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May 05, 2008

Articles of Interest 5-5-2008

183 Days until Election Day
 
MORNING UPDATE:
 
CINCO DE MAYO…
Republicans joined in activities around the state this weekend as Hispanics celebrated Cinco de Mayo. Special thanks to the Michigan Republican National Hispanic Assembly and the Sojourner Truth Womens Republican Club for their effort over the weekend. Our party’s philosophy is a natural fit with Hispanic Americans everywhere…share, reach out, include and recruit our friends!
 
YARD WORK DAY…yesterday, after catching some of the morning news shows, my “honey do” list was pretty long. We spent a gorgeous day working outside, cleaning up and catching up around the house. I hope everyone’s ready for a busy week!
 
MC CAIN IN MICHIGAN…Senator McCain will be in Michigan for a fundraiser and Town Hall meeting next week. Details below…join us where you can.
Mc Cain’s Town Hall flyer here:
 
 
HOUSE REPUBLICAN DINNER…TODAY…Governor Pawlenty will be our featured guest on May 5th at the Rock Financial Center in Novi…more info below.
 
SMOKIE WALL INFO…long time Republican activist and friend Smokie Wall passed away Saturday morning. Please keep Gerry (Roscommon County Chair) and the rest of their family in your prayers. Funeral & Visitation info below.
 
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--HOUSE REPUBLICAN DINNER DETAILS - TODAY
 
Today, the HRCC will be holding its annual dinner on May 5th. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty will deliver the keynote. This will be a great event. Details including location, time and cost below.
 
Diamond Center
Rock Financial Showplace
46100 Grand River Avenue
Novi, MI 48374
To RSVP please call 517-371-1830 or mihrcc@gmail.com
 
5:00 – 6:00 PM ~ VIP Reception
$5,000/Couple
 
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM ~ Strolling Dinner
$1,000/Person
$5,000/Silver Sponsor*
$10,000/Gold Sponsor**
$20,000/Platinum Sponsor***
 
*Silver sponsors will receive 5 tickets to dinner, or 2 tickets to attend the VIP reception
**Gold sponsors will receive 10 tickets to dinner, including 2 tickets to attend the VIP reception
*** Platinum sponsors will receive 20 tickets to dinner, including 4 tickets to attend the VIP reception
 
--Senator John McCain has two events for people to attend here in Michigan!
 
Tuesday night May 6, Senator John McCain will be attending a Fund Raising Reception hosted at the home of Peter and Danialle Karmanos with special guest Governor Mitt Romney.  The cost is $2,300 per person and you should contact Sarah Prues Hecker at 313-586-4314 or sarah@prueshecker.com for more information and to RSVP.  The event starts at 5:30 PM.
 
Wednesday morning Senator John McCain will also hold a Town Hall Meeting at Oakland University in the Shotwell-Gustafson Pavilion (adjacent to Meadow Brook Hall) at 280 South Adams Road in Rochester.  There is no cost to this event, no tickets are needed, and doors open at 8:00 AM.  You can RSVP at Michigan@JohnMcCain.com.
 
--FRIENDS,  VISITATION & SERVICES FOR SONJA “Smokie” WALL  
IMMANUEL BAPTIST CHURCH.
VISITATION 4:00-6:00P.M. SERVICE 6:30P.M. MONDAY MAY 5, 2008.
 2794 W. MAPLEHURST, ROSCOMMON, MICHIGAN PHONE 989-275-4363.
 
SERVICES IN TAYLOR, MI. WILL BE MAY 6 & 7, 2008
AT HOWE PETERSON FUNERAL HOME
9800 TELEGRAPH RD. TAYLOR MI. 48180; PHONE 313-291-0900

 
 
STATE STORIES
 
 
 
Opponents give up on Corriveau recall
 
By TONY BRUSCATO
OBSERVER Staff Writer
 
State Rep. Marc Corriveau, D-Northville, won't have to worry about a recall vote on the Aug. 5 primary ballot after all.
 
Michigan Taxpayers Alliance leader Leon Drolet Thursday turned in more than 16,000 signatures to the Michigan Secretary of State office for the recall of House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, but admitted the group didn't have enough signatures to recall Corriveau, whose 20th House District includes the Plymouths, Northvilles, a part of Canton Township and the city of Wayne.
 
"We just didn't have enough money," Drolet said. "The Democrats hired an army of blockers who surrounded petitioners at the local library, township hall or post office; intimidating people as much as possible and blocking them from getting to the petitioners.
 
 
 
Rogers rallies party faithful
 
By Kristofer Karol
DAILY PRESS & ARGUS
 
It was something the congressman didn't want to hear or see after visiting students at Okemos High School. Students seemed dejected with the state of the country
"They honestly believed the world was going to combust in 26 minutes," said U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton. "I was shocked — shocked, and said, oh, wow, what work do we have to do.' "
 
Rogers stressed the importance of getting Americans to believe in America again and how Democrats' increased taxation and regulation are hindering the country's progress during his keynote address at the Livingston County Republican Party's annual Lincoln Day Dinner Friday evening.
 
