Articles of Interest 11-15-07
357 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
Repeal of the sales tax on services continues…our alternatives are to reform, replace or find a way to live within our means??? Let your legislators know what you think.
We made it out to Saginaw County and met with the GOP Executive Committee as well as their finance team to get ready for 2008. Focused, committed and ready to go. Statewide , Michigan Republicans are getting ready for victory!!!
The Court of Appeals agreed to hear the presidential primary appeal today at 1:30pm. We may have an answer before the end of the day!
Oakland County Commissioner Dave Woodward is starting a recall against Senator Mike Bishop for NOT voting to raise taxes…you got it… Democrats want to recall you if you’re fighting for fiscal sanity. More below.
The Democrats are hypocritical on the war…they force 40 votes…1 (ONE) passes under a Democrat controlled Congress. Politics as usual for the Democrats…they say one thing…do another.
Ax the TAX effort still ongoing…only 14 days left until the sales tax on services kicks in. See below.
As you follow the presidential primary, here is a great guide to who’s next, how many delegates and when…bookmark this page:
http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/primaries/republicanprimaries/index.html
Citizens for Traditional Values has a great “Leadership Academy” coming up…more in below.
Please SHARE this daily email with anyone and everyone who might be interested. I would be happy to add them to the daily mailing list…just have them email me at: sanuzis@migop.org
Happy hunting!
Give a Gift this Holiday Season that Will Last a Lifetime!
The Michigan Republicans moved their headquarters to the Secchia-Weiser Republican Center in 2006 and plan to install a legacy site to honor those who have served the party and the citizens of Michigan. The legacy site will create a well-deserved tribute to honor Michigan’s past, present, and future Republican leaders! Buy a brick to celebrate, to inspire, or to commemorate friends, family, or yourself this holiday season! They are a great way to honor others in memoriam, birthdays, anniversaries, or any special occasion. Your honoree will receive a certificate commemorating their personalized brick. Choose from our four different options and be a part of the Michigan Republican Party Legacy!
To order your personalized Legacy Brick please visit www.migop.org/legacy, or contact Erin Meteer, Major Donor Program Manager at emeteer@migop.org.
THE REST OF THE STORY:
- Only a Democrat…and Oakland County Democrats too boot,…would start a recall against Republicans for opposing taxes, demanding efficient government and working for constructive solutions.
For Democrats…for Dave Woodward…it’s politics as usual.
Dave Woodward needs to decide who he is. Is he a County Commissioner, or a political hack? He should spend less time trying to recall a sitting member of the Senate and get to work to fix the mess he and this Governor have created. If he can't do that, he should resign.
Maybe he can explain why since he and the governor took office Oakland County property values have been on the decline for the first time in memory. He should get to work on his day job and stop moonlighting as a political hack.
If you make a state less desirable to live in, if you keep pushing for higher taxes, if you chase out job providers because of misguided tax and regulatory policies…you get the Granholm/Woodward world.
- The Democrats are hypocritical on the war…Democrats force 40 votes…1 (ONE) passes under a Democratically controlled Congress. Politics as usual for the Democrats…they say one thing…do another.
The numbers tell a story of political and substantive paralysis more starkly than most members are willing to acknowledge, perhaps even to themselves.
Since taking the majority, they have forced 40 votes on bills limiting President Bush’s war policy.
Only one of those has passed both chambers, even though both are run by Democrats. That one was vetoed by Bush.
- The Legislature is on vacation this week and likely next, leaving only a few days for them to work out their many differences and deliver to the governor a repeal plan that she will sign.
Coalition efforts in the Legislature continue everyday, but you only need to look back to the process that gave us the services tax to know that a repeal from the Legislature is not a sure thing and the coalition has to keep pushing to collect signatures as well.
Visit them at: AxtheTax.com.
- I Wanted to draw your attention to the Citizens for Traditional Values Political Leadership Academy. This is a GREAT opportunity for those seeking political office, as well grassroots activists involved at the district or county level.
The class will be held in Lansing, November 30th - December 1st at a very reasonable cost of $75. National campaign trainer Mark Montini will be speaking, along with many distinguished Michigan legislative and political leaders. This will be a GREAT academy!
