147 Days until Election Day

June 10, 2008

MORNING UPDATE:

MICHIGAN BUSINESS TAX….the new and worst version of the Single Business Tax… The Granholm Fix. Check out how to take advantage of some of the new tax breaks.
http://www.rightmichigan.com/section/Multimedia

OBAMA’S RECORD ON TAXES…doesn’t make sense for Michigan. Barack Obama’s self-proclaimed “change we need” should read instead as the change Michigan working families cannot afford after an examination of the Democrat’s record shows a long list of supporting Democrat tax increases that have raised the cost of living on middle class families. More below.

OBAMA BACK IN MICHIGAN…for a third time in less than a month. Michigan is a battleground state and Obama has to explain why he boycotted our state for 2 years, why he bashes the domestic auto industry, why he thinks Jennifer Granholm’s failed tax and spend policies will work in America….look what they have done here.
If you like what Jennifer Granholm has done for Michigan, you’re going to love what Barack Obama is going to do to America.
Taxing production, ingenuity, and entrepreneurship is NOT going to work. A huge increase in the federal government, government programs, and government spending is NOT going to help our economic situation. Obama is wrong for Michigan…and wrong for America. Pay attention folks, it’s going to cost us dearly.

OBAMA’S LEGISLATIVE RECORD…here is an interview that Chris Matthew’s conducted asking about Obama’s legislative record…his accomplishments…it almost hurts to watch it…almost J
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2008/06/obamadoesnt-hav.html

ELLY PETERSON RIP…longtime Republican activists and former State Chair died this week. She was 95. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family.

******************************************************

FOR THE LATEST NEWS, COMMENTARY & INFORMATION:

Check…out…our…online Articles of Interest………News…you…can…use………

******************************************************

THE REST OF THE STORY:

Michigan Republican Party Press Release:

Obama’s Agenda will skyrocket MI’s cost of living
Déjà vu for Michigan residents as Democrats select Obama
Nominee has record of raising taxes and failed judgment

LANSING - Barack Obama’s self-proclaimed “change we need” should read instead as the change Michigan working families cannot afford after an examination of the Democrat’s record shows a long list of supporting Democrat tax increases that have raised the cost of living on middle class families.

Barack Obama voted 94 times for tax increases that raise the cost of living on working families in just three short years as a U.S. Senator. As a candidate, he has promised higher income taxes, Social Security taxes, capital gains taxes, dividend taxes, and tax hikes on job creating businesses. Less than a year after Granholm and Democrats rammed the largest tax increase down the throats of Michigan families and small businesses, Obama’s seemingly limitless spending proposals will continue the Democrat’s assault on Michigan’s middle class.

“Obama’s laundry list of taxes is all too familiar to Michigan residents,” said Daniel Acciavatti, Republican vice-chair of the House Appropriations committee. “Michigan families and businesses have been battered with more taxes than they can afford, an ever increasing cost of living, and remain the nation’s leader in unemployment.”

“Obama continues to ignore Michigan’s feeble condition as he voices support for change, change through more taxes. We need change we can afford. Government needs to live within its means, led by a proven leader who has a record of frugal fiscal responsibility,” added House Republican Leader Craig DeRoche.

Last year, residents of Michigan were promised by their governor that her tax only cost pennies, but those pennies to date have exceeded $85 billion taken from taxpayers’ pockets-the cost of living has soared and will continue to increase through the Obama agenda. During just three years in the U.S. Senate, Barack Obama has already voted 94 times for higher taxes. Obama’s record is too familiar to the businesses and families, the victims of Michigan’s economic recession since Democrats have controlled the executive branch and state House.

“I am shocked he has the audacity to suggest we can afford this change. He doesn’t understand Michigan’s economy, he continues to lambaste the auto industry, and unfortunately Michigan residents have seen first hand that further taxation will remove more families from prosperity and place them into the gripe of poverty, he is not ready to be president,” Acciavatti said.

 

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

The following stories and more are available at my Articles of Interest online.

 

Obama courts Michigan, focuses on economy

Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Barack Obama kicked off a two-week campaign swing Monday seeking to focus the presidential campaign on the economy — a tour that will include stops in Michigan next week.

Aides said Monday that Obama will be in Detroit for a fundraiser at the Renaissance Center, and a public event of some sort — though there were no details on the event.

Obama’s third visit to Michigan in a month will focus on the No. 1 issue for Michigan voters and those in most other states across the country: the economy.