 
 
Central Michigan student ends plans to run for House
 
5/4/2008, 3:55 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press             
 
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (AP) — A Central Michigan University student who has drawn attention for his clashes with university administrators over the hiring of an assistant professor says he's ended his campaign the state House.
 
Dennis Lennox in March announced his candidacy for the seat covering parts of northern Michigan including Antrim, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Otsego counties.
 
Lennox tells CM Life the decision came after incumbent Republican Kevin Elsenheimer on Friday decided to run for reelection in the 105th district instead of leaving to run for the Michigan Court of Appeals.
 
 
 
Elsenheimer Shuffle: Lennox, Ramsey Father Out, Elsenheimer Back
 
by: chetly
Sun May 04, 2008 at 19:59:37 PM EDT
 
Kevin Elsenheimer is back in the 105th state house race, running now for his final term, after backing out of his bid for Michigan Court of Appeals. That effectively quashes the multi-person primary of interesting personalities - including Dennis Lennox of Central Michigan University videotaping fame, and John Ramsey, of national fame for being the father of murdered child Jon Benet Ramsey.
 
 
 
Detroit group to woo workers in creative jobs
It plans Web site, aid for small firms
 
BY JOHN GALLAGHER • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • May 4, 2008
In their efforts to attract more workers to the so-called creative economy, metro Detroit's business leaders are getting, well, creative.
 
The corporate leadership group Detroit Renaissance expects to launch a Web site in early June devoted to the region's creative economy. A marketing campaign to highlight the region's creative assets should go public at the same time.
And, looking ahead, Detroit Renaissance hopes to open a creative incubator in a downtown building on Woodward Avenue in a year to nurture small but promising creative businesses.
 
 
 
Mich. Constitution requires no handoff if gov. in surgery
 
5/4/2008, 8:48 a.m. EDT
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
The Associated Press             
 
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — As Gov. Jennifer Granholm prepared to undergo surgery last Tuesday for an intestinal blockage, no mention was made of handing over power to Lt. Gov. John Cherry while she was under the knife.
 
Michigan's most recent state constitution, adopted by voters in 1963, doesn't allow the governor to temporarily hand over power to the lieutenant governor if incapacitated while still in the state, according to Richard McLellan, a Lansing lawyer and longtime Republican activist.
"She cannot delegate her powers," said McLellan, an adviser to former GOP Gov. John Engler. "It's not like she (could have and) didn't. The constitution prohibits her from doing so."
 
 
 
Government officials get input on Great Lakes levels study
 
5/4/2008, 12:34 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press             
 
MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) — Government officials gathering public input on a massive Great Lakes water levels study were told during a meeting in Michigan to tread lightly when tinkering with the lakes.
 
The $15 million study funded by the International Joint Commission is examining whether actions are needed to help stabilize water levels in lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron. The IJC advises the U.S. and Canadian governments on Great Lakes.
 
Few of the 75 people at a meeting Saturday at Grand Valley State University's Annis Water Resources Institute called for a quick fix, The Muskegon Chronicle reported.
 
 
 
Consumer behaviors change to meet gasoline price increases
 
by LaNia Coleman | The Saginaw News
Sunday May 04, 2008
 
We cope in different ways. Birch Run retirees Joyce E. and Steven D. Vesperman will plant a larger garden, can more provisions and pare their grocery bill.
Saginaw Township couple Andrew and Julie A. Csongradi stretch out the time they spend apart in their commuter marriage.
 
Oakley student and single mother Brandi N. Escamilla clips coupons, skips eating out and scrimps on her wardrobe. Saginaw Township newcomer James P. Eitel moved closer to work.
 
 
 
Muskegon armory hall dedicated to soldier killed in Iraq
 
5/4/2008, 3:35 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press             
 
MUSKAGON, Mich. (AP) — The Army Reserve's 180th Transportation Company has dedicated an assembly hall at a Muskegon armory to a soldier killed in Iraq.
 
Twenty-one-year-old Army Sgt. Brad A. Wentz of Gladwin died May 20, 2005 when his convoy came under attack along a main supply route. The Muskegon Chronicle and WOOD-TV report a dedication ceremony was held Saturday.
Wentz was assigned to the Muskegon-based 180th.
 
 
 
Prosecutor appeals ruling in Meijer campaign violations case
 
The Associated Press             
 
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A prosecutor has appealed a judge's ruling that he has no authority to investigate whether retail chain Meijer Inc. acted illegally by trying to unseat Acme Township officials in a fight over a proposed store development.
 
Circuit Court Judge Philip Rodgers Jr. last month ruled that Michigan law gives the secretary of state's office exclusive jurisdiction to handle campaign law violations.
Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider filed a brief Friday with the Michigan Court of Appeals.
 
 
 
People power takes over in Flint as organizers promote smart (and energy-saving) commuting
 
by Elizabeth Shaw | The Flint Journal
Sunday May 04, 2008, 12:00 PM
 
FLINT, Michigan -- Grease up the bike gears and dust off the walking shoes: it's time for the warm-up to Smart Commute Week.
 
