Articles of Interest 7-13-07
481 days until election day.
MORNING UPDATE:
Mayor Rudy Giuliani a big hit as he swings through Michigan.
Grand Rapids and Spectrum Hospital make the NY Times…some good news in Michigan!
Our thoughts and prayer go out to Susan Chmielewski and her family, who’s father passed away this Wednesday.
THE REST OF THE STORY:
- Mayor Rudy Giulaini was the keynote speaker during last night’s State Party and House Republican Campaign Committee dinner in Novi. Nearly 500 donors gathered to support our Republican cause and hear the Mayor talk about his vision for America.
Later, he attended another fundraiser on behalf of his Presidential campaign. I was invited to join the crowd and what impressed me more than anything else was that I did NOT know 80% of the participants at the Giuliani event. He was engaging and very much “in charge”.
The Mayor was solid, comforting and impressive by anyone’s standard. Nearly 500 attended the House/Party even and over 200 attended the “for President” event afterwards.
I was impressed.
- The NY Times wrote a great story about Grand Rapids and how it is a success story in the mid-west…let along Michigan.
It’s a great story about community involvement and what can happen to a major city when everybody is working together.
To see the original story go to:
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/POLITICS/707130368/1022
Friday, July 13, 2007
Granholm signs new business tax into law
Granholm signs new business tax into law
LANSING -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Thursday signed Michigan's new business tax into law.
"It provides us with a sense of certainty," Granholm said before signing the law in her ceremonial office in the Capitol. "It enables us all to be able to go out and market Michigan and say, 'Here is a tremendous tax structure that will give competitiveness to businesses.'"
The MBT is designed to give seven of every 10 Michigan businesses overall tax cuts. But it still will raise the roughly $1.9 billion now raised through the Single Business Tax, which will expire at the end of this year.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/BUSINESS06/70712038/1008/NEWS06
New business tax becomes reality
July 12, 2007
LANSING – Gov. Jennifer Granholm today signed a new state business tax into law.
Granholm, in a ceremony at the Capitol, signed the bill approved by the Legislature last month, as she was flanked by 10 Democratic lawmakers and one Republican.
She said the Michigan Business Tax will promote economic growth, and reduce taxes for 70% of those businesses that now pay the Single Business Tax (SBT) which expires Dec. 31.
“This Michigan Business Tax, as a replacement, will encourage businesses and jobs to grow in Michigan,” Granholm said. “It provides us with a sense of certainty, it enables us all to be able to go out and market Michigan, and say, ‘Here is a tremendous tax structure that will give a competitive business climate to businesses.' ”
Granholm signs new business tax law
7/12/2007, 4:07 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Thursday signed Michigan's new business tax into law.
The Democratic governor, surrounded by Democratic lawmakers and a Republican, said the Michigan Business Tax will encourage businesses and jobs to grow in the state.
"It provides us with a sense of certainty," Granholm said before signing the law in her ceremonial office in the Capitol. "It enables us all to be able to go out and market Michigan and say, 'Here is a tremendous tax structure that will give a competitiveness to businesses.'"
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/AUTO01/707130389/1022/POLITICS
Friday, July 13, 2007
Sales tax pumps up gas costs, state coffers
Eric Morath / The Detroit News
Michigan's gasoline prices, the highest in the nation on Thursday, have motorists fuming and the tax man smiling.
Because Michigan charges a sales tax on gasoline -- 6 percent -- the taxes the state collects at the pump go up as prices rise. So with the average price of gas at $3.30 a gallon Thursday -- tops among the 50 states, according to AAA -- the state is collecting nearly 8 cents more per gallon than when prices were below $2 in January.
That adds up to big bucks. The Michigan Petroleum Association, which represents 2,600 gas station owners, estimates that every additional penny in tax collected per gallon yields $50 million for the state over the course of a year.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/OPINION01/707130313/1008
Friday, July 13, 2007
Proposed telephone tax will burden consumers
Steven Titch
The Michigan House of Representatives will vote soon on a proposed public safety surcharge of $1.35 on all phone bills to fund a variety of law enforcement programs -- most of which have nothing to do with telecommunications. But what's even worse is that this tax will diminish access of Michigan individuals and businesses to phones and the Internet, making them less productive and competitive compared to other states.
According to the Tax Foundation, Michigan's slew of business, sales and income taxes have made it 12th in the nation in terms of tax burden per dollar of state gross domestic product. But telecommunications has so far been a bright spot in Michigan's otherwise dismal tax picture.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-2/118424810377720.xml&coll=6
Phone fee, bad call
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Lawmakers need to reject legislation that would impose an ill-advised $1.35 monthly fee on phone users statewide. This plan to create a separate Public Safety Fund to cover expenses for the State Police and others is a bad idea. Public safety is a core responsibility of government. The dollars to finance this essential service must come from the primary source of funding for operations, the state general fund.
