The guayabera, the traditional Cuban men’s shirt, was an untraditional look for Mitt Romney as he spoke to mostly Cuban supporters yesterday at a campaign rally in Sweetwater, Fla. (Mike Segar/reuters)
2 Michigan congressional races expected to be costly
By KEN THOMAS The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional races in Michigan involving Republican Reps. Tim Walberg and Joe Knollenberg are shaping up to be hard-fought and costly, according to new campaign finance reports released Thursday.
State Sen. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, has overtaken Walberg in fundraising in the south-
central Michigan district. Schauer reported collecting more than $350,000 during the last three months of 2007 and ended the quarter with more than $500,000 in his account.
Walberg, a freshman congressman from Tipton, reported raising about $151,000 during the same span and ended the period with about $438,000 in his account. It was the second straight quarter in which Schauer outraised the incumbent.
Asked about Schauer’s fundraising totals, Walberg’s chief of staff, Joe Wicks, said the congressman was focused on a legislative agenda “to protect the Great Lakes, improve health care and create jobs and opportunity for south-central Michigan.”
Walberg was endorsed last week by the Club for Growth, an anti-tax group which injected more than $1 million into the 2006 primary pitting Walberg against then-Rep. Joe Schwarz, R-Battle Creek.
Schauer said in a statement that his fundraising take showed district residents “are tired of the same old business-as-usual approach.”
In Oakland County, Knollenberg still holds a significant edge in fundraising but could face his most well-funded opponent since 2002. The congressman, from Bloomfield Township, reported raising about $294,000 during the period and ended the year with more than $1 million in his account.
“Oakland County knows good representation when they see it,” Knollenberg campaign manager Mike Brownfield said in a statement. 
Gary Peters, a Democrat and former state lottery commissioner, raised more than $183,000 in the last three months and ended the quarter with nearly $360,000 in the bank. Peters, who faces Nancy Skinner in the primary, has received support from key labor unions and party leaders.
Peters’ campaign said it was building “overwhelming momentum” and compared its fundraising efforts to the pace kept by David Fink, a Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged Knollenberg in 2002 and raised more than $2.4 million.
Skinner, a Democrat who narrowly lost to Knollenberg in 2006, said her campaign was finalizing the quarterly numbers, and they were not immediately available.
Skinner, a former talk radio host, said she was encouraged by winning the opening round of an online contest sponsored by Democracy for America, a progressive group founded by DNC Chairman Howard Dean. The winner of the 2006 contest, Jerry McNerney, received about $100,000 from the group as a result and later defeated Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif.
Knollenberg and Walberg are major targets for Democrats, who are trying to build upon their majority in the House and benefit from additional turnout typically found in a presidential election.
Oakland County usually is a battleground during presidential elections, and Knollenberg’s district has been trending Democratic, giving hope to Peters and Skinner. Walberg’s district, meanwhile, has been solid Republican country for many years but Democrats are trying to capitalize after Walberg beat an underfunded candidate by about 4 percent points in 2006.
Holy MOLEY…State of the State
AP Photo
Rep. Jack Hoogendyk’s thoughts on the SOS
Other coverage:
Lower interest rates allow Granholm to push new proposals
MLive.com, MI - 1 hour ago
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN AP LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Tuesday painted a vision of a state where alternative energy companies employ tens …
MLive.com, MI - 1 hour ago
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN AP LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Tuesday painted a vision of a state where alternative energy companies employ tens …
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Excerpts from Gov. Granholm’s State of the State address
MLive.com, MI - 1 hour ago By AP AP (AP) — Excerpts from the prepared text of Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s State of the State address, delivered Tuesday night at the Capitol: “The threat … |
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Granholm properly aims for jobs, training, education improvements …
Detroit Free Press, United States - 3 hours ago Gov. Jennifer Granholm struck strong notes in the defense of Michigan Tuesday night, even in the midst of a still daunting state economy. … |
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Words Gov. Granholm used most during the speech
Detroit Free Press, United States - 3 hours ago By TINA LAM Listeners can tell what’s important to a speaker by how many times they mention specific words. Here are words that popped up more than others … |
Granholm’s goal: Modernize Michigan’s workforce, economy
Detroit Free Press, United States - 4 hours ago
By CHRIS CHRISTOFF LANSING — Gov. Jennifer Granholm tonight called for the state to invest more money in Michigan businesses and schools — without …
Delegate count totals
Republican Delegates (1,191 needed to win nomination)
| Candidate | Delegates |
|---|---|
| Rudy Giuliani | 1 |
| Mike Huckabee | 40 |
| John McCain | 93 |
| Ron Paul | 4 |
| Mitt Romney | 59 |
| Total | 197 |
(Source AP)
King Midas touched McCains grill
McCain takes Florida primary over Romney
Giuliani appears set to drop out; Clinton leads Democrats’ non-primary
Marc Serota / Getty Images
John McCain speaks as his wife, Cindy, looks on during a post-primary rally in Miami on Tuesday. McCain defeated Mitt Romney in a close race. Rudy Giuliani ran a distant third.
