Articles of Interest 9-29-07
405 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
Michigan has the highest unemployment in the country at 7.4%…raising taxes by some $2 billion dollars will kill jobs and drive more jobs out of Michigan.
It's a showdown...over taxes and jobs. Let's find a solution and reform the government, not raise taxes. You can’t tax yourself out of a recession.
The last time I checked, Dems outnumbered Republicans in the legislature 76-72 plus the Governor is a Democrat. This mess is a Democrat mess…they lack leadership and their only solution is a job killing almost $2 billion TAX.
The Michigan Republican Party put up the following ad yesterday:
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/09/mi-gop-new-ad-o.html
Newt Gingrich’s American Solution opening session…awesome!!!
The Seven Principles of Sound Public Policy as presented by Larry Reed of the Mackinac Center - and more importantly, if every legislator understood and attempted to be faithful to them — we’d be a much stronger, much freer, more prosperous and far better governed people:
http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=3832
The October 9, 2007 debate, sponsored by CNBC, MSNBC, and The Wall Street Journal, will be held at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn, Michigan. CNBC will broadcast the two-hour debate live beginning at 4 p.m. with MSNBC re-broadcasting the event at 9 p.m. For more information on the debate visit:
THE REST OF THE STORY:
Newt Gingrich's identified that we Americans agree on five big issues –
1) immigration (no one should get away with breaking the law),
2) national security and defense (we must defend our allies and defeat our enemies),
3) saving Social Security for future generations,
4) healthy economy and healthy environment (using innovation and new technology rather than regulation and litigation), and finally
5) religion in the public square (deletion of God from our society)."
It’s a great program and I would encourage all of you to check it out:
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.hollandsentinel.com/stories/092907/opinion_20070929054.shtml
Government shutdown would be reckless, irresponsible
My take on the state budget
By Rep. Arlan Meekhof
September 29, 2007
As a shutdown of the state government looms, I felt that I should publicly state my position on the budget situation. I believe that a shutdown will be devastating to our state. More than 50,000 state employees will not be paid, the state will default on bond payments that are due on Monday, and some resources for the disadvantaged will be temporarily unavailable.
To me this is unacceptable. It is unacceptable because there is no reasonable explanation why the budget problem has not been solved. I honestly believe that most legislators truly believe that they are representing their districts by either voting for or against a tax increase. This is fine; this is what the people elect their legislators to do.The thing that is truly unacceptable is the number of legislators who have refused to vote at all. It is these legislators who are holding up the process.
I believe that I am accurately representing the people of the 89th House District by voting no on a tax increase and pushing to solve the budget problem through the use of reforms. I have received thousands of e-mails and phone calls from the district and the overwhelming majority support reforms instead of taxes. Because of this I will continue to fight to protect the tax payers and cut the fat out of government.
http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/UPDATE/709290404
Negotiations to avert state shutdown resume this afternoon
September 29, 2007
LANSING -- Michigan lawmakers return to the Capitol this afternoon for a rare Saturday session in a last-ditch effort to solve the state's growing budget crisis and prevent a Monday shutdown of most state services. Lawmakers reported some progress during Friday's marathon session, which ended shortly before midnight. "I think we will avoid a shutdown," said House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township. "The number of issues was very much narrowed."
Key to resolving a $1.75 billion shortfall is a plan that would combine a hefty increase in the state income tax, government reforms and program cuts. Also late Friday lawmakers tossed another tax measure back onto the table. It's a plan to impose the 6 percent sales tax on a variety of currently exempt services, ranging from legal advice and accounting to golf greens and waste collection fees. That proposal is to be considered by a special panel today.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/OPINION03/709280349
Daniel Howes: Lansing lawmakers face a reckoning
The UAW dealt with 70 years of history to cut a deal; now state leaders must solve the budget mess.
Daniel Howes
September 28, 2007
What can you say about leaders who won't reckon with the reckoning that is upon them?
That they've failed. That they're more interested in casting blame, scoring political points and invoking Lincoln's soaring "house divided against itself" rhetoric than actually facing reality. That they seem content, by their actions, to ignore the real financial and business implications -- never mind the human inconveniences -- of the imminent shutdown of state government, its impact on Michigan's credit-worthiness and the punishing blow to the state's already battered image.