Smart Commute Week, May 11- 18, will offer a series of Flint-based events to highlight people-powered and alternative transportation to promote environmental health and physical fitness.
 
But the prelude begins this week. First up on Tuesday from 4:30-6:30 p.m., the Friends of the Flint River Trail will host a special reception at the Crim Fitness Foundation in downtown Flint, to offer a sneak peek of a new interactive bicycle education program developed in Flint that will soon be offered across the country.
 
 
 
Equity chief pledges $1M toward $2M WMU baseball stadium fix
 
5/4/2008, 5:44 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press             
 
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — A Chicago investor has pledged $1 million toward a planned $2 million renovation of Western Michigan University's baseball stadium.
 
The Kalamazoo school says Hyames Field will be renamed Robert J. Bobb Stadium to honor the chief executive of Cardinal Growth LP, a 1969 Western Michigan alumnus. The school says Bobb made the pledge as a challenge to other donors and says Western has $600,000 in other pledges.
 
Western Michigan announced Friday the new field will open for the 2009 season. It says improvements will include a media box, two VIP suites, expanded dugouts, 500 chair-back seats and handicap-accessible seats.
 
 
 
Young lawyer is behind Jackson's future
 
Posted by By Chris Gautz | Jackson Citizen Patriot
 
Keeping up with Bruce Inosencio can be exhausting. The successful attorney works at a pace unbearable for some and unsustainable for most.
 
His frantic day, which begins before dawn and ends four or five hours before he is set to wake again, is packed with court dates, reviewing documents, countless client meetings and parental responsibilities.
 
"It's pretty much how I live my life -- full-throttle," he said. "That's what keeps it interesting."
 
 
 
Fouts plans no tax hike for Warren
 
By Norb Franz
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
 
Warren residents worried about economic gloom may not have to worry about higher tax rates.
 
In his first proposed annual budget as the city's chief elected official, Mayor James Fouts said he is mindful of the times and ruled out any millage hikes in developing the $159 million spending plan.
 
"I don't think you can justify a tax increase in an economy as difficult as it is," he said.
 
 
 
Mourning the unborn
Funeral Mass held in reaction to discovery of fetal matter in clinc's trash
 
By JACQUELYN GUTC
Of The Oakland Press
 
Before a white casket little more than two feet long, more than 200 people paid their respects to unborn babies during a funeral service Saturday morning.
 
The crowd filled Farmington's St. Gerald Catholic Church in response to the discovery of medical waste, including some fetal matter, that was found in trash bins behind WomanCare P.C. clinics, including one in Lathrup Village, in early March.
 
Citizens For a Pro-life Society organized the funeral, with help from the Archdiocese of Detroit. The group claims that the medical waste included remains of 23 different unborn babies.
 
 
 
Bipartisan caucus hopes to grow area
Legislators seek resources to aid Greater Lansing
 
Derek Wallbank • Lansing State Journal • May 4, 2008 • From Lansing State Journal
 
A small but booming Delta Township Web services firm wants to expand, potentially adding 600 new high-tech jobs.
 
Trouble is, Liquid Web Inc. needs help to clear the obstacles blocking whichever tax abatements, grants and loans it might need to grow, according to Rep. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge.
"These are exactly the sort of jobs we need in mid-Michigan," Jones said. "This is what we have to do; we have to work together for Greater Lansing."
Enter the Capital Caucus, a group of mid-Michigan lawmakers whose districts include or touch parts of Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties with the goal of securing state resources to grow the Lansing area.
 
 
 
PUBLISHED: Monday, May 5, 2008
 
Recall effort against Bieda fails
Instead, Drolet's anti-tax group says House speaker is target
 
By Chad Selweski
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
The recall campaign targeting state Rep. Steve Bieda has flopped, with organizers
conceding that they were never able to put together a serious effort to oust the Warren Democrat.
 
The recall bid, citing Bieda's 2007 tax votes, was required to submit 8,715 petition signatures by Thursday. But recall leader Leon Drolet said the campaign had taken a different turn by mid-March and the 90-day signature gathering process never went forward.
 
Instead, Drolet's group, the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance, decided to focus all of its attention on an attempt to recall House Speaker Andy Dillon of Redford Township.
 
 
 
BRIAN DICKERSON
After Kilpatrick: A wide range of electoral scenarios
 
BY BRIAN DICKERSON • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • May 4, 2008
 
Could Detroiters really elect a new mayor when they go to the polls this November to vote for a new president?
 
In my Friday column, I described how such a scenario could play out if either Detroit City Council members or Gov. Jennifer Granholm -- both of whom have legal authority to remove incumbent Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office under certain circumstances -- exercise that authority by July 13.
 
 
PUBLISHED: Monday, May 5, 2008
 
Opponents rally against larger library millage
 
By MARK RANZENBERGER
Sun Online Editor
 
The spokesman for the campaign against increasing the property tax for the Chippewa River District Library says members of his group came together to ensure all sides of the issue were discussed.
 
