"That's Saul, folks!"Michigan Republican Party Blog

His Holiness Historic Visit to the U.S.

Photo Courtesy Callista Gingrich.

...and Christ will come again! Happy Easter.

Go Green...Sweet 16!!! MSU 65 - PITT 54

Tibet....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080320/ap_on_re_as/china_tibet

China blankets Tibetan areas with troops

China blanketed restive Tibetan areas Thursday with a huge buildup of troops, turning small towns across a wide swath of western China into armed encampments.

Beijing acknowledged that last week's anti-government protests had spread far beyond Tibet's borders and that police opened fire on protesters. It warned foreign tourists and journalists to stay away from a huge expanse of territory across four provinces.

Spartans beat Temple 72-61

Optional Flat Tax...has the time come?

Congressman Michael Burgess web page on the "option flat tax":

http://burgess.house.gov/flattax/

Click here to view the flat tax mailer Every American should bear the burden of taxation equally and at the lowest rate possible.  Every American should be able to do their own taxes without the help of a professional. We all should be confident that people who earn the same income, pay the same taxes.  All of these things can be accomplished by offering an optional one page tax return that is simple and fast to fill out.  Optional Single Page Tax Return The Tax Code has grown from 400 pages to 67,506 pages since 1913—a nearly 17,000% increase  The cost of compliance for federal taxpayers—filing out returns and related chores—was $265 billion in 2005.—A one page return will simplify this. According to the Tax Foundation, 83% of Americans think current federal income tax is complex. American Solutions states that 82% of Americans think the option of a single rate system would give taxpayers the convenience of filing their taxes with just a single sheet of paper.—A one page return will do away with this! An optional one page tax return also eliminates the marriage penalty, repeals the death tax, abolishes the AMT, eliminates capital gain taxes, and allows for immediate expensing for business capital equipment. Something We Can All Agree On: Our Tax System Needs Help Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (TX-26) Aggies or Longhorns. Yankees or Red Sox. Regular or Decaf. Republicans or Democrats. Americans don’t always see eye to eye. One thing the large majority of us do agree on –   hands down – is that our federal tax system needs serious help. According to a 2007 Tax Foundation Study, 78 percent of Americans think the tax system needs major changes. Everyone knows the problem.  Each year Americans waste billions of hours and billions of dollars complying with the complex tax code.  In fact in 2005, the average taxpayer paid $1,839 per household in compliance costs.  That means a taxpayer must work 6 days per year just to pay for the cost of preparing his or her taxes for that year. Time is precious, and we never have enough for raising our families.  Time also is money, and valuable resources are lost that could be spent on productive activities such as growing the economy and creating jobs. While we all complain about paying taxes and navigating the complex code, the fact is that if the system was fair and simple, it would be a lot easier to swallow.  Americans don’t mind paying for roads, a strong defense, or healthcare for your grandmother.  It’s the fact that the Jones family, which makes the exact same amount as the Smith family next door, may be forced to pay a higher share of the tax burden.  The Declaration of Independence states that “that all men are created equal.”  This principle should apply to the tax burden.  Numerous changes could be made within our existing system to improve it in the short-term.  Full expensing of business capital investment, permanently repealing the estate tax, and abolishing the alternative minimum tax are a few possibilities. However, fundamental tax reform would pay even larger dividends.  Just think of the jobs economic growth which resulted when President Ronald Reagan cut the code in half back in 1986.  Let’s apply some of this common sense streamlining to today’s unruly code.    Simplicity and fairness demand that we replace our current tax system with a single rate system that taxes income only one time.  Even the National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olsen, recommended lawmakers “simplify the Tax Code” as one of her recommendations in the 2007 Annual Report to Congress.  A faster, flatter, fairer tax structure would work, and it's pretty simple. Tax returns could be done on a single page, perhaps even on a postcard.  It could be accomplished in just a few steps. Multiply your income by a fixed percentage, subtract a standard deduction, and the process is over.  Gone will be the stressful hours spent figuring out whether your military service or marital status will adversely affect your return. No more headaches trying to determine where estimated tax payments go.  Tax prep fees might be money spent on something more rewarding. A single tax rate structure would eliminate taxes on capital gains, taxes on dividends, and taxes on savings. Businesses would expand and create jobs.  Personal savings would increase. Without the heavy corporate income tax, which is currently the second highest in the industrialized world, companies would have less incentive to move  their headquarters out of the United States, and more importantly, less incentive to offshore their earnings. Recent polling by American Solutions shows that over 80 percent of Americans favor an optional one-page tax return with one rate. After all, who could complain about making something easier, especially a process that comes at such high cost? Now, we may not all agree on whether the tax rate should be a precise flat tax at say, 17% with no deductions.  We may prefer a system with two or three rates with deductions for mortgages and charitable contributions.   Regardless, the fact is that we all agree to the following principle:  Each American should bear the burden of taxation equally and at the lowest rate possible.  We think everyone should be able to do their own taxes without the help of a professional and should be confident that people who earn the same income, pay the same taxes. Americans agree: the tax code is unfair and should go. Let’s take the cue and translate this agreement into real change.  After all, fundamental tax reform is a worthwhile goal, and this Congress should pursue it.    THE TAX CODE IS COMPLICATED: Tax code has grown from 400 pages to 67,506 since 1913—a nearly 17,000 % increase! Each year, Americans spend 6.5 billion hours preparing tax forms. Businesses spend 800 million hours complying with the tax code. Cost of compliance for federal taxpayers—filing out returns and related chores—was $265 billion in 2005. Study surveying 46 tax experts found that when each expert filled out tax forms, he or she came up with 46 different answers when determining tax liability.  The tax calculations ranged from $34,240 to $68,912. NUMBERS CONFIRM AMERICANS WANT CHANGE IN THE CODE: 83 % of Americans think current federal income tax is complex (Tax Foundation, 2007) 69% of Americans think the federal income tax system is unfair (American Solutions, 2007). 78 % of Americans think the tax system needs major changes (Tax Foundation, 2007) 82% of Americans think the option of a single rate system would give taxpayers the convenience of filing their taxes with just a single sheet of paper (American Solutions, 2007).

