Articles of Interest 5-11-08
177 Days until Election Day
ARTICLES OF INTEREST:
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY…to ours and all the moms…in so many cases, the real unsung heroes. Mother's Day is a time of commemoration and celebration for Mom. It is a time of breakfast in bed, family gatherings, and crayon scribbled "I Love You's."
JOHN McCAIN’S MOTHERS DAY GREETING… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2XTDHltNVU
WALL OF HONOR…we are honoring Michigan Republicans who have served our party in the past…remembering those who have built our party…more info below.
THE REST OF THE STORY:
M - O - T - H - E – R
"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.
Howard Johnson (c. 1915)
WALL OF HONOR…Nominations are currently being accepted for the 2008 Michigan Republican Party Wall of Honor.
Last year marked the inaugural year for the Wall of Honor and we recognized 43 Republican activists from across the state. To submit a nomination this year, or to review the nomination criteria, please download a nomination form at http://www.migop.org/WallOfHonor/.
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
Some want to temporarily cut Michigan's sales tax on gas
5/10/2008, 3:28 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press
OSHTEMO TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Some state Republican lawmakers are proposing to temporarily eliminate Michigan's sales tax on gasoline for the summer driving season. State Rep. Jack Hoogendyk, a Republican from Texas Township, says Friday that: "Eliminating the sales tax isn't a silver bullet, but it is something we can immediately do to help deal with high fuel prices." The Kalamazoo Gazette reports Hoogendyk was in Kalamazoo County to discuss the proposal along with fellow Republicans state Rep. Rick Shaffer of Three Rivers and Rep. Neal Nitz of Baroda outside Bob and Kay's Auto Wash.
Smoking ban likely would be felt by Detroit's casinos
5/9/2008, 5:42 p.m. EDT
By DAVID RUNK
DETROIT (AP) — Betty Gilbert says a proposed ban on smoking that would extend to the city's casinos would keep her away, just like Atlantic City's tough new smoking law will prompt her to cut back on gambling in her home state of New Jersey. Gilbert, smoking a cigarette Friday with members of her bowling team on a sidewalk near downtown's Greektown Casino, predicts that a ban on smoking in Michigan's bars, restaurants and workplaces would hurt casino business. "If they cut out the smoking, they should also cut out the drinking," quipped the 69-year-old from Cape May County. She usually gambles every week in Atlantic City, and expects to visit less frequently once that city's smoking law takes effect.
http://blog.mlive.com/bctimes/2008/05/smokers_bar_owners_say_legisla.html
Smokers, bar owners say Legislature should butt out
Posted by Nicolas Persons
May 11, 2008 07:06AM
Jackie O'Quinn of Bay City is moving south soon, to either Georgia or South Carolina. And after the state Senate's vote to ban smoking in Michigan businesses, the cigar smoker knows he's making the right decision. The smoking ban "makes me feel good about leaving," said the regular customer at Timothy's Fine Tobaccos in downtown Bay City. "I think it would be the equivalent of a restaurant owner telling a customer they can't come in to have lunch," he said. The Michigan Senate on Thursday approved a bill that would ban smoking in Michigan's businesses. The proposal will go back to the House, which approved a similar measure in December. If passed, it will proceed to Gov. Jennifer Granholm for signature as early as next week.
http://theoaklandpress.com/stories/051008/loc_20080510278.shtml
Proposal would clear air, could snuff out business
By JERRY WOLFFE
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Some Oakland County businesses accept it as almost inevitable that smoking will be banned, while others say lawmakers have no right "to step in and tell you what you can do." The comments came Friday, a day after the state Senate voted 25-12 to prohibit smoking in all bars, restaurants and workplaces. The Democratic-led House passed the ban in December. If differences between the two bills are worked out in committee, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who is recovering from her recent surgery, said she would sign the measure into law. Unlike the House version, however, the Senate bill made no special exception for casinos, bingo halls and other buildings.