In the week the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp. reckoned with 70 years of history, paid up and gave up to forge a realistic partnership for a better future, Michigan's governor, some Republicans and many Democrats in the Legislature are copping the attitude that it's still the '70s in Lansing. But it's not, as the UAW and GM ably demonstrated with their historic tentative agreement. This state exists in fundamentally different times, with a core industry shrinking to survive but a state bureaucracy-and-entitlement culture existing as if Michigan is the alpha of wealth and per capita income.
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/COLUMNISTS09/709290331/1016
Schneider: Lawmakers treat state to slow-motion train wreck
John Schneider
September 29, 2007
On Friday, TV trucks surrounded the state Capitol like vultures around a fatally injured water buffalo. I don't mean that in a derogatory sense. We all have to make a living - vultures, reporters, politicians. There was no bloodier, gamier roadkill-waiting-to-happen in the state Friday than state government itself. And the fact the wounds were self-inflicted only added to the drama.
We don't often see such a spectacle of abject, inexplicable, inexcusable failure unfolding, like a slow-motion train wreck, right before our eyes. You couldn't blame the reporters for licking their chops. That's exactly why I felt certain a state government shutdown would never happen. I couldn't imagine Michigan's leaders standing up and pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit criminal negligence.
All-around failure
Knowing the average politician's instincts for self-preservation, I concluded it was unlikely Michigan's leaders would put themselves in the position of having to face their constituents and proclaim, in unison:
http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/NEWS01/109290040/-1/NEWS
Shutdown looms; ‘It's ridiculous'
By: Stephanie Ariganello
September 29. 2007 1:21AM
With a possible state shutdown looming, citizens are trying to take care of state business as quickly as possible so they're not left in the lurch if the Legislature can't agree on how much the state should spend and/or tax over the next year. One of the main places to do that is the Secretary of State branch office in Monroe.
James Edwards of Monroe said it was the mystery of what would happen to residents if they were left hanging that brought him to the branch office Friday morning. Mr. Edwards said he arrived when the office opened and the line already stretched onto the sidewalk. "I waited about an hour, hour and a half," he said. "It's ridiculous. We don't know what's going to happen. They tell you that the state might shutdown, but they don't tell you what will happen. Will you get a ticket if you have expired plates? We just don't know and people are afraid."
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/09/28/michigan/index_np.html?source=email
Turn out the lights, Michigan
With unemployment the worst in the nation, and the government on the verge of shutdown, it's time for my home state to drive toward a new way of life.
By Edward McClelland
Sept. 28, 2007
It's a piece of Michigan lore that belongs right up there with Pere Marquette dying in the wilderness, or Berry Gordy discovering the Supremes. Summer of 1972. Flint. A young man was manning a gas pump when a General Motors executive drove up. "Why aren't you working in the shop?" asked the driver, whose company was desperate for strong arms to build GM's armada of Buick Electras and Cadillac Fleetwoods.
The pump jockey shrugged, so the recruiter took down his number. A week later, the kid was dragooned into service as an autoworker, the most enviable blue-collar occupation in the world. He had "more health insurance than Evel Knievel could piss away in a million bus jumps," as Flintoid Ben Hamper put it in his darkly hilarious shoprat memoir, "Rivethead." And in 30 years, he could retire on full benefits, with enough money to open a motorcycle detailing shop or buy a fishing lodge Up North. That's why the company was nicknamed "Generous Motors."
http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2007/09/deal_may_be_near_on_breaking_b.html
Deal may be near on breaking budget impasse
Posted by News Bureau Reporter Peter Luke
September 28, 2007 06:26AM
LANSING - Lawmakers return to work this afternoon more confident that a tax and spending deal can be cut to avert a partial state government shutdown on Monday.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm and legislative leadership, all expressing optimism that a "historic" agreement was in the works, met into the morning hours trying to craft a framework that would erase a $1.75 billion deficit in fiscal 2008 and allow government to function through Oct. 31 with a temporary budget.
"The main elements of an agreement are there, with the details still to be worked out," said Sen. Mark Schauer of Battle Creek, the Democratic leader in the Senate. "My sense is that no one is stalling or delaying. I think a lot of progress was made today."
