Update
Jockeying for 2010 Gubernatorial election begins today on Mackinac Island.
Leon Drolet sent out an email today explaining his side of the Dillon recall:
By now, many of you are aware that the Michigan Secretary of State has released their preliminary review of the petition signatures submitted for the purpose of recalling the tax-raising Speaker of the Michigan House, Andy Dillon. The Secretary of State’s (SOS) preliminary review contends that the petition drive is 500 signatures short of the 8,724 valid signatures required for Speaker Dillon to face recall, despite having turned in over 15,500 signatures.
The SOS believes that several petition circulators who gathered a very significant number of signatures are not registered voters residing in Andy Dillon’s district. The SOS maintains that these contested circulators are citizens who may well have Redford Township mailing addresses (all of Redford Township is in Dillon’s district), but live in homes that are just outside the district. In other words, just because your house has a Redford postal address does not mean your house is physically in Redford.
Michigan Recalls is now reviewing the SOS report. There will be signatures disqualified by the SOS that will be found valid. For example, a signer who dated their signature on 4-18-2008 was disqualified because their handwritten ‘4′ looks too much like a ‘9′. I do not know how many signatures will be re-qualified by the SOS as a result of our rebuttals.
There is another legal consideration. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a case called ‘Buckley v. the State of Colorado’ that a state cannot require a citizen to be a registered voter in order for them to be allowed to exercise their other political rights. In other words, a state cannot require a citizen to register to vote before they will recognize a citizen’s right to free speech. The courts have determined that petitioning is core political speech. Legal options are being reviewed.
Some of the signatures that the SOS believes are invalid may be the result of deliberate sabotage by paid operatives of Speaker Dillon and Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer. On May 23rd, a woman named Julianne Cuneo testified that Dillon’s and Brewer’s attorney paid her to infiltrate the recall campaign. Ms. Cuneo testified that she misrepresented herself to the petition drive organizer in order to trick the campaign into hiring her. Ms. Cuneo admitted under oath in court that she then participated in election fraud by knowing gathering signatures and having other people sign as the official circulator.
Taking on the Speaker of the House is exceptionally difficult. Recalls in general are hard because they have to comply with laws unique to recall petitioning, but taking on a sitting speaker means taking on an entire political party and all of the Lansing establishment. Every lobbyist is expected to donate to Speaker Dillon’s defense. That defense has included nasty blockers, hired thugs, and paid saboteurs who will stop at absolutely nothing in their efforts to throttle the citizens’ constitutional right to ask for a recall election.
The SOS will issue their final validity report on June 5th. By then, we will have done our best to rebut many of the findings in the SOS preliminary report and review all legal options. Things have and will continue to be difficult, but it ain’t over yet.
I’ll keep you posted.
Leon Drolet
www.michiganrecalls.com
*MIRS reported today that the Michigan Democrat Party has put forth a plan to give Hillary Clinton 69 delegates and Obama 59. The Obama campaign supports this proposal; Clinton does not.
Those numbers are rather arbitrary considering Obama wasn’t on the ballot.
*The State House has passed the same smoking ban which has exemptions in it. The Senate version made no exceptions.
PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION BAN (Gongwer)
LATE TERM ABORTIONS: Officials with Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Michigan and the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan released a statement Wednesday saying they were deeply disappointed that the House approved a state ban on so-called partial-birth abortions (SB 776
), which passed out of the chamber late Tuesday on a 74-32 vote.
The group said lawmakers would be held “accountable” in the upcoming election and urged Governor Jennifer Granholm to veto the bill.
“Senate Bill 776 is political pandering at its worst. Our Legislature should not cower to the bullying of Right to Life and should instead tend to real concerns facing Michigan,” said Shelli Weisberg, legislative director for the ACLU of Michigan. “We are encouraged, however, by the governor’s impending veto. It’s unfortunate that this will have to end at her desk as opposed to the House floor where this should have died.”
