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CD15 
Thu Oct 06, 2005 at 01:00:00 AM EDT
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2008 Status: Unknown
Campaign Website
Biography:
People living in Michigan's 15th District know Congressman John D. Dingell as a tenacious, tireless advocate for their communities. Dingell is called the "Dean of the House" for having served the longest tenure in the 435-member body. He has developed a sound reputation as a champion for working families who keeps America's economy strong; a crusader for our nation's natural heritage; and the leading voice in Congress for making health care affordable and accessible to all families. Because of his work for constituents in Monroe County and parts of Wayne and Washtenaw counties, and as the Chairman of the influential Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman Dingell is known throughout Michigan and the nation for his effectiveness and foresight.
Over the last five decades, Congressman Dingell has written some of the best known laws protecting our health and our environment, as well as the rights of workers and consumers. One notable example is the 1990 Clean Air Act which is credited with cleaning up the air we breathe, while preserving American competitiveness. He fought for the passage of revolutionary legislation such as the Endangered Species Act; as well as laws that address America's most pressing needs like the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Mammography Quality Standards Act.
Congressman Dingell also took a leading role in creating the "Do Not Call" list in 2003 to help families stop unwanted telemarketing and remains vigilant in his pursuit of a "Patients Bill of Rights" which will ensure patients' care is in the hands of doctors, not HMO's and insurance companies.
An avid conservationist and outdoorsman, and senior member on the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, Congressman Dingell successfully passed legislation to create North America's first international wildlife refuge, protecting thousands of acres of natural habitat in Southeast Michigan and Canada.
Congressman Dingell worked to protect federal road funds for our communities and he led efforts in Congress to get hundreds of millions more in vital road dollars for Michigan. He worked with officials in Wayne County to save local taxpayers more than $350 million of the cost to stop pollution of the Rouge River and has been relentless in his efforts to limit the importation of Canadian waste into Michigan. Dingell also wrote the bill that created Michigan's Automobile National Heritage Area to conserve the story of America's auto industry.
In addition, few legislators can demonstrate a record of fighting government waste and corporate corruption like Congressman Dingell. A leader in the effort to toughen corporate accountability both before and after the Enron and WorldCom accounting scandals, Dingell has also taken the lead in exposing government waste and abuses of tax dollars, including the investigation of no-bid defense contracts in Iraq.
In the past, Dingell led successful efforts to stop the Bush Administration from allowing higher arsenic levels in drinking water and from cutting funds to investigate and prosecute environmental crimes. A defender of the "polluter pays" principle - which protects taxpayers from picking up the tab on environmental damage - he is fighting efforts by the Defense Department to exempt itself from some of our cornerstone environmental laws.
John D. Dingell was born July 8, 1926 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He split much of his childhood between Detroit and Washington, DC, while his father, also named John, served as Congressman from Michigan's 15th district.
In 1944, at the age of 18, the younger Dingell joined the US Army and prepared to fight the Axis powers in World War II. He rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant and received orders to take part in the first wave of a planned invasion of Japan in November of 1945. The Congressman has said President Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb to end the war ?saved? his life.
Dingell finished his military service in the fall of 1946, and then attended Georgetown University in Washington, DC where he studied chemistry. He continued his studies at Georgetown Law School, graduating in 1952. He then worked as a forest ranger, a prosecuting attorney for Wayne County and ran his own private law office. When his father passed away while still a Member of the US House of Representatives in 1955, the younger Dingell stepped up to fill the void, beginning his career on Capitol Hill at the age of 29.
At the beginning of every session of Congress, Congressman Dingell introduces the national health insurance bill his father sponsored when he was a Member.
December 13, 2005 marked Congressman Dingell's 50th anniversary in the US House. Only one other House Member has served as long - Jamie Whitten (MS).
(Dingell House web site).
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Thu Oct 06, 2005 at 01:00:00 AM EDT
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Sun Mar 22, 2009 at 16:40:08 PM EDT
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(While I won't be able to attend, I hope some of you can make it! - promoted by ScottyUrb)
Join the Michigan Federation of College Democrats in Ann Arbor this weekend for our 2nd Annual Spring Conference. For more information and to register for this FREE conference please go to: www.michigancollegedems.com/schedule. Watch the Official Conference promotional video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPvGcnwBOfw Join us for great presentations by: -Mark Brewer -Rep. Barb Byrum -Emily's List -Julielyn Gibbons, Progress Michigan -Dr. John Hartig, US Fish and Wildlife Service -MDP Youth Caucus -And many, many more!!
