Articles of Interest 7-14-07
480 Days until election day.
MORNING UPDATE:
Tom Casperson received the formal endorsement of the Republican Party for his bid to defeat San Francisco liberal ally Bart Stupak.
House Republicans completed their campaign school yesterday….recruitment has gone very well and after Thursday’s successful dinner…we’re ready to take back the House!
Sunday morning “Talk Show Tip Sheet”…find out what’s on tomorrow on the various talk shows, go to:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0707/4945.html
THE REST OF THE STORY;
- A formal “Rule 11” letter was signed yesterday by our RNC national committee members and myself to formally endorse Tom Casperson for Congress. This action set in motion the official support and targeting of the First Congressional District by the Republican National Committee, the House Republican Campaign Committee and the Michigan Republican Party.
Congressman Bart Stupak is rumored to be considering a Washington lobbying job and/or running for Governor. He moved up in the ranks when San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi became Speaker. Stupak is now part of “her team” and not “ours”.
- Nearly 40 candidates from around the state converged on Lansing to go over campaign tactics, strategy, media and issues as they prepare to run for State Representative this year. We have been working diligently to recruit candidates for every targeted seat in the state. I many areas, we have contested primaries that will lead to our strongest challengers emerging to take on the Democrats.
We had a successful dinner Thursday night that will hopefully start filling our coffers with the funds necessary to take on the Democrats next fall. We only need to win 4 seats to regain our Republican majority…and are committed to doing so.
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/BUSINESS06/707130351/1019
Governor's overseas trip spurs reaction
July 13, 2007
Gov. Jennifer Granholm said this week she would visit Germany and Sweden on a trade mission, prompting comments from freep.com readers. To join discussions, go to freep.com/forums.
• "Looks like she'll be doing more sightseeing than anything."
Don't waste your time in Germany, Germans are old fashioned and will not listen to a female. Well we can always use another Ikea furniture store ..."
• "You should do some research before spouting off your ignorant sexist mouth -- 'Germans are old fashioned and will not listen to a female.' -- Funny, Germany's chancellor is Angela Merkel ..."
• "I really wish I could say something positive, but we all know any announcements made about any companies coming to Michigan were done well before she went there. So why go? Instead of making symbolic gestures how about doing something constructive?"
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070714/METRO/707140309
Cultivate next generation, Granholm tells NOW convention
Kim Kozlowski / The Detroit News
DEARBORN -- A woman who has broken through many glass ceilings gave the National Organization of Women some advice as it continues its work on women's issues.
Reach out to the next generation, and go after some strategic examples of degradation of women within the culture.
"We've got to be strategic so we can start to change the culture," said Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who was active in NOW in her youth and went on to become Michigan's first female attorney general and governor. "Culture is so hard to change. It is so much easier almost to change the stuff that is between the pages of the law books than it is to change the stuff that is between the ears."
Grand Valley St., Lake Superior St. raise tuition
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Two more Michigan public universities raised tuition for the upcoming school year Friday.
Grand Valley State University's governing board approved a 9.9 percent tuition increase, which would add $652 to the annual bill for a typical full-time Michigan resident freshman. The annual tuition bill, based on two semesters, would be about $7,240.
Lake Superior State University's governing board approved a 9.3 percent tuition increase that would raise the annual bill for a state resident undergraduate to $7,246, including some fees.
http://www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-9/118440813989820.xml&coll=4
CMU board locks in fall tuition increase - with jump of 21 percent
Saturday, July 14, 2007
By AMY PAYNE
TIMES NEWS SERVICE
MOUNT PLEASANT - Incoming Central Michigan University freshmen will pay more than 20 percent more for tuition than the class before them, and university officials say the state is to blame.
Board of Trustees members Thursday unanimously approved raising tuition to $304 per credit hour from $251 - a 21.1 percent hike.
The increase, however, is the last that freshmen coming in this fall will see if they can finish before 2012.
The school in 2005 instituted ''The CMU Promise,'' which ensures fixed tuition for five years. Were it spread out over that time, the increase would amount to 4.2 percentage points annually.
The locked-in tuition rate takes some of the stress out of education planning, said Trustee Gail Torreano.
''From a parental standpoint, it's really helpful to know, to really know, what you're going to pay,'' she said.
