Articles of Interest 3-12-08
238 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
Florida’s Congressional Democrats say they won’t support a mail-in “do-over” primary. Their statement: "We are committed to working with the DNC, the Florida State Democratic party, our Democratic leaders in Florida, and our two candidates to reach an expedited solution that ensures our 210 delegates are seated. Our House delegation is opposed to a mail-in campaign or any redo of any kind.” That doesn’t help Michigan Democrats position. Too bad.
The Political, Candidate & Party Assistance teams were on the road again last night on the Genesee/Lapeer "Unity Road Show" in Flint. We had group of about 20 grassroots activist that came from all over the county. Special thanks to David Krueger for his help in putting this event together.
Congressman Tim Walberg takes on the “politics” of San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi’s gamesmanship on national security…see his statement below.
MIRS reports: For the seventh consecutive month, Michigan was No. 1 in a category where being number one isn't good — unemployment.
What's more, Michigan was the only state that reported a statistically significant over-the -year employment decline, with a job loss of 57,000 jobs — that, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 15 other states that recorded statistically significant over-the-year employment changes – ALL of them posted increases.
In January, although Michigan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate tumbled by a full half percentage point, it still had the highest rate in the nation at 7.1 percent.
Vice President Speculation…I think one option would be a VP candidate that could appeal to the blue-collar families in the northwest Detroit neighborhoods where I grew up. This is where my fellow working middle class, Bishop Borgess High School families who typify the Reagan Democrats lived and they are the kind of conservatives we need to win back – real Reagan conservatives.
Two great books I’m reading:
“Real Change”…by Newt Gingrich
“Leave Us Alone”…by Grover Norquist
THE REST OF THE STORY:
WASHINGTON D.C. — U.S. Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) issued the following statement about today’s political vote planned by House leaders on an intelligence bill that will ultimately hinder America’s counterterrorism efforts. House leadership continues to refuse a vote on the bi-partisan, Senate passed update and extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
“Gathering intelligence to defend America’s national security has never been and should never be a political issue,” Walberg said. “On February 17, much-needed updates to the FISA Act expired, and our military and intelligence officials need these tools to protect American citizens from terrorist threats. We need the foreign intelligence surveillance law passed so America's intelligence community can monitor al-Qaida and other terrorist networks without getting permission to listen to foreign terrorists plotting on foreign lands.”
The bi-partisan FISA bill passed the Senate on February 12 in a 68-29 vote. In the following 28 days, House leadership has allowed about 60 other House votes to be held, including a vote to increase taxes on American gas and oil production. However, during that time, not a single vote on intelligence gathering has occurred.
Tonight’s vote is on an intelligence bill that is filled with wasteful earmarks, including $23 million for a National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) in the Pennsylvania district of Rep. John Murtha. Even one of the past heads of the NDIC said that he recognized that a lot of reports from the NDIC were “awful, poorly written, poorly researched, and, in some cases, wrong.”
The bill also diverts funding from critical human intelligence gathering to studies on the “national security” impact of cloud patterns.
“Our military and intelligence officials need the tools to protect American citizens from terrorist threats. American military and intelligence officials need to be able to monitor, without delay, calls of suspected and known foreign terrorists in foreign countries. We must not prevent our intelligence community from being able to monitor Osama bin Laden's phone calls,” Walberg said.
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/METRO/803120375
House leader: Kilpatrick may have to resign
Democratic lawmaker says if the mayor is charged, a lengthy trial could paralyze the city.