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Fri Feb 08, 2008 at 07:54:06 AM EST
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The majority of Washtenaw County voted "uncommitted" in the Democratic "primary." Because the bulk of Washtenaw residents are in Dingell's congressional district, should Dingell respect his constituents' vote and withdraw his endorsement of Hillary Clinton?
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Sat Dec 01, 2007 at 21:00:14 PM EST
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Just noting that "Michigan's Favorite Power Couple" is losing power, fast. (Thank goodness) My diary of earlier today about JD being handed his weathered head by Nancy Pelosi and Arnold Schwarzenegger re CAFE standards etc., Nancy + Arnie terminate Dingell's preemption perversity, covers J. Ding; and wife Debbie's defeat in persuading DNC Dean to be her deferent doormat (thus leading to the result of Mich being stripped of its delegates), is in various diaries today, but see especially greee's comment linking to photos of the defeated dinosaur-Detroit-automaker doyenne Debbie D in her abjection at Dean's DNC today. Sad. Very sad. And utterly her own fault, despite months of warnings.
After these Dingell dual disasters, Michigan can hopefully be persuaded to get new leadership faster (in the 15th District Congressperson position and the Michigan DNC Committeeperson position), shed the corruption, and get out of its mess faster. Sail on!!
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Fri Nov 30, 2007 at 23:53:03 PM EST
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See NYT (as quoted in LarryInNYC's Daily Kos diary Pelosi Slams Fellow Dem On Fuel Standards!!), Lawmakers Set Deal on Raising Fuel Efficiency,
...The package nearly fell apart this week when Mr. Dingell insisted on leaving sole authority to regulate automobile mileage standards with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an arm of the Transportation Department. That would have weakened the power of the Environmental Protection Agency and the states, led by California, to regulate auto emissions of carbon dioxide, which are in large measure a function of the amount of fuel burned.
Federal court rulings this year have decided this so-called pre-emption issue in favor of the E.P.A. and the states, decisions that Mr. Dingell hoped to undo by Congressional action. ...
The authority of the E.P.A. to regulate tailpipe emissions and the right of California and other states to set their own, higher standards were considered deal-breakers by Ms. Pelosi and her fellow California Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican governor of California, weighed in late in the week to tell negotiators that he would oppose the bill if the [sic] Mr. Dingell's preemption language stayed in.
Mrs. Pelosi and Democratic leaders in the Senate rejected Mr. Dingell's preemption effort, but softened the blow by agreeing to allow the car companies to retain a credit for vehicles capable of running on a blend of gasoline and ethanol. That credit was set to expire in 2008 but now will begin to decline in 2014 and be eliminated entirely by 2020. ...
(For some background, see ye previous workes of mine hand, 9th Circuit slaps Detroyota on truck CAFE standards and Pelosi preps Dingell for retirement, sidelines him on CAFE standards.)
Fine work Nancy! I guess you found some use for crazy Arnie after all...
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Mon Oct 15, 2007 at 03:27:56 AM EDT
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See, e.g., DetNews, Doors close on energy bill: Energy chair Dingell regrets House speaker will have Democrats privately pen fuel economy plan, not a joint panel.,
Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is disappointed a House-Senate committee won't tackle legislation to improve the fuel economy of the nation's vehicles.
Instead, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has chosen Democratic leaders to write an energy bill -- which would include provisions on fuel economy -- behind closed doors, rather than through a conference committee of House and Senate negotiators. She cited Senate Republican opposition to appointing members.
"We cannot have a situation where if they don't give us a conference, we don't have a bill," Pelosi said. "With or without a conference, we will proceed." ...
Dingell wouldn't divulge whether he would mount an effort to kill an energy bill that was too harsh on automakers. "I'm not foreclosing any option," he said. "I don't make the jungle. I just live there." ... No, he does make the jungle. Consistently. And now he is reaping the unpleasant fruits of that, though less unpleasant than the deaths that Katrina victims had to suffer, maybe because of global warming (with effects such as increased hurricane damage...) partially caused by Detroit automakers' failure to make better cars--a failure Dingell has been the chief legislative enabler for, for decades. Directly or indirectly, Speaker Pelosi is preparing the way for Dingell's "transition out of power"; and that's a good thing, too. Feel free to suggest primary opponents for him beyond those already suggested here.