Council trio to gov: Drop mayor action

Letter to Granholm says Kilpatrick didn’t deceive them on whistle-blower case.
Christine MacDonald and David Josar / The Detroit News

DETROIT — A faction of the City Council opposed to ousting Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is urging Gov. Jennifer Granholm not to remove him, saying they weren’t deceived into an $8.4 million whistle-blower settlement at the heart of the mayoral scandal.

Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers sent a letter May 27 that asks Granholm to refrain from using state powers that allow governors to unseat elected officials for misconduct. The letter disputes the council’s claim that Kilpatrick violated the city charter, claiming there is “no factual basis whatsoever” that members were duped into the deal.

That claim is “self-serving for some,” an apparent dig at Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr., who backs Kilpatrick’s removal and would temporarily become mayor.

Ex-Kilpatrick bodyguard files whistle-blower suit

By BEN SCHMITT and M.L. ELRICK • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • June 9, 2008

A former bodyguard for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick filed a whistle blower lawsuit today claiming he was harassed and intimidated during his tenure on the security detail and told by supervisors to keep quiet during an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing by the mayor and his inner circle.

Officer Tony Davis, who now works in the department’s gaming division, filed the lawsuit Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court, laying out serious of allegations which include mayoral philandering

One of Kilpatrick’s lawyers, Jim Parkman, called the lawsuit “ridiculous,” during an evening press conference in response to the allegations.

City contracts for mayor’s friend to get a second look Detroit
Panel to review water main bids

BY BEN SCHMITT and M.L. ELRICK • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • June 10, 2008

A Detroit City Council committee placed a hold on two water-main contracts Monday totaling about $4.4 million that were destined for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s friend Bobby Ferguson, citing a need for further analysis.

Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel told members of the Public Health and Safety Committee to hold off on sending the contracts to the full council until other bids are re-examined.

“There is a question of appearances,” Cockrel said of Ferguson’s close relationship to the mayor after Monday’s hearing. “And a question of setting proper boundaries.”

Congress, Get Off Your Gas, and Drill

By Chuck Norris

Last Thursday, oil prices increased $5.50 per barrel in one day. Last Friday marked the biggest single-day surge in oil price history, rocketing $11 more to $138 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In just two days, oil costs increased 13 percent.

Average Americans literally are driving to the poorhouse on financial fumes. With gas at $4 per gallon, roughly two cars in every household, and the average annual gas usage at 700 gallons, you do the math. Americans are being forced to use their hard-earned money that once put food in their stomachs to put petroleum in their tanks and to drive the exact same distances they drove a decade ago for four to five times the price.

McCain says using Google to vet VP candidates

RICHMOND, Virginia (Reuters) - It turns out choosing a vice president isn’t that complicated after all.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain joked on Monday that Google, the popular Internet search engine, had made investigating his list of potential candidates a little bit easier.

“You know, basically it’s a Google,” he said to laughter at a fund-raising luncheon when asked how the selection process was going. “What you can find out now on the Internet — it’s remarkable.”

Obama Veep Vetters Meet Pelosi, Other Top Dems

Right now, according to a Democratic aide, former deputy AG Eric Holder and Perseus LLC vice chairman James Johnson are meeting on with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The meeting is in Pelosi’s office on Capitol Hill.

Here’s what this tells me:

The veepstakes process is in the information gathering phase; the vetters will interview dozens of Democratic officials and get a sense from them what they think about any number of candidates and potential issues. After the information gathering phase comes the vetting phase, where candidates turn over reams of information and sit through hours-long interviews with discrete lawyers.

Dream On

by The Editors

The race for the Democratic presidential nomination may be over and Barack Obama may be its winner. But the Clinton family drama goes on. Early this week, as the final primaries took place and the mathematical reality of delegate counts became impossible to deny, Hillary Clinton let it be known that, yes, she’d consider accepting the vice-presidential nomination if Obama offered it to her. The statement gave instant political credibility to an idea already popular in some quarters. For many of Clinton’s disappointed supporters, putting her on the ticket is a moral imperative: By virtue of her close second- place finish in delegates and popular votes, Clinton earned the vice presidential nomination. To more disinterested observers, choosing Clinton would represent a savvy strategic choice: During the primaries, her strongest support came primarily from those voters–the white working class and Latinos– with whom Obama has famously struggled. Putting Clinton on the ticket, according to this argument, solves that problem. It is, say proponents of the scheme, a true Dream Ticket.

What Should Hillary Do Now?

