Pete Hoekstra - Bought and paid for by the Insurance and Pharmaceutical Industries?

by: Michigan Girl

Tue Nov 20, 2007 at 18:30:58 PM EST

This wasn't the diary I had planned to write today. I had big plans for the second diary in my series chronicling Pete Hoekstra's dirty deeds to be about Pete's cozy relationship with the Telecommunications Industry... However, my plans changed after I received a phone call this morning from my Mother.

I answered the phone this morning and my Mom was crying... Big-heaving-heart-wrenching-tears-can't-catch-your-breath kind of crying. If you knew my Mom, you'd understand just how unusual it is to hear my Mom cry. I can only remember hearing my Mom cry like that one time before in my entire life and that was when she got the call that her daughter was dead... It basically takes a tragedy of unimaginable proportions to make my Mother cry.

UPDATE: "My name is Fred Johnson, and I'm running for Congress."

by: FredJohnsonForCongress

Mon Nov 19, 2007 at 14:23:41 PM EST

Also be sure to see the television coverage of the event: http://www.wzzm13.co...

This morning, Fred Johnson formally announced his intention to run as a Democrat for Michigan's 2nd Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

I've spent years in the classroom, making sure that my students understood that they had a responsibility to themselves, their society, and this nation to be more than spectators in this wonderful democracy.

...

I've told them that anyone can complain about problems, but that complaints don't solve problems, people do. And it's not until the people rise up and take action that changes can be made to set right that which has gone wrong; to correct that which has been broken; to bring harmony to that which is in turmoil. 

Over the last few months as I've talked with people who are working two and three jobs but barely able to make ends meet and dreading illness because they don't have health insurance.

As I've heard people share their deep concerns about the health of our rivers, lakes, land, and air, wondering why so few in power are taking action to prevent a looming disaster.

As I've felt the frustrations of so many who wonder when the time will finally come when we call home our young men and women who have been sent, over and over, into harm's way . . .

As I've pondered those concerns, my words to my students have come back to haunt me, challenge me, and demand that I live up to that which I've spoken.

Like so many of my friends, neighbors, associates and others in this region, I have come to believe that our country has, for some time, been going in the wrong direction. Thus, after a much soul searching of myself, and a lot of planning by others, I have a message for you today that is simple and straightforward: my name is Fred Johnson and I'm running for Congress.

Friday Coffee Talk/Open Thread

by: BZP

Fri Nov 16, 2007 at 07:29:23 AM EST

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

• Freep: House Democrats target employers who hire illegal immigrants. "House Democrats want to make it a felony for employers to knowingly hire illegal or undocumented immigrants in Michigan. A four-bill package would require employers to verify documents for new hires under federal rules, such as driver's licenses, passports or Social Security cards." You can read the release here.
• Michelle McManus: Dems shut out state voters. The Chair of the Senate Campaign and Election Oversight Committee boldly takes responsibility for the failure of the presidential primary bill... by blaming Schauer and the Senate Dems.
• Skubick: Term limits reform fades. Apparently Bob LaBrant at the Chamber has been taking lessons from Sen. McManus.
• Ken Sikkema & Jeff Williams: Plug in new policy for future power. This op-ed is a bit technical (i.e., over my head), but it's encouraging to see the former Republican Senate Leader admit (1) that building more coal plants would harm the environment, and (2) we need to support renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts.
• Michigan Messenger: Granholm: Wind power can bring jobs. Speaking of renewable energy, the governor is really pushing this: "I am pledged to focus on this area as the biggest potential for growth," she told the crowd in Traverse City. "If we don't capitalize on this, shame on us."
• AP: Midwest governors to sign energy pact to cut use, build resources. "The Midwest can be either a big winner or the big loser in the energy and climate debate," Granholm said in a statement. "To win, we need strong regional innovation and collaboration, backed by strong and perhaps unprecedented federal actions and investment, to advance accelerated deployment of lucrative energy and climate technologies."

• AA News Editorial: U-M alumni playing larger role in diversity. "There are alumni who really feel very passionately about wanting to contribute to scholarships that can help certain individuals, whether it's minority students or women to go into science and engineering, or men to go into nursing,'' Steve Grafton, the association president.
• K-Zoo Gazette: After a year of combating homelessness, some progress. A nice update on the Kalamazoo County Affordable Housing Partnership's efforts to end homelessness in the area.
• Mark Maynard: Bill Ford on the future of transportation and how no one is at the wheel. Mark has a great summary of Bill Ford's speech at UM on Tuesday night about sustainability.
• Freep: UAW's new role: Shareholder. "What we are witnessing is the transformation from a confrontational way of working to one of collaboration, which is absolutely necessary," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor.

