Articles of Interest 11-26-07
346 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
House Democrats are planning on passing the presidential primary “fix” bill today according to this weekend’s Free Press story. School elections are set to be held during the “November elections” and the “fix” bill changed this. November school elections need to be preserved…it saves tax dollars and increases voter’s participation.
January 15th Presidential Primary information and dates:
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/11/primary-and-con.html
Attorney General Mike Cox announced the 4th Annual "Support MI Troops" fundraising drive. The "Support MI Troops" initiative raises funds to support Michigan soldiers, sailors, and Marines serving in Iraq and Afghanistan at Doc's Sports Retreat in Livonia on Nov. 28 between 5:00 and 8:00 p.m.
On-line fundraising for Republicans at Slatecard.com has kicked off. This is a great venue that I hope you will consider supporting our GOP candidates…we’re behind the Dems here…help Walberg or Casperson…give to Knollenberg or McCotter…check out Michigan targets at:
http://slatecard.com/slatecards/migop
Here is a great article written by David Keene, longtime Chairman of the Conservative Union:
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/11/david-keenes-a.html
Attorney General Mike Cox had an op ed piece published in the Wall Street Journal about the Second Amendment..see the piece below.
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:
- 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
Mike Sak: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/11/20/112958/68
How does a recall work: http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/11/how-to-run-a-re.html
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119577460419701535.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Second-Amendment Showdown
By MIKE COX
November 23, 2007; Page A13
The Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case that will affect millions of Americans and could also have an impact on the 2008 elections. That case, Parker v. D.C., should settle the decades-old argument whether the right "to keep and bear arms" of the Constitution's Second Amendment is an individual right -- that all Americans enjoy -- or only a collective right that states may regulate freely. Legal, historical and even empirical reasons all command a decision that recognizes the Second Amendment guarantee as an individual right.
The amendment reads: "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." If "the right of the people" to keep and bear arms was merely an incident of, or subordinate to, a governmental (i.e., a collective) purpose -- that of ensuring an efficient or "well regulated" militia -- it would be logical to conclude, as does the District of Columbia -- that government can outlaw the individual ownership of guns. But this collective interpretation is incorrect.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1195968890317470.xml&coll=5
Jan. 15 primary
Lawmakers must make vote meaningful, private
FLINTTHE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Now that Michigan's Jan. 15 presidential primary is back on, the Legislature must make it as meaningful as possible for the voters and the democratic process.
Therefore, as much trouble as it would be for the state's county clerks, lawmakers this week should order all declared candidates' names on the ballot. Specifically, this would restore participation of four Democrats who withdrew from the contest, ostensibly to comply with their national party's rules.
Without Joe Biden, John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson in the mix, Hillary Clinton can be expected to easily win what would amount to a "beauty contest" involving her and three lesser-known rivals.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071125/COL04/711250573/1081
Michigan voters close to ugly win
November 25, 2007
BY BRIAN DICKERSON
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
It hasn't been pretty.
And it isn't over yet.
But right now, leaders of Michigan's two major political parties are on the verge of getting everything they sought when they set out last fall to challenge Iowa and New Hampshire's hammerlock on the presidential primary process.
Michigan's Jan. 15 primary was resurrected from the dead the day before Thanksgiving when Michigan Supreme Court justices overturned a lower court ruling that had threatened to scuttle it.
Now House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, says he intends to hold a vote Monday on a bill that would reinstate the names of four presidential candidates who withdrew from the state's Democratic presidential primary last month.
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7405315&nav=0RcdWDXo
Michigan's presidential primaries take many forms over the years
LANSING, Mich. -- The process of choosing a presidential favorite has led Michigan down many different paths since it held its first presidential primary in 1916.
The state last held open Republican and Democratic primaries in 1976. That year saw President Gerald Ford, a former Michigan congressman, easily win the GOP race over Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter squeak by Morris Udall on the Democratic side. The primary drew 1.8 million voters.
Four years earlier, Alabama Gov. George Wallace won the Democratic primary, easily beating George McGovern and Hubert Humphrey and prompting Democratic complaints that Republican voters had crossed over to vote for Wallace to embarrass them.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110010907
The Wolverine Primary
Michigan's early vote is good news for George Romney's son and Bill Clinton's wife.
Monday, November 26, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST
What if we look back on the 2008 presidential nomination contests and conclude one or both were effectively decided by a single vote--and among a group of judges at that?
Democratic partisans still argue that the 2000 presidential contest was decided by a single vote in the U.S. Supreme Court, even though media recounts of Florida ballots showed that the outcome would not have been changed if Bush v. Gore had gone the other way. But there's no doubt that a 4-3 ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court last Wednesday saved that state's Jan. 15 presidential primary, which was in danger of being scrapped over a dispute about whether it adhered to the state constitution. The winners are likely to be Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071125/PORTLAND01/711250440
Published November 25, 2007
[ From Portland Review & Observer ]
Primary election should be open to all
In my last column, I described the situation surrounding the Presidential Primary. The provision requiring the voters' political party preference to be transmitted exclusively to the state political parties was struck down as unconstitutional.