More information can be found at: http://www.ctvmichigan.org/events/pla/default.htm Space is limited -- contact CTV today if you're interested, and please forward this email to your lists as well.
- Recall efforts start & grow….see UPDATE “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
Marc Corriveau: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/8/93248/2721
Terry Brown: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/10/101539/45
Mary Valentine: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/9/6253/0133
Kate Ebli: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/11/55455/873
Marty Griffin: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/15/94238/961
Kathy Angerer: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/16/14040/296
Aldo Vagnozzi: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/17/103640/75
John Espinoza: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/30/93255/658
Joel Sheltrown: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/31/103434/30
Mike Lahti: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/11/6/10250/0225
Kathleen Law: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/11/7/104242/595
Fred Miller: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/11/13/101018/55
How does a recall work: http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/11/how-to-run-a-re.html
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071115/POLITICS/711150367/1022
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Decision 2008
Dems await vote ruling
Party members to cast ballot if Jan. 15 primary is constitutional
Gordon Trowbridge and Charlie Cain / The Detroit News
Michigan Democrats said Wednesday they will participate in the state's Jan. 15 presidential primary -- if the election is ever held.
State Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer made the commitment in a letter to Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land. But he attached conditions: Brewer said Democrats would vote on Jan. 15 if a court ruling that deemed the primary law unconstitutional is overturned, and he wrote that the commitment does not waive the party's "state and federal constitutional rights" -- a phrase that could be read as an out-clause.
"It sounds as though there's an additional line to try to preserve some rights beyond the deadline. And who knows exactly what that means," said W. Alan Wilk, a partner at Lansing's Dykema law firm who specializes in election law.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071115/NEWS06/711150410/1008
Dems seek to pick delegates in Jan. 15 primary
November 15, 2007
Michigan Democrats notified elections officials Wednesday that they will use the state's Jan. 15 primary to select delegates for the party's national presidential nominating convention.
They had conditions: that an Ingham County court decision blocking the primary is overturned, and that Michigan Republicans also use the primary as their official presidential selection process. The state GOP committed to using the primary, if it occurs, on Tuesday.
http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1194977725167130.xml&coll=8
Nice try anyway on early Michigan party primary bid
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Unless late-breaking legal developments impart a new twist to the drama, Michigan's on-again, off-again early primary bid is off again. Our state's bid to have an early role in picking 2008 presidential candidates is in jeopardy after a judge ruled that part of a state law establishing a Jan. 15 primary is unconstitutional.
Powerful forces have certainly been allied against the move to bring our state into national prominence during the forthcoming presidential primary season, which traditionally has been all but "owned" by Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071115/OPINION01/711150320/1007/OPINION
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Opinion
Michigan court sets a national standard
Paul Moreno
The Michigan Supreme Court is widely recognized as a model court, protecting individual rights while respecting the primacy of majority rule in the Legislature. On the court's 150th anniversary, we should remember the great achievements of its founders.
In one of its most famous cases, the court reversed the conviction of Augustus Pond, who had killed an adversary who threatened his home and family. A man could use deadly force to defend his life and property; he had no "duty to retreat." Indeed, in frontier conditions like those of mid-19th-century Michigan, citizens had a positive duty to fight crime.
The Pond case became the favorite of civil libertarians and Second Amendment advocates. In 1925, Judge Frank Murphy used it to acquit Ossian Sweet, a black physician who killed one of a mob of white assailants in Detroit trying to drive him out of their neighborhood.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071115/BUSINESS06/711150378
Michigan's Oct. jobless rate hits 7.7%
November 15, 2007
BY JOHN GALLAGHER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Bad news on the automotive front pushed Michigan's October unemployment rate up to 7.7%.
The jobless rate is the state's highest in 15 years, two-tenths of a percentage point higher than September's rate, and it almost certainly guarantees that Michigan will continue to post the worst state unemployment rate in the nation.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071115/OPINION01/711150329/1007/OPINION
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Editorial: Big Three green machines steal show in L.A.
Automakers respond to market, not necessarily to government
The Detroit News
The Los Angeles Auto Show is a green affair like none other. Every automaker in attendance is promoting its environmentally friendly products. What's caught some off guard, however, is the fact that the companies leading the charge this year are from Detroit.