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginawnews/index.ssf?/base/news-26/121039680963550.xml&coll=9
Business will have to adapt to ban
Saturday, May 10, 2008
THE SAGINAW NEWS
Lenny LeFevre is getting ready to weather the storm over Michigan's likely smoking ban. As general manager in charge of bowling operations for LeFevre's Family Bowl, 6220 State, and Crooked Creek Sports Center, 9387 Gratiot in Thomas Township, he knows the ban will hurt restaurants, bars and bowling alleys in the short term. But he figures that the legislation -- which would prohibit smoking in all bars, restaurants and workplaces by April 1 -- actually could help plenty of businesses in the long term. The state Senate passed the ban 25-12 on Thursday. A House vote comes next, and the bill could make its way to the desk of Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm by next week. She has said she will sign it.
http://www.ourmidland.com/articles/2008/05/10/opinion/editorials/1091293.txt
Our View: Ruling puts an end to pointless legal wrangling
By Midland Daily News editorial board
Published: Friday, May 9, 2008 11:21 AM EDT
When the Michigan Supreme Court Wednesday ruled on the voter-approved ban against gay marriage and also barred governments and state universities from offering domestic partner benefits, it did the state a service. For nearly four years the state has been embroiled in a debate over the "meaning" of the constitutional amendment, which passed 59 percent to 41 percent in November 2004 and recognized only a union between a man and a woman as a marriage. In the majority opinion, the court said domestic partnerships are similar enough to marriages that they cannot be legally recognized in the state and that interpretation prevents public entities such as state universities from offering health insurance and other benefits to gay partners. Whatever side of the debate you are on, the court finally ended a debate that was never really in doubt.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080511/OPINION01/805110304/1007/OPINION
Payment coming due for reckless war
Nolan Finley / The Detroit News
Sunday, May 11, 2008
The bills are coming due for the reckless war on global warming, and they are staggering. Global food prices are up 30 percent since last year, leading to starvation and food riots in the poorest parts of the world, and pinching families everywhere. The sudden price spike is caused in large part by ethanol mandates in the United States that are claiming a third of the corn harvest and 30 million acres that otherwise would be planted in grains and soybeans. The mandates were forced by environmentalists and their political toadies who ignored predictions that ethanol would pit fuel against food. And yet green laws are still being rammed through without assessing their consequences. In Michigan, the Legislature, prodded by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, is near to passing legislation that would mandate the use of renewable fuels in producing electricity.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080511/NEWS06/805110650
Need for food aid grows in state
Government help up 53% since '03
BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF
May 11, 2008
Mike Remenar never thought he'd rely on food stamps and Medicaid to help support his family in comfortable Grosse Pointe Woods. He hasn't found suitable work since losing his job 10 months ago as an auto parts designer. He depleted his unemployment benefits and savings, struggles under a $1,400 monthly mortgage, and the travel agency he and his wife operate at home won't pay the bills. "In the past 10 years, I've been laid off a number of times, but never this long," said Remenar, 60. "Especially living in this community, to be in this position is a bit awkward." Remenar's unexpected dive into public assistance is a testament to the depth of stagnation for Michigan's economy. A record number of Michiganders are using government food stamps -- 1.26 million in 590,600 households during March, according to the Michigan Department of Human Services.
http://theoaklandpress.com/stories/051008/opi_20080510282.shtml
Low turnout proves school elections should be moved
The Oakland Press
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Nine Oakland County school districts conducted elections this week. They could have saved taxpayers money if they had waited until November. As expected, turnout was incredibly low in all of the districts, even though there was competition for office in all but the Lamphere schools. Unofficial figures show that only 4.98 percent of 214,000 registered voters cast ballots in areas of Oakland County that had elections Tuesday. That figure includes the city of Bloomfield Hills, which had an uncontested race for two city commission seats. This ridiculously low turnout was recorded despite contested races in the Clarkston, Clawson, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Lake Orion, Madison, Oak Park and Pontiac school districts. The democratic process was played out in these school systems, but we have to question their fiscal logic.