Just when you think McCains victory in FL couldn’t get any worse…
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Gerald Herbert / AP
ORLANDO, Fla. – Rudy Giuliani, who bet his presidential hopes on Florida only to come in third, prepared to quit the race Tuesday and endorse his friendliest rival, John McCain.
The former New York mayor stopped short of announcing he was stepping down, but delivered a valedictory speech that was more farewell than fight-on.
A senior Giuliani official told NBC that he will endorse McCain on Wednesday in California, where Republicans are set to debate at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. more
Some argue that conservative radio hosts are staking their reputation on a McCain defeat
David Bauder / Associated Press
NEW YORK — John McCain heads into Tuesday’s Florida primary facing resistance from not only his fellow candidates, but also from the leaders of conservative talk radio, who some suggest have put their reputations on the line, as well.
Talk radio pioneer Rush Limbaugh said that if McCain or Mike Huckabee are nominated, “it’s going to destroy the Republican Party.” Mark Levin calls the senator “John McLame.” On Monday, Laura Ingraham said she was “concerned about the mental stability of the McCain campaign” and had cuckoo-clock sound effects accompany his words.
“Sen. McCain is a great American, a lousy senator and a terrible Republican,” Hugh Hewitt told The Associated Press. “He has a legislative record that is not conservative. In fact, it is anti-conservative.”
Yet with McCain winning primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina, and in a virtual tie with Mitt Romney for the lead in polls in Florida, the top radio personalities are facing the possibility that their words are having little effect.
Radio host Michael Medved said that the big loser in South Carolina was talk radio, “a medium that has unmistakably collapsed in terms of impact, influence and credibility because of its hysterical and one-dimensional involvement in the GOP nomination fight.”
Its continued resistance to McCain will be ineffective and will hurt both the Republican Party and the radio industry, Medved said.
The long-running hostility toward McCain stems from his failure to follow conservative orthodoxy on issues including immigration, global warming and money in politics, Hewitt said. McCain’s endorsement by The New York Times — the newspaper conservative talkers love to hate — was just another indignity.
Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, warned against any conclusion that talk radio hosts would be diminished if McCain were to win the GOP nomination.
“It will give them an opportunity to reposition themselves in a more independent and populist way,” Harrison said. Talk show hosts aren’t judged on whom they pick as a candidate, any more than the jobs of football announcers are on the line with their Super Bowl predictions, he said.
They’re judged on ratings and revenue, and every indication is that the election season will be a boon for talk radio, he said.
Limbaugh picked up on that point on the air last week when he rebutted any analysis by the “drive-by media” that McCain’s strong showing had been a rebuke to him. He noted that a chapter in one of his books was titled “My Success is Not Determined by Who Wins Elections.”
“You nominate the nominee; I don’t,” he said. “This notion … that I’ve been overcome here, McCain’s beaten me back, that’s not the way to look at this, because that whole line of thinking relies on the fact that you people have to be perceived as mind-numbed robots and that you are all a bunch of sponges and you sit out there and you have no brain and you have no independent thoughts. You just listen to what I say and you go act on it.
“We know that’s not the case,” he said. “It’s never been the case.”
It’s a reflection of the muddled primary race that radio talkers are more fixated on whom they don’t like — McCain — than any candidate who wows them.
