296 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
It’s Election Day. After all the work, all the rallies and all the effort by tens of thousands of Republicans statewide…we’re down to Election Day.
Regardless of whom you support…Republicans…. please go out and vote today. It’s our nominee, it’s our party and it’s our turn for our voices to be heard.
Congratulations to the Oakland County Republicans for they hugely successful dinner. Over 700 Republicans packed the hall for great food and friendship…getting ready for the election today. I joined Oakland County Republicans and their elected leaders as they greeted Governor Mitt Romney as their guest of honor who gave an inspiring speech about the spirit of America and the greatness of Michigan.
Eaton county and Ingham county Republicans had great events in Lansing this afternoon. I joined Governor Mike Huckabee as he toured the Demmer plant in Lansing and took some time to gather most of the employees and talk about Republican working class values that made us a majority party in America. What WD-40 and “duct tape” can’t fix…Republicans with vision, hope and optimism can.
Senator John McCain, Congressman Duncan Hunter and Congressman Ron Paul were also making their last rounds throughout our state…. what a great time to be a Republican.
This is it folks…go out and vote for YOUR nominee to be the next President of the United States of America!!! What an honor and a privilege.
THE REST OF THE STORY:
No further commentary today…. just remember to vote!
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08014/848996-35.stm
Primary disorder: A state as important as Michigan should count
Monday, January 14, 2008
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Michigan voters go to the polls tomorrow and the Democratic presidential candidates don't have to care. When the sixth-largest state -- a diverse home to a major U.S. city, one of the wealthiest suburbs in the nation and the American auto industry -- can hold a primary election and see two of the three leading Democratic presidential contenders take a pass, something is wrong. Technically, Michigan is holding both a Democratic and Republican primary on Tuesday. But of the top three Democrats in the race, only New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has delegates on the ballot and all three of the candidates agreed not to campaign there.
Michigan at Center Stage in G.O.P. Race
By MICHAEL LUO
January 15, 2008
DETROIT — With the plight of the ailing automobile industry at the top of the agenda, the leading Republican presidential candidates set off Monday on a final flurry of campaigning before a Michigan primary that could shake up anew a remarkably fluid field. Recent polls have indicated that former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Senator John McCain of Arizona are engaged in an extremely close race in Tuesday’s primary, with former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas running third. Mr. Romney, who has the most riding on Tuesday’s result after successive setbacks in Iowa and New Hampshire, delivered a speech Monday at the Detroit Economic Club in which he took Washington lawmakers to task for what he described as excessive regulating of the auto industry and lack of interest in Michigan’s economic woes.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1200325226262590.xml&coll=2
Michigan's concerns finally get attention
Ann Arbor News
Monday, January 14, 2008
Michigan owes a thank-you to the discriminating voters in New Hampshire for helping to assure that the Great Lakes State has a big say in how the presidential election turns out. With wins there by John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Michigan has garnered an enormous role Tuesday in picking the Republican nominee and a minor part in the Democratic drama. As a result, the state's concerns about such vital issues as the nation's economic, trade and water policies are getting the attention of leading candidates.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/COL33/801150333/1215/NEWS15
The next president must pay attention to our problems
January 15, 2008
BY STEPHEN HENDERSON
It was important that on the day before the Michigan presidential primary, the leading Republican candidates all wandered through the North American International Auto Show -- the marquee event for the state's marquee industry, a chance to see how Detroit steel and ingenuity can still shine. It'll be even more important for the winner of November's election to remember to come back to see us next year. The auto show visits Monday actually were effective at bringing Michigan's peculiar issues to national attention one more time before today's balloting.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/NEWS15/801150343/1215
Your vote packs a one-two punch
Detroit Free Press
January 15, 2008
Half a primary is better than none. And even without a true contest on the Democratic side, Michigan voters can have an impact on the presidential selection process by voting in today's primary.
• First, there is a real race on the Republican side. Michigan native and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney needs a victory here to regain some footing for his campaign. U.S. Sen. John McCain, who won the Michigan primary in 2000, has momentum after his victory in New Hampshire and could claim front-runner status by taking Michigan again.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/POLITICS01/801150391/1022/POLITICS
Decision time for Michigan
GOP candidates tour auto show, make pitches to heal state economy
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
DETROIT -- Just hours before a Michigan presidential primary that could reshape the Republican campaign, autos and politics collided Monday as candidates made their final pitches to voters. At the center of today's contest: an electorate battered by layoffs, falling home values and rising uncertainty. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee visited the North American International Auto Show, paying homage to the industry that dominates the state despite the fading fortunes of the Big 3 automakers. California Rep. Duncan Hunter, a long shot for the GOP campaign, courted voters in Lawrence, near Paw Paw, and Battle Creek.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/POLITICS/801140471/1022/POLITICS
GOP candidates hit auto show on eve of Michigan primary
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Monday, January 14, 2008
DETROIT -- Just hours before a Michigan presidential primary that could reshape the Republican campaign, autos and politics collided Monday as candidates made their final pitches to voters. At the center of today's contest: an electorate battered by layoffs, falling home values and rising uncertainty. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee visited the North American International Auto Show, paying homage to the industry that dominates the state despite the fading fortunes of the Big 3 automakers. California Rep. Duncan Hunter, a long shot for the GOP campaign, courted voters in Lawrence, near Paw Paw, and Battle Creek.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/BUSINESS03/801150337/1215
Auto show hot draw for GOP candidates
They proclaim support for workers
January 15, 2008
BY KATHLEEN GRAY and ZACHARY GORCHOW
All three of the major candidates in today's Michigan Republican presidential primary showed their affinity for American-made cars Monday -- taking late scheduled previews of showcases for General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC at the Detroit auto show. Earlier in the day, Mitt Romney told the Detroit Economic Club that he wants a big increase in federal funding for research and development along with a new attitude in Washington that helps, rather than hurts, the domestic auto industry. During the North American International Auto Show visits, Romney and former Gov. Mike Huckabee almost ran into each other at the GM exhibit until their staffs made sure they avoided an encounter.