Technically, the House has not sent the Senate measure back to that chamber for it to be enrolled and sent onto the governor. The House also has not voted on a companion bill, SB 1049
McCain beating Obama in MI
Darren A. Nichols and Gordon Trowbridge / The Detroit News
Sen. John McCain is poised to challenge Democrats’ 16-year hold on Michigan’s presidential vote, and state voters are split on whether Gov. Jennifer Granholm should oust Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a new WXYZ-Action News/EPIC-MRA poll shows.McCain leads Sen. Barack Obama, the likely Democratic nominee, 44 percent to 40 percent, in the new Michigan survey whose error margin is 4 percentage points. But the survey also shows teaming up with Sen. Hillary Clinton could boost Obama: an Obama-Clinton ticket leads McCain-Mitt Romney, 51-44. The poll of 600 likely Michigan voters was conducted May 19-22.
The survey, released Wednesday evening, showed 47 percent of voters want Granholm to step into the Kilpatrick scandal and remove him from office, but 40 percent said she should not take action and the legal system should run its course. Thirteen percent are undecided.
Dillon recall may be derailed
MIRS News alert:
The recall of House Speaker Andy DILLON (D-Redford Twp.) was dealt a serious setback today by the Bureau of Elections, after state officials determined that roughly half of the signatures the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance (MTA) submitted were invalid.
MTA President, Leon Drolet said that they are working to verify the signatures.
Gongwer News alert:
Most of the signatures were discounted because the signer could not be verified as a registered voter of the district.
Sen. Clarke defending Kwame
Maybe Hansen wants to run against a weak Kilpatrick, rather then run against the person who takes over for him when he’s ousted?
Senator says don’t remove Kilpatrick
State Sen. Hansen Clarke, who tried to knock Kwame Kilpatrick out of office in the 2005 Detroit mayor’s race, urged Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Thursday not to remove the mayor. Clarke issued a statement urging Granholm to let Detroiters deal with the mayor and reject a request by Detroit’s City Council for the governor to oust Kilpatrick.
Bush judge nominee maxed out to Obama & Clinton
Michigan judge gave to Dems
State allows judges to donate, but feds don’t, so Senate panel questions nominee.
Ken Thomas / Associated Press
WASHINGTON – A federal judicial nominee from Michigan gave the maximum individual campaign contribution of $2,300 to the presidential campaigns of Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama last year, records show.
Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Helene White, who was nominated by President Bush last month to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was asked about the June 2007 contributions to Obama and Clinton in written questions submitted by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Her responses were released Thursday.
Responding to a question from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., White said, “No one has discussed with me the possibility of my being nominated to a federal judicial position under a subsequent administration.”
The contributions are allowed under Michigan’s code of judicial conduct, and other states have similar rules, but federal judges are prohibited from making political donations. more
Hagee withdraws McCain endorsement
From Bill Donahue, The Catholic League President
Pastor John Hagee has pulled his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate John McCain; McCain subsequently renounced Hagee’s endorsement. Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented on this development today:
“Hagee’s decision to sever all ties to McCain is noble: He knows he has become a liability to McCain, even after he has made amends to Catholics. What this proves is that Hagee, unlike Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is not an egocentric man. He is also not like the partisans at the Interfaith Alliance which today called on McCain to reject Hagee: when it was founded, the Interfaith Alliance received $25,000 in seed money from none other than the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
“Pastor Hagee can now move in the religious circles he has become accustomed to, and continue his ministry without distraction.”
Bob Barr wins Libertarian Party nomination
An email from the Barr for President campaign:
Dear Friend:
What an extraordinary and humbling experience: just few hours ago, the Libertarian Party nominated me as its presidential candidate for the 2008 election.
Your vote of confidence in my campaign was key to securing the ballots we needed to begin the election season in earnest. I will always appreciate your help.
I’m on my way back downstairs to thank the delegates and Barr team at our victory celebration, but wanted to get this note of appreciation off to you right away.
I’ll fill you in on more details very soon.
Gratefully,
Bob
Trail of Tall Tales: John McCain
by FOXNews.com
Tuesday: John McCain gives a thumbs up as he drinks a coffee at Cafe Versailles in Miami. (AP Photo)
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a three-part series focusing on misstatements, prevarications and falsehoods proclaimed by the three major presidential candidates.