General Motors Corp. has three of the five nominees for Green Car of the Year (the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu hybrid, the Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid and the Saturn Aura hybrid); Ford's Mazda division has one, the Mazda Tribute gasoline-electric hybrid. Nissan is the lone Asian automaker vying for the greenest machine in California with its Altima hybrid.
Toyota has made a splash with its Prius, and Honda will roll out a zero-emission hydrogen fuel-cell car next year. But the Big Three domestic producers have also moved into the hybrid arena and applied it to products that many consumers want to buy, building the technology into the popular big trucks and SUVs.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071115/OPINION03/711150321/1007/OPINION
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Manny Lopez:
California car dreamin' could cost U.S.
He is one of the nation's most influential liberals, a convert into the Church of Global Warming Absolutism and basher of all things Detroit.
Never mind that he is a Republican, has driven the biggest trucks available to consumers (fortunately they were General Motors products) and exhausted more carbon into the environment over his lifetime as an actor and politician than most families -- or even neighborhoods -- in Michigan ever will.
"For any Democrat entering the Oval Office, one of the first calls will be to (Arnold) Schwarzenegger," reports The Daily Telegraph in London, which compiled a list of the 100 Most Influential U.S. Liberals (and Republicans). "Leaving him off the conservative list was a difficult decision, but Schwarzenegger's defiance of Republican orthodoxy and move towards California liberalism leaves him better placed to influence the liberal sphere."
Sure, it's a British newspaper making these observations, but is there any indication it is not "spot on"?
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071115/BUSINESS06/711150371
Ford retirees must choose health plans
November 15, 2007
BY PATRICIA ANSTETT
FREE PRESS MEDICAL WRITER
After years of getting generous health insurance benefits, 40,000 Ford Motor Co. management retirees -- including about 22,000 in Michigan -- are to begin signing up today for Medicare plans in an all-out battle by insurers to challenge the longtime stronghold of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
The benefit changes to what is called a Health Reimbursement Arrangement are to take effect Jan. 1. Retired Ford managers or their surviving spouses have until Dec. 31 to sign up for a Medicare plan.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071114/NEWS06/71114032/1008/NEWS06
Michigan farmers eligible for federal disaster aid
November 14, 2007
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared Michigan a primary disaster area because of the summer drought, meaning that state farmers will be eligible for federal disaster assistance.
Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner says farmers in all 83 counties will be eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency. Applications will be considered based on the extent of losses and other considerations.
http://blog.mlive.com/chronicle/2007/11/ban_could_leave_smokers_out_in.html
Ban could leave smokers out in the cold
Posted by Cindy Fairfield November 14, 2007 10:03AM
Categories: Muskegon, Top Photos
Ron Madison is allergic to cigarette smoke.
Even so, the owner of Racquets Downtown Grill, 446 W. Western, allows smoking at his bar and restaurant.
A growing number of Muskegon County restaurants -- 202 at last count -- have banned smoking, but Madison isn't about to add Racquets to the list. He said he'd rather have a statewide ban -- something the state Legislature is considering.
A smoking ban is "something I would be in favor of for a number of reasons, but it is not something I can afford to do until it is enforced regionally or statewide," said Madison, a former world powerlifting champion who exercises regularly, eats healthy foods and has never smoked.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/columns-3/1195055593194070.xml&coll=7
County smoking ban action is justified
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
It struck us with more than passing interest that the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners chose Election Day last week to prohibit smoking throughout the county administration building and the county courthouse.
On virtually any other occasion, the board's action might well have drawn more attention.
The action prevents smoking in any inside areas at the two buildings.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071115/OPINION01/711150342/1007/OPINION
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Editorial
Self-serving union does in a fine judge
The Detroit News
Chief Wayne Circuit Judge Mary Beth Kelly is stepping down as head of the court after six years. It says something about the climate of local government in southeast Michigan that the main reason for her decision is a run-in with a county government labor union over bringing efficiency to the court.
Kelly has come under intense fire for proposing to seek bids from private firms to do the work of the county's inept Friend of the Court office, which handles child support payments and other issues related to the children of single parents.
