Articles of Interest 6-26-08
Thursday, June 26th, 2008131 Days until Election Day
June 26, 2008
MORNING UPDATE:
CONNIE BINSFELD DINNER TONIGHT…with Governor John Engler as our special guest up in Traverse City. Local Republicans are raising money for a plaque to honor Connie at our headquarters.
PRESIDENT BUSH FIRES UP THE TROOPS…with a stirring speech he delivered in Livonia last night. Hundreds of volunteers and donors showed up to hear the president and support our efforts for the fall election. He did a great job, honoring some of our first responders, thanking some Boy Scout heroes and firing up our Republican activists to fight on this fall and send John McCain to the White House.
CHANGE…OBAMA’S PROMISE…is something we need to understand. The President highlighted the “change” the Democrats were offering. Higher taxes, a cut and run strategy in Iraq, more government, and a false sense of optimism….it sounds like Granholm’s promise to “blow us away”. Unemployment…foreclosure…deficit spending…thanks to the Democrats.
BUSH PUSHES HOOGENDYK, TAYLOR AND THE STATE HOUSE…as he talked about how important it was to send good Republicans to fight for a stronger Michigan and America. He also thanked AG Mike Cox and Sheriff Mike Bouchard for their service to our state and the GOP!
GREAT NIGHT FOR THE MICHIGAN GOP…as everyone who attended attested to. We are excited and united to elect John McCain the next President of the United States.
SPECIAL THANKS…to Dinner Chairman Attorney General Mike Cox and some of our top ticket sellers State Representative Bill Huizenga and Ingham County Chairman Norm Shinkle. Great teamwork by all involved. Thanks again!
LATEST GALLUP POLL…TIED…McCain and Obama are tied in the latest national Gallup Poll…45% each! These are great numbers for us at this stage of the race.
WHY THIS ELECTION MATTERS…RAPE…The Supreme Court has struck down a Louisiana law that allows the execution of people convicted of a raping a child.
In a 5-4 vote, the court says the law allowing the death penalty to be imposed in cases of child rape violates the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. We can’t afford any more liberal judges…the kind Obama would appoint.
VOTER FRAUD…is it really an issue. Check this site to get a better idea of what we might be up against this fall. http://www.gop.com/ycmtu.htm
ATTENTION REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES, CAMPAIGN MANGERS, AND ACTIVISTS…The Michigan Republican Party, in partnership with the Republican National Committee, is excited to announce…GET OUT THE VOTE (GOTV) TRAINING SEMINARS (more below).
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FOR THE LATEST NEWS, COMMENTARY & INFORMATION:
Check…out…our…online Articles of Interest………News…you…can…use………
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THE REST OF THE STORY:
GOTV TRAINING SEMINARS…led by the RNC’s Political Education Team, are a great resource for first time candidates and campaign managers, as well as veterans alike.
Also very valuable for grassroots activists who simply want to get involved to help elect our Republican candidates at all levels!!
WHO: Any Republican candidate for office (any level) or grassroots activists
WHAT: GOTV Training (putting together a campaign, essentials of voter contact, Voter Vault training, and more)
WHEN: Two identical seminars to chose from:
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN
Saturday, June 28th
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Ram’s Horn Restaurant Banquet Center
56129 Van Dyke, Shelby Twp 48316
MID MICHIGAN
Sunday, June 29th
12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Radisson Lansing Hotel
111 N. Grand River Avenue, Lansing 48933
COST: FREE….lunch included!! SPACE IS LIMITED!
PLEASE RSVP by Wednesday, June 25th to JASON GEER (jgeer@migop.org or phone: 517-487-5413).
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
The following stories and more are available at my Articles of Interest online.
Bush touts McCain’s experience, judgment at Livonia fund-raiser
BY KATHLEEN GRAY and ERIC LAWRENCE • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • June 25, 2008
His approval ratings may be at historic lows, but President George W. Bush still attracted more than 300 people who wrote checks totaling about $500,000 for a Livonia fund-raiser this afternoon to support Republican candidates in the 2008 election.
“Hey, he’s human,” said Susan Evans, 36, of Rochester Hills, who was one of about half a dozen people who stood at the steps of Air Force One and greeted the president when he arrived Wednesday afternoon at Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus.
“Everything is cyclical with the economy, especially in Michigan, but you have to look at all sources to blame. With Bush, you have to look at him from a historic perspective,” she said.
Bush visits Michigan, says McCain will win state
by The Associated Press
Wednesday June 25, 2008, 5:44 PM
LIVONIA — A jovial President Bush spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of 300 Republican donors, promoting Michigan candidates and presidential hopeful John McCain.
The president said he thinks that, with Michigan Republicans’ hard work, McCain will win the state in November.
He said the country needs a leader who is up the challenges the nation faces, including war, natural disasters and economic troubles.
Granholm, lawmakers have deal on state budget
Posted by David Eggert | The Associated Press June 25, 2008 18:21PM
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Top lawmakers and Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Wednesday tentatively agreed to a spending plan for state government next year, leaving some key details such as school funding to be sorted out by negotiators in coming days.