The Attorney General took the case to the Court of Appeals, and they concurred with the lower court decision by a count of 2 to 1. The whole notion of a Presidential Primary is really on life support at this time.
There are basically two options left. The first is an appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court. This would need to happen fast, but I am not sure it would help. I've read the appellate court ruling and it makes a lot of sense to me. Chances are they would concur too.
http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/OPINION01/711260306/1014/OPINION
Primary election has been a mess since beginning
This is no way to hold an election.
Michigan's presidential primary continued its bizarre journey through the legal system last week, when the Michigan Supreme Court overturned two lower-court rulings and said that the Jan. 15 election could go on as scheduled.
The lower courts had decided — correctly, in our opinion — that the rules for the Jan. 15 primary were unconstitutional. Specifically, the courts objected to a provision that said the voter records from that election — we're all going to have to declare that day whether we're voting in the Democratic or Republican primary — will only be made available to the state party chairs. They won't know who we voted for, but they'll know our party preference.
In our opinion, information such as this should either be public or private. If it's public, then it should be available to everyone — not just party chairmen, who will use the information to send waves of targeted mailings and robo-calls to voters.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071124/POLITICS/711240358/1022
Saturday, November 24, 2007
2009 budget likely to face more deficits
A sagging economy coupled with higher health care and prison costs add to the burden.
Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
LANSING -- As soon as the Legislature puts the finishing touches this week on the replacement for the 6 percent service tax, all the pieces will be in place and the state budget should be squared away for years to come, right?
Wrong.
Despite approval of $1.5 billion in tax increases, fiscal analysts say Michigan could face a deficit in the range of a half-billion dollars in the next budget year that begins Oct. 1, 2008.
The reasons: soaring health care and prison costs, a new tax credit for low-income wage-earners, a likely cut in the state income tax and a decline in taxes owed by the Detroit casinos. Add to that a drop in state revenue as the sluggish Michigan economy continues to hemorrhage jobs.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has vowed there will be no more tax hikes in the immediate future. Given the political climate, it's unlikely she could get another tax increase passed, anyway.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/OPINION01/711260309/1007/OPINION
Monday, November 26, 2007
Opinion
State Senate's replacement for service tax is unwise
GOP plan leaves gaping hole in current and future state budgets
Andy Dillon
Less than one month ago, the state Legislature came together to pass a budget plan, made up of cuts, reforms and revenues, that made a promise to the people of Michigan. We promised that our schools would get the funding they need to prepare our children for the good-paying jobs of the 21st century; health care for our seniors and services for our veterans would remain strong; and police and firefighters would stay on the job protecting our communities.
Senate breaks promise
The Republican-led State Senate has broken that promise.
Shortly after the plan to expand the state's 6 percent sales tax to some services was approved by the Legislature, businesses began to express concerns over it. House Democrats reacted swiftly -- holding hearings, setting up work groups and working to gain a consensus solution. On Nov. 8, the House passed -- and sent to the Senate -- a plan to repeal the service tax that protects funding for schools, health care, and police and fire protection.
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/OPINION01/711260315/1085/opinion
Published November 26, 2007
[ From Lansing State Journal ]
Job hunt: To attract development that brings jobs, political turf wars must end
Our opinions
Researchers from the University of Michigan put out some sobering facts earlier this month about job losses in the state.
Not only has Michigan lost nearly 400,000 jobs since 2000, but it's expected to lose an additional 51,000 jobs in 2008.
The early signs of a turnaround may appear in 2009, when the forecasters anticipate a gain of some 15,000 jobs and some improvement in the housing market.
That's a very small sliver of optimism when compared to the magnitude of losses in recent years. And it sends an urgent message to politicians at the state and local levels: Now is the time to end bickering and turf wars in favor of collaboration that sparks economic development efforts.
Michigan residents have known for some time that it's not a pretty picture out there, job-wise. The October unemployment rate here was 7.7 percent, 3 points higher than the national rate of 4.7 percent.
http://blog.mlive.com/citpat_opinion/2007/11/its_time_for_michigan_to_end_d.html
It's time for Michigan to end deregulation
Posted by Jackson Citizen Patriot November 25, 2007 06:50AM
Categories: Editorial
The following is the Jackson Citizen Patriot's editorial for November 25:
Consumers Energy is poised to enter a new era of growth close to home. Plans for a coal-fired plant in Bay City headline some $6 billion investments the Jackson-based utility intends to make. First, however, the Legislature needs to do its part by ending the state's experiment with deregulation of the energy industry.
State lawmakers soon should be taking up an overhaul or repeal of the well-meaning Public Act 141, which became law in 2000. They will have many good reasons to act.
Utilities like Consumers dislike energy deregulation because it creates uncertainty. Under P.A. 141, energy customers (typically, large industrial users, not residents) have the freedom to move back and forth between power providers.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/OPINION01/711260315/1007/OPINION
Monday, November 26, 2007
Editorial
Passenger Bill of Rights is latest Lansing silliness
The Detroit News
Having failed as of yet to resolve the major pressing issue on their agenda -- fixing the botched sales tax on services -- state lawmakers are finding other amusements to occupy their time. Two of them were at Detroit Metropolitan Airport over the holiday knocking down straw men.