“The mood is that everyone offers something and nobody offers everything — and that’s why there is so much confusion,” said L. Brent Bozell, founder of the conservative media watchdog Media Research Center.
Hewitt said he would vote for Mitt Romney “if I was voting today,” but he’s not. He also likes Rudy Giuliani.
If McCain were the Republican nominee running against either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama, Hewitt said he would support McCain. So would most of his colleagues in talk radio, he said.
“It’s not about taking your ball and going home,” he said.
Romney sheds his suit, focuses on Castro
The guayabera, the traditional Cuban men’s shirt, was an untraditional look for Mitt Romney as he spoke to mostly Cuban supporters yesterday at a campaign rally in Sweetwater, Fla. (Mike Segar/reuters)
Cheney’s Daughter Joins Romney Camp
MIAMI (AP) — Liz Cheney, one of Vice President Dick Cheney’s daughters, has signed onto Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign as a senior foreign policy adviser.
Cheney most recently worked in the State Department handling Middle East affairs.
While her father and President Bush have both vowed to remain neutral as their fellow Republicans battle it out for the GOP nomination, the endorsement is likely to be well received among conservatives who comprise a critical primary voting bloc in both Florida, which votes Tuesday, and the 20-odd states voting Feb. 5.
Romney has also enjoyed the support of aides with ties to the Bush family, including top assistants to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former President George H.W. Bush.
Liz Cheney, 41, is the elder of Dick and Lynne Cheney’s two daughters. Her younger sister, Mary, has been more prominently in the public eye after revealing she is a lesbian and having a son last year with her partner, Heather Poe, despite the administration’s opposition to gay marriage.
Liz Cheney, the mother of five children, said in a statement: “Throughout his campaign, (Romney) has distinguished himself as a leader who can guide our country with a clear vision for overcoming the threats we face today. … I look forward to working with Governor Romney because he is the leader our country needs.”
Romney said Liz Cheney brings the campaign “years of experience helping to formulate America’s foreign policy and to advance democracy and reform in the Middle East.”
Liz Cheney previously supported former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, who dropped out of the race last week.
Romney and McCain Leading in Fla. Polls
January 28, 2008, 5:13 pm
By Dalia Sussman
In advance of tomorrow’s primary in Florida, two new polls there show John McCain and Mitt Romney locked in a tight race, with Rudolph W. Giuliani and Mike Huckabee vying further back for third place.
A Quinnipiac University poll shows Mr. McCain with 32 percent support among likely Republican primary voters in Florida, and Mr. Romney with 31 percent. Mr. Giuliani, who has staked his candidacy on Florida, is backed by 14 percent, and Mr. Huckabee by 13 percent.
Quinnipiac University’s last poll two weeks ago showed a four-way tie. Since then, Mr. McCain’s and Mr. Romney’s standings have grown, while Mr. Giuliani’s and Mr. Huckabee’s support has dropped.
A Suffolk University poll has similar results. It finds Mr. McCain supported by 30 percent; Mr. Romney with 27 percent; Mr. Giuliani with 13 percent; and Mr. Huckabee with 11 percent.
In both polls, many voters said they were undecided or could still change their mind.
Respondents in the Suffolk University poll were most likely to call the economy the most important issue facing the country, far outpacing terrorism, illegal immigration and the war in Iraq.
Which issues are most important to voters matters. The poll finds Mr. McCain leading among likely voters who call the economy and terrorism most important, while Mr. Romney does better among those citing immigration and Iraq.
The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted January 24 to 27 among 585 likely Republican primary voters in Florida and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The Suffolk University poll was conducted January 25 to 27 among 400 likely Republican primary voters in Florida and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
New York Times
McCain – Hillary Love Fest
Archive for the ‘CNN Political Ticker’ Category
Jan 25 2008
Bill Clinton: John McCain and Hillary are ‘very close’
From cnn.
If Hillary Clinton and John McCain become their party’s presidential nominees, the general election race is likely to be a love-fest.
At least according to Bill Clinton.
“She and John McCain are very close,” Clinton said. “They always laugh that if they wound up being the nominees of their party, it would be the most civilized election in American history, and they’re afraid they’d put the voters to sleep because they like and respect each other.”