Global Warming...the "incovenient truth"

Granholm Fails to Pay Taxes...AGAIN!

Governor Jennifer Granholm once again is in tax trouble. According to documents at the Ingham County Register of Deeds, the Granholm-Cherry Inauguration Committee owes close to $20,000 to the IRS for a party that was held over 5 years ago. Granholm also had a lien filed against her in 2006 when she owed $800 in unpaid taxes and fees. Granholm seems to have no problems pushing through the largest tax hike in Michigan's history on to Michigan's citizens and employers, but will take a pass on paying her own taxes.

Iraq...The Rest of the Story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/21/AR2008022102157_pf.html

Democrats Dug In For Retreat

By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, February 22, 2008; A23

"No one can spend some 10 days visiting the battlefields in Iraq without seeing major progress in every area. . . . If the U.S. provides sustained support to the Iraqi government -- in security, governance, and development -- there is now a very real chance that Iraq will emerge as a secure and stable state."

-- Anthony Cordesman,

"The Situation in Iraq: A Briefing From the Battlefield," Feb. 13, 2008

This from a man who was a severe critic of the postwar occupation of Iraq and who, as author Peter Wehner points out, is no wide-eyed optimist. In fact, in May 2006 Cordesman had written that "no one can argue that the prospects for stability in Iraq are good." Now, however, there is simply no denying the remarkable improvements in Iraq since the surge began a year ago.

Unless you're a Democrat. As Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) put it, "Democrats have remained emotionally invested in a narrative of defeat and retreat in Iraq." Their Senate leader, Harry Reid, declares the war already lost. Their presidential candidates (eight of them at the time) unanimously oppose the surge. Then the evidence begins trickling in.

