Articles of Interest 3-16-2008
234 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
We just completed a 3-day “best practices” retreat of state chairs from around the country. We had some great presentations from various chairmen as well as special guests who shared their perspectives including Newt Gingrich, Governor Romney, Nevada Governor Gibbons, Florida Governor Crist, Grover Norquist, and others.
There was an optimistic and excited mood that sent us all home ready to bring about “real change” by electing John McCain our next president. The political environment, political realities, and world affairs creates a “perfect storm” for a McCain candidacy. We can make a difference; we can make it happen!
Monday is the deadline for many businesses to file their annual tax returns...a good time to remember the Dems provided us with a replacement to the long-impugned SBT that is turning out to be even worse than the SBT – and then they added a 29-percent surcharge to an already horrid and too high tax. What kind of geniuses think higher taxes will bring jobs and revitalize our economy?
Michigan House Republicans have a plan to help families stay in their homes by easing the burden when home values go down and taxable values go up, but House Democrats won’t even give the bills a hearing. More below…
THE REST OF THE STORY:
-House GOP plan would help struggling home owners, yet Democrat Speaker Andy Dillon and his cronies won’t even give it a hearing.
The House Republican reform plan prohibits property tax increases if a home's value increases by less than the rate of inflation. The GOP proposal also makes it easier to appeal a property assessment by expanding Board of Review hours and the timeframe between when an assessment is received and when you can appeal.
The statewide deadline to appeal your property taxes at the local board of review begins March 10 in most communities. In addition, many property owners are frustrated by property assessments that do not reflect the current market and the bureaucratic hurdles that come with trying to appeal an assessment. People are also having a hard time selling homes or affording the taxes on a new home.
The GOP proposal won’t affect local government services because the plan limits future tax increases to a reasonable level as opposed to reducing current revenue.
Read more about the House GOP plan here:
http://www.gophouse.com/readarticle.asp?id=4787&District=86
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8VE2JSO0&show_article=1&catnum=3
Clinton Michigan
Mar 15 03:53 PM US
By BETH FOUHY
Associated Press Writer
SCRANTON , Penn.
"It needs to get resolved and hopefully Michigan Clinton Pennsylvania Michigan Denver Michigan Florida Michigan Clinton Michigan
Clinton Michigan
By BETH FOUHY
Associated Press Writer
Mar 15, 4:02 PM EDT
SCRANTON , Penn.
"It needs to get resolved and hopefully Michigan Clinton Pennsylvania Michigan Denver Michigan Florida Michigan
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080315/POLITICS01/803150406
Draft legislation for Michigan
Deb Price and Mark Hornbeck / The Detroit
Saturday, March 15, 2008
WASHINGTON Michigan Michigan Michigan
Hunter says he still prefers splitting the delegates of Michigan
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080315/POLITICS01/803150353/1022
Lawmakers asked to OK primary redo
Michigan
Deb Price and Mark Hornbeck / The Detroit
Saturday, March 15, 2008
WASHINGTON Michigan
"At this time, we are focusing on the possibility of a state-run primary in early June, which would not use any state funding. This option would require the passage of legislation by the state Legislature, and we look forward to working with the members of the Legislature in the coming days to see if this option can be made a reality," U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and Democratic National Committee member Debbie Dingell said in a joint statement.
The DNC refuses to recognize Michigan Michigan
http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080315/NEWS01/805845056
Reform package to address mortgage ill, Richardville says
by Charles Slat
March 15. 2008 12:44AM
Legislation that would regulate mortgage brokers in Michigan Michigan
Rep. Richardville said the legislation is one of the major accomplishments in his first year presiding as chairman of the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee. He discussed the bills during a legislative update to the Monroe County Chamber of Commerce at Ambassador Hall on Friday. He noted that the foreclosure problems affect everyone because when a house goes into foreclosure, it affects the property values of homes nearby. "Whether you have a financial problem or not, this affects you," he said.
Wayne Co. prosecutor says she knows her decision on Detroit
Mar 15, 8:24 AM EDT
DETROIT Detroit
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080316/NEWS01/803160577/1003
Mayor, backers pray as decision on charges looms
BY BEN SCHMITT
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
March 16, 2008
Preparing for what could be a tense week politically, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick met with 25 of his supporters Saturday to shore up support and prayers as the Wayne County
The meeting at City Hall comes a day after Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said she has made her decision in whether to charge Kilpatrick in the text message scandal.