State Sens. Buzz Thomas, D-Detroit, and Dennis Olshove, D-Warren, went to the airport to pitch their proposed legislation to protect travelers from being inconvenienced.
Their package of bills addresses a problem that rarely occurs in Michigan with legislation that will do little but burden airlines with more paperwork and taxpayers with another layer of bureaucracy.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071122/ap_on_re_us/transgender_michigan
Mich. governor guards transgender rights
LANSING, Mich. - Gov. Jennifer Granholm has issued an order that bars discrimination against state workers based on their "gender identity or expression," which protects the rights of those who behave, dress or identify as members of the opposite sex.
The order, which Granholm signed Wednesday, adds gender identity to a list of other prohibited grounds for discrimination that includes religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, height, weight, marital status, politics, disability or genetic information.
"State employment practices and procedures that encourage nondiscriminatory and equal employment practices provide desirable models for the private sector and local governments," says the resolution.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071122/NEWS06/711220364/1008
Transgendered workers gain rights
Granholm orders on-the-job protection
November 22, 2007
BY DAWSON BELL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Gov. Jennifer Granholm staked out a new position on state government's relationship with its employees Wednesday, ordering departments to include "gender identity or expression" on the list of characteristics protected from employment discrimination.
The move bars supervisors from taking adverse job actions against transgendered employees because of their gender orientation and was applauded by the Triangle Foundation, a gay, lesbian and transgender rights organization.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/OPINION03/711260311/1007/OPINION
Monday, November 26, 2007
Deb Price
Veteran lobbyist fights military's anti-gay bias
Imagine flying on Bell Atlantic's private jet in 1997 as the telecom giant's chief congressional lobbyist. You're the sole traveling companion of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Raymond Smith.
With your incredible access, you casually mention that you assume Smith knows you're gay and you'd very much appreciate it if he'd testify before the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee in favor of banning anti-gay job discrimination.
Smith does testify, saying savvy corporations support such workplace protections because "no company can afford to waste the talents and contributions of valuable employees as we compete in a global marketplace." Treating gay workers fairly "is good business andgood citizenship," he adds.
If you're Aubrey Sarvis, it doesn't take imagination to envision that scenario: He starred in it.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071125/COL24/711250566/1002
Engler candid on Michigan concerns
November 25, 2007
BY CAROL CAIN
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
He's Michigan made.
Born in Mt. Pleasant, he served three terms as Michigan's governor and 20 years before that in the Michigan Legislature.
Today, John Engler runs the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Manufacturers, the largest trade organization in America, with more than 11,000 members. His job is to educate the public and policymakers on why manufacturing is critical to our country.
He has strong opinions and is not shy about expressing them.
So when Engler said he didn't pay much attention to last year's gubernatorial race between Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Dick DeVos, her Republican challenger, it was nearly impossible to believe.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/OPINION03/711260336/1022/POLITICS
Monday, November 26, 2007
Daniel Howes
Voters: In pols we do not trust
Negative ratings for state Legislature, governor 'worst I've seen,' polling veteran Sarpolus says.
Don't know which is a sadder commentary on the state of Michigan's government:
A prominent business leader who tells me after a day in Lansing politicking against the dreaded service tax, now on its way to being melded into a fatter business tax, how poorly the governor and legislative leaders communicate -- which is to say, not much at all -- and how deeply they mistrust one another.
Or the fact that the lure of the wild, aka the hunting season break, is more sacred than the responsibility to bear down and clean up a tax mess that comes when inexperience and rank partisanship crash into budget deadlines and harsh economic reality. So what if Michigan businesses lose $14 million a day preparing to administer the goofy tax on services -- that's someone else's money.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/OPINION01/711260307/1007/OPINION
Monday, November 26, 2007
Opinion
Labor unions are unfairly labeled
David Hecker
We hear it all the time: Organized labor is just a "special interest. They only care about themselves." Why single out unions in a negative way as a special interest?
It is an attempt to turn the union into a "third party," to undercut support. The intent is to make people think the union is something other than its members, and that the union looks out for "itself" and nothing else.
The truth, of course, is that a union is its members, and the members are the community.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/METRO/711260375/1022/POLITICS
Monday, November 26, 2007
$26M left unclaimed last year in lottery
$512M in jackpots lost over 35 years
Charlie Cain / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
LANSING -- Keep an eye out for old state lottery tickets while rummaging through drawers and closets for holiday decorations. Millions of dollars are going unclaimed, and you don't want to lose out.
More than $26 million worth of winning tickets were never redeemed in the fiscal year that ended in September. Another $2 million was lost in October. And since the lottery began 35 years ago, an eye-popping $512 million has gone unclaimed.
Today, the one-year clock is ticking on a number of sizable winning tickets, most bought in Metro Detroit.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071124/NEWS06/711240334/1008
Foreclosure lists long, grim
Counties publish property tax delinquencies
November 24, 2007
BY KATHLEEN GRAY
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
From the well-heeled streets of the Pointes to the desolate neighborhoods of Detroit, thousands of people are facing foreclosure of their properties because they haven't paid taxes for at least two years.