Romney Battles McCain for Michigan Lead
By MICHAEL LUO
Published: January 14, 2008
DETROIT — With economic issues at the top of the agenda, the leading Republican presidential candidates set off Monday on a final flurry of campaigning in Michigan ahead of the state’s primary that could again shake up a remarkably fluid Republican field. Recent polls have indicated the contest is neck-and-neck between former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Senator John McCain of Arizona, with former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas further back. Mr. Romney’s advisers have acknowledged that the state’s primary is essentially do-or-die for him after successive losses in Iowa and New Hampshire.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080114214623.bfyxnd9w&show_article=1
US Republicans stump for Michigan vote
AFP
January 14, 2008
US Republican candidates made passionate pitches for economic hope to voters in the struggling blue-collar state of Michigan Monday on the eve of its White House nominating contest. Democrats meanwhile prepared for a fresh debate in their ever-fiercer race, after a weekend of squabbling over race between front-runners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. New national polls showed Senator John McCain leading the Republican field after his comeback in last week's New Hampshire primary, with Mitt Romney fighting to save his campaign in Michigan, where his father was once governor.
http://macombdaily.com/stories/011408/loc_primary.shtml
GOP in Mich. up for grabs
Romney, McCain in virtual tie, but don't count out Huckabee
By Chad Selweski
PUBLISHED: Monday, January 14, 2008
It's Mitt vs. Mack. And it's still too close to call. With Republicans John McCain and George Romney running neck-and-neck, Tuesday's Michigan primary remains up for grabs and could be determined by undecided voters and Democratic crossovers. Two statewide polls show McCain leading the GOP race, two show Romney out front, and three have the race in a statistical tie. Two of those dead-heat surveys indicate McCain has a 1 percentage point lead, the other reveals a 1-point margin for Romney, but all three have results that are within the margin of error. Nearly all of the research reflects a two-way race, with Mike Huckabee a distant third.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/NEWS15/801150334/1215/NEWS15
Down to wire in GOP: Romney, McCain look for edge as Huckabee makes quick plea
January 15, 2008
BY TODD SPANGLER, KATHLEEN GRAY and DAWSON BELL
One of Michigan's weirdest and wildest presidential primary seasons ends today with two big concerns:
• Does Mitt Romney get his first Republican primary victory on the strength of his strong economic message in his native state, or does Sen. John McCain repeat his 2000 Michigan win with momentum from his big New Hampshire victory?
• And on the Democratic side, how large is Sen. Hillary Clinton's victory over "Uncommitted" -- the phantom campaigns of Sen. Barack Obama and John Edwards, who are missing from the ballot?
McCain, Romney make a stand in Michigan
January 14, 2008
By Joseph Curl –
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney face off tomorrow in this state's primary, where a loss by the ex-governor could seriously damage his presidential ambitions and propel the Arizona senator into front-runner status. Mr. Romney, who had counted on early wins in Iowa and New Hampshire but finished second in each state, is in a precarious position: He was born in Michigan and his father was once governor here, so he is expected to win. A loss, however, would give Mr. McCain, who won last week's primary in New Hampshire, a boost of momentum heading into South Carolina's contest on Saturday.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080114/D8U5ST800.html
Romney Makes Final Michigan Pitch
Jan 14, 4:03 PM (ET)
By GLEN JOHNSON
DETROIT (AP) - Alternately promising and pleading, Republican Mitt Romney on Monday asked Michigan residents to vote for him in a primary election that could either rejuvenate or mortally wound his presidential campaign. Before a cheering crowd of high schoolers and later the more somber members of the Detroit Economic Club, the Michigan-born Romney pledged to take better care of the state as president than rivals Mike Huckabee and John McCain. Romney finished second to each in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, respectively, and a hometown loss to either on Tuesday would be hard to overcome as the nominating contest moves to South Carolina and Florida, both locations where the former Massachusetts governor trails in the polls.
Romney's Michigan appeal has self-interest: His own, and state's
1/13/2008, 4:21 p.m. EST
By GLEN JOHNSON
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) — Republican Mitt Romney on Sunday asked Michigan's electorate to vote its self-interest — and his. Struggling to keep his presidential bid going after two second-place finishes, Romney focuses on his Michigan roots and promised to do more to lift up the economically hard-hit state than rival John McCain. He also suggested another rival, Mike Huckabee, was the wrong type of Republican for the nomination. "I will commit this to you," Romney said Sunday, nearly yelling himself hoarse during a boisterous rally with more than 500 people at Lawrence Technical University. "If I'm president of the United States, I will not rest until Michigan is back, and I will bring it back with your help. Together, we'll do it."