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Thu Oct 11, 2007 at 22:23:48 PM EDT
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"I thought I had seen everything", but the wife of the congressman from General Motors never fails to disappoint: see DetNews, State Dems, Republicans seek to preserve presidential primary, courtesy of "Mike Bishop's Fav'rit Blog", Political leaders of both parties are pushing for the state Legislature to place the names of four Democratic presidential candidates back on the Jan. 15 primary ballot, trying to undo the damage to Michigan's political clout when the candidates removed their names from consideration this week.
Democratic National Committee member Debbie Dingell and state GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis both support the idea; Anuzis said today the Republican leaders of both chambers of the Legislature are on board. ...
"We have to be prepared to play hardball," said Dingell, the wife of U.S. Rep John Dingell, D-Dearborn, and a prime mover in the bid to challenge Iowa and New Hampshire. ... That's just what Michigan's image needs: a white woman (person) who married into power, forcing an African American (Obama) and a Latino (Richardson), plus some others, to be forced to do something they don't want to do.
And cuddling up with "Super Saul" Anuzis to do it. Now isn't that special. Wasn't involuntary servitude abolished a long time ago?? ...Why hasn't Debbie Dingell resigned from her position at the DNC, or been forcibly removed from it? She isn't happy there. And she clearly has no respect for the DNC, or maybe for anyone else either, maybe. (Except for her husband or General Motors--hard to tell the difference between them--, and Hillary, who could advance Debbie's career.) Yes, involuntary servitude got abolished a long time ago (that "Civil War" thing), but not everyone has noticed, I guess...
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Mon Oct 08, 2007 at 16:19:53 PM EDT
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(See previous SCHIP story here. If you can't make it to the rally, be sure to contact your congressperson directly and give them your opinion on this bill. - promoted by lpackard)
With Bush's veto of the SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program) bill, the House will be voting on Oct. 18 to attempt to override the veto. Congressman Dingell, one of the largest advocates for children's healthcare in Congress will be hosting a rally tomorrow, Oct. 9 at 1:00pm at the Ford Performing arts Center in Dearborn, during the Republican Presidential Debate.
The rally is intended to make all of the GOP candidates, GOP supporters and media aware of the need for guaranteed health care for all children in the nation, and that President Bush was completely wrong in vetoing this great bill.
The Congressman will be joined by supporters and friends, to help bring attention to this very necessary bill.
The event will be held at the Ford Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Ave. in Dearborn. The debate is sponsored by the University of Michigan-Dearborn and will be held at 1pm. If you plan to attend the rally you may want to get there early as working your way through all of the Republican supporters who are being bussed in may take a while.
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Tue Sep 18, 2007 at 21:53:25 PM EDT
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See DetNews, Deb Price, Rep. Dingell swoons over Clinton health care plan, "Well, it wasn't an actual endorsement of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, but U.S. Rep. John Dingell today held nothing back in his rave review of her new universal health care plan.
"There is no candidate for president with more experience in fighting the health care battle and more knowledge of the health care issue than Sen. Clinton, my partner in seeking to expand coverage for the children of our nation," Dingell said in a statement released by his campaign. ...
He adds, "Her proposal outlined yesterday is a serious one that I welcome. Her focus on controlling costs and on making sure every American is covered is exactly right. They are her priorities, they are my priorities, and they must be our national priorities." ..." Surprise, John Dingell endorses something Hillary has done. (See my earlier diaries on what I suspect Hillary might give the Dingells in exchange for their support; not that I'm alleging a conspiracy or nuthin...) Hillary's plan includes MANDATORY health insurance purchase by you. Doesn't sound like a free country to me. In fact, she might let employers demand to see your health insurance papers before you are hired! according to the AP interview in my current Daily Kos diary and poll, Hillary on employers: "Ve vill see your HEALTH PAPERS!!", where the poll results support my pro-freedom position by about 2-1 at present. "They are her priorities, they are my priorities, and they must be our national priorities.": they're not my priorities (at least as Hillary's plan frames and coerces them), Congressman Dingell. Nor those of a lot of people, I suspect. We'll see what happens. God bless America.
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Thu Sep 13, 2007 at 01:44:02 AM EDT
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(Again, the question has to be asked ... why are the Big Three fighting so furiously a legal battle they're going to lose? And, why isn't the state encouraging them to find an alternative before this further hurts the rest of us? - promoted by Eric B.)
See DetNews, Judge: States can regulate auto emissions (and ask yourself after reading it: was Kwame Kilpatrick the automakers' lawyer or something?),In a major blow to automakers, a Vermont judge rejected car companies' efforts to block 11 states from adopting California's stricter vehicle emissions requirements.
It's the latest in a string of legal setbacks automakers face as they try to prevent what they call crippling emissions regulations from taking effect.
