Cross-posted to MichiganLiberal.com.
In This Week's Edition
- What's Happening in Washington?
- Looking Ahead to 2006...and 2008
- Legislature Update
- Around the State
- Motor City Political News
- Opinion Roundup
- Sound Bites of the Week
Michigan By the Numbers
- Percent of residents who log onto the Internet every day: 48.
- Amount of daylight on Detroit's shortest day of the year: 9 hours, 5 minutes.
- Words in the message in this year's Granholm family Christmas card: 12.
- Increase in state's population since 2000: 182,380.
- Maximum weekly state unemployment benefit: $362.
- Defendants charged for taking part in last year's brawl at the Palace: 9.
- Unpaid child support collected by Attorney General Cox since he took office: $20.3 million.
What's Happening in Washington?
Conyers Uses the "I"-Word. In the wake of President Bush's admission that he authorized warrantless surveillance of suspected terrorists, Representative John Conyers (D-Detroit) called on his colleagues to begin an inquiry that could lead to impeachment. Separately, Conyers asked Congress to censure Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for misleading it regarding the reason for going to war against Iraq.
Votes on Key Issues. In the Senate, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow voted to continue a filibuster of the Patriot Act reauthorization bill. The filibuster prevented the House version of the reauthorization from passing. Congress extended the existing Act until February 3. Levin and Stabenow also voted to continue a filibuster of a defense appropriations bill that would authorize drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refuge. The drilling provision was dropped. . Both senators voted "no" on the budget reconciliation bill, which passed anyway when Vice President Cheney cast the tie-breaking vote.
In Brief. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Livonia) and three of his House colleagues have formed a rock band called The Second Amendments.
Looking Ahead to 2006...and 2008
Court Orders Affirmative Action Measure on Ballot. The Court of Appeals has re-entered the long-running battle over the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, which would ban affirmative action in state colleges and government hiring. On Tuesday, it ordered the State Board of Canvassers to put the measure on the 2006 ballot. Supporters of the proposal gathered the required number of signatures, thus meeting legal requirements, but opponents alleged that they were obtained through fraud.
Right to Life Gears Up for 2006. With 600,000 households on its mailing list, it's one of the most powerful activist groups in the state. And Right to Life of Michigan is taking aim at Governor Granholm and Senator Stabenow. Also on their list of priorities: electing enough pro-life state legislators to override vetoes if Granholm is re-elected. Currently, 23 of 38 state senators and 69 of 110 state representatives were elected with Right to Life endorsements.
Santorum and the Thomas More Law Center. After a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled against teaching "intelligent design" in Dover's public schools, Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) announced that he is distancing himself from the Thomas More Law Center, the Ann Arbor-based organization that brought the suit. In his opinion, the judge mentioned the Law Center, writing, "this case came to us as the result of the activism of an ill-informed faction on a school board, aided by a national public interest law firm eager to find a constitutional test case on ID, who in combination drove the Board to adopt an imprudent and ultimately unconstitutional policy." (emphasis mine)
The intelligent-design debate may soon be coming to Michigan. The Thomas More Law Center is gearing up for a lawsuit against the Gull Lake School District in the western part of the state, where two teachers are challenging the district's refusal to allow them to teach intelligent design in their classrooms.
In Brief. The Michigan Democratic Party criticized gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos for having no plan to fix the state's economy.....The Michigan Chamber of Commerce may support an effort to loosen term-limit restrictions....Supporters of an increase in the state's minimum wage have formed a committee to get the proposal on the ballot.
Legislature Update
On Tuesday, Governor Granholm signed legislation giving businesses $600 million in tax cuts. The legislation will provide a 15 percent tax credit on equipment and personal property, extend tax breaks for Delphi and Visteon Corporations, and award a 100-percent personal property tax credit to businesses that bring jobs into Michigan.
In Brief. Representative Jerry Kooiman (R-Grand Rapids) introduced legislation that would give the Grand Rapids area, but nowhere else in Michigan, the authority to levy taxes for public transit. The Free Press called the bill unfair to southeast Michigan and urged the governor to veto it.
Around the State
Governor's Outlook For Next Year. Governor Jennifer Granholm told the Associated Press that the economy will remain the top issue next year, and warned that substantial job growth probably is at least a year away. The governor also expressed her desire to simplify Michigan's business taxes, and said that she was concerned about the impact of the recently-passed federal budget reconciliation bill on the state's revenue.
A.G. Names Special Prosecutor in Fieger Case. Attorney General Mike Cox has named a special prosecutor in Geoffrey Fieger investigation involving his alleged violation of campaign finance laws last year. He's Patrick Shannon, an ex-prosecutor and former tribal court judge. Shannon is a Democrat from Sault Ste. Marie.