US Rep. Kilpatrick to face primary challenge in August
5/10/2008, 8:47 a.m. EDT
The Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick is expected to face a challenge in the Democratic primary while her son, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, battles criminal perjury charges stemming from a text-messaging sex scandal. Democratic state Sen. Martha Scott, whose district includes part of Detroit, tells the Detroit Free Press she plans to officially announce her candidacy Monday. Scott says: "I felt I can do it." Former state Rep. Mary Waters of Detroit has said she planned take on the six-term incumbent in the Aug. 5 primary. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick is from Detroit and leads the Congressional Black Caucus. She has faced little opposition since she was first elected to Congress in 1996. A message seeking comment from her was left Saturday by The Associated Press.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080511/OPINION01/805110310/1007/OPINION
Governor shouldn't become involved in Kilpatrick issue
Detroit News
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Pressure is mounting on Gov. Jennifer Granholm to do something about Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. One of the recommendations made last week by William Goodman, attorney for the Detroit City Council, was for the council to ask the governor to remove the mayor under a state law that gives her that authority. The council is expected to vote on it this week. In addition, state Rep. David Law, a Commerce Township Republican, has introduced a resolution in the House calling on Granholm to oust Kilpatrick. Law is running for Oakland County prosecutor, and his measure, since he has no business in the controversy, seems more political grandstanding than a legitimate attempt to help Detroiters. Granholm should resist calls for her to intervene. Detroiters elected Kilpatrick, and Detroiters should remove him.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080510/NEWS01/805110582
Kin, friends do well on Kilpatrick's city payroll
Mayor's office defends hires; Totals excessive, critics say
BY M.L. ELRICK, JIM SCHAEFER and KRISTI TANNER
May 10, 2008
As Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick cut thousands of city jobs, one group has fared well -- the mayor's own friends and family. A Free Press examination of city records shows that at least 29 people with close connections to the mayor have been appointed by Kilpatrick to city jobs since he took office in 2002. That's a significant departure from Detroit's last three mayors, who appeared to have hired far fewer family members or friends. Of those with ties to Kilpatrick, at least eight are relatives. The jobs held by friends and family range from secretarial positions to department heads. In addition to those connected to the mayor, two relatives of Christine Beatty -- the mayor's former chief of staff with whom he carried on an affair -- also were appointed by Kilpatrick to city jobs.
Detroit council makes historic moves in contesting mayor
5/10/2008, 9:01 a.m. EDT
By COREY WILLIAMS
DETROIT (AP) — As she hurried to join fellow City Council members in a closed session regarding Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and a publicly embarrassing text-messaging sex scandal, Martha Reeves flashed a smile born mostly of exasperation. "I want to get back to the tunnel, the Livernois median. I think we should get back to Council business," the former lead singer of Motown's Martha and the Vandellas told reporters. Reeves is one of nine members of a weary and frustrated Council that has become a major player — along with the mayor, his posse of lawyers, prosecutors and even judges — in a scandal that has caught nearly all aspects of city business in its expanding web.
http://macombdaily.com/stories/051008/loc_local01.shtml
Leading the way
140 seek seat on charter commission
By Chad Selweski
Saturday, May 10, 2008
A flood of candidates swept into the Macomb County Clerk's Office on Friday hoping to make history by having a hand in writing the county's first constitution. Friday's deadline for charter commission candidates came three days after county voters on Tuesday approved an overhaul of county government that will put an elected executive at the helm. The 140 candidates are vying to serve on the 26-member panel that will write a "home rule" charter -- a county constitution that maps the future under executive government. Keith Sadlocha of Macomb Township, a high-tech projects specialist for a health care company, said he filed for the charter commission to set a new tone on economic issues.
http://www.dailypress.net/page/content.detail/id/503446.html?nav=5003
State pilot project kicks off in Escanaba
By Julie Knauf
POSTED: May 10, 2008
ESCANABA — Representatives from the state Department of Management and Budget (DMB) and ilumisys, a “green” company based out of Troy, spoke at a press conference Friday at the State Office Building in downtown Escanaba. The event kicked off a pilot project between the public-private partnership titled “flipping the switch for energy savings.” Throughout the next four years, ilumisys, which focuses on next-generation and solid-state lighting technologies, will replace 200 four-foot long fluorescent tubes in the Escanaba building with three successive generations of LED lamps. The first generation was installed last week. The project is a great opportunity to help carry out one of Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s directives for diversifying and growing the state’s economy in the form of alternative energy, said DMB Director Lisa Webb Sharpe.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10132.html
GOP nomination proposal draws critics
By MICHAEL M. ROSEN
5/6/08 8:57 PM EST
A curious and unexpected geographic rift may be opening in the GOP ranks over primary voting in 2012. The controversy relates to a proposed scheme — dubbed the “Ohio plan” — for nominating a Republican presidential candidate four years from now. Disturbed by the ever-advancing start date for the extended White House contest (this year, the Iowa caucuses took place in the first week of January) and by individual states’ determination to leapfrog one another (this cycle, “Super-Duper Tuesday” on Feb. 5 featured balloting in more than 20 states), the Republican National Committee is mulling a comprehensive solution to a nettlesome issue. The problem is that each individual state has an incentive to move its primary or caucus as early as possible so that the candidates, the media and their retinues will shower it with attention (and advertising dollars).