About 25 pastors and union and business leaders gathered with the mayor for what they described as a prayer session. Malik Shabazz, leader of the New Black Panthers in Detroit
"We went to pray," Shabazz said. "Our mayor is a praying mayor. He believes in the power of prayer, and so do we. "We were not there asking the mayor to resign, emphatically no. Nor should he resign." The Rev. Horace Sheffield, pastor of New Galilee Baptist Church Detroit
"No matter how tough you are, these kinds of times can be very trying," Sheffield
Worthy made her comments Friday in an interview taped for WDIV's "FlashPoint" to air at 10 a.m. today on Local 4.
Shabazz said the prayer session began at 10 a.m. and lasted about two hours. Others in attendance included Kilpatrick's chief of staff, Kandia Milton, and local union leaders Willie Hampton and Jimmy Settles.
Late last month, Kilpatrick called a private meeting with about 30 union leaders to plead for their support as the City Council prepared to vote on a resolution asking the mayor to resign. Some union members called council members, urging them to delay the vote. The vote was postponed until Tuesday.
E-mails requested from attorney general, secretary of state
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
Associated Press Writer
Mar 15, 6:56 PM EDT
LANSING , Mich. Secretary
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/heights_struggles_to_fix_perva.html
Muskegon Heights
by Federico Martinez | The Muskegon
Sunday March 16, 2008, 8:44 AM
Signs of spring are in the air: Birds are singing. The sun is shining. And cars are going bumpity-bump. Nowhere has that been more prevalent than Muskegon Heights Muskegon Heights City Hall Sanford Summit Muskegon County Michigan Muskegon Heights
NATIONAL STORIES
eBay's Meg Whitman to co-chair McCain's campaign
Sat Mar 15, 2008 8:02pm EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Meg Whitman, eBay Inc.'s outgoing chief executive officer, will co-chair the national presidential campaign of U.S. Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. The organization said on Friday Whitman, 51, would play a lead role in the campaign's financing and policy development. Since Whitman joined eBay in 1998, the 30-employee start-up has been transformed into a Fortune 500 company with nearly $8 billion in revenue. This success made Whitman one of the most powerful women in business and earned her a ranking among Time Magazine's list of the world's most influential people. Whitman announced in January that she would step down from the helm of eBay on March 31 and spend more time on philanthropy and politics. She previously worked as a fund-raiser for McCain's rival, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who bowed out of the presidential race on February 7.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080315192610.stkxtxzt&show_article=1&catnum=3
McCain heads to Iraq, Middle East
Mar 15 03:26 PM US
US Republican presidential candidate John McCain travels to Europe and the Middle East in the week ahead -- including a reported stop this weekend in Iraq -- to burnish his senior statesman credentials while Democratic rivals brawl back home.
The Arizona Jordan Israel Britain France Iraq US Iraq
The delegation was to meet with US military officials and Iraq Iraq
When contacted by AFP, McCain campaign aides were not able to confirm the Iraq University of Texas Israel
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25492
McCain Benefits from the Off-Balance Media
by Jennifer Rubin
Posted: 03/14/2008
For every major story, the mainstream media establishes a “narrative” -- the acceptable characterization of events to which they all adhere, adding their own dashes of bias and creativity. But in this election year, they haven’t yet established a narrative because whenever they establish the pro-Democrat theme du jour, events keep proving them wrong. The first narrative was that the Democrats would quickly wrap up their race and leave the Republicans to fight among themselves for months. This, we were told, would be horrible for the Republicans prospects, revealing all their internal divisions and making it impossible for them to later mount a unified front against the Democrats. When that proved incorrect and the Democratic race lumbered on, the media pundits then declared that this was a good thing for the Democrats. The race was generating enthusiasm and huge voter turnout and the candidates were so well-behaved that the party would quickly come together to battle John McCain in the general election. Well, that seems increasingly unlikely with each passing day. (Even Nancy Pelosi can see that a “dream ticket” with both candidates is impossible since Hillary Clinton declared her opponent unqualified to be commander-in-chief.) What we have seen (contrary to what the constantly off-balance MSM would have liked to have occurred) is that the Democrat candidates have begun to inflict potentially serious and long-lasting damage on each other. More importantly, they have done the work in undermining each other that McCain could never have possibly done himself. And their handiwork is not limited to a single issue.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120553936399438277.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
The Conservative Case for McCain