Click here to read Part One: Hillary Clinton.
Sen. John McCain has long presented himself as that rare bird in politics: an inveterate straight-shooter. But does campaign strain have McCain’s Straight Talk Express veering off course?
A string of incidents stemming from the senator’s two presidential runs suggests he’s no less fallible than any other candidate — and just as capable of adjusting facts to suit his purpose.
1. Confederate Flag Over South Carolina Capitol, April 19, 2000
During the run-up to the South Carolina Republican primary in February 2000, McCain was asked whether he felt the Confederate flag should be removed from atop the statehouse.
Non-truth: McCain stated publicly that it was up to South Carolinians to decide.
Truth: Two months later McCain said he believed “the flag should be removed” from the Capitol. “I feared that if I answered honestly, I could not win the South Carolina primary. So I chose to compromise my principles,” he said. “I broke my promise to always tell the truth.”
Source: “Excerpts from McCain’s Remarks on Confederate Flag,” New York Times, April 20, 2000.
2. Economics Expertise, Jan. 27, 2008
Non-truth: When confronted with his own remarks about his economic prowess during a Republican primary debate, McCain said, “I don’t know where you got that quote from. I’m very well versed in economics.” In a later interview on NBC, McCain added that he’s “very strong on the economy.”
Truth: McCain was asked about a quote he gave The Wall Street Journal in a November 2005 interview in which he admitted he lacked expertise on economic issues. The quote read: “I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. … I still need to be educated.”
McCain told reporters in December 2007, “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.”
Sources: “‘Reform. Reform. Reform.’ John McCain Explains His Eclectic–and Troubling–Economic Philosophy,” Wall Street Journal, Nov. 26, 2005; NBC GOP presidential debate exchange, Jan. 24, 2008; “Meet the Press,” NBC, Jan. 27, 2008.
3. Safety in Baghdad, March 26, 2007
Non-truth: During an April 2007 visit to Baghdad, McCain said in interviews that “General (David) Petraeus goes out there (in Baghdad) almost every day in an unarmored Humvee.” He also said, “There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods today.”
Truth: There are no unarmored Humvees in Iraq. McCain later admitted that he had misspoken regarding public safety in Baghdad. “Of course, I am going to misspeak and I’ve done it on numerous occasions and I probably will do it in the future,” he said. “I regret that when I divert attention to something I said from my message, but you know, that’s just life.”
Sources: “McCain Misspoke on Baghdad Security, He Says,” New York Times, April 8, 2007; “60 Minutes,” CBS, April 8, 2007.
4. Abortion Stance, Aug. 19, 1999
Non-truth: McCain told The San Francisco Chronicle that “in the short-term or even in the long-term I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations.”
Truth: McCain soon after released a statement saying that he has always opposed Roe v. Wade and “as president, I would work toward its repeal.” McCain has a near 0 percent lifetime rating from NARAL, a national abortion rights group.
Sources: “McCain Softens Abortion Stand,” Washington Post, Aug. 24, 1999; “Capital Gang,” CNN, Aug. 28, 1999.
5. Conversation with Kerry, May 15, 2004
During the 2004 presidential campaign, speculation was widespread that Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee, had asked McCain to join him as his running mate in the general election.
Non-truth: McCain told The New York Times that Kerry made no such offer, and when asked whether the two had ever discussed the possibility, even casually, McCain said, after pausing, “No. We really haven’t.”
Truth: McCain was asked again in 2008 about his reported conversation with Kerry, and told The New York Times, “I mean it’s well known. Everybody knows, it’s been well chronicled a thousand times that John Kerry asked if I would consider being his running mate.”
Sources: “Undeterred by McCain Denials, Some See Him as Kerry’s No. 2,” New York Times, May 15, 2004; “McCain Asked About 2004 Conversation with Kerry,” New York Times, March 7, 2008.
6. Al Qaeda and Iran, March 18, 2008
During a March 2008 visit to Jordan, McCain aired his concerns about ties between Al Qaeda and Iran.
