Articles of Interest 10-6-07
398 Days until election day.
MORNING UPDATE:
Governor Granholm and the Democrats jammed the largest tax increase in the history of Michigan down taxpayer’s throats. Now they are trying to spin that this was somehow a “bi-partisan” tax increase…let the numbers speak for themselves. See below:
If you haven’t heard our new “We Told You So” radio ad…please goto:
Tax Hiker Portraits by RightMichigan:
Robert Dean: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/2/105439/416
Steve Bieda: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/3/10332/0059
Mike Simpson: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/4/92924/1118
Watch Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer and I tussle over the state budget and who is to blame on this weekend's edition of "Michigan Matters'' hosted by Detroit Free Press Columnist Carol Cain. (Hint: one of us names John Engler in the budget blame game). "Michigan Matters' airs Saturday on CBS Detroit at 11 a.m. and is repeated on Sunday on CW 50 (Channel 50) at 11:30 a.m.
The October 9, 2007 debate, sponsored by University of Michigan at Dearborn, 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:
www.migopdebate.org
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THE REST OF THE STORY:
THE REST OF THE STORY:
The Granholm/Democrat TAX increase consisted of an INCOME tax bill and a SALES tax bill on services. So how did everyone vote:
Governor Granholm pushed for BOTH bills,
Lt. Governor Cherry cast the tie-breaking vote for BOTH bills in the Senate.
INCOME TAX BILL:
70 Democrats voted YES
67 Republicans voted NO
2 Republicans voted YES in the House and 4 Republicans voted YES in the Senate.
SALES TAX ON SERVICES BILL:
72 Democrats voted YES
68 Republicans voted NO
NO “0” Republicans voted YES in the House and 3 Republicans voted YES in the Senate.
Democrat Speaker of the House Andy Dillon said:
“this entire package was delivered by Democrats”
Now the Governor and the Democrats start their “counter spin” as the taxpayers and voters in Michigan wake up to the largest tax hike in Michigan’s history…and are mad!
Here is what the Democrats “think” bi-partisanship” looks like???
http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/1/9544/72279
Good luck!
Prior to the Debate there will be a Pre-Debate Luncheon at the Henry Ford Estate. Tickets to the luncheon are available for purchase. At the luncheon supporters will receive one complementary debate ticket, there will also be shuttle services available from the Henry Ford Estate to the Debate site. Space is limited and on a first-come, first-serve basis.
If you are interested in attending the Pre-Debate Luncheon, please email Erin Meteer, Major Donor Program Manager, at emeteer@migop.org, or call her at (517) 487-5413.
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071006/POLITICS01/710060336/1022/POLITICS
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Debate takes small army
Technicians work hard to make Tuesday's GOP event look effortless.
Charlie Cain and Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
The nine Republican presidential hopefuls and their supporters and entourages will converge upon Dearborn on Tuesday for a nationally televised debate -- an event that will seem to come off effortlessly on TV but involves countless hours of preparation and the involvement of hundreds of paid workers and volunteers.
"It takes a little more than a village to stage a single debate," said Cliff Kappler, a senior producer with NBC, who is overseeing the debate coverage.
Kappler and about 90 network technicians will be busy over the weekend getting the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center ready for the two-hour sparring match.
http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2007/10/05/opinion/opinion02.txt
What the heck are they ‘thinking’ in Lansing?
By Jim Grisso
Story updated: Friday, October 5, 2007 11:40 AM EDT
It is now an established fact that this whole distorted Michigan budget process literally “went to their heads.”
It’s true — Gov. Granholm and the Legislature have lost their cotton-pickin’ phrenological faculties.
After giving them an F-grade last week (FYI: that column was re-printed on the cnn.com Web site) it really hurts me once again to kick someone when they’re already buried under a 6-foot pile of government incompetency, but I have a question to ask the governor and our Legislature:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071006/POLITICS/710060350/1022
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Sales tax boost on table
House speaker suggests offering voters a ballot referendum in January to hike tax to 7 percent.
Charlie Cain / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
EAST LANSING -- House Speaker Andy Dillon set off a firestorm of reaction Friday when he said he is considering the possibility of asking voters, as early as Jan. 15, to increase the state's 6 percent sales tax to 7 percent -- a $1.4 billion annual tax boost -- in exchange for repealing some of the controversial service sales taxes approved by the Legislature in the middle of the night Monday.
"We're not foreclosed from putting it on the presidential primary (ballot) and going for 7 percent," said the Redford Township Democrat. "It could happen, I think."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071006/NEWS06/710060310/1008
State money woes to mount
Deficits could dwarf this year's emergency shortfall
October 6, 2007
In a detailed analysis of state budget troubles, a former state treasury official painted a grim picture of Michigan's budget over the next 10 years, despite a controversial deal struck this week that includes two tax increases.