A Symposium
Tuesday, June 10, 2008; 12:01 AM

Now that she’s officially announced the end of her presidential campaign, what’s next for Hillary Clinton? The Post asked five opinion leaders, representing a variety of viewpoints, to weigh in. Here are their responses:

John Zogby, pollster and president of Zogby International:

As his basketball career was coming to a close, Bill Bradley wrote eloquently about what happens when the lights dim and the cheerleaders and fans start following the younger starts. He did just fine proving that there are second acts in life. Other great second acts include Ted Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey, who both reached for the brass rail but found their meaning in the Senate. Jimmy Carter defines second-act stardom, his most effective years coming after his presidency.

Elly Peterson: 1st woman to lead state Republicans

BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF • FREE PRESS LANSING BUREAU CHIEF • June 10, 2008

Elly Peterson made history as chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party in 1965 — the first woman to head either state party.

She made a mark recruiting young moderates to run for office in what was then a moribund party.

She made waves in 1982 when she endorsed Democrat James Blanchard for governor over Republican nominee Richard Headlee, whom she labeled too conservative.

 

Paid for by Michigan Republican Party

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee

http://www.migop.org/

148 Days until Election Day

June 9, 2008

MORNING UPDATE:

OBAMA’S LEGISLATIVE RECORD…here is an interview that Chris Matthew’s conducted asking about Obama’s legislative record…his accomplishments…it almost hurts to watch it…almost .

CARD CHECK…Protect the workers’ right to a secret ballot. The vast majority (around 81%) of Americans believe that American workers have a right to have a secret ballot election before they are forced to join a union. Last year the House Democrats passed a bill that would strip American workers of the secret ballot. A new bill should be introduced reaffirming that right, and it should be brought up again and again until marginal Democrats are forced to vote with the American people against the union power structure.  This, coming from a Teamster.

TALK RADIO 1400 AM…I’ve become a weekly guest on the Hughes Sullivan Show on WDTK-AM 1400, which is broadcast in metro Detroit every evening.  I am scheduled to regularly appear Mondays and Fridays between 8:15-8:45 pm. Good, conservative talk radio.  You can hear it here.

THE BIG SHOW…every Tuesday morning, Democrat State Chair Mark Brewer and I go head to head on WJIM with Michael Patrick Shiels and discuss the issues of the day.  The Big Show is heard statewide on many local stations.  You can hear it online at here.

************************************************************

FOR THE LATEST NEWS, COMMENTARY & INFORMATION:

Check…out…our…online Articles of Interest………News…you…can…use………

************************************************************

THE REST OF THE STORY:

No further commentary today.

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

The following stories and more are available at my Articles of Interest online.

Barack Obama returns to Michigan next week

Posted by The Associated Press June 09, 2008 04:52AM

DETROIT — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will hold a campaign stop and a fundraiser in Detroit on June 16.

A spokeswoman for the Illinois senator made the announcement Sunday.

It will mark Obama’s third campaign stop in Michigan in a little more than a month.

Obama Maps a Nationwide Push in G.O.P. Strongholds

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JEFF ZELENY
Published: June 8, 2008

WASHINGTON - Senator Barack Obama’s general election plan calls for broadening the electoral map by challenging Senator John McCain in typically Republican states - from North Carolina to Missouri to Montana - as Mr. Obama seeks to take advantage of voter turnout operations built in nearly 50 states in the long Democratic nomination battle, aides said.

On Monday, Mr. Obama will travel to North Carolina - a state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 32 years - to start a two-week tour of speeches, town hall forums and other appearances intended to highlight differences with Mr. McCain on the economy. From there, he heads to Missouri, which last voted for a Democrat in 1996. His first campaign swing after securing the Democratic presidential nomination last week was to Virginia, which last voted Democratic in 1964.

Obama’s VP hand

Monday, June 9, 2008

Barack Obama has considerable time to undergo the kind of vetting process he will need to select the best possible running mate. He already has exposed his hand (unlike his chief opponent, Republican John McCain.) The most important factor is putting together a winning ticket now that Democratic primary and caucus voters have proven that theirs is a party deeply divided.

Mr. Obama announced his vice-presidential selection team following his victory over Hillary Clinton on Tuesday. Already, he has come under fire, and rightly so. Mr. Obama is being criticized for naming former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder as one of three people vetting his vice-presidential selection. Mr. Holder (who had previously served as the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia), failed to notify the Justice Department and New York prosecutors during the Clinton administration’s consideration of a pardon for Marc Rich - the tax-evading, illegal-trading, racketeer billionaire, who avoided prosecution by fleeing to Switzerland and renouncing his citizenship. Then-President Clinton pardoned Mr. Rich during the closing days of his second term.

