Articles of Interest 11-4-07
368 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
Michigan 28 – Michigan State 24….what a game…down to the last minute of the game!!!
Governor Mitt Romney was at the game yesterday. He came by our tailgate and shook some hands, took some pictures and never met as many “Lithuanian-Americans” in one place before. We took a great group picture with our scout leaders as well!
We did a “live” skype video conference with out the skype! I dropped my computer minutes before we were scheduled to go on. We had tested the connection earlier, it all worked well and then butter finger on this end dropped it.
We called in via high tech cell phone technology with the First Congressional District leadership. Soon after Governor Mitt Romney dropped by my tailgate party and we then reconnected with the First District Republicans and the Governor shared his greetings with them.
Pretty cool stuff…I would really encourage any district or county that is interested in using this to let me know…I’m now regularly able to “attend” several district and county meeting via skype video conferencing…which is free…an normally works J
I walked Governor Romney over to his tailgate party which was packed with fans…green and white…maze and blue….when folks asked him which team he was rooting for – Michigan or Michigan State…he said “yes” with a smile!
Brooks for Governor? He was the talk of the show. "Michigan Matters'' which airs today CBS Detroit Sunday at 11:30 a.m. on CW Channel 50. The show is hosted Carol Cain, Editorial Director of CBS Detroit and columnist at Detroit Free Press.
Also, see "Michigan Matters on the Web'' on the CBS Detroit website http://cbsdetroit.com/shows/detroit.shows.michigan.2.7080.html where the roundtable conversation continues...
Here is an ad you HAVE to watch…Edward’s ad about Hillary:
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/11/powerful-edward.html
“Slick Willie” Hillary Clinton…Long on Rhetoric…Short on Answers:
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/11/hillary-long-on.html
Michigan College Republicans are proposing a new “reform” constitution to guarantee every club, every member a fair shot at their conventions and leadership…nicely done:
See the College Republican “reform” constitution here;
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/11/college-republi.html
House Republicans push for a “straight up” repeal of the Governor’s expansion of “sales tax on services”…with reforms and cuts to encourage job creation in Michigan!
As we contemplate our budget situation consider this: controlling spending is the ONLY solution…taxes will never catch up with politician’s propensity to spend!
P.S. Happy Birthday to my wife Lina!
Don’t Forget To Visit The Michigan Republican Party Online Store! Our secure, user-friendly site offers a variety of Republican items, including sweatshirts, t-shirts, hats, travel mugs, and more! Perfect for personal use, holiday presents, or volunteer gifts, our items will allow you to confidently display your Republican pride. Visit www.migop.org/ store to view, purchase, or comment on our selection of unique Republican items.
THE REST OF THE STORY:
- In a Press Release this week: House Republicans proposed an alternative to the recently approved service tax, which is scheduled to take effect Dec. 1. The caucus offered a detailed plan to repeal the harmful tax and restructure government to fill the budget gap so that no tax increase is necessary.
“The service tax is not the only option Michigan has right now, nor is it by any means the best option,” said House Republican Leader Craig DeRoche. “Lawmakers have before them a tough choice – make reforms to state government or kill more jobs. Lansing must refocus on providing better services at a lower price to the taxpayer.”
The reforms House Republicans propose eliminates $677 million from the state budget, well above the $614 million the service tax is expected to generate for this fiscal year.
“The state shouldn’t fund a 10-percent increase in government spending when taxpayers are losing their jobs,” said Minority Vice-Chair of Appropriations Dan Acciavatti. “There is no faster way to accelerate Michigan’s downward economic spiral than to tax the few areas in the economy showing growth.”