The Wayne County Friend of the Court operation is notorious for long delays in processing payments or moving on court orders changing the amount of such payments. Kelly noted to The Detroit News that it can take up to a year to get the operation to deal with changes in court orders. She blamed it on a lack of staff to handle the high volume of cases.
http://blog.mlive.com/citpat_opinion/2007/11/welcome_back_303rd.html
Welcome back, 303rd!
Posted by Jackson Citizen Patriot November 14, 2007 10:33AM
Categories: Editorial
The following is the Jackson Citizen Patriot's editorial for November 14:
The last of three Jackson-based military units to serve in Iraq is supposed to come home today. While the war is far from over, let's salute those who have served and say our thanks for the soldiers who are back safely.
The 170 people in the 303rd Military Police Company saw the war's brutality firsthand in their year-long mission. Two soldiers were killed and more than 20 were wounded.
They carried out important work, however. They helped protect military convoys and trained Iraqi police to provide security for the country.
http://www.mlive.com/news/citpat/index.ssf?/base/news-23/119505276727680.xml&coll=3
Late-night parade for troops set
Wednesday, November 14, 2007By Brad Florybflory@citpat.com -- 768-4925
A late-night homecoming is planned today for soldiers of the 303rd Military Police Company returning to Jackson from Iraq.
The Army Reserve unit is expected to leave Fort Dix, N.J., about 8 p.m. and arrive in Jackson between 11 p.m. and midnight.
Plans for a welcome-home parade are still on, despite the late hour.
NATIONAL STORIES
Polls Find Voters Weighing Issues vs. Electability
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: November 14, 2007
This article was reported by Adam Nagourney, Marjorie Connelly and Dalia Sussman and written by Mr. Nagourney.
Democratic voters in Iowa and New Hampshire — the states that begin the presidential nominating battle — say Senator Barack Obama and John Edwards are more likely than Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to say what they believe, rather than what they think voters want to hear, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Polls. But they also view Mrs. Clinton as the best prepared and most electable Democrat in the field, the polls found.
Republican voters in those two states say that Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, shares their values and views on immigration, a red-hot issue for Republicans in Iowa especially. But they are divided over whether Mr. Romney or Rudolph W. Giuliani, who Republican voters say does not share their values, would be the party’s strongest general-election candidate — and electability looms as a crucial factor for Republican voters in those states.
Ex-Publisher’s Suit Plays a Giuliani-Kerik Angle
By RUSS BUETTNER
Published: November 14, 2007
Judith Regan, the former book publisher, says in a lawsuit filed yesterday protesting her dismissal by the News Corporation, the media conglomerate, that a senior executive there encouraged her to lie to federal investigators about her past affair with Bernard B. Kerik after he had been nominated to become homeland security secretary in late 2004.
The lawsuit asserts that the News Corporation executive wanted to protect the presidential aspirations of Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Kerik’s mentor, who had appointed him New York City police commissioner and had recommended him for the federal post.
Ms. Regan makes the charge at the start of a 70-page filing that seeks $100 million in damages for what she says was a campaign to smear and discredit her by her bosses at HarperCollins and its parent company, News Corporation, after her project to publish a book with O. J. Simpson was abandoned amid a storm of protest.
Front-Runners Who Can Still Be Tackled
By George F. Will
Thursday, November 15, 2007; Page A25
Americans say they are weary of political polarization and pugnacity. If so, the current situation in presidential politics is unstable: The leading Democratic and Republican candidates, Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, are the most polarizing and pugnacious candidates, respectively. Hence Barack Obama and Mitt Romney might be stronger than national polls suggest.
James Carville, political consultant and aphorist, says: Nothing validates a candidate to voters as much as other voters. If Romney wins Iowa and New Hampshire -- no Republican has ever won both -- and then Michigan, where his father was governor, he will reach South Carolina very validated indeed.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YzhhMzg5ZmQ2OTlhNmNhYmM2MzYwNzEwNWVjNWE1Njc
November 14, 2007 6:00 AM
Revising Kennedy
Mitt should remind voters that his candidacy is about his vision for America, not his religion.
By Douglas W. Kmiec
This weekend at a gathering in New Hampshire, Governor Mitt Romney was asked, yet again, whether he would give a speech outlining his religious beliefs. He said he would be happy to do so, but that some of his advisers caution against doing so, since it would “draw too much attention to that issue alone.”