In 121 printed pages of the Sunday Free Press, Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz listed more than 18,000 properties across Wayne County facing foreclosure. Notices sent to homeowners since March have whittled the list from 161,000 properties that had been delinquent on tax payments.
http://blog.mlive.com/chronicle/2007/11/sewer_bills_going_down_or_up_f.html
Sewer bills going down -- or up -- for thousands
Posted by John S. Hausman November 24, 2007 23:37PM
Categories: Muskegon County
Thousands of Muskegon Township residential sewer customers will see a rate cut in the year ahead.
Or a rate hike.
It all depends on how much "city water" they use.
Township officials this week approved a fundamental change in the way households will be billed for sewer use in the future: from a flat rate of $33 per quarter, to a system linked to the amount of municipal water each household uses. It's the way many municipalities have billed sewer customers for decades.
The new sewer rate will be the same already charged commercial customers since last year: $1.65 per hundred gallons of water used.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/OPINION01/711260314/1007/OPINION
Monday, November 26, 2007
Editorial
Mayors, not judges, should run our cities
Supreme Court should allow Detroit, Pontiac to proceed with layoffs
The Detroit News
Voters elect mayors and city council members to balance city budgets and make tough decisions -- including layoffs of such vital employees as firefighters. To the extent that the law allows it, the Michigan Supreme Court ought to let the elected policymakers -- not courts, unions or arbitrators -- run cities.
The court this month heard oral arguments in two cases involving layoffs of firefighters; one from Detroit and one from Pontiac.
In both instances, the financially strapped cities sought to lay off firefighters to balance their budgets. The wisdom of these decisions can be argued. But at least the elected officials can be held accountable for their decisions.
http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/newsnow/2007/11/for_flintarea_military_familie.html
Military families find holiday separations hard
Posted by Beata Mostafavi | The Flint Journal November 25, 2007 05:33AM
Categories: Breaking News, Military, Top Photos
It's days before Thanksgiving, and life at the Crutchfields in Lapeer doesn't seem out of the ordinary. Playful squeals from Heather, 6, and Olivia, 3, ripple down the stairs. The three boxers bark in unison. Billy finds new ways to bug his sisters, relishing the terrible twos. It's a normal scene for mom Jeanette, who gets mobbed by little arms swirling around her legs as she walks in.
At least it's the new normal.
For military families such as the Crutchfields, this is the seventh holiday season of giving up loved ones to fight in Afghanistan or Iraq.
And as the fighting continues, the sacrifices are growing. Many families have gone through the separations more than once, some more than twice.
http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2007/11/fruitport_soldiers_funeral_set.html
Fruitport soldier's funeral set for Wednesday
Posted by The Grand Rapids Press November 24, 2007 19:49PM
Categories: Breaking News
A funeral for a Fruitport soldier killed last Sunday in Iraq will be held Wednesday.
The body of Army Cpl. Jason Lee is scheduled to arrive 9 a.m. Monday at Muskegon County Airport.
A procession will carry the body to Sytsema Funeral Home's Lee Chapel, 6291 S. Harvey St., Muskegon, where visitation will be held from 2 to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
The funeral will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at Calvary Church, 5873 Kendra Road, Fruitport.
Lee, 26, was killed with two other soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, when a roadside bomb exploded during a patrol in Baqubah, northeast of Baghdad.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hFtoOOVq4VtKUIZ3DTYf6PyNrUrgD8T2A1KO0
N.H. Presidential Primary Set for Jan. 8
By BEVERLEY WANG – 4 days ago
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire will hold its first-in-the-nation presidential primary on Jan. 8, five days after Iowa's leadoff caucuses.
Secretary of State William Gardner announced the date Wednesday, ending months of speculation, including the possibility that New Hampshire might push its primary into December in order to keep its spot first in the line.
Jan. 8 is the earliest ever for the primary, which often has shaped presidential contests — sometimes dramatically — for half a century.
Gardner set the date hours after Michigan's Supreme Court said that state's primary could go forward as scheduled on Jan. 15, ending a court battle.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/opinion/25halperin.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin
Op-Ed Contributor
How ‘What It Takes’ Took Me Off Course
By MARK HALPERIN
Published: November 25, 2007
MORE than any other book, Richard Ben Cramer’s “What It Takes,” about the 1988 battle for the White House, influenced the way I cover campaigns.
I’m not alone. The book’s thesis — that prospective presidents are best evaluated by their ability to survive the grueling quadrennial coast-to-coast test of endurance required to win the office — has shaped the universe of political coverage.
Voters are bombarded with information about which contender has “what it takes” to be the best candidate. Who can deliver the most stirring rhetoric? Who can build the most attractive facade? Who can mount the wiliest counterattack? Whose life makes for the neatest story? Our political and media culture reflects and drives an obsession with who is going to win, rather than who should win.
