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John Dingell 
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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Wed Sep 05, 2007 at 03:55:01 AM EDT
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I'd thought of the idea that Dem presidential contenders maybe should request withdrawal of their names from the Michigan ballot, but it looks like they may've thought of it first; see Freep, Michigan fuels a political revolution, "...some of the candidates -- including former Sen. John Edwards, who has invested heavily in building early momentum in Iowa and New Hampshire -- were said to be considering upping the ante by withdrawing their names from the Michigan primary ballot.
Edwards campaign director David Bonior of Michigan didn't respond immediately to queries about his candidate's plans. But if one or more of the top contenders drops out, Michigan's Jan. 15 primary could quickly deteriorate into an insignificant sideshow.
...But [Carl] Levin said it was "inconceivable" that any Democratic candidate would do "something as self-destructive as taking their name off the primary ballot. ...
In [a] letter, Levin and [Debbie] Dingell argued that it was New Hampshire -- not Michigan -- that first violated party rules by moving its primary from Jan. 22 to sometime before Jan. 19 in a "transparent effort ... to maintain its privileged position of going immediately after Iowa. ..."
Levin said Michigan could revert to its original Feb. 5 primary date, but only if New Hampshire backs off its jump. ..." So, if NH goes 3 days before it should, then Mich can go...3 WEEKS before it should? Oy.
--Note, though, how Carl Levin gives wiggle room for Michigan to cave completely. Astute, if belated. With a pathetic little "rebellion" like Michigan is mounting against the DNC and Howard Dean, no wonder Levin wants an out. Not even discussing related issues like primarying John Dingell out of office: I hope the presidential candidates remove their names from the rulebreaking Michigan primary ballot as soon as possible. It's actually good for Michigan, in the long run, since people will be taught that you can't win by cheating.
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Sat Sep 01, 2007 at 14:06:35 PM EDT
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(Topical, but not in an ointment sort of way - promoted by Eric B.)
As ethics demand they should. See, e.g., Daily Kos, Breaking: John Edwards signs Four State Pledge. It reveals that Obama, Edwards, Dodd, Richardson, and Biden have all done the right thing and pledged to stick with the four states Howard Dean and the DNC are happy with keeping first: a geographically diverse array of early primary/caucus states, Iowa (Midwest), New Hampshire (Northeast), South Carolina (South, and considerable African-American representation), and Nevada (West, and considerable Latina/o representation). I could write a long thing about this, but...does the Granholm/Brewer/Dingell early primary idea look like a GOOD IDEA
now?
Maybe not, huh.
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Fri Aug 31, 2007 at 02:14:00 AM EDT
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Here's the link to JG's letter, courtesy of the Politico, to Dear Republican and Democratic Presidential Candidates (little Freudian slip there putting the Repubs first...), re her plan to move the Michigan primary to January 15 in total defiance of our Democratic National Committee and its respected leader Howard Dean. And here's one fresh and fragrant nugget: "I understand that Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina are circulating a letter to presidential candidates that asks them to sign a pledge not to campaign in any state that gives its voters a real voice in the nominating process by moving its primary into the month of January." So Michigan and many other states are *REALLY VOICELESS* if they have a primary/caucus after midnight on Jan. 31. Excuuuse me, I never knew. Gallons of tears are rolling down my cheeks right now. There's also, "I hope you will recognize that these issues facing the people of Michigan are far more important than the politics of the parties' respective nominating contests." True. Which is why Granholm is...playing politics with her party's respective nominating contest. (rim shot) One could get nasty and comment on the possibilities that the super-early primary could function to, say, put both Granholm and one of the Dingells into Hillary's presidential cabinet (out of..."gratitude" to supporters of the early primary and of Hillary, maybe), and gratify another Dingell by extorting the Dem presidential candidates into axing the CAFE standards (to mollify Michigan special interests) and letting Detroit melt the globe instead of getting its act together as it should. But those are only hypotheticals, likely as they might be. At this point, I'd trade away Granholm as our governor in favor of Howard Dean as our governor, in a microsecond. Too bad we don't have that option. I guess Vermont got the good luck.
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Wed Aug 08, 2007 at 07:15:41 AM EDT
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Happy Hump Day, everyone!
Bishop Censors Blogs
- BFM: Bishop Caves, Lifts Ban On BFM. Hooray! "Z" has a final roundup here.
- DFP: GOP ban is a blessing to blogger. Even though the ban has been lifted, it's still great to see more coverage of this in the Free Press from Brian Dickerson.
- BFM: Schauer Letter To Bishop On Blog Censorship. If you haven't already, check out Sen. Schauer's letter to Mike Bishop about his office's decision to censor Blogging for Michigan.
- The Bradosphere: What's a guy gotta do to get blocked around here? Brad Flory of the Citizen Patriot begs Mike Bishop to ban his blog. His logic is that it will drive up his stats. This is bust-a-gut funny. Be sure to read the caption on the second picture here.