Sens. McCain and Clinton last met publicly at an ABC debate earlier January, when presidential candidates of both parties shared the same stage. The two were seen exchanging pleasantries, and a Clinton side said she told the Arizona senator he’d done a “good job” staging a comeback in New Hampshire. He asked that she say hello to Bill Clinton for him.
Come on Florida, we are counting on you! You’ve got to stop McCain! No wonder it was Romney who led the charge against Hillary in the debate last night. McCain didn’t want to offend one of his “very close” friends.
~Ryan Jesperson
McCain, Romney Trade Insult: You’re a Liberal
by FOXNews.com
Monday, January 28, 2008
With less than 24 hours until primary polls open in Florida, top GOP rivals John McCain and Mitt Romney continued a barrage of attacks on each other, freely using the “L”-word to bash one another.
Romney hammered hard on a climate-change bill that McCain has supported with his friend and colleague, Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman, saying the legislation will result in a tax increase. He also went after McCain for the Arizona senator’s role in campaign finance bill and the failed immigration reform bills.
“If you ask people, ‘Look at the three things Senator McCain has done as a senator,’ if you want that kind of a liberal Democratic course as president, then you can vote for him,” Romney told campaign workers. “But those three pieces of legislation, those aren’t conservative, those aren’t Republican, those are not the kind of leadership that we need as we go forward.” more
Joe Schwarz up to no good?
Ex-RINO (Republican In Name Only) Congressman Joe Schwarz, who has a pro-abortion “rights” voting record, may be planning to attempt to oust conservative Congressman Tim Walberg from Congress. www.schwarzforcongress.com is “coming soon.”
Joe Schwarz, pictured right with a very non-RINO Michigander, was supported over Tim Wallberg by RINO John McCain and the amnesty-loving George W. Bush. When it was announced that Schwarz failed to win the Republican primary to run for Congress, he was quoted as saying, “[T]he primary was ‘probably a victory for right to life, anti-abortion, anti-embryonic stem cell groups but it’s a net loss for the Republican party because it just pushes the party farther to the right.’” In my opinion, the big tent of the GOP should have no room for people who support abortion.
The American Conservative Union gave Schwarz a rating of 58 and 60 for the two years he served as a congressman. They described him as a “fiscal liberal and a social liberal” in one article they published on their website about him. The article went on to say that:
He is a Democrat at heart, and a socialist at mind. At a recent candidate debate, Schwarz demonstrated that he is thoroughly pro-abortion, warmly in favor of universal federal health care, and enthusiastic about increased federal spending for higher education.
Schwarz may have problems if he runs against Wallberg as a Republican in the primary. Perhaps Schwarz will put a “D” next to his name on the ballot instead of an “R,” and try to oust Wallberg that way.
Viva Walberg!
Breaking
The College Republicans had their elections this past Saturday and Justin Zatkoff was unanimously reelected.
Zatkoff’s strong arm tactics and childish behavior led to the smallest Michigan CR convention in recent history. Not since Jason C. Miller’s reorganization of the CR’s 5 years has the organization had such a poor turn out.
In the past three elections there were almost 200 delegates. This time, less than 85 (a lot of them non CR’s)
The states two largest Universities (MSU & UofM) did not participate, along with Grand Valley, Calvin, Saginaw Valley, and Northwood.
People who have a serious interest in politics will not align with him after threatening to sue the Michigan Republican Party, actively working to recall sitting Republican legislators and an all around lack of leadership.
Zatkoff rechartered UofM at the convention against their boards wishes. No actual member of their board requested this, as a matter of fact they voted unanimously to pull out of the state organization.
Donors should be aware that any money that you donate this year will go directly in the pocket of Zatkoff whom he claims that the organization is deeply indebted to him.
One Team Reform candidate did participate in the convention. Robbie Rankey of Ferris gave a stern rebuke to Zatkoff. Below is the text of his speech:
Good Morning!Well, here we are again at MFCR Convention, another year gone by.