Gary Heinlein / Detroit Lansing
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
LANSING D-Redford Township Lansing
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080311/COL33/80311081
Sadly, Kilpatrick still can't own up to lies
March 11, 2008
STEPHEN HENDERSON
In his State of the City speech a year ago, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick issued a challenge. It moved me then. It saddens me now. “Men of Detroit Detroit Detroit
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/OPINION03/803120331
Arrogance links Kilpatrick, Spitzer
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Daniel Howes
Bet embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick never figured another pol's scandals -- namely the prostitution sting that ensnared New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer -- would affect his continuing tenure in office. But it could. As if Kilpatrick's State of the City address Tuesday didn't deliver enough drama, the stunning revelation that the sanctimonious scourge of Wall Street indulged a taste for high-priced hookers and paid for at least one of them to cross state lines means pressure for Kilpatrick to leave is only likely to increase if Spitzer resigns. Why? Because of the standard it reinforces for today's politicians, for how far is too far, for the reminder that few politicians and no CEO in business today -- certainly not one with shareholders and a board of directors -- could pull what Spitzer or Kilpatrick appear to have and survived with credibility.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/METRO/803120365
Mayor sets agenda, calls out critics
He blasts 'lynch mob mentality' of critics
Christine MacDonald, David Josar and Oralandar Brand-Williams / The Detroit
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
DETROIT
Text of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's State of City
3/11/2008, 7:04 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press
(AP) — Members of City Council, distinguished guests, citizens of Detroit America
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/OPINION01/803120382/1007/OPINION
Editorial: State of the city remains on hold
The Detroit
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
For an hour and five minutes, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was at his best as he outlined an aggressive agenda for reviving his city. Kilpatrick delivered his address at Orchestra Hall against the backdrop of the sex and perjury scandal engulfing his administration. But for the longest time, it seemed as if he were going to stare past that elephant in the room and focus determinedly on the progress of his administration and the hopes for the future. It was a rousing speech, filled with new initiatives aimed at easing his citizens' concerns about public safety, education and neighborhood services. Not a word about his personal travails, until the end. And then Kilpatrick blew it. He angrily and audaciously defined the scandal as a bigoted attack, claiming he's been called the n-word; that he and his family have been threatened; and that opponents with an "unethical, illegal lynch mob mentality" are trying to tear him down.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080311/OPINION01/80311084
Mayor fails to admit own failings
FREE PRESS EDITORIAL
March 11, 2008
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick gets at best an “incomplete” for Tuesday night’s State of the City address. At worst, an “incredible” for what he didn’t address and a closing rhetorical flourish in which Kilpatrick declared himself — and his family — to be victims of his self-created problems. Ending a fairly lackluster speech, the mayor said he has faced unprecedented death threats, racial slurs and “a hate-driven, bigoted assault on our family” since the so-called text-message scandal erupted. He called for unity and said he “will continue to focus on building the next Detroit,” without acknowledging that he’s the one pulling focus from the myriad tasks at hand, and diverting money the city could use to get some of the work done.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/COL06/803120426/1081
Is Kilpatrick good for business?
BY TOM WALSH
March 12, 2008
Embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick argued Tuesday night that his six years in office have been good for business, citing increased housing activity and hotel and restaurant development on his watch, implying that Detroit
Detroit
3/11/2008, 6:36 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — About 60 members of Detroit
Obama strategist raises Qs about vote-by-mail in Fla. Michigan
3/11/2008, 6:08 p.m. EDT
By NEDRA PICKLER The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama's campaign has concerns about the possibility of Florida Michigan
Cox: Electricity legislation would bring large rate increase
3/11/2008, 6:19 p.m. EDT
By DAVID EGGERT The Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Attorney General Mike Cox on Tuesday blasted legislation he said would significantly raise electricity prices, re-monopolize Michigan's market and not do enough to cap the cost of wind and other green power. Cox, a Republican, commended Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm for pushing renewable energy measures. But he said the effort shouldn't be tied to bills that would limit competition from alternative power companies and change the way big utilities raise electric rates and pay for new plants. No bill can become law unless the full package is signed.
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/OPINION02/803120324/1085/opinion
Taxes aren't option on roads
Sen. Valde Garcia:
Published March 12, 2008
I am responding to "Higher gas tax plan fuels debate," (LSJ, March 3). In this story, the more specific issue of Michigan Michigan Michigan Michigan
State says it will close Detroit-area prison in 2009
3/11/2008, 7:34 p.m. EDT
By DAVID EGGERT
LANSING Mich. Detroit Wayne County Plymouth Township
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/METRO/803120408/1408/LOCAL
State will shutter prison in Northville Township
Women's facility is the third prison abandoned in Wayne County
Steve Pardo and Christine Ferretti / The Detroit
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
NORTHVILLE TOWNSHIP -- The state announced Tuesday it will close the Robert Scott Correctional Facility in May of next year, transferring the remaining inmates from the women's prison to one in Ypsilanti
Senate votes to change parental consent for abortions
3/11/2008, 6:27 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The state Senate has passed a bill critics say would make it too difficult for girls to get an abortion without their parents' consent. The Senate approved the legislation Tuesday on a 25-12 vote. Four Democrats joined 21 Republicans to support the bill. Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm vetoed a similar measure in 2004. The legislation would create guidelines for judges to consider when deciding whether it's in the best interest of a minor to have an abortion without her parents' approval. The bill also would prohibit a judge from granting a parental consent waiver if the girl already has been denied one by another judge.