Law enforcement agencies, like every aspect of state government, has taken a hit due to the budget crunch but the Legislature needs to provide dollars for them via real revenue and expense reforms, not an inappropriate tax on an unrelated service.
This bill, in part, has been talked about as aiding the 911 system but that's hardly the case. The fee just applies to all communication services that connect with the 911 system. The estimated $198 million generated would be divvied up among multiple groups. The State Police, the biggest benefactor, supports the measure. But a slew of local and state law enforcement groups see no benefit and oppose it, including the Michigan Sheriff's Association and Police Officers Association of Michigan. This tacky phone tax shouldn't be apart of the solution to the pending deficit. That's lazy governance. It does not address fundamental challenges but instead stuffs a money bag while making 911 the latest version of a pay phone.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-37/118424806577720.xml&coll=6
Tuition increase at MSU delivers shock
Thursday, July 12, 2007
By Nardy Baeza Bickel
The Grand Rapids Press
Rockford High School graduate Robby Zaahm figured he would have to land a job to help pay for his studies at Michigan State University this fall.
But after trustees there approved a 9.6-percent tuition hike Wednesday, the 18-year-old now thinks he will have to get at least a couple of jobs and borrow from his parents to afford college.
"Some kids have scholarships and stuff like that, but I haven't gotten any," said Zaahm, who works at MC Sports. "Maybe there's a job opportunity there. I could work at MC Sports in East Lansing, or maybe at the cafeteria."
Many of Michigan's 15 public universities are expected to approve tuition increases this month as the state struggles to come up with a budget, including funding for higher education.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/NEWS06/707130398/1008
CMU tuition guarantee threatened
July 13, 2007
Central Michigan University may not offer future undergraduates a guarantee that their tuition rates will not change for their first five years of study after uncertainty over state funding caused it to boost tuition 21.1% for first-time, in-state students enrolling this fall.
CMU's vote Thursday makes it the fifth state university to hike tuition rates this summer, though its situation is unique. Since fall 2005, it has guaranteed first-time, in-state students that their tuition rates would be locked in for five years. That program -- the CMU Promise -- means that the change approved Thursday affects the tuition paid this fall by less than 30% of the university's students.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/OPINION01/707130347/1008
Friday, July 13, 2007
New round of tuition hikes are indefensible
The Detroit News
This week, Oakland University and Michigan State University hiked their tuition rates, the first of a wave of higher college costs that threaten to sink the education hopes of many students and their families.
Oakland raised tuition by 14 percent on Wednesday, the largest increase since 1982. Michigan State leaders preceded them by raising Spartans' tuition by 9.6 percent. Central Michigan Thursday raised tuition 21 percent for freshmen, but guaranteed no additional hikes for them for five years.
Students and their parents should be protesting in the streets.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/POLITICS01/707130382/1022/POLITICS
Friday, July 13, 2007
Levin pulls big money for re-election
Senate Democrat hopes to demoralize potential foes with huge election war chest.
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Carl Levin raised almost $1.8 million for his re-election campaign in the second quarter of this year, a total likely to place him near the top of the list nationally among 2008 Senate candidates.
Of Senate candidates who have released figures for the second three months of the year, only Minnesota Democrat Al Franken raised more money in the quarter. The radio host and former "Saturday Night Live" performer collected $1.9 million in the quarter.
A summary of Levin's second-quarter fundraising report Thursday showed him with about $2.9 million in his campaign account at the end of June, also among the top figures for '08 contenders who have announced their totals.
Grand Rapids Lays Foundations for a Health Mecca
Published: July 11, 2007
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — In the last decade or so, this city has been the beneficiary of investments in new academic campuses, a civic arena, a convention center, new parks, a transit center and more than 1,500 new units of downtown housing.
Even so, Grand Rapids has never experienced anything near the concentrated magnitude of the medical research, training and patient facility construction now occurring on Health Hill.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/NEWS01/707130325/1003
Give me time, new school boss says
Calloway: Detroit district fix to focus on kids' achievement
July 13, 2007
The new Detroit Public Schools superintendent said Thursday that it would be arrogant for her to suggest that after only eight weekdays on the job, she has a plan to fix all of the district's problems.
But when that plan comes -- and it could be months away -- it will be focused on one theme, she said: improving student achievement.
In her first on-the-job interview with the city's major newspapers and just hours before her first appearance at a regular monthly school board meeting, Connie Calloway, 57, said her first objective is to make sure that everyone is speaking the same language when it comes to school issues, status and needs.
The second objective will be to ensure that the leadership is respected, supported, consistent and follows protocol, she said.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-45/1184250083205050.xml&coll=5
Board picks Perry to lead
'New direction' seen in schools
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Thursday, July 12, 2007
By Lindsey Poisson
lpoisson@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6249
FLINT - The Board of Education now has the one person with the "voice of common sense" at its helm, said teachers union President Steve Burroughs.
The school board Wednesday elected Vera Perry as president over incumbent Stephanie Robb Martin in a 5-4 vote. All four newly elected members - Fred W. Bashir, Dr. Michael D. Cross, Jennifer Dillard and Harold Woodson - supported Perry.