Sitting down to write this speech really got me thinking about what has been
done in a years’ time. What have we accomplished? Or as the mantra
goes in Presidential elections, are we better off than we were four (but in this
case one) year ago? I remember being so excited once our current Eboard
was elected because we really had a good mix of people. It wasn’t a
complete set of “their guys” or “our guys”, it was a group of students who
wanted to make a difference.Unfortunately, we have little to show for our involvement as a member
of the Michigan Federation of College Republicans. We come to these semi-monthly
meetings and we get voting rights (and maybe a few supplies here and there), but
we don’t have an active voice in shaping the direction of this
organization. Each month our task has been to simply vote up or down on
the will of a few members on the executive board and we’re supposed to feel good
at the end of the day because we’ve made a difference, well I’m not
buying. I became active with this organization two years ago because I saw
the potential that this highly talented, and even more highly motivated group of
people had. I can’t imagine what the potential would be for this
organization if everyone was sincerely dedicated to the party rather then their
own ambitions. There are tons of ideas, (in this room even), of how we can
make a difference in this state, but who is seeking those ideas out?Every year it seems like we try to ‘unite the party’ with everyone
calling for an end to all the negative campaigns and slander, but every year we
find ourselves reading fliers, emails, and blogs about our fellow CRs. Not
only that, but members of this organization will even go so far as to break ties
with friends and fellow members because they didn’t support that Presidential
candidate you wanted or that Youth Chair candidate that you were pulling
for. And why is that? It’s because people cannot see the forest for the
trees anymore; they can’t just respect a person for their opinions and work
towards a common goal; they can’t get past their own ego and support a fellow
Republican. I have seen case after case of this and it’s disgusting. Now,
when you reach the end of the day, when you have your E-Board Position and
you’ve managed to disenfranchise a number of your fellow CRs, what do you have
to show for it? How many Republicans candidates have you helped? How
many students have you influenced at your university? How many votes have
you turned out? None.Ladies and gentleman when I ran last year for Second Vice Chair last
year I said I was “running for the position solely for the betterment of this
organization, to promote Republicans ideas, chapters, and candidates”. I said
that I was not here for personal gain. I said that “I feel that when we
start to let our personal ambitions get in the way, we lose sight of what is
really important and fundamental to MFCR: spreading conservatism throughout the
State of Michigan.” That is what I fought for on the EBoard this year and
would continue to fight for as your co-chair. I have always worked with
people from all sides of this organization. As crazy as it sounds, it’s
possible to have a working relationship with a quote McCain person and a quote
Romney person at the same time.In closing, I hope that you can see what great potential this
organization has. And more than that, I hope that you can see that that
potential was not even remotely reached this past year because we have stopped
reaching out. There are people in this organization that are more
concerned about putting on a suit and playing important, that would rather write
a do-nothing resolution than to go and do the grunt work and get REAL things
accomplished for the party. As your Co Chair I will continue to be a
uniter because truly at this time in the game, with a number of our fellow
chapters not affiliating themselves with this organization, we need to reach out
and bring people back in to take back the House and further our lead in the
Senate. We need to coordinate with our local legislators and have a close
relationship with State Party. More than that, we have to give
organizations a purpose to join MFCR and we need to follow through with our
plans. I can be that person for you and for this organization, I hope you
will give me that opportunity,Thank You and God Bless.
McCain lied once during the debate and flip flopped another
During Thursday nights debate Tim Russert asked McCain why people should vote for him when the economy is the biggest issue and he earlier admitted in the Wall Street Journal that economics are not his strong suit. McCain denied that he said this…although he did in fact say that. (I am looking for the link)
Also in regards to President Bush’s tax cuts Newsweek Senior Correspondent Howard Fineman raised a very interesting point. He said that McCain objected to the Bush tax cut’s because spending was out of control. But now, for campaign purposes wants to make them permanent when spending is still out of control.
One thing is for sure, if actual Republican’s can stomach John McCain in Florida there may be no stopping him. However Florida will be no easy task. Only Republican’s can vote in the primary which is not a good thing for McCain.
As many of you know, the ultra left wing liberal, Senator Joe Lieberman has endorsed McCain. Recently, the ultra left wing New York Times has endorsed him also. It’s unclear as to who has more liberal support, Hilary Clinton or John McCain.
