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By saul anuzis Posted in Barack Obama | Michigan Republican Party | President Bush | Republicans | Saul Anuzis — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

132 Days until Election Day

June 25, 2008

MORNING UPDATE:

PRESIDENT BUSH IN TOWN TODAY...for the 2008 Max M. Fisher National Republican Leadership Award Dinner.  We will raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for our fall Victory effort to support Republicans across the board.

DC TRIP SUCCESS...I spent the last few days fundraising, meeting with our delegation, pundits, and others preparing for the fall election.  Michigan is on everybody's radar screen.

OBAMA'S RISKY POLICIES...and lack of experience continues to unite Republicans and attract Reagan Democrats and independents to John McCain.  Barack Obama is just not ready and too much of a risk electing as our next commander in chief.

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).

BINSFELD/ENGLER... The Michigan Republican Party is pleased to host the inaugural Wall of Honor recipient dinner this summer in honor of former Lieutenant Governor Connie Binsfeld; it will be held Thursday, June 26, 2008.  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)

BINSFELD/ENGLER DINNER...The Michigan Republican Party is pleased to host the inaugural Wall of Honor recipient dinner this summer in honor of former Lieutenant Governor Connie Binsfeld.  The event will be held Thursday, June 26, 2008 at the Traverse City Opera House in the Connie Binsfeld Auditorium.  We are honored to be hosting former Governor John Engler as our special guest speaker.

 

 

TODAY'S TOP STORIES

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

 

 

Bush to headline fundraising dinner in Michigan

6/25/2008, 3:00 a.m. EDT
The Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - President Bush will be traveling to Michigan for a Republican fundraising dinner in Livonia.

The president will be the keynote speaker Wednesday at the Max M. Fisher National Republican Award Dinner at Laurel Manor.

The late oil and real estate magnate from Franklin was known for his philanthropy and for the advice he gave Republican presidents on the Middle East and Jewish issues.

Voters asked to downsize Lansing

GOP says Dems gain in petition to cut leadership
BY DAWSON BELL • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • June 25, 2008

LANSING -- A sweeping revision of the Michigan Constitution that would cut state politicians' pay and benefits where it doesn't eliminate their jobs altogether came out of nowhere in recent weeks and appears to have a realistic chance of making the ballot in November.

The lengthy and complicated proposed amendment would overhaul much of the state's political structure, including the hyper-partisan process of drawing legislative district boundaries.

By coincidence or design, many changes appear to come at the expense of Republicans, especially in the judicial branch. Eight of the nine judges who would lose their jobs -- including two Supreme Court justices -- came out of the Republican Party.

Prisons should seek savings on food costs

The Detroit News

Feeding 51,000 state prisoners every day is expensive. But it shouldn't be more expensive than necessary, so the Corrections Department should examine the findings of an audit that suggests savings from $10 million to $38 million could be possible.

The report, by the Michigan Auditor General's staff, suggests the Corrections Department examine the possibility of contracting out food service for its inmates. The audit noted that Florida and Kansas both have private contractors provide prison food service. Michigan now pays about $83.4 million for food service for state inmates.

In the 2007 budget year, the audit continued, Florida paid an average daily rate of $2.65 per prisoner while Kansas paid $4.14. Michigan paid $4.68 per prisoner, of which $2.48 was for food. While the total cost was $4.98, that included such fixed costs as prisoner pay, central office administration, data processing charges and other expenses, auditors said.

Council delays Kilpatrick ouster hearings

David Josar and Leonard N. Fleming / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- The City Council has postponed the start of its impeachment-like proceedings against Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick for the second time, a move lawyers and consultants say could aid his efforts to stay in office.

In a surprise twist Tuesday, members pushed back the hearings planned for July 7 until at least Aug. 18 after meeting in private for two hours with their $300-an-hour lawyer, William Goodman.

Council President Kenneth V. Cockrel Jr. blamed the latest delay on an overlooked clause of the city charter that requires council members to publish rules of forfeitures in a local newspaper 28 days before voting on them. That bumps back the date to adopt the rules -- originally set for Tuesday -- to 2 p.m. July 25.