Op-Ed Columnist
The Real Rudy
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: November 23, 2007
Rudy Giuliani can play a little rough at times, but there are some moments when an inner light turns on and he turns downright idealistic. One of those moments came on Oct. 10, 1996, as he stepped on the podium at the Kennedy School of Government to deliver a speech on immigration.
“I’m pleased to be with you this evening to talk about the anti-immigrant movement in America,” he said, “and why I believe this movement endangers the single most important reason for American greatness, namely, the renewal, reformation and reawakening that’s provided by the continuous flow of immigrants.”
Giuliani continued: “I believe the anti-immigrant movement in America is one of our most serious public problems.” It can “be seen in legislation passed by Congress and the president.” (Republicans had just passed a welfare reform law that restricted benefits to legal immigrants.) “It can be seen in the negative attitudes being expressed by many of the politicians.”
http://www.newsweek.com/id/72121
COVER STORY: RUDY’S ROOTS
Growing Up Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani was raised to understand that fine, blurry line between saint and sinner. The making of his moral code.
By Evan Thomas and Suzanne Smalley | NEWSWEEK
Dec 3, 2007 Issue
On Sept. 16, 1992, the police in New York City held a rally that spun out of control. The cops wanted a new collective-bargaining agreement, and they were angry at Mayor David Dinkins for proposing a civilian review board and for refusing to issue patrolmen 9mm guns. More than a few of them tipsy or drunk, the cops jumped on cars near city hall and blocked traffic near the Brooklyn Bridge. According to some witnesses, they waved placards crudely mocking Mayor Dinkins, the first black mayor of New York, on racial grounds, while at the same time chanting "Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!" to welcome Rudy Giuliani, the crime-busting former U.S. attorney who had arrived in their midst to shore up his political base.
It is not clear Giuliani knew exactly what he was getting himself into—he later denied that he did—but video shows him wildly gesticulating and shouting a profanity-laced diatribe against Dinkins. The next day the New York newspapers were sharply critical of Giuliani (a Daily News editorial called his behavior "shameful"), and Dinkins, years later, accused him of trying to stir up "white cops to riot." At the time, Giuliani refused to back down or apologize for his remarks, saying only: "I had four uncles who were cops. So maybe I was more emotional than I usually am." Giuliani's performance that day lost African-American voters, some permanently, but it guaranteed the informal backing of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, the policemen's union, which helped him get elected mayor in 1993.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20071123/thompson-giuliani/
Thompson: New York Is Atypical City
PHILIP ELLIOTT | November 23, 2007 04:12 PM EST
BRISTOL, N.H. — Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson said Friday that New York City isn't a model for the rest of the country and that Rudy Giuliani should stop basing his stances on his time as that city's mayor.
Thompson, campaigning at a New Hampshire gun store with stuffed moose and deer overhead, told reporters that Giuliani too often turns to his time as New York mayor to explain his support for stronger gun restrictions.
"He relates everything to New York City. Well, New York City is not emblematic of the rest of the country, I don't think. I think the sentiments of those people in the rest of the country are in support of the Second Amendment _ which is where I've always been and I don't think he's ever been," Thompson said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071125/ap_on_el_pr/thompson_taxes;_ylt=ApqtKWWwNZBwzkKGKZjhmdGyFz4D
Thompson proposes tax choice
Sun Nov 25, 11:53 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson proposed an income tax plan Sunday that would allow Americans to choose a simplified system with only two rates: 10 percent and 25 percent.
Thompson's proposal, announced on "Fox News Sunday," would allow filers to remain under the current, complex tax code or use the flat tax rates.
Asked whether the plan would cut too deeply into federal revenues, the former Tennessee senator and actor said experts "always overestimate the losses to the government" when taxes are cut.
"We've known for years any time we have lowered taxes and any time we've lowered tax rates, we've seen growth in the economy," Thompson said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/24/AR2007112401338.html
Suddenly, Huckabee Is in Romney's Rearview Mirror
Polls Show That The Two Are in Virtual Tie in Iowa
By Michael D. Shear and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, November 25, 2007; Page A06
DES MOINES, Nov. 24 -- For six months, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has owned Iowa.
He spent millions on TV and unleashed his extended family to blanket the state. He survived a farm-town blitz by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and the late entrance of former senator Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.) into the Republican race. Romney's money and organization bought him a convincing victory at the Ames presidential straw poll and a seemingly unshakable lead in the Iowa survey.
But his vision of quick, one-two victories here and in New Hampshire is crumbling, suddenly threatened by former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a candidate who spent most of 2007 out of the spotlight and has struggled to raise money. Polls now show the pair in a virtual tie in Iowa, a development that not only threatens Romney's carefully laid plans but could reshape the entire GOP nominating contest.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/7000.html
Huckabee rivals unearth ethics complaints
By: Kenneth P. Vogel
Nov 21, 2007 01:24 PM EST
Updated: November 23, 2007 03:55 PM EST
As Mike Huckabee gains ground on his rivals for the Republican nomination, opponents have quietly begun highlighting the slew of ethics issues the social conservative faced during his political career in Arkansas.
