussion at WMU should be public
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
By Paula M. Davis
pdavis@kalamazoogazette.com 388-8583
Western Michigan University's Board of Trustees will meet Friday in closed session to discuss the 2007-08 tuition, the budget and other issues.
But one legislator says it's troubling that trustees have chosen to privately discuss issues of serious public interest.
``If they want tax dollars, they should perform their business out in the open,'' state Rep. Lorence Wenke, R-Richland, said.
Originally, the board planned a public meeting to approve tuition and the budget, but the board will delay making those decisions.
Board Chairman Dan Pero defended the decision to meet privately, saying it will be the first chance for trustees to meet with WMU's new President John Dunn and discuss WMU's challenges with him, such as the university's enrollment decline.
http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/index.ssf?/base/news-23/1184164834134500.xml&coll=2
EMU's police chief leaves
Regents expected to explain at meeting on Monday
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
BY SUSAN L. OPPAT
News Staff Reporters
Eastern Michigan University's public safety director has stopped reporting for work amid a months-long controversy that has garnered national attention over the university's mishandling of information in a student's slaying.
Sources confirmed Tuesday that Cindy Hall has cleared out her office and has not reported to work since last week. But university officials said they cannot discuss personnel matters and referred questions to the EMU Board of Regents, which is expected to announce any personnel changes at its meeting Monday.
Hall answered the door at her home early Tuesday afternoon, declined to comment and quickly shut the door. A Department of Public Safety employee said Lt. Robert Heighes is acting director.
http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1184165127154690.xml&coll=8
More people sporting 2 wheels to fight gas prices
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
By Corinne DeVries
chroniclenewsroom@gmail.com
Arlene Kuhlman, 77, has always liked things with motors, so last month she went out and bought a moped. A great-grandmother of two, Kuhlman loves her new mode of transportation, especially because it saves her money on gas.
"You're out in the air, I just love jockeying around with it," the Grand Haven woman said. "I knew I wasn't going to use that big van every time I wanted a gallon of milk."
Mike Wasilewski, a traffic officer with the Norton Shores Police Department, said he's noticed an increase in mopeds in the area, which he attributes to high gas prices.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/OPINION01/707120319/1008
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Renting out off-duty cops could go bad for Detroit
The Detroit News
Detroit needs to put more police on the street, but a plan hatched by the city's police department to rent off-duty officers to businesses or residents could become a major headache. The Detroit City Council, which has been presented with the idea, should pass on it.
Doing so will save the city countless dollars in legal fees and lawsuit awards that will come from misconduct cases that are sure to follow. And it also prevents another layer of bureaucracy from entering a department that already is under federal oversight.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/OPINION01/707120371/1069
DMC mess serves patients poorly
July 12, 2007
A long line of losers is emerging from the wreckage of the deal to move the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute from the Detroit Medical Center to the forlorn former site of Detroit Riverview Hospital.
First are Karmanos and its patients, who'll wait even longer for a world-class facility to compete with the world's best cancer centers. Their DMC digs are cramped, hard to get to, hard to park at, and nowhere near as appealing as they could be. How many families will just choose the University of Michigan's cancer center? How many families without that option will be shortchanged by the lost opportunity at the former St. John's site?
http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-44/118416366264650.xml&coll=5
Mayor debate is mild
Candidates avoid personal attacks at Burton forum
BURTON
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
By Joe Lawlor
jlawlor@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6312
BURTON - Candidates for mayor largely avoided personal attacks against each other during Tuesday's debate, in contrast to the vitriol often seen at City Council meetings.
Councilwomen Laurie Tinnin and Tina Conley are campaigning in the Aug. 7 primary, as are four-term Mayor Charles Smiley and resident Gerald Johnston is also running.
The two council members and Smiley often spar at council meetings.
The top two vote-getters will face off in November.
"I didn't see a reason to go into attack mode," Tinnin said about Tuesday's debate at the Burton Senior Center. Conley was not present.
Still, Tinnin referred to the corruption allegations against the mayor when she said she would not accept favors from developers.
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginawnews/index.ssf?/base/news-23/118416374164680.xml&coll=9
More turmoil on council
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
THE SAGINAW NEWS
BAY CITY -- Saginaw City Councilman Willie Haynes has admitted to lying in financial statements, a federal misdemeanor that could land him behind bars for up to a year.
The crime stems from a three-year-old embezzlement at his former United Auto Workers job in Bay City. Prosecutors didn't charge Haynes with embezzlement, but he faces a sentence as though he stole $5,000 to $10,000, a plea deal states.
Haynes is the second sitting council member accused of a crime.
Mayor Pro Tem Wilmer Jones Ham McZee is fighting felony arson and insurance fraud charges after the torching of her Mercedes-Benz in March 2006. Ham McZee, whose trial likely will begin in the fall, has rejected calls to resign.