It’s too late — the governor and his faith have our attention. For better or worse, Mormonism is on the public table. The “good news” part, for Romney, is that the public interest signifies how important he has become in the presidential sweeps. Romney leads in Iowa and New Hampshire, and he is now being taken seriously as a prospective nominee. The “bad news” part is that, despite Romney’s desire to think only the best of his fellow citizens — to think that no one would disqualify a person merely because of faith, 218 years after the promise of religious freedom in the First Amendment — such a vision of religious freedom is not yet a reality.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/14/america/romney.php
Romney's life took a turn in France
By David Kirkpatrick Published: November 14, 2007
WASHINGTON: In December 1968, Mitt Romney returned home from a Mormon mission in France to find a changed country.
While assassinations, race riots, sit-ins, and marches transformed his generation, Romney was cloistered for more than two years in a strict regimen of prayer and proselytizing. The missionaries were discouraged from indulging in newspapers, radio, television, or phone calls home.
They spent 12 hours a day knocking on doors, often ending up defending the Vietnam War or American race relations against tirades by the French. Romney was so removed from the tumult at home that he was surprised to learn that his father, George Romney, had turned against the war while campaigning for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination.
http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/mccain-camp-goes-after-cnn-2007-11-14.html
McCain camp goes after CNN
By Klaus Marre | Posted: 11/14/07 2:46 p.m. [ET]
November 14, 2007
The camp of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) hoped to capitalize Wednesday on what it says was a biased report on CNN about a campaign event at which a McCain supporter referred to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) as “the bitch.”
Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager, said in an e-mail to supporters that CNN owes the Arizona Republican an apology for its reporting of the story.
The campaign laments that CNN portrayed the event as though McCain did not defend Clinton forcefully enough. The senator, in the short video clip, expressed his respect for the former first lady.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MGQxMjc5ZWEyMTg1Zjc3MjY0MjY5OGYzYzZjYTkwMzI
November 14, 2007 6:00 AM
Policy Fred
By The Editors
Fred Thompson may have started his presidential campaign late, but he is the first candidate in either party to come out with solid plans to reform Social Security and immigration. And while most candidates have called for increasing the size of the military, Thompson laid out a detailed plan to achieve that end in a Tuesday speech at the Citadel Military College. On these issues, Thompson has set a standard for specificity, conservatism, and soundness that we would like to see the other Republican candidates measure up to.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23409
NRLC Thompson Endorsement Splits Social Conservatives Even More
by Ericka Andersen
Posted: 11/14/2007
The swirling social conservative endorsements of Republican presidential candidates continued yesterday when the National Right to Life Committee endorsed former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson.
At a press conference yesterday morning, Executive Director David O’ Steen said the 58-member NRLC committee voted Sunday based on three critical factors: his 100% pro-life record, his commitment to the unborn and his electability.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071115/D8SU2GF00.html
Ron Paul Collecting Fans, Big Money
Nov 15, 6:04 AM (ET)
By CHARLES BABINGTON
WASHINGTON (AP) - Those who dismissed Rep. Ron Paul as a joke in the Republican presidential primary campaign aren't laughing so hard these days.
The Texas libertarian's rise in the polls and in fundraising proves that a small but passionate number of Americans can be drawn to an advocate of unorthodox proposals such as returning to the gold standard and abolishing the income tax, CIA and Federal Reserve.
Paul, 72, recently set a one-day, online GOP presidential fundraising record, and pulled slightly ahead of Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee in a New Hampshire poll, where he had 8 percent of the Republicans' support. In Iowa, he tied John McCain for fifth place, with 4 percent each.
Paul remains a very long shot for the nomination. But as the only Republican candidate backing a prompt troop withdrawal from Iraq - and an airing of possible impeachment charges against Vice President Dick Cheney - he appeals to a mix of liberals and conservatives who feel alienated and deeply distrustful of the government.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/326qnsbj.asp
Say It's So, Joe
Vice President Lieberman?
by William Kristol
11/19/2007, Volume 013, Issue 10
If a senator gives a speech, and no major newspaper reports it, does it matter? Joe Lieberman spoke in Washington Thursday on "the politics of national security." The next day, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today ignored his talk. Most Democrats will ignore it. But five guys named Rudy, John, Fred, Mitt, and Mike will read it. So should you. To that end, we're happy to provide excerpts from the remarks of the independent Democrat from Connecticut:
In Las Vegas, Chance for Clinton to Undo Damage
By PATRICK HEALY
Published: November 15, 2007
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton heads into tonight’s Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas with an opportunity: to try to erase the unflattering image that her chief rivals, and her own mistakes, have helped create.