The House Republican reforms for the Fiscal Year 2007-08 budget include:
Five percent legislator pay cut - $600,000
Michigan Business Tax transition windfall - $219,400,000
Reexamine state employee benefits - $100,000,000
Department of Information Technology reduction - $10,000,000
Competitively bid corrections services- $50,000,000
Charge prisoners more for goods purchased in prison - $3,000,000
Streamline the Department of Community Health - $92,833,331
Department of Human Services reform - $109,499,998
Stop new appropriations to 21st Century Jobs program - $75,000,000
Eliminate the Community Service Commission Grant to train volunteers - $3,190,000
Remove the increase to the Treasury Department to implement the new taxes - $9,000,000
Continued reduction of public transit funding - $5,000,000
“These are not easy reforms, but what Michigan needs most is leaders willing to make tough decisions to fix Michigan’s economy,” said state Rep. John Stakoe. “Our proposal and the eight and a half percent increase in government spending both show that the Democrats did not need to raise taxes. Rather, we need to respect the taxpayer by reforming government and fighting for jobs in Michigan.”
DeRoche said: “Reforms and structural changes will have to be made to change the way government operates, both immediately and in the long run. We are asking for support on this repeal because everyone realizes the harmful effects this tax will have on our economy.”
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/OPINION03/711040319/1007/OPINION
Budget mess may set stage for reform
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Nolan Finley
Leave it to Paul Hillegonds to find a silver lining in the state budget debacle. Being a grumpy old cynic, all I can see in the colossal debacle Lansing made of the spending blueprint is bad news for Michigan's future. But Hillegonds, the wise man of Michigan, sees Lansing's failure to find opportunity in crisis as an opportunity in itself, a necessary step in the long and painful journey to a more efficient, competitive state. And he's not just spinning bullwhacky into gold. The way Hillegonds figures, before our political leaders will check the reform box, they have to expend all other options. This year, they chose taxes to wipe out the deficit. But that's a card they can only play once. The public uproar is so intense that tax hikes are now radioactive. Even a tax hound like Gov. Jennifer Granholm won't go to taxpayers again.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/OPINION01/711040590/1068/OPINION
Fix the services tax
Lansing should seize an opportunity to improve on a tax it rushed through last month
FREE PRESS EDITORIAL
November 4, 2007
An unexpected gift arrived at the state Capitol last week as major business groups offered to accept a temporary rate hike in the new Michigan Business Tax if Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Legislature will drop their ill-conceived services tax and go back to the drawing board on revenue. Assuming the dollar numbers work out so that the state budget can stay intact, everyone involved should grab this offer to start over. It's the opportunity of a lifetime -- a term-limited lifetime, anyway -- to make a substantive, proactive change in state tax policy.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/OPINION03/711040304/1007/OPINION
Shared sacrifice a pipe dream in Lansing
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Manny Lopez
Michigan legislators are busy trying to undo what they did because they couldn't get done what they were supposed to do -- but they still have time to make things worse. That's right, despite passing the highest tax increase in the state's history and cutting $430 million in the budget by boosting expenditures, there's more damage to be done. How so? Consider the legislation that's been introduced this year and in some cases recently. There's the bill to mandate licenses for interior designers. Apparently moving furniture and choosing color swatches requires government oversight. I know, I know; that's not what it's about. It's about "protecting" residents from designers who say load-bearing walls need to be moved, yet they lack architectural training to determine if that's even possible.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/COL32/711040587/1068/OPINION
Same old, same old in Lansing
November 4, 2007
BY RON DZWONKOWSKI
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
For all the political angst and sleepless nights of the past month, Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Legislature produced a budget that is pretty much status quo with higher taxes. Status quo? Incredible -- the equivalent of a business telling its customers prices are going up so we can do things the way we've always done them. What business, indeed what anything, can stand on the status quo in Michigan these days?
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/OPINION01/711040320/1007/OPINION
Oakland County tax decline signals problems for state
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Oakland County's real estate market is worse than expected and while that's bad news for residents there, it's worse news for Michigan. Plummeting house values and increased foreclosures means less tax revenue collected and in turn less money for schools, roads and other critical services provided by local governments. If the state's most affluent county is suffering, it's bound to be worse for those that aren't as financially stable. Oakland County, which expected property values to increase by 1.5 percent for the year, instead found that they'd dropped 0.39 percent through the end of September. County officials said Friday that they'll now have to trim an additional $5.7 million from the county's $768 million budget.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/COL33/711040583/1068/OPINION
THE FUTURE IS FALLING: Declines in real estate value should force government shake-up
November 4, 2007
BY STEPHEN HENDERSON
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
The slap-your-forehead news of the past week was Oakland County's announcement that taxable property value will fall this year, the first time that has happened in Oakland in at least 22 years. Property values dropping? In Oakland County? When you're done whacking your own cranium, go hit your neighbors', and maybe his neighbors', too. To date, there hasn't been a more dramatic sign of the real damage being done to this state's economy by rampant foreclosures and other real estate woes.