http://www.saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=938267
Taboo no longer: Michigan
Posted By David Eggert
March 11, 2008
As once-taboo piercings and tattoos grow in popularity, Michigan
http://www.mlive.com/news/citpat/index.ssf?/base/news-24/120524432553430.xml&coll=3
Simpson bill would ax half of legislators
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
By Chad
Rep. Mike Simpson says the best way to reform state government is to get rid of half the politicians -- including himself. Simpson, D-Liberty Township, is expected to introduce a bill today that would give voters a chance to change the state constitution and create a ``single-house'' Legislature of 74 members, as opposed to the current structure of 110 representatives and 38 senators, saving taxpayers at least $40 million per year, Simpson said. Under the proposed law, Simpson and anyone else now serving in Lansing
4 charged in 1999 arson fire at Michigan State University
3/11/2008, 7:42 p.m. EDT
By TIM MARTIN
EAST LANSING Mich. Michigan State University
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/OPINION01/803120381/1007/OPINION
Wayne County
Across-the-board trims inefficient way to respond to budget deficit
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Wayne County
http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080311/NEWS01/803110326/1002
Casino's fate still in doubt
By MIKE CONNELL
March 11, 2008
The effort to bring a tribal casino to Port Huron Port Huron Romulus
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/METRO/803120407
Detroit
She avoids jail for failing to send help to a boy who called to say his mother was dying.
Doug Guthrie / The Detroit
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
DETROIT Detroit
NATIONAL STORIES
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080311/D8VBAUP00.html
McCain Scolds Obama, Clinton Over NAFTA
Mar 11, 12:09 PM (ET)
By GLEN JOHNSON
ST. LOUIS U.S. Canada Mexico
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25414
HUMAN EVENTS Exclusive Interview: McCain 'Victory Chairman' Carly Fiorina
by Jennifer Rubin
Posted: 03/11/2008
The Democrats want to make an issue of John McCain’s admission that he’s not an expert on the economy. But we are electing a president, not a stock broker. One of McCain’s strengths seems to be his ability to attract superb people to advise him. One of them is his his primary surrogate, Carly Fiorina. Fiorina was one of John McCain’s earliest and most visible advocates. As one of the most widely recognized businesswomen in America
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/854gvvhu.asp
The Veepstakes
There's an obvious winner.
by Fred Barnes
03/17/2008, Volume 013, Issue 26
When John McCain begins his search for a vice presidential running mate, he'll quickly come upon a sad fact. He wants a candidate who will be seen as a plausible president. That's criterion number one. He also wants someone who won't subtract from his campaign in any serious way. That's criterion number two. The unfortunate truth is that few Republicans meet these simple criteria. McCain doesn't have much of a pool to choose from. But his selection matters enormously, all the more because of his age. McCain will turn 72 on the eve of the Republican convention this summer. Choosing a running mate is the first major decision that a presidential nominee makes.
Romney says he'd take Veep, calls McCain "Big Dog"
Jonathan Martin
March 11, 2008
Mitt Romney said in his first interview since departing the GOP race that he would accept the number two position on the ticket and that there is no lingering bitterness between him and John McCain. “I think any Republican leader in this country would be honored to be asked to serve as the vice presidential nominee, myself included," Romney told FOX's Sean Hannity in a broadcast set to air tonight. "Of course this is a nation which needs strong leadership. And if the nominee of our party asked you to serve with him, anybody would be honored to receive that call … and to accept it, of course.”
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/the_specter_of_mccain_democrat.html
The Specter of McCain Democrats
By Froma Harrop
March 11, 2008
A significant slice of Hillary Clinton's supporters -- that is, moderate Democrats -- might prefer McCain over Obama, or so I speculated a few weeks back. It was a hunch based on conversations and some suggestive but hardly definitive poll numbers. Critics of this view waved numbers showing more support for Obama than for Clinton
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/POLITICS01/803120369
Obama defeats Clinton Miss.
Campaigns clash over Ferraro's comment in which she suggested Ill.