"There never seems to be an opposing point of view to spark discussion," said Todd Olivieri, the treasurer and spokesman the Citizens Against Tax Increases group. The group has formally registered as a ballot issue campaign committee, something that is required of any group that expects to raise and spend more than $1,000.
Olivieri declined to state how much the group expects to spend in its battle against the proposed tax increase, but said, "If we could raise $5,000, we'd be happy."
 
 
 
PUBLISHED: Monday, May 5, 2008
 
Eastpointe legislator is energy point man
Opponents say Accavitti's bill kills choice that keeps rates stable
 
By Chad Selweski
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
 
In the high-powered political battle in Lansing over electricity rates and future energy supplies, Frank Accavitti is the man on the hot seat.
 
The Democratic state representative from Eastpointe pushed through a sweeping legislative package that would increase the rates Michigan homeowners and businesses pay for electric power. The main bill, approved by Accavitti's House committee after 16 months of legislative work, is designed to provide a steady stream of power from the state's utilities for decades to come.
 
With billions of dollars at stake, the tug of war ended in bipartisan House approval of the energy plan on April 17. But the outcome brought howls of protest from critics who said that Accavitti had emerged as a shill for DTE Energy and Consumers Energy.
 
 
 
Troubling sign
Selective enforcement violates free speech
 
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Sunday, May 04, 2008
 
It wouldn't be unusual if Flint taxpayers wind up on the hook for City Hall's ticketing of a political opponent of Mayor Don Williamson over a yard sign.
 
Flint has been on a losing track for several years over litigation, which became an issue in last year's mayoral election. It was pointed out that unless the city wins some appeals of losing verdicts, total liability costs could potentially exceed $12 million in the near future, which would buy a lot of police coverage.
 
The new threat is a suit filed by city parks worker Tony Cole, who was ticketed for posting a sign on the fence at his Dakota Avenue home heralding "Recall Williamson" - a sign in apparent violation of city ordinances.
 
 
 
Economy rains on the Parade of Homes ... But shines on foreclosure tour
 
FLINT TOWNSHIP
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Sunday, May 04, 2008
 
By Joe Lawlor
jlawlor@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6312
 
FLINT TWP. - A weak housing market made the Parade of Homes go bust this year, but a "foreclosure tour" boomed Saturday.
 
The foreclosure tour was so popular, organizers sold out the first tour immediately, and had to schedule two others this weekend. The others sold out as well.
 
Signature Real Estate in Flint Township decided to put together a tour of 10 foreclosed properties, and offer residents a chance to look at them on a bus tour.
 
 
 
Police chaplains more than comforters
They know CPR, stress management
 
BY CHRISTINA HALL • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • May 5, 2008
 
Amid the chaos in the emergency room of Port Huron Hospital, there was a moment of peace. As doctors stuck tubes into critically wounded Capac Police Chief Raymond Hawks, the Rev. Tom Seppo prayed with him.
 
Prayed for his life. Prayed for the doctors working on him. Prayed for his family. The vigil lasted barely three minutes.
 
"I'm sure I'll never forget it," Seppo said of the April 16 visit shortly after Hawks was shot in the line of duty. A rifle blast went through Hawks' arm and ricocheted inside his body after a traffic stop went bad.
 
 
 
Connell: Port Huron can't afford to let Karl Tomion leave
 
When a former Port Huron mayor described Karl Tomion as "the best city manager in Michigan," it had the sound of hyperbole.
 
It wasn't. If Tomion isn't the best city manager in the state, as ex-mayor B. Mark Neal asserted, then he's surely among the best. Tomion is cerebral and courteous, one of those rare people who will take a moment to frame a thought before voicing it. He's also an old hand at the business of running municipalities. He served long stints as the city manager of Dowagiac and Midland before returning to Port Huron, his hometown, two years ago.
 
His decision to resign is a gut punch for an economically struggling community that needs all the wisdom and savvy it can find. Tomion can be replaced, of course, but not likely by someone who can match his knowledge of how things work in Lansing and Washington as well as at the local level.
 
Fortunately, his resignation does not take effect until Dec. 1, which may give him a chance to reconsider. Equally important, it gives him time to shepherd two vital issues -- the final blueprints for the border plaza at the Blue Water Bridge and the congressional push for an Indian-owned casino.
 
 
 
Council can't wait to see Tomion go
The divide between the Port Huron City Council and the city administration is vast -- and it will take more than both groups holding hands around a campfire and singing "Kumbaya" to make things right.
 
Karl Tomion's decision Tuesday to resign as city manager spoke to the chasm. The council's unanimous vote to accept it Saturday confirms it won't be easy to fix.
 
A majority of the council's members seems to believe the city administration is top-heavy and a prime target for cost cutting. As such, there apparently is little need to make the best use of the expertise these professionals offer. Instead, the council often devises policies on its own and expects the administration to make them work.
 
 
 
Illegal dumping more than unsightly
 
By LIZ SHEPARD • Times Herald • May 4, 2008
 
Each time Dan Rhein looks in a St. Clair County drain, he’s bound to be surprised.
“Every time we go out, we see something,” said Rhein.
 
From bags of trash to old appliances, the drain inspector said public dumping is a constant problem that not only makes areas unsightly, but uses county resources and can be harmful to the environment.
 
