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By saul anuzis Posted in Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce | Mackinac Island | Michigan Republican Party | Republicans | Saul Anuzis — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

159 Days until Election Day

May 29, 2008

MORNING UPDATE:

DETROIT CHAMBER...starts their meeting on Mackinac Island today as leaders from around the state gather to discuss policy issues. Attorney General Mike Cox, Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop and House Republican Leader Craig DeRoche led the Republican contingency on the island.

CHAMBER OPENING SESSION...JUST MORE OF THE SAME...they discussed "bi-partisanship" and the idea of looking for solutions that first appeared to all require bigger government, more revenues, which means more taxes. And oh yeah, by the way, there needs to be some structural reforms as well. I felt like I sat through a session of a failed Democratic Party Platform committee session where Governor Granholm was going to promise to "blow us away"...again. No one represented the taxpayers...the guys who pay the bills for all these great ideas.

If you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can usually count on Paul's support. Taxpayers beware.

BUSINESS LEADERS vs NGO'S...several times throughout the afternoon and evening the observation was made to "find" any entrepreneurs or job providers in the group. If it wasn't for the board members, the conference participants seem to reflect more and more those who need or want government or private sector support and/or more government and top down solutions. The taxpayers, job providers, and entrepreneurs were grossly under-represented.

2008 CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT ACADEMY...we have announced our MRP / HRCC Campaign Management Academy. This three-day, intensive school, is open to any current, and potential campaign managers (trainings for candidates themselves are forthcoming). The dates for the academy are June 5th - 7th, to be held at the Holiday Inn West in Lansing (Delta Township). For information contact Rob Macomber at rmacomber@migop.org

ENERGY...WWJTV aired its second "Eye on the Future" series initiative Sunday night with its provoking "Powering Michigan's Future" TV special dealing with the issue of alternative energy and whether it is a magic bullet for the loss of hundreds of thousands of autos jobs (it can be seen online at wwjtv.com).

Carol Cain, Editorial and Community Affairs Director at WWJTV/CW50, hosted and also served as executive producer of the two specials. She also wrote her weekly political and business column Sunday in the Detroit Free Press about alternative energy being able to reboot Michigan's economic prospects.

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TODAY'S TOP STORIES

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In Michigan, Putting Mitt Romney on the Ticket adds points to McCain;

GOP Carries Key State Today, Regardless of Democratic Veep: Republican Mitt Romney, whose father served as governor of Michigan from 1963-1969, would help John McCain beat Barack Obama in the presidential election in that state, according to this latest SurveyUSA poll looking at Vice Presidential pairings. When Michigan registered voters are asked if they would vote for McCain or Obama, with no running mates mentioned, McCain leads Obama by 4 points, just within the survey's 4.3 percentage point margin of sampling error. When Mitt Romney is added into the mix as McCain's running mate, McCain performs better against nine possible Obama tickets, and worse against just one. John Edwards is the one Democrat who helps Obama, who still loses by 3 points to a McCain/Romney ticket -- again within the survey's margin of sampling error.

House softens smoking ban

But exemptions for casinos, racetracks may not stick
BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF • FREE PRESS LANSING BUREAU CHIEF • May 29, 2008

LANSING -- A campaign to prohibit smoking in bars, restaurants and all Michigan workplaces took another bounce Wednesday when the House voted -- again -- for a bill that would exempt casinos, cigar bars, bingo halls and horse racetracks from the ban.

But the maneuver may result in a total ban anyway because earlier the Senate rejected House exemptions from a statewide smoking ban. If that decision isn't reversed, the House likely will vote for a bill to ban smoking everywhere, no exceptions.

Wednesday's House vote came under mounting public pressure for a smoking ban, but also pressure from Detroit's casinos, which warn that a smoking ban would cut into their business and force layoffs. The vote was 65-39 for a smoking ban with exceptions.

Michigan House OKs new smoking ban, with exception for Detroit casinos

Posted by Peter Luke | Press Lansing Bureau May 29, 2008 06:09AM

LANSING -- A ban on workplace smoking is another step closer to law -- with a few exemptions.

The state House on Wednesday adopted a version of the bill that exempts bingo halls, cigar bars, nonfood service areas of horse racing tracks and the gaming floors of Detroit's three casinos.

"It'll get hammered out in the short term. I think you're talking about a matter of weeks," said Rep. Andy Meisner, D-Ferndale, a lead proponent of the smoking ban. "While what we did pass is not ideal, it moves the policy forward."

Palmer: Enough votes to ban partial birth abortions

Even if Granholm vetoes bill, as she has promised

By Chad Selweski
Macomb Daily Staff Writer

PUBLISHED: Thursday, May 29, 2008

A 6-year effort by a Macomb County lawmaker to impose a statewide ban on so-called partial birth abortions could become reality within weeks.

Rep. Brian Palmer, a Bruce Township Republican, said Wednesday he believes legislation approved by a 74-32 vote in the House late Tuesday night will become law. Gov. Jennifer Granholm's press secretary said the governor will veto the bill but Palmer predicted the necessary two-thirds majorities for a veto override will prevail in the House and Senate.