Already, Obama and McCain Map Fall Strategies
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JEFF ZELENY
May 11, 2008
Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are already drawing up strategies for taking each other on in the general election, focusing on the same groups — including independent voters and Latinos — and about a dozen states where they think the contest is likely to be decided this fall, campaign aides said. In a sign of what could be an extremely unusual fall campaign, the two sides said Saturday that they would be open to holding joint forums or unmoderated debates across the country in front of voters through the summer. Mr. Obama, campaigning in Oregon, said that the proposal, floated by Mr. McCain’s advisers, was “a great idea.”
So, Candidates, Who's It Going to Be?
By Chris Cillizza and Shailagh Murray
Sunday, May 11, 2008; A12
Sen. Barack Obama's victory in North Carolina and near-miss in Indiana last week remove much of the doubt about whether he will win the Democratic nomination for president. With Obama the likely Democratic nominee and Sen. John McCain long his party's presumptive nominee, the search for their vice presidential picks can now begin. The Fix -- ever vigilant when it comes to the veepstakes -- is ready. Below, you'll find the five most logical veeps, assuming McCain and Obama are the candidates, ranked in the order of the likelihood of being chosen. No. 1 on each side is currently the likeliest to be named.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-mccain-obama_bdmay11,0,1005225.story
Obama's 2-front battle has given McCain an edge
By Jill Zuckman
May 11, 2008
WASHINGTON — Three months ago, Sen. John McCain made a calculated decision to begin painting a not-so-pretty picture of Sen. Barack Obama. Although Sen. Hillary Clinton was — and still is — battling Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination, McCain began preparing his case against the Illinois senator early on. McCain's advisers, like other observers, had concluded that Obama was the likely nominee and wanted to begin shaping Obama's image while the Democrat was still consumed with fighting Clinton. Defining one's opponent is a key task of any campaign, and simply put, McCain has had a long head start.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aHnMDXBhSBtY&refer=politics
Obama Is Willing to Debate McCain at Town Halls This Summer
By Julianna Goldman and Nicholas Johnston
May 10 (Bloomberg) –
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he'd be willing to campaign jointly with Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, and debate him in town-hall style formats. ``I think that's a great idea,'' Obama, 46, told reporters in Bend, Oregon, today as he campaigned ahead of the state's May 20 primary. ``Obviously we would have to think through the logistics on that, but to the extent that should I, should I be the nominee, if I have the opportunity to debate substantive issues before the voters with John McCain, that's something that I am going to welcome.'' Obama, an Illinois senator, was responding to a question citing reports that McCain's advisers have suggested the two should campaign together this summer, debating at town hall meetings without a moderator.