Rural, secluded roads just outside urban areas are known for being hotspots throughout the county, Rhein said, and spring seems to be the most popular time for the illegal dumping.
 
 
NATIONAL STORIES
 
 
 
McCain is right on health care
 
By Star Parker
Monday, May 5, 2008
 
A gold star to John McCain for his just released plan for reforming American health care.
Analysts will pick apart details and surely will find shortcomings. But directionally, McCain's approach is on the money. Contrary to the vaporous rhetoric of change offered by the Democrats, he has proposed real structural health care reform.
 
The plan boldly takes on key problems in how we deliver health care that have contributed to out-of-control cost escalation. According to a recent University of Minnesota study, health insurance premiums have increased over recent years ten times faster than personal incomes, and by 30 percent from 2001 to 2005.
 
 
 
Carville: If Hillary Gave Obama "One Of Her Cojones, They'd Both Have Two"
 
      The Huffington Post   |   May 4, 2008 01:11 PM
 
The ragin' Cajun, James Carville, offers some...interesting...analysis to Newsweek:
Reminded that Obama continues to narrow the lead that Hillary once enjoyed among superdelegates, Carville quips, "A superdelegate commitment and four bucks will get you a cup of coffee at the Ritz-Carlton."
 
Perhaps he had in mind Joe Andrew, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, appointed by Bill Clinton, who endorsed Hillary on the day she announced for president, and Thursday switched his endorsement to Obama, saying he thinks it's time for the party to come together. Carville takes the view that the longer Obama is out there under scrutiny, the more the voters see his
 
 
 
Thomas B. Edsall
The Huffington Post
 
Clinton Camp Considering Nuclear Option To Overtake Delegate Lead
 
 May 4, 2008 03:03 PM
 
Hillary Clinton's campaign has a secret weapon to build its delegate count, but her top strategists say privately that any attempt to deploy it would require a sharp (and by no means inevitable) shift in the political climate within Democratic circles by the end of this month.
 
With at least 50 percent of the Democratic Party's 30-member Rules and Bylaws Committee committed to Clinton, her backers could -- when the committee meets at the end of this month -- try to ram through a decision to seat the disputed 210-member Florida and 156-member Michigan delegations. Such a decision would give Clinton an estimated 55 or more delegates than Obama, according to Clinton campaign operatives.
 
The Obama campaign has declined to give an estimate.
Using the Rules and Bylaws Committee to force the seating of two pro-Hillary delegations would provoke a massive outcry from Obama forces. Such a strategy would, additionally, face at least two other major hurdles, and could only be attempted, according to sources in the Clinton camp, under specific circumstances:
 
 
 
'Tough' Obama wins seen
 
May 5, 2008
By Christina Bellantoni - RALEIGH, N.C. — Sen. Barack Obama will win the Indiana and North Carolina primaries tomorrow, a top supporter and former Hillary Rodham Clinton backer declared yesterday, prompting the former first lady's campaign to crow that if he doesn't, she deserves to be the nominee.
 
Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Joe Andrew of Indiana, who switched his support in the Democratic presidential race from Mrs. Clinton to Mr. Obama last week, said on "Fox News Sunday" that his candidate faces "tough races," but will win.
"You're going to see him coming back," Mr. Andrew said. "I think he's going to win both because of this energy, this excitement, and because of the fact that people realize that he's got some real plans here, not just political pandering."
 
Clinton aides seized on the remark within minutes and sent reporters a YouTube clip. They also revived talk of a months-old Obama campaign spreadsheet that had predicted he would win Indiana by seven points.
 
 
 
Democrats lose footing for gains in November
 
May 5, 2008
By S.A. Miller and Sean Lengell - "Saturday Night Live" veteran Al Franken should have had an easier run for U.S. Senate in Minnesota against an embattled Republican incumbent but is being dogged by $70,000 in unpaid taxes and is slipping in the polls — just one of the topsy-turvy races clouding Democrats' expectations of big gains in November.
 
The Franken tax flap, a bruising Democratic primary in Oregon and signs of trouble for the Democratic incumbent in New Jersey have Senate Republicans thinking they might salvage a bad election year from a potentially terrible one.
 
Republicans face no easier task in the House, and have little chance of wresting control of the chamber from Democrats in November. Yet a few vulnerable Democratic seats give Republicans hope of chipping away at the majority's 235-199 advantage.
The unexpected twist is welcome for Republicans, who are grappling with economic woes that voters typically blame on the president's party, continued dissatisfaction with the Iraq war and a huge fundraising disadvantage.
 
 
 
Earmarks in Form, if Not Process, Are an Issue for McCain
 
By MICHAEL COOPER
Published: May 4, 2008
 
The campaign trail has recently taken Senator John McCain — the scourge of earmarked, pork-barrel spending in Congress — across the Alabama River on the Gee’s Bend ferry, to one of his old Navy posts at Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Fla., and to the Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pa., where he marveled at the new technology.
 