We get news of the Anbar Awakening, which has now spread to other Sunni areas and Baghdad. The sectarian civil strife that the Democrats insisted was the reason for us to leave dwindles to the point of near disappearance. Much of Baghdad is returning to normal. There are 90,000 neighborhood volunteers -- ordinary citizens who act as auxiliary police and vital informants on terrorist activity -- starkly symbolizing the insurgency's loss of popular support. Captured letters of al-Qaeda leaders reveal despair as they are driven -- mostly by Iraqi Sunnis, their own Arab co-religionists -- to flight and into hiding.

After agonizing years of searching for the right strategy and the right general, we are winning. How do Democrats react? From Nancy Pelosi to Barack Obama, the talking point is the same: Sure, there is military progress. We could have predicted that. (They in fact had predicted the opposite, but no matter.) But it's all pointless unless you get national reconciliation.

"National" is a way to ignore what is taking place at the local and provincial level, such as Shiite cleric Ammar al-Hakim, scion of the family that dominates the largest Shiite party in Iraq, traveling last October to Anbar in an unprecedented gesture of reconciliation with the Sunni sheiks.

Doesn't count, you see. Democrats demand nothing less than federal-level reconciliation, and it has to be expressed in actual legislation.

The objection was not only highly legalistic but also politically convenient: Very few (including me) thought this would be possible under the Maliki government. Then last week, indeed on the day Cordesman published his report, it happened. Mirabile dictu, the Iraqi parliament approved three very significant pieces of legislation.

First, a provincial powers law that turns Iraq into arguably the most federal state in the entire Arab world. The provinces get not only power but also elections by Oct. 1. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker has long been calling this the most crucial step to political stability. It will allow, for example, the pro-American Anbar sheiks to become the legitimate rulers of their province, exercise regional autonomy and forge official relations with the Shiite-dominated central government.

Second, parliament passed a partial amnesty for prisoners, 80 percent of whom are Sunni. Finally, it approved a $48 billion national budget that allocates government revenue -- about 85 percent of which is from oil -- to the provinces. Kurdistan, for example, gets one-sixth.

What will the Democrats say now? They will complain that there is still no oil distribution law. True. But oil revenue is being distributed to the provinces in the national budget. The fact that parliament could not agree on a permanent formula for the future simply means that it will be allocating oil revenue year by year as part of the budget process. Is that a reason to abandon Iraq to al-Qaeda and Iran?

Despite all the progress, military and political, the Democrats remain unwavering in their commitment to withdrawal on an artificial timetable that inherently jeopardizes our "very real chance that Iraq will emerge as a secure and stable state."

Why? Imagine the transformative effects in the region, and indeed in the entire Muslim world, of achieving a secure and stable Iraq, friendly to the United States and victorious over al-Qaeda. Are the Democrats so intent on denying George Bush retroactive vindication for a war they insist is his that they would deny their own country a now-achievable victory?

letters@charleskrauthammer.com

Sunday's TV News Show Guests

Guests for the Sunday TV news shows

2/22/2008, 6:57 p.m. ET
The Associated Press   

(AP) — Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows:

___

ABC's "This Week" — Sens. Joe Biden, D-Del., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.

___

CBS' "Face the Nation" — Charlie Black, strategist for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign; Govs. Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich., and Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz.

___

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and former presidential candidate.

___

CNN's "Late Edition" — National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell; Robert Bennett, attorney for McCain; Govs. Ed Rendell, D-Pa., Kathleen Sebelius, D-Kan., and Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn.; Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.

___

"Fox News Sunday" — McCain campaign manager Rick Davis; Govs. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Jon Corzine, D-N.J., and Pawlenty.

McCain Addressed MI GOP State Convention

GOP Presidential Front Runner Senator John McCain addresses the MI GOP State Convention to thank his supporters in Michigan and urge the party to unite to defeat the Democrats in November.