Haynes isn't quitting either, City Attorney Thomas Fancher confirmed Tuesday. His term, like Ham McZee's, is up in November. Ham McZee has said she does not intend to seek re-election.
http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1184165192154690.xml&coll=8
Land bank gets back-tax properties to fight blight
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
By Steve Gunn
sgunn@muskegonchronicle.com
The new Muskegon County Land Bank has claimed its first set of tax-reverted properties, with the goal of keeping them out of the hands of absentee landlords and returning them to the tax rolls with responsible owners and increased values.
The land bank board took possession Tuesday of 17 parcels that were lost by their owners earlier this year through the tax-reversion process. The county treasurer can seize properties when their owners become more than two years delinquent in property tax payments.
About 150 parcels in the county were lost by the owners through tax reversion this year. The properties that were not chosen by the land bank will be sold to the general public at an open auction July 25 at noon at Pulaski Lodge.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/NEWS06/707120364/1008
Cox: Bush was wrong on Libby
Republican raps commutation
July 12, 2007
Add Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox to the list of Republicans taking hard shots at President George W. Bush.
Cox harshly criticized Bush on Wednesday for commuting the prison sentence of I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, saying the action sends the wrong message.
Libby, former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, was sentenced to a 2 1/2-year prison term after his conviction on perjury and obstruction-of-justice charges in connection with the leak to the news media of the name of a CIA agent. Bush commuted Libby's sentence July 2.
"It was plain wrong all the way around," Cox said. "We can't let people run from the obligation of telling the truth."
http://www.mlive.com/news/statewide/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1184197209287120.xml&coll=1
Bush appointee gets the ax
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
By Sarah Kellogg
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- When President Bush appointed Michigan's Dennis Schornack to the International Joint Commission in 2001, critics said the long-time Republican was too conservative for the job.
It appears now that the opposite may be true. Schornack says he's been fired for being too liberal.
A dejected Schornack said Wednesday that the Bush administration dumped him as the U.S. chairman of the commission, which oversees boundary issues with Canada, because he wouldn't play ball with the conservative U.S. Department of Justice in a land dispute lawsuit.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/NEWS06/707120376/1008
A former Engler aide is fired in boundary dispute
He likens it to attorney ousters
July 12, 2007
A veteran Republican operative from Michigan, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001 to direct border relations with Canada, was fired this week after losing a power struggle with other administration officials over his handling of a border security dispute.
Dennis Schornack, 56, of Williamston, who worked two decades for former Gov. John Engler, said Wednesday he intends to challenge the president's authority to remove him as U.S. boundary commissioner, an unpaid post he held along with a parallel post as the U.S. co-chair of the International Joint Commission.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/OPINION01/707120370/1069
Keep carbon tax in the mix of solutions
July 12, 2007
U.S. Rep. John Dingell is stretching the boundaries of the debate over energy use and global warming by proposing a carbon tax that would add 50 cents per gallon to the price of gasoline. It's really too bad that no one is likely to take up Dingell on this gambit.
A tax on carbon dioxide emissions, phased in gradually but relentlessly, would be the most transparent and efficient step this country could take in the search for energy independence and reductions in many emissions, including carbon dioxide. It would send a hugely important signal to the markets -- for cars and for alternative energy sources such as windmills and solar collectors, in particular -- that innovation and conservation are essential.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070711/NEWS07/70711052/1008/NEWS06
Levin troop withdrawal proposal likely to face opposition
July 11, 2007
WASHINGTON – Even though some Republican senators are talking tough about the president’s Iraq war policy, a measure offered today by Michigan Sen. Carl Levin to begin withdrawing troops within four months’ time still faces difficult prospects for passage.
The reason? Many of the Republicans still aren’t willing to give in to specific timetables for withdrawal, a provision President George W. Bush has said he can’t support, either. He has threatened to veto any bill containing mandatory timelines for leaving Iraq.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/NEWS05/707120404/1007&theme=NAACP072007
Hillary Clinton still on after Bill is a no-show
July 12, 2007
Former President Bill Clinton he certainly wasn't.
Sporting his trademark backward baseball cap, rapper Master P stepped up to address the NAACP convention Wednesday after Clinton -- scheduled to be the keynoter for the session -- became a no-show.
NAACP officials said they didn't know why Clinton couldn't attend and they'd received assurances by his handlers that the gathering was on his calendar.
But Clinton's New York City office said he never confirmed and wasn't able to fit it into his schedule as he prepared for a trip to Africa beginning Monday. His wife, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, is still expected at today's presidential forum at 9 a.m. at Cobo Center.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1184161531289440.xml&coll=6
In the line of duty
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The killing of a police officer tears the fabric of a community. The death of Grand Rapids Police Officer Robert Kozminski early Sunday morning reminds us of the courage of law enforcement officers, and their willingness to put their lives on the line everyday for the sake of the community.