By MARK SANFORD
March 15, 2008
Last week, I asked David Walker, the U.S. Washington U.S.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25504
Your Second Amendment Rights Take the Stand
by Ericka Andersen
Posted: 03/14/2008
Individual American gun owners’ constitutional rights lie in the hands of the Supreme Court this Tuesday when they hear the case of District of Columbia free state District of Columbia Georgetown University Law Center Washington DC
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/03/15/ST2008031502430.html?hpid=topnews
D.C.'s Gun Ban Gets Day in Court
Justices' Decision May Set Precedent In Interpreting the 2nd Amendment
By Robert Barnes
Washington
Sunday, March 16, 2008; Page A01
Despite mountains of scholarly research, enough books to fill a library shelf and decades of political battles about gun control, the Supreme Court will have an opportunity this week that is almost unique for a modern court when it examines whether the District's handgun ban violates the Second Amendment. The nine justices, none of whom has ever ruled directly on the amendment's meaning, will consider a part of the Bill of Rights that has existed without a definitive interpretation for more than 200 years. "This may be one of the only cases in our lifetime when the Supreme Court is going to be interpreting the meaning of an important provision of the Constitution unencumbered by precedent,'' said Randy E. Barnett, a constitutional scholar at the Georgetown University Law Center. "And that's why there's so much discussion on the original meaning of the Second Amendment.'' The outcome could roil the 2008 political campaigns, send a national message about what kinds of gun control are constitutional and finally settle the question of whether the 27-word amendment, with its odd structure and antiquated punctuation, provides an individual right to gun ownership or simply pertains to militia service.
"The case has been structured so that they have to confront the threshold question," said Robert A. Levy, the wealthy libertarian lawyer who has spent five years and his own money to bring District of Columbia
For Democrats, Increased Fears of a Long Fight
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JEFF ZELENY
Published: March 16, 2008
WASHINGTON
While many superdelegates said they intended to keep their options open as the race continued to play out over the next three months, the interviews suggested that the playing field was tilting slightly toward Mr. Obama in one potentially vital respect. Many of them said that in deciding whom to support, they would adopt what Mr. Obama’s campaign has advocated as the essential principle: reflecting the will of the voters.
Mr. Obama has won more states, a greater share of the popular vote and more pledged delegates than Mrs. Clinton.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080315184820.ctmb6rsn&show_article=1&catnum=3
Racism, sexism charges poison White House race
Mar 15 02:48 PM US
With Hillary Clinton running to be the first woman in the Oval Office and Barack Obama bidding to be the first black president, charges of racism or sexism were inevitably never far from the surface. But some are becoming concerned that the level of debate in the battle between the two Democratic candidates is sinking to new lows and detracting from the party's main aim of ousting the Republicans from the White House. Last week, Obama's campaign was up in arms accusing Clinton Illinois California
She resigned from Clinton Clinton
It was a deliberate swipe at Clinton, who in January had appeared to choke back tears at a New Hampshire Mississippi
On the other hand, some have noted that Obama's mixed race origins -- his father was from Kenya Kansas
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25496
Obama Spend-O-Rama
by Ross Kaminsky
Posted: 03/14/2008
Late Wednesday afternoon, Sen.Wayne Allard (R-Co.) introduced Amendment 4246 into the Senate budget debate. The amendment, which Allard calls “The Obama Spend-o-Rama” proposes funding 111 of the 188 spending proposals put out so far during Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) presidential campaign. (These were the proposals which Allard’s staff had time to analyze before the GOP leadership asked him to offer the amendment on the floor.) According to Allard, “There are another 77 proposals with unknown cost estimates that will add billions to this number.” (Click here to read Senator Allard’s Fiscal Responsibility Floor Statement.) Allard freely admits that he will oppose his own amendment and urges other Senators to do the same. But, as a senior Senate staffer pointed out to HUMAN EVENTS, “Let’s see how many Senators who have endorsed Obama will actually vote for his budget.” Some of the numbers around the federal budget are incomprehensibly large. How do you wrap your mind around a 5-year cost of $1.4 trillion? Senator Allard offers some comparisons to help with that mental exercise:
• This new spending, if enacted, would represent an almost 10% increase over the President’s FY 2009 budget.
• This $300 billion spending proposal would cost more than 42 states’ budgets combined (general fund expenditures).
• It is more than the United States
• It is more than 60% larger than any one-year federal spending increase, ever.