Non-truth: McCain said that it was “common knowledge and has been reported in the media that Al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran.”
Truth: McCain had to be corrected a moment later by his Senate colleague Joseph Lieberman, and quickly amended his statement. “I’m sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not Al Qaeda,” he said. McCain also made a similar comment a day earlier on the Hugh Hewitt radio show. It went uncorrected.
Sources: “A McCain Gaffe in Jordan,” Washington Post, March 18 2008; “John McCain on Iraq, Iran and the Middle East from Amman, Jordan,” The Hugh Hewitt Radio Show, March 17, 2008.
7. Ties to Lobbying Firms, Feb. 21, 2008
The New York Times published a story about McCain’s connections to Vicki Iseman, a lobbyist for the firm Alcalde & Fay. The Times reported that McCain had written to the FCC at Iseman’s behest to aid one of her clients, Paxson Communications.
Non-Truth: McCain’s campaign wrote in an e-mail to reporters, “No representative of Paxson or Alcalde & Fay personally asked Senator McCain to send a letter to the FCC.”
Truth: McCain gave a sworn deposition five years earlier in which he said, “I was contacted by Mr. Paxson on this issue. . . . I’m sure I spoke with him, yes.”
Sources: “For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk,” New York Times, Feb. 21, 2008; “A Hole in McCain’s Defense?” Newsweek, Feb. 22, 2008.
8. Attack Ads, Feb. 23, 2000
During the run-up to the Michigan primary in February 2000, the McCain campaign sponsored a telephone campaign that painted George W. Bush as an anti-Catholic bigot for courting the support of the evangelical Bob Jones University in South Carolina.
Non-truth: McCain denied to reporters that his campaign had anything to do with the calls.
Truth: McCain later admitted under repeated questioning that his campaign was responsible for the calls, but that their content had been so mischaracterized by the press that he did not recognize the calls as his own.
Sources: “McCain Campaign Admits Calls to Catholics,” New York Times, Feb. 23, 2000; “Straight Smear Express,” Washington Times, Feb. 28, 2000.
Smoking ban stalled
Good News: Last night, MIRS News reported that Speaker Andy Dillon plans to scrap the Senate smoking ban which is too strict, banning smoking in casinos, smoke shops, bingo halls and other frequently smoked in buildings. It looks like the the differences between the House and Senate bills is going to keep fascist anti smoking legislation off of the books for the time being.
Several good articles today:
Grading McCain’s veep prospects
Romney launches PAC to help GOP candidates
House votes to override Bush veto on $290 billion farm bill
Mary Clare Jalonick and Julie Hirschfeld Davis / Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The House overwhelmingly rejected George W. Bush’s veto Wednesday of a $290 billion farm bill, but what should have been a stinging defeat for the president became an embarrassment for Democrats.
Obama: Empty Suit Gaffe Machine
Barack Gaffes
The Obama machine.
By Michelle Malkin
All it takes is one gaffe to taint a Republican for life. The political establishment never let Dan Quayle live down his fateful misspelling of “potatoe.” The New York Times distorted and misreported the first President Bush’s questions about new scanner technology at a grocers’ convention to brand him permanently as out of touch.
But what about Barack Obama? The guy’s a perpetual gaffe machine. Let us count the ways, large and small, that his tongue has betrayed him throughout the campaign:
Last May, he claimed that tornadoes in Kansas killed a whopping 10,000 people: “In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed.” The actual death toll: 12.
Earlier this month in Oregon, he redrew the map of the United States: “Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go.”
Last week, in front of a roaring Sioux Falls, S.D., audience, Obama exulted: “Thank you, Sioux City. … I said it wrong. I’ve been in Iowa for too long. I’m sorry.”
Explaining last week why he was trailing Hillary Clinton in Kentucky, Obama again botched basic geography: “Sen. Clinton, I think, is much better known, coming from a nearby state of Arkansas. So it’s not surprising that she would have an advantage in some of those states in the middle.” On what map is Arkansas closer to Kentucky than Illinois?