Officer Kozminski was committed to doing that the last seven years. He deserves all the thanks and tributes pouring in for his valiant service. According to his fellow officers, the 29-year-old Kozminski was a true professional, who was well-loved by his family and friends. He leaves behind a 3-year-old daughter, parents and siblings.
Officer Kozminski was slain as he responded to a domestic violence call on the city's Northeast Side. He was ambushed as he approached the back door of a house at 1233 Emerald Ave. He died from a shotgun blast to the head. Jeffrey VanVels, 45, was arrested at the home shortly after the shooting. He had threatened relatives in the home before one of them called 911 at about 1:40 a.m. He is being held in the Kent County Jail on an open murder charge.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-37/118418371447110.xml&coll=6
Family of suspect attends officer's visitation
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
By John Agar and Barton Deiters
The Grand Rapids Press
WALKER -- As uniformed officers, detectives and retired cops stopped to pay their respects to a fallen officer, Ted and Nancy VanVels quietly entered St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church on Wednesday and offered a prayer.
It was their way of showing respect for Officer Robert Kozminski, who was shot and killed early Sunday while responding to a domestic-violence call at the home of the VanVels' nephew.
"He was a hero to do what he did," Ted VanVels said of Kozminski. "You just want them to know your heart goes out to them."
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-37/1184199908107500.xml&coll=6
Mothers of fallen officers share perspectives
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
By Ben Beversluis
The Grand Rapids Press
Mary Fisher and Lin Emmert know intimately the bittersweet sorrow when a family's most personal moment is shared with thousands of strangers.
Both endured the funeral of a police officer son while the community watched their anguish.
They have been where the family of slain Grand Rapids Police Officer Robert Kozminski is today and Friday -- strangers wanting to pay respects, officers from across the country attending a brother's funeral, news reporters capturing moments for the wider concerned community.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-3/118415643176720.xml&coll=5
Pfc. Miracle
Soldier's sacrifice reflected his character
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Army Pfc. Joseph A. Miracle died in that "other" Middle East war, the one the politicians aren't talking much about. However, hardship, danger and sacrifice are seen daily in the conflict in Afghanistan, where the U.S. military first hit back after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
American soldiers have been there ever since, with 342 as of Monday giving their lives in an effort to prevent the Taliban faction from re-imposing an extreme and brutal rule, which would position it to help those who would hurt us again.
Miracle of Ortonville sadly joined that roll last Thursday, mortally wounded while heroically defending comrades who, like him, had been ambushed. As a result of the 22-year-old's courage and skill, many lives were spared.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www3.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20070618-102230-9051r.htm
A primary fix
By Michael Barone
June 19, 2007
Rudolph Giuliani and John McCain, the leaders in Republican polls during most of the year, have announced they will not compete in the straw poll held in Iowa on Aug. 15. Fred Thompson, who is polling well and expected to enter the race, may also opt out of this early test of strength.
Florida has moved its primary to Jan. 29, just one week after New Hampshire and shortly after the actual Iowa caucus, in defiance of Democratic Party rules. (Florida Democrats risk being tossed out of the national convention but say they don't care.) Michigan Democrats have also said they'll hold a caucus on Jan. 29, or even earlier if New Hampshire moves its primary back.
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/barone/2007/7/11/the-implosion-of-the-mccain-campaign.html#read_more
The Implosion of the McCain Campaign
July 11, 2007 01:48 PM ET | Permanent Link
John McCain’s presidential campaign is in deep trouble. On Tuesday, campaign manager Terry Nelson and chief strategist John Weaver resigned, and Mark Salter, McCain’s longtime top Senate aide, co-author of McCain’s books, and chief speechwriter, will stay on as an unpaid adviser. For informed reporting on these startling developments, check out bloggers Marc Ambinder, Chris Cillizza, Anchor Patrick Ruffini, and Ben Smith. As they point out, Weaver was McCain’s chief strategist throughout the 1999-2000 cycle and afterwards; Nelson was a highly regarded Bush-Cheney ’04 official and Salter, who writes beautifully with a perfect pitch for McCain, is close to him personally.
These changes evidently followed the disclosure that the McCain campaign raised only $11 million in the second quarter of this year and that it had only $2 million in cash as of June 30. This is taken, understandably, as evidence of poor tactical decisions: The campaign’s burn rate—the amount of money it was spending—was disastrously high as compared with its capacity to raise money. Yet at the same time Nelson, whom I don’t know, has been regarded as highly talented, and Weaver, whom I do know, is as well.
July 12, 2007
McCain Call Raises an Ethics Question
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and MICHAEL COOPER
WASHINGTON, July 11 — About 3 p.m. Tuesday, Senator John McCain ducked off the Senate floor, entered the Republican cloakroom and took out his mobile phone. Just hours after accepting the resignation of his two top campaign aides, he was making a conference call to his top fund-raisers to urge them to keep up the fight.