http://macombdaily.com/stories/110307/loc_miller001.shtml
Miller knocks Bush on lake pollution veto
PUBLISHED: Saturday, November 3, 2007
By Chad Selweski
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
A $20 million allocation to battle Lake St. Clair pollution was vetoed Friday by President Bush, as he rejected a massive $23 billion water projects bill that the White House labeled excessively expensive. The Bush veto, however, may prove to be a largely symbolic act because the bill was approved by veto-proof margins in the House and Senate. The Water Resources Development Act authorizes federal funding to implement environmental projects for Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River that were proposed in 2005 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The WRDA legislation also would fund a study aimed at restoring water quality on the Clinton River.
http://theoaklandpress.com/stories/110307/loc_20071103117.shtml
Brother speaks against political activist
Web-posted Nov 3, 2007
By CHARLES CRUMM
Of The Oakland Press
In at least one congressional district, the 2008 campaign is shaping up to be a long one. In the past year, Bruce Fealk has worn an oversized papier-mache replica of U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg's head at various public events. The Rochester Hills resident posts regular videos of the eight-term congressman on Web sites he operates, which are designed to help unseat the Republican from Bloomfield Hills. Fealk has been accused by Knollenberg's staff of harassing the congressman's staff and family, most recently with a video that included a verbal confrontation with Knollenberg chief of staff Trent Wisecup that wound up on local and national news outlets. But he may have gone too far when he started using his brother's name in his online countercampaigning.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071103/AUTO01/711030425/1022/POLITICS
Romney visits MSU, says he's hopeful Cerberus can turn Chrysler around
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Saturday, November 3, 2007
EAST LANSING -- This week's job cuts by Chrysler Corp.'s new private owners don't mean Michiganians should worry about Cerberus Capital Management's involvement in the auto industry, Republican presidential candidate and former venture capital manager Mitt Romney said Saturday. "I certainly hope Cerberus, which has a reputation for being a growth-oriented investor, will be successful in pursuing that path" with Chrysler, Romney said. Chrysler announced this week it would eliminate about 12,000 jobs, the first major change since Cerberus Capital Management bought the automaker. Romney, who grew wealthy as a founder of a Boston-based private equity fund, said the job cuts don't necessarily mean Cerberus is looking to slash jobs or break up the company, as some workers have feared.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/310sbgqy.asp
The Republicans Have a Chance
If they clear four hurdles.
by Fred Barnes
11/12/2007, Volume 013, Issue 09
Republicans, though still traumatized by their resounding defeat in the 2006 election, are growing convinced they can win the White House again in 2008. They believe things are beginning to turn their way. The war in Iraq is being won. The Democratic Congress is so unpopular that even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she disapproves of it. The economy, despite the subprime mortgage problem, is resilient. And several issues are emerging in their favor--taxes, national security, and illegal immigrants.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/11/what_clintons_gaffe_says_about.html
What Clinton's Gaffe Says About Her Campaign
By Blake D. Dvorak
November 03, 2007
It is hard to exaggerate the reaction in the media and among presidential contenders to Hillary Clinton's debate gaffe Tuesday night. Everyone, it seems, has been waiting since about the time Barack Obama joined the race (in January) for something, anything, to jolt the stagnant Democratic field. Everyone of course, except Hillary Clinton.