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_7974710
Mitt pins hopes on Michigan blessing
Romney reminds voters of his ties to the state, vows to cure economy
By Thomas Burr
Article Last Updated: 01/15/2008
DETROIT - Michigan is looking for an economic hero. Someone who can turn a dire situation around, bring jobs back and make the state competitive again. Mitt Romney, though not claiming to be able to leap tall buildings, is striving to be that superman. Michigan voters today will decide whether he fits the bill. The nation's third high-profile contest could be a pivotal test for Romney's presidential hopes. A win could mean a leap to front-runner status for the former Massachusetts governor and head of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. A loss could help seal the lid on his campaign tomb. After defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire, Romney badly needs a victory. And he is asking voters in this Rust Belt State to trust him to turn around their woes.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/NEWS15/80114090/1215
Headlee family endorses Romney, says representative
January 14, 2008
By DAWSON BELL
Former Michigan Gov. William Milliken isn’t the only one making late endorsements in the state’s Republican presidential primary. Milliken plunked for John McCain over the weekend. ut a representative of the family of Dick Headlee, the Republican nominee for governor in the year Milliken retired, called the Free Press on Monday to let it be known his family is solid for Mitt Romney, who is, of course, son of another former Michigan governor, George Romney. Doug Headlee said he was prompted to make the announcement when he was in an airport and saw a crawler on the bottom of the screen of a cable news broadcast about Milliken.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/POLITICS/801140424/1022/POLITICS
Romney points finger at Washington for Detroit's woes
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Monday, January 14, 2008
DETROIT -- Mitt Romney will place much of the blame for the domestic automakers' struggles at the feet of Washington politicians in a speech today at the Detroit Economic Club. "Detroit can only thrive if Washington is an engaged partner, not a disinterested observer," Romney will tell the audience at Detroit's Renaissance Center, according to excerpts released by his campaign on Sunday night. The speech comes a day before Michigan's crucial presidential primary. It is widely believed that Romney needs a victory in Michigan to keep alive any realistic hopes for the Republican nomination, and he has staked his hopes on an appeal to Michigan voters as the candidate best qualified to help turn the auto industry around.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/NEWS15/80114052/1215
Put more federal dollars into auto research, Romney says
January 14, 2008
By KATHLEEN GRAY
A dramatic increase in federal funding for research and development and a new attitude in Washington that helps, rather than hurts, the domestic auto industry will transform the economies of both Michigan and America, Mitt Romney told the Detroit Economic Club today. He proposed increasing R&D dollars from $4 billion to $20 billion for investments in energy research, fuel technology, materials science and automotive technology. "Research spins out new ideas for new products for both small and large businesses,” he said. “Look how industries in other states have thrived from the spin out of technologies from our investment in these areas.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/POLITICS01/801150366/1022/POLITICS
Romney vows to aid car industry
Deb Price / The Detroit News
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
DETROIT -- Saying he's seeking the gold medal in today's high-stakes presidential primary, Republican Mitt Romney made his final sales pitch Monday, stressing his Michigan roots, family ties to the auto industry and business experience. At the Detroit Economic Club, the Bloomfield Hills native and son of former Gov. George Romney said one of his top priorities as president would be the auto industry. "If I am president, I will not rest until Michigan is back. Michigan can once again lead the world's automotive industry," said Romney, 59, the former governor of Massachusetts who left Michigan decades ago for college.
http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/NEWS01/801140313/1002
'Best days are ahead of us': Sen. McCain fires up the crowd at county stop
By Jim Totten
January 14, 2008
Walking into a packed crowd chanting "Mac is back," Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., received a very warm welcome when he stopped in Livingston County Sunday afternoon for a town hall meeting. Over a thousand residents poured into Crystal Gardens in Genoa Township to hear from and get a glimpse of the senator. Many were Republicans, but there were others who were Democrats, undecided and independents. The event itself drew in throngs of local and national media who had two stages for recording the event, which was held two days before the Michigan presidential primary.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/POLITICS01/801150365/1022/POLITICS
McCain targets message to vets
Charlie Cain / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Sen. John McCain spent Monday courting the support of independent voters and military veterans he hopes will propel him to victory in today's Republican presidential primary. "As the day goes on, I get more enthusiastic," he said Monday as he took his campaign to the North American International Auto Show and across western Michigan. "It's going to be a close vote, and we're working hard to get out our vote." McCain was the upset winner in Michigan's 2000 GOP primary. Appeals for votes in his final push Monday often sounded like a pitch to Democrats, not his own base.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080114/D8U5PL280.html
Independents Help McCain in Michigan
Jan 14, 12:20 PM (ET)
By LIZ SIDOTI
HOWELL, Mich. (AP) - John McCain has an automatic advantage Tuesday when Michigan votes. Not only did the Republican win the state eight years ago, but he also draws his support from across the political spectrum and Michigan voters of all stripes can participate in the GOP primary. At the same time, the Democratic race in Michigan is of little or no consequence, so he won't be competing full-bore with Democratic candidates for the backing of independents as he did in New Hampshire last week. "I don't know how the voters are going to break," McCain said Sunday, but added he hopes to do as well among independents as he did in Michigan in 2000 when he beat George W. Bush here. "
http://blog.mlive.com/kzgazette/2008/01/mccain_says_michigan_poised_to.html
McCain says Michigan poised to solve energy problems
Posted by Julie Mack
Kalamazoo Gazette
January 14, 2008 13:26PM
KALAMAZOO -- Michigan holds the key to solving some of America's toughest problems, including climate change and dependency on foreign oil, Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said here this morning. More than 1,000 people attend McCain's campaign rally at Kalamazoo Christian High School, where McCain spent a half-hour delivering his stump speech and another half-hour taking questions from the audience. McCain is locked in a tight race with Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee in Tuesday's GOP Michigan primary. Before McCain's speech, rally organizers urged those in attendance to make sure to vote.
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/120026606142460.xml&storylist=newsmichigan
His appeal wide, McCain has automatic advantage when Mich. Votes
1/13/2008, 6:07 p.m. EST
By LIZ SIDOTI
HOWELL, Mich. (AP) — John McCain has an automatic advantage Tuesday when Michigan votes. Not only did the Republican win the state eight years ago, but he also draws his support from across the political spectrum and Michigan voters of all stripes can participate in the GOP primary. At the same time, the Democratic race in Michigan is of little or no consequence, so he won't be competing full-bore with Democratic candidates for the backing of independents as he did in New Hampshire last week.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/NEWS15/80114051/1215
McCain hits hard on campaign trail in western Mich.
He concedes the GOP race is too close to call
January 14, 2008
By TODD SPANGLER
HOLLAND -- Sen John McCain, clearly energized on the final day before Michigan's Republican primary for president, brought his message of cutting spending and helping veterans to Hope College in the western part of the state. Making many of the same points as in days past, McCain asked the veterans in the room to stand and promised to improve veterans' health care. He is talking up a plan to give veterans a card which would allow them to go to the provider of their choice rather than drive hours at times to get to a Veterans Administration hospital.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/POLITICS/801140454/1022/POLITICS
McCain hypes nuclear power
Charlie Cain / The Detroit News
Monday, January 14, 2008
HOLLAND -- The United States must develop new nuclear power facilities to wean the country from its dangerous dependence on foreign oil, Sen. John McCain told hundreds of students at Hope College this afternoon. "Nuclear power works," said McCain, noting that the U.S. Navy has powered ships with nuclear power for 60 years without an accident and that countries such as France produce 80 percent of its energy with nuclear power. McCain said the U.S. cannot continue to send $400 billion a year to oil producing counties, many with interests at odds with our own. During a final day of campaigning before Tuesday's Republican presidential primary, the Arizona senator continually stressed his claim that he is the most qualified of all the candidates to become commanded in dangerous times.