Liberals are justified in voting for McCain in many respects, however conservatives need to wake up and realize why liberals like him so much. (Hint: It isn’t his charm)
Really, what does McCain have to offer the conservative movement?
Mayor Kilpatrick, chief of staff lied under oath, text messages show
Romantic exchanges undercut denials
January 24, 2008
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his chief of staff lied about their relationship last summer at a police whistle-blower trial that has cost the cash-strapped city more than $9 million, according to records obtained by the Free Press.
The false testimony potentially exposes them to felony perjury charges, legal experts say.
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Kilpatrick and chief of staff Christine Beatty denied during testimony in August that they had a sexual relationship. But the records, a series of text messages, show them engaged in romantic banter as well as planning and recounting sexual liaisons.
The messages are also at odds with the pair’s trial testimony that they did not fire Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown in 2003, an ouster that led him to sue. The text messages show Beatty recalling the “decision that we made to fire Gary Brown.”
The newspaper examined nearly 14,000 text messages on Beatty’s city-issued pager. The exchanges, which the Free Press obtained after the trial, cover two months each in 2002 and 2003.
The Kilpatrick-Beatty relationship and Brown’s dismissal were central to the whistle-blower suit filed by Brown and Harold Nelthrope, a former police officer and mayoral bodyguard. The two cops accused Kilpatrick of retaliating against them because of their roles in an internal affairs investigation of the mayor’s security team – a probe that potentially could have exposed the affair. more
Hunter 4 Huckabee
HUNTER ENDORSES HUCKABEE FOR PRESIDENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 23, 2008
CONTACT: Gary Becks (619) 334-1655
Washington, D.C. – - – Congressman Duncan Hunter, who withdrew his candidacy for the Republican Presidential nomination on January 19, 2007 , today endorsed Mike Huckabee.
I got to know Governor Huckabee well on the campaign trail, said Hunter. Of the remaining candidates I feel that he is strongly committed to strengthening national defense, constructing the border fence and meeting the challenge of China s emergence as a military superpower that is taking large portions of America s industrial base.
“Along with these issues of national security, border enforcement and protecting the U.S. industrial base, I see another quality of Mike Huckabees candidacy that compels my endorsement. Mike Huckabee is a man of outstanding character and integrity. I saw that character over the last year of campaigning and was greatly impressed. The other Republican candidates have many strengths and I wish them all well. My personal choice is Mike Huckabee,” Hunter concluded.
# # #
Romney Wins Majority of Michigan Delegates Key “battleground” state defines GOP leader
LANSING, MI – The Michigan Republican Party today announced that the 60 Republican delegates to the National Convention will be allocated based on Tuesday’s results, in the following manner: Romney 45 Delegates McCain 10 Delegates Huckabee 2 Delegates Gov. Romney won 13 of the 15 Congressional Districts, Sen. McCain won the 1st and 6th Congressional Districts and Gov. Huckabee was allocated two of the At-Large delegates. Regular delegates are allocated “winner take all” by congressional district. Meaning, the winner in each of Michigan’s 15 Congressional Districts will receive the three delegates from that district. The proportion of the statewide vote that was cast for each candidate allocates the 12 at-large delegates. Candidates needed at least 15-percent of the total votes cast to qualify for a portion of the at-large delegates. Finally, the RNC-member delegates – Chairman Saul Anuzis, National Committeewoman Holly Hughes, and National Committeeman Chuck Yob – are uncommitted delegates to the national convention. Based on a unanimous vote of the Michigan Republican State Committee, the Michigan Republican Party will allocate and send its entire delegation of 60 delegates to the national convention.
Michigan Sends 60 Delegates to the National Convention
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Paid for by the Michigan Republican Party with regulated funds.
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee
Democrat thugs block petition circulators
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Today is Presidential Primary Day in Michigan and the voting precincts in Grand Rapids are a war zone. Not between Mitt and McCain, Huckabee and Paul, but between citizens collecting signatures for the recall of State Representative Robert Dean (D-Grand Rapids) and the organized, paid, liberal ‘blockers’ hell-bent on stopping voters from signing the recall petitions.