Robb Martin, re-elected to the board in May, supported former School Superintendent Walter Milton, Jr., whose controversial tenure ended in May. She also came under scrutiny recently after The Flint Journal reported in April she made more than $3,000 in calls on her district-issued cellphone in the 2006-07 school year.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1184251343263441.xml&coll=2
Bad move by state on campgrounds
Loss to tourism outweighs relatively minor savings
Thursday, July 12, 2007
At the height of the summer camping season, Michigan's Department of Natural Resources on Monday closed about 20 state forest campgrounds in the northern Lower Peninsula and eastern Upper Peninsula.
Closing the rustic campgrounds, which offer pit toilets and often require campers to pump water by hand, will save the state's Recreation and Trail Program $75,000.
That's more than 14 percent of the state's 138 campgrounds shuttered basically overnight without any advance notice. And $75,000 is the equivalent of the salary and benefits of one junior paper pusher in Lansing. The DNR won't guarantee the grounds will reopen next spring. That depends on next year's budget.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/POLITICS/707130386/1022
Friday, July 13, 2007
Capitol Report
Bill to keep speed limits low in doubt
Charlie Cain / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
LANSING -- Despite winning unanimous approval in the Michigan Senate last month, a bill to allow Oakland County to keep the speed limit at 25 mph on some gravel roads could face a tougher drive through the House.
The measure would allow townships in the state's second-largest county to keep the low speed in place on 283 gravel road segments. A law that took effect in November upped the speed limit to as high as 55 mph on some of those gravel and dirt roads.
Sen. Nancy Cassis, R-Novi, said that will create dangerous situations on roads where children wait to board school buses and horseback riders share the road with vehicles.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/OPINION01/707130328/1008
Friday, July 13, 2007
State should get out of airport business
Romeo, other local airfields are too costly for taxpayers
The Detroit News
Owning and operating an airport is an expensive venture and one that the state shouldn't be in given the nearly $2 billion budget shortfall it has for next year.
So it makes sense to sell the Romeo State Airport, whose purchase in 1998 was misguided anyway. The state bought the regional general aviation airport to keep it from being sold to developers, a questionable reason for spending tax dollars. And an expensive one.
It cost $5 million to buy and an equal amount since then for additional land purchases and improvements. In November, the state spent $2 million to buy 62 acres adjacent to the runway after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a wider safety buffer.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/AUTO02/707130357/1322/OPINION03
Friday, July 13, 2007
Daniel Howes
UAW juggles outside pressure
The Wall Street analyst, eager to discuss the United Auto Workers' imminent contract talks with Detroit's automakers, looked across the table this week and told me what "the Street" expects come September:
First, a landmark deal to essentially shift some $70 billion in retiree health-care liabilities to union control. Second, a two-tier wage structure to pay new hires a fraction of what current workers make and offer fewer benefits. And third, obliteration of the pay-for-no-work "jobs bank," Detroit's monument to dysfunction.
Gee, is that all?
The start of potentially landmark contract talks still are roughly two weeks away. Yet armchair experts already are rushing ahead to declare more forcefully than the automakers themselves what must be accomplished, and they're trading accordingly.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/NEWS05/707130377
National Organization for Women returns to metro Detroit
July 13, 2007
At 22, Jacqueline Steingold couldn't get birth control. It was 1964, she was single and her doctor wouldn't prescribe it unless she had a husband to approve it.
By 1975, Steingold was a probation officer in Detroit, working among men who told nasty jokes and kept pictures of scantily clad women in the office. She did the same job as they did, but for less money.
"All that culminated into anger and frustration and then -- what are you going to do about it?" said Steingold, 65.
Steingold didn't know what feminism was, but she decided to find out in 1977, when the National Organization for Women held its 10th convention in Detroit.
http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/OPINION01/707120491/1201/NEWS13
Mackinac Bridge - "Mighty Mac" turns 50
Built with 71 tons of structural steel, 41,000 miles of cable wire, more than four million steel rivets, one million bolts, 350 engineers and a record construction cost of $70.3 million, the Mackinac Bridge turns 50 this year. Described as an engineering marvel when it opened on November 1, 1957, the Mighty Mac still inspires today.
More than 3,500 workers were employed at the bridge site, working to forge two peninsulas and connect a state. These fearless men worked tirelessly, without safety nets or harnesses, to turn a vision into a reality.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/NEWS06/70712061/1008/NEWS06
Giuliani hits town to raise money, skips NAACP convention
July 12, 2007
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani hit Michigan today, not to attend the NAACP's presidential forum, but to raise money for his campaign at events in Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills. He also attended a fundraiser in Novi that was expected to raise $1 million for the Michigan Republican Party and the Michigan House Republican caucus.