http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/05/09/wva.aspx
Why Obama Is 'Skipping' West Virginia--and Getting Away with It
Andrew Romano
Posted Friday, May 09, 2008 3:03 PM
The next state on the Democratic primary schedule is, of course, West Virginia, which has Tuesday all to its amoeba-shaped self. Why is it, then, that Barack Obama has yet to book a single stop in, say, Shepherdstown, Charleston, Philippi, Sutton, Fayetteville, Fairlea or Bluefield--all of which have already hosted either Bill or Hillary Clinton? Because he has no chance of winning--and no one seems to care. Appearing on ABC's Nightline back in November 2007, Obama slipped into Bob Dole mode for this slightly overconfident assessment of his electoral chances: "Every place is Barack Obama country once Barack Obama's been there." The Mountain State seems unlikely to confirm his analysis--to put it mildly. Rasmussen released this year's first West Virginia poll in mid-March; it gave Clinton a 29-point advantage.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/09/AR2008050902042.html
The Price of Delay
By David S. Broder
Sunday, May 11, 2008; B07
Three days after last Tuesday's primaries seemingly tilted the Democratic presidential nomination decisively toward Barack Obama, the surprising fact was that almost half the party's senators had not announced a choice between him and Hillary Clinton. Twenty-one of the 49 Democratic senators were publicly silent as the last six primaries approached. Those senators, along with most other Democrats, desperately want the race to be over so the winner can start focusing on John McCain. But Dick Durbin understands their reluctance to step forward ahead of the other 200 or so uncommitted superdelegates who have the power to bring this marathon to an end. As Senate majority whip, charged with rounding up votes on all the major issues, he knows their mind-set well. "They want to avoid hard votes," Durbin told me at midweek, referring to his colleagues. "They want to be spared controversy. Most of them are looking for certainty, for inevitability, before they commit."
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/michelle_vetoes_hillary.html
Michelle Vetoes Hillary
By Robert Novak
May 10, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Close-in supporters of Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign are convinced he never will offer the vice presidential nomination to Sen. Hillary Clinton for one overriding reason: Michelle Obama. The Democratic front-runner's wife did not comment on other rival candidates for the party's nomination, but she has been sniping at Clinton since last summer. According to Obama sources, those public utterances do not reveal the extent of her hostility. A footnote: Support is growing in Democratic ranks for Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland as vice president. He would bring to the ticket maturity (66 years old), experience (six terms in Congress) and moderation (rated "A" by the National Rifle Association). He is very popular in Ohio, a state Republicans must carry to elect a president.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/opinion/10herbert.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin
Seeds of Destruction
By BOB HERBERT
May 10, 2008
The Clintons have never understood how to exit the stage gracefully. Their repertoire has always been deficient in grace and class. So there was Hillary Clinton cold-bloodedly asserting to USA Today that she was the candidate favored by “hard-working Americans, white Americans,” and that her opponent, Barack Obama, the black candidate, just can’t cut it with that crowd. “There’s a pattern emerging here,” said Mrs. Clinton. There is, indeed. There was a name for it when the Republicans were using that kind of lousy rhetoric to good effect: it was called the Southern strategy, although it was hardly limited to the South. Now the Clintons, in their desperation to find some way — any way — back to the White House, have leapt aboard that sorry train.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/andrew_sullivan/article3907239.ece
Hillary Clinton’s suicidal gamble with race poison
Andrew Sullivan
May 11, 2008
From the very beginning, the premise and the promise of Barack Obama’s campaign was that it would transcend race. And last autumn the Obama team also knew this was the only way it could win. The Clinton brand among black voters was so strong, so unbreakable, so resilient a force that even the first credible black candidate for the presidency remained stuck 20-30% behind Hillary Clinton among African-American voters. She was, after all, the wife of the “first black president”, as the author Toni Morrison called Bill. She had almost all the black political establishment behind her.
Clinton's diminishing of black voters
By Derrick Z. Jackson
Globe Columnist / May 10, 2008
IN HER long, sad self-diminution to being merely a white candidate for subsegments of white people, Hillary Clinton claimed to USA Today this week, "I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on." Clinton exploited an Associated Press poll to say how "Senator Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me . . . There's a pattern emerging here." This was on top of Democratic strategist and Clinton supporter Paul Begala saying this week on CNN, "We cannot win with eggheads and African-Americans. OK. That's the Dukakis coalition, which carried 10 states and gave us four years of the first George Bush. President Clinton, you know, reached across and got a whole lot of Republicans and independents to come."