• Stabenow: Michigan votes to sustain CHIP veto disappoint. Sen. Stabenow attempts to dispel some of the myths surrounding S-CHIP.
• BFM: It's presidential poll time in Michigan. Wizardkitten takes a look at the most recent EPIC/MRA poll. Hillary is crushing the other dems, while Rudy and Mitt duke it out on the republican side.
• BFM: An Embarrassment of Riches in MI-02. Let's see, we have two people willing to take on Pete "Turtle Power" Hoekstra in the 2nd, not to mention great candidates in the 7th and 9th districts. So, anyone care to take on Mike Rogers in the 8th? Anyone... Bueller?

• Great Lakes Blogger: Dioxin comes home to roost and other news. "Had the company come clean in the 70s and 80s, this problem would not be posing health risks to fisheaters and generating rotten PR for Dow today. But a consistent corporate strategy of delay and deny has simply postponed the day of reckoning."
• CNN: 4 nooses found in Central Michigan University classroom. "Michigan state Sen. Hansen Clark said he met with the university president to discuss how to handle the incident. He plans to make a statement Friday on whether the university will ask federal authorities to investigate the case."
• The Hub: Silver Bells in the City event lights up downtown, offers family activities and more. Here's your chance to bring the kiddies to Lansing to see the Capitol. The electric light parade kicks off at 6:10, followed by the tree lighting and fireworks (weather permitting).

Turtlegate Not Playing Well in Muskegon

by: PerfectStormer

Sun Nov 11, 2007 at 15:18:22 PM EST

(Note: The Chronicle does not print its letters to the editor online, so I'm probably committing about ten counts worth of copyright infringement...whoops.)

Read on...

Pete Hoekstra votes against Veterans

by: AikoAdam

Sat Nov 10, 2007 at 17:51:32 PM EST

Quite a busy quarter for the Lying Dutchman. First it was children and now among many others it is Veterans. Who doesn't Pete vote against? HR 3043 among many other things, provides for veterans:

$231 million for Veterans' Employment and Training programs to assist returning veterans to find and train for jobs
$23.6 million for the Homeless Veterans' Program.
$10 million for those veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries (TBI), for their rehabilitation, hospital care and long-term support.
$3.4 billion for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

But on Hoekstra's government website he says:

We cannot forget their sacrifices that make our freedoms possible. The commitment in Congress to meeting the needs of America's veterans is strong...I look forward to continuing to work to ensure that the men and women who have served, are serving or will serve in the U.S. military receive the compensation and assistance they deserve.

I wonder if he mentioned this when he was giving a speech in Holland,MI for Veteran's Day? For the men and women who give all for our country, this is how your Congressman repays your service.

hat tip to GSMSO for the info, visit her site HERE

Turtlegate: Hoekstra's Gubernatorial Smackdown, Part Deux

by: LiberalLucy

Fri Oct 26, 2007 at 09:15:00 AM EDT

Just when it seemed to be the least likely of four-legged creatures to cause a splash in the political arena, the turtle beats the hare for the win. I'm guessing that Republican Rubberstamper Congressman Pete Hoekstra of West Michigan is wishing he had never heard of the little guys.

After having a temper-tantrum in front of the press about a federally-funded fence going up in his district to protect turtles and motorists alike, Hoekstra didn't like the response his letter to Governor Granholm got. The entire event was merely posturing for Hoekstra's desired run for Granholm's seat in 2010, it seems to have backfired a bit on him. 

While most of the state viewed the tete-a-tete between the Lady Gov and Sneaky Pete from the luxury of their newspapers, Pete couldn't go down without swinging one more lousy punch. I'm also going to take a gander that he's going wake up feeling this one in the morning.

Hoekstra flips the bird to the environment for the sake of posturing

by: LiberalLucy

Thu Oct 25, 2007 at 13:03:43 PM EDT

Pete Hoekstra, Republican Congressman from West Michigan (CD-02) and friend to DeVos/Amway and Prince/Blackwater, hates the environment so much that he's now taking on one of nature's most defenseless creatures, turtles. He's speaking out against protecting turtles and the many motorists that run across and over them every year. This from the man whose own campaign website with statements like

...we need to be involved in protecting the Great Lakes at the local, state, federal, and international levels and we need to move forward as aggressively as we can to protect them.