"I'm committed to cutting taxes, which is something the state of Michigan should do too, but you've got a governor who wants to raise taxes," Giuliani told the crowd of several hundred people. "I know things look bad in Michigan and its likely to get worse, but the prescription for Michigan is same as for the United States. It's not to use a Eurpoean socialist model on how to run government."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/NEWS05/707130370&theme=NAACP072007
Dems pledge to undo what Bush has done
Cheers for change fill Cobo during candidate forum
July 13, 2007
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama was the clear crowd favorite at the NAACP presidential forum in Detroit on Thursday, winning thunderous applause just for walking on stage and standing ovations when he spoke.
But while Obama, the only African American in the field and the first black candidate in U.S. history to have the popularity and fund-raising ability to give him a serious shot at the White House, drew the loudest response of the day, it also was clear that the 3,000 delegates at the convention's closing session were eager to replace the current president.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/METRO/707130393/1022/POLITICS
Friday, July 13, 2007
Dems vow to bridge rich-poor divide
NAACP cheers eight Democratic presidential contenders plus lone GOP hopeful; Obama gets loudest applause.
Mark Hornbeck and Charlie Cain / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
DETROIT -- Nine White House hopefuls found an audience receptive to change on Thursday, with several telling the 98th annual NAACP convention that America needs to dissolve the disparities between rich and poor.
Eight Democratic presidential candidates and a lone Republican made Detroit the epicenter of presidential politics during a two-hour gathering at Cobo Center on the final day of the group's annual convention. It was the first time the candidates had gathered in Michigan, considered pivotal in the 2008 election.
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, an African-American appearing before an African-American crowd in the most predominantly African-American large city in the country, drew by far the loudest applause.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/METRO/707130385/1022
Friday, July 13, 2007
Gun-control rally targets presidential hopefuls at NAACP forum
Jonnelle Marte / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- Weusi Olusola was 16 when four nearly fatal bullets knocked him to the ground while he was walking down a street in west Detroit.
Twenty years later, Olusola found himself on the ground again -- only this time, it was by choice.
He was one of 32 kids and adults dressed in black who lay down Thursday in front of Cobo Center to bring gun control to the attention of the nine presidential candidates participating in a forum as part of the last day of the NAACP national convention.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/NEWS05/707130371
Obama trades Hemi for hybrid
July 13, 2007
Sen. Barack Obama got new wheels since he last visited the Motor City.
He lectured Detroit automakers about their having failed to anticipate the effect rising oil prices would have on consumer buying habits in a May 7 speech to the Detroit Economic Club. Then, after he got an earful in return when it was revealed his car was a Hemi-powered Chrysler 300 that got 25 m.p.g. on a good day -- the senator from Illinois went green, switching to a hybrid.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/NEWS07/707130357/1008/NEWS06
It's wait and see for state GOP
Michigan delegation: Give general time
July 13, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Most Republican members of Michigan's congressional delegation said Thursday that they would wait until a September report before deciding whether to support changing the U.S. policy on Iraq.
Their comments came on a day when the Democrat-led House voted to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by April, and the White House released an interim report showing mixed results from President George W. Bush's troop surge.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/NEWS05/707130373/1007
Conyers receives highest honor
Congressman 'deeply moved'
July 13, 2007
As the 98th NAACP national convention came to a close Thursday night in Detroit, U.S. Rep. John Conyers was flanked by his two sons as he expressed his gratitude at receiving the group's highest honor, the Spingarn Medal.
Conyers, a Detroit Democrat, is the 92nd recipient of the medal, given to prominent African Americans.
"This is one of the greatest moments of my life," he said. "I am so deeply moved."
Conyers also said there is much work still to be done for humanity.
"We have to make sure that before we try to import democracy, that we have democracy at home," he said. "So our challenge here tonight is so great."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/NEWS06/707130391/1008
Forbidden shore could go public
Levin proposes allowing recreational activity on land near Selfridge base
July 13, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The nearly two miles of off-limits waterfront property at Selfridge Air National Guard Base along Lake St. Clair's Anchor Bay could be opened to fishing, biking and other recreational uses under a proposal announced Thursday by U.S. Sen. Carl Levin.
Under Levin's proposal, recreational users could not take cars or other vehicles onto the property.
Air National Guard officials at the base said they saw Levin's letter to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and are considering adding it to a plan for property at the base no longer needed for military uses.
"We're definitely giving it a look," said Lt. Col. Mac Crawford, land and facilities coordinator at the base. In his letter, Levin, the Michigan Democrat who chairs the Armed Services Committee, said he'd like to see public access to the waterfront footage and 200 feet inland made a component of the proposal for developing the property.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/07/mccains_campaign_to_report_deb.php
McCain's Campaign To Report Debt On July 15
Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign is in debt, again. Campaign sources say that the balance sheet reported to the Federal Election Commission on July 15 will include debts of more than $1.5M, including $700,000 owed to an e-technology firm.