Anne E. Kornblut and Peter Slevin / Washington
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
JACKSON Mississippi Pennsylvania Mississippi Clinton
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120528180300228815.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
The Obama Tax Hike
By ANDREW G. BIGGS
March 12, 2008; Page A20
Until recently, Sen. Barack Obama took a responsible position on Social Security, noting the urgency of reform and saying all options should be on the table. But having cornered himself among Democratic activists whose attitudes toward Social Security reform range from demagoguery to denial, Mr. Obama has recently veered sharply left. He now proposes to solve the looming Social Security shortfall exclusively with higher taxes. "Once people are making over $200,000 to $250,000," Mr. Obama says, "they can afford to pay a little more in payroll tax." No shared sacrifice, no outreach to moderates or conservatives, here. Mr. Obama's proposal is to make a significant change to the payroll tax system.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080311/D8VBEHNG0.html
Obama Camp Concerned About Mail-In Votes
Mar 11, 4:14 PM (ET)
By NEDRA PICKLER
WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama's campaign has concerns about the possibility of Florida Michigan
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12835
An Open Letter to Barack Obama
By Jeffrey Lord
Published 3/4/2008 12:08:13 AM
Dear Senator Obama:
Our common denomination, the United Church of Christ, has a suddenly serious legal and financial problem with the Internal Revenue Service. You, personally, are the cause of this problem. Candidly? I think you owe it to those of us who are your fellow congregants to help repair the damage that you have done. As you know, on June 23, 2007, you gave a speech to the United Church of Christ's General Synod during our church's 50th anniversary celebration in Hartford , Connecticut
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/opinion/11patterson.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin
The Red Phone in Black and White
By ORLANDO
March 11, 2008
ON first watching Hillary Clinton’s recent “It’s 3 a.m.” advertisement, I was left with an uneasy feeling that something was not quite right — something that went beyond my disappointment that she had decided to go negative. Repeated watching of the ad on YouTube increased my unease. I realized that I had only too often in my study of America
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080311/D8VBENK80.html
Ferraro's Remarks About Obama Decried
Mar 11, 4:27 PM (ET)
By ANN SANNER
WASHINGTON (AP) - Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she disagrees with Geraldine Ferraro, one of her fundraisers and the 1984 vice presidential candidate, for suggesting that Barack Obama only achieved his status in the presidential race because he's black. In a brief interview with The Associated Press, Clinton New York
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080311/pl_afp/usvote;_ylt=AnxoLyRp7U.EZoTguFZX9Mas0NUE
New race row rocks Democrats as Mississippi
by Evelina Shmukler
March 11, 2008
BILOXI, Mississippi (AFP) - Barack Obama's camp on Tuesday called on his rival Hillary Clinton to fire history-blazing supporter Geraldine Ferraro, after she put the Illinois senator's stunning rise down to his race. The latest controversy ripped between the two campaigns as primary voters in Mississippi Clinton California
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_democrats_struggle_to_maintain_unity
The Democrats' Struggle to Maintain Unity
As the Democrats gear up for the Pennsylvania
Terence Samuel
March 11, 2008
After Sen. Barack Obama's win in Saturday's primary in Wyoming, Democratic voters in the 11 remaining contests, from Mississippi to Puerto Rico, will decide how to dole out a total of 599 delegates between Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton. And, since there is no way in which those outcomes could decide the nomination, the decision will the fall to the now-infamous super-delegates. The long, messy fight for the Democratic presidential nomination will only get longer and messier. I would set aside the big worry among Democrats that the Obama-Clinton Long War will hurt the eventual nominee and elect John McCain to a third Bush term in November.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/us/politics/12dems.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin
Democrats Fight Over Defining ‘Winner’
By PATRICK HEALY
March 12, 2008
With the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination likely to go on for weeks or months, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are battling to define what it means to be winning — and, in some instances, they are overstating their own advantage and understating the gains of the other. The candidates are not only playing to voters in the crucial nominating contests to come, especially the primary in Pennsylvania
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/11/AR2008031102833_pf.html
Spitzer's Troubles May Hurt Clinton
Echoes of the Past Could Drown Out Campaign Messages
By Peter Baker
Wednesday, March 12, 2008; A06
For a supporter, New York Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer (D) sure hasn't done Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) any favors lately. After all, it was Spitzer who, in the view of her advisers, caused the slide that put her where she is today, fighting from behind for the Democratic presidential nomination. A question about his proposal to let illegal immigrants get driver's licenses tripped her up in a debate in late October and ended 10 months of unquestioned dominance in the race for the nomination. Now, his apparent involvement with a prostitution ring has not only distracted attention from her efforts to take down the front-runner, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), it has also brought back unhelpful memories of her own husband's dalliances in office.