Mr. McCain greeted supporters at the Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pa.
Each one of these campaign stops visited a place that received some money from — you guessed it — Congressional earmarks, as Democrats have gleefully pointed out.
 
Mr. McCain, who has vowed to veto all earmarks as president and to “make the authors famous,” said this week that he understood that some earmarked projects were worthwhile and deserved money.
 
 
 
Obama, Clinton Debate Gas Tax Holiday
 
By Zachary A. Goldfarb
 
Sen. Barack Obama pressed his attack on Sen. Hillary Clinton's proposal to suspend the federal gas temporarily, calling it an effort at political pandering. Clinton defended the proposal as a response to the real needs of working people struggling to afford enough gas to get to work.
 
"This [issue] defines, I think, the difference between myself and Senator Clinton," Obama said, calling her proposal "a classic Washington gimmick." He said the proposal, to suspend the federal gas tax for three months and make up the hit to the federal budget by taxing oil companies, would save the average driver just 30 cents per day. "It is a political response to a serious problem we have neglected for decades," he said.
 
 
 
Clinton dismisses "elite" economists on gas tax plan
 
Sun May 4, 2008 6:42pm EDT
By Andy Sullivan
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Sunday dismissed the "elite opinion" of economists who criticized her gas tax proposal, using a term that has dogged rival Barack Obama in recent weeks.
 
Obama, meanwhile, accused the New York senator of pandering on gas taxes and saber rattling toward Iran as both candidates gave television interviews before primary contests in North Carolina and Indiana. The two are battling to be their party's nominee to face Republican John McCain in November's election.
 
Appearing on ABC's "This Week," Clinton said it was time to move beyond the controversy surrounding Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
 
 
 
Clinton stands by 'obliterate' Iran remark
 
May 4, 2008
 
By Liz Sidoti - INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Sen. Barack Obama scolded Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton today for saying that the United States would "totally obliterate" Iran if it attacks Israel, and likened her to President Bush. Clinton stood by her comment.
 
The foreign policy dustup came as the two candidates appeared separately on dueling news shows and as the drawn-out fight for the Democratic nomination grew ever more fierce ahead of the next pivotal pair of primaries, in Indiana and North Carolina on Tuesday.
 
Seeking the advantage, Obama seized on Clinton's recent answer when asked what she would do if she wins the White House and Iran attacked Israel with nuclear weapons.
"I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran," Clinton said April 22 in an interview with ABC. "In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them."
 
 
 
The Truman Transformation
 
By George F. Will
Sunday, May 4, 2008; B07
 
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Business, meaning research by historians and nourishment for history hobbyists, is brisk at the Harry S. Truman Library on this 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, the desegregation of the armed services, recognition of the state of Israel and the improbable election of the president responsible for many momentous policies. The library is a place, and now is a time, to ponder the transformation Truman wrought in the presidency and the Constitution and why that transformation should be debated before the next president is selected.
 
With a mere 15 million pages of documents, this library is minuscule: The Clinton library in Little Rock has 77 million pages. Presidential power has grown exponentially in the six decades since Truman augmented the national security apparatus responsive to the president by creating the National Security Council and the CIA. Truman, however, was crucial to the magnification of the president's war powers.
 
 
 
Obama Faces Test in Asserting His Own Brand of Patriotism
 
By Alec MacGillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 4, 2008; A01
 
The questions come on cable and radio talk shows, and sometimes from skeptical voters at his own rallies. "Hi, Barack. I am a supporter, a believer and a volunteer for you, and I'm trying to convince my mother to be one also," a woman said at a campaign event last week in Kokomo, Ind. ". . . One of the issues she has heard is that you do not address the flag."
 
As Sen. Barack Obama tries to secure the Democratic presidential nomination and turn his attention to the presumptive GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain -- a war hero who survived more than five years in enemy captivity -- he is facing a crucial test of one of his driving themes: redefining what it means to be a patriot.
 
After watching past Democratic candidates wither under Republican attacks, Obama has sought throughout his campaign to present his own vision of patriotism, with a call for uniting the country and restoring its values that is, in its way, as redolent with gauzy American exceptionalism as the "shining city upon a hill" of Ronald Reagan.
 
 
 
Clinton's Tough Path
 
By David S. Broder
Sunday, May 4, 2008; B07
 
On the day last week when Hillary Clinton suffered the first of two costly defections by Indiana superdelegates, I went to see an old friend working in her national campaign. I knew he was loyal to her, but I also calculated that if he were guaranteed anonymity, he would give me an honest answer to the vexing question: Does the Clinton camp still see any realistic way she can deny Barack Obama the Democratic nomination without blowing up the party?
 
The question is not new, but it has gained force week by week as the ranks of uncommitted delegates dwindle and the remaining number of primaries and caucuses shrinks. When Rep. Baron Hill, who holds a battleground seat in southern Indiana, ended months of neutrality and endorsed Obama without waiting until Tuesday to let his constituents vote, it signaled bad news for Clinton, not just in the primary but in the overall fight.
 