In the meantime, McCain plans an aggressive late-summer / early fall schedule of fundraisers to keep money flowing to the campaign. Sources said that about $1.5M per month will be allocated to all overhead costs -- staff salaries, field offices, equipment, travel -- and the rest will be saved for late-cycle television advertisements.
McCain advisers late yesterday dismissed speculation about the campaign's political plans, saying that McCain could continue to compete in Iowa, for now. The advisers did not deny reports that reducing his presence in Iowa was one option, although McCain's campaign chairman, Dave Roederer, told a reporter yesterday that he was "quite confident" McCain would mount an aggressive campaign in Iowa.
http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/07/mccains_other_problem.html
July 11, 2007
McCain's Other Problem
Senator John McCain was once a media darling. His maverick streak and accessibility to reporters, cruising down primary state roads in his "Straight Talk Express" bus, gave many a sense of a different kind of politician, one who spoke his mind and pulled no punches.
During his 2000 bid, that image helped McCain win support from independents and Democrats searching for a reprieve from politics as usual. McCain's straight-forward personality and willingness to take on politicians of both parties spoke to many who had grown tired of the partisan bickering of the Clinton years. "He seemed independent of mind, and even though [independents] didn't necessarily buy him on all the issues, they liked his style," says Purdue University Professor Bert Rockman.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/kstrasselpw/?id=110010328
The McCain-Feingold Effect
Where has all the money gone?
BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
Friday, July 13, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
John McCain's campaign fell into disarray this week, kicked off by the news it had raised a scant $24 million so far. Mark these money woes down to any number of problems, but don't entirely discount the McCain-Feingold effect.
Let's stipulate that most of the good senator's troubles stem from high-profile policy disagreements he's had with his own base. He's tweaked noses on global warming and slapped faces on immigration. His admirable decision to stand strong on Iraq has been undermined by his tendency to stand weak on national security issues such as interrogations and enemy combatants. And economic conservatives just don't trust a guy who won't admit that cutting taxes is good.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/118425301047380.xml&coll=2
Voters need to know more about 'bundlers'
Thursday, July 12, 2007
The second-quarter fundraising totals show the presidential candidates once again raking in large - in a few cases, astonishing - sums. The click-and-pay ease of Internet giving accounts for some of the haul, but the big fundraisers known as bundlers also play a key role.
Unfortunately, campaign finance rules don't require any disclosure of that role, and the campaigns so far have been disappointing in what they have reported about the financiers to whom they are most indebted.
Some top-tier campaigns that pledged to disclose their bundlers haven't yet managed to do so: We're referring here to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Arizona Sen. John McCain, both Republicans. Romney's campaign says he plans to post a list of bundlers on his Web site around the time the latest fundraising reports are due, in mid-July.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HerbLondon/2007/07/11/a_republic_vs_a_liberal_state
A Republic vs. A Liberal State
By Herb London
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Ben Franklin when asked to describe the goal of the Constitutional Convention said, “A Republic, if you can keep it.” The last five words are critical. For in the succeeding two hundred years the Republic has undergone shifts and dramatic changes. Surely the limited government envisioned by the founders does not resemble the government of today that by happenstance, pandering or addressing real and perceived needs is elephantine.
But perhaps the most significant challenge to a republican form of government is the liberal state that emphasizes rights as its critical feature. Rights tend to be inviolable; moreover, a privilege vouchsafed over several months morphs easily into a right.
http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/index.ssf?/base/news-23/1184251428263440.xml&coll=2
New bump in passport road
Local clerks can't process them for people born here
Thursday, July 12, 2007
BY AMY WHITESALL
News Staff Reporter
Just when you thought you had a handle on this summer's passport saga - a new wrinkle was added.
As of June 25, the U.S. Department of State has said county clerks can no longer process passports for anyone who was issued a birth certificate from that office.
"As if the passport situation wasn't enough of a train wreck already, they've decided to add something else,'' said Washtenaw County Clerk Larry Kestenbaum. "I think it's safe to say county clerks around the state are baffled and outraged.''
The move is designed to quash any incentive employees in a clerk's office might have to issue a fake birth certificate or otherwise falsify a passport application.
But Kestenbaum says it amounts to an unnecessary inconvenience for customers - and it takes a bite out of his office's business. In the weeks since the directive was announced, the county clerk's office has turned away 88 passport-seeking citizens.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HOUSING_VOUCHERS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jul 12, 10:30 PM EDT
House passes low-income housing bill
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House voted Thursday to overhaul the housing voucher program, the federal government's largest effort to help low-income families find affordable housing.
The legislation, passed 333-83, seeks to make housing vouchers available to more families, makes it easier for people to use vouchers for first-time home purchases and creates incentives for employment and higher education.
The bill, said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., makes "significant improvements in one of the most important social programs in the federal government."
It next goes to the Senate and must also overcome opposition from the Bush administration, which has objected to formula changes that affect how funds are allocated among local public housing authorities.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/OPINION03/707130314/1008/OPINION01
Friday, July 13, 2007
James P. Hoffa: Labor Voices
Trade deals harm U.S. workers
NAFTA, other agreements cost jobs, hurt the environment and health
When the trade policies of the world's most powerful nation are broken, executives of huge corporations reap the benefits. But who loses? Everyone else.