The board did not guarantee that fixed rate for freshmen who join the campus in winter 2008, however. The uncertain condition of state education funding has left administrators wondering how long they can keep up the CMU Promise.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/NEWS06/70713025/1008/NEWS06
Lottery commissioner to decide soon on Congress run
July 13, 2007
BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF
FREE PRESS LANSING BUREAU
EAST LANSING – State lottery commissioner Gary Peters said odds are “better than 50-50” that he will run for Congress in 2008 against U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg.
Peters, a former Democratic state senator, said he will decide by the end of July whether to challenge the eight-term Republican from Bloomfield Hills. Peters commented during a taping of public television’s “Off the Record” on Friday morning.
Peters also said he would be skeptical of any plans to sell the state lottery to private interests, as some lawmakers have suggested. He said he believes selling the lottery would require approval by voters statewide because of a 2004 constitutional amendment that requires voters to approve any expansion of gaming in Michigan, including video lottery and slot machines.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070714/POLITICS01/707140362
Romney rakes in Michigan funds
But second-quarter figures will drop, and state will show sixth-best total for presidential candidate.
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney's presidential campaign raised roughly $700,000 in Michigan during the second quarter of the year -- a total again likely to place him at the top of the presidential money race in his native state.
Still, the number is less than the roughly $1 million Romney raised in the state during the first three months of the year.
Michigan's was the sixth-best state total for Romney, the son of the late Michigan Gov. George Romney. Michigan ranked fifth for Romney during the first three months of the year. Florida, where the campaign held at least three fundraising events during the quarter, moved ahead of Michigan in the most recent three months.
The figures come from a press release issued Friday, announcing the filing of Romney's second-quarter campaign finance disclosure documents with the Federal Election Commission. According to the release, Romney raised about 5 percent of his $13.9 million total donations in Michigan.
http://forums.detnews.com/dcblog/index.cfm?blogid=173
Gordon Trowbridge
Thu, Jul 12, 2007 at 5:28 PM
McCain's Michigan campaign tries to bounce back
John Yob, the Michigan campaign director for John McCain's presidential campaign, sent an e-mail to supporters this afternoon, seeking to keep supporters on board and comparing the challenges McCain faces to those overcome by Ronald Reagan in 1980.
One bit of news: Yob writes that McCain's staff in Michigan has been cut to three; some reports last week had suggested Yob was the only Michigan staffer remaining on the payroll. McCain had seven paid staffers before the staff cuts the campaign began last week. Yob also said McCain will visit Michigan later this month, which is of interest the campaign is expected to focus heavily on New Hampshire and South Carolina, at the expense of other states, in the week ahead.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/NEWS06/70713046/1008
Conyers steps up federal prosecutors firing probe
July 13, 2007
By TODD SPANGLER
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF
WASHINGTON -- House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers today sent a subpoena to the Republican National Committee demanding emails related to the forced resignations of at least eight federal prosecutors. Conyers, a Detroit Democrat, also sent a letter to a lawyer representing President George W. Bush's former counsel, saying she could face contempt charges for not complying with a subpoena to appear before his committee this week.
Taken together, today's actions indicate Conyers and the Democrat-led Congress are unlikely to slow down the pace of the investigation into whether the White House played a role in forcing the U.S. attorneys out of office. Some Democrats have charged they were let go for improper political reasons which could threaten the independence of the nation's prosecutors.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070714/BUSINESS01/707140359/1002/BUSINESS
Car sales indicate broader troubles
Fleet business cuts don't explain Detroit's losses
July 14, 2007
BY SARAH A. WEBSTER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Despite popular new vehicles such as the GMC Acadia and Ford Edge, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. continue losing their share of new car and truck buyers in dealer showrooms across America, according to the latest retail sales data provided exclusively to the Free Press by the Power Information Network.
In recent months, those Detroit automakers have largely blamed their falling market share on the decision to sell fewer vehicles to rental-car companies, but this analysis shows they are also losing plenty of regular consumers, too.
Chrysler Group, meanwhile, maintains its position, thanks to the strength of its fresh Jeep lineup and incentives nearing $4,000 a vehicle.