Obama has as much trouble with numbers as he has with maps. Last March, on the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Ala., he claimed his parents united as a direct result of the civil rights movement: “There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Ala., because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born.”
Obama was born in 1961. The Selma march took place in 1965. His spokesman, Bill Burton, later explained that Obama was “speaking metaphorically about the civil-rights movement as a whole.”
Earlier this month in Cape Girardeau, Mo., Obama showed off his knowledge of the war in Afghanistan by homing in on a lack of translators: “We only have a certain number of them, and if they are all in Iraq, then it’s harder for us to use them in Afghanistan.” The real reason it’s “harder for us to use them” in Afghanistan: Iraqis speak Arabic or Kurdish. The Afghanis speak Pashto, Farsi, or other non-Arabic languages.
Over the weekend in Oregon, Obama pleaded ignorance of the decades-old, multibillion-dollar massive Hanford nuclear-waste cleanup: “Here’s something that you will rarely hear from a politician, and that is that I’m not familiar with the Hanford, uuuuhh, site, so I don’t know exactly what’s going on there. (Applause.) Now, having said that, I promise you I’ll learn about it by the time I leave here on the ride back to the airport.”
I assume on that ride, a staffer reminded him that he’s voted on at least one defense-authorization bill that addressed the “costs, schedules, and technical issues” dealing with the nation’s most contaminated nuclear-waste site.
Last March, the Chicago Tribune reported this little-noticed nugget about a fake autobiographical detail in Obama’s Dreams from My Father: “Then, there’s the copy of Life magazine that Obama presents as his racial awakening at age 9. In it, he wrote, was an article and two accompanying photographs of an African-American man physically and mentally scarred by his efforts to lighten his skin. In fact, the Life article and the photographs don’t exist, say the magazine’s own historians.”
And in perhaps the most seriously troubling set of gaffes of them all, Obama told a Portland crowd over the weekend that Iran doesn’t “pose a serious threat to us” — cluelessly arguing that “tiny countries” with small defense budgets can’t do us harm — and then promptly flip-flopped the next day, claiming, “I’ve made it clear for years that the threat from Iran is grave.”
Barack Obama — promoted by the Left and the media as an all-knowing, articulate, transcendent Messiah — is a walking, talking gaffe machine. How many more passes does he get? How many more can we afford?
© 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
Joe Knollenberg says NO to millionaire farm subsidies
for millionaire “farmers”
Did you know that 300 Manhattanites, Nelson Rockefeller’s son, billionaires, celebrities, and Fortune 500 companies are receiving federal farm subsidies, all at taxpayers’ expense?
Congressman Knollenberg has stood up to this latest case of outlandish government waste, which is costing Michigan families $320 per household in higher taxes and food prices.
Our families deserve better.
“This Manhattan farmer slush fund has to stop,” Knollenberg said. “Our families shouldn’t be footing the bill for yet another case of government waste. This policy must come to an end.”
Michigan’s families are saddled with tax hikes, skyrocketing fuel costs, and climbing food prices, even for staples like bread and milk. Meanwhile, millionaire “farmers” living in Manhattan are receiving taxpayer subsidies.
Bill riddled with pork barrel spending
Government watchdog groups have called the legislation a “disaster” overloaded with an “outrageous amount of tax breaks in this bill for those that don’t need it.”
And this week, The Detroit News called the bill “ludicrous” and riddled with pork barrel spending,”leaving taxpayers stuck funding special interests “for years to come.”
Congressman Knollenberg has said “no” to this rampant federal waste and has authored a letter to other Members of Congress, urging them to do the same.
McCain staffer protesting Obama
I was just looking through pictures of the Obama protest and I saw pictures of the MIGOP Youth Chair, Matt Hall and College Republican Chair, Justin Zatkoff.
What is particularly interesting is that Zatkoff is employed by the McCain for President campaign. We got news of it a couple of weeks ago, but wanted to sit on it until we had a reason to mention it. It appears we now have our chance.
Pictured here is the visibly plumper Hall and Zatkoff at the Obama rally in Grand Rapids. (Photo courtesy of Todd Heywood)
I can’t figure out why the McCain campaign would hire such a person as Zatkoff. If you need to know a good reason why he shouldn’t be working for McCain, please use the search option in the top left corner of this blog.