So kudos to Chris Dodd, who in the final 10 minutes of a two-hour debate was paying enough attention to raise his hand as the sole opponent of Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. By doing so, Dodd kept the issue going much longer than the allotted 30-seconds, and he kept Clinton talking.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071103/D8SM34700.html
Clinton Presses for White House Papers
Nov 3, 4:30 AM (ET)
By JESSICA MINTZ
REDMOND, Wash. (AP) - Former President Clinton said Friday that a letter he wrote to the National Archives was to expedite release of his papers, not slow the process or hide anything as rivals are suggesting in criticism of his wife. Hillary Rodham Clinton was quizzed during this week's Democratic presidential debate as to why correspondence between her and her husband from their White House years remained bottled up at the National Archives. Barack Obama said that was a problem for her as a candidate after "we have just gone through one of the most secretive administrations in our history." One issue is whether Bill Clinton had sent a letter to the Archives asking that the communications not be released until 2012, and whether Hillary Clinton would lift any ban, a question raised by debate moderator Tim Russert.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110300893_pf.html
Obama Criticizes Clinton's Drive to Win
An Eye on the Prize Is Not on the Issues of Ordinary Americans, He Asserts
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 4, 2007; A05
Sen. Barack Obama leveled a fresh round of criticism at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday, accusing his rival for the Democratic nomination of following a campaign plan that prizes calculation over candor and that is aimed more at winning the election than uniting the country. Obama used a speech in Spartanburg, S.C., to sharpen his differences with the Democratic front-runner and to frame the choices before voters a year ahead of the 2008 election. Calling the senator from New York "a colleague and a friend," Obama nonetheless cast Clinton as representative of a style of politics that has been better for the politicians than the country.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/magazine/04obama-t.html?hp
Is (His) Biography (Our) Destiny?
By JAMES TRAUB
Published: November 4, 2007
“If I am the face of American foreign policy and American power,” Barack Obama mused not long ago aboard his campaign plane, “as long as we are also making prudent strategic decisions, handling emergencies, crises and opportunities in the world in an intelligent and sober way. . . .” He stopped. He wanted to make sure he got this just right, and he had got a little caught up in rebutting the claim, which Hillary Clinton has artfully advanced, that he is not prepared to handle emergencies. Obama stopped picking at his grilled salmon in order to stare out at the sky for a few moments. “I think,” he said, in that deep and measured voice of his, “that if you can tell people, ‘We have a president in the White House who still has a grandmother living in a hut on the shores of Lake Victoria and has a sister who’s half-Indonesian, married to a Chinese-Canadian,’ then they’re going to think that he may have a better sense of what’s going on in our lives and in our country. And they’d be right.”
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/11/a_window_into_the_minds_of_gop.html
A Window Into the Minds of GOP Voters
By Carl Leubsdorf
November 03, 2007
GLEN ALLEN, Va. - A dozen Republican voters put a human face on the uncertainty over their party's 2008 presidential candidates and the downbeat mood of the nation that has been registered in recent polls. In a two-hour discussion Thursday night in this Richmond suburb, they expressed doubts about the leading candidates and readily shifted their allegiances in their quest for a conservative GOP standard-bearer.
All but two identified themselves as Republicans or conservatives. Three said they were moderates. They participated in a focus group moderated by pollster Peter Hart, a Democrat who regularly conducts such nonpartisan sessions under the sponsorship of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/OPINION03/711040303/1007/OPINION
Political 'solutions' create more problems
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Thomas Sowell
It is remarkable how many political "solutions" today are dealing with problems created by previous political "solutions." Three examples that come to mind immediately are the housing market crisis, the wildfires in southern California and the water shortages in the West. Congress and the Bush administration are currently vying with each other to come up with a solution to the housing crisis, brought on by widespread defaults on home mortgage loans -- especially defaults by those who took out risky "subprime" loans. Why were borrowers taking out risky loans in the first place? And why were lenders willing to lend to risky borrowers? In both cases, the government was a prime factor in "subprime" loans.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/OPINION03/711040302/1007/OPINION
Dealing with family dynasties and shared presidencies
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Charles Krauthammer
Americans don't normally take much notice of Argentine elections. But they did notice when Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, wife of President Nestor Kirchner, was elected to succeed him last Sunday, ensuring not just a co-presidency, but the prospect of alternating presidencies as far as the eye can see. Of course, spousal succession, while new to the United States, is hardly new to Argentina. Their tradition of wifely power begins, of course, with Eva, who despite the absence of any constitutional title, had queenly powers. The real deal, however, was Isabel, Juan Peron's next (and third and last) wife, who succeeded him as president in 1974. She was a cabaret dancer that Peron picked up in a Panamanian nightclub, the Peronist equivalent of winning the New Hampshire primary. Not surprisingly, her presidency was one of the most catastrophic in Argentine history.