Lawmakers in the House and Senate recessed at 1 a.m. and were scheduled back at 1 p.m. Most were in the dark about the details on how much new tax revenue the agreement calls for and how much spending would have to be cut to make up the difference.
http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/POLITICS/709290386
Budget crisis risks state shutdown
Troopers are among 35,000 told to stay home Monday
Mark Hornbeck and Charlie Cain / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
September 29, 2007
LANSING -- Failing to reach a budget deal this weekend would curb State Police road patrols, close crime labs and criminal and drug investigations, cease probes of environmental hazards -- and even stop the cleanup of horse manure on scenic Mackinac Island as of Monday. In addition, horse racing and campgrounds would shut down, road construction would stop, Secretary of State offices and highway rest areas would close and state inspections of food, gas pumps and nursing homes would end, according to a state shutdown plan released for the first time Friday.
Six drawbridges would be locked upright, allowing only water traffic. Farmers wouldn't be able to export fruit, vegetables and grain overseas. Should a shutdown last to mid-October, payments to schools, universities and cities would be at risk.
http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/NEWS01/709280314/1002
Lansing deadlocks on budget
State government shutdown likely will create confusion
By NICOLE GERRING
Times Herald
September 29, 2007
As politicians in Lansing remained deadlocked Thursday on passing a budget, local residents were preparing for the worst. There is expected to be a state government shutdown Monday if Democrats and Republicans can't come to an agreement on how to solve the state's financial crisis, which includes a projected $1.7 to $1.8 billion budget deficit for fiscal year 2008.
The two parties have been debating the issue since early February, when Gov. Jennifer Granholm released her proposed $43.4 billion budget. Lawmakers did not accept ideas outlined in the plan, including a 2% tax on services.
The state constitution bars state government from passing a budget with a deficit. The fiscal year starts Monday. Granholm said again Thursday she will close many state offices if the budget impasse remains, but critical functions, such as the state police service and prisons, would continue to operate. Many vital services, such as those provided by the Michigan Secretary of State, would cease.
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginawnews/index.ssf?/base/news-24/1190989517178310.xml&coll=9
Preparing for the worst
Budget talks go down to the wire
BARRIE BARBER, ANDY HOAG and PAUL WYCHE
THE SAGINAW NEWS
Friday, September 28, 2007
Annette M. Gotham made sure she got her driver's license renewed before it expired.
The Saginaw resident didn't want to deal with not having a secretary of state branch open next week if lawmakers in Lansing fail to reach an agreement to avoid a partial government shutdown Monday.
''How stupid can they get?'' she asked Thursday as walked into the Buena Vista Township branch. ''Where are we supposed to go?'' Residents and others may ask their own questions if Democratic and Republican lawmakers and Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm fail to reach a budget deal. The Legislature broke shortly before 1 a.m. today with plans to come back at 1 p.m. Lawmakers were hung up in debates over an income tax increase, budget cuts and spending reforms as they tangle over a $1.75 billion deficit for the fiscal year that begins Monday.
http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/BIZ/709290380
Judge allows Detroit casinos to stay open
They say public safety won't be affected if state regulators laid off during shutdown; state appeals.
Christine MacDonald And Joel J. Smith
The Detroit News
September 29, 2007
DETROIT -- Detroit's three casinos Friday won a temporary restraining order against the Michigan Gaming Control Board that nixes the state's threat to close casinos temporarily if Lansing lawmakers can't reach an agreement on a new budget by Monday.
There is no evidence that the public's safety and health would be adversely affected if the gambling halls stayed open without the 24/7-oversight by on-site state regulators, Wayne County Circuit Judge William Giovan said in issuing the order Friday. He gave no expiration date for the restraining order.
By state law, Detroit's three casinos are entitled to an administrative hearing to contest a closing before the gaming board, unless there is a threat to public safety or health. The casinos never got a chance to challenge the closure order the board issued Thursday contingent on a state shutdown.
http://macombdaily.com/stories/092807/loc_liquor001.shtml
Lottery, liquor sales are lifeblood for many stores
By Chad Selweski
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
September 28, 2007
A state government shutdown would mean a halt in unemployment and child support checks, less police protection, no ability to renew license plates and a stop in major road construction projects. In a televised statewide address, Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced that she had issued executive directives to implement a partial shutdown at midnight Sunday to stop numerous government services if lawmakers have not reached a budget agreement. Yet, perhaps the biggest public outcry could come from closing down the state lottery and stopping state liquor deliveries to restaurants and stores.
