Wednesday Coffee Talk/Open Thread

by: BZP

Wed Nov 07, 2007 at 07:27:17 AM EST

Lots to talk about today, so let's get right to it. News on top, election results below...

• BFM: Fire up the ballot proposal for stem cell research. It looks like more good legislation will die a slow death in the upper chamber this year: "I don't think it's going through the Senate," [Republican Senator Tom] George said. Be sure to read Jack Lessenberry's essay on stem cell research from yesterday. You can listen to his interview with Andy Meisner here.
• DetNews: Lansing's hunting break hardly that. Was Rep. Agema trying to be ironic here? "'In my opinion, the Legislature has been taking a break since March,' Agema said."
• Mike Cox: Law says benefits can only be given to a man and woman in marriage. For a state that's trying to attract young knowledgeable workers to revitalize its economy, we're sure doing a swell job of making gay citizens feel welcome here in Michigan. Be sure to read Todd Heywood's post on the ongoing Supreme Court case here.
• AP: Senate passes bills aimed at fighting mortgage loan problems. More on this legislative package can be found here.
• DFP: Services tax takes a step toward repeal."[Senate Finance] committee chairwoman Nancy Cassis, R-Novi, called the tax 'toxic' to the state's economy. She said she favors repeal and cutting the budget." Shocking, I know.
• LSJ: Senate panels votes to change lawmakers' health care, pay. "Future lawmakers would have to work 14 years to get the same level of coverage at 55 they now get in six years. The Senate panel also passed a resolution calling for cutting lawmakers' pay by 5 percent."

• LSJ: Triplett, Peters to join council in East Lansing; Baten defeated. Congratulations are in order for Nathan Triplett. It seems pretty clear that it was the blogging that put him over the top ;-)
• LaGrand for City Comm: David LaGrand Wins in Grand Rapids' Second Ward. Ditto for David LaGrand.
• Flint Journal: Williamson wins Flint mayoral race. Gee, Williamson looks thrilled in the photo at the top of this story.
• DetNews: Nativity proposal falters. This one's for Brainwrap.
• Here are the results for Ingham, Eaton, Livingston, Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties. More election coverage on MLive.

• DetNews: Ford to invest in its Michigan factories. More details on the Ford-UAW deal: "In Michigan, four assembly plants that produce key vehicles will see significant new investments and product commitments. Local parts facilities will receive new equipment."
• Reuters: GM to take $39 billion charge. That's a whole lotta money.
• Great Lakes IT Report: Got tech, business challenges? MSU students want to help. "As part of their spring semester course work in several communications and business classes, the students are required to work in cross-functional teams on real-world business problems. And, they just need a few more volunteer 'clients.'"
• The Conversation: Pure Michigan looks toward 2008. "Travel Michigan research shows that two thirds of all visitors to the site travel to and within Michigan, and with the site averaging 35,375 hits a day, it doesn?t take long to see how that translates into jobs and revenue for the state."
• BFM: Sunday Newspaper Sales Fall to 32-Year Low. "Ad sales are not newspapers biggest problem - content is. They need to find a way to reduce content costs while maintaining similar coverage. How can they do that? One solution is to hire bloggers."
• Ann Arbor News: Officials looking to establish Spark incubator in Ypsilanti. "David Mielke, Dean of the EMU College of Business, said the group is working with Ann Arbor Spark to find 5,000 square feet of space along Michigan Avenue, which he said should be able to hold up to a dozen "innovation oriented" start-up businesses at once."

Friday Coffee Talk/Open Thread

by: BZP

Fri Oct 19, 2007 at 07:15:59 AM EDT

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy your morning cup-o-links...

• AP: Senate passes bill to allow motorcycling without helmet. Dumb. AAA is already calling on the Governor to veto the bill.
• Rep. Marc Corriveau: Final plan was best one for getting state back on track. " I voted for this final plan because it protects funding for our schools and gives our teachers the resources they will need to prepare our children for the good-paying jobs of the future."
• Sen. Nancy Cassis: Michigan must return to what made it great. Okay, so syntax isn't her strong suit: "The question I have asked myself over the last year was, 'will increasing taxes on individuals, families, seniors, and businesses help or hurt Michigan's struggling economy to recover from being in a one state recession?' Research done by myself and staff coupled with e-mails from my constituents convinced me the answer was 'no.'"
• Ann Arbor News: Gas tax hike still being pushed in Lansing. "Transportation and business groups are still pushing to raise Michigan's gasoline tax by 9 cents per gallon over three years... But state lawmakers are unlikely to embrace a higher gas tax, especially after recently voting to raise Michigan's income tax and to expand the sales tax to more services."
• Walberg Watch: Walberg Lies Again on SCHIP. Fitzy does a nice job of picking apart Walberg's anti-S-CHIP op-ed in yesterday's LSJ.