P. Ho (Pete Hoekstra) vs. the turtles

by: David Boyle

Fri Oct 19, 2007 at 00:55:33 AM EDT

  A congressman disputes the state's contention that it's worth $318,000 in federal money to keep turtles from becoming roadkill.
  Installation is expected to begin this week on a 2-mile-long fence along both sides of U.S. 31 in Muskegon, in west-central Michigan. It is intended to prevent hundreds of turtles, some of them protected species, from being killed as they migrate to nesting sites along the Muskegon River, which the highway crosses.
  Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., questions why the Michigan Department of Transportation did not consider using the money on other projects "more related to the movement of people and products."
  "Serious times require a serious approach to the very real problems Michigan faces," Hoekstra said in a news release issued Wednesday.
  The 4-foot-high chain-link fence has been planned for two years. State officials consider it a relatively inexpensive solution to a problem that affects traffic safety and the environment of rare turtle species.
  The fence will cover a stretch of road that is Michigan's deadliest for turtles and one of the nation's worst for the reptiles, Tim Judge, manager of a Transportation Department service center in Muskegon, said Thursday.
  Two state-protected species - the wood turtle and Blanding's turtle - are common traffic victims, as are snapper, painted, box and map turtles.
  Department spokeswoman Dawn Garner didn't know whether any drivers swerving to avoid turtles have gotten into crashes, but said: "There is definitely the potential for improving the safety of motorists." ...

  So is P. Ho against the "Turtle Fence" because

1) it helps people (traffic safety), or

2) it helps turtles?

  Or both, maybe???

Friday Coffee Talk/Open Thread

by: BZP

Fri Oct 12, 2007 at 07:26:47 AM EDT

First off, we have another new ENDA BlogAd from the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force... yay!

Second, Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize... double yay! Now, onto the links.

• LSJ: Record 'em: Senate censorship on votes makes mockery of accountability. Mike Bishop, Mr. Censorship.
• Oakland Press: Michigan shouldn't need bathroom bill, but it does. This should make LibearalLucy happy: "The bill appears to be reasonable and considers both customer and business concerns. While in some respects we don't need another "bill" on the books, it probably wouldn't hurt to have this one."
• AP: State Reps Agree... 70 with No Helmet is Cool. Sorry, but this is dumb.
• DFP: Thousands may have to retake part of MEAP after newspaper leak. So is this. Here's the statement from the Jackson Cit-Pat about the incident.
• DFP: Voters may decide on lifting stem cell ban. "Paperwork creating the Stem Cell Research Ballot Question Committee was filed last week with the Secretary of State. But the director of an affiliated organization said Thursday no decision has been made about whether to mount what would almost certainly become a multimillion-dollar campaign to overturn the state?s ban on research involving the destruction of human embryos."
• Rep. Bart Stupack: We Need A Food Safety System Capable of Combating Dangerous Food Imports. "Now more than ever, our country?s federal food safety system needs to be strong enough to protect the public health, our national security, and our economy."

• AA Biz Review: U-M VP: Universities belong in economic development. "U-M played a prominent, public role in the attraction of Google Inc. and Aerrnova Aerospace S.A. to Ann Arbor, Forrest said. But universities need the support of the state to maintain efforts to stay involved in local economies."
• AA Biz Review: Process Innovators: NanoBio Corp. Here's a perfect example of a university project spinning off into a successful business: "NanoBio spun out of the University of Michigan in 2000. The technology initially was developed at the university, where it received funding from the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Programs Agency."
• Michigan Future: UM publishes important breast cancer discovery. "The University of Michigan this week announced that its researchers played a key role in identifying a gene linked to breast cancer. The gene was discovered based on the work of a multi-center international study." In related news, an Ann Arbor-based company just received a "multimillion-dollar grant from the National Cancer Institute to foster the development of a cancer profiling database as a tool for biopharmaceutical R&D."

Peter Hoekstra and George W. Bush hate children. (UPDATED!)

by: LisainManistee

Wed Oct 03, 2007 at 13:55:30 PM EDT

"Bush cast his veto behind closed doors without any fanfare or news coverage."

We only needed 15 Republicans to change their NAY votes to overrule bush's veto... My Congressman Pete Hoekstra was one of the Republicans in Congress that refused to change his vote. He refused to protect the 23,061 children living in MI-02 without healthcare! Let me repeat that:

PETER HOEKSTRA VOTED AGAINST 23,061 CHILDREN IN MICHIGAN'S 2nd U.S. CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT!!!

PETER HOEKSTRA HATES CHILDREN!!!

