In This Week's Edition
- Fieger vs. Cox: The Fallout
- Election Day Aftermath
- What's Happening in Washington?
- Looking Ahead to 2006...and 2008
- Legislature Update
- Around the State
- Sound Bites of the Week
Michigan By the Numbers
- Impact of Delphi's bankruptcy on state's economy: $836 million per year.
- Detroit mayors who later won higher office: 5.
- Tuesday's rainfall at Metro Airport: 2.30 inches, a record for November 15.
- Reported cases of West Nile virus this year: 51.
- Full-time employees in the Michigan Film Office: 1.
- Face value of a ticket for today's Ohio State-Michigan game: $59.
- Non-native species known to live in the Great Lakes: 162.
Fieger vs. Cox: The Fallout
Sex, Lies, Audiotape. This week, the details of taped conversations between O'Brien and Cox aide Stuart Sandler came out. The Free Press compared the transcripts to a script from an episode of "The Sopranos."
Cox: I'm Running for Re-Election. Squelching rumors of his political demise, told GOP leaders last Saturday that he's running for re-election. Observers describe Cox's political future as cloudy, since the story of his feud with Fieger is lurid enough to keep making headlines. Recognizing his precarious situation, Cox hired a public-relations firm that specializes in crisis management.
Prosecutor Won't Charge Fieger. On Tuesday, Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca announced he wouldn't file charges against Fieger or his alleged associate, Lee O'Brien.
But Fieger isn't totally in the clear. Gorcyca accused him of conspiring with O'Brien to expose Cox's extramarital affair, and said that he intends to file an ethics complaint with the Attorney Grievance Commission against both. Fieger returned fire, issuing a statement characterizing the attorney general's accusations as "reckless and false". He again called on Cox to resign. Fieger said that he would file his own ethics complaint against Cox. It may take months for the Attorney Grievance Commission to take action on the grievances--assuming it finds evidence that either Cox or Fieger violated professional standards.
Charges of Cronyism. It was also reported that the wives of two Supreme Court justices are working in Cox's office. The attorney general recently hired Kathleen Markman, whose husband, Stephen, received $34,000 in campaign contributions last year from a PAC controlled by Cox. She joined Lucille Taylor, whom Cox hired last year. Her husband, Clifford, is Chief Justice.
Engler, Fieger, and Tort Reform. Former governor John Engler also got dragged into the dispute. Fieger blamed supporters of the former governor for pushing Cox into investigating him. Last year, Engler's former chief of staff, Dan Pero, filed a complaint against Citizens for Judicial Reform which Fieger bankrolled.
Thomas Bray of the Detroit News also saw an Engler connection of sorts, noting that Fieger's actions are motivated by anger over Engler's tort-reform initiatives, which have cost him dearly. By Fieger's reckoning, appellate courts have thrown out some $100 million in verdicts he's won at trial. That translates into $30 million in lost legal fees.
A "Lynching Ad" Connection? Here's a strange development, even for this bizarre case. There's a possible link between Fieger's campaign against Justice Markman and the anti-Hendrix "lynching" ad. According to the Secretary of State's office, Grosse Pointe Park businessman "Bill" Miller was treasurer for the PACs behind ads.
Last but Not Least: The Investigation Itself. Meanwhile, the investigation of whether Fieger's campaign contributions broke the law grinds on. An Ingham County judge gave Cox's office limited authority to search Fieger's accounting and tax records. He also took under advisement Fieger's motion to disqualify Cox from carrying out the investigation. Fieger's lawyer claimed that Cox was making a crime out of Firger's non-criminal failure to disclose his $457,000 contribution to Citizens for Judicial Reform. Cox's office maintains that Fieger tried to cover up his role in the anti-Markman campaign.
Fieger got some support from the local press. The Free Press agreed with his call for an independent authority to investigate the case. And the News criticized Gorcyca for trying Fieger's case in the court of public opinion.
Election Day Aftermath
What Next for "Kwame's Army"? Many observers believe that Mayor Kilpatrick won by appealing to Detroiters who normally don't vote: young voters and "the poor, the afflicted, the alienated." What they don't know is whether Kilpatrick can--or, for that matter, wants to--motivate his supporters to vote for other candidates. With the 2006 election season almost upon us, that's an answer state Democrats would love to know. As for Kilpatrick himself, George Weeks said that it's easier for Detroit mayors to get re-elected than to get elected to higher office.
Alonzo Bates Indicted. City Council member Alonzo Bates, who lost his bid for re-election, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Tuesday. He was charged with mail fraud, theft, and bank fraud in connection with putting phony employees on the city payroll, as well failure to file federal tax returns.
Winfrey's Ready to Do the Math. City Clerk-elect Janice Winfrey might have the perfect skill set for her new job. She's , puts a premium on precision, loves of numbers, and runs a tight ship in her elementary school math classrooms.
More From the Motor City. After being embarrassed on Election Night, pollsters admit that it's impossible to conduct accurate exit polls by telephone....Mayor Kilpatrick will be looking to the business community for advice and support....News columnist Nolan Finley warned that Kilpatrick's attacks on the suburbs could hurt the city....Auditors found vote discrepancies in 30 percent of the city's precincts....According to Jack Lessenberry of the Metro Times, Freman Hendrix's lost because he was a political dinosaur whose constituency has been leaving the city since Dennis Archer's tenure as mayor....A Free Press investigation found that several employees of the City Clerk's office have criminal records.