Ike Jarbou, owner of The Party Pantry in Mount Clemens, said 30 percent to 50 percent of his customers purchase lottery tickets. They drive his business because most lottery players also buy other items.
http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/POLITICS/709290357
State workers 'hope and pray'
Uncertainty grips Mich. employees: 'I can't afford to miss even one paycheck,' says one man.
George Hunter and Karen Bouffard
The Detroit News
DETROIT -- Jean Rennie felt like her life was on hold Friday. "Nobody knows what's going to happen," said Rennie, a secretary with the Michigan Department of Community Health. "How long will we be off work? Will we go without a paycheck? Nobody knows." State employees like Rennie anxiously awaited word Friday as Michigan lawmakers tried to hammer out a last-minute budget to avoid shutting down the state's nonessential government services. An e-mail was sent late Friday afternoon, instructing 35,000 state employees to not show up for work Monday, followed later by a list of state operations that would continue. Now, thousands of state workers are wondering how many days they will remain at home.
They were told that Oct. 18 paychecks would be reduced to reflect hours missed because of a shutdown from Sept. 23 through Oct. 6 and were told to call a phone number or check a Web site to see if they should report on Monday.
Panel deadlocks over rule change allowing state worker layoffs
September 28, 2007
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Hundreds of state employees and union representatives were happily surprised Friday when a state panel deadlocked over a rule change that would have waived layoff notice requirements if a government shutdown occurs Monday.
The 2-2 vote of the bipartisan Civil Service Commission drew a standing ovation from state employees who had shown up early to boisterously protest inside and outside the meeting. Many had expected the panel to enact the changes.
"I thought it was probably a done deal, frankly," said Mel Grieshaber, executive director of the Michigan Corrections Organization, which represents about 10,000 correctional officers. The deadlock complicated efforts by Gov. Jennifer Granholm to lay off workers if a budget deal isn't reached by the time the new fiscal year starts Monday. But the Granholm administration hinted it may ignore the commission vote if a shutdown is needed.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/OPINION01/709290304/1008
Interest groups gum up state operations
The Detroit News
September 29, 2007
True to form for the rest of state government, the bipartisan State Civil Service Commission has deadlocked on a rule change that would have made it easier for Gov. Jennifer Granholm's administration to lay off state employees if a partial government shutdown is necessary. The administration sought a waiver of layoff notice requirements to allow the government to keep workers home for up to 20 days without triggering the layoff notice requirements of their contracts. The commission deadlocked 2-2, making the task of the administration in managing a government shutdown that much more difficult. However this budget impasse is resolved, it has revealed just how rigidly inflexible and deeply entrenched in their own prerogatives and ideology are the employees, interest groups and politicians who feed off state government.
http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/OPINION01/709280322/1014/OPINION
Winners and losers in Lansing
Dan Meisler
September 28, 2007
Rarely has political cowardice been on such obvious display as it has been in Lansing during the latest round of budget discussions. By all accounts, a major sticking point for lawmakers of both parties has been the pure fear of facing voters if they were to vote for measures that their party faithful have traditionally opposed. For Demo-crats, that means spending cuts and reforms of pension and health-care benefits for public employees; for Republi-cans, it's increased taxes.