Yesterday, in an attempt to neutralize one possible threat at the debate, her campaign announced that Mrs. Clinton would not support driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants as president. It is the latest formulation of her position, which has shifted since it became a tripping point in the last televised debate on Oct. 30.
Her advisers say they hope the matter will now be off the table, but Mrs. Clinton’s top rivals made clear that they would continue to press the argument they have been making in recent weeks, that she is inconsistent and overly political.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071115/D8STV7C00.html
Clinton Says No to Licenses for Illegals
Nov 15, 2:20 AM (ET)
By DEVLIN BARRETT
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday came out against granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, after weeks of pressure in the presidential race to take a position on a now-failed ID plan from her home state governor.
Clinton has faced criticism from candidates in both parties for her noncommittal answers on New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's attempt to allow illegal immigrants in his state to receive driver's licenses. Spitzer abandoned the effort Wednesday.
"I support Governor Spitzer's decision today to withdraw his proposal," Clinton said in a statement. "As president, I will not support driver's licenses for undocumented people and will press for comprehensive immigration reform that deals with all of the issues around illegal immigration including border security and fixing our broken system."
http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2007/11/14/hillary/?source=whitelist
Queen Hillary's disruptive court
The press corps finally wakes up to her waffling and evasions. Plus: Norman Mailer's largely forgotten legacy and our disappointing lesbian icons!
By Camille Paglia
Nov. 14, 2007 | The mainstream media have been in a breathless tizzy about how Hillary Clinton waffled, tripped, stumbled or generally screwed up at the Democratic debate in Philadelphia two weeks ago.
But Hillary's performance at prior debates was never as deft or "flawless" as the media claimed in the first place. Conventional wisdom has now flipped, and the air-headed lemmings of our free press have turned on a dime and are stampeding in the opposite direction. This is the same crew who passively swallowed administration propaganda about the urgency of an invasion of Iraq. Don't ask for critical acumen from this lot.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/unions-balk--at-edwards-track-record-2007-11-15.html
Unions balk at Edwards track record
By Sam Youngman
November 15, 2007
Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) has made support for and from organized labor one of the centerpieces of his 2008 presidential campaign, but some labor officials say Edwards is new to their cause and the former senator’s rhetoric is at odds with his record.
With the Democratic candidates set to debate Thursday night in Nevada, a state where labor still carries considerable clout, Edwards’s rivals and the unions backing them are criticizing the former senator’s past support for issues that are anathema to the labor community.
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/628/congress-democrats
A Year Later: Public Dissatisfied With Democratic Leaders, But Still Happy They Won
November 7, 2007
A year after the Democratic Party won control of both houses of Congress, Americans are increasingly dissatisfied with the party's congressional leaders. Just 31% approve of their job performance, down 10 points since February.
Despite these tepid ratings, most Americans (54%) say that they are happy that the Democrats won control of Congress in last year's elections. That represents a modest decline since last November, but positive views of the Democratic congressional victory have remained stable since March. At least in part, this reflects the fact that Republican leaders are blamed as often as Democratic leaders for Congress' lack of productivity.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/12/AR2007111201418.html
The Can't-Win Democratic Congress
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007; Page A19
Democrats in Congress are discovering what it's like to live in the worst of all possible worlds. They are condemned for selling out to President Bush and condemned for failing to make compromises aimed at getting things done.
Democrats complain that this is unfair, and, in some sense, it is. But who said that politics was fair?
OUT-OF-GAS ELIOT PUTS THE BRAKES ON LICENSE PLAN
By KENNETH LOVETT - Post Correspondent
November 14, 2007 -- ALBANY - With his poll numbers collapsing, Gov. Spitzer pullled the plug today on his controversial plan to allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses.