Nobody has learned that lesson better than Michigan's working families. Seven of the 20 cities in the United States with the highest unemployment are in Michigan.
Policies out of date
Right now, the trade policies of the United States are miserably out of date and structured so the interests of working Americans are not looked after. Our nation's current policies are dangerously destructive to the working men and women of this country, and can be felt around the world. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and every "free trade" clone that has followed have wreaked havoc in a number of ways. The flight of jobs from the United States and the undermining of the domestic economy, environmental standards and health policies are only the beginning.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071201931.html
Surgeon General Nominee Dismisses Homosexuality Paper
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 13, 2007; Page A06
President Bush's nominee for surgeon general sought to distance himself yesterday from his controversial 1991 paper on homosexuality and health, saying that it was not a scientific study and that many issues it raised are outdated.
Democrats on the Senate health committee cited the paper in grilling Kentucky cardiologist James W. Holsinger Jr. about whether he could separate ideology from science if he were confirmed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071201479.html
Commuting Libby's Sentence 'Fair,' Bush Says
For First Time, President Acknowledges Role of an Administration Official in Leak of CIA Operative
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 13, 2007; Page A05
President Bush acknowledged for the first time yesterday that "somebody" in his administration leaked the name of an undercover intelligence officer but declined to say whether he was disappointed in such an action and contended that it is time to move on.
Asked during a news conference whether he was disappointed that his advisers revealed the identity of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame to the news media, the president did not answer directly. But he offered perhaps his fullest discussion of a case he has generally refused to address because it was in the courts.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/POLITICS/707130307/1022
Friday, July 13, 2007
Dems aim to hold Miers in contempt
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- House Democrats on Thursday took the first step toward holding former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress after she defied a subpoena -- at President Bush's order -- and skipped a hearing on the firing of U.S. attorneys.
Over the strenuous objections of Republicans, a subcommittee cleared the way for contempt proceedings by voting 7-5 to reject Bush's claim of executive privilege.
Bush says his top advisers, whether current or former, cannot be summoned by Congress.
"Those claims are not legally valid," Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., said of Bush's declaration.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071200136.html
Hill Panel Initiates Contempt Charges Against Miers
Executive Privilege Battle May Hit Courts
By Robert Barnes and Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, July 13, 2007; Page A03
A court battle over President Bush's broad but largely untested claims of executive privilege grew more likely yesterday when a House panel took the first step toward bringing contempt charges against former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers.
Miers had been subpoenaed to appear before a House Judiciary subcommittee to testify about her role in last year's firings of nine U.S. attorneys, but declined to attend after Bush's White House counsel advised her not to appear. The snub provoked a 7 to 5 vote by the House panel contesting the Bush administration's claim of executive privilege.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jul 13, 4:50 AM EDT
Bush dismisses CIA leak as old news
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush always said he would wait to talk about the CIA leak case until after the investigation into his administration's role. On Thursday, he skipped over that step and pronounced the matter old news hardly worth discussing.
"It's run its course," he said. "Now we're going to move on."
Despite a long history of denouncing leaks, Bush declined to express any disappointment in the people who worked for him and who were involved in disclosing the name of a CIA operative. Asked about that during a wide-ranging news conference, the president gave a dodgy answer.
"It's been a tough issue for a lot of people in the White House," he said.
He didn't even acknowledge the undisputed fact that someone working for him was the source, saying only that "perhaps somebody in the administration did disclose the name of that person."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VITTER_ESCORT_LIST?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jul 13, 12:14 AM EDT
Palfrey called Vitter during House votes
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A woman accused of running a Washington prostitution ring placed five phone calls to David Vitter while he was a House member, including two while roll call votes were under way, according to telephone and congressional records.
Vitter, a Louisiana Republican now in the Senate, acknowledged Monday that his number was on the woman's call list and apologized for a "very serious sin." The married father of four has remained in seclusion since, missing Senate votes and other activities Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Telephone records released by Deborah Jeane Palfrey indicate she placed calls that were answered by Vitter's Washington phone on five occasions while Vitter was in the House, from 1999 through 2001. On four of those five days, the House was in session and Vitter participated in every roll call vote.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110010326
American Grit
We can't fire the president right now, so we're waiting it out.
Friday, July 13, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
It's been a slow week in a hot era. I found myself Thursday watching President Bush's news conference and thinking about what it is about him, real or perceived, that makes people who used to smile at the mention of his name now grit their teeth. I mean what it is apart from the huge and obvious issues on which they might disagree with him.