Newt Gingrich Addressed MI GOP State Convention

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich addressed the 2008 MI GOP Winter Convention to explain the American Solutions platform. The platform addresses issues that Americans favor by a "Tri-Partisan" majority. Americans no longer want Red vs. Blue bickering, they want Red, White, and Blue solutions.

Communist Dictator Fidel Castro...done!

81-year-old Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's president/dictator Tuesday after nearly a half-century in power, saying he will not accept a new term when parliament meets Sunday.   Finally, the end of Castro's rule - the longest in the world for a head of government…which will hopefully lead to the beginning of a transition to democracy.

A thought to ponder from Ronald Reagan’s second inaugural address:

“We strive for peace and security, heartened by the changes all around us. Since the turn of the century, the number of democracies in the world has grown fourfold. Human freedom is on the march, and nowhere more so than our own hemisphere. Freedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit.

People, worldwide, hunger for the right of self-determination, for those inalienable rights that make for human dignity and progress.”

Reagan said our work against totalitarianism had “turned the tide of history away from totalitarian darkness and into the warm sunlight of human freedom.”

Let us remain vigilant, let us keep working, so the warm sunlight of human freedom will soon shine down upon the Cuban people.

Chuck Yob Honored

Chuck Yob was honored for his years as our longest serving National Committeeman.  The plaque has a slice of the original "under the Oaks" tree, under which our Republican Party was founded...in Jackson Michigan.  Holly Hughes and Saul Anuzis presented Chuck with the plaque during our State Convention.

Anuzis' Address to CPAC

Saul Anuzis
Chairman, Michigan Republican Party
Remarks at CPAC 2008, Feb. 8, 2008

Washington, D.C.

“Grass Roots to Conservatives:  We’ve Got Your Back”

(Editor’s Note: Actual remarks may vary from prepared text)

I bring greetings from Michigan, the state where the Republican Party first nominated our greatest conservative president, Ronald Reagan

and produced America’s leading conservative mind, Russell Kirk, who gave American conservatism an identity and a genealogy and helped spark the postwar conservative movement.

I remember the 1980 Republican convention like it was yesterday.

Reagan’s acceptance speech was fantastic.  Do you remember how he ended the speech?  After noting it wasn’t part of his prepared text, Reagan looked out over the delegates and spoke from his heart to millions of Americans. He said:

“Can we doubt that only a Divine Providence placed this land, this island of freedom, here as a refuge for all those people in the world who yearn to breathe freely: Jews and Christians enduring persecution behind the Iron Curtain, the boat people of Southeast Asia, of Cuba and Haiti, the victims of drought and famine in Africa, the freedom fighters of Afghanistan and our own countrymen held in savage captivity.

“I'll confess that I've been a little afraid to suggest what I'm going to suggest -- I'm more afraid not to -- that we begin our crusade joined together in a moment of silent prayer. God bless America.”

Reagan’s words first changed a nation. They then changed the world.

Reagan certainly inspired me and my family.

My family emigrated here from Lithuania.  I didn’t learn to speak English until I was about 6 or 7.  My father worked the line at General Motors  in Detroit for 32 years as a skilled tradesman.  He was in the UAW; I was a Teamster. In 1980, I was loading trucks to help pay my way through college. I was trying to figure out what I believed in. What I was willing to fight for.

Reagan gave us just what we needed – a rock solid vision for a better America and a better world.  Now, nearly 30 years later, it is an honor to join so many conservative activists, gathered here in Washington.  In fact, isn’t it funny, to most conservatives, Washington is the enemy, yet everybody wants to come here, at least to CPAC!

But seriously, when conservatives get elected and get comfy in the halls of power here in our nation’s capital, some lose their way.  Some forget who sent them here and why.  Some begin to believe that somehow “Washington knows best.” Some commit the cardinal sin of forgetting the values and principles of the conservative grass roots who did the hard work of actually getting them elected.

Well, I’m here with a simple message – the grass roots are watching, the grass roots are listening, and the grass roots will be voting.  And I can assure you of this: The grass roots will not be forgetting their values and principles when it comes time to vote.