A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found Huckabee trailing only Mitt Romney — and by less than the margin of error — in Iowa, where the primary season kicks off with Jan. 3 caucuses.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010909
Obama Is Right on Iran
Talking with Tehran may help us wage the wars we need to fight.
BY SHELBY STEELE
Monday, November 26, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST
After a recent Democratic presidential debate, Barack Obama proclaimed that were he to become president, he would talk directly even to America's worst enemies. One could imagine President Obama as a kind of superhero taking off in Air Force One for Tehran, there to be greeted on the tarmac by the villainous Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Was this a serious foreign policy proposal or simply a campaign counterpunch? Hillary Clinton had already held up this idea as evidence of Mr. Obama's naiveté. Wasn't he just pushing back, displaying his commitment to "diplomacy"--now the most glamorous word in the Democratic "antiwar" lexicon?
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/POLITICS/711260365/1022/POLITICS
Monday, November 26, 2007
Political, retail ads compete in Iowa
David Pitt / Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa -- In Iowa, 'tis the season for TV pitches, political and commercial. By the time Iowans ring in the New Year, they may be sick of both.
An earlier date for Iowa's caucuses probably means presidential candidates will run more television ads from mid-November through December, the height of the Christmas shopping season, when retailers want to promote sales.
Moving the caucuses up 11 days to Jan. 3 also will force candidates to pay top dollar for TV ads over the holidays and soften their messages to avoid violating the serenity of the season.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/22/AR2007112201362.html
Muted Ad Messages in Vogue
Candidates Use Subtlety to Criticize Foes, Blunt Counterattacks
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 23, 2007; Page A02
Mitt Romney talks about bringing up his five boys.
Rudy Giuliani says he's not perfect.
Hillary Clinton is praised by a grateful man for saving his son's life.
In a recent spate of campaign commercials, the leading presidential candidates have tried to send reassuring signals, deflect criticism or denigrate their opponents by relying on code phrases and images, rather than explicit language.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/24/AR2007112401119.html
Candidates' E-Mails Have a Bottom Line
Just Past the Chatty Subject Is an Appeal for Campaign Cash
By Michael D. Shear and Jose Antonio Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, November 25, 2007; Page A04
The subject line on the e-mail is short, one of those must-click phrases that makes the recipient think it's a quick reply from a note to a friend: "Re: Hey."
But click on it -- as thousands of Barack Obama supporters did -- and the chatty e-mail opener turns out to be a gimmick straight from the spammer handbook: a direct fundraising appeal from Michelle Obama on behalf of her husband's campaign. "Please," she wrote, quickly moving past the faux-friend conversational tone, "make a donation and get us there."
As the 2008 presidential primaries approach, campaigns such as Obama's have started sending out scores of e-mails every week to hundreds of thousands of potential donors, and their subject lines are often misleading, tantalizing or overly familiar -- much like the all-too-common commercial spam that fills e-mail inboxes with lurid promotions for medical devices, male enhancement or financial scams.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071122/NATION/111220045/1001
House Democrats lead GOP in fundraising
By Sean Lengell
November 22, 2007
The fundraising arm for House Democrats continues to outpace Republicans, collecting almost $4.1 million in October compared to the Republicans' $3.6 million.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) raised $56.7 million for the first 10 months of 2007, while the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) brought in $40.7 million, according to reports released this week by the Federal Election Commission.
More significantly, the DCCC has $29.2 million cash on hand for its 2008 House races, a whopping 12-to-1 advantage over the NRCC's $2.6 million available reserves.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071123/NATION/111230087/1002
Study: Democrats the party of the rich
By Donald Lambro
November 23, 2007
Democrats like to define themselves as the party of poor and middle-income Americans, but a new study says they now represent the majority of the nation's wealthiest congressional districts.
In a state-by-state, district-by-district comparison of wealth concentrations based on Internal Revenue Service income data, Michael Franc, vice president of government relations at the Heritage Foundation, found that the majority of the nation's wealthiest congressional jurisdictions were represented by Democrats.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/A+conservative+continuum.-a0169134290
A conservative continuum.
THE SOVIET Empire had just collapsed and Americans were giddily wondering what might be next. Some were talking of a peace dividend that Democrats might spend on social programs dear to their hearts or Republicans might send back to the taxpayers who had financed the Cold War.
Others, however, were arguing that the world's sole remaining superpower should consider imposing Pax Americana on an unruly world. Even many conservatives who should have known better were beginning to contemplate a far more robust and aggressive foreign policy than they ever had supported before.
It was in this atmosphere that a number of neoconservative intellectuals, led by the pre-Weekly Standard Bill Kristol, began articulating something they called "national greatness conservatism." During this time, I remember attending a small private dinner where Bill argued that with the defeat of the Soviet Empire, the United States "needed" a new crusade to engage our nation's energies and interests, because, as he put it, a nation's "greatness" is measured not by the prosperity of its people, but by its actions on the world stage.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/23/AR2007112301238.html
The Real Heroism: Restraint
By George F. Will
Sunday, November 25, 2007; Page B07
In the 1920s and '30s, the American left was riven by multiple factions furiously representing different flavors of socialism, each accusing the others of revisionism and deviationism. Leftists comforted themselves with the thought that "you can't split rotten wood."