This would be a good place to launch into a rant against my favorite perpetrators of political paralysis, term limits and partisan redistricting. Weren't term limits supposed to end the spectacle of the politician too obsessed with his or her political future to vote for what is needed, no matter how unpopular? And shouldn't our lawmakers cast votes with the well-being of all of their constituents in mind, not just the ideologues and interest groups that affect the outcomes of the primary elections that effectively determine who is elected in districts drawn to be safely Democratic or Republican?
http://battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/NEWS01/709280320/1002/NEWS01
Scorched earth politics burn Michigan
Susan J. Demas
September 28, 2007
Government needs to be run like a business, so we're always told. Well, if that's the case, then haul Mike Bishop's butt into the soon-to-be closed unemployment office, thanks to a looming state government shutdown no one seems eager to stop. The Republican Senate majority leader announced this week "there's no way" a budget can be finished by the Monday deadline and Gov. Jennifer Granholm better deal with it. When conservative stalwarts like the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and Big John Engler beg you to compromise — even if it means raising taxes — by God, listen to reason, man. At least take their calls. Mr. Bishop, in the business world, when you have 10 months to complete a project and countless experts at your disposal, failure equals firing.
Now aren't you glad you work for the big, bad government you're helping demolish?
Slap the governor with a pink slip, too. Granholm's earned it with her reckless disregard for the people about whom she claims to care — children, seniors, teachers, business owners, union members, the poor and the infirm. During her '06 campaign, the Democratic guv proudly declared, "I'm the captain of this ship." Damn right. And while this ship plummets to new lows — along with the state's reputation and bond rating — she's done little other than blame the GOP.
http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/METRO/709290359
City, county police crews to take on added duties
State Police would cut ranks by 90% and close work sites and posts, impacting public safety.
George Hunter / The Detroit News
September 29, 2007
Without a state budget deal, the Michigan State Police on Monday will reduce its ranks by 90 percent, which will have a tremendous impact on public safety, experts and officials say. The State Police will keep 222 uniformed troopers, 15 sergeants, three lieutenants and 27 emergency dispatchers statewide. But all State Police work sites will be closed, including all posts. "A lot of smaller communities rely on the State Police," University of Detroit Mercy criminal justice Professor Daniel Kennedy said. "In a lot of rural towns, if they have a barricaded gunman, or an emergency situation like that, the State Police will be called in. Now, they'll probably have to rely on the local sheriff's departments." In Detroit, state police troopers have jurisdiction on the city's freeways. During a shutdown, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office would handle those patrols.
The services that will cease during a state shutdown include:
http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/SCHOOLS/709290358
School funds could be delayed
Jennifer Mrozowski / The Detroit News
September 29, 2007
The impact of a government shutdown would be far-reaching for school districts, delaying essential state funding and possibly disrupting statewide testing in October.
A memo from Gov. Jennifer Granholm said the shutdown means Michigan Department of Education operations will cease. If state employees have not returned to work by mid-October, the state will not pay districts their Oct. 22 aid payments, the memo said.
"That would be devastating for us because we absolutely need (the payment) to cover expenses," said Garden City Schools Superintendent Richard Witkowski. Garden City, which approved a $44 million annual budget, is under a state-mandated plan to reduce a deficit. "For our district, the likelihood is that we would not be able to meet our second payroll in October," Witkowski said. Martin Ackley, spokesman for MDE who is being laid off, said, "Until there is a budget, there is no state aid at all," he said. "No money is going to schools -- period."
http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/BIZ/709290356
Investors want stability in Lansing
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
September 29, 2007
For a state already viewed dimly by financial markets, a state government shutdown is unlikely to build confidence among investors in government debt. But the temporary pain may be necessary for long-term stability, one state finance expert suggested Friday.
Already this year, major credit-rating agencies have downgraded the state's debt, citing economic instability and the one-time fixes used to balance the 2007 budget. One bit of good news: At least one bond analyst said the current impasse is not likely to lower his agency's rating on Michigan.
"From our perspective, whether the state adopts a budget today or on a slightly delayed basis doesn't matter," said Ted Hampton of Moody's Investors Service. "We don't see it as a reason to change the rating." That doesn't mean the financial markets aren't watching.
Sujit CanagaRetna, a state finance expert at the Council of State Governments, said investors want to see more stability.
http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/POLITICS/709290360
What's closing
September 29, 2007
Agriculture: All activities stop except livestock vehicle inspections at the Mackinac BridgeCourts: The Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals will handle emergency matters.
Civil Rights: Residents wishing to file a discrimination or hate crime complaint may leave a message at (800) 482-3604 with the details of their complaint.
Health: State mental health facilities will have reduced staffing. Voluntary, non
court admissions will be suspended. Critical lab services will operate. Limited Medicaid support will be available. Serious nursing home complaints can be made through the toll-free hotline.