And we will hold you accountable – not just in November, but in every election.

I think that when historians look back on this election campaign, they may pinpoint one week last September as a turning point.  That was the week John McCain visited Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina on his “No Surrender Tour.”

What a great message.  No backing down.   No matter the odds. No matter the viciousness of the enemy. No matter the efforts of some in Washington to legislate defeat. 

And I give Senator McCain credit – this is a man who risked his life for our country in Vietnam and put his political life on the line over Iraq and the War on Terror. 

This is a man who says what he believes and believes what he says and will not back down.

For him, surrender is not an option.

This fall, that’s the message we need to take to the American people.

No surrender to our enemies!
No surrender to defending the dignity of every human life!

No surrender on securing the border!
No surrender on conservative judges!
No surrender on slashing pork-barrel spending!
And no surrender on cutting taxes.

To the candidates who run with this message and this philosophy, I make this promise from the conservative grass roots of the Republican Party: “We’ve got your back.”

Let me cut right to the chase.  Electing the next Republican president won’t be simply about moving moderates into the Republican column.  It will be about moving conservatives of every stripe – or no stripe at all – to vote for our nominee. 

That’s what Reagan did, and that’s what we can do if Republicans rebuild our party as the champion of limited government and a strong defense, lower taxes and less regulation, more freedom and maximum opportunity. 

These principles are nonnegotiable. 

There will be no surrender!

Over the past couple of days, the pundits have been debating whether the campaign for the Republican nomination is a two man contest or a one man show to win the hearts and minds of all Republicans and America.

Well, as usual, the pundits miss the point.

This is a race to 50 percent plus one on Election Day this fall.  And give or take a few million votes, that means the winner on November 4th will have to win the hearts and minds of about 65 million Americans.

My job is to help win about two-and-half million votes in Michigan.

Sadly, it might even be less than that, if still more unemployed workers and families flee our state to escape the burden of higher taxes and the Democratic disaster called Governor Jennifer Granholm.

Remember just a few years ago when Michigan’s Governor Granholm was the darling of the Democratic Party?  Her supporters wanted to change the U.S. Constitution to let foreign born citizens run for president. 

You don’t hear much about those ambitions anymore, but you do hear about Granholm escaping Michigan to join a “new” Clinton administration in Washington.

As the mother of the biggest tax hike in Michigan history, Granholm will certainly fit right in with the tax raising plans of the Democrats.  Bonded in what I have called “holy taximony,” Senator Clinton and Granholm share the belief that bigger government and higher taxes will erase Michigan's single-state recession or the highest-in-the-nation unemployment.

Yes, you heard that right, a single state recession, and the highest-in-the-nation unemployment.

So what did the Democrats in Michigan do to try and turn this dismal economic situation around?  What steps did the Democrats take to create more jobs and create more opportunities so our young people won’t have to leave the state in search of jobs? What steps did the Democrats take in Michigan that might be an indication of what Democrats would do in Washington if a Democrat becomes President?

They raised taxes one-point-three billion dollars.

Last year, Governor Granholm and her Democratic economic wizards in the state legislature rammed a one-point-three billion dollar tax increase down the throats of Michigan’s taxpayers late last year.

Virtually every Republican opposed the tax increase.

Virtually every Democrat supported it.

Virtually every Republican supported reforming government to cut wasteful and unnecessary spending. 

Virtually every Democrat opposed reform.

And when Governor Granholm threatened to shut down government, Republicans stood up to oppose such an irresponsible and unnecessary step designed to scare the people of Michigan.

So we went on the air with a radio spot, taking our message to the people.

I want to play this radio spot for you because I want conservatives to know that the coming tax fight we are going to have in Washington has already been underway in Michigan. I want conservatives to know that we are only going to win this coming tax showdown in Washington if we are willing to stand up and fight. 