Overall, that mixed performance meant that fewer than half of American consumers bought a vehicle from Detroit's automakers in the last three months. This is the second straight quarter Detroit has fallen below the halfway-point in retail market share.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070714/OPINION01/707140307/1008
Editorial Quick Hits: Ours
State's gas gouging hits consumers
The Detroit News
Gas prices are increasing as they do every summer, but Michigan is hit especially hard because it applies a sales tax on top of other gasoline taxes. Every penny in tax collected per gallon brings in an estimated $50 million for the state during the year, and that money goes in part to support the bloated benefits of the state's school employees. So don't expect any relief from Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who is usually reluctant to challenge the teachers unions. Prices at the pump will rise and fall based on many factors, but don't get caught up in the hype about gouging. The state is the main offender in that category.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070714/METRO/707140365
Day trips to Canada plunge to new low
Security hassles, gas prices, exchange rate deter U.S. tourists from crossing the border.
Andy Henion / The Detroit News
WINDSOR -- Americans are taking fewer day trips to Canada than at any time in living memory, a major blow to border cities like Windsor that rely on tourists for their prosperity.
Officials say a "perfect storm" of economic and social factors is fueling the downswing, including an unfavorable exchange rate, high gas prices, a year-old smoking ban at public buildings in Ontario and, perhaps most of all, border security issues.
Tony O'Rourke of Detroit, for one, would love to dine in one of the city's renowned Italian restaurants, enjoy Point Pelee's sandy beaches or simply grab a pizza and beer with friends.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Congress_AP_Poll.html
AP Poll: Public gives Congress low marks
WASHINGTON -- In the eyes of the public, Congress is doing even worse than the president.
Public satisfaction with the job lawmakers are doing has fallen 11 points since May, to 24 percent, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll. That's lower than for President Bush, who hasn't fared well lately, either.
Bush has been taking heat over the Iraq war, his decision to spare a former top vice presidential aide from going to prison and his desire for an overhaul of immigration laws that critics said would give a free pass to illegal immigrants. His job approval rating in the AP-Ipsos survey remained virtually unchanged at 33 percent.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071301314.html
Two GOP Senators Defy Bush On Iraq
Warner, Lugar Propose Troop Redeployment
By Shailagh Murray and Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, July 14, 2007; Page A01
The Republican revolt against President Bush's war strategy accelerated yesterday as two of the party's most respected voices on national security proposed legislation envisioning a major realignment of U.S. troops in Iraq starting as early as Jan. 1.
Defying Bush even as his team fanned out to press Congress for more time, Sens. John W. Warner (Va.) and Richard G. Lugar (Ind.) unveiled a measure requiring the White House to begin drawing up plans to redeploy U.S. forces from frontline combat to border security and counterterrorism. But the legislation would not force Bush to implement the plans at this point.
The proposal fell short of Democratic demands to set a firm timetable for withdrawal but underscored the continuing erosion of the president's position among Republicans on Capitol Hill, and it could shape the debate as Congress wrestles with its position on the war. Votes in both houses this week demonstrated that war opponents do not have enough support to overcome a Bush veto, and it remains unclear whether the two sides can reach a bipartisan consensus.
Kucinich criticizes Edwards over comments on debate participants
NEW YORK (AP) -- An angry Dennis Kucinich lashed out at John Edwards, saying his Democratic rival showed "a consistent lack of integrity" by suggesting fewer candidates should participate in presidential forums and then trying to explain his remark to reporters.
"This is a serious matter and I'm calling him on it," Kucinich, an Ohio congressman, said in a telephone interview Friday. "Whispering, trying to rig an election, then denying what's going on and making excuses. It all reflects a consistent lack of integrity."
Kucinich's comments came after Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton were overheard Thursday discussing the possibility of limiting the number of participants in future presidential forums.
In an exchange captured on camera and open microphone by broadcasters after an NAACP forum in Detroit, Edwards approached Clinton onstage and whispered in her ear.
http://www.wluctv6.com/Global/story.asp?S=6784011
Clinton, Edwards talk of limiting debate
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Associated Press - July 13, 2007 2:23 AM ET
DETROIT (AP) - Democrats John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton consider themselves among the top presidential candidates.
They were caught by Fox News microphones discussing their desire to limit future joint appearances to exclude some lower rivals after a forum in Detroit Thursday.
Edwards says, "We should try to have a more serious and a smaller group."
Clinton agrees, saying, "We've got to cut the number" and "they're not serious." She also says that she thought their campaigns had already tried to limit the debates and say, "We've gotta get back to it."
Others taking part in the forum sponsored by the NAACP were Senators Barack Obama, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel.
http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/07/the_daily_2008_87.html
July 13, 2007
All eight Democratic presidential candidates addressed the NAACP conference in Detroit yesterday but only Barack Obama was the "clear crowd favorite," receiving thunderous applause and ovations, report the Detroit Free Press' Dawson Bell and Kathleen Gray.