"I have concluded that New York state cannot successfully address this problem on its own," Spitzer said at a news conference after meeting with members of the state's congressional delegation. "I am withdrawing my proposal."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/14/BAB9TBP5H.DTL&tsp=1
S.F. supervisors approve ID cards for residents
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
(11-13) 15:56 PST San Francisco - -- The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to issue municipal identification cards to city residents - regardless of whether they are in the country legally - and to double the amount of public money available to candidates running for supervisor.
Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who authored the ID card legislation, said the program is a smart public safety measure because it would make residents living on the social margins of San Francisco more likely to seek the help of police and could give them more access to banking services.
Nov 15, 3:23 AM EST
Govt. seeks changes in ag worker hiring
By SUZANNE GAMBOA
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Agriculture employers won't have to cast a wide net in recruiting temporary workers under a rules change proposed by the Labor Department.
The agency quietly proposed last week that employers no longer be required to place ads for available agricultural jobs with print and broadcast media outside of where they plan to use the workers.
Advocates for farm workers say the change violates a 1986 federal law that requires employers to look for U.S. workers in designated multistate regions before they resort to hiring foreign workers.
Such a move could hurt farm workers who are U.S. citizens or legal residents, said Bruce Goldstein, executive director of Farmworker Justice Fund Inc.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/6860.html
Love lost between business lobby and GOP
By: Gebe Martinez
Nov 13, 2007 08:51 PM EST
The anger can be heard in the voices of some Republican senators when they talk about their usual allies in the business community.
As they describe it, it is time to string up yellow tape around the limp bodies of business lobbyists who got crushed in this year’s congressional debates over a proposed overhaul of immigration laws.
By failing to produce the needed votes for a bipartisan bill that would have combined tighter immigration and employment rules with more temporary worker permits and an earned citizenship program for most current illegal immigrants, the business lobby “blew it,” senators said.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071115/AUTO01/711150331/1022/POLITICS
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Auto safety bill may get approval
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Congress is set to pass its first significant auto safety measure since 2005, focusing on the safety of children in and around cars.
The bill -- which requires the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to create a database of deaths and injuries of children in non-traffic accidents and to consider toughening regulations to prevent power windows from injuring children -- was first introduced in Congress nearly two years ago.
The House Energy and Commerce's subcommittee on commerce, trade and consumer protection is expected to approve a revised version of the "Cameron Guilbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act" before the end of the year.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTAwZmRkZTM5OGU0MzM2NWJkZGNmZDU5ZjY0ZDVjZDE
November 14, 2007 4:00 AM
Mortgage Mistakes
The government-knows-best-approach is misguided at best.
By John Berlau
Every day, as news about the credit crunch unfolds, it seems like a new term is added to our financial vocabulary. First, there were subprime mortgages. Then, there were mortgage-backed securities, and collateralized debt obligations. Now, we’re hearing about “structured investment vehicles” and “Level 3 assets.”
If these terms are complex even for the experts, it goes without saying that so is figuring out an appropriate policy response. The basic problem is ineffective disclosure and transparency, both for some individual borrowers, and to a greater extent among investors who packaged, bought, and sold mortgages in the securities markets. But there are no easy answers on how to get there.
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/635/broadband-measurement
Why We Don't Know Enough About Broadband in the U.S.
Networks May Be Global but Measurement Must Be Local -- and Government Agencies Need Help to Do a Better Job at Collecting It
by John B. Horrigan, Associate Director for Research, Pew Internet & American Life Project
November 14, 2007
Half of all Americans now have broadband at home, according to the Pew Internet Project's September 2007 survey, marking the first time that as many as 50% of respondents say they have high-speed internet connections at home.1 This milestone in broadband adoption occurs at a time of close scrutiny of the data gathered by government agencies on broadband deployment.
Even though telephone surveys, such as those conducted by the Pew Internet Project, continue to accurately measure broadband adoption and use at the national level, many key questions about the information society require fine-grained data about broadband deployment and use at a local level. This kind of detailed and publicly available information can only be collected by government agencies.
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/634/black-public-opinion
Blacks See Growing Values Gap Between Poor and Middle Class
Optimism About Black Progress Declines
November 13, 2007
African Americans see a widening gulf between the values of middle class and poor blacks, and nearly four-in-ten say that because of the diversity within their community, blacks can no longer be