I'm not referring to what used to be called Bush Derangement Syndrome. That phrase suggested that to passionately dislike the president was to be somewhat unhinged. No one thinks that anymore. I received an email before the news conference from as rock-ribbed a Republican as you can find, a Georgia woman (middle-aged, entrepreneurial) who'd previously supported him. She said she'd had it. "I don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth." I was startled by her vehemence only because she is, as I said, rock-ribbed. Her email reminded me of another, one a friend received some months ago: "I took the W off my car today," it said on the subject line. It sounded like a country western song, like a great lament.
July 12, 2007
A Nuclear Ruse Uncovers Holes in U.S. Security
By ERIC LIPTON
WASHINGTON, July 11 — Undercover Congressional investigators set up a bogus company and obtained a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March that would have allowed them to buy the radioactive materials needed for a so-called dirty bomb.
The investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, demonstrated once again that the security measures put in place since the 2001 terrorist attacks to prevent radioactive materials from getting into the wrong hands are insufficient, according to a G.A.O. report, which is scheduled to be released at a Senate hearing Thursday.
“Given that terrorists have expressed an interest in obtaining nuclear material, the Congress and the American people expect licensing programs for these materials to be secure,” said Gregory D. Kutz, an investigator at the accountability office, in testimony prepared for the hearing.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TERROR_THREAT?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jul 13, 5:16 AM EDT
Al-Qaida works to plant U.S. operatives
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Al-Qaida is stepping up its efforts to sneak terror operatives into the United States and has acquired most of the capabilities it needs to strike here, according to a new U.S. intelligence assessment, The Associated Press has learned.
The draft National Intelligence Estimate is expected to paint an ever-more-worrisome portrait of al-Qaida's ability to use its base along the Pakistan-Afghan border to launch and inspire attacks against the United States over the next several years.
Yet, the government's top analysts concluded that U.S. soil has become a harder target for the extremist network, thanks to worldwide counterterror efforts since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Among the key findings of the classified estimate, which is still in draft form and must be approved by all 16 U.S. spy agencies:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ_QUOTES?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jul 13, 3:54 AM EDT
Reaction to Iraq report
Some quotes about Thursday's Iraq report:
---
"Those who believe that the battle in Iraq is lost will likely point to the unsatisfactory performance on some of the political benchmarks. Those of us who believe the battle in Iraq can and must be won see the satisfactory performance on several of the security benchmarks as a cause for optimism." - President Bush.
---
"The administration will say that things have been achieved and more will be achieved while others will say there were failures. Still they will both blame Iraqis." Sami al-Askari, an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, on U.S.-funded Alhurra television.
---
"After nearly five years of a failed policy in Iraq, we have a duty not just to voice our opposition but to vote today to end the war." - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/POLITICS/707130378/1022
Friday, July 13, 2007
Iraq report won't help Bush
President is out to bide his time, at least until a more comprehensive analysis may show progress in September.
Tom Raum / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Half full, half empty. No matter how you spin it, the Iraq report won't help President Bush make his stay-the-course case to a skeptical public and Congress.
The president's approval rating is 33 percent in a new AP-Ipsos poll. The Democratic-run Congress, elected to curtail U.S. military involvement in Iraq, is even lower: 24 percent.
The nation's mood has soured on the mission.
Bush acknowledged as much Thursday. "There's war fatigue in America. It's affecting our psychology," he told a White House news conference. "I understand that. It's an ugly war."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/OPINION01/707130332/1069
Progress in Iraq falls far short
July 13, 2007
No matter how you do the math, eight out of 18 with mixed results on the other two is not a glass half-full, even if President George W. Bush chooses to see it that way. There has not been satisfactory progress in Iraq on 10 of the 18 benchmarks set by Congress, according to a report Thursday. There is little more than hope behind the president's belief that things will be better by September, when the U.S. military issues yet another report.
And how many Americans will die in the meantime? How many Iraqis? How many soldiers and civilians will have their lives forever altered by a bullet or bomb or the injury or death of a loved one? At $10 billion a month, how much more of the U.S. Treasury will be poured into trying to stop a vicious civil war in a foreign land? How much more effectively could American resources be used to secure this country against terrorism?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071200736.html
President Unbowed as Benchmarks Are Unmet
House Votes to Begin Iraq Pullout This Year
By Michael Abramowitz and Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, July 13, 2007; Page A01
President Bush, delivering a mixed report to Congress on political and military progress in Iraq, insisted yesterday he would not be rushed into an early withdrawal, even as lawmakers voted to begin pulling troops from Iraq in the coming months.
Just hours after the administration's much-awaited report reached Capitol Hill, the House responded by approving legislation requiring U.S. combat forces to start leaving Iraq within 120 days. The resolution passed on a largely party-line vote, with only four Republican defections -- a reflection of White House efforts to keep House Republicans from joining restive GOP senators in challenging the president.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_WHAT_NEXT?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jul 13, 5:14 AM EDT
Iraq war report implies longer US surge
WASHINGTON (AP) -- While many in Congress are pushing President Bush to alter course in Iraq by September if not sooner, his new status report on the war strongly implies that the administration believes its military strategy will take many more months to meet its goals.