http://battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/NEWS01/801140313/1002/NEWS01
McCain vows to keep U.S. safe, improve economy
Nick Schirripa
January 14, 2008
John McCain was greeted by some 700 people as he walked into the Burnham Brook Community Center. The Republican senator from Arizona and presidential candidate made a campaign stop in Battle Creek on Sunday during a campaign tour of Michigan leading up to the state's presidential primary on Tuesday. "The reason why I'm running for president of the United States is I believe we face a transcendent challenge in the 21st century of radical Islamic extremists," McCain told the crowd, pointing to the spreading threat of terrorism. Threat is everywhere, McCain said, even on the Internet, now being used for recruiting by Osama bin Laden, leader of the international terrorist organization al-Qaida.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/OPINION01/801150309/1007/OPINION
McCain best choice for Michigan GOP
Arizona senator offers nation competent leadership, experience
The Detroit News
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Two weeks ago, this newspaper endorsed Arizona Sen. John McCain as the preferred candidate in the Republican primary. Since then, McCain has reinforced our confidence in that decision by running a campaign focused on competent leadership, a quality America is desperate for as it faces growing challenges at home and abroad. His win in the New Hampshire primary seems to have energized McCain, who is vigorously campaigning on experience and his proven ability to stand above partisanship and stand up to the special interests. McCain is the candidate best equipped to deal with the combination of domestic and foreign issues facing America.
http://info.detnews.com/redesign/blogs/autoshowblog/index.cfm?blogID=251
McCain would put Malibu against 'any foreign car'
David Shepardson
Mon, Jan 14, 2008 at 7:27 PM
U.S. Sen. John McCain also toured the General Motors display, where he played with a gearshift and asked GM's Brian Corbett how he got his job. McCain liked the new Chevy Malibu, named yesterday as North American Car of the Year, saying he thought it "would be competitive with any foreign car."GM sales and marketing chief Mark LaNeve said the candidates' visits to the show were important. "We need to educate our customers and we need to educate Washington about all the good things we are doing," he said. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, who accompanied McCain, said the show was "eye opening" for the candidates.
http://blog.mlive.com/kzgazette/2008/01/huckabee_spreads_values_messag.html
Huckabee spreads values message in Augusta
Posted by Sarita Chourey
January 14, 2008 13:23PM
AUGUSTA -- Shouts of "Amen!" filled the banquet hall of the Brook Lodge when Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee called for a commitment to "the Biblical Judea Christian values that founded this nation." It was that religious evangelical ideology that prompted Holger Spiewak to travel two hours from Davison, with his wife Lindsey and their five-month old daughter Merrick, to see and hear Huckabee. On the eve of Michigan's primary, the former Arkansas governor made a campaign stop Monday in Augusta. The Spiewaks were the first supporters to arrive Monday at 6:15 a.m. and spent two hours chatting with campaign staff before Huckabee and about 200 attendees arrived.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/POLITICS01/801150368/1022/POLITICS
Huckabee touts economic plan
Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
YPSILANTI -- A darling among evangelicals, Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee pounded economic issues Monday in a swing across Michigan in hopes of boosting support among fiscal conservatives. In what shaped up as a tale of two manufacturing plants, Huckabee toured a Lansing metal stamping plant ramping up to meet military demand and an Ypsilanti Township General Motors Corp. plant that just laid off 200 workers. Shaking hands during shift change, the former Arkansas governor got an earful. "We have to get more jobs inside the plant, Mike," Rob Frederickson, an assembler from Livonia, told Huckabee.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/NEWS15/80114070/1215
Huckabee appeals to working class
On factory tour, he cites tax plan, family-friendly efforts
January 14, 2008
By DAWSON BELL
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was using his working-class roots to woo Michigan’s working-class voters Monday, as he toured factories in the midsection of the state en route to an afternoon appearance at the auto show in Detroit and an evening rally in Macomb County. Stopping in Lansing at Demmer Corp., a defense contractor which makes parts and supplies armor to military vehicles, Huckabee told several hundred employees that the hard work of Americans is being undermined by a government that over-taxes, over-regulates and under-punishes foreign competitors.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/POLITICS/801140426/1022/POLITICS
Huckabee visits manufacturing plants
Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
Monday, January 14, 2008
YPSILANTI -- Call it a tale of two manufacturing plants.
Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee continued to pound economic issues in a swing across Michigan today that took him to Lansing metal stamping plant that is ramping up to meet military demand and an Ypsilanti Township General Motors plant that just laid off 200 production workers. Huckabee shook hands at the GM Powertrain plant gate during a shift change this afternoon. "We have to get more jobs inside the plant, Mike," Rob Frederickson, an assembler from Livonia, told him.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/POLITICS/801140428/1022/POLITICS
Huckabee talks church; Romney talks cars
Gregg Krupa / The Detroit News
Monday, January 14, 2008
Republicans Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee launched spirited defenses of their records and campaigns today, with Romney asserting that Washington must help domestic automakers and Huckabee saying that his repeated appearances in churches are not a different approach for presidential campaigns. Asked if his economic program and campaign promises in Michigan would not lead to major federal subsidies for the auto industry, Romney said that some assistance from Washington is required for the Detroit-based automakers. "Well, I've noticed that we spend $50 billion a year on health research," Romney said on the CNBC broadcast Squawk Box. "We spend tens-of-billions of dollars a year on space research.