Obama was the "clear crowd favorite" of the 3,000 delegates in attendance, but Dennis Kuicinch may have drawn the second-largest amount of applause when he challenged the other Democrats to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. This was one of dozens of shots taken at the Bush administration during the event. "In two hours, we're going to talk about more issues of importance to the African-American community than Bush has in the last six and a half years," Hillary Clinton said. All Republican candidates were invited but only Rep. Tom Tancredo attended.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/14/2008-gop-candidates-spending-liberally/
July 14, 2007, 10:01 am
2008: G.O.P. Candidates Spending Liberally
Campaigns’ financial reports are due to the Federal Election Commission tomorrow, but early-bird filers not only get the weekend off, but also lots of weekend coverage and analysis of their spending. Along with an overall decline in campaign cash from the first quarter to the second, Mitt Romney, a Republican, saw a drop in donations from Massachusetts and Utah, suggesting that he has “tapped out the network of rich Mormons and wealthy financiers that drove him to lead other Republican candidates in the first reporting cycle,” report Ross Buettner and David D. Kirkpatrick in The Times.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070714/NEWS06/707140340/1008
GRAND RAPIDS
Shake-up leaves McCain's campaign with smaller staff
July 14, 2007
BY TODD SPANGLER
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF
The director of Republican John McCain's presidential campaign office in Michigan said Thursday that three staff people will work in the state. That's down from the seven or so who had been staffing the campaign, but better than the one some had predicted.
Earlier this week, McCain's national campaign went through a shake-up after its top leaders resigned following bad news on the fund-raising front. That raised doubts about what the fallout would be in Michigan, a key state McCain won in 2000 before losing the presidential nomination to George W. Bush.
John Yob, who's running the Arizona senator's bid for the Republican presidential nomination in Michigan, isn't saying whether the Grand Rapids campaign office is open or not, but he did say Thursday that McCain's state camp has a new phone number.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070713/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_campaign_13;_ylt=AuPCBIaTxrMv7EmXv.N8vL84pd5F
McCain loses 2 Iowa strategists
By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 12, 10:09 PM ET
DES MOINES, Iowa - John McCain's campaign is losing two veteran Republican strategists in Iowa and will report a seven-figure debt for the second quarter in a row, back-to-back blows to a presidential bid still reeling from a major staff shake-up earlier this week.
Ed Failor Jr., said Thursday that he and Karen Slifka plan to notify McCain by letter of their decisions to leave. Both are GOP operatives with deep ties in Iowa, which holds the first-in-the-nation caucuses, and national politics.
"As much as I like Senator McCain, it's not a team I'm willing to stay involved with any longer," Failor said.
The campaign also will show about $1 million in debts when it reports its second-quarter finances this weekend, according to a Republican familiar with the campaign's fundraising. The figure is smaller than the $1.8 million in the red that the campaign reported after the first three months of the year. McCain aides would not comment on the campaign's debt.
RUDY DERAILED MCCAIN'S TRAIN
July 13, 2007 -- SEN. John McCain's dramatic purge this week of his presidential campaign manager and chief strategist (and the estrangement of his longtime confidant and chief of staff) simply put an exclamation point on a six-month collapse. What went wrong?
While never the clear front-runner that many in Washington presumed him to be, McCain was well positioned at the year's start to have a good shot at capturing the GOP nomination. But the McCain camp made several major miscalculations, mostly rooted in conventional Washington wisdom:
- First, it initially dismissed Rudy Giuliani as a real threat - grossly underestimating Giuliani's impact on
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071302227.html
Rivalries Split McCain's Team
After Months of Staff Fights, Rick Davis Emerges as the Leader of a Diminished Campaign
By Michael D. Shear, Dan Balz and Chris Cillizza
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, July 14, 2007; Page A01
After weeks of internal struggles over who would run John McCain's presidential campaign, three key aides went to the candidate in January and told him he had to take action. Rick Davis, the campaign's chief executive, they said, should be pushed aside, and McCain had to make it clear that Terry Nelson, the campaign manager and a veteran of President Bush's 2004 team, was in charge.