• Our Michigan: Pfizer posts 77% earnings decline. Wasn't bailing on Ann Arbor supposed to be a means of helping the company make money?
• AP: GM has record 3Q worldwide sales as it tries to hold off Toyota. "The company's record third quarter came despite a 6 percent sales drop in North America because of increasing fuel prices and a housing slump, Paul Ballew, the company's executive director of global market and industry analysis, said Thursday."

• MDP: Devos/AMWAY Trample on Free Speech. Republicans aren't exactly fans of the first amendment.
• Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood: Money see, money do. Mike is raising some healthy cash, but his burn rate is pretty steep for a candidate with no challenger in sight. Anyone want to take this guy on next year?
• Michigan Messenger: Student hate group bringing ultra right wing conservative leader from England. Todd Heywood has the latest on MSU YAF's latest controversial speaker.

Friday Coffee Talk/Open Thread

by: BZP

Fri Sep 14, 2007 at 07:38:12 AM EDT

Happy Friday, everyone! Just wanted to take a quick second to tip my hat to the folks at Comedy Central for purchasing an ad here on MichLib... we appreciate the support. Now, onto the links!

• Lessenberry: Higher Education. He nails it, as usual: "Unless we return taxes to some sort of rational level, we are speedily going to damage the state?s colleges and universities... We have a population less educated than the national average. A smaller percentage of our kids go to college. Our universities are forced to charge more tuition... Three years ago, a special commission found that Michigan?s only hope for the future is investing heavily in higher education, and extending it as widely as possible. What is sad is that some people still don? t get that. What is even sadder is that some of them are in the legislature."
• LSJ: Michigan closer to shutdown in budget impasse. Budget talks seem to be getting worse, not better. Dillon now pegs the chances of a shutdown at 40%, while Bishop still expects the House to do all the heavy lifting: "If they're afraid to pass a tax increase, they ought to be talking to us about finding a solution that involves more cuts to government."
• Gov. Granholm: State's citizens need a comprehensive solution now. The Governor reminds us that she proposed a comprehensive budget solution seven months ago, and says: "The House has pledged to work as long as it takes to get the job done, and the Senate must do the same so I can sign a comprehensive solution into law."
• Speaker Dillon: House will stay as long as it takes to fix budget, protect services. The gloves, it would appear, have finally come off: "Sen. Mike Bishop refuses to negotiate, and House Republicans retreated this week when it came time to support their own plan to put a sales-tax increase on the ballot. Meanwhile, the Senate stands idle, refusing to intervene as our state hurtles toward disaster." Apparently Bishop was offered the chance to write a similar Op-Ed, but was too busy (tee time?) to do so.
• LSJ: Tax boost issue sizing up as new lawmakers' first big test. Chris Andrews checks in with Lansing-area freshman lawmakers (Meadows, Calley, Bauer, Byrum, and Opsommer) about the looming tax vote.
• Observer & Eccentric: The Lansing Connection with Sen. Nancy Cassis. Read all about the Senate Republicans' "reforms" that do little to fix the 2008 budget.
• Michigan Messenger: State Senator Scott tackles auto insurance redlining. Kevin Brandon chats with Sen. Martha Scott about her upcoming insurance rally at the Capitol on September 26.
• GR Press Editorial: No guns on campus. Here's what the GR Press had to say about the bill to allow school teachers to pack heat: "Common sense should tell lawmakers that allowing guns in school buildings or on school property, by anyone other than public safety officers, heightens the risk for innocent people to get hurt or killed."