Analysis: 'Hillary Democrats' could be up for grabs
5/9/2008, 7:42 p.m. EDT
By NEDRA PICKLER
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the racially tinged Democratic race drawing to an awkward close, Barack Obama and John McCain face the challenge of winning over "Hillary Democrats" — the white, working-class voters who favored the former first lady over Obama's historic candidacy. Obama and McCain clearly have set their sights on each other, a recognition of the long odds Clinton faces in trying to capture the Democratic presidential nomination. The McCain campaign figures some of her supporters might be up for grabs and won't necessarily vote Democratic in the general election in November. "I've been saying for a year that you never count a Clinton out, but now people are laughing at me so I guess I've got to stop," McCain strategist Charlie Black said Friday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/opinion/11dowd.html?ref=opinion
Is She a Trojan Rabbit?
By MAUREEN DOWD
May 11, 2008
Now Barack Obama faces a true dilemma: how best to punish Hillary Clinton. After 15 months of fighting her off, as she veered wildly from bully to victim, as she brandished any ice pick at hand, whether racial, sexual, mathematical or marital (in the form of her Vesuvian husband), Obama must decide the most efficacious means of doing to Hillary what she has been trying to do to him: putting her in her place. Her last resort is to continue to press the “Psssst — he’s a black man” tactic. She insisted to USAToday, after the North Carolina and Indiana slide, that she has a broader base, citing an Associated Press article “that found how Senator Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10238.html
GOP getting crushed in polls, key races
By JIM VANDEHEI & DAVID PAUL KUHN
5/10/08 12:49 PM EST
Things are so bad that many people don’t even want to call themselves Republicans. The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press has found the lowest percentage of self-described Republicans in 16 years of polling. “The anti-Republican mood is fairly big, and it has been overwhelming,” said Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis. With an environment so toxic, does McCain have even a chance of winning in November? The McCain camp thinks so — but only if he sands down the “R” next to his name. “Nobody ever gets elected president by running on their party label,” said Charlie Black, a senior McCain adviser. “The character, the qualities, the independence — that certainly allows him to rise over the party label. It is more important than usual to rise above the party label.”
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/096pstor.asp
Gloomy Republicans
For good reason?
by Fred Barnes
05/19/2008, Volume 013, Issue 34
First, the good news. Conservatives won a sweeping victory in an enormously important election the week before last. Unfortunately, it happened in England, where Boris Johnson won the race for mayor of London and Conservatives trounced Labour all across the country. Now, the bad news. Prospects for Republicans in the 2008 election here at home look grim. The political environment isn't as bad as it was in 2006 when Republicans lost both houses of Congress and a lot more. But it's close. The empirical evidence is well known. More than 80 percent of Americans believe the nation is heading in the wrong direction. Democrats have steadily maintained the 10 percentage point lead in voter preference they gained two years ago. And President Bush's job performance rating is stuck in the low 30s, a level of unpopularity that weakens the Republican case for holding the White House in 2008.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/09/AR2008050902040.html
Mississippi Harbinger
By George F. Will
Sunday, May 11, 2008; B07
SOUTHAVEN, Miss. -- The 1st Congressional District, the northernmost in the most culturally Southern state, has given the nation William Faulkner and Elvis Presley, and on Tuesday it will have a special congressional election that will test the Republican hope that Barack Obama and his former pastor can be the basis of a Republican strategy to nationalize congressional races to the disadvantage of Democrats. A Senate seat also could be affected by the cascading consequences of Republican Trent Lott's December resignation. Republican Gov. Haley Barbour replaced Lott with 1st District Rep. Roger Wicker, who will be on the ballot in November seeking election to the remainder of Lott's term. Wicker's opponent is former governor Ronnie Musgrove, who has won two statewide elections.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121037876256182167.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
Mississippi's Tort Reform Triumph
By STEPHEN MOORE
May 10, 2008; Page A9
For most of the past 30 years, Mississippi has ranked as one of the poorest as well as one of the most litigious states. The two statistics are related. I met with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour recently, and this politician, best known for helping his state rebuild after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, had a lot to say about lawsuits. "We were America's No. 1 judicial hell hole for jackpot jury verdicts," the two-term Republican governor told me. "For trial lawyers, this was the state you wanted to come to if you wanted to sue someone." But it was not the state to come to if you wanted to start a business. Mississippi's antibusiness reputation was so awful, Mr. Barbour said, that the CEOs of several Fortune 500 companies told him specifically that they wouldn't consider locating in the state unless the tort system was fixed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/opinion/11sun1.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print