The call, however, may only have exacerbated an already tough week for Mr. McCain. Senate ethics rules expressly forbid lawmakers to engage in campaign activities inside Senate facilities. If Mr. McCain solicited campaign contributions on a call from government property, that would be a violation of federal criminal law as well.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/OPINION03/707120360/1008/OPINION01
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Froma Harrop
Good economy can't compensate for growing unease over America's loss of greatness
Now and then, a conservative columnist wonders why Americans have grown so sour about the country's future. After all, unemployment is low and stocks are rising. Sure, there's anger over the Iraq war and immigration, but things can't be that bad with the economy humming happily in the background. The implication: There's little troubling you that a trip to Circuit City couldn't fix.
Alas, retail therapy will not cure what's depressing most people -- which is the growing sense that America is rapidly losing its national greatness. Up ahead, the public sees enormous challenges and huge threats, and a national leadership that doesn't care a fig about the communal big picture. They're witnessing this end-of-empire spectacle, where the powerful grabs as much loot as they can before the bottom falls out -- all the while diverting the public's attention with flag-waving and noisy expressions of religiosity.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070711/EDITORIAL/107110013/1013
Entitlements run amok
In anticipation of the release this week of the midsession budget review by the White House Office of Management and Budget, a summary of the nation's long-term fiscal problems caused by the projected growth of unsustainable entitlement spending seems in order. We shall focus on Social Security and Medicare.
For both programs, actuaries and trustees consider two long-term time periods — the 75-year horizon (2007-81) and the infinite horizon. In both cases, they are interested in the "unfunded obligation," which is generally defined as the amount by which projected benefits exceed the sum of program-specific tax revenues (for example, the Social Security payroll tax paid by both employee and employer), any premiums paid by beneficiaries (for example, the drug premium paid by participants in Medicare's Part D prescription-drug program) and the size on Jan. 1, 2007, of any related trust funds.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/POLITICS/707120326/1022
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Budget deficit narrows to $205B, but rises next year
Andrew Taylor / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Wednesday reported modest improvement in the federal deficit for this year though the longer-term fiscal picture has deteriorated slightly.
Bush and Democrats controlling Congress had widely different interpretations of the White House's annual midyear budget review, with the president hailing the figures as a validation of his tax policies.
Democrats said the news was not so good and the numbers show there's no way Bush's policies would balance the budget in five years as he has promised.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/AUTO01/707120340/1022/POLITICS
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Support builds for hybrid tax perk
Congress warms up to 35% tax break for turning cars into plug-ins, though it nullifies the warranty.
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Support is growing in Congress for tax breaks for hybrid owners who convert their vehicles to plug-ins, even though doing that invalidates the manufacturer's warranty.
U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., head of the House global warming committee who's been pushing a 40 percent boost in vehicle mileage standards by 2018, proposed his "Plug-in Hybrid Opportunity Act of 2007" on Wednesday. It would give gasoline-electric hybrid owners a 35 percent tax credit to defray the costs of converting their vehicle to plug-ins.
Last month, similar legislation was proposed in the Senate.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/OPINION01/707120309/1008
Thursday, July 12, 2007
CAFE bill could help automakers
Charles Griffith
It is tempting for many in the Motor City to view the recent Senate passage of improved Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, over objections by Michigan's congressional delegation, as another slap in the face for an industry and region in trouble. As attention now turns to the House, where Michigan's John Dingell will play a leading role, many may be bracing for yet another perceived defeat.
It doesn't have to be that way. What if, instead of preparing for another battle, Congressman Dingell, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other House leaders could embrace the Senate's actions and make peace between the struggling Midwest and the rest of the nation?
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JohnStossel/2007/07/11/freedom_and_benevolence_go_together
Freedom and Benevolence Go Together
By John Stossel
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
I interviewed Michael Moore recently for an upcoming "20/20" special on health care. It's refreshing to interview a leftist who proudly admits he's a leftist. He told me that government should provide "food care" as well as health care and that big government would work if only the right people were in charge.
Moore added, "I watch your show and I know where you are coming from. ... "
He knows I defend limited government, so he tried to explain why I was wrong. He began in a revealing way:
"I gotta believe that, even though I know you're very much for the individual determining his own destiny, you also have a heart."
Jul 12, 3:37 AM EDT
Surgeon general nominee faces questions
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's nominee for surgeon general faces a contentious confirmation hearing because of his writings about homosexuality and health.
In advance of the Senate hearing on Thursday, gay rights groups, the American Public Health Association and 35 members of the House were lining up in opposition to Dr. James W. Holsinger's nomination. The Kentucky doctor garnered the support of a prominent former surgeon general, Dr. C. Everett Koop, as well as the American College of Physicians.