• Michigan Future: Texting boosts youth voter turnout. OMG this is GR8: "The study which relied on voter registration data from the Student PIRGs' New Voters Project and Working Assets Wireless, found that sending a text message reminder to vote provided a 4 percent boost in youth voter turnout rates."
• State News: Voting changes recommended. The House has passed a no-reason absentee voting measure. Terri Lynn Land supports it. As for the Senate? (crickets chirping)

• LSJ: Cyclotron evolves: MSU lab taking steps to edge competition. Whaddya know? All sorts of crazy research going on at MSU. Wouldn't it be nice if the State actually supported this sort of stuff?
• LSJ: Senate bill includes $5M for extending runway at Lansing's Capital City Airport. Stabenow and Levin got some cash for the Lansing airport. Good. Hopefully this will help attract some new carriers.
• Michigan Future: Automakers see greeen in being green. Like we keep saying, there's $ to be made in green technology.
• Oakland Business Review: Diversification draws state manufacturing engineers. "Some 3,500 attendees are expected to attend the Society of Manufacturing Engineers' inaugural Great Lakes 2007 Conference and exposition Sept. 18-20 in Grand Rapids."
• AP: Michigan GOP activist gets 5 years for sexual battery. Chalk another one up for the party of "family values."

Friday Coffee Talk/Open Thread

by: BZP

Fri Aug 10, 2007 at 07:50:14 AM EDT

Happy Friday, everyone! Have a great weekend.

Current & Pending Legislation

• Sen. Hunter to Senate Republicans: Support Must Come Soon. Part Three in the Senate Dems' Top Ten series. Hop on over to BFM to check out Sen. Hunter's post about various consumer protection efforts.
• LSJ: Anti-bullying bill stalls in Senate. Anyone else notice a pattern developing here?
• LSJ Editorial: Tax credit: Republicans shouldn't blame poor for budget mess. "Cassis should drop this punitive bill and use her time for more productive pursuits for all the people of Michigan."
• Sen. John Gleason: Don't let fleeing criminals outrun stricter sentencing. Following the death of a Flint police officer during pursuit of a fleeing suspect, Sen. Gleason (D-Flushing) introduced legislation that, "will make all offenses of fleeing and eluding a mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment for two years."
• Conservative Media: SOS plays politics with branch office closings. House Dems fight back: "Later in the day on Wednesday, the House passed House Bill 4492 that will thwart Land from continuing to play politics with the further closing of branch offices and inserts some accountability. The bill reorganizes funding for SOS branch offices from a single line item to numerous line items. The bill could potentially restrict the ability of the Secretary of State to reorganize branch office operations."

Elections

• Capitol Journal: Congressional election ratings. Derek weighs in with his assessment of where all of the Michigan Congressional races currently stand.
• Peters for Congress: Republican Bloggers Target Peters. Jordan is really going to bat for Gary Peters, and is asking folks to chip in $9 for the 9th district.
• Walberg Watch: For and Against a Schauer Candidacy. Fitzy weighs the pros and cons.

Odds & Ends

• State News: Blocking blog site shows political bias. Nice to see my alma mater's student paper sticking up for the blogs. More editorials like this, please.
• DFP: Arrest the hysteria on sentencing. "Patterson's ridiculous rant in the Detroit News reflected the kind of divisive rhetoric he built a career on as county prosecutor. For pure hyperbole, he managed to outgun Attorney General Mike Cox, who earlier tied some of the proposed changes to terrorism, and a Michigan Sheriff's Association official who predicted murder and mayhem. Let's take a chill pill and look at the facts." Zzzzing!
• Auto Blog: Buick ties Lexus in quality. This is pretty cool. The Buick Enclave is built locally in Delta Township (near Lansing).
• AP: State, union begins talks on next contract. Eggert reminds us that Mike Bishop wants to balance the budget on the backs of state workers: "Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, has said workers should not get scheduled pay increases in the last fiscal year of their current contracts to help save money."

Did I forget anything? Drop your links in the comments section...

Wednesday Coffee Talk/Open Thread

by: BZP

Wed Aug 01, 2007 at 07:11:31 AM EDT

Okay, I'll play along with the new format.

On the Budget Battlefront

• BFM: The wrath of Rick Albin. If it's anything like the Wrath of Khan, I'd suggest staying away. Of course, that's the problem: "But this month they'll have more time than normal to work in their local communities because the Democratic-controlled House and the Republican-controlled Senate are only scheduled to meet five times in the next five weeks -- one day a week through the end of August."
• MDP: Brewer Calls on Drolet to Sign Petition to Surrender Free Lifetime Health Care. "Mr. Perks certainly seems to have a sweet spot in his belly for Leon Drolet," Brewer said. "This is a man whose has made a living off our taxpayers for years. I challenge Drolet to change is ways and give back to the taxpayers who have been supporting him for years."
• BFM: Wrong Michigan Feeds Distortion To MIRS. Christine calls BS on Right Michigan's most recent smear campaign against the governor.
• K-Zoo Gazette: WMU trustees approve 2007-08 budget. "After visiting Lansing recently, [President John] Dunn said he believes legislators 'understand there is an ethical responsibility there and we continue to think of that as a team effort, us working with them, them working with us.'" A group of students respectfully disagree.