At issue is Vermont's decision, along with nine other states, to adopt California's 2004 tailpipe emission rules. Beginning in 2009, the regulations require automakers to increase the fuel economy of vehicles by about 25 percent to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which have been linked to global warming. ...
The decision rejected the automakers['] arguments -- in a case U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III said largely hinged on whether the regulations were too draconian for automakers to comply with.
"The court does not find convincing the claims that consumers will be deprived of their choice of vehicles, or that manufacturers will be forced to restrict or abandon their product lines," Sessions wrote. "The court remains unconvinced automakers cannot meet the challenge of Vermont and California's (greenhouse gas) regulations."
He repeatedly referred to statements Detroit automakers made in the 1970s warning of the peril they faced if they were forced to install catalytic converters. ...
He also rejected an argument that automakers could be forced to eliminate 65,000 auto jobs in the United States if the regulations took effect. ...
Environmentalists hailed the 240-page decision. "The judge said baloney to all of Detroit's arguments," said David Bookbinder, a lawyer for Sierra Club who argued the case. "This was another example of Detroit crying wolf." ... Not good news for Teh Ding, see DetNews again, Dingell pledges victory in fuel economy 'tussle', The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee said he expected a joint House-Senate conference will take up legislation to increase corporate average fuel economy -- and that he was prepared for a difficult fight but confident of victory.
"We're going to win this fight," U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, told a gathering of auto dealers at a speech in Washington. ...
Dingell said [a] Senate bill imposes "intolerable burdens" on auto companies. ...
"I go into this tussle comforted (by the support of auto dealers) Go get 'em," he told the dealers. "We're going to win this fight." ... Oh is that right, chief.
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Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 02:25:58 AM EDT
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I see John Dingell and his wife Debbie seem to be adamant on the early primary that violates DNC rules, and, curiously enough, would also probably help Hillary, the candidate Debbie (who is sort of close with General Motors) favors, I believe. (And a candidate, moreover, who hasn't attacked auto industry failure on global warming like Obama has.)
Well, who should give Michigan the chance of having a new congressperson, and congressperson's wife, in the 15th District? Suggest your own, but here are three options:
1) John Hieftje, Democratic mayor of Ann Arbor;
2) Chris Kolb, former Democratic state representative from Ann Arbor (53rd District);
3) Lynn Rivers, former Democratic congresswoman, who ran against Dingell in 2002. I know the three above are a little heavy on the western side of the district, but feel free to suggest others from Dearborn or wherever. Michigan doesn't need a rulebreaking early primary, it needs a reformed auto industry, and a serious turnover in its Democratic (and Republican) leaders. Unless you feel that Michigan Democratic leadership really is the best possible leadership available...
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Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 17:54:00 PM EDT
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Recently at the Monroe County Unity dinner, Debbie Dingell said...
"...Democrats must put the needs of families above the interest of corporations in order for the party to win the 2008 presidential election."
Is anyone else gobsmacked by this irony? Her husband John is currently carrying massive amounts of water for some of America's biggest corporations (the Big Three) on one of the most important issues facing America these days (fuel economy standards, which are linked to consumers' pocketbooks, global warming, air pollution and national security.)
But you know, Representative Dingell's behavior can be better understood if we consider the following...
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Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 13:02:48 PM EDT
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(A very interesting conversation going on here... - promoted by Eric B.)
See the current rising-on-the-recommended-list (update: it's now at the top of the list) diary on Daily Kos, Breaking: Pelosi had BETTER kill this bill, "John Dingell (D-Michigan) and Rick Boucher (D-Virginia) are divisive, obtuse, arrogant scumbags, pure and simple.
These two men are the prime movers behind a bill in the House Energy and Commerce committee, of which Dingell is the chairman and Boucher a subcommittee head.
Get this: The San Francisco Chronicle breaks the story and the draft legislation can be read here, supposedly and here.
Why is it always your friends who screw you over the hardest? (I don't know, David, but I have a feeling you've got more below the fold. -- E.B.)
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Tue May 15, 2007 at 17:50:34 PM EDT
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See Freep, Dingell fires back at Obama over fuel-efficiency jab, "...So he took umbrage today with a speech given last week by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat who is running for president. In a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, Obama chastised the auto industry for not working harder to achieve better fuel-efficiency standards.
Dingell used his speech to the same organization to shoot back:
"I admire Sen. Obama's enthusiasm..? But with all due respect, as the Sopranos would say - I would not travel to Chicago for the purpose of teaching people how to butcher hogs."