"There's always the possibility that some pro-life Democrats might wane. They might not want to vote against their own governor," said Palmer, perhaps the most ardent anti-abortion legislator in Lansing.

Movie industry rebates too rich?

Key lawmakers: '09 payout may hit $100 million
BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF • FREE PRESS LANSING BUREAU CHIEF • May 29, 2008

LANSING -- Michigan's new most-generous-in-the-nation financial lures for filmmakers need a second look, say some key lawmakers.

State economists predict Michigan will pay out more than $100 million to filmmakers next year under the package of tax breaks and cash credits passed earlier this year.

Some lawmakers fear that's too much to divert from pressing needs for education, health care or other state programs.

Detroit scandal is talk of island

On Day 1 of Mackinac Policy Conference, Mich. economy and Red Wings also quickly become focus.
David Josar and Gary Heinlein / The Detroit News

Thursday, May 29, 2008

MACKINAC ISLAND -- Michigan's gloomy economy and uncertainty about Detroit's leadership quickly became behind-the-scenes gossip fodder Wednesday as the featured speakers on the first day of the Mackinac Policy Conference remained focused on offering solutions to what ails the southeastern part of the state.

"We have to change the attitude here that you don't need a college education to succeed," said Paul Hillegonds, senior vice president of corporate affairs for DTE Energy, as he helped start the Detroit Regional Chamber's annual event that gives the state political and business leaders the opportunity to discuss issues the state is facing.

Dozens of elected leaders and business people ranging from Attorney General Mike Cox and Detroit City Council President Kenneth V. Cockrel Jr., to former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, who is sending out feelers for a gubernatorial bid, and Doug Rothwell, president of Detroit Renaissance, were on hand.

McCain Whacks Obama on Iraq
Posted by TOM BEVAN

May 28, 2008

Picking up on a meme circulating in the blogosphere, today in Reno McCain opened a new line of attack against Barack Obama for having only visited Iraq one time - in 2006) and alleging that he's more willing to sit down with Ahmadinejad than General Petraeus:

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton fired back with this statement:

"On the day after the former White House press secretary conceded that the Bush administration used deception and propaganda to take us to war, it seems odd that Senator McCain, who bought the flawed rationale for war so readily, would be lecturing others on their depth of understanding about Iraq. Senator Obama challenged the President's rationale for the war from the start, warning that it would divert resources from Afghanistan and the pursuit of Al Qaeda and mire us in an endless civil war. Senator McCain stubbornly insists on pursuing the failed Bush policy that continues to cost so much, while Senator Obama believes it's time to begin a deliberate, careful strategy to remove our troops and compel the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future."

On Policy, Obama Breaks Little New Ground

By Perry Bacon Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 29, 2008; Page A01

Already famous for his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama entered the Senate with more than the usual aspirations about the impact he could have.

So in 2005, he had his office arrange informal seminars so that experts on health care, the economy, energy and education could brief him. "I'm not running for president," he told a group of experts at his Capitol Hill office in the spring of 2006. But he said he had a "national voice" and wanted to use it.

When Obama changed his mind and decided to run for president after only two years in the Senate, however, he effectively dismissed the importance of policy proposals, declaring in one speech in early 2007, "We've had plenty of plans, Democrats," and in another: "Every four years, somebody trots out a white paper, they post it on the Web." He cast his "new kind of politics" in terms of his ability to transcend divisions and his unique biography and offered few differences on issues from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and the other Democratic presidential candidates.

DNC Lawyers Rule Against Clinton

By Shailagh Murray and Karl Vick
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, May 29, 2008; Page A06

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's prospects of persuading Democratic officials to override party rules and recognize all delegates selected in the Florida and Michigan primaries suffered a setback yesterday after lawyers for the party ruled that no more than half of those delegations could be legally recognized.

Democratic National Committee lawyers wrote in a memo that the two states must forfeit at least half of their delegates as punishment for holding primaries earlier than DNC rules allowed. Clinton (N.Y.) prevailed in both contests, although the Democratic candidates had agreed not to campaign in Florida and Michigan, and Sen. Barack Obama removed his name from the Michigan ballot.

Dem delegates face fate
Obscure party rules panel will consider convention status of Michigan, Florida representatives on Saturday.
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Thirty Democratic Party officials -- mostly obscure party operatives -- will gather in a Washington hotel conference room this weekend to consider disputed convention delegates from Michigan and Florida, the most closely watched group of people yet to weigh in on the close Democratic presidential campaign.

But many of the members of the Democratic National Committee's Rules & Bylaws Committee say they're focused less on Hillary Clinton vs. Barack Obama than on a set of rules they argue are vital to maintaining fairness and order in future elections.

The little-known panel meets Saturday to determine, for now at least, the fates of the Michigan and Florida delegations -- and, by extension, the votes of nearly 600,000 Michiganians and 1.75 million Floridians who participated in Democratic primaries in January.

Saulius "Saul" Anuzis
Chairman
Michigan Republican Party