http://info.detnews.com/redesign/blogs/autoshowblog/index.cfm?blogID=252
Republicans create more buzz at the show
David Shepardson
Mon, Jan 14, 2008 at 7:37 PM
For nearly two hours, it was pandemonium at the Detroit auto show as the three principal Republican candidates competing in Michigan criss-crossed the exhibits in Cobo Center. U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, told a small group of reporters after his tour of the show that he was "widely optimistic about the future of this industry and the workers of Michigan and Detroit who are the most productive and efficient in the world ... Michigan's auto companies with concessions won will allow Detroit's companies to succeed. "Their products can compete with anybody in the world."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/POLITICS01/801150390/1022/POLITICS
In Democrats' race, it's Clinton vs. 'uncommitted'
Francis X. Donnelly / The Detroit News
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Sonnie Williams summed up Michigan's marginalized Democratic primary better than any TV pundit could. "That doesn't seem right," said Williams, 36, a Detroit cosmetologist. "I can't vote for the person I want?" That's about it for Williams and other supporters of Barack Obama or John Edwards, two top Democratic candidates not on the ballot here. Hillary Clinton is the only major Democratic candidate on today's ballot. The truncated candidate list is fallout from the confrontation between Michigan and the national political parties over the state's move into the early part of the campaign calendar.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/NEWS15/801150338/1215
Democratic ballot called sham, unfair
January 15, 2008
BY TINA LAM
Former U.S. Sen. Don Riegle and former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, pals since both were in office in 1994, united Monday in Detroit to tell Democratic voters who support candidates not on the presidential primary ballot to vote uncommitted. Riegle called the ballot a sham and said it was rigged. Hillary and Bill Clinton "don't care how they win, only that they do," he said of the candidate and her husband. "It's not very different from what used to happen in the old Soviet Union." After Michigan defied the party by scheduling an early primary, Riegle said the Democratic candidates had an understanding that none of them would compete in Michigan.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/POLITICS01/801150369/1022/POLITICS
Six questions Michigan voters may answer
Mich. vote might answer whether experience trumps change, effect of Dems race
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Six burning questions today's Michigan presidential primary might help answer:
1. Will "experience and character" trump "optimism and change"?
That has been the central conflict between the top two contenders in the Republican race here. Sen. John McCain's rationale is simple: "No one else has the experience and proven judgment" that he brings, McCain told reporters Sunday. His strength is his story: Vietnam veteran, prisoner of war, attacker of special interests and defender of the Iraq war. "He loves America. That's what I love about him," said Rosemary Marciniak of Brighton, as she waited for a McCain town hall gathering in Howell.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OWFiMmM3ZGQ5NmNmMWE2ZDhiZWJkOGRjMDk5NzMwM2Y=
Ballenger Report
Inside the Michigan primary.
An NRO Q&A
January 11, 2008 1:21 PM
There are a lot of weird twists and turns in the rapidly approaching Michigan primary. To try to get a feel for what's going on, National Review Online's Mark Hemingway spoke with Bill Ballenger Friday, who's been editing the respected Inside Michigan Politics newsletter for more than 20 years and is one of the most respected political commentators in the state.
NRO: What's your general take on Michigan primary? Particularly the three-way race on the Republican side? How are things shaping up?
http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/OPINION01/801140315/1014/OPINION
We need candidates to focus on state's economic troubles
Livingston Daily
January 14, 2008
Presidential candidates Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney mixed it up a little over Michigan's economic outlook during a Republican debate last week in South Carolina. Not much, but a little. McCain said earlier in the week that people in Michigan should realize that some lost jobs will never return here.Romney jumped on that in the debate."I know that there are some people who think, as Senator McCain did, he said, you know, some jobs are leaving Michigan and they're not coming back," Romney said. "I disagree. I'm going to fight for every single job ... we're going to fight for jobs and make sure our future is bright."McCain didn't back down.
http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=ODBiZTZmMTZmZjkyOTg4NzNiODYzMmQ1OWU4ZjlkZDg=
Hacking Michigan
Donkeys in the elephant cage.
By Jim Geraghty
January 14, 2008, 9:30 a.m.
Republicans in states that haven’t voted yet can look at the early states with some consternation. Iowa? Where only 100,000 of the state’s Republican voters participate, with the caucus format preventing night-duty cops, firemen, and hospital workers from taking part? A state with a minimum of military voters and 60 percent evangelical Christians? Where ethanol subsidies are a dominant issue? New Hampshire? Where 34 percent of Republican primary voters were not actual registered Republicans? Well, the good news is we’re on to Michigan, where . . . once again, a large number of non-Republicans can have a say in who wins the Republican primary.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZjY3MDlmYmI2YWQ5NDIwYjM3OTM4MTZhYWIwNTZlNzk=
Driving While Campaigning
What's in your candidate's garage.
By Henry Payne & Richard Burr
January 14, 2008 9:00 AM
Detroit — As Michigan votes this week, the automobile has never been more at the center of the American consciousness. Once upon a time, a candidate’s car was a symbol of his patriotism — of loyalty to Michigan autoworkers and their Motor City. But today political fashion defines patriotism as freeing America from foreign oil or saving the planet. Green, it seems, has become as American as red, white, and blue. “Where was your vehicle built?” must now share billing with “What would Jesus drive?”
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/OPINION03/801150388/1031
Automakers lust after emerging markets
Daniel Howes
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The scramble is on to get pieces of the world's biggest emerging markets, and Detroit's automakers are anything but laggards in the race. Even as they aggressively downsize at home in a bid to regain sustainable profitability, each in its own way is pushing to plant its flag in such booming markets as Russia, China and India before foreign rivals do. General Motors Corp. this year will open "greenfield" plants in Russia, China, India and Mexico. Ford Motor Co. is investing $500 million to build small cars in India, opened a plant last year in Nanjing, China, and says sales in China surged 30 percent to nearly 217,000 vehicles (compared to 902,000 for GM).
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/OPINION01/801150308/1007/OPINION
Manage budget tightly to avoid mid-year crisis
The Detroit News
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The state's top legislative and executive branch economists have issued new revenue forecasts for the current fiscal year and the numbers show a decline in anticipated funds from the previous forecast last spring. Despite brave talk from some legislative Republicans about returning to taxpayers the so-called surplus from the last budget year, what will be needed is more spending discipline. The state's Comprehensive Financial Report for 2007, also recently released, shows a deteriorating financial position from fiscal 2006.
http://macombdaily.com/stories/011408/loc_charter.shtml
Legislation would close charter school 'loophole'
Conner Creek Academy dispute in Warren spurs bills.