Corrections: The state's prisons, prison camps, and parole/probation monitoring will continue to operate at reduced staffing levels.
Education: All Department of Education operations will cease, except the Michigan School for the Deaf.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070928/D8RUMK6O0.html
Iowa, N.H. Eye New Caucus, Primary Dates
Sep 28, 4:52 PM (ET)
By MIKE GLOVER
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Iowans could still be humming Auld Lang Syne as they gather to choose among presidential candidates, thanks to decisions by other states to move up their election dates. Party leaders in Iowa are edging toward holding the state's leadoff caucuses as early as Jan. 3, although they'll hold off on a decision until New Hampshire selects a date for the nation's first primary.
"There are only a couple of days that work, and we don't want to go into December," said Iowa GOP head Chuck Laudner, who mentioned Jan. 3, 4 and 5 as dates being considered. Iowa and New Hampshire have made clear they won't stand pat as states such as Michigan and Florida move up their election dates, but don't expect a decision soon. New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner has the sole power to schedule his state's primary, and he's not talking. "I'm not any closer," Gardner said Thursday. "I can't (pick a date) at the moment because I don't know."
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/POLITICS01/709280419/1022/POLITICS
No-shows jabbed at GOP event
Second-tier candidates urge minority outreach, criticize top contenders for skipping the debate.
By Brian Witte Associated Press
September 28, 2007
BALTIMORE -- Republican presidential candidates discussed the importance of reaching out to people of color during a minority issues debate Thursday night and criticized the leading four GOP contenders for skipping it. "I think this is a disgrace that they are not here," said Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. "I think it's a disgrace to our country. I think it's bad for our party, and I don't think it's good for our future."
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said he was "embarrassed for our party, and I'm embarrassed for those who didn't come."
The four no-shows -- former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Sen. Fred Thompson, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- cited scheduling conflicts in saying they could not attend the debate at historically black Morgan State University.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/POLITICS01/709290374/1022/POLITICS
McCain stays upbeat
Behind in Mich., GOP hopeful says he can win state
Gregg Krupa / The Detroit News
September 29, 2007
ST. CLAIR SHORES -- Campaigning Friday in Metro Detroit, U.S. Sen. John McCain expressed confidence that he will win the Republican primary in Michigan despite the early fits-and-starts in his campaign, and he asserted that more Americans are willing to give "the new strategy in Iraq" a chance to work.
McCain also slammed Democrats for offering "the same, tired, old tax-and-spend policies" and some Republicans for abandoning conservative fiscal principles.
The Arizona Republican and Vietnam War hero trails in polls nationally and in Michigan despite garnering the early designation as frontrunner. This month, state Attorney General Mike Cox resigned as McCain's campaign chairman in Michigan, amid an exodus of key personnel and belt-tightening in the national campaign.
http://www.centredaily.com/news/politics/story/219471.html
Giuliani cites Bible on personal life
By LIBBY QUAID - Associated Press Writer
September 28, 2007
WASHINGTON --Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani compared the scrutiny of his personal life marked by three marriages to the biblical story of how Jesus dealt with an adulterous woman. In an interview posted online Friday, Giuliani was questioned about his family and told the Christian Broadcasting Network, "I think there are some people that are very judgmental."
Giuliani has a daughter who indicated support for Democrat Barack Obama and a son who said he didn't speak to his father for some time. Giuliani's messy divorce from their mother, Donna Hanover, was waged publicly while Giuliani was mayor of New York. "I'm guided very, very often about, 'Don't judge others, lest you be judged,'" Giuliani told CBN interviewer David Brody. "I'm guided a lot by the story of the woman that was going to be stoned, and Jesus put the stones down and said, 'He that hasn't sinned, cast the first stone,' and everybody disappeared.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8RULMJO0&show_article=1
Clinton: $5,000 for Every U.S. Baby
Sep 28 03:49 PM US/Eastern
By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that every child born in the United States should get a $5,000 "baby bond" from the government to help pay for future costs of college or buying a home.