Holsinger wrote a paper in 1991 for a United Methodist Church committee that gay groups and others interpret as saying that homosexuals face a greater risk of disease and that homosexuality runs counter to anatomical truths.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DRUG_SAFETY?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jul 11, 9:05 PM EDT
House OKs bill to improve drug safety
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Seeking to avoid another Vioxx debacle, the House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to give federal health officials more money and power to police the safety of prescription drugs.
The House approved 403-16 a bill giving the Food and Drug Administration nearly $400 million, collected as fees from the drug industry, to spend on drug safety over the next five years. The Senate already has approved similar legislation.
Both bills would give the agency the ability to require drug companies to do follow-up studies on certain medicines.
"It's become increasingly clear FDA needs more of two things: It needs more resources and more authority, particularly in the area of postmarketing surveillance," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/POLITICS/707120335/1022
Thursday, July 12, 2007
House passes bill to boost college aid for poor students
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Legislation to lower interest rates on student loans and increase aid to poor people who want to go to college won House approval on Wednesday.
To pay for the proposal, lawmakers would cut roughly $19 billion in federal subsidies to banks that issue government-backed student loans.
Budget rules require nearly $1 billion of that savings to go toward reducing the federal deficit, but the rest would go to student benefits.
The legislation, along with a separate proposal approved Wednesday by the House Appropriations Committee, would raise the maximum Pell grant from $4,310 per year to $5,200 per year by 2011. Pell grants go to poor students and don't have to be repaid.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FIRED_PROSECUTORS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jul 12, 6:33 AM EDT
Showdown looms over fired prosecutors
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration says the president's immediate advisers are absolutely immune from having to appear before Congress, but legal scholars say the issue isn't that clear cut.
The question grew more pressing Wednesday as President Bush ordered former White House counsel Harriet Miers to defy a congressional summons in the controversy over the administration's dismissals of federal prosecutors.
The Democratic chairmen of the Senate and House judiciary committees have said they would consider introducing contempt of Congress citations against any subpoena recipients who resist.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., could begin that process as early as Thursday if Miers ignores her subpoena and skips his hearing, based upon the White House's assertion of executive privilege.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/POLITICS/707120334/1022
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Bush orders ex-aide to ignore subpoena
But second former aide testifies in the Senate
Laurie Kellman / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- For President Bush, one witness under oath was plenty.
Former political director Sara Taylor was still hours from her subpoenaed appearance before a congressional panel when the White House canceled Harriet Miers.
"Ms. Miers has absolute immunity from compelled congressional testimony as to matters occurring while she was a senior adviser to the president," White House Counsel Fred Fielding wrote in a letter to Miers' attorney Tuesday, citing legal opinions by an array of former high government officials. "The president has directed her not to appear at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, July 12."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LIBBY_CLEMENCY?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jul 11, 8:03 PM EDT
Bush refuses to explain Libby order
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush refused to explain to Congress on Wednesday why he commuted the prison sentence of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. The husband of the CIA agent outed in the case testified during a House hearing that the clemency grant had cast a pall of suspicion over the presidency.
In a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., Bush counsel Fred Fielding said Congress had no authority to review a presidential clemency decision.
"To allow such an inquiry would chill the complete and candid advice that President Bush, and future presidents, must be able to rely upon in discharging their constitutional responsibilities," he wrote.
The letter came in the middle of a politically charged hearing by the Judiciary panel on Bush's move last week to erase Libby's 2 1/2-year prison sentence. Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of obstructing justice in a federal probe of the leak of former CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson's identity.
Big Ten Sports Network Kicks Off Battle With Comcast
July 11, 2007
By Tory Newmyer,
Roll Call Staff
Big Ten fans will have to wait until October for the Ohio State vs. Michigan football game, but the storied athletic conference has another key battle in store this summer on Capitol Hill.
The Midwestern league is fighting cable giant Comcast over a deal to carry its new cable television network. And while the skirmish has no legislative component, for now, it has spilled onto Beltway turf in recent days as both sides scramble for advantage in a wider public relations contest.
Executives from the Big Ten Network, as the channel is called, will start making the rounds today to Hill offices of the eight state delegations represented in the league. And Thursday, the network will host alumni working on the Hill at both a morning briefing and an evening reception.
Comcast has been deploying its weighty lobbying force to work the same crowd.
The dispute centers on how the network, which launches Aug. 30, will be offered on cable television. University and network officials argue the sports-heavy programming has wide appeal in Big Ten states and should be standard in basic cable packages.
Comcast counters that only a narrow slice of its customers will be interested, arguing that it is unfair to charge all viewers in regions with member schools the $1.10 a month it would cost to make the network part of the standard package — especially considering that ABC and ESPN will maintain exclusive rights to top-rated Big Ten games.