Elsewhere in the State. After losing two votes to 18-year-old write-in candidate Michael Sessions, Hillsdale mayor Doug Ingles has demanded a recount....Pontiac mayor Willie Payne will represent his city at an employee-benefits conference in Honolulu even though he was trounced on Election Day.
What's Happening in Washington?
State Politicians Go to Bat for Auto Industry. Governor Granholm met with Michigan's congressional delegation about the auto industry's financial problems. They agreed that the federal government should pass legislation aimed at counterfeiting and currency manipulation by China and Japan, and to oppose a phase-out of the 25-percent tariff on trucks made in Thailand.
Feds Renege on Great Lakes Cleanup. Even though President Bush called for action to clean up the Great Lakes, and a blue-ribbon commission recommended spending $20 billion to get the job done, the Environmental Protection Administration has said no to new programs until existing ones are reviewed.
In the Senate. Carl Levin sponsored an resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that significant progress must be made toward Iraqi sovereignty and a drawdown of U.S. troops next year. It failed, 58-40....Levin and Debbie Stabenow both voted against legislation that would severely limit Guantanamo detainees' access to the courts....The two were the only "no" votes on a pension-reform bill, arguing that the legislation could hurt companies that tried to do the right thing....Both senators voted "yes" on a resolution calling for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and an amendment that would have given Guantanamo detainees habeas corpus rights....Stabenow voted for, but Levin voted against, $60 billion worth of tax cuts.
In the House. Michigan's delegation voted strictly along party lines on $50 billion worth of budget cuts, most of them to federal benefits programs. The cuts passed by a 217-215 vote....Peter Hoekstra (R-Holland), who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, wants to declassify thousands of untranslated documents from Iraq.
Looking Ahead to 2006...and 2008
Keith Butler Files Petitions. Keith Butler became the first candidate to file petitions for next year's Senate election Butler submitted some 30,000 signatures, the maximum allowable number, from all of the state's 83 counties. His filing is believed to be the earliest ever before an election.
Zandstra Picks Up Endorsements . Jerry Zandstra won the endorsement of two state representatives: Leon Drolet (R-Clinton Township) and Jack Hoogendyk, (R-Kalamazoo) who formerly was a candidate for governor. Drolet, like Zandstra, supports a ban on affirmative action in state government and public colleges.
Ex-CIA Agent to Challenge Rogers. Jim Marcinkowski will challenge U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-Brighton). He is deputy city attorney for Royal Oak and a former CIA agent who was a classmate of Valerie Plame at the agency.
In Brief. The Cox-Fieger brawl might raise the profile of two obscure Democrats running for attorney general. They are former Kent County Circuit Judge Scott Bowen and Representative Alexander Lipsey of Kalamazoo....Senator Burton Leland (D-Detroit) asked to be appointed to the Wayne County Board of Commissioners after a vacancy occurred when Commissioner Kwame Kenyatta was elected to Detroit City Council.
Legislature Update
Standoff Over Economic Stimulus Plan. Lawmakers got to go deer hunting after all.Although legislators had penciled in a session for Tuesday, they later canceled it. Republican leaders figure that there's no urgency to pass an economic stimulus package because it faces an almost-certain veto. Besides, the governor has been out of state on business.
New Bills in the Hopper. Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation that would make it harder for the Department of Natural Resources to declare state land off-limits for logging.
In Brief. The governor vetoed a bill that would give tax breaks to warehousing operations, calling it "unfocused" and "fiscally undisciplined."...Peter Luke, columnist for the Booth Newspapers, questioned the GOP strategy of turning the bipartisan tax-cut agreement into veto bait....Under a bill signed by Governor Granholm, it will be a felony to file a false child-abduction charge.
Around the State
Who is Karl Kado? This week, the News ran an investigative report on West Bloomfield developer Karl Kado. Part One reported that federal authorities are investigating possible corruption involving Cobo Hall and are focusing on some $15 million worth of exclusive Cobo contracts held by Kado. Part Two reported that Kado and his wife have contributed to numerous Detroit and Wayne County politicians, including Mayor Kilpatrick, seven of the eight current members of Detroit's City Council, county executive Robert Ficano, former county executive Edward H. McNamara, County Commission chair Jewel Ware, and sheriff Warren Evans.
Education Chief Pushes for Tougher Curriculum. High school curricula could get much tougher in the future. School superintendent Michael Flanagan is expected to urge the legislature to impose minimum course requirements, including four credits of math and English, three credits of science and social studies, and a credit each of health education and art or music.
In Brief. Top officials from eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces reached an agreement on preventing the diversion of Great Lakes water....Democratic National Committee chairHoward Dean addressed 500 guests at in Plymouth and said that the state's Republican congressional delegation "vulnerable" in 2006....Tired of their neighborhood being a dumping ground for development projects, a group of Clinton Township residents have formed their own PAC....Now that voters have rejected a millage hike, Royal Oak is looking for ways to close a $6.4 million deficit.
Sound Bites of the Week
"What could be more pro-life than helping the living?"--U.S. Representative John Schwarz (R-Battle Creek), explaining his support for embryonic stem-cell research.
"Clearly, there has to be a better way to investigate issues like this than having partisan elected officials investigating partisan combatants."--George Week, commenting on Cox's investigation of Fieger.