But you can. And the health of a political persuasion can be inversely proportional to the amount of time its adherents spend expelling heretics from the one true (and steadily smaller) church. Today's arguments about conservatism are, however, evidence of healthy introspection.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/23/AR2007112301299.html
lib•er•tar•ian
n. 1. a person who believes in the doctrine of the freedom of the will
2. a person who believes in full individual freedom of thought, expression and action
3. a freewheeling rebel who hates wiretaps, loves Ron Paul and is redirecting politics
By Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch
Sunday, November 25, 2007; Page B01
How to make sense of the Ron Paul revolution? What's behind the improbably successful (so far) presidential campaign of a 72-year-old 10-term Republican congressman from Texas who pines for the gold standard while drawing praise from another relic from the hyperinflationary 1970s, punk-rocker Johnny Rotten?
Now with about 5 percent (and climbing) support in polls of likely Republican voters, Paul set a one-day GOP record by raising $4.3 million on the Internet from 38,000 donors on Nov. 5 -- Guy Fawkes Day, the commemoration of a British anarchist who plotted to blow up Parliament and kill King James I in 1605. Paul's campaign, which is three-quarters of the way to its goal of raising "$12 Million to Win" by Dec. 31, didn't even organize the fundraiser -- an independent-minded supporter did.
Nov 25, 7:05 AM EST
Government revising plan on illegals
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government says it will rewrite rules for penalizing employers of illegal immigrants to try to satisfy a federal judge in San Francisco who put the crackdown on hold.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer stopped the Bush administration last month from going ahead with enforcement of regulations requiring employers to fire workers if their Social Security numbers did not match records and the discrepancies could not be addressed in 90 days. In issuing the temporary injunction, the judge said the Social Security database contained errors that could have cost many legal workers their jobs, and the government did not properly study the effect of the rules on business.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/POLITICS/711260364/1022/POLITICS
Monday, November 26, 2007
Court will decide if 401(k)s can be sued
Man wants money lost when employer did not use his plan's funds as he had instructed.
Pete Yost / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- James LaRue says he lost $150,000 when his instructions to his employer on where to invest money in his retirement plan were ignored.
Now the Supreme Court will decide whether a federal pension protection law gives LaRue the right to sue to recover his losses. Arguments in the case, which has far-reaching consequences, were scheduled for today.
LaRue, who used to work at a management consulting firm, is among the 42 million workers who contribute to a 401(k) retirement plan. At issue in LaRue's case are the limits to lawsuits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. It regulates private-sector retirement plans holding over $5.5 trillion in assets, including $2 trillion in an estimated quarter of a million 401(k) plans across the country.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/STATE_SECRETS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 26, 6:21 AM EST
Congress, courts examine 'state secrets'
By PAMELA HESS
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In federal courts and on Capitol Hill, challenges are brewing to a key legal strategy President Bush is using to protect a secret surveillance program that monitors phone calls and e-mails inside the United States.
Under grilling from lawmakers and attack by lawsuits alleging Bush authorized the illegal wiretapping of Americans, the White House has invoked a legal defense known as the "state secrets" doctrine - a claim that the president has inherent and unchecked power to shield national security information from disclosure, either to plaintiffs in court or to congressional overseers.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1928860/posts
Congressional Paul Revere Warns Nation About Islamofascist Threat
Investors Business Daily ^ | November 19, 2007 | PAUL SPERRY
Posted on 11/21/2007 7:19:47 AM PST by SJackson
Maintaining a high level of vigilance against a patient, stateless and often invisible enemy hiding behind a religion isn't easy, especially in politically correct Washington. One tireless watchdog is Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., who has founded the House Anti-Terrorism/Jihad Caucus to educate fellow lawmakers and Americans about militant Islam's long-term threat.
The diminutive yet feisty Myrick, a former Charlotte mayor and now deputy Republican whip, sat down with IBD to discuss the zeitgeist inside official Washington concerning the war on Islamic terror.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/405lrbpc.asp?pg=1
The Stab That Failed
The congressional Democrats' surge-against-the-surge -- a case study in political futility.
by Noemie Emery
12/03/2007, Volume 013, Issue 12
Eagerly anticipating the defeat in Iraq to which they are so much attached, some on the left have also been preparing for another contingency: the assault that they think they see coming, a drive to pin the whole wretched failure on them. Apparently, this will be "stab in the back" redux, a new iteration of the theme deployed so successfully in interwar Germany by a resourceful, ambitious Austrian corporal, who managed to propel his rise to power with the claim that World War I would have been won by his country, if not for sinister forces at home. Then, it was subversion by Jews and other disloyal elements. This time, in the left's imagining, the blame will fall on the press and the Democrats who, by pulling the plug at just the wrong moment, caused the loss of Iraq. "Nobody I know in a rational condition believes that the United States is going to have any kind of a military victory," Mark Shields said in August. "So the idea is going to be, 'We were on the cusp of victory and the rug was pulled out from under us by these willy-nilly, weak-kneed, nervous Nellies back home."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 25, 6:09 AM EST
Bush extends thanks to troops overseas
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush extended the Thanksgiving holiday for a couple of days, urging Americans on Saturday to be grateful for troops who serve in Iraq and Afghanistan and for those who lose their lives.