Last week, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis sent out a memo titled, “Conflicts Policy.” This policy was designed to identify staffers with “conflicts” working within McCain’s organization after three advisers resigned from the campaign.
Zatkoff has a conflict…he runs an illegal organization in Michigan and he is a Presidential campaign staffer protesting McCains opponents.
Earlier this year, Zatkoff ran two anonymous websites attacking Michigan Republican officials as being part of a “Triangle of Corruption,” and was involved in the attempt to recall several Republican legislators.
Those blogs went offline without notice a few months ago. Now we know why…because he went to work for John McCain.
A clown like Justin Zatkoff should not be working on a campaign, let alone a Presidential one.
MI House Dems Colossal Arrogance
Today MIRS news reported on the progress of a partial birth abortion ban in the State House:
“I think they (pro-choice Democrats) want to move four or five pro-choice bills in exchange � but not call them pro-choice bills,” DeRoche said. “We’re supposed to call them contraceptive bills, but they’re pro-choice bills. They’re sort of saying that if the Catholic Church would just change its policy on birth control by Tuesday they’ll move our bill.”
NRCC Chair Cole doesn’t get it
Republican bloggers make push to replace Rep. Cole
| Posted: 05/20/08 06:03 PM [ET] | |
| Conservative bloggers want Republican House campaign chairman Tom Cole (Okla.) replaced.
Frustrated by three special-election losses and the dour atmosphere surrounding congressional GOP candidates this year, online conservatives believe a Republican purge is in order if the party wants to salvage its long-term prospects on the Hill. “[Republicans] can continue on this course until November and embrace disaster,” wrote the directors of RedState, a leading conservative blog, “or they can clean house and bring a new direction to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).” The bloggers also write that Cole and other Republican leaders haven’t stressed enough the need to play to the party’s base, especially on fiscal matters, which they think is crucial to holding off Democratic gains. Only if they concentrated on reducing earmarks would they be able to rally the activists who could reverse Republican fortunes, according to RedState’s editor, Erick Erickson. GOP leaders “have gotten comfortable and they’re out of ideas,” Erickson said. “They went for 12 years in leadership in the House, and when they ran out of ideas, they started bribing the voters.” Cole has been a recurring target of conservative bloggers, who point to his own words as evidence he doesn’t share their concern over spending as an electoral issue. “Oh, I don’t think the problem was spending,” Cole said in May 2007 when asked by The Washington Post why he thought Republicans lost seats in 2006. “People who argue that we lost because we weren’t true to our base, that’s just wrong.” Quotations like that show that Cole and other Republican leaders don’t understand what’s ailing their party, according to Richard Viguerie, the legendary GOP direct-mail operative who now writes at ConservativeHQ.com. “Make no mistake about it, Democrats didn’t win in those three special House elections this year because their districts had suddenly turned liberal,” Viguerie wrote after last week’s special election. “The Republicans lost because the base of the GOP — conservatives — is so discouraged and angry over the big government policies of the national party. And Rep. Tom Cole just doesn’t get that.” more |
Support an authentic conservative: Jack Hoogendyk
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Slick Willy in town Thursday to raise cash for Hillary
Bill Clinton to attend Detroit fundraiser
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington bureau
DETROIT — Former President Clinton will attend a fundraiser Thursday at a downtown restaurant for his wife’s presidential campaign, Democratic sources confirmed Tuesday.
Tickets for the event will go for $500 and $1,000. A campaign source said the former president, who has campaigned relentlessly for Hillary Clinton, plans no public events while in Michigan.
The visit comes as the Clinton campaign tries to use the issue of disputed presidential primaries here and in Florida as a reason to continue fighting for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sen. Barack Obama holds a seemingly commanding lead in the delegates, though that lead does not account for delegates from Michigan and Florida, which the Democratic National Committee has said will not count because their January contests violated party rules. more
DetNews Poll
Court backs gay nuptials
Do you think it was right for the California Supreme Court to overturn a voter-approved ban on gay marriage?
| Yes | |
| No | |
Rep. Rick Jones: Universities must accept more Michigan students
From MIRS:
“The universities have lost their mission to educate Michigan children,” Jones said at a press conference this afternoon. “Their new mission is now educating as many people as possible from the People’s Republic of China.”