By Norb Franz
PUBLISHED: Monday, January 14, 2008
Two state lawmakers have introduced legislation they say would close a loophole that makes it easy for charter schools to expand or relocate without scrutiny. Separate bills introduced by Sen. Dennis Olshove and Rep. Steve Bieda, both Democrats from Warren, would force public school academies supported by universities to file new applications each time they plan to relocate, rather than simply amending their current contract. "We would prefer they file a new application so that (otherwise) they have to live by what they filed under," Olshove said.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-40/1200122154152460.xml&coll=6
Do dogs belong in divorce court?
Saturday, January 12, 2008
By Pat Shellenbarger
GRAND RAPIDS -- Before a couple splits, they should consider how divorce affects those caught in the middle, state Rep. Michael Sak believes. That's why the Grand Rapids Democrat introduced a bill dictating how custody of dogs, cats, gerbils and other pets is to be decided. Often in divorces "pets are treated as property," Sak said. "I would say that a family pet is not the same as someone's sofa." The bill introduced Wednesday would require any spouse filing for divorce to include a list of all pets, their species and when they were purchased. If the estranged couple agree on a custody arrangement, they should file that, too, Sak's bill would require. Otherwise, a judge should decide who gets custody of the pets.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/POLITICS01/801150367/1022/POLITICS
School, police issues go to voters
The Detroit News
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The presidential primary may dominate voters' attention, but residents in Pontiac and four Metro Detroit school districts also vote today on a smattering of issues. In Pontiac, voters will face a measure to eliminate the city's minimum staffing requirement for firefighters. The city charter requires that the fire department have one person on duty for every 2,000 residents in Pontiac, which has a population of about 68,000. Voters will also decide on a 1-mill police tax, a .5-mill tax for youth recreation and another charter amendment that would allow the fire department to reallocate firefighter salaries if the minimum staffing requirement is eliminated. The levies would boost taxes for owners of $200,000 homes about $150 a year.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/13/AR2008011302304.html
A Nobel Laureate's Primary
By Sebastian Mallaby
Monday, January 14, 2008; A21
The presidential primaries are terrific fun, but they are also absurd -- far more absurd than even most critics recognize. It is not just that atypical, early states have disproportionate influence, or that outcomes can be swayed by floods of rain or money. The basic problem is one that's common to nearly all electoral contests: Whenever there are three or more contenders, it makes no sense to ask voters to select a single candidate.To see why this is so, consider last year's Nobel Prize in economics, which went to three founders of a field known as mechanism design theory. Mechanism designers study the rules by which people with varying preferences can reconcile their interests.
http://nymag.com/news/politics/powergrid/42815/
Back to the Front
John McCain isn’t any good at being a front-runner, but the mainstream GOP may—finally—need him.
By John Heilemann
Published Jan 11, 2008
John McCain’s media guru, Mark McKinnon, was wearing a shit-eating grin when I ran into him in a parking lot in Salem, New Hampshire, two days before that state’s primary, amid a heaving throng of cameradudes angling to get some B-roll of his boss. Back in July, when McCain’s campaign was imploding, I had snarked in this space that to envision the senator’s winning the Republican nomination required ingesting “half a bottle of Maker’s Mark, followed by a nitrous-oxide chaser.” So it wasn’t surprising that the first thing out of McKinnon’s mouth was an offer of a good, stiff bourbon. (Regarding the nitrous, apparently, I was on my own.) Sheepishly, pitifully, I muttered a mea culpa. “That’s okay,” McKinnon replied. “You ain’t the only one who got it wrong.”
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/01/not_tax_straight_talk.html
Not Tax Straight Talk
By Robert Novak
January 14, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Two days before his decisive victory in New Hampshire, John McCain was asked by Tim Russert on NBC's "Meet the Press": "Do you believe that voting against the Bush tax cuts was a mistake?" Sen. McCain replied quickly, "Of course not." He next said I was wrong when I wrote, "McCain has admitted to me that those tax votes were a mistake." In fact, what he actually told me amounted to admitting error. Thus has McCain, campaigning now as he did in 2000 as the "straight talk" candidate, made trouble for himself by taking a circuitous position on taxes. While he favors making permanent the Bush tax cuts, he defends twice voting against them. The old war hero is stubborn, reluctant to admit either error or defeat.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/7868.html
McCain vs. Huck: A S.C. civil war
By: David Paul Kuhn
Jan 14, 2008 05:58 AM EST
CHARLESTON, S.C. — You wouldn’t know it to look at JoAnn Cantrall, a “woman of faith” as her denim shirt reads. But she’s a near-perfect illustration of the conservative civil war that’s erupting in South Carolina — an ideological battle that could decide Saturday’s GOP primary and, quite possibly, the Republican nomination. A regular at Cathedral of Praise, a megachurch that can draw as many as 3,000 congregants on an average weekend, Cantrall, a local Christian broadcaster, is agonizing about the choice between Mike Huckabee and John McCain.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080114/D8U5AF180.html
Huckabee Eschews Politics for Preaching
Jan 13, 7:03 PM (ET)
By LIBBY QUAID
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) - Republican Mike Huckabee spoke from the pulpit Sunday, not as a politician but as the preacher he used to be, delivering a sermon on how merely being good isn't enough to get into heaven. Huckabee is vying for support from the Christian conservatives who dominate the GOP in South Carolina, which chooses a Republican presidential nominee on Saturday. A former Baptist minister and Arkansas governor, Huckabee is competing for their votes with fellow southerner Fred Thompson. As in Iowa, where he won the Jan. 3 caucuses, Huckabee is rousing pastors to marshal their flocks for him. He pitches himself as someone who not only shares their views against abortion and gay marriage but who actually comes from their ranks.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080114/NATION/632245943/1002
Backers urge Thompson to 'get rough'
By Stephen Dinan
January 14, 2008
MONCKS CORNER, S.C. — The hottest topic among South Carolina Republicans right now is the fire in Fred Thompson's belly. Unlike the other candidates who still are trying to convince voters of their philosophy and credentials, Mr. Thompson finds his biggest challenge is trying to convince voters he's serious enough about his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. It's a curious position for a candidate to be in — one where his supporters seem to want him to want it more than he does. "Get rough, Fred, get rough," shouted one woman at the beginning of a town-hall meeting Friday at Gilligan's, a restaurant in Moncks Corner.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/01/fred_in_hunt_for_red_november.html
Fred in Hunt For Red November?