"Giving thanks has been an American tradition from the beginning," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "We are grateful to all our men and women in uniform who are spending this holiday weekend far from their families. We keep them in our thoughts and prayers. And we especially remember those who have given their lives in our nation's defense."
Bush recalled the story of Lt. Michael Murphy, a Navy SEAL whom the president posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in October. In 2005 in Afghanistan, Murphy exposed himself to deadly enemy fire on the battlefield in order to make a desperate call for help for his elite combat team.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MIDEAST_SUMMIT?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 26, 6:19 AM EST
Bush lends clout to Mideast peace talks
By AMY TEIBEL
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush will lend his clout Monday to help broker an elusive agreement between Israel and the Palestinians on the contours of long-stalled peace talks the two sides expect to relaunch this week at a high-stakes international conference.
Resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been a priority of a succession of U.S. presidents, and late in his two-term tenure, Bush has made that long-coveted diplomatic victory his goal, too.
Bush invited the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to separate meetings at the White House on Monday to prepare for the centerpiece of his Mideast gathering - an all-day session Tuesday in Annapolis, Md.
Nov 26, 3:40 AM EST
Most contentious Mideast issues
Among the most contentious issues between Israelis and Palestinians:
BORDERS OF A PALESTINIAN STATE
-Palestinians want complete Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.
-Israel wants 1949 cease-fire line changed to include main West Bank settlements.
-Possible solution: Modification of the cease-fire line and compensation by giving Palestinians some Israeli territory.
JERUSALEM
-Palestinians want east Jerusalem, including the Old City, as capital of their state.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1195546723167&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Nov 25, 2007 21:06 | Updated Nov 26, 2007 11:30
The Region: Inviting a bull into the china shop
By BARRY RUBIN
What would you do if your foreign policy agenda had these priorities:
• get Arab and European support for solving the Iraq crisis;
• mobilize Arab and European forces against a threat led by Iran and its allies Syria, Hamas, and Hizbullah;
• get Iran to stop its campaign to acquire nuclear weapons;
• reestablish American credibility toward friends and deterrence toward enemies;
• reduce the level of Israel-Palestinian conflict.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_LEBANON?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 23, 5:25 PM EST
US urges calm in Lebanon
By MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration on Friday warned of new unrest in Lebanon and urged all parties to remain calm after the country's parliament was unable to elect a new president as required by the constitution.
In a statement released just minutes after Lebanon's outgoing pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud declared a state of emergency and ordered the army to take control, the State Department appealed for the Lebanese military and security services to uphold the rule of law and for political actors to engage in negotiations.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1121/p01s02-usgn.html
Global spread of democracy stalled
Putin and Chávez are using oil money to create other models, while others just step back.
By Peter Grier | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the November 21, 2007 edition
Washington - The spread of democracy has been one of the defining geopolitical trends of the last 25 years. In 1975, 30 nations of the world had popularly elected governments. By 2005 that number had rocketed to 119.
But in recent years the growth of democracy and political freedom has slowed. In a number of countries – such as Venezuela and some of the former Soviet states – it's even begun to slip backward.
And for the first time since the heyday of communism, democracy may be facing competition from an ideology that styles itself as an alternative. Enriched by oil money, autocrats such as Vladimir Putin of Russia and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez are challenging the importance of checks on executive power, the rule of law, and unfettered media.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071125/FOREIGN/111250025/1001
Kasparov beaten, held at rally
By Mansur Mirovalev
November 25, 2007
MOSCOW (AP) — Riot police beat and detained opposition leader Garry Kasparov yesterday as they took dozens of protesters into custody at a rally against President Vladimir Putin, the former chess champion's assistant said.
Mr. Kasparov was forced to the ground and beaten, his assistant Marina Litvinovich said in a phone interview from outside the police station where Mr. Kasparov was held.
He was later taken to a city court, where he was convicted of leading an opposition protest and sentenced to five days in jail.
http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_4_moscow_oil.html
Moscow: Oil Town
Guy Sorman
Petrodollars are fueling an unprecedented—but precarious—prosperity in Russia’s capital.
Those who knew the Soviet Union before 1991 agree that Moscow is a happier place today. In the old days, the city wore a dark, brooding look. People were poor and afraid; the ruble was worthless, though there was nothing to buy anyway. Imperial Moscow boasted two, perhaps three, restaurants, offering meager fare. The only ones to ply a trade were watchmakers, who made their living repairing old watches—a telling sign of the low level of consumption and innovation. Soviet Russia manufactured weapons, and little else.
In just 15 years, Moscow has transformed completely. Restaurants, bars, and hotels overflow with people, day and night. Gilded youth and nouveaux riches flaunt their wealth and expensive cars. French and Italian luxury goods adorn the shops on Pushkin Square and Tverskaya Street. The roads, once empty save the occasional official limousine, surge with traffic.