Jones was plugging his “10 percent plan,” requiring state universities to automatically accept the top 10 percent of each high school class. Jones said rural teachers have asked him why it’s so tough to get into the University of Michigan — and he claims that foreign students are a big part of the problem.
“We shouldn’t take students from China or New York until Michigan students are served first,” Jones said.
Jones said it’s worked in Texas and “may not be perfect for Michigan,” but said the current system is elitist. Critics, such as the Detroit News editorial board, charge that it will put Michigan at a competitive disadvantage with other schools and dilute the learning environment by accepting less-qualified students. Jones says just the opposite will happen.
MIGOP, HRCC to host campaign school
I did this campaign school in 2002. I believe it to be the best and most intensive one around.
2008 Michigan Republican
Campaign Management
Academy
Co-Sponsors
Michigan Republican Party
House Republican Campaign Committee
June 5-7, 2008
Date
Thursday, June 5
1 pm – 10 pm
Friday, June 6
8 am – 8 pm
Saturday, June 7
8 am – 3 pm
Location
Holiday Inn LansingWest
7501 W. Saginaw
Lansing, MI 48917
(517) 627-3211
Room Reservations
Group Code: MRP
Rate: $89/night
jmerriman@hilansingwest.com
Cost
$75
Includes registration, meals and
instruction materials.
MI-7: A Joe Schwarz run is a nightmare for Mark Schauer
by Susan J. Demas | Capitol Chronicles | Analysis
Monday May 19, 2008, 10:20 PM
So here’s the nightmare scenario for Mark Schauer. The Battle Creek state senator not only faces a primary with feisty farmer Sharon Renier (the two-time nominee whose candidacy can’t be laughed off, even if he’d like to) but former U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz runs as an independent in the 7th Congressional District.
“That’s pathetic,” one Democratic operative scoffed. “He’ll never do it,” another confidently insisted to me.
Curious reaction, I thought. Because it’s nothing to sniff at: Even if Schwarz pulls 2 percent, that’s enough to make sure Schauer finishes his term as minority leader in the Senate. Of course, Schwarz will do far better than that. He’ll pull from Schauer’s base and also plenty of Republicans who had to swallow hard before pulling the lever for U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Tipton) last time. In a change election year, the maverick former congressman has an outside chance to win.
Otherwise, Schauer would have a good shot, even though I gave the advantage to Walberg. Eric Baerren, by the way, has a good counterpoint on the case for Mark today. (My sincerest apologies to the Mich Libber who thinks political analysts are morally obligated to break out the pompons for Schauer. And by the way, it’s “retch,” dear).
So will he do it? Schwarz’s undecided for now. He’s got until the July 17 filing deadline to play with the idea. But with polling last year showing Schwarz beating the man who ousted him, it’s tempting for a former University of Michigan lineman and Vietnam vet to fight on. On the other hand, the Battle Creek native knows it’s an uphill battle, as the “road to public office is strewn with the bodies of independents.” His goal isn’t to be a spoiler. more
Sen. Robert "Sheets" Byrd loses compsure over news of Kennedy tumor
Click here to view clip
House Conservatives to Offer Ideas for G.O.P. Message
In addition to the strategies listed below…candidates for US House should refuse to campaign or be seen with John McCain.
House Conservatives to Offer Ideas for G.O.P. Message
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WASHINGTON — Conservative Republicans in the House plan to urge their colleagues to rally behind a new manifesto that mixes antispending initiatives and tighter restrictions on government benefits as the party seeks a fresh message after a string of election defeats.
Leaders of the Republican Study Committee intend to use a closed-door party meeting on Tuesday to present a seven-point proposal calling for a constitutional limit on federal spending, a new simplified income tax alternative and a proposal to require recipients of food stamps or housing aid to meet work requirements.