Blockers were already at the polls when the Dean-recall volunteers arrived this morning to collect petition signatures. And they are nasty! One senior citizen who tried to sign the recall petitions was yelled at by blockers who told her that she was “breaking the law and signing an illegal petition”. These same blockers followed the senior voter to her car, taking repeated, close-up snapshots with a camera and demanding that she produce photo identification to them (the blockers). Police were called, and (as I write this) are trying to sort things out.
The blockers’ primary tactic is to lie. First by claiming that Robert Dean didn’t vote for any tax increases, and then by telling potential signers that the petitions are illegal and that they are committing a crime by signing. The blockers continue to harass citizens attempting to sign by getting right-up into the signers faces with a camera and taking multiple photos of the citizen’s face. Their tactics would be the envy of a third-world dictator attempting to suppress democracy at the polls.
And that is EXACTLY what the blockers are determined to do: suppress citizens’ democratic involvement in their constitutional right to engage in the petition and recall process.
Another type of blocker was at the polls today. These blockers were there to discourage voters from signing any Right to Work (RTW) petition that unions thought might be organized at voting locations. These blockers encountered no Right to Work petitioners, and were, at first, confused and mildly entertained by the recall blockers’ engagements with recall signature gatherers. Until they witnessed the unvarnished vitriol spewing from the recall blockers toward voters who attempted to sign petitions. I am told by several of the recall petitioners that the RTW blockers have sided with recall petitioners at the polls, after being appalled at the aggressive, grotesque behavior of the recall blockers.
I don’t know how many of the 8,700 signatures needed to force a recall election for Rep. Robert Dean will be collected today. It depends on overall election turnout in Grand Rapids, how long petition gatherers can withstand the cold and snow, and how well these petition gatherers and Grand Rapids voters can fend-off the offensive blockers who seek to undermine civility and even democracy itself.
Leon Drolet
Treasurer – Michigan Recalls
www.michiganrecalls.com
CLASSICALPRINCIPLES.com providing innovative applications of classical thought 107 Park Street-Saugatuck, MI–49453-312-565-0112 rgenetski@classicalprinciples.com
Defenders of Michigan’s recent tax increases argued that additional revenue is necessary to provide much-needed government services. This was the same argument used when the State established the Single Business Tax in 1975. It was also the same argument used eight years earlier when Michigan established its State’s income tax.
Do new taxes aid the State’s economy, as proponents suggest? Looking at history, the answer is obvious. From 1940 to the mid-1960s, Michigan’s economy consistently produced between 4½% and 5% of the nation’s income.
In 1967, Michigan adopted a State income tax. Eight years later it adopted its Single Business Tax. Since the adoption of these taxes, Michigan’s economy has lost jobs and income relative to the rest of the nation.
Michigan is not alone. A substantial body of economic research shows that states that raise the tax burden on their citizens tend to lose incomes and jobs to those states that reduce tax burdens.
Unfortunately, Michigan’s politicians have failed to understand that raising taxes begins a vicious cycle. As individuals and businesses leave the State, the economic climate deteriorates. With the loss of business and jobs, tax receipts suffer and government services have to be curtailed. Raising taxes to make up for this shortfall accelerates the loss in jobs and income. This in turn accelerates both a loss in tax receipts and cuts in state services.
Since 1965, the only period of significant tax relief for Michigan citizens occurred from 1984 to 1994. During these years the state income tax was cut from 6.35% to 4.4%. As the chart shows, these are the only years since the mid-1960s that Michigan did not experience a major decline in income relative to the rest of the country. This period is also the only time in the past 30 years that the state experienced a sustained growth in new jobs.
Today Michigan is in the midst of this vicious cycle. Over the past year US personal income increased by 6.3%. In some states, income grew faster. In others, it grew slower. Michigan has the dubious distinction of having the worst economic performance of all 50 states. It has the slowest growth in income and the highest rate of unemployment. And this is before the Governor insisted up a major new increase in taxes.
While Michigan tax receipts should increase in response to the latest tax hikes, the increase will be temporary. It takes time for businesses to relocate. As they relocate, Michigan will lose jobs and incomes to other states. Before long, Michigan’s politicians will again be faced with a shortfall of revenue. With less revenue they will once again be forced to cut government services and jobs.