I will be standing on the corner of River Street and US 31 in Manistee, MI at 6:00pm tonight. I will be the one holding a sign questioning Hoekstra's heartless vote and bush's evil veto. Hopefully, I will not be standing there alone, but I will if I must. I am heartbroken by this veto and Hoekstra's vote.

I've spoken to people about Hoekstra's vote against SCHIP and heard:

So what? I've never even heard of SCHIP before.

And those people are right... Sort of.

It's true that we don't have SCHIP here in Michigan, but we do have MIChild, and MIChild gets funding from the Federal SCHIP program. No SCHIP funding means no MIChild funding.

Wednesday Coffee Talk/Open Thread

by: BZP

Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 07:35:52 AM EDT

Round and round the budget talks go. Where they stop, nobody knows!

• AP: Lawmakers continue to discuss budget solutions. Kathy Barks Hoffman has a rundown of yesterday's action on the budget. You can read more on the Free Press and over on WILX.
• BFM: The Senate Republicans come for the poor. Republicans will only go along with a tax increase if they can screw the poor. Anyone surprised?
• Michigan Messenger Opinion: Today's budget impasse began in 1983. Celeste takes us down memory lane.
• BFM: Matt Miner's words come back to haunt him. From yesterday's Free Press: "Backers of the Senate's so-called "continuation budget" said it was needed because negotiators have run out of time to complete the budget and enact legislation to implement an agreement before Oct. 1." As Z points out, just over a month ago Matt Miner said this was a terrible idea: "It's the Legislature's job to enact a budget and we take that very seriously. We would never not want to have a budget in place."
• BFM: Michigan League For Human Services alarmed by early out bill. Surprise-surprise... another one of Bishop's "reforms" gets terrible reviews.
• AP: Commission preparing to cut short state worker layoff notice. The Michigan Civil Service Commission is laying the groundwork for a shutdown.

• Ann Arbor News: Start of commuter rail to Detroit delayed. Bummer: "The long awaited start of the Ann Arbor-Detroit commuter rail service - most recently proposed for early 2008 - has been delayed again, this time to late 2009 or early 2010."
• BFM: Walker gets new manufacturing plant. Z gives us another nice profile on The Tech Group's new 114k square foot manufacturing facility in Walker. Can you say, "21st Century Jobs?"
• BFM: Granholm announces $10 million investment by Aernnova, 1,257 Michigan jobs. Gotta love the sound of this: "Grupo Aernnova, a company based in Spain that designs and produces aeronautical structures and components, has chosen Michigan over competing sites in 15 states to establish a new, state-of-the-art aerospace engineering center in Washtenaw County's Pittsfield Township."
• LSJ: Wind turbines whirl away, empowering local businesses. Local businesses are taking advantage of green energy. Hopefully more headlines like this will convince the Legislature to enact a Renewable Portfolio Standard for the state in the not-too-distant future.

Pete Hoekstra and Michigan republicans ready to stay in Iraq

by: AikoAdam

Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 11:14:21 AM EDT

Pete Hoekstra votes against higher education assistance

by: AikoAdam

Sun Sep 09, 2007 at 00:56:38 AM EDT

Increasing the Purchasing Power of Pell Grants: Authorizes and appropriates additional funding for the program for FY2008-FY2017 to increase the amount of the maximum Pell grant for which a student is eligible by $200 for each of the award years 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, $300 for award year 2010-2011, and $500 for each subsequent award year. Increases the authorized maximum Pell grant to $7,600 for academic year 2008-2009 and by $1,000 increments each academic year thereafter until it stands at $11,600 for academic year 2012-2013. Increases students' Pell grant eligibility by increasing the income protection allowance.

Making Student Loans More Affordable:Phases-in cuts in the interest rate charged undergraduate student borrowers under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and Direct Loan (DL) programs, thereby reducing such rate from 6.8% in July 2006 to 3.4% in July 2012.

Rewarding Service in Repayment:Provides student loan forgiveness to borrowers under the FFEL or DL programs who serve full-time in areas of national need as: (1) early childhood educators in low-income communities; (2) nurses; (3) critical foreign language specialists who teach in elementary or secondary schools or use such knowledge as federal employees; (4) librarians; (5) highly qualified teachers who teach bilingual education or who teach in schools that enroll a high proportion of disadvantaged students; (6) child welfare workers; (7) speech language pathologists in elementary or secondary schools; (8) National Service participants; (9) school counselors in elementary and secondary schools that enroll a high proportion of disadvantaged students; and (10) public sector employees. Provides up to $1,000 of student loan forgiveness for each year of service, but limits forgiveness to $5,000 in the aggregate.

And Hoekstra voted no.