“Clearly, we have been sobered by three special election losses in a row,” said Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas, chairman of the group of more than 100 Republican lawmakers. “We are sobered by the massive cash advantage that Democrats have to get their message out.”
Mr. Hensarling said that getting off the political defensive would “take unity, and it is going to take unity behind a handful of messages.”
The proposal from the group of conservatives is likely to be just one of the ideas circulated at the session as Republicans look for ways to right themselves heading into what is promising to be a difficult election year.
The party leadership in the House has already begun to roll out its own agenda under the rubric “The Change You Deserve,” but some lawmakers have said the party needs to be more aggressive. Others are skeptical about overreacting to the elections or embracing too strong a conservative theme.
A spokeswoman for Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, the No. 2 Republican in the House, said the leadership was open to constructive suggestions from lawmakers. more
Left leaning blogger believes Walberg will prevail
MI-7: Tim Walberg has advantage over Mark Schauer
by Susan J. Demas | Capitol Chronicles | Analysis
Sunday May 18, 2008, 1:38 PM
Everybody and their mother has an opinion on the most-watched congressional race in Michigan, the 7th District. Since I’ve covered this circus intensely since the halcyon days of the 2006 GOP primary, I thought I’d weigh in, too.
As things stand now, I’d say the seat leans incumbent. U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Tipton) would probably win 52-48 over state Sen. Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek). Now Walberg ain’t my best buddy (although I was once mistaken for his trophy wife) and I’ve criticized Schauer’s shenanigans, as well. I’m sure Michigan Liberal will have my head (you’re welcome, Eric) but I just call ‘em as I see ‘em.
There are enough moving parts here that I’m not ready to bet the farm in November. Like any pundit, I’m paid to be wrong (though few of us admit that). I base my assessments on voting patterns, demographics and campaign tactics, instead of manufactured narratives and anecdotal evidence.
Before I get into the demos and details of the slammin’ 7th, I should note that I think the most important X factor in November is the presidential race. That will determine turnout and impact down-ticket voting. John McCain isn’t beloved by Walberg’s ultra-right peeps (the congressman himself can barely stomach him) so that’s not going to turn them out. But perhaps Rev. Wright will scare them enough to vote against Barack Obama, who coincidentally is a different hue than most Walberg voters.
On the flip side, rural areas (read: bitter) have been more amenable country for Hillary Clinton, so will these Dems be motivated to get out there for Obama? They might be anyway as part of the continuing anti-GOP backlash. Or maybe slow and steady McCain will look better to them. more
Smoking ban hurts economy
5% Tax Revenue Loss Found After Smoking Ban
A Columbia, Mo., study found a 5 percent loss of sales tax revenue over a seven-month period after a smoking ban passed last year.
A December 2007 study, released by Michael R. PAKKO, a research office and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, on dining-sector tax collection for January to July 2007 found a “statistically significant” loss in sales tax revenues at local bars and restaurants. The report stresses that the 5 percent loss is only an average, noting that many businesses had been largely unaffected, while others, particularly casinos and bars, saw much greater losses.
A city-wide smoking ordinance took effect in Columbia on January 2007, banning smoking in all bars, restaurants and workplaces.
Dining revenues sustained large decreases after the smoking ban was implemented in Columbia. Between 2003 and 2006, revenues had risen at an average of 6.8 percent per year. Between January and July 2007, dining revenues decreased by 1.2 percent.
A local business owner reported a 40 percent drop in alcohol sales and a 20 to 30 percent drop in food sales. He expected a 30 to 33 percent decline for the year. Additionally, at least four other local establishments cited the smoking ban as a factor concerning their decision to shut down in 2007, according to the study.
The survey made available to MIRS by the Rossman Group, suggests somewhat different findings than a study released early this year from Public Sector Consultants, who found cigarette smoking bans had no net impact on restaurants (See “New Smoking Study Prompts Change of Heart,” 4/15/08).
Happy Birthday!
To Joe Sylvester of the Michigan Conservative Dossier and Dennis Bentley of the MSU College Republicans.