Instead, the company wants to offer it as part of a premium package of sports channels that fans would pay extra to receive. The company declined to comment for this article.
Comcast and others in the industry are worried that if the Big Ten Network has its way, other college athletic conferences will follow suit.
Already the skirmish has drawn the concern of House Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.), a fan of Big Ten school the University of Michigan. He wrote Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany in late June asking pointed questions about the network’s plans, the status of talks with cable operators and whether fans should have to pay to watch their teams at all.
“I am increasingly concerned about the migration of previously free, over the air content to a pay television tier,” Dingell wrote.
Dingell, whose committee has jurisdictional authority to hold hearings on the matter, has no plans to do wield his gavel in the debate, according to staff. His letter was printed on the letterhead of his personal office.
Delany answered Dingell’s June 25 letter with a letter of his own, but network officials declined to make it public. They are set to follow up with Dingell in a personal meeting this week.
Elizabeth Conlisk, the vice president of communications for the network, said the blitz of Hill visits today and Thursday have been in the works for six weeks and were not a response to the Dingell letter. The message, she said, is that “this is a network about, by and for the Big Ten and the Big Ten communities where these people live.”
The meetings are a chance to introduce the network and the scope of its coverage.
The network hopes a wide fan base on Capitol Hill will warm to its pitch. According to a Roll Call analysis, five Senators and 22 House Members attended Big Ten schools, including Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del./Ohio State), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich./Michigan State) and Evan Bayh (D-Ind./Indiana) and Reps. Jack Kingston (R-Ga./Michigan State) and Frank Wolf (R-Va./Penn State). So did countless aides.
To coordinate its pitch, the network is tapping the lobbying shops of its member universities. Four of them — Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State and Purdue — have offices in town. Others are working from Midwestern offices to help set up meetings.
While the network lacks heaps of political cash and an army of consultants — over the past two years, Comcast spent $9.4 million on its lobbying team and doled out nearly $1.1 million in campaign contributions, according to CQ PoliticalMoneyLine — it has a play in its playbook its rival can’t count on.
The schools have a combined alumni network of about 4 million people across the country that Conlisk said could be asked to get in touch with lawmakers.
To bulk up the team, the Big Ten recently took a more traditional turn, hiring the professionals at the Dewey Square Group.
So far, the network has inked deals with 75 cable operators, Conlisk said.
Most of them are local, but they also include DIRECTV, which is owned by News Corp., a part owner of the network itself. News Corp. does not appear to be backing up its investment by lobbying in support of network. Similarly, Time Warner — which has joined Comcast in holding out on a deal with the Big Ten — is hugging the sidelines on the Hill.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/OPINION03/707120313/1008/OPINION01
Thursday, July 12, 2007
George Will
Bloated government didn't end Depression
Some mornings during the autumn of 1933, when the unemployment rate was 22 percent, the president, before getting into his wheelchair, sat in bed, surrounded by economic advisers, setting the price of gold. One morning he said he might raise it 21 cents: "It's a lucky number because it's three times seven." His treasury secretary wrote that if anybody knew how gold was priced "they would be frightened."
The Depression's persistence, partly a result of such policy flippancy, was frightening. In 1937, during the depression within the Depression, there occurred the steepest drop in industrial production ever recorded. By January 1938 the unemployment rate was back up to 17.4 percent. The war, not the New Deal, defeated the Depression. Franklin Roosevelt's success was in altering the practice of American politics.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110010322
The True Politics of the Paranoid Style
American liberals took leave of reason after JFK's murder.
BY FRED SIEGEL
Thursday, July 12, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
"Inherit the Wind" is running on Broadway again, night after night pitting the righteously rational Clarence Darrow against the Bible-thumping antievolutionist William Jennings Bryan. The 1955 play--a chestnut of high-school English courses across the country--concerns the Scopes "Monkey Trial" of 1925 and is meant to capture the moment in American history when science and reason superseded, at last, the myth and superstition of foolish reactionaries. It has become something of a liberal sacrament. But as James Piereson shows in "Camelot and the Cultural Revolution," myth and superstition were the essence of the liberal response to John F. Kennedy's assassination in November 1963. It was the liberals who threw evidence and reason to the winds, inheriting the crippling effects of their own bad judgment.
Mr. Piereson is not concerned with showing yet again that, yes--in defiance of all conspiracy theories--Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman on that fateful day. "Camelot and the Cultural Revolution," Mr. Piereson explains, is less about "the assassination itself than the political reaction to it and the lasting consequences of that reaction." It is one of the best accounts we have of why liberalism--which "owned the future" in 1963--fell from grace and has yet to recover.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/POLITICS/707120314/1022
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Uncovered material reveals Nixon wanted 'nicey-nice' image but fought all comers with gloves off
Calvin Woodward / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- President Nixon and his 1972 re-election campaign tried to tie Democrats to the mob, gay liberation and even slavery, according to newly released papers and tapes betraying bare-knuckle tactics from the dawn of the Watergate scandal.