As election season nears, Pete sings a new song

by: AikoAdam

Fri Aug 24, 2007 at 20:23:42 PM EDT

In 2004 and 2005 Hoekstra was fully behind the war and the policy set forth by Bush & Co. Pete changed his talking points to "islamofascists" and Islamic Jihaadists in the months following the surge debate so he could justify the war on his terms. Not on the merits of it's supposed reasoning (that he originally supported).

  "The U.S. effort to install a democracy in Iraq within three to five years was a flawed strategy with little chance of succeeding"

Pete leaks classified information in NY Post Op-Ed

by: AikoAdam

Thu Aug 09, 2007 at 20:02:22 PM EDT

Here's the Op-Ed wherein Hoekstra continues to spin why Americans should lay down and let their constitutional rights be trampled, and attacks anyone who disagrees with him, with some fear mongering, and just a dash of "radical jihadists" for flavor. In it Pete says:

The 2008 Intelligence Authorization bill cut human-intelligence programs but directed U.S. intelligence agencies to study global climate change.

Dr. Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy,(wiki), says on Raw Story:

"It looks like Rep. Hoekstra is playing games with classification rules by making his claim publicly,I suggest that he go investigate himself.If you live by secrecy, you die by secrecy," he said. "Rep. Hoekstra has been an ardent defender of the secrecy barriers surrounding the intelligence budget and a harsh critic of leaks. Ironically, he now finds himself unable to coherently defend what he claims is a mistaken budget choice.""

Hoekstra berates NYT for "disclosing highly classified intelligence"

by: AikoAdam

Tue Aug 07, 2007 at 23:05:15 PM EDT

More on FISA. Look's like NYT made Pete mad....again.
Here's their editorial that set him off.

Here is Congressman Hoekstra's rebuttal to the Executive Editor in which he says:

It has been my practice not to deal with the New York Times after its recklessness in repeatedly disclosing highly classified intelligence programs to enemies who seek to attack our nation and because of what I believe was a lack of honesty and integrity in its dealings with me as Chairman of the Committee at that time.

The campaign for the Web site was led by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan. Last November, he and his Senate counterpart, Pat Roberts of Kansas, wrote to Mr. Negroponte, asking him to post the Iraqi material. The sheer volume of the documents, they argued, had overwhelmed the intelligence community.

More below the fold...even a movie!

Broken Promises, Broken Oaths.... Pete is Forsworn.

by: LisainManistee

Tue Aug 07, 2007 at 15:38:42 PM EDT

As a member of the United States House of Representatives, Peter Hoekstra has sworn a solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

"I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

Hoekstra says telecomms' wiretapping involvement is "Patriotic"?

by: AikoAdam

Mon Aug 06, 2007 at 20:41:14 PM EDT

So... We were all bummed that the Dems caved and passed this legislation. We thought "Hey, at least it's only 6 months." Well, if Shrub and Hoekstra have their way it will only get worse. Here's what the preznit wants:

"When Congress returns in September the Intelligence committees and leaders in both parties will need to complete work on the comprehensive reforms requested by Director McConnell, including the important issue of providing meaningful liability protection to those who are alleged to have assisted our Nation following the attacks of September 11, 2001,"

Pete Hoekstra says: torture = not torture

by: AikoAdam

Thu Aug 02, 2007 at 18:11:35 PM EDT

More under the fold..

The pictures that we have all seen are too graphic to put here. These should work as a reminder to all, of what has been and is most likely still being done.

Pete says stay vigilent, votes no on Homeland Security Bill

by: AikoAdam

Mon Jul 30, 2007 at 12:52:13 PM EDT

"Our counterterrorism efforts have been effective in constraining al-Qaida's capabilities, but their intention and efforts to carry out spectacular attacks in America have not stopped. The NIE underscores why we cannot grow complacent or relax our vigilance against the radical jihadist threat." - Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich.

The bill passed the House 371-40  on July 27th. Hoekstra was the only Congressperson from Michigan voting against the bill. Pete likes to talk about "radical jihadists" every chance he gets. It's his fancy new catch phrase he started using after the surge debate. Too bad he's busy beating us over the head with it instead of voting to strengthen our state and country's security. So maybe Pete changed his mind about the threat of "radical jihad" in 10 days. But just 5 days before the vote he said:

"I work under the assumption that the United States and the West are at risk and with the knowledge and belief that al-Qaida and other radical jihadists want to attack the United States and want to attack Europe. The heightened threat level means to some there is an increase in activity that makes an attack more likely today than three or six months ago."

So which is it Pete? Do we need Homeland Security or not?