Clinton, her party's front-runner in the 2008 race, made the suggestion during a forum hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus. "I like the idea of giving every baby born in America a $5,000 account that will grow over time, so that when that young person turns 18 if they have finished high school they will be able to access it to go to college or maybe they will be able to make that downpayment on their first home," she said.
The New York senator did not offer any estimate of the total cost of such a program or how she would pay for it. Approximately 4 million babies are born each year in the United States.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=afl7MQBAfB5o&refer=home
Bill Clinton Says He Was More Experienced Than Obama
By Kristin Jensen
September 28, 2007
Former President Bill Clinton said he was far more experienced when he made his successful 1992 White House run than Senator Barack Obama is today.
``There is a difference,'' Clinton said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's ``Political Capital With Al Hunt'' that will air this weekend. ``I was the senior governor in America. I had been head of any number of national organizations that were related to the major issue of the day, which is how to restore America's economic strength.''
Clinton was 46 in 1992 when he beat Republican President George H.W. Bush to win the highest U.S. office, the same age that Obama is now. When Clinton, then the Arkansas governor, was first running, ``he was initially dismissed as an obscure if colorful outsider, handsome and articulate but, at age 46, too young and inexperienced for the job,'' his wife Hillary wrote in her autobiography, ``Living History.''
http://opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110010659
Hear, Hear
Americans should not fear talking--and listening--to those whose views we loathe.
Friday, September 28, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
Peggy Noonan
You don't want to judge Christ by Christians, someone once said. He is perfect, they are not. In a similar way you don't want to judge capitalism by capitalists, or the legitimacy of democracy by the Democrats, or the vitality of our republic by the Republicans. You have to take the thing pure and in itself, while allowing for the flaws and waywardness of its practitioners. I say this because here in America we have reached a funny pass. People are doing and saying odd things as if they don't know the meaning of the thing they say they stand for. In particular I mean we used to be proud of whom we allowed to speak, and now are leaning toward defining ourselves by whom we don't speak to and will not allow to speak. This is not progress.
Conservatives on campus are shouted down. A crusader against illegal immigration is rushed off the stage at Columbia University. Great newspapers give ad breaks to groups with which they feel an ideological affinity, but turn away ads from those they do not, such as antiabortion groups. And they call this a business.
So much silencing. It seems so weak, so out of keeping with who we are. We love the tradition of free speech in America, but you don't want to judge its health by what we've done with it lately, or to it.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SALMON_DEMOCRATS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Sen. Craig's fall may benefit salmon
September 29, 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The surprising fall of Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, removes a longtime obstacle to efforts by Democrats and environmentalists to promote salmon recovery on Northwest rivers. Craig, who was removed from leadership posts on the Senate Appropriations and Energy committees after a sex scandal, is known as one the most powerful voices in Congress on behalf of the timber and power industries. Environmentalists have fought him for years on issues from endangered salmon to public land grazing.
Now Senate Democrats, exercising their slim majority, have waded into two contentious issues - both related to Snake River salmon. First, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada asked federal regulators to require passage for salmon and steelhead for relicensing of the Hells Canyon Complex, a series of dams on the Snake River between Oregon and Idaho.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-09-28-pelosi-fence_N.htm
Rep. Pelosi criticizes border fence
September 28, 2007
EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called a plan to build fencing along parts of the Mexico border a "terrible idea" that overlooks local communities.
Pelosi made the comments during her trip to the Rio Grande Valley for the annual Hispanic Engineering, Science & Technology Week conference at the University of Texas-Pan American. "I have been against the fence, I thought it's a bad idea even when it was just a matter of discussion," said Pelosi, D-Calif. "These are communities where you have a border going through them, they are not communities where you have a fence splitting them."
Last year, President Bush signed the Secure Fence Act requiring the construction of fencing along the 2,000-mile border. The plans call for about 370 miles of fence and 200 miles of vehicle barriers, including concrete barriers, by the end of 2008.