To reverse this vicious cycle, Michigan must do what other states have done to attract jobs and businesses. It must significantly reduce the tax burden on our citizens. Doing so will help reverse the economic deterioration of the past forty years.
Has Romney Found His Voice?
Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008 By ANA MARIE COX/SOUTHFIELD
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney celebrates his win in the Michigan Republican primary.
Danny Wilcox Frazier / Redux for TIME
The Mitt Romney who gave his acceptance speech at the Embassy Suites in Southfield, Mich. — an upscale Detroit suburb — had a hair out of place. Maybe more than one. He was in his shirtsleeves. He was, as a spokesman said, “the stripped-down, acoustic Romney — Romney unplugged.” The clunky chimera candidate who tried so hard to prove his conservative credentials had become a model of simplicity with one major theme: He was a successful “can-do CEO,” in the words of state G.O.P. chairman Saul Anuzis, “who knows how to get jobs back.”
Aides point to this pared-down platform as proof that the Mitt that won Michigan “is the Mitt he introduced himself as,” Anuzis explains. “He got away from tailoring his message to different constituencies.” Not unlike the storyline Hillary Clinton latched on to after her comeback win in New Hampshire, Romney did seem to find his true voice in his home state. There is no denying that he came across as more energized and focused than earlier in the campaign. Spokesman Kevin Madden asserts that the governor won because the former consultant finally shed himself of consultants: “There were no shortage of unsolicited advisors. Everyone had an opinion about what he should be doing.”
Still, Romney’s success here is a tacit repudiation of the candidate that ran in Iowa and New Hampshire, and could spur the same doubts about him that have dogged his campaign since it began. After all, if he finally won in Michigan because he was being real, then he wasn’t being real before, right? And if he’s not carefully tailoring his messages any longer, why was his campaign so beautifully suited to the state of Michigan? “His detractors say he ran for the governor of Michigan,” says Neil Newhouse, Romney’s pollster from his Massachusetts races.
Indeed, the very things that helped Romney handily defeat McCain by almost ten percentage points — his more optimistic view of the economic future and claims that the auto industry’s jobs could be saved — could look to some voters like the worst kind of political pandering; in other words, the same old Mitt.
Romney’s camp, of course, sees it very differently. “It was a perfect storm in Michigan,” says Anuzis. “There’s a potential national recession, and Mitt comes in and starts talking about turning things around. National issues coincided with state issues. “The campaign has seized upon this equivalence between Michigan’s problems and the nation’s to explain away his losses in New Hampshire and Iowa. “Michigan is a microcosm of America,” says Madden, implying that the earlier, and more influential, states shop for boutique candidates. Apparently South Carolina falls into that category as well, since Romney will likely bypass Saturday’s primary in order to dominate the little-noticed Nevada Republican caucus.
Moving on to Nevada, however, is less about national appeal than it is about the campaign’s new rationale for an eventual nomination: Racking up total votes and total delegates and appealing to the squinty insiders who game out primary voters like, well, bookies. Boasting of delegate count does not generally create a feeling of success in average voters, but, according to Anuzis, “that delegate stuff appeals to activists,” who will vote more “pragmatically” on “the winnability aspect.” Whether Romney can afford to pay less attention to a traditionally crucial G.O.P. state like South Carolina remains to be seen. Mark Salter, a McCain senior adviser, doesn’t think so: “If you’re gonna claim the mantle of the latest front-runner, you’ve gotta compete.”
But a long-term focus on activists and hard-core Republicans makes sense in a nominating race that could define the future of the party, and could cost lots and lots of money in the process. The self-funded Romney’s frequent invocations of Reagan are a sharp contrast to McCain’s focus on national security, and Huckabee’s churchy charm. All three front-runners are appealing to different strains of traditional Republican values; there’s the Wal-Mart Republican (Huckabee), the establishment Republican (Romney), and the independent Republican (McCain). After Michigan, all three appear to have an equally good shot at the nomination. But for voters to have faith in the man who won Michigan, Romney can’t afford to change his tune.