By Barry Casselman
January 14, 2008
The 2008 presidential nominating contests are going to be remembered as a cycle of political "musical chairs." The subtitle of this show might be a variant of Andy Warhol's famous dictum, i.e., "Everyne gets fifteen minutes as the frontrunner." So far, Hillary Clinton has been the long-time Democratic frontrunner, and then Barack Obama got it for a few days by winning an upset in Iowa. As of now, following Mrs. Clinton's surprise win in New Hampshire, no one on that side is the frontrunner. But soon enough, there will be one again.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01142008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/change_to_what__exactly__81246.htm
CHANGE TO WHAT, EXACTLY?
Adam Brodsky
January 14, 2008
'C HANGE" is in the air - the hot air, anyway, from the presidential hopefuls. Nearly every one of them vows to bring it about. But what does it mean? Barack Obama struck a chord in Iowa by making the C-word his mantra. Instantly, his fellow wannabes - even Republicans - became me-too agents of reform. Mitt Romney, for example, suggested that he best "represents change." John McCain granted as how that fit for Romney's flip-flops - then vowed that he'd bring "genuine change" to Washington. Voters, analysts say, are lapping it up. (Of course, analysts couldn't hit the side of a barn in New Hampshire's Democratic primary. But never mind.)
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/01/14/hillary/
The Clinton-Obama contest gets rougher
Will the battle for the Democratic nomination turn into a debate about race and gender?
By Walter Shapiro
Jan. 14, 2008
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Every warm-up speaker in a presidential campaign should aspire to be seen, heard (briefly) but never, ever remembered. Bob Johnson, the founder of TV's Black Entertainment Network (BET) and the owner of basketball's Charlotte Bobcats, broke that cardinal rule of politics with his 10-minute stream-of-conscious introduction of Hillary Clinton. From the moment he took the microphone at a Clinton town meeting at Columbia College, Johnson came across as an accident waiting to happen. He started off referring to Barack Obama as "a young, articulate black man" before explaining, "As a black person, I can call him articulate."
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1703310,00.html
Race Spells Trouble for the Dems
Monday, Jan. 14, 2008
By MICHAEL DUFFY
Whenever longtime Democrats gather to note how the chemistry and calculus of the 2008 campaign seem to favor their party this year, one or another will always add some version of the following: "Yeah, but we could screw this up before it's over." After the past few days, the pertinent question to ask is, is the crack-up happening already? Far-fetched as it would have seemed a month ago, the seeds of self-destruction are being planted in the war of coded words about race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The bickering has exploded in the space of a week into Topic A in the Democratic race, supplanting for the moment the war and the economy and health care — and shows no sign of a quick resolution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/us/politics/14campaign.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin
Race and Gender Are Issues in Tense Day for Democrats
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
January 14, 2008
LAS VEGAS — After staying on the sidelines in the first year of the campaign, race and to a lesser extent gender have burst into the forefront of the Democratic presidential contest, thrusting Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton into the middle of a sharp-edged social and political debate that transcends their candidacies. In a tense day of exchanges by the candidates and their supporters, Mrs. Clinton suggested on Sunday that Mr. Obama’s campaign, in an effort to inject race into the contest, distorted remarks she had made about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Mr. Obama tartly dismissed Mrs. Clinton’s suggestion, adding that “the notion that somehow this is our doing is ludicrous.”
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/siegel/1898
Competitive Victimization
Fred Siegel
01.14.2008
The Hillary/Obama race vs. gender dustup has just given the country a taste of why the Democratic Party spent so many years in the wilderness. The game of competitive victimization reminds swing voters in general and white men in particular why the Democrats can be problematic.The night of her unexpected New Hampshire victory on the basis of a strong turnout from blue collar female voters, the press began to explain away the polls that had pointed to an Obama landslide by referring to “the Bradley effect.” That refers to the experience in Los Angeles where Tom Bradley, L.A.’s first African-American mayor, who did far better in public opinion polls than at the ballot box where he failed to win the governorship in 1982.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8U5V0J80&show_article=1
Judge Grants Kucinich Entry to NV Debate
Associated Press
January 14, 2008
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A Nevada judge said Monday that Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich must be included in Tuesday's candidates' debate in Nevada.
Senior Clark County District Court Judge Charles Thompson said if Kucinich is excluded, he'll issue an injunction stopping the televised debate. The judge sided with a lawyer for the Ohio congressman, who says debate host MSNBC at first invited Kucinich to take part and then told him last week he couldn't. A lawyer for the network said MSNBC decided to go with the top three candidates after the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120026233358986931.html?mod=opinion_journal_political_diary
Mayor McTease
JOHN FUND
January 14, 2008
The Mike Bloomberg presidential boomlet has become politics' longest tease. It started more than two years ago. Less than 48 hours after the New York mayor's landslide 2005 re-election, his campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, went on TV to raise the possibility of a 2008 run for the White House. Since then, Mr. Sheekey, a Democrat who once worked for the late Sen. Pat Moynihan, has worked almost full-time on exploring a Bloomberg bid.In recent days, the teasing has intensified. This week Doug Bailey, a former consultant to moderate Republicans, and Gerald Rafshoon, Jimmy Carter's media adviser in the 1970s, will announce the formation of a committee to "recruit" Mr. Bloomberg into a race.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080114/D8U5QF4G0.html
Congress Returns Amid Murky Politics
Jan 14, 1:16 PM (ET)
By CHARLES BABINGTON
WASHINGTON (AP) - The presidential race isn't the only important election this year. At least 470 congressional seats will be up for grabs in November, with Democrats hoping to expand their narrow majorities and crack some of the impasses that have stymied action on many issues. When lawmakers left town last month for a winter break, they assumed the presidential voting in Iowa and New Hampshire would start giving shape and context to next fall's elections. So far, the opposite has happened. House members returning this week feel less certain about the political landscape than when they left. The economy is now tied with the Iraq war as Americans' top concern, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll, and neither party knows who will be its presidential nominee.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/POLITICS/801150383/1022/POLITICS
Veto threats welcome returning Congress
Jim Abrams / Associated Press