The report cited no specific timeframe, but its language suggests what some U.S. commanders have hinted at recently: The troop reinforcements that Bush ordered in January may need to remain until spring 2008.
That's a military calculation at odds with an emerging political consensus in Washington on bringing the troops home soon.
The disconnect between the military and political views on the best way forward is a symptom of four-plus years of setbacks in Iraq - not only missteps by the U.S. government but also by Iraqi political leaders, who have fallen far short of their stated aim of creating a government of national unity.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/OPINION03/707130315/1008/OPINION01
Friday, July 13, 2007
Charles Krauthammer
New strategy holds hope for success in Iraq
"The key to turning (Anbar) around was the shift in allegiance by tribal sheiks. But the sheiks turned only after a prolonged offensive by American and Iraqi forces, starting in November, that put al-Qaeda groups on the run."
-- The New York Times, July 8
Finally, after four terribly long years, we know what works. Or what can work. A year ago, a confidential Marine intelligence report declared Anbar province (which comprises about a third of Iraq's territory) lost to al-Qaeda. Now, in what the Times' John Burns calls an "astonishing success," the tribal sheiks have joined our side and committed large numbers of fighters that, in concert with American and Iraqi forces, have largely driven out al-Qaeda and turned its former stronghold of Ramadi into one of most secure cities in Iraq.
It began with a U.S.-led offensive that killed or wounded more than 200 enemy fighters and captured 600. Most important was the follow-up. Not a retreat back to American bases, but the setting up of small posts within the population that, together with the Iraqi national and tribal forces, have brought relative stability to Anbar.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010327
Measuring Progress in Iraq
Metrics have their drawbacks, but we need to keep politicians honest in this debate.
BY MICHAEL O'HANLON AND JASON CAMPBELL
Friday, July 13, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
In conventional warfare, it is fairly obvious if a war is being won. Movement of the front lines, industrial production of war material and logistical sustainability of forces in the field provide fairly clear standards by which to assess trends. But counterinsurgency and stabilization operations like the ones in Iraq are much more complex. How do we measure progress in such a situation? The administration has just done so on an interim basis. Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker will be asked to do so again in September, just before the expected showdown between Congress and President Bush over the 2008 war budget.
This is a hard challenge because metrics are easily misused. In Vietnam, for example, we were convinced that there would be a "crossover point" in attrition of the Viet Cong. If we could manage to kill enough of them, say 50,000 a year, their recruiting efforts would not be able to keep pace, and the combined American and South Vietnamese forces would ultimately prevail. That led to a focus on massive firepower that killed huge numbers of innocents and failed to achieve its military objective.
THE 'QUIT IRAQ' CAUCUS: A Recipe for Massacre
July 11, 2007 -- EVEN as our troops make serious progress against al-Qaeda-in-Iraq and other extremists, Congress - including Republican members - is sending the terrorists a message: "Don't lose heart, we'll save you!"
Iraq's a mess. Got it. The Bush administration has made so many mistakes I stopped counting a year ago. But we've finally got a general in Baghdad - Dave Petraeus - who's doing things right. Iraqi politicians are still disgracing themselves, but our troops are killing America's enemies - with the help of our former enemies.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Jul 13, 2:34 AM EDT
House votes for withdrawal from Iraq
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Iraqi government is achieving only spotty military and political progress, the Bush administration conceded Thursday in an assessment that war critics quickly seized on as confirmation of their dire warnings. Within hours, the House voted to withdraw U.S. troops by spring.
The House measure passed 223-201 in the Democratic-controlled chamber despite a veto threat from President Bush, who has ruled out any change in war policy before September.
"The security situation in Iraq remains complex and extremely challenging," the administration report concluded. The economic picture is uneven, it added, and the government has not yet enacted vital political reconciliation legislation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071202368.html
As the War Debate Heats Up, Stagnant Air Is in the Forecast
By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 13, 2007; Page A01
He lamented, in his own way, that he is unloved these days and reflected on the "war fatigue" that has gripped his country. He looked forward to the day, not so long from now, when he will retire to his Texas ranch and tell himself that he did the right thing.
Yet no matter how battered he seems, no matter how unpopular he may be in the polls, President Bush still holds the commanding position in his showdown with Congress over Iraq. Even with Republican defections, as votes in both houses made clear this week, opponents do not have anywhere near the veto-proof majorities needed to wrest leadership of the war.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/VictorDavisHanson/2007/05/10/your_war,_not_mine!
Your war, not mine!
By Victor Davis Hanson
Thursday, May 10, 2007
"This war is lost," Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid recently proclaimed.
That pessimism about Iraq is now widely shared by his Democratic colleagues. But many of these converted doves aren't being quite honest about why they've radically changed their views of the war. Most of the serious Democratic presidential candidates -- Sens. Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Christopher Dodd, and former Sen. Jonathan Edwards -- once voted, along with Reid, to authorize the war. Sen. Barack Obama didn't. But, then, he wasn't in the Senate at the time.