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-amywrite5608195mar11,0,4202427.story
Pride goes before a fall
Irreparably damaged, Gov. Eliot Spitzer must resign
New York
March 11, 2008
What a stunner. The last time Eliot Spitzer and "prostitution ring" were mentioned in the same sentence, the reformist governor was enacting a new felony statute to punish human trafficking. Before that, it was Spitzer the crusading attorney general, busting call girl businesses on Staten Island Washington
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=365991
'Moral crusader' gets his comeuppance
Terence Corcoran, National Post
Published: Monday, March 10, 2008
Where to start? There are so many angles in New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's prostitution story -- economic, regulatory, legal, political, police enforcement, corporate, personal, comedic, business, ethics, morality, stupidity, not to mention the somewhat guilty pleasure in seeing a grandstanding corporate-enforcement demagogue go down, sinking under a government operation that looked like a carbon copy of Mr. Spitzer's own modus operandi as the scourge of Wall Street. Right off the top, though, you've got to wonder, for example, about a business where the posted price for the service runs up to $5,500 an hour. Who's monitoring this industry?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120519359147125705.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks
Spitzer's Rise and Fall
The Wall Street Journal
March 11, 2008; Page A20
One might call it Shakespearian if there were a shred of nobleness in the story of Eliot Spitzer's fall. There is none. Governor Spitzer, who made his career by specializing in not just the prosecution, but the ruin, of other men, is himself almost certainly ruined. Mr. Spitzer's brief statement yesterday about a "private matter" surely involves what are widely reported to be his activities with an expensive prostitution ring discovered by the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York. Those who believe Eliot Spitzer is getting his just desserts may be entitled to that view, but it misses the greater lesson for our politics.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03112008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/gov__longshot__101402.htm
GOV. LONGSHOT?
DAVID PATERSON'S UNUSUAL RISE
By FRED SIEGEL
March 11, 2008
NEW York Washington
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080311/NATION/389725931/1001
Democrat's corruption crusade takes hit
By Donald Lambro
March 11, 2008
The accusations that New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer patronized a high-priced call girl tarnishes, if not undermines, the Democrats' attempt to portray the Republican Party as the party of corruption in this year's elections, even as it probably ends his own political career. The stunning confession yesterday by Mr. Spitzer, who had built a national law-enforcement reputation by prosecuting corrupt financiers on Wall Street, turns him into the most prominent political figure in the country to emerge in a recent string of personal and political scandals. Those scandals had seemed to catch more Republicans and led to steep losses for the party in the 2006 elections. "I don't know how he survives this," said New York
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=290040956404368
Taxocratic Rule
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted Monday, March 10, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Fiscal Policy: Jack Spratt may not have been able to consume any fat, but his namesake who chairs the House Budget Committee is making sure the federal government won't be going on a diet anytime soon. Rep. John Spratt Jr., D-S.C., presided over passage on a party-line vote of a $3 trillion budget plan for next year, featuring expansions of domestic programs going nearly 5% above President Bush's budget. It elicited a promise of presidential vetoes on appropriations bills. But House Democrats weren't just promising to deliver more goodies to the many beneficiaries of government largesse that form their political base; they were also promising that doing so would produce budget surpluses by 2012 and 2013.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YzZjOWU1Mjc5OGJkODhmMTkyZTEwZDJlNzQxNTVhZjM=
Taxing Budget
By the Editors
March 11, 2008 7:00 AM
When it comes to the Democrats and taxes, it’s important to look at what they do, not what they say. Very few congressional Democrats possess the candor to admit that they are in favor of letting the Bush tax cuts expire, yet for the second year in a row the Democrats have put forward a budget resolution that assumes rates will snap back to their previous levels. This would constitute a $683 billion tax hike over five years. The Democrats’ budget is just as noticeable for what it leaves out. There is no attempt to address the looming entitlement crisis, as Medicare and Social Security obligations balloon in response to the retirement of the first baby boomers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/washington/12earmark.html?ref=washington
Opponents of Earmarks Gain Ground in Congress
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: March 12, 2008
WASHINGTON Washington