An initial draft of the Amendment which was obtained by HUMAN EVENTS shows its purpose of “raisi(ng) taxes by an unprecedented $1.4 trillion for the purpose of fully funding 111 new or expanded federal spending programs” and, referencing S. Con. Res. 70, the Fiscal Year 2009 budget proposal, lists 111 items in the format of “On page 11, line 4, increase the amount by $5,120,000,000.”
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25509
Quid Pro QuObama?
by Erick Erickson
Posted: 03/14/2008
On the day Hillary Clinton’s campaign unloaded a press dossier on Barrack Obama’s mentor, the rabidly anti-American “preacher” Jeremiah Wright, who years ago presided at the marriage of Barrack and Michelle Obama, the Obama campaign sought to divert attention by releasing Obama’s list of earmarks requests. Perhaps he should have released something else. Let’s follow the money to see if we can find the change Obama has been talking about. In 2006, Barack Obama requested an earmark of $1 million for the University of Chicago Hospital. It just so happens that Michelle Obama is the Vice President for Community Affairs at the hospital. As Byron York notes, Michelle Obama made $121,910.00 in 2004 before her husband was elected to the United States Senate. In 2005, after Obama won his election, she made $316,962.00. According to the New York Times, the hospital denies that Michelle Obama ever lobbied her husband on behalf of her employer for the $1 million. Barack Obama hopes for change in Washington
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8VE5DQO0&show_article=1&catnum=3
Obama Expands Delegate Lead
Mar 15 07:05 PM US
By MIKE GLOVER
Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama expanded his fragile lead in delegates over rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday, picking up at least seven delegates as Iowa activists took the next step in picking delegates to the national convention. Half the 14 delegates allocated to John Edwards on the basis of caucus night projections switched Saturday and Obama got most, if not all, of them.
Iowa Democratic Party officials said that with more than 86 percent of the delegates picked, Obama claimed 52 percent of the delegates elected at county conventions on Saturday, compared to 32 percent for Clinton Iowa Clinton Clinton
Counting Iowa Clinton Clinton
Edwards finished second in the state's leadoff precinct caucuses on Jan. 3, but those caucuses are only the first step in a complicated process of picking the state's 45 pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8VE2OQG0&show_article=1&catnum=3
Obama Decries Racial Rhetoric
Mar 15 04:04 PM US
By TOM RAUM
Associated Press Writer
PLAINFIELD , Ind.
Obama cited inflammatory remarks made by his pastor that are now being used as political ammunition against him—remarks that Obama has denounced.
"If all I knew were those statements I saw on television, I would be shocked," Obama said. Obama suggested that more and more is being made of racial divisions as his contest with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton heats up.
"The forces of division have begun to raise their ugly head again," Obama said.
"It reminds me: We've got a tragic history when it comes to race in this country. A lot of pent-up anger and mistrust and bitterness. This country wants to move beyond these kinds of things." The Illinois Chicago
Obama said that pointing out racial differences only makes it harder to "deliver on the big issues we face in this country," which he said include health care, the slumping economy, terrorism and caring better for veterans. Obama, whose mother's family was from Kansas Kenya America Plainfield High School Indianapolis Pennsylvania Indiana Indiana North Carolina Pennsylvania
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080315183439.60xsb489&show_article=1&catnum=3
White House hopeful Obama condemns Tibet
Mar 15 02:35 PM US
US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama condemned the Chinese crackdown on protestors in Tibet Beijing Illinois Tibet Tibet India Beijing Tibet Beijing China Tibet China
"Now is the time for Beijing China Tibet Tibet
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/america-obama-wright-1998925-rev-bless
Obama's pastor disaster
MARK STEYN
Syndicated columnist
Saturday, March 15, 2008
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright thinks that, given their treatment by white America America America America America
Ah, well, no, the senator told ABC News. The Rev. Wright is like "an old uncle who says things I don't always agree with." So did he agree with goofy old Uncle Jeremiah on Sept. 16, 2001? That Sunday morning, Uncle told his congregation that the United States New York
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9051.html
Story behind the story: Obama's pastor
By: Mike Allen
Mar 15, 2008 08:10 AM EST
Politicians know a troublesome story has “broken through” the Eastern media echo chamber when Jay Leno is laughing at them. In the case of the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., retiring pastor and outgoing spiritual adviser to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), it took less than 48 hours. The fracas started Thursday morning, when ABC’s “Good Morning America” ran a Brian Ross expose on Wright that included old video of him saying: “The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God bless America’? No, no, no. Not God bless America America
Political reporters and editors were inundated with e-mails from red-state friends and relatives wanting to know why the brouhaha wasn’t getting more instant and constant coverage from every news outlet. To reporters who had followed the campaign, it was an old, oft-written story. But this time it had video of Wright saying things like “U.S. of K.K.K.A.,” available on YouTube and played endlessly by cable news channels.