Still, even as Nixon's lieutenants explored every avenue for defeating Democrat George McGovern and nullifying critics of all stripes -- "hit them" was a favorite phrase -- the president brooded over his reputation as a hard man whose gentle side was not being seen by the public.
Nixon called that side of him "the whole warmth business."
In 1970, he wrote an 11-page, single-spaced memo detailing his acts of kindness to staff and strangers and expressing regret that he was getting no credit for being "nicey-nice."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/NATION/707120301/1022
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Excerpts from the Nixon files and tapes
Associated Press
Excerpts from documents and 11 1/2 hours of taped conversations from Richard M. Nixon's presidency released Wednesday:
Kissinger: You made Vietnam your issue without fear of weakness.
Nixon: That's right.
Kissinger: The whole approach, year after year the media were harassing you, uh, all the intellectuals were against you, and you've come ...
Nixon: That's right. That's right.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TERROR_THREAT?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jul 12, 6:31 AM EDT
Al-Qaida has rebuilt, U.S. intel warns
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new threat assessment from U.S. counterterrorism analysts says that al-Qaida has used its safe haven along the Afghan-Pakistan border to restore its operating capabilities to a level unseen since the months before Sept. 11, 2001.
A counterterrorism official familiar with a five-page summary of the document - titled "Al-Qaida better positioned to strike the West" - called it a stark appraisal. The analysis will be part of a broader meeting at the White House on Thursday about an upcoming National Intelligence Estimate.
The official and others spoke to The Associated Press on condition they not be identified because the report remains classified.
The findings suggests that the network that launched the most devastating terror attack on U.S. soil has been able to regroup despite nearly six years of bombings, war and other tactics aimed at dismantling it.
Muddle-headed Politicians and the Terrorist Threat
By David Limbaugh
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Have you seen the latest reports and photographs of Al Qaeda's brutality and savagery in Iraq? In view of these, how can any reasonable person still maintain our own policies and actions are making them do it?
How can so many be blind or indifferent to the ruthlessness, tenacity and implacability of our jihadist enemy? How can they so easily downplay or ignore this global threat as if its existence is purely a product of our perception, which we can wish away with positive thinking, legislate away or make disappear by withdrawing from Iraq?
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DIRTY_BOMB?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jul 11, 11:04 PM EDT
Bogus company gets nuke license
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional investigators set up a bogus company with only a postal box and within a month obtained a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that allowed them to buy enough radioactive material for a small "dirty bomb."
Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., who will ask the NRC about the incident at a Senate hearing Thursday, said the sting operation raises concerns about terrorists obtaining such material just as easily.
Nobody at the NRC checked whether the company was legitimate and an agency official even helped the investigators fill out the application form, Coleman said in an interview Wednesday.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledged that more checking is needed in such licensing and said that since being told of the GAO sting operation it has tightened licensing procedures.
"We've fixed the problem," said NRC Commissioner Edward McGaffigan in an interview Wednesday. He said that such licenses now will require visits to the company or in some cases company officials will have to come to NRC offices.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/dhenninger/?id=110010324
The Blogosphere for Killers
Tech-savvy terrorists use the Web for propaganda and incitement.
BY DANIEL HENNINGER
Thursday, July 12, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
Living as we do now afloat the incoming and outgoing tides of media, perhaps the aborted London and Glasgow car bombings of a fortnight ago are worth another thought before these attempted mass murders drift away on the sea of bad memories. What about those doctors? The apparent complicity of U.K.-resident Muslim physicians in the attempted murder of innocent British civilians had many in the West asking why. The short answer is that these trained M.D.s somehow convinced themselves that these British people didn't deserve to live--that it would be morally good to kill them. That's insane. Why would they think that?
The best answer I have seen in a long time is found in a new study of Islamic media propaganda by a research team from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. "Iraqi Insurgent Media: The War of Images and Ideas" by Daniel Kimmage and Kathleen Ridolfo (with Radio Free Iraq correspondents, two of whom were abducted and murdered this year) is an astounding compilation of the high-tech methods being used by the insurgency in Iraq to propagate the ideology of the Islamic jihadist movement. This is the blogosphere for killers.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/POLITICS/707120343/1022
Sensitive military files posted online
Mike Baker / Associated Press
GREENSBORO, N.C . -- Detailed schematics of a military detainee holding facility in southern Iraq. Geographical surveys and aerial photographs of two military airfields outside Baghdad. Plans for a new fuel farm at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
The military calls it "need-to-know" information that would pose a direct threat to U.S. troops if it fell into the hands of terrorists. It's material so sensitive that officials refused to release the documents when asked.