But the senator from Arizona refused, telling the three aides -- John Weaver, Mark Salter and Nelson -- that he would not strip Davis of his title or empower Nelson. "You're all equals," McCain told them, according to one participant. "Work it out."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071302006.html
Giuliani and Romney Put Focus on Florida
Republican Presidential Candidates Spending Heavily in Sunshine State
By Matthew Mosk and Perry Bacon Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, July 14, 2007; Page A02
Republican presidential candidates Rudolph W. Giuliani and Mitt Romney both spent heavily in Florida over the past three months, underscoring the newfound strategic importance of the state in the quest for the GOP nomination.
Campaign finance records released last night show that Giuliani has spent more than $400,000 there, more than he has put into Iowa and New Hampshire combined. In June, both Giuliani, the former New York mayor, and Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, paid $100,000 to obtain copies of voter files from the state Republican Party.
Romney dropped about $850,000 in Florida -- more than he has spent in South Carolina -- though he has continued to pour resources into all the states with early primaries, especially New Hampshire.
So far only Giuliani and Romney have filed reports detailing their spending and fundraising between April 1 and the end of June with the Federal Election Commission, which are due tomorrow. Giuliani appears to have ended the quarter as the Republican with the most cash on hand, $18.3 million.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070714/D8QC1DA80.html
Obama Says Clinton War Plan 'Convoluted'
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Friday that his top rival's attempt to pressure the Bush administration to end the war in Iraq is "a convoluted approach to the problem."
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to introduce an amendment repealing the congressional authorization for the war. It would require the president to seek new authority from Congress if he wanted to continue operations past Oct. 11, 2007, five years after initial authorization was given.
"If you simply repeal the language, then presumably you'd have to reauthorize something. You've got 150,000 troops over there and support personnel," Obama told The Associated Press in an interview after a campaign stop in Las Vegas.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010334
Diplomat
The first lady never expected to be spending so much time on foreign affairs.
BY BRENDAN MINITER
Saturday, July 14, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
THE WHITE HOUSE--"The first lady's record is--or nearly always is--better than the president's, because she doesn't have every difficult issue."
Laura Bush is in her East Wing office discussing the role a first lady should play. She's wearing a dark suit with white-stitch trim and sitting on a couch facing shelves stacked with children's books. She has just hinted at the frustration that must come as her husband, President George W. Bush, is attacked in the media.
"Because I do know him, it's easier for me to discount the terrible things that I read and see," Mrs. Bush says. She also understands the political facts of life, she adds, "because we've been in politics for almost our entire married life and because I saw somebody else I loved in this job, my father-in-law."
http://www.nysun.com/article/58374
The Wrong Fire
By Diana Furchtgott-Roth
The New York Sun
July 13, 2007
It is astounding that with all the expensive proposals to combat global warming no one is discussing reducing global carbon emissions by putting out mine fires. Although putting out fires in America would not have a significant effect, putting out fires in China and India would.
So as the former vice president, Al Gore, organizes Live Earth concerts, as Congress ponders raising fuel economy standards for cars and trucks, and as Michigan's John Dingell, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, proposes America's first carbon tax, uncontrolled Chinese coal mine fires are sending millions of tons of carbon into the air.
China loses between 100 and 200 million tons of coal a year — a significant fraction of its production of 2.26 billion tons — to mine fires, according to Holland's International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation. This results in carbon dioxide emissions in a range of between 560 and 1,120 million metric tons, equaling 50% to 100% of all U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from gasoline.
It may well be less costly for us to put out the Chinese mine fires than to cut emissions at home.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDVlZDA4NjFlNmUzZGU1OTk3MDEyNWFiNWRjN2E2Mjg
Give Petraeus This Chance
The stakes are too high not to.
By Charles Krauthammer
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.
— 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’s 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.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/14/world/europe/14cnd-russia.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Russia Steps Back From Key Arms Treaty
MOSCOW, July 14 — President Vladimir V. Putin formally notified NATO governments today that Russia will suspend its obligations under the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, a key cold war-era arms limitation agreement, in response to plans by the United States to deploy a missile shield in Eastern Europe.
The decision ratcheted up tensions over the planned missile shield, which Russia opposes, but also reflected an escalating trend of anti-Americanism, bordering on paranoia toward the West, in Russia’s domestic politics ahead of presidential elections here next March.
The announcement also raised the specter of an unraveling of the cornerstone arms control agreement, signed in Paris in 1990, which limits the number of tanks, artillery pieces, helicopters and fighter jets that can be deployed in Eastern Europe, along the former Iron Curtain.
