Articles of Interest 7-9-08
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008118 Days until Election Day
July 9, 2008
MORNING UPDATE:
WHY McCAIN…because the country’s at war, the economy is struggling, oil prices are surging… AND OBAMA…is just an opportunistic and self-obsessed politician who will do and say anything to get elected.
DRILL AND SAVE…Democrats in Congress have been kowtowing to environmental extremists long enough. The radical left and the special interest groups that control the Democratic Party are keeping America from developing America’s oil reserves. The left and the environmental extremists who control the Democrat Party are standing in the way of safe, reasonable, exploration of oil in the United States.
We have all the technology and tools to develop domestic energy safely without hurting our environment if only Congress would stop listening to the special interest groups. We need to Drill and Save.
It’s time to end our dependence on foreign oil. Sign our e-petition today and tell Democrats that control Congress that enough is enough.
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TODAY’S TOP STORIES
The following stories and more are available at my Articles of Interest online.
Race for state House heating up
With 44 reps forced out by term limits, Senate may become more powerful body.
Charlie Cain / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
LANSING — Campaigning for the Michigan House is revving up to full throttle as candidates seek to win the seats of 44 representatives who are being broomed out by term limits — including 25 in Metro Detroit.
The House will undergo a major overhaul that could put it at a disadvantage dealing with the Senate next year, where more experienced members will carry on. The 38 Senate seats are not up for election this year.
The House will lose 40 percent of its current members and the chairs of 10 key committees where the heavy lifting is done — including the heads of the Judiciary, Tax Policy, Commerce, Transportation, Energy and Technology, Insurance and Families and Children’s Services panels. It will lose a third of the 30-member House Appropriations Committee, which plays a key role in shaping how tax dollars are spent.
Granholm supports rewrite of constitution
Ballot proposal isn’t best way, she says
Dawson Bell • Special to the State Journal • July 9, 2008 • From Lansing State Journal
Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Tuesday endorsed the idea of rewriting Michigan’s constitution to modify the state’s political structure, but she’s not sure a ballot proposal is the way to do it.
Speaking to reporters at the state Capitol, Granholm said she wasn’t sure whether she would vote for the sweeping package of changes contained in a proposed amendment from a group calling itself Reform Michigan Government Now.
RMGN submitted petitions Monday to put the issue before voters in November, claiming to have collected the signatures of 487,000 registered voters. The petition drive, which operated in relative obscurity before attracting widespread public attention only a few weeks ago, has the backing of Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer. Top Republicans, on the other hand, view it as a stealth attempt by Democrats to take over all of state government.
FBI questions Collins about vote
Agents tell councilwoman two people linked her name to sludge deal payoff
Christine MacDonald / The Detroit News
DETROIT — FBI agents told city Councilwoman Barbara-Rose Collins on Tuesday that she is the “subject” of a federal public corruption probe into accusations that city officials accepted money to approve a sludge-hauling contract, she confirmed.
Two agents came to her home unannounced about 8 a.m. Tuesday asking if she received money for voting in November for a contract that would pay Synagro Technologies Inc. of Houston $47 million to haul sludge. She said she told them “no” and added “nobody had to pay me off. I was always a yes vote.”
Collins’ visit from the FBI is the latest twist in the federal investigation into a City Hall scandal to determine if cash had been doled out in exchange for votes and support on specific projects. Sources have confirmed that Councilwoman Monica Conyers is under investigation.
New claim that mayor lied hangs on 1 word
His answer on affairs can be debated
BY M.L. ELRICK and JOE SWICKARD • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • July 9, 2008
The prosecution’s hopes of expanding perjury charges against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to say he lied about affairs with several women hang on a fleeting exchange during a police whistle-blower trial last summer, the Free Press has learned.
On Aug. 29, Mike Stefani, the attorney for two cops suing Kilpatrick and the city for retaliating against them, asked the mayor a series of questions under oath.
“You said you don’t whore around on your wife?” Stefani asked.
McCain-Romney buzz fires up Michiganders
BY KATHLEEN GRAY • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • July 9, 2008
He cuts a stately profile with his well-tailored suits, perfectly coiffed hair and a family straight out of central casting, but he’s no movie star.
The buzz surrounding Mitt Romney, a Michigan son and former Massachusetts governor, is all about the Republican presidential ticket and whether he lands on it as the party’s vice presidential candidate.
Bloggers and political pundits have been speculating for weeks that Romney is at the top of a short list of Republicans who can give presumptive Republican nominee John McCain what he needs to win the White House: business, organizational and government experience — as well as deep roots in Michigan, a state with 17 electoral votes that is shaping up as a key battleground in 2008.
McCain: Spending is out of control
(CNN) — Sen. John McCain on Tuesday brushed off skepticism from economists and insisted he could balance the budget by 2013 by keeping taxes low and curbing spending.
“We’re going to restrain spending, we’re going to have the economy grow again and increase revenues. The problem is that spending got completely out of control,” McCain said on CNN’s “American Morning.”
McCain is in favor of extending the Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire in 2010.
Que? Obama says nation’s kids should be bilingual
In an under-covered moment I only caught by streaming the event online, Sen. Barack Obama told voters today in Powder Springs, Georgia, they should not be worried about making the United States an “English-only” country.
He said he agrees immigrants should learn English, but felt the concern should be more about global competitiveness.
“Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English, because they will learn English, you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish,” he said. “We should have every child speaking more than one language.”
Congressional Approval Falls to Single Digits for First Time Ever
The percentage of voters who give Congress good or excellent ratings has fallen to single digits for the first time in Rasmussen Reports tracking history. This month, just 9% say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Most voters (52%) say Congress is doing a poor job, which ties the record high in that dubious category.
Last month, 11% of voters gave the legislature good or excellent ratings. Congress has not received higher than a 15% approval rating since the beginning of 2008.
The percentage of Democrats who give Congress positive ratings fell from 17% last month to 13% this month. The number of Democrats who give Congress a poor rating remained unchanged. Among Republicans, 8% give Congress good or excellent ratings, up just a point from last month. Sixty-five percent (65%) of GOP voters say Congress is doing a poor job, down a single point from last month.
Obama running in place on Iraq
By ROGER SIMON | 7/8/08 8:10 PM EST
“Is Your Trip Necessary?”
That was the famous question asked on a poster distributed by the U.S. government during World War II. The government wanted citizens to curtail unnecessary travel in order to preserve precious resources needed for the war effort.
Today many Americans are asking themselves if their summer driving vacations are really necessary because of the high cost of fuel.
Iraq raises idea of timetable for US withdrawal
QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and SEBASTIAN ABBOT ASSOCIATED PRESS
Originally published 01:39 a.m., July 8, 2008, updated 12:51 a.m., July 8, 2008
BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq’s prime minister said Monday his country wants some type of timetable for a withdrawal of American troops included in the deal the two countries are negotiating.
It was the first time that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has explicitly and publicly called for a withdrawal timetable _ an idea opposed by President Bush.
He offered no details. But his national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, told The Associated Press that the government is proposing a timetable conditioned on the ability of Iraqi forces to provide security.