Detroit's Big Three need cash -- fast

High gas costs, low consumer confidence threaten automakers' ability to get funds to fuel restructuring.

The General takes another whack at its imploding North American business -- cutting shifts, boosting car production, raising prices and even resorting to the Motor City's preferred narcotic, zero-percent financing -- and, for a day, its shares close higher than they opened.

For a change.

Tuesday, shares in General Motors Corp. closed at $13.19, up 28 cents, or 2.18 percent, after brushing a 52-week (and 33-year) low of $12.63 earlier in the day. Their stunning fall, from a 52-week high of $43.20 last Oct. 12, shows just how little confidence Wall Street and just about anyone else has in GM and its ability to weather $4-a-gallon gas, slumping consumer confidence and the crumbling of its pickup and large SUV business.

It doesn't matter whether GM agrees with the verdict. The markets and the courts of public opinion have ruled and GM, for all its measurable progress over the past three years with its products, its labor agreements and its success abroad, is coming out the loser.

McCain bucks Bush on climate change

Republican nominee-elect John McCain Tuesday vowed to combat global warming without sacrificing economic growth, contradicting President George W. Bush on the need for binding emissions cuts.
Unlike Bush, McCain pressed for mandatory cuts in emissions of warming gases as he spoke at a California event alongside Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who opposes the White House hopeful's call for offshore oil drilling.

McCain said lifting a federal ban on coastal drilling may not bring down sky-high fuel prices for "some years," but could have a psychological impact as the United States takes greater control over its energy future.

Will Pro-Choice Women Back McCain?

Monday, Jun. 23, 2008 By AMY SULLIVAN

The 2008 presidential race may have been branded a "change" election, but abortion rights advocates have seen this movie before. Once again they face a Republican nominee who supports abortion restrictions yet is widely viewed as moderate and unthreatening to pro-choice voters. Eight years ago, it was George W. Bush who convinced pro-choice Republican and independent women that he was a safe bet, asserting that "America is not ready to ban abortions." This time, according to a poll released last week by NARAL Pro-Choice America, voters have a fuzzy sense of John McCain's views on abortion - which is just the way the McCain campaign wants it.

Obama's Vision for Government-Run Childhood

By Terence Jeffrey

One of the most dramatic changes in American life in the years since World War II involves the way we raise our children.

We used to do it ourselves. Now, convinced we have better things to do, many of us leave the job to others.

Encouraging this flight from parenthood, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has proposed what he calls his "Zero to Five" plan. It is a collection of programs aimed at getting the government involved in the raising of your children from the moment they are born.

Clinton returns to Senate, eases back to work

Obama asks donors to pay off Clinton debt
S.A. Miller (Contact)
Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton - three weeks after the loss of the Democratic presidential nomination that once seemed hers for the taking - eased slowly back into the workaday world of the U.S. Senate Tuesday, much like most Americans do after a long absence from the job.

She skipped the morning business of voting on a housing bill, but arrived in time for lunch with her Democratic colleagues.

"We have a lot ahead of us, and I am rolling up my sleeves and getting back to work," Mrs. Clinton of New York said as she strolled into the weekly Democratic luncheon.

Housing rescue plan passes key Senate test

Jun 24, 7:32 PM (ET)

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS

WASHINGTON (AP) - A massive foreclosure rescue bill cleared a key Senate test Tuesday by an overwhelming margin, with Democrats and Republicans both eager to claim election-year credit for helping hard-pressed homeowners.

The mortgage aid plan would let the Federal Housing Administration back $300 billion in new, cheaper home loans for an estimated 400,000 distressed borrowers who otherwise would be considered too financially risky to qualify for government-insured, fixed-rate loans.

An 83-9 vote put the plan on track for Senate passage as early as Wednesday, but President Bush is threatening a veto, and Democrats are fighting each other over key details. Those challenges will probably delay any final deal until mid-July.