Current & Pending Legislation

• LSJ Editorial: No reason: Loosen absentee rules in Michigan so someone will vote. "[Lansing City Clerk Chris] Swope says if HB 4080 became law, he would expect the number of people voting absentee to double." Interestingly enough, Rep. Chris Ward has done a complete flip-flop on this issue. The Comm Guru has details.
• WXYZ: Smoking Ban. "Michigan should join 32 other states in making its citizens healthier and its restaurants more family friendly. The rights of smokers must not supersede the health of those who do not smoke. According to the American Cancer and Lung Associations, second hand smoke causes roughly 35-thousand deaths every year."
• Far Left Field: RATS!! The left fielder has a similar reaction to recent legislation introduced by senate republicans: "State Senator Nancy Cassis (R-Scab) has introduced both "Right to work" (for less) legislation and a bill that would eliminate the earned income tax credit that Michigan's poorest families receive; families with two or more children who earn less than $36,348 a year would be eligible for a credit up to $4,536. Workers with no children and who earn less than $12,120 could get a credit of up to $412."
• State Action Blog: North Carolina: first Southeastern state to require renewable energy production? First they beat us to the punch on same-day voter registration... now renewable energy? Come on, Michigan! Let's get with it!

On the Environment

• Lessenberry: To Dig or Not to Dig. Jack poses a few questions about the DEQ's recent decision to move forward with the Kennecott mine: "What does the state of Michigan get out of it? Yes, I know a few blokes will get jobs for a few years. Naturally, we don’t even know if local people will be hired or not. But what do we the people get?"
• [con]serving Michigan: A 4-3 Michigan Supreme Court Decision Takes Away Citizen's Rights on the Environment. It sounds like the environmental community is ready to take on the Supreme Court head-on next year: "Environmental organizations are hammering out plans to change the make-up of the court by replacing it with judges who will use the Michigan Constitution to establish truth and fairness for all people. This will take an all out effort to get people to the polls in 2008 who will vote to elect a panel of judges committed to serving the people of Michigan rather than the corporate interests in the State."

Did I forget anything? Drop your links in the comments section...

Eileen Kowall seeks state House seat; Rep. Stakoe Senate seat?

by: TJarrell

Wed Aug 01, 2007 at 01:56:59 AM EDT

Rep. Stakoe told the Spinal Column Newsweekly that seeking the state Senate seat currently occupied by Nancy Cassis (R-Novi) would be a "natural progression" for him in 2010. Sen. Cassis is term-limited.

http://www.spinalcol...

Nancy Cassis to MI's Poor: Screw You

by: LiberalLucy

Mon Jul 30, 2007 at 17:07:47 PM EDT

Michigan's poor.

Republican Senator Nancy Cassis (R- Crazy) a.k.a. the Wicked Witch of the West, has spent too much time living in the lap of luxurious Novi with Amway Guy and other Republican Millionaires to the point where she's forgotten how most of the world lives.

Cassis' has introduced Senate Bill 662, which would suspend help towards Michigan's poor through the Earned Income Tax Credit, until the state budget has a surplus of $250 Million.

The EITC was signed into law by Governor Granholm after being passed as a bipartisan measure. From Lt. Gov. John Cherry -

The EITC is a refundable federal tax credit that helps working people achieve economic stability and security.

-snip-

With the current economic downturn, the EITC is more important than ever for Michigan's working families. Estimates are that $12.3 to $49 million can be brought directly into the wallets of Michigan's working poor families through a successful outreach effort.

That's a difference of $1.65 Billion, and unless Dick DeVos decides to become a real servant of the people and donate his entire worth to the state (don't hold your breath on that one), that's not going to happen anytime soon.

Better know an obstructionist: Sen. Nancy Cassis (R-Novi)

by: Hazen Pingree

Sat May 19, 2007 at 11:20:25 AM EDT

"The problems with companies - the ones that are leaving - do not have, as their major factor, taxes. But we think this will stimulate the economy to such an extent that those who are going to look at Michigan, to settle here, to locate here will be really encouraged to do that."