But it's already out there, posted carelessly to file servers by government agencies and contractors, accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/POLITICS/707120329/1022
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Report outlines progress in Iraq
Administration document cites 'satisfactory' movement on eight of 18 benchmarks being sought by Congress.
Karen DeYoung and Peter Baker / Washington Post
WASHINGTON -- A widely anticipated White House report on Iraq, set for release today, argues that Iraq has made "satisfactory" progress toward nearly half of the political and military goals sought by Congress, while acknowledging that an equal number remain "unsatisfactory," an administration official said Wednesday.
The report, ordered by lawmakers as an interim assessment of President Bush's troop increase strategy, identifies some positive movement in eight of the 18 congressional benchmarks, most of them related to military issues; finds insufficient improvement in eight others, mainly related to political reconciliation; and judges mixed results in the final two, the official said.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/POLITICS/707120398/1022
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Benchmarks required by Congress will assess progress in Iraq
Associated Press
Congress required President Bush to submit an initial report to lawmakers no later than July 15, assessing the status of each of the following benchmarks for the Iraqi government, declaring whether satisfactory progress toward meeting these benchmarks is or is not, being achieved.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jul 12, 6:32 AM EDT
Republican unity fraying on Iraq war
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican unity is fraying on the long war in Iraq, not to mention civility.
"Wimps," House Republican leader John Boehner calls GOP defectors in the Senate - a growing breed as public opinion polls chart ever-deepening opposition to the war and a climbing U.S. casualty count 16 months before the 2008 elections.
With both houses of Congress debating war-related legislation, lawmakers awaited the Bush administration's assessment Thursday of political, economic and military progress made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.
Administration officials said in advance the report concludes that the Iraqis have failed to pass long-promised laws that the administration has called key to national cohesion and economic recovery, such as legislation that would fairly divide Iraq's oil resources.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010323
The 'Benchmark' Excuse
Crocker and Petraeus speak some truths, if Senators are listening.
Thursday, July 12, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
Ryan Crocker, the U.S. Ambassador in Iraq, is a 36-year career diplomat who has served under seven administrations in Iran, Syria, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Pakistan. He's no partisan gunslinger. So it's worth listening to his views as Congressional Democrats and a growing number of Republicans press for a precipitous withdrawal from Iraq on the excuse that the Iraqi government hasn't met a set of political "benchmarks."
"The longer I'm here, the more I'm persuaded that Iraq cannot be analyzed by these kinds of discrete benchmarks," Mr. Crocker told the New York Times's John Burns in an interview on Saturday, referring to pending Iraqi legislation on an oil-sharing agreement and a relaxation of de-Baathification laws. "You could not achieve any of them, and still have a situation where arguably the country is moving in the right direction. And conversely, I think you could achieve them all and still not be heading towards stability, security and overall success in Iraq."
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1184164809134500.xml&coll=2
World Bank shouldn't aid Chinese cover-up
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Like most developing countries, China has industrialized with little thought to environmental consequences. Since it has been so rapid and has occurred on such a massive scale, China's economic boom is producing a unique environmental disaster. And its Communist Party rulers' instinct to control flows of information adds a special challenge.
Here's one example. China fuels its factories and power plants with high-sulfur coal, with the result that, according to the World Bank, four of the 10 smoggiest cities on Earth are in China: Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenyang and Zhengzhou. And economists at the bank, in cooperation with Chinese government experts, recently came up with some even scarier statistics. Toxic air and water are killing an estimated 710,000 to 760,000 Chinese each year. Even in a country of more than 1.3 billion people, that is a shocking toll.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_LIBYA?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jul 11, 8:20 PM EDT
Bush nominates ambassador to Libya
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States took another step in restoring normal diplomatic relations with Libya on Wednesday when President Bush nominated a U.S. ambassador to the once-outcast nation.
The nomination must be confirmed by the Senate, where some lawmakers are pushing the administration to make Libya do more to account for past misdeeds.
The White House announced that Gene Cretz, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, is Bush's pick for the post.
Before serving in Tel Aviv, Cretz served as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. Earlier in his career, he served as minister counselor of economic and political affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
Cretz received a bachelor's degree from the University of Rochester and a master's degree from State University College at Buffalo.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/OPINION01/707120357/1008
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Lady Bird was an asset to the nation
As first lady, she was gracious in difficult times
The Detroit News
Lady Bird Johnson, who died Wednesday at 94, served in the White House in troubled, difficult times. But she was known for her graciousness and dignity.
Her husband, President Lyndon B. Johnson, could be a gruff, difficult and demanding man. But her friends say that while she was devoted to him, she was not intimidated by him. She kept him in line and tried to smooth his rough edges.
While the president presided over a tumultuous era that included the Vietnam War, student unrest and violent riots, Lady Bird Johnson remained a popular figure and an asset to her husband.
His legacy, it should be remembered, includes landmark civil rights and anti-poverty legislation as well as the Vietnam War.