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Still smarting from the partisan wars of 2007, Congress confronts a sinking economy, a lingering war and election-year politics as it gets back to work for the 2008 session. The Democratic-led House reconvenes today with the familiar scenario of having to deal with a President Bush veto. The White House objected to one provision in a massive defense bill that opened the way for lawsuits against the Iraqi government. The defense bill contains an additional pay raise for the military and Congress is expected to quickly fix the problem, either with a veto override vote -- that would probably fail -- or by removing the offending provision.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/opinion/14mon3.html?_r=3&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
The Pork King Keeps His Crown
New York Times
January 14, 2008
The new earmark disclosure rules put into effect by Congress confirm the pre-eminence of Representative John Murtha at procuring eye-popping chunks of pork for contractors he helped put in business in Johnstown, Pa. The Pennsylvania Democrat, a power player on defense appropriations, exudes pride, not embarrassment, for delivering hundreds of millions of dollars in largesse to district beneficiaries. They, in turn, requite with hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations. Mr. Murtha led all House members this year, securing $162 million in district favors, according to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Responding to Recession
By Paul Krugman
January 14, 2008
Suddenly, the economic consensus seems to be that the implosion of the housing market will indeed push the U.S. economy into a recession, and that it’s quite possible that we’re already in one. As a result, over the next few weeks we’ll be hearing a lot about plans for economic stimulus. Since this is an election year, the debate over how to stimulate the economy is inevitably tied up with politics. And here’s a modest suggestion for political reporters. Instead of trying to divine the candidates’ characters by scrutinizing their tone of voice and facial expressions, why not pay attention to what they say about economic policy?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0114edit1jan14,0,5570509.story
Suppress the stimulus urge
Chicago Tribune
January 14, 2008
People in Washington rarely need an excuse to spend money, so when they have a particularly timely pretext, taxpayers should be even warier than usual. Like now, for instance. With the economy showing signs of a slowdown, possibly even a recession, there are growing calls for Congress to perk it up with a fiscal stimulus package. But at this point, the risks of rushing to the rescue are at least as great as the risks of holding off. No one doubts the economy is wheezing. December retail sales were down, unemployment is rising, housing starts and new home sales are way off, and the subprime mortgage crisis hangs over everything. But there is no clear consensus that a recession is on the way.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0114/p08s01-comv.html
A perfect storm door against a U.S. recession?
Cries of coming recession must not trigger a political split in Washington over a stimulus response.
Christian Science Monitor
From the January 14, 2008 edition
This being both an election year and one that began with the economy cooling, Americans will hear a Goldilocks' debate on how government can heat up a $14 trillion economy. Will a tax-and-cash stimulus package be too little or too much? Too early or too late? And that's only the short-term perspective, focused mainly on some forecasts of a recession over the coming year. In the presidential primaries, voters tell pollsters their top concerns are basic economic needs, such as rising prices for energy and healthcare and less job security. And indeed, candidates have offered long-term reforms defining new and different types of a federal role in the economy. But in the past week, candidates have also begun to offer sound bite proposals for a quick economic spur.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTg4MjRiYWIxM2E5OGY3ZDc1NDM0ODJjMWFkMzNlZTc=
Immigration Issue, Ignored
SAVE and the Prevention of Unsafe Licensing Act address certain problems, but ignore others.
By Edward Blum
January 14, 2008 6:00 AM
Before the recess, Congress was busy introducing a slate of legislation to address illegal immigration. Two bills — the Prevention of Unsafe Licensing Act and the Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement Act (SAVE) — have drawn 120 co-sponsors, most of whom are Republicans, though the list includes a couple of dozen Democrats as well. The SAVE Act would increase the employee verification system to six million employers, beef up the number of Border Patrol agents and detention centers, and pressure state and local cops to enforce federal immigration laws.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YmI2ZDBhZjYzYjA5ZmE5NmNkMjk2YzBlYWU0MjhhMTE=
Death Blow to Defeatists
Yesterday we were losing in Iraq, today we are winning.
By Pete Hegseth
January 14, 2008 6:00 AM
“Iraq’s parliament has adopted legislation on the reinstatement of former Baath party supporters to government jobs.” (AP, 1/12/08)
For anyone who truly understands the stakes in Iraq, the achievement of national “political benchmarks” has never been an effective metric of success. Sure, Iraqis passing laws at the national level is important, but not more important than neighborhood-level security and grassroots political progress. I learned this the hard way in Samarra, Iraq. Absent strong local security forces and fair, representative government at the neighborhood level, local populations never felt “more secure,” no matter how much useless (or useful) legislation was passed at the national level. Iraqis need to see a better life in their neighborhood, not hear more promises from Baghdad.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/OPINION01/801150306/1007/OPINION
Benedict dissects problem with socialism
Fr. Robert Sirico
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Pope Benedict XVI has delivered a wonderful -- and oh-so-needed -- reminder of what socialism was (and is), and why it went wrong. Large swaths of American academia are in denial. So too are major parts of the American and European clerical class, which is still under the impression that socialism represents a gospel ideal that has yet to be tried. Benedict explains this in his encyclical Spe Salvi("in hope we are saved"). The pope concentrates on Karl Marx in particular. Here was an intellectual who imagined that salvation could occur without God, and that something approximating the Kingdom of God on earth could be created by adjusting the material conditions of man.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120026495934287047.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
Japan Sails Again
Wall Street Journal
January 14, 2008; Page A12
The Japanese Diet voted Friday to resume an antiterror mission in the Indian Ocean -- to which we say, welcome back to the fight. It's a signal that Washington's staunchest ally in Asia hasn't abandoned its recent ambition to play a greater role in international security, especially in its own part of the world.The legislation reauthorizes the naval refueling mission that Japan launched in 2001 in support of the U.S.-led coalition's military operations in Afghanistan. Tokyo ordered its ships home after the original law expired in November and the opposition blocked an extension. The vote was the first big political test for Japan's new Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda. Mr. Fukuda fought hard to revive the antiterror mission, to the extent of dusting off a constitutional provision allowing a two-thirds majority in the lower house to override an upper house action