Tom Clay told almost 300 policy makers from across the state Friday that, at current levels, state expenses will outpace revenues by roughly 5% each year, creating a $6-billion annual shortfall in the state's general fund by 2017.
That's more than three times the amount of the budget crisis this year that led to a brief state government shutdown before the Legislature and Gov. Jennifer Granholm reached a deal to raise taxes and cut spending.
http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=8879
MTU board gives Mroz raise
By DAN SCHNEIDER, DMG Writer
HOUGHTON — Michigan Technological University’s board of control gave Glenn Mroz a financial vote of approval at its regular meeting Thursday morning at the Memorial Union Building.
The board unanimously approved a 4 percent raise for the university president, bringing Mroz’s annual salary up to $260,000.
“We have been so pleased with his performance,” Board of Control trustee Ruth Reck said.
She pointed to financial stability, increased enrollment and increased research dollars at the university as products of Mroz’s tenure. She said the board has considered a raise for Mroz at past meetings.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071005/NEWS06/710050318/1008
Tax deal blasted as quick fix
Closer look shows trouble on the way
October 5, 2007
Gov. Jennifer Granholm defended this week’s budget deal to a group of policy makers from across the state, but acknowledged that more work remains.
“I understand there is a lot of anger out there about taxes. It emanates from angry over the economy overall,” Granholm said at the annual meeting of the Citizens Research Council, an influential policy group. “Tough calls had to be made.”
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071005/NEWS06/71005045/1008
Michigan must rein in prison medical costs, former treasurer says
October 5, 2007
The state must rein in the costs of health care in prisons if it is to solve its budget troubles in the future, Tom Clay, a former deputy state treasurer, told a group of influential policymakers today.
Tax increases approved earlier this week in Lansing didn’t structurally change the state budget, Clay told about 300 policy makers from across the state who gathered in Troy this morning for the annual meeting of the Citizens Research Council.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071006/AUTO01/710060357/1022/POLITICS
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Automakers appeal state exhaust rules
Action filed to halt tough emissions standards in California, Vermont.
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Automakers aren't giving up their fight over tougher fuel economy requirements, announcing Friday they will appeal a federal judge's decision that allows states to regulate tailpipe emissions standards.
At the same time, Democratic leaders signaled this week they haven't given up hope of getting a tough fuel economy increase passed and to the president's desk before they adjourn next month.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers filed notice that it would appeal a September ruling by U.S. District Judge Williams Sessions rejecting automakers' arguments that federal law should pre-empt state emissions rules and the standards pushed by California, Vermont and other states are unreasonably tough.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071006/OPINION01/710060308/1008
Saturday, October 06, 2007
California shouldn't control Detroit
The Detroit News
Detroit's automakers won one for a change in California, which is saying a lot given the state's relentless assault on the domestic auto industry. A federal judge correctly ruled that California could not seek monetary damages from companies because their products ostensibly contribute to climate change. That process is up to Congress to decide, the judge ruled, not individual states. Likewise (but not a part of the ruling), individual states should not be able to regulate emissions, which are inextricably tied to fuel economy because that too is a federal regulation. It's good to know that logic and common sense sometimes prevail.
http://www.record-eagle.com/local/local_story_278094553.html
Thousands gather for soldier's funeral
BY SHERI McWHIRTER
smcwhirter@record-eagle.com
CHEBOYGAN -- U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Blaskowski is home.
More than 2,000 people crammed inside the Cheboygan Area High School gymnasium Thursday to say goodbye to Blaskowski, 27, remembered as a hometown hero.
He was shot and killed Sept. 23 when his unit was attacked while serving his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.
"I wish there were some magic words to say, but I cannot find them," said the Rev. Paul Megge, who officiated at the funeral Mass.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071006/D8S3E53G0.html
Giuliani Blames Spending for '06 Losses
Oct 5, 9:17 PM (ET)
By LIBBY QUAID
WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican presidential contenders on Friday scolded Congress for extravagant spending of tax dollars, and Rudy Giuliani blamed the issue for GOP losses in last year's elections.
"We lost control of Congress because we were just like the Democrats as far as spending is concerned - shame on us," Giuliani told the anti-tax group Americans for Prosperity.
Mitt Romney said: "It's time for Republicans to act like Republicans" and he promised to veto any spending increase that is more than the inflation rate minus one percentage point.