 
 
Obama says Clinton's talk on Iran too much like Bush's
 
By LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press Writer
 
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Barack Obama likened Hillary Rodham Clinton to President Bush for threatening to "totally obliterate" Iran if it attacks Israel and called her gas-tax holiday a gimmick as he tried to fend off her challenge ahead of two pivotal Democratic primaries.
Clinton, in turn, stood by both her comment on Iran and her tax proposal as she gave chase in Indiana and North Carolina to the front-runner for the nomination.
 
The competitors squabbled over the issues - one foreign, one domestic - from a short distance, first during separate appearances on Sunday news shows and then as they courted voters for Tuesday's primaries.
 
"This is the final push," Clinton told a cheering crowd of volunteer canvassers in Fort Wayne, emboldened by her Pennsylvania victory two weeks ago as well as polls that show her in a close race in Indiana and narrowing Obama's lead in North Carolina.
 
 
 
May 4, 2008
 
Analysis: Candidates use news shows to woo superdelegates
 
By BETH FOUHY
Associated Press Writer
 
Two presidential candidates, two celebrity interviewers, two agendas, one audience: the undecided superdelegates likely to select the Democratic nominee.
 
Just two days before key primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, the peculiar ritual of the Sunday news show took on high drama as Obama and Clinton each made hour-long solo appearances — Obama on NBC's "Meet the Press" and Clinton on ABC's "This Week." While the shows are seen by relatively few voters, they hold considerable sway among opinion leaders.
 
For Obama, the grilling by host Tim Russert offered an opportunity to put the uproar surrounding his former pastor behind him. For Clinton, the town hall-style appearance hosted by her husband's one-time protegee George Stephanopoulos gave her the chance to burnish her populist message and persuade skeptical voters to like and trust her.
 
 
 
Political Memo
In ’88, a Lesson on Using Symbols as Bludgeons
 
By ROBIN TONER
 
WASHINGTON — Sometimes, as Senator Barack Obama seemed to argue earlier this year, a flag pin is just a flag pin. But it can never be that simple for anyone with direct experience of the 1988 presidential campaign. That year, the Republicans used the symbols of nationhood (notably, whether schoolchildren should be required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance) to bludgeon the Democrats, challenge their patriotism and utterly redefine their nominee, Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts.
 
The memory of that campaign — reinforced, for many, by the attacks on Senator John Kerry’s Vietnam war record in the 2004 election — haunts Democrats of a certain generation.
 
The 1988 campaign was, in many ways, the crucible that helped create Bill Clinton’s centrist philosophy and his fierce commitment to attack and counterattack, which drove the politics of the 1990s.
 
 
 
Caution! You Are About To Enter A Gun Free Zone
 
By Mike S. Adams
Monday, May 5, 2008
 
I don’t have to remind my readers that I spend a good bit of my time disagreeing with campus leftists. Nor do I need to remind them that most of these disagreements are with leftist professors. But, until now, I haven’t written about one of the subjects upon which we frequently disagree. That is the subject of whether deterrence theory “works.”
 
Conservatives and leftists (I have a hard time calling them liberals because of their fascistic tendencies) have a fundamentally different view of human nature. Leftists see humans as innately good. That is why they think rehabilitation works. It is also why they think the United Nations is a good idea. If people are innately good then, surely, they can talk out their problems without resorting to war.
But conservatives have a more tragic view of human nature. We believe that people with innately destructive tendencies must be held in check.
 
 
 
The coming crisis
 
By Daniel L. Davis
May 5, 2008
 
For more than a decade, English petroleum geologist Colin Campbell has been sounding the warning bell about the coming of peak oil and its disturbing ramifications for the world. Since 2005 Dr. Robert Hirsch has been giving specific warnings for the United States through a series of Department of Energy-sponsored reports outlining the dangers to America if the peak finds us unprepared. And in the past year, the GAO, the National Petroleum Council, and scores of other organizations and governments around the world have reported on the severe consequences the world might incur once the peak has been achieved.
 
The issue is not simply a concern that we will have to pay outrageous prices for a gallon of gas. If that were the worst of it, the situation would be difficult but manageable. The reality, however, goes deeper and is much more troubling.
 
 
 
May 5, 2008
 
After Deal Dies, Yahoo Weighs Its Next Move
 
By MIGUEL HELFT
 
SAN FRANCISCO — How low will Yahoo’s stock go on Monday? And how long will it stay there?
 
These questions are high in the minds of Yahoo shareholders, and probably its management, as the company considers its options after Microsoft’s decision to withdraw its offer to buy Yahoo for $33 a share, or approximately $47.5 billion.
Much will depend on Yahoo’s next moves, which could include a partnership with its chief competitor, Google.
 
People close to Yahoo said that the chief executive, Jerry Yang, and his team, who told Microsoft they would not sell for less than $37 a share, greeted Microsoft’s decision as a victory. High-fives were exchanged Saturday afternoon when they learned Microsoft was backing down.
 
 
 
May 5, 2008
 
Poll Shows Most Voters Unaffected by Wright
 
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MARJORIE CONNELLY
 
WASHINGTON — A majority of American voters say the furor over the relationship between Senator Barack Obama and his former pastor has not affected their opinion of Mr. Obama, but a substantial number say it could influence voters this fall should he be the Democratic presidential nominee, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.
 