Rethinking Ethanol
New York Times
May 11, 2008
The time has come for Congress to rethink ethanol, an alternative fuel that has lately fallen from favor. Specifically, it is time to end an outdated tax break for corn ethanol and to call a timeout in the fivefold increase in ethanol production mandated in the 2007 energy bill. This does not mean that Congress should give up on biofuels as an important part of the effort to reduce the country’s dependency on imported oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. What it does mean is that some biofuels are (or are likely to be) better than others, and that Congress should realign its tax and subsidy programs to encourage the good ones. Unlike corn ethanol, those biofuels will not compete for the world’s food supply and will deliver significant reductions in greenhouse gases.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/dont_give_up_on_sarkozy_just_y.html
Don't Give up on Sarkozy Just Yet
By Jurgen Reinhoudt
May 10, 2008
France's Nicolas Sarkozy has come in for some heavy fire recently. Criticism from the left, of course, has been partisan and predictable. In the wake of the anniversary of his first year in power, however, criticism from the right has begun to mount. The Economist almost seems content in observing that Sarkozy's first year has not seen the full demise of the French welfare state. Sarkozy, writes the illustrious magazine "has brought only limited change to France." It is as if the magazine were contentedly stroking its figurative goatee and saying "We told you so--reforming France simply cannot be done."
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080509113625.2fytcrew&show_article=1
Nuclear missiles parade across Red Square
AFP
May 9 07:37 AM US/Eastern
Nuclear missiles and tanks paraded Friday across Red Square for the first time since the Soviet era but new President Dmitry Medvedev warned other nations against "irresponsible ambitions" that he said could start wars. Marching bands and 8,000 troops goose-stepped across the square, followed by a huge display of heavy weapons including Topol-M ballistic missiles and T-90 tanks, and a fly-by of warplanes. Reviewing his first parade as commander in chief, Medvedev warned against "irresponsible ambitions" that he said could spark war across entire continents.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-kasparov10-2008may10,0,1583292.story
Putin's imperial Russia
Dmitry Medvedev may be the new president, but his predecessor is still the one with power.
By Garry Kasparov
May 10, 2008
MOSCOW -- Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in Wednesday as the president of Russia. Many reports have stated that this is his first elected office, an ignorant portrayal at best. The March 2 presidential election was widely recognized as a fraudulent charade. The presidency was assigned to Medvedev, in the same way he gained his previous titles -- as outgoing President Vladimir V. Putin's campaign manager, chief of staff and deputy prime minister. After the ceremony, Medvedev returned the favor and made Putin prime minister. Putin has balked when asked if he would follow the tradition of government officials hanging the sitting president's portrait in their offices. But the joke going around is that he will indeed have one: a portrait of Medvedev in the president's office looking at a portrait of Putin.
Flames lick at Lebanon
Boston Globe
May 10, 2008
BURSTS OF gunfire in Beirut this week have sparked fears that Lebanon is on the cusp of another civil war. As with its long conflict from 1975 to 1990, outside powers near and far are sure to be drawn into the maelstrom of another fratricidal war among Lebanon's disparate communities. Such a war would be a disaster, and the entire region has an interest in preventing it. There are differing explanations for the origin of the latest clashes between the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and the Shi'ite militia, Hezbollah. The group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, accused the government of provoking Hezbollah's takeover of Sunni neighborhoods and media outlets controlled by Saad Hariri, son of the slain former prime minister Rafik Hariri and leader of an anti-Syrian coalition.
Colby Cosh on Hugo Chávez and FARC: Meet the Western Hemisphere's first state sponsor of terrorism
Posted: May 09, 2008, 5:52 PM
by Dan Goldbloom
Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez has been accused of many things: squandering his country's petroleum income, suppressing opposition media, using his army to intimidate the citizenry, compromising the populace's access to food and even exporting his brand of authoritarian socialism to neighbouring countries by means of publicity and under-the-table cash. Now documents recovered by Colombian soldiers from computers belonging to FARC, Columbia's drug-funded Leninist insurgency, suggest that Chávez may be actively undermining the sovereign government of his western neighbour. If that is the case, the Western Hemisphere may be about to gain its first internationally designated state sponsor of terrorism.