Fred Thompson made a joke of lawmakers' free-spending ways, saying that as a senator from Tennessee, he once "accidentally spent some of my own money."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/05/politics/main3333938.shtml
McCain Wants Greenspan, Dead Or Alive
"If He's Dead, Just Prop Him Up... Like 'Weekend At Bernies'" To Help Fix Tax Code, Jokes Senator
PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. , Oct. 4, 2007
(AP) Republican John McCain said Thursday that as president he would appoint Alan Greenspan to lead a review of the nation's tax code - even if the former Federal Reserve chairman was dead.
"If he's alive or dead it doesn't matter. If he's dead, just prop him up and put some dark glasses on him like, like 'Weekend at Bernie's,'" McCain joked. "Let's get the best minds in America together and fix this tax code."
The 81-year-old Greenspan served as chairman of the Fed for 18½ years.
Campaigning in early-voting South Carolina, McCain was asked about his support for a flat tax.
"If the fair tax crossed my desk, I'd sign it. If a flat tax did, I'd sign it," McCain said while noting criticism of the concept. "What we all agree: It has to be made simpler and fairer."
Romney swipes at Republican front-runner Guiliani
Fri Oct 5, 2007 6:31pm EDT
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scrambling to make up ground on his top rival, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday took aim at front-runner Rudy Giuliani, accusing him of big-spending policies as New York's mayor.
"Big City, Big Spender," read a news release from the Romney campaign that drew attention to Giuliani's fight to keep in place a commuter tax when he was New York's mayor.
The Romney campaign also announced it would broadcast a radio advertisement in the early voting state of New Hampshire pointing out that Romney was the only Republican candidate who had pledged to oppose any attempt to raise taxes on Americans.
Romney's strategy is to try to instill doubt about Giuliani's Republican credentials among conservatives already worried about Giuliani's stance in favor of abortion rights.
October 6, 2007
Iowans Take Their Time in Open Race
By JEFF ZELENY
NEW HAMPTON, Iowa, Oct. 5 — A broad grin spread across Senator Barack Obama’s face as he turned to walk away from a city park here on Friday after shaking the last hand and posing for a final photograph with a clutch of supporters.
Given the political news of the week, at least back in Washington, why the smile?
“It’s not over,” Mr. Obama said, pausing for a moment to answer an open-ended question about the state of the campaign. “Presumably if they thought the race was over, they wouldn’t be taking the time to come to a town hall meeting to talk about the presidential race.”
If the chase for the Democratic nomination appears to have reached a stage of inevitability, if Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York is becoming a runaway front-runner as national polls might suggest and some of her rivals are beginning to fear, the word has not reached the voters here in Chickasaw County.
It is not that the 200 or so people who turned out to see Mr. Obama on Friday morning are oblivious to such prognostications. As ardent political enthusiasts, many of them obsessively follow them. But the voters here have not necessarily become believers, particularly before they have a chance to size up the competition when it comes to town.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071006/OPINION01/710060306/1008
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Inevitable aura may be pitfall for Clinton
Nancy Kruh
Much of the commentary about Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton swarns around a single buzzword -- inevitability -- and it's one her campaign has not discouraged.
But a trio of columnists have developed an alternative theme: the pitfalls of inevitability.
"We are repeatedly told that ... the only way Clinton could lose her tight hold on the nomination and, presumably, the White House would be if she were bruised in Iowa (where both John Edwards and [Barack] Obama remain competitive) or derailed by unforeseeable events like a scandal or a domestic terror attack," Frank Rich writes in the New York Times.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/call-him-mr-exuberance/
October 5, 2007, 6:07 pm
Call Him Mr. Exuberance
No one is a louder, zestier cheerleader for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential prospects than her campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, a man who is not known for having a light touch.
Some Democrats get a kick out of Terry’s rah-rah roadshow for Hillary, which he has performed for voters in Iowa and other states in recent months. And some Democrats are decidedly turned off by his exuberance and confidence, especially those who aren’t too keen on Mrs. Clinton themselves.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/opinion/05brooks.html?ref=opinion
The Republican Collapse
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: October 5, 2007
Modern conservatism begins with Edmund Burke. What Burke articulated was not an ideology or a creed, but a disposition, a reverence for tradition, a suspicion of radical change.
When conservatism came to America, it became creedal. Free market conservatives built a creed around freedom and capitalism. Religious conservatives built a creed around their conception of a transcendent order. Neoconservatives and others built a creed around the words of Lincoln and the founders.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUDGET_DEFICIT?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Oct 5, 6:50 PM EDT
US budget deficit drops to $161 billion
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal government registered a budget deficit of $161 billion for the just-completed fiscal year, the Congressional Budget office estimated Friday.