At the same time, an overwhelming majority of voters said candidates calling for the suspension of the federal gasoline tax this summer were acting to help themselves politically, rather than to help ordinary Americans. Mr. Obama’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, has made suspension of the gasoline tax a centerpiece of her campaign in recent days.
 
Americans were divided over the merits of the gasoline tax suspension, which has also been backed by the likely Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, and condemned by Mr. Obama as political gimmickry.
 
 
 
May 4, 2008
 
George W. Bush Salutes Kansas Town
 
By REUTERS
Filed at 6:03 p.m. ET
 
GREENSBURG, Kansas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush saluted a graduating high school class and its small town on Sunday for rebounding from a killer tornado that ripped apart its homes, businesses and churches but not its faith.
"We celebrate the resurgence of a town that stood tall when its buildings and homes were laid low," Bush said in commencement address to Greensburg High School's 18-member graduating class.
 
"We celebrate the power of faith, the love of family, and the bonds of friendship that guided you through the disaster," said Bush, marking the first anniversary of the twister that left 11 dead, dozens injured and roads lined with rubble.
Bush is greeted with boos and sneers in much of the United States because of the unpopular Iraq war and ailing economy.
 
 
 
May 4, 2008
 
Democratic Lawmaker Expects Tougher Bank Rules
 
By REUTERS
Filed at 3:20 p.m. ET
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The current mortgage crisis has exposed the need for financial reform, but there is no time for legislative fixes this year, a leading member of the U.S. House of Representatives said on Sunday.
 
"It's much too complicated a subject ... to get done between now and the end of August, which is essentially when we will be finished for the year," Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank said in an interview on CSPAN program "Newsmakers."
 
Last week, Frank's panel passed a homeowner aid bill that will give a cash infusion and new mandate to the Federal Housing Administration so that the program can steer as many as 2 million homeowners away from foreclosure.
 
 
 
Bank of America exec ready to integrate LaSalle Bank
 
5/5/2008, 12:22 a.m. EDT
By IEVA M. AUGSTUMS
The Associated Press             
 
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Liam McGee, Bank of America's president of global consumer and small business banking, chatted with The Associated Press about his thoughts on leading his bank's retail growth and customers' perceptions of the conversion from the LaSalle Bank brand.
 
Q: How would you describe this past year and the acquisition of LaSalle?
A: We were always excited about LaSalle. They had, and now we have, a great franchise in Chicagoland, which was very much a priority for us. We think that's a great market and now as market leader in Chicago, it really helped us complete that strategic goal we had. We are also very excited about being a leading bank in Michigan.
 
 
 
Failed bid for Yahoo gives win to Google
By Kara Rowland
May 5, 2008
 
Google Inc. is the big winner after Microsoft Corp. walked out on its bid for slumping Yahoo Inc. this weekend, analysts are saying.
 
The Internet search and advertising leader is no longer facing a merger of its two biggest competitors, with Yahoo shares expected to plummet today and software giant Microsoft left with an unprofitable online division.
 
"I think it's hard to analyze the situation and not see Google as a winner, no matter what happened," said Doc Searls, a technology writer and fellow with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.
 
 
 
Rice pushes for peace progress; Israel denies hidden agenda
 
WAshington Times
By ANNE GEARAN
 
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Facing mounting Palestinian frustration at the pace of peace talks, the United States leaned on Israel on Sunday to lift restrictions that chafe West Bank residents and stifle an already limping economy.
 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did not directly criticize close U.S. ally Israel, but had unusually direct remarks about the consequences of Israeli housing and roadblocks in the West Bank. Palestinian claims that Israel is deliberately expanding Jewish settlements on land the Palestinians claim for a state have dampened the high hopes for a peace deal before President Bush leaves office next year.
 
Asked about settlements, Rice said she "continues to raise with the Israelis the importance of creating an atmosphere that is conducive to negotiations." "That means doing nothing, certainly, that would suggest that there is any prejudicing of the final terms," of a deal setting up a separate Palestinian state in the West Bank, Rice continued. "The United States will consider nothing that is done to have prejudiced the final status negotiations."
 
 
 
China farms the world to feed a ravenous economy
 
By DENIS D. GRAY
Associated Press Writer
 
CHALEUNSOUK, Laos (AP) -- The rice fields that blanketed this remote mountain village for generations are gone. In their place rise neat rows of young rubber trees - their sap destined for China.
 
All 60 families in this dirt-poor, mud-caked village of gaunt men and hunched women are now growing rubber, like thousands of others across the rugged mountains of northern Laos. They hope in coming years to reap huge profits from the tremendous demand for rubber just across the frontier in China.
 
As Beijing scrambles to feed its galloping economy, it has already scoured the world for mining and logging concessions. Now it is turning to crops to feed its people and industries. Chinese enterprises are snapping up vast tracts of land abroad and forging contract farming deals.
 
 
 
Cyclone kills more than 350 in Burma
 
May 4, 2008
 
By Aye Aye Win - YANGON, Burma