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10063881
Taxes in America
No more than a B-
Nov 1st 2007
From The Economist print edition
With one exception, the Democrats' first stab at tax reform is disappointing
“THE mother of all tax reforms” was how Charles Rangel, the Democrats' top tax-writer in Congress, described his new plans for revamping America's tax code. “The mother of all tax hikes” was the response from many Republicans. Both the creator and the critics are wrong. Mr Rangel's proposal is “revenue-neutral”, raising taxes in some places while cutting them elsewhere. But it is not a bold reform; more a tweak than a transformation of America's absurdly complex tax code. If Mr Rangel's vision shapes the tax agenda after 2008 (not implausible, since he is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and is also close to Hillary Clinton, whom he encouraged to run for the Senate in 2000), it will represent a missed opportunity.
NO TIME TO GIVE UP ON DEMOCRACY
ARAB YOUTH YEARN TO BE HEARD
By LIZ CHENEY
November 3, 2007
YOU can certainly debate whether America was right to go to war in Iraq, or whether our nation is being effective in promoting democracy in the Middle East. But it seems absurd to argue that spreading democracy in the Middle East is a bad or failed idea. It is, by any objective measure, a good and right idea - and a necessary policy for America today. America is at war with an enemy driven by radical, ideological hatred to destroy us and all that we stand for. These terrorists were not created by U.S. policy: They are religious zealots who will stop at nothing in achieving their objective of establishing a global caliphate in which individual lives have no value, women are chattel and the only legitimate faith is a perverted version of Islam.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/opinion/04rich.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin
Noun + Verb + 9/11 + Iran = Democrats’ Defeat?
By FRANK RICH
Published: November 4, 2007
WHEN President Bush started making noises about World War III, he only confirmed what has been a Democratic article of faith all year: Between now and Election Day he and Dick Cheney, cheered on by the mob of neocon dead-enders, are going to bomb Iran.
But what happens if President Bush does not bomb Iran? That is good news for the world, but potentially terrible news for the Democrats. If we do go to war in Iran, the election will indeed be a referendum on the results, which the Republican Party will own no matter whom it nominates for president. But if we don’t, the Democratic standard-bearer will have to take a clear stand on the defining issue of the race. As we saw once again at Tuesday night’s debate, the front-runner, Hillary Clinton, does not have one.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380720002&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Bahrain: Iran trying to acquire nuclear weapons
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Nov 2, 2007 15:45 | Updated Nov 3, 2007 23:14
Bahrain's Crown Prince, Sheik Salman bin Isa al-Khalifa, said Friday that Iran is striving to acquire nuclear weaponry, Israel Radio reported. Al Khalifa said that at the very least, Iran is attempting to gain the ability to produce nuclear weaponry. The statement would make Bahrain the first Arab nation in the Persian Gulf to claim that Iran is attempting to deceive world leaders in relation to its nuclear aspirations. Al Khalifa warned that the crisis could worsen and draw the region into military conflict. For this reason, he said, it must be resolved by diplomatic means.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071104/ts_afp/pakistanpolitics_071104102307
Musharraf tightens grip under emergency rule
by Rana Jawad and Danny Kemp
November 4, 2007
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistani forces rounded up leading critics and deployed around key state buildings Sunday as President Pervez Musharraf sought to shore up his flagging grip on power by imposing emergency rule. Defying international condemnation, military ruler Musharraf suspended the constitution, sacked the chief justice, imposed strict media curbs and arrested more than 100 leading opposition figures and lawyers. Accusing the judiciary and Islamic militants of destabilising the country, he said he was acting to stop the nuclear-armed nation from committing "suicide," and appealed for understanding from the West.