The 2007 deficit figure represents considerable improvement over the $248 billion deficit posted last year. It's even smaller when compared to the size of the economy - the measure deemed most important by economists.
At 1.2 percent of gross domestic product, the fiscal picture is the best it's been since 2001, the last year the government ran a budget surplus.
Still, the long-term budget picture is bleak, as federal benefit programs such as Medicare are projected to plunge the government deep into the red as the Baby Boom generation retires.
Oct 6, 7:05 AM EDT
Groups target GOP lawmakers for override
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Several labor unions and advocacy groups are targeting about three dozen Republican lawmakers in a $1 million lobbying campaign aimed at turning enough votes to override President Bush's veto and expand a children's health insurance program.
Those lawmakers can expect television ads, picket lines and an avalanche of telephone calls.
To override Bush's veto of a $35 billion expansion in the State Children's Health Insurance Program, about 15 Republicans and eight Democratic lawmakers in the House would have to change their previous votes on the issue. Even Democratic leaders say that the prospects for an override are unlikely.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WEST_OIL_DRILLING?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Oct 6, 7:06 AM EDT
Interior official backs Western drilling
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration foresees no letup in the aggressive pace for Western oil and gas drilling, despite some voter backlash from people tired of seeing more and more rigs in their Rocky Mountain states.
"There's absolutely no doubt that the interest in oil and gas is going to continue. I mean, it is where it is," Jim Caswell, the new director of the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management, said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press. He took office in August.
Public lands managed by BLM produce 18 percent of the nation's natural gas and five percent of its oil. BLM manages 258 million acres, about one-eighth of the land in the United States. Most of that land - grasslands, forests, high mountains, arctic tundra and deserts - is in the West. It also oversees about 700 million acres of minerals below the land's surface.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FARM_PESTICIDE?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Oct 6, 7:04 AM EDT
EPA approves 1-year use of pesticide
The Environmental Protection Agency gave the go-ahead for one-year use of a new agricultural pesticide Friday, saying its own scientific review overrides health concerns expressed by more than 50 chemists and other scientists.
Methyl iodide, also known as iodomethane, will be allowed to control soil pests "under highly restrictive provisions governing its use," the EPA said in a statement.
"When used according to EPA's strict procedures, iodomethane is not only an effective pesticide, but also meets the health and safety standards for registering pesticides," the agency said.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071006/POLITICS/710060328/1022
Saturday, October 06, 2007
President says torture not part of U.S. tactics
Jennifer Loven / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- President Bush defended his administration's methods of detaining and questioning terrorism suspects on Friday, calling them successful and lawful.
"When we find somebody who may have information regarding a potential attack on America, you bet we're going to detain them, and you bet we're going to question them," he said at a hastily called Oval Office appearance. "The American people expect us to find out information, actionable intelligence so we can help protect them. That's our job."
Bush volunteered his thoughts on a report on two secret 2005 memos that authorized extreme interrogation tactics against terrorism suspects. "This government does not torture people," he said.
http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=71741
National Guard Troops Denied Benefits After Longest Deployment Of Iraq War
Rhonda Erskine, Online Content Producer
Created: 10/3/2007 2:39:29 PM
Updated: 10/3/2007 5:32:02 PM
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (NBC) -- When they came home from Iraq, 2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard had been deployed longer than any other ground combat unit. The tour lasted 22 months and had been extended as part of President Bush's surge.
1st Lt. Jon Anderson said he never expected to come home to this: A government refusing to pay education benefits he says he should have earned under the GI bill.
"It's pretty much a slap in the face," Anderson said. "I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership... once again failing the soldiers."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_RUSSIA?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Oct 5, 6:32 PM EDT
Deadlines loom at U.S.-Russia talks
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A possible Russian pullout of an arms treaty and a December deadline for deciding Kosovo's future will be up for discussion when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates hold talks next week in Moscow, a U.S. official said Friday.
The United States has insisted that negotiations on Kosovo wrap up by Dec. 10, while Russia announced this year that it would suspend participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty on Dec. 12.
"We are well aware of the calendar and well aware that there are some tough issues coming up in December," Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said in briefing reporters on the trip.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ARMENIA_GENOCIDE?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Oct 6, 7:03 AM EDT
Resolution on Armenia genocide opposed
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Turkish and American officials have been pressing lawmakers to reject a measure next week that would declare the World War I-era killings of Armenians a genocide.
On Friday, the issue reached the highest levels as President Bush and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan talked by telephone about their opposition to the legislation, which is to go before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
The dispute involves the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire.