A Campaign We Can Believe In?

By William Kristol
Published: June 9, 2008

Hillary Clinton’s concession speech Saturday was the story of the weekend. But the dueling speeches by John McCain and Barack Obama on Tuesday night, after the last primaries, are what voters - and campaign operatives - should be revisiting.

McCain chose to speak early in the evening, before the polls closed in South Dakota and Montana, thereby getting the jump on Obama. He read a disjointed set of remarks at a badly staged rally at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner, La. Here’s part of an e-mail message I received as McCain spoke, from a Republican who admires him: "They could have done so well tonight, shown a tone of confidence. Instead it looks like a bad Congressional race: dumb green puke background, small crowd … Makes me want to cry."

Campaign Adds to Complicated Clinton Legacy

By JOHN M. BRODER and ROBIN TONER
Published: June 9, 2008

WASHINGTON - Bill and Hillary Clinton have stirred virulent passions in their nearly two decades in the national spotlight. They have been known as many things, good and bad - brilliant policy analysts, manipulators of facts and friends, tireless campaigners, skillful political tacticians, monumentally self-absorbed baby boomers. But most of all they were known as winners.

Until now.

Mrs. Clinton, who survived public humiliation as first lady and then easily won two Senate races in New York, entered the 2008 presidential primary season as the odds-on favorite because of money, connections and celebrity. But through a series of blunders and the appearance of a once-in-a-lifetime opponent, Mrs. Clinton saw the prize slip through her grasp despite a valiant personal effort that lasted through the final contests in South Dakota and Montana.

Debate still rages on impact of tax cuts

David M. Dickson THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Monday, June 9, 2008

At a White House event last week commemorating the fifth anniversary of the 2003 tax cuts and the seventh anniversary of the 2001 tax cuts, President Bush hailed the "52 months of uninterrupted job growth" that commenced shortly after the 2003 tax cuts were passed.

"There’s no question that the tax cuts provided economic vitality," Mr. Bush said.

However, politicians and economists disagree about the extent of the economic benefits generated by the tax cuts.

Biz tax, surcharge threat to job creation

Stardock Corp. is the kind of company Michigan could use more of.

It’s a 21st century technology and entertainment company. It makes computer games and software. It employs 55 people. Revenue this year may reach $18 million.

But it may be leaving Plymouth Township because its state tax liability has soared from about $1,200 under the Single Business Tax to as much as $168,000 under the Michigan Business Tax, with its surcharge. (See story, Page 1.)

Mayor Kilpatrick’s pal thrives on Detroit water dept. contracts

Change orders pump up cost of Ferguson’s deals; Kilpatrick, water board deny there’s favoritism
Robert Snell and Ron French / The Detroit News

DETROIT — A friend of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s has received at least $170 million in city contracts — $109 million from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department alone — since the mayor took office in 2002.

Bobby Ferguson, who has been at the mayor’s side at black-tie social events and on the backs of motorcycles, has long claimed the relationship hurts his general contracting company’s ability to land contracts. But an analysis of records by The Detroit News shows his share of water department contracts has jumped more than 20-fold since Kilpatrick took office. Half of them have doubled, tripled or almost quadrupled in price because of additional work — a cost that is spread among customers in 126 communities across southeast Michigan.

Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel called The News’ analysis "explosive."

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick should have skipped Wings’ parade

June 9, 2008

The mayor should have stayed away Friday.

Instead, Kwame Kilpatrick made himself part of the story during the Red Wings’ Stanley Cup championship reception at Hart Plaza. The volume and decibel level of the booing were so deafening, you would have thought Matt Millen just stepped on stage.

I asked Wings owner Mike Ilitch on the ice at Mellon Arena following the clinching victory Wednesday night if he thought Kilpatrick should be present at the celebration, despite his political and legal difficulties. And Ilitch told me he couldn’t think of a reason why he shouldn’t be there.

I said I could think

Right-to-work laws benefit states, workers

Douglas C. Buckler’s recent commentary ("Right-to-work laws hurt business climate," May 30) grossly mischaracterizes the economic benefits of allowing workers to freely choose whether or not to associate with a union.

Buckler suggests that right-to-work states suffer economic "penalties" for protecting workers from coercive unionization. While it’s hardly surprising to find a union official defending an arrangement that ensures his organization can pay him using the dues workers must pay or be fired, his selective use of statistics fails to capture the numerous economic advantages of Right to Work states.