- Stone Soup Musings: Censorship doesn't belong in Michigan. Kathy shreds Big brother (aka Mike Bishop). Her post-ban follow-up is here.
- Capitol Journal: Bishop and the blogs. Nice to see Derek's with us on this one too.
- Right Michigan: On Blogs, Senate Majority Leaders and Censorship. This could be the first and last time I link to Right Michigan here, but props to Nick for having our back on this one. Censorship is something that affects ALL of us.
Current & Pending Legislation
- BFM: Sen. Glenn Anderson: Why I'm Fighting for Worker Rights. Post #2 in the Senate Dems' list of the Top Ten legislative issues that are being ignored by the Republican Majority.
- Red Tape Blog: An Argument for a Public Smoking Ban. The Red Tape blog has a great post up in favor of the smoking ban that's working it's way through the legislature right now. Definitely worth a read.
Elections
- TPM: In Michigan, Dem Gary Peters Will Run Against GOPer Knollenberg. Nice to see some positive buzz for Gary Peters on a prominent national blog like TPM. Here's hoping it's just the beginning.
- AA News: Walberg recall language OK'd. Should be interesting to watch this play out. Constitutional or not, it certainly doesn't help Walberg to have his name in the paper for something like this.
Michigan's New Economy
- Getting in Your Business: An eye-opening walk through Armory Arts. One of the Cit-Pat blogs takes a look at the Armory Arts project in Jackson. More good news like this, please.
- BFM: Fairchild Semiconductor Expands Into Michigan. Christine has another Michigan success story to share.
- Michigan Future: Michigan tourism Web site sets record. We have the top state tourism site in the country... again. How'd we get there? "Michigan.org has been in the top three since the beginning of the year and rose to the top spot in April with the launch of the Pure Michigan advertising campaign."
Odds & Ends
- AA News: U-M Study shows rich getting richer, poor getting poorer. File under "Duh."
- The Hill: We Must Do More to Protect our Food Supplies (Rep. Bart Stupak). Rep. Stupack gives a quick update on what Congress is doing about food safety.
- Mark Maynard: dingell's town hall on global warming. Mark's got the lowdown on Rep. Dingell's. It's great to have a first-hand account of the event like this.
- Our Michigan: Gov. Milliken, My New Favorite Republican. I couldn't agree more.
Did I forget anything? Drop your links in the comments section...
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Tue Jun 19, 2007 at 22:52:09 PM EDT
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Okay, so my good friend Senator Schauer has decided to become
a
Hillarista. Fair enough. But now it's my turn to put in a
plug for Obamarama. (Incidentally, I was pleased to see today that Kos
and I seem
to be in agreement
that Hillary will ultimately prove to be a paper tiger. Sorry, Mark.)
First of all, I obviously don't give a flying f*$k what
middle name
Sen. Obama's parents decided to give him - just as I don't care that
John
McCain's middle name happens to be "Sidney" or that John
Edwards'
actual name is the somewhat goofy "Johnny Reid Edwards." If
this
country is so full of imbeciles that they turn against a guy because of
his middle name, then we may as well quit now because we deserve
whatever tyrant we get.
As I said before, the war in Iraq is at the top of my list of candidate
criteria.
And on this score, Edwards and Clinton voted
for it. Obama didn't.
I
know, I know. That was a long time ago (4 years, 8 months and 10 days,
to be exact) and Obama wasn't even in the Senate then. Get over this
silly fixation of yours already, Pingree!
Well, I have some more to say about all of that...in
just a
bit.
But first I want to talk about
one of the many
other
reasons why Barack Obama is the right man at the right time
for
America
and for Michigan (cue swelling patriotic horn section here).
The Detroit Economic Club speech
You may have heard that Sen.
Obama dropped by the to see the disproportionately rich and
powerful crowd at the Detroit
Economic Club last month. The local media
and a number of local politicos had more than a few things to say about
Obama's
speech - and let's just say not
all of them were kind (to put it mildly).
If you haven't yet, I encourage you to read the Obama's actual
text here.
Now...Obama could have decided to
use the same worn-out speech that Democratic presidential candidates
always use when they campaign in Michigan. You know the one I'm talking
about. It's the one with all
of the approved
buzzwords: "fair trade, not free trade", "raise the minimum wage",
"don't ship jobs to Mexico", etc. Usually the candidate says all of
this while wearing a union starter jacket and standing in front of a
bunch of people in shirts that say things like "Underwater
Basketweavers International Union for _______."
But Obama didn't go with the "safe" speech.
(More below the jump...)
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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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Fri Apr 27, 2007 at 07:05:22 AM EDT
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Lots to think about today, so pull up a chair...
- DNews:
Michigan mayors say budget cuts endanger cities. Bravo: "Members
of the Michigan Association of Mayors said lawmakers' tax-cutting and tightfistedness
in the face of shrinking state revenues have hurt cities and endangered the
police and fire protection they provide. Most urged lawmakers to consider
tax increases, rather than additional cuts."