A key part of Obama’s case is electability — the notion that he can heal the nation’s red-blue divide by appealing to Republicans, or “Obamacans,” as he gleefully calls these crossover supporters. The coverage of Wright's comments bolstered the effort by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to raise vague doubts about the judgment of her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination. And it revived conservative chatter about Obama’s patriotism that has been fueled by rumors he does not put his hand on his heart for the Pledge of Allegiance (false) and stopped wearing a flag lapel pin (true).
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25506
She's No Jackie O
by Michelle Oddis
Posted: 03/14/2008
Is Barack Obama’s wife as charismatic as he? Though the mainstream media would have us believe so, anyone who’s read her remarks over the past few months couldn’t help be convinced that Michelle Obama may be as much of a help to her husband as Bill Clinton has been to his wife. It’s all part of the “Obamalot” parody: if the Kennedy administration was “Camelot”, then -- the fawning media insist -- an Obama administration must be its second coming. And if Barack is to play the role of JFK, that leaves M.O. to play Jackie-before-O. But the media hasn’t made much headway in convincing us that she’s the second coming of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In fact, I probably have as much in common with Jackie O as the lady whose initials I share. Just how would Michelle Obama’s modus operandi compare to Jackie O’s?
So here it is: M.O.’s m.o. by M.O. In the past few months too many articles have been published with titles such as, “Michelle O suited to be the next Jackie O” and “Michelle O meets Jackie O.” It makes a good title, great alliteration, but the last initial in their names is about the only thing that Jackie Onassis and Michelle Obama have in common. Not that Obama-promoter Katie Couric could see that. She is one of those who have swallowed this myth-making hook, line and sinker. “At a time when her husband is benefiting from the Kennedy family’s collective thumbs-up -- with formal endorsements this week from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and his son, Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, as well as Caroline Kennedy -- Michelle’s modish but modern allusion to Jackie was more than auspicious,” said the Politico. Many of these articles interview Shelly Branch, a Wall Street Journal editor and co-author of What Would Jackie Do? a national bestseller that describes itself as an “Inspired Guide to Distinctive Living.” The book has 10 chapters consisting of topics like how to throw a good party, how to dress elegantly, how to decorate your home, and how to “have your way with powerful men.” Hardly issues that Michelle Obama has pushed into public discourse through out her husband’s campaign.
Surface items may match up, political husbands, bouffant hairstyles, outfits -- but Jackie O always kept herself well away from political activism. Jackie said things like “I want minimum information given with maximum politeness,” and “I want to live my life, not record it.” She remained out of the lime light of political opinions. In contrast, it seems that Michelle Obama embraces political activism with glee, and can hardly keep her mouth shut.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9053.html
Obama, Clinton
By JONATHAN MARTIN & MIKE ALLEN | 3/16/08 7:35 AM EST
The Democratic race has entered its World War I phase, a bloody fight between two adversaries making only the most incremental of gains. And there is no reason to think either side will emerge from the trenches anytime soon.
There are 10 scheduled contests left, but thanks to proportional allocation, not enough pledged delegates to be had for either Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton to clinch the nomination. And, because of increasingly firm demographic voting trends, it appears to be a foregone conclusion who will capture most of the states left.
So on June 3rd, when South Dakota Montana
That means two-and-a-half months of conference calls, attacks, counter-attacks and millions of dollars spent all to move the political needle just a few inches.
“It’s going to be a long, hard slog,” predicted Jim Jordan, a veteran Democratic strategist not working for either candidate. “It’s not good for the party.”
Pennsylvania Indiana North Carolina Florida Michigan
http://www.newsweek.com/id/123582
The Deep Blue Divide
For months, Democrats were just thrilled with their choices. Now they can't even stand to sit together.
By Julia Baird | NEWSWEEK
Mar 24, 2008 Issue
For the past five years, a group of friends, mostly military wives or retired government workers, have been meeting for lunch at an Italian restaurant called Amici's in a strip mall in Stafford , Va. Clinton Virginia Texas Clinton Clinton