The National Institute for Labor Relations Research has published a response to the deceptive, union-backed study cited by Buckler. The institute demonstrated that states that protect employees’ freedom of association enjoy higher real wages and lower costs of living. In other words, workers’ paychecks go much further in economically vibrant right-to-work states because the goods they purchase are significantly more affordable.

Paid for by Michigan Republican Party

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee

http://www.migop.org/

http://meetbarackobama.com/

I just found a new website at EXPOSEOBAMA.COM and wanted to share this site with you. I have not had an opportunity to read every link and article on the site yet but what I have read has not been discussed in the “Main Street Media”.

Here are two things from this site for your review:

The Shepard’s Crook of Christianity

Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Shepard’s Crook of Christianity
Ebola is to humans what Black Liberation Theology is to the church.

Ebola was popularized in the movie “Outbreak” and the book, “Hot Zone.” The virus is what they call a Level 4 pathogen that causes severe hemorrhaging and rapid death through the massive destruction of the liver. But, unfortunately, for those in favor of reducing the number of people on the planet, it also kills animals. The strains of the virus have eerie sounding names – Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Reston, Ebola Tai and Marburg.

Amazingly, the Ebola virus under an electron microscope looks a little like a sheep herder’s staff, hence the name, “Shepard’s Crook.” If it happens to show up in your blood, or in that of your pet monkey, there is a nine out of 10 chance of death.

Black Liberation Theology (BLT) is the Shepard’s Crook of Christianity and one of its prophets is Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Without one of his flock running for President of the United States, Wright’s message would probably not have hit front page news. But since Obama, unifying-man-for-all-seasons and candidate-for-Hope-and-Change, is running for the top job it only makes sense that all of his background examined. Ooops. Bad timing for him, Wright, and BLT.

Obama is now in triage, a political casualty of Wright’s BLT-inspired raving rants.

Glenn Beck interviewed former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell on March 20, 2008. Blackwell, a black man, said, “The proponents of liberation theology like Reverend Wright say that God commands us to form government that will supervise our economy to create government subsidized jobs under central government planning, guaranteed healthcare and education by having government control both.”

In other words, liberation theology is socialism wrapped in Christianity. BLT’s contribution to the gift is a racial ribbon and bow.

BLT consists of 12 primary points and a few sub-points. They are available for review on the Trinity United Church of Christ (Chicago) website. According to TUCC, “These Black Ethics must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Blacks are gathered.”

Most have explanations following them and, unfortunately, the explanation sometimes makes the palatable much less, and the less than palatable much worse. An example is the first one, “Commitment to God.” Normally, I would applaud anyone urging this affirmation. But, when the explanation includes racially charged words like, “Black Christian Activists,” and “soldiers for Black freedom,” I am less inclined.

1. Commitment to God.
2. Commitment to the Black Community.
3. Commitment to the Black Family.
4. Dedication to the Pursuit of Education.
5. Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence.
6. Adherence to the Black Work Ethic.
7. Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect.
8. Disavowal of the Pursuit of “Middleclassness.”
9. Pledge to Make the Fruits of All Developing and Acquired Skills Available to the Black Community.
10. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions.
11. Pledge Allegiance to All Black Leadership Who Espouse and Embrace the Black Value System.
12. Personal Commitment to Embracement of the Black Value System.

A Find and Replace of “Black” for “White” illustrates how abhorrent the principals actually are – Imagine if your local AG, Presbyterian or Baptist church had a value system kicking off with Commitment to God and the White Community. Meanwhile, a Find and Delete of “Black,” with some minor grammatical edits, illustrates how noble they could be. (The exception that you can’t put a positive spin on is the disavowal of “Middleclassness,” which is a tone ringing similar to, “Revolution of the Proletariat.”)

With this as a value system, it is no wonder Wright has said the things he has, while what is to be wondered is how much Obama actually believes.

There is some good news though. Blackwell, in the same interview with Glenn Beck, also observed that Obama’s home church does not express the “dominant view” of the African-American Christian community.

For Obama it isn’t so much that he attended Wright’s church, but that he remained there for so long. He was recruited there, indoctrinated there, got married there, saw his children baptized there, has stayed there for 20 years, and apparently is planning on staying for that much longer. The disconcerting explanations for his sojourn might be that either Obama had BLT before he arrived, or that Wright’s message was the means for infection. In either case not many incubators could culture BLT better than TUCC.

There is another possibility. Senator Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., may be the one in 10 that is immune. If he ends up as President let’s hope so.