Let’s play it…we called it “Showdown”:

[Audio of radio ad 1. All radio ads can be found at www.migop.org]

Legislators felt the heat.  Several Democrats even refused to cast a vote at all. Then it got ugly.   State House members were actually held hostage, kept in session for seven straight days and seven nights, not able to sleep or touch base with their constituents. Rumors began to circulate that certain legislators were being “bought off” by special interests working with the Governor. 

And in the end, Governor Granholm got her way, despite the fact that 70 percent of Michigan voters said to cut spending and reform government first.

So we went back on the air to reinforce that message.

Here the next ad we called “We Told You So”:

[Audio of radio ad 2]

And then we sealed the deal with the people of Michigan with this final spot.

[Audio of radio ad 3]

Today, the Governor is singing a different tune, saying she’ll never raise taxes again, because, in her words, “it’s just too hard.” 

And despite plans by the Democratic Speaker of the House to raise the state gas tax, Granholm said:   "I think raising the gas tax now is impossible, because people are hurting." 

Now, with recall campaigns sprouting statewide, the Governor called for a “cease fire” to foster bipartisanship in the legislature. Trouble is, the Democrats have done all the shooting, putting even more holes in Michigan’s troubled economy with their partisan bickering.  And the voters are figuring out that for the governor, “bipartisan” is just a code word for spend more and tax more.

What has happened in Michigan is surely a foretaste of the coming tax fight here in Washington. And note these lessons:

If you stand with the taxpayer.  If you stand with the grassroots. If you are prepared to explain again and again that lower taxes creates more jobs and more opportunities, then you can win the argument about taxes with the voters.

But it won’t be easy. You will even get some pushback like we did from your own side for being too vocal in the fight against tax increases. Apparently, some Republican politicians don’t want to hear from the grass roots.

They are happy when we write checks, make phone calls and put up signs, knock on doors, deliver their literature, but then we’re apparently supposed to go away and keep our opinions to ourselves, while they govern in our name.

Well let’s just say, not in Michigan.  Not on my watch.  In Michigan, we will speak out and speak up for the conservative grass roots. And we will push the tax fight with all the voters, no matter the heat some members of our own party may feel.

Everywhere I go in Michigan, our grass roots are telling me that we need to return the focus to our Conservative principles and lower taxes.

This past summer in Michigan, this choice was made abundantly clear.

Democrats will raise taxes, and have. Republicans will cut them. 

This fall we Republicans need to make this choice equally as clear for the entire nation.  It is how we will put a swing state like Michigan in play.  And it doesn’t matter if Senator Obama is their candidate or Senator Clinton. 

Listen to what Senator Obama said on Super Tuesday…  “Our time has come.  We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

What Obama is really telling us, is give me the credit card, I’ll pay you back for waiting patiently all these years. Like Senator Clinton, Obama has a big-government solution to every problem and the tax hikes to pay for them. And you think Charlie Rangel has big tax increases in mind?  Just wait for Barack Obama.

Apparently, when Barack Obama declares “yes, we can” there are three more words that remain unspoken – “yes, we can -- raise your taxes.”

As conservatives, our mission must be to stand up together and speak with one voice to say: “no, you won’t.”

Senator Obama may speak eloquently about the American people’s desire for change, but it was Ronald Reagan and conservatives who first changed the culture in Washington.

And we can do it again.

Remember: when conservatives put more money in mom and dad’s paycheck; when conservatives promote and defend the culture of life; when conservatives inspire America to be that shining city on a hill; and, when conservatives candidates stand together on values and principles, be assured that the grass roots will support you. 

Because as I’ve said, we’re got your back.

Thank you all, and God bless America.

MI GOP Responds to Granholm's State of the State Address

Governor Granholm's State of the State Address offered Michigan much of the same...and so did our response.  Below is a draft of the press release that the MI GOP sent out immediately following the governor's speech.

2007 Annual Report

Here is a copy of 2007 Annual Report:

Download 2007_annual_report.pdf

Stop the Granholm Tax Increase

Cong. Dave Camp's Leadership Recognized!!!