Pelosi also touted legislation known as the DREAM Act that would make it easier for some illegal immigrants to receive higher education benefits. She spoke at a conference that drew more than 5,000 students for activities designed to inspire careers in science and technology.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CHILDRENS_HEALTH?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Veto is certain, Bush tells Pelosi
September 28, 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush insisted to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Friday that he's going ahead with his promised veto of a major expansion of a children's health program despite its overwhelming approval by Congress. Pelosi, D-Calif., said she told Bush in a morning phone call that she was praying he would change his mind. "I think I have to pray a little harder," she told reporters moments later, at a Capitol ceremony where Democrats celebrated passage of the proposed $35 billion increase in the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
It's doubtful that any new arguments were made in what Pelosi called "a friendly, friendly conversation." She said she reminded Bush that many Republicans voted to raise tobacco taxes to fund a program expansion, and that many governors from both parties support it.
"He said he liked people who don't give up," Pelosi said, but he also made it clear he is not backing down.
http://www.examiner.com/blogs/Yeas_and_Nays/2007/9/28/Pelosi-Im-praying-for-President-Bush
Pelosi: "I'm praying for President Bush"
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., positioned herself on Friday for a major standoff with President Bush over a children's health insurance bill she supports but which he promised to veto, but there are apparently no hard feelings between the two. Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., held an "enrollment" ceremony for the doomed bill, enclosing the document with their signatures into a fancy binder before handing if off to a House Clerk Lorraine Miller, who will take it to Bush and his veto pen. Just prior to the event, Pelosi called Bush and told him she is praying for him and praying that he would change his mind and sign the bill, which expands a federal insurance program by $35 billion over five years, far in excess of Bush's own proposal.
"It was a friendly, friendly conversation," said Pelosi (as retold to Yeas & Nays by Washington Examiner congressional correspondent Susan Ferrechio). "He said, 'I like people who don't give up,' and I said 'I know you can identify with that.'"
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/POLITICS/709290385/1022
Bush backs voluntary efforts on climate change
John M. Broder / New York Times News Service
September 29, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Seeking to dispel the widespread impression that his administration is isolated on the issue of global warming, President Bush said Friday that the world's biggest polluters can limit damage to the atmosphere while still promoting prosperity.
"Our guiding principle is clear," the president said at a conference on climate change and energy security. "We must lead the world to produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and we must do it in a way that does not undermine economic growth or prevent nations from delivering greater prosperity for their people."
Bush proposed the creation of an "international clean technology fund," to be supported by contributions from governments around the world, that would help finance clean-energy projects in developing countries. The president said Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. would lead discussions with other countries on starting that fund.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/OPINION01/709290301/1008
Iraq creates 'fog of war' commentary
Nancy Kruh
September 29, 2007
More than one of every 10 editions of Balance of Opinion has been devoted to the Iraq war. Following more than 60 syndicated columnists, I've absorbed more war analysis during the past three years than the average citizen. But what's intended to be illuminating is, in toto, confounding.
Juxtapose these indicators of the past two weeks. On Sept. 10, Gen. David Petraeus singled out the U.S. military's alliances with Sunni tribal leaders as among the most optimistic developments in the effort to subdue al-Qaida terrorists.
The next day, New York Post columnist Ralph Peters , back from Iraq, called "this violent rejection of al-Qaida by fellow Sunni Muslims" no less than "the greatest American public diplomacy triumph since the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001."
The day after, al-Qaida assassinated Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha , the Sunni sheik regarded as the alliance's lynchpin.
Nicolas Sarkozy's 'love letter' intrigues France
By Henry Samuel in Paris
Last Updated: 10:29am BST 29/09/2007
Questions are hanging over the true author of a hand-written "love letter" which Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, was seen carrying under his arm as he left a ministerial meeting. Mr Sarkozy was photographed on September 12 leaving a counsel of ministers meeting clutching a red folder and an A4 page covered in large, flowery hand-writing.
After zooming in on the letters, weekly gossip magazine Choc deciphered the text not covered by Mr Sarkozy's hand, which read: "I feel like I haven’t seen you for an eternity and I miss you.
"On Thursday, we're leaving for a jaunt to Essaouira [Morocco] for my ... But I would love to manage to see you in the week or next weekend. Millions of Besitos [Spanish for small kisses]” Isabelle Balkany, the vice-president of the local council in the Hauts-de-Seine, west of Paris, insisted that she had written the note to her old friend, Mrs Sarkozy.
The missing word, she said, was "birthday", as the trip to Morocco was a 60th birthday treat.