The state would spend about $44.4 billion in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, or 1.8 percent more than this year. That is at least $400 million less than what Granholm proposed in February.
Her budget plan had to be trimmed because Michigan’s sluggish economy is generating less tax revenue than expected. The federal economic stimulus plan, a poor housing market and successful new state tax subsidies luring the movie industry to the state also will shrink the budget, according to state economists.
Budget boosts school funds
Lawmakers, governor reach deal that would increase spending by about $72 per student.
Gary Heinlein / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
LANSING — Lawmakers and Gov. Jennifer Granholm have reached agreement on a new budget that will result in about a $72 per-pupil average increase in the basic state K-12 grant to public school districts throughout Michigan.
The amount is not final under Wednesday’s deal, but rather is a goal that will have to be finalized in House-Senate conference committees that today will start putting the closing touches on departmental budgets that make up the $44-billion state spending plan.
Matt Marsden, press spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, confirmed that leaders and Granholm had come to an understanding on the budget late in the afternoon.
‘Reform’ petition is a grab for control of the courts
The Detroit News
Getting rid of some state lawmakers and cutting politicians’ salaries may sound good — but it’s sucker bait for a power grab of this state’s judiciary. The effect of a so-called government reform petition being circulated for the fall ballot primarily would be to oust a number of elected Republican judges.
The ballot proposal would rewrite substantial portions of the state Constitution. This is not the proper way to do so.
The ballot proposal is being circulated by a group called Reform Michigan Government Now. Its spokeswoman, former Democratic state Rep. Dianne Byrum, declined to say whether the petition drive has the financial support or organizational backing of the state Democratic Party, commenting only that it would file a statement when required by state law, which is this August.
Worthy hires extra staff for mayor’s case
Ten temporary workers to cost cash-strapped Wayne County $400K for five months.
Paul Egan / The Detroit News
DETROIT — Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has hired 10 temporary employees — seven attorneys and three investigators — to help cover the extra work generated by the criminal investigation and prosecution of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Worthy said Wednesday.
The extra hires will cost the county $400,000 for the five months between May and September, county officials said. The total cost will depend on how long the Kilpatrick prosecution lasts and how long Worthy needs to keep them onboard.
Worthy’s prosecution of Kilpatrick and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty on perjury and other felony charges related to the text message scandal — already controversial because of the nature of the case and the high office Kilpatrick holds — is stirring further controversy due to its expense as the county faces a $33 million budget deficit and the possible layoffs of more than 100 employees.
McCain-Obama So Far: Positively Negative
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 26, 2008; Page A06
A campaign between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain once offered enormous possibilities for something new. Instead, the two presumptive nominees have opened their campaigns for the White House with what looks and sounds like a repeat of the kind of politics both have promised to leave behind.
Since Obama (D-Ill.) wrapped up the Democratic nomination a few weeks ago, he and McCain (R-Ariz.) have served up a series of indignant exchanges over foreign policy, terrorism, the economy, energy and campaign money. Their aides have gone further, with snarling put-downs in conference calls and taunting e-mails that flow constantly out of the Chicago and Crystal City headquarters.
McCain vows U.S. energy independence by 2025
‘Lexington Project’ still omits ANWR drilling
Stephen Dinan THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sen. John McCain vowed Wednesday to break OPEC’s stranglehold on U.S. energy and to have the country achieve what he termed “strategic” energy independence by 2025, saying he will pursue almost every option for conservation and new production.
“Never again will we leave our vital interests at the mercy of any foreign power,” Mr. McCain said in a speech in Las Vegas, casting energy as a national security issue and calling for “new production, building nuclear plants, perfecting clean coal, improving our electricity grid, and supporting all the new technologies that one day will put the age of fossil fuels behind us.”
Assessing the Dem Primary Fallout
Posted by TOM BEVAN
Since the end of the Democratic primary the $64,000 question has been, “how many Hillary Clinton supporters were so disappointed and disillusioned by the outcome that they won’t support Obama and will cross over and vote for John McCain this fall?”
It’s an impossible question to answer, especially at this point in the campaign when the general election is just barely underway. But we do have some recent polls that give us a glimpse at where things stand right now.
In addition to breaking down the general election vote by party, the most recent Fox News and Newsweek polls drilled down to focus on how Hillary Clinton primary voters are indicating they will vote in November.
Justices Bar Death Penalty for the Rape of a Child
By LINDA GREENHOUSE
Published: June 26, 2008
WASHINGTON - The death penalty is unconstitutional as a punishment for the rape of a child, a sharply divided Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.
The 5-to-4 decision overturned death penalty laws in Louisiana and five other states. The only two men in the country who have been sentenced to death for the crime of child rape, both in Louisiana, will receive new sentences of life without parole.
The court went beyond the question in the case to rule out the death penalty for any individual crime - as opposed to “offenses against the state,” like treason or espionage - “where the victim’s life was not taken.”