Ways and Means Battle Kicks Off
December 11, 2007
By Lauren W. Whittington,
Roll Call Staff
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/53_69/news/21318-1.html

________________________________________
Rep. Jim McCrery’s (R-La.) announcement late last week that he will not seek re-election in 2008 immediately touched off a yearlong race for one of the most powerful posts in Congress — the top Republican slot on the Ways and Means Committee.

Early jockeying points to at least a two-person race between Reps. Wally Herger (Calif.) and Dave Camp (Mich.), with the possibility of a three-man contest emerging.

While Herger is next on the tax-writing panel’s GOP roster, Camp has been a close ally of Republican leaders and is widely viewed as having the inside track to succeed McCrery.

Still, Herger released a statement Monday asserting that he plans to fight for the job, which will ultimately be determined by a vote of the GOP Steering Committee next November.

“As the most senior Republican member of the Ways and Means Committee, I intend to run to succeed Jim and have already informed leadership of my intention to do so,” Herger said. “I hope and intend to lead the Republicans on the committee next year — hopefully as their chairman.”
Herger was not a candidate for the top Republican slot on Ways and Means two years ago, when it was last open, even though he had more seniority than McCrery at the time.

Camp, meanwhile, also has jumped in the race and already has begun making calls to Members.

“Yes, he’s going to seek the position,” Camp spokesman Sage Eastman said. “He is reaching out to other Members and has had a lot of positive feedback.”
Camp, in his ninth term in the House, is currently the ranking member on the Health Subcommittee and played a leading role in the recent debate over children’s health care legislation. Herger, an 11-term Member, is the ranking member of the Trade Subcommittee.
Republicans both on Capitol Hill and on K Street said Monday that early handicapping showed Camp with an edge, citing his strong ties to leadership and his fundraising prowess.

“It is Camp’s to lose,” said one Republican member of the committee, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “My sense is that the leadership would be predisposed toward Dave.”

“The guy to beat is Camp,” added one GOP lobbyist.

A possible dark-horse candidate in the race could be Rep. Phil English (R-Pa.), who will be fourth in seniority on the panel next Congress. English released a statement praising McCrery, but a spokeswoman for the Congressman said it was premature to talk about any possible interest he might have in the ranking member slot.

“Jim’s energy and policy vision have been one of the unifying forces among the Republican Ways and Means members, and his departure will leave big shoes to fill,” English said in his statement.

English, however, would face several obstacles if he enters the race. The seven-term Republican represents a marginal district and faces a potentially competitive re-election race next year. Sources said those two factors would likely handicap his bid if he were to make one because as ranking member he would be expected to take hard-line party positions that could put him in jeopardy with voters back home.

Both Herger and Camp are from more solidly Republican districts and have not had competitive re-election contests.

Another name being floated as a possible contender among some Republicans on Monday was that of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who is much more junior on the committee.

Ryan, currently the ranking member on the Budget Committee, is a darling of fiscal conservatives and would likely have strong backing from that wing of the party if he were to toss his name into the race. Still, the 37-year-old Congressman will be ninth in seniority among Republicans on the panel next cycle, and the leap to ranking member would be a long one.

A spokeswoman for Ryan said her boss was out of reach in Wisconsin on Monday and therefore was unable to comment on any possible interest in the race.
McCrery announced late Friday that he would not seek a 12th term in the House next year, citing his desire to spend more time with his family and his disappointment that the Democratic takeover of Congress in 2006 had denied him the Ways and Means chairmanship.
“The chairmanship would have allowed me to play a leading role in addressing some of the biggest long-term problems facing our country,” McCrery said in a statement.

He added: “Given that disappointment and my desire to more fully enjoy the last few years my boys will be at home, I will not seek re-election to the Congress in 2008.”