The line drew an enthusiastic response from the crowd, which was much smaller than the audience for Obama's speech. ..." Hm.
...It is not always good to draw on gangsters, even fictional ones, for wisdom, even in jest? Something to chew on.
I wonder about Dingell's "ignorant outsider" theme, too; he also implied this about Ward Connerly, and look what happened there. There are fascinating reader comments in the Freep thread, as well. Don't watch too many gangster shows now, y'all.
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Sat Feb 17, 2007 at 16:02:11 PM EST
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(Cross-posted from Arblogger)
(John & Debbie Dingell by window with falling snow in background, the former--on left--
rebutting an Iraq heckler) Besides lots of Dems and high-calorie food showing up at the UM Dems pancake breakfast this morning, some high points included "your 15th District U.S. Representative" John Dingell answering/rebutting a heckler who asked what he was doing about Iraq. JD said that he was against the war from the start and is doing what he can, etc., which made the heckler sound like a bit of a screamer. (You can see heckler's musings here at UM Dems blog Kicking Ass [donkey] Ann Arbor.) Also interesting to note was the flyer being passed out about the AHEAD ("Achieving Higher Education Access and Diversity") Coalition's effort to save affirmative action by proposing an amendment to the Higher Education Act, one which would utilize clause 4 of MCRI (i.e., MCRI doesn't prohibit anything if that prohibition would result in loss of federal funding) in order to allow the return of affirmative action.
This is a good idea, which I have been promoting for some while, see, e.g., my Michigan Liberal diary of November 14, 2006, Conyers/Dingell/friends should tie affirmative action to federal funding?. The national security issue might be a nice one to emphasize, by the way, i.e., affirmative action leads to a more diverse officer corps so that we can have a stronger military and beat the terrorists.
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Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 19:25:20 PM EST
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(Once again, cross-posted from Arblogger, where it was titled "Daily photographs some folks") See the darn mighty Dave Mekelburg, in today's Daily, section "the election guide", story The Incumbent: Life in a one-man race,
"John Dingell loves running for office. It's too bad he won't have the opportunity this year. The longtime Democratic congressman is unopposed in his quest for re-election in Michigan's 15th Congressional district. ...", plus foto,
 , captioned
"U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) with Ann Arbor gadfly David Boyle (right) and another man at a Gov. Jennifer Granholm event at Sweetwaters Cafe yesterday. (AARON HANDELSMAN/Daily)"
That Daily is an interesting paper, I'll tell you.
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Wed Sep 06, 2006 at 14:29:29 PM EDT
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(9/11 is, literally, the only card that George W. Bush has left to play, and ABC plans to give him a boost by airing a "documentary" that gives a pro-administration account of what happened five years ago. - promoted by Hy Dudgeon)
ABC is primed to show a really misleading Docudrama opposite Monday Night Football next week. It invents scenes to make it look like Clinton was responsible for 9/11. For information on the Docudrama, go here,here, here, and here.
Congressmen Conyers and Dingell--along with Congresswomen Slaughter and Harman--have now called on ABC to fix the inaccuracies in the Docudrama before it airs next week.
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Thu Aug 31, 2006 at 13:54:22 PM EDT
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From the AP's Sven Gustafson (when did he go to the AP?):
Michigan Democrats said Thursday they had reached a deal with Ontario officials to eliminate the influx of Canadian trash into state landfills by 2010.
Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin and Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, said the agreement with Ontario's Minister of the Environment, Laurel Broten, would phase out shipments of Canadian municipal solid waste over four years.
"It is the beginning of the end of filling up Michigan landfills and clogging up our bridges and tunnels with trucks full of Canadian trash," Levin said.
The lawmakers said the plan was supported by the City of Toronto and other regions that have shipped trash to Michigan. The Canadian communities would find alternative waste management options and not renew existing contracts with Michigan landfills beyond 2010.
Good show! Since Sens. Stabenow, Levin and Rep. Dingell seem to be having better success at international diplomacy than the Bush administration, maybe we ought to send them over to Jerusalem and see if their magic will do any good there?
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Thu Aug 31, 2006 at 11:25:52 AM EDT
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The lead editorial in today's Wall Street Journal, entitled "Back to the Congressional Future," is warning its readers of the consequences of the Democrats retaking the House--which means that the Right has now concluded it really could happen.
And wouldn't you know it? The editorial tried to make bogeymen of senior House Democrats, including our own John Conyers and John Dingell, both of whom would chair powerful committees if the Democrats are in the majority.
There's more below the dotted line...
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