- K-Zoo
Gazette: GOP: Cuts before new taxes. Bishop is getting desperate.
Hazen Pingree said it best: "Just like George Bush refused to raise taxes
to pay for his war and for body armor for our troops, Mike Bishop is clearly
prepared to destroy as many lives and put as many people in danger as he damn
well pleases - just so long as his rich-ass buddies don't have to pay extra
for their golf game."
- DFP:
Don't let politics penalize students. Um, where was this editorial
two months ago? "A tax increase is the only sensible solution. While
higher sin taxes -- cigarettes, beer, wine, liquor -- may help a bit, only
a general tax increase can keep education and local services whole. By raising
taxes sooner rather than later, the rate could perhaps be lower and the disruption
to schools and municipalities minimized."
- DNews:
House should stay out of private pay rates. Those wacky
democrats... trying to make sure women earn as much money as their male
counterparts. What a craaaaaaazy idea!
- Stone
Soup Musings: The Kennedy-Dingell "Medicare for All Act".
Kathy has another nice post about "Cover the Uninsured" week.
- Christine
Barry: Is The Party Trying To Co-opt The Michigan Blogosphere?
Christine asks some tough questions... this one is definitely worth checking
out.
- Battle
Creek Enquirer: Michigan farm bill would cut animal manure pollution.
It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it: "Democrats on Wednesday
introduced bills in the state Legislature aimed at cutting down pollution
from large animal feeding farms."
- WWJ:
National Alliance to End Homelessness honors Granholm. "The
National Alliance to End Homelessness, a national nonprofit education, advocacy
and capacity building organization, will honor Gov. Jennifer Granholm with
a Public Sector Achievement Award for her leadership in the effort to end
homelessness in Michigan."
- City
Pulse: The right-brain drain. A thoughtful article about the
exodus of young artists from Lansing: "But the right-brain drain in mid-Michigan
goes higher than the city level: The state has continued to decrease funding
for the arts in recent years... '[Michigan] has rejected the view that culture
matters, and it’is the policy-makers that have made that decision, Ruff
says. 'They should not be surprised when talented young people fly the coop.'"
- WOOD
TV: Bill Clinton's weekend visit includes speech to U-M grads, NAACP.
Bubba's coming to Michigan.
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Mon Feb 26, 2007 at 18:22:44 PM EST
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(Cross-posted from Arblogger...you've heard some of these things already, but not all.....)
Blogger "Liberal Lucy" at mike during MDP Bloggers' Caucus, Laura Packard in background
The Mich Democratic Party convention on Saturday the 24th at Cobo in Detroit was something of a fun time, especially if you enjoy hours on end of speeches... The Bloggers' Caucus seemed successful, with various visiting grandees including Senator Stabenow, Mich. House Speaker Dillon, etc. We got a much bigger room than during the August convention, so we must be doing something right.
"House Dean" Congressman Dingell with Governor Granholm; blogster/author Marcy Wheeler in lower left-hand corner
For some of us there were two lunches available, the one from the Governor available in the Riverside Ballroom, and for 15th District folx, the one from Congressman Dingell. (See photo above) It doesn't hurt to be Dean of the U.S. House, I guess. No one starved, let's put it that way.
You can't see details of the Gov from far away, but you probably recognize the flag
Glowing like she's radioactive. Or is it just my cell phone camera.
...Now you can call her "J. Glow" if you like
There wasn't much great controversy at the convention; a looming floor fight over "net neutrality" was averted, at least for now. What was worth noting, though, was the way, during the main meeting of the convention (dodging the Clark and "Draft Gore" fans and flyers as we went to our seats in our respective districts), which Jennifer Granholm was able to "work" the crowd.
Without mentioning all the details, I'll say that she waved her arms, she slipped into a drawl at times, and her voice built up to this sort of (Martin Luther) Kingian crescendo as she forcefully emphasized how important it was that we move Michigan forward, as per her economic and other plans. The crowd got to its feet clapping, so what JG did must have worked. ...Quite the performer--in a good way! (Also worth noting was Senator Carl Levin's comedic recognition that Anna Nicole Smith and Britney Spears should be the real news priority these days. At least I think he meant it as a joke...) And after all that, I was lucky enough to attend a birthday party for Ann Arbor blogger Laura Fisher, whose blog a later date is well worth checking out. (Have a look at her art gallery too.) What a day/night! See you at the next convention!
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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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Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 19:19:20 PM EST
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(Cross-posted from what the French call Le Arblogger) See UM College Dems website, "The College Democrats at the University of Michigan cordially invite you to our 2nd Annual Pancake Breakfast with special guest Congressman John Dingell!
Join us on Saturday, February 17th from 10am to 12 noon at Arbor Brewing Company?in downtown Ann Arbor.
Ticket prices for community members are $15 pre-sale (purchase via Paypal) and $20 at the door.
Student tickets are $10 and kids 12 and under are free. ?"
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