McCrery becomes the 17th House Republican to announce plans to retire or seek higher office next year. His Shreveport-based district tilts decidedly toward Republicans and the party is not expected to have trouble holding it (See story, p. 1).
Still, privately Republicans acknowledged that it is not helpful for the party’s morale to have the ranking member on the powerful tax-writing committee depart from the House just two years into his term. But at the same time, they said his departure was not all that unexpected.
“You can’t put a positive spin on it,” the Republican Member said, while also noting that McCrery’s desire to leave goes back further than the current Congress.

McCrery eyed retiring in 2004 — citing the desire to spend more time with his family — only to be pressured by GOP leaders to stay.
Unlike with other open seats, McCrery’s departure could actually provide a financial boost for the cash-strapped National Republican Congressional Committee.
Aside from seniority, one of the key factors in determining committee chairmen and ranking members has been fundraising. As the Ways and Means race heats up, it is likely the contenders’ fundraising and aid to Republican candidates will pick up as well.

Between Camp and Herger, Camp has a demonstrated advantage when it comes to raising funds for the party.

In the previous cycle, he doled out more than $200,000 to Republican candidates and causes through his leadership political action committee — Continuing A Majority Party PAC. In 2003, he was the lead House fundraiser for the President’s Dinner, an annual joint House/Senate event.

Camp also has raised more money for his own re-election, taking in $1.2 million in the previous cycle. Herger raised just $670,000 for his re-election race in 2006, and he shut down his federal PAC in 2002.

The dynamic between the contenders could echo the 2004 race for Appropriations chairman between GOP Reps. Jerry Lewis (Calif.), Hal Rogers (Ky.) and Ralph Regula (Ohio). In that case, the three lawmakers engaged in a game of fundraising one-upmanship that resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to the NRCC and GOP candidates.

Meanwhile, the NRCC will no doubt eye the $961,000 in campaign funds that McCrery showed in the bank at the end of September. He could transfer a portion or all of that total to the NRCC. McCrery has an additional $323,000 in PAC funds he could dole out to candidates.

Although he is retiring, McCrery is expected to remain active with the Challengers Helping Obtain the Majority Program. McCrery leads the fundraising effort along with Reps. Mike Rogers (Mich.) and Pete Sessions (Texas).

###

Press Release: Presidential Primary to Supreme Court

Supreme Court Filings below:

Download grebner_msc_final.pdf

Download grebner_msc_motions_and_aff.pdf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Bill Nowling

Monday, November 19, 2007

         (517) 487-5413       
bnowling@migop.org

Supreme Court Asked to Preserve MI Primary
Democrat-Controlled State House Still Has Time to Pass Legislation to 'Fix' Primary and Allow Voters to Decide Nominees

LANSING -- While the state of Michigan today appealed to the state Supreme Court in an effort to save the Jan. 15 presidential primary, Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saulius “Saul” Anuzis called on Democrat Speaker Andy Dillon to immediately take up legislation that would preserve the constitutionality of the presidential contest and give Michigan voters the voice they deserve.

“Republicans support a presidential primary, Governor Granholm supports a presidential primary, the vast majority of independent-minded Michigan voters support a primary.  What part of that don’t House Democrats understand?” Anuzis asked. “I am confident that the state will prevail on its appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court because of the overwhelming public good a presidential primary creates. But Democrats in the Michigan House could solve this issue once and for all by immediately passing legislation that Senate Republicans sent them two weeks ago.”

The Republican-led Michigan Senate passed a legislative ‘fix’ after a state court judge ruled the entire primary unconstitutional over concerns of how primary voter lists would handled. A Michigan Court of Appeals panel last week refused to overturn the lower court’s ruling on the primary.

The Senate legislation addresses constitutional concerns raised by Ingham County Circuit Court Judge William Collette, and it also restores all Democrat presidential candidates to the primary ballot.  This legislation is similar to laws in other states and would place on Michigan’s ballot the names of candidates who participate in other primaries or caucuses. Michigan’s law won't require them to participate, but it will simply require their name to appear on the ballot.

# # #