According to George Weeks of the News, Cox acted "deftly" in naming Shannon, and had kind words for the special prosecutor. The Free Press praised the appointment, but did criticize Cox for talking only with prosecutors about appointing a special prosecutor.
Meanwhile, in the ongoing investigation, a circuit judge ruled that Geoffrey Fieger's income tax records had been illegally seized by state attorneys and ordered them returned. The judge, James Giddings of Ingham County, was sharply critical of the lower court for allowing the seizure in the first place.
Cox Meets the Press. The attorney general also had a busy week trying to repair him image with the state's news media. Speaking to Associated Press reporters, Cox said that two other members of his staff have family ties to sitting judges, and that both were hired by former attorney general Frank Kelley. He added that having these individuals in his office is not a conflict of interest because they don't appear in court before their relatives.
Earlier in the week, Cox told the Macomb Daily that his admission to having had an affair won't hurt his chances for re-election because voters have moved past the titillating part of the Fieger story and are beginning to focus on his record as attorney general.
Off Topic, But...The Free Press invited its readers to come up with a new state slogan to replace our current, "If You Seek a Pleasant Peninsula, Look about You." Some of the Free Press readers's contributions were quite amusing.
In Brief. Governor Granholm's State of the State address is scheduled for January 25....Appeals Court judge Hilda Gage, a John Engler appointee, said that she will step down for health reasons....The governor said that she will follow the Parole Board's recommendation and not grant Dr. Jack Kevorkian early release from prison....A veteran environmental lawyer criticized a ban on Great Lakes water diversion that exempts bottled water, warning that the exemption could be expanded in the future.
Motor City Political News
Recount Inches Ahead. The hand recount of Detroit's election is nearing the halfway mark and, according to state elections director Chris Thomas, Freman Hendrix and other challengers have almost no chance of succeeding. But mayoral challenger Freman Hendrix says there were problems with the election, and vows to fight to the end.
Kilpatrick Gets Down to Business. Chastened by this fall's tough campaign, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick vowed to get down to business in his second term, starting with a simple inaugural ceremony. The mayor also promised an end to the parties that earned him negative coverage in the local media.
Speaking of Kilpatrick's lifestyle, The city had to pay $20,000 in punitive damages as the result of stonewalling the Free Press's Freedom of Information Act request for records pertaining to the Mayor's spending.
Late Money Didn't Help Hendrix. The latest batch of disclosures shows that Freman Hendrix outspent Mayor Kilpatrick in the final weeks of the campaign by a margin of $851,438 to $641,248. But the mayor's superior ground game overcame Hendrix's late fund-raising advantage. He won by 14,500 votes out of nearly quarter of a million cast.
In Brief. Mayor Kilpatrick has assembled a team of 40 business, civic, and religious leaders to help come up with a plan to turn Detroit around....The city has spent $100,000 on legal fees to Jackie Currie against a lawsuit accusing her of mismanagement and fraud.
Opinion Roundup
Brian Dickerson of the Free Press believes that canvassers who voted against the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative did their cause more harm than good....The News expressed its support for Governor Granholm's ethics proposal, which includes tighter disclosure and conflict-of-interest standards....The News argued that increasing the maximum unemployment compensation would drive up the cost of doing business....The Free Press called on state lawmakers to repeal what it termed the "archaic" law making cohabitation a crime....With a growing number of proposals headed for next year's ballot, the News questioned whether government by referendum is sound policy....Kary Moss, the head of the ACLU of Michigan, discussed a pivotal 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision on wiretapping and said why it matters today....The Traverse City Record-Eagle blasted President Bush's contention that he has the power to wiretap Americans....In the Lansing State Journal, Tim Skubick wrote that people were too harsh on the pro-affirmative action students who protested at the State Board of Canvassers meeting...A State Journal editorial praised the Pennsylvania judge's decision in the intelligent design case.
Sound Bites of the Week
You've got Fieger in one corner and Cox in another, and Cox gets to appoint the referee."--Richard Steinberg, Geoffrey Fieger's lawyer, on Cox's appointment of a special prosecutor.
"What, you have to wonder, would a compromise on torture look like? You can torture on Mondays but not on Tuesdays?"--Jack Lessenberry, writing in this week's Metro Times.
"What this really looks like is an ad hominem attack on scientists who happen to believe in God."--Richard Thompson, head of the Thomas More Law Center, reacting to the judge's decision in the Dover, Pennsylvania, intelligent-design case.