 |
HavenWorks.com/michigan Michigan News |
|
 |
Michigan News, Michigan State News, Michigan capital: Lansing, MI News |
|
|
 US
States
- Canada
Michigan capital: Lansing, Michigan US
Capitals
State Postal Code: MI: Michigan State Abbreviation Mich. State
Abbr.
Michigan state is bordered by the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Michigan is also bordered by the country of Canada and the Canadian province of Ontario. Michigan consists of two peninsulas that are surrounded by the Great Lakes of Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior and touches part of Lake Erie. MI News ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
 Michigan
MICHIGAN News:
 Barack
Obama -  Michael
Steele -  Pete
Hoekstra -  Don
Young -  Lindsey
Graham -  Ken
Calvert - Emergency
-  Economics
-  Politics
-  Families
-  Jobs
-  Housing
-  Construction
-  Education
-  Government
- US_Debt
-  Missouri
-  MN
-  SC
-  FL
-  CA
- MI
-  NJ
-  AK
"Kit Bond Touts Effects Of Stimulus Bill He Voted Against." ... "[Missouri Republican Senator Kit Bond voted against the stimulus bill asserting:} “Unfortunately, this bill stimulates the debt, it stimulates the growth of government, but it doesn’t stimulate jobs,” Bond insisted." ... "However, today Bond is touring Missouri to tout the very stimulus plan he railed against. In a press release, Bond boasted about an amendment he included in the bill to provide more funding for affordable housing — and that will create jobs:" "Last week, Bond led a bipartisan group of Senators in introducing an amendment to help provide needy families affordable housing. Bond’s amendment provides $2 billion to fund low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) projects that have been stalled by the financial credit crisis. As part of the Democrats’ spending bill now signed into law, the Senate unanimously accepted Bond’s provision. […]""“This is the type of emergency stimulus spending we should be supporting — programs that will create jobs now and help families,” Bond said." ... "Bond’s “I was against it before I was for it” maneuver at least has local media fooled. Just 24 hours after noting his opposition to the stimulus bill, local news this morning reported that Bond would be touring the state “pushing his plan to create 3,000 jobs in the state and build more than 700 affordable housing units.” Watch the local CBS channel try to keep up with Bond’s flip-flops:" "Bond is not alone in trying to reap the political benefits both from voting against the bill and from bringing much needed funding to his district:" "– [Minnesota Republican Governor] Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), who complained that the “federal government is spending money they don’t have,” told Rachel Maddow he would nevertheless accept funds for Minnesota: “Our view is, if you buy the pizza, it’s OK if you have a slice.”""No wonder RNC [Republican National Committee] Chairman Michael Steele declared recently, “You have absolutely no reason — none — to trust our word or our actions at this point.”" "Update [Missouri Republican Representative] Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) boasted about the educational benefits of the recovery act, while [California Republican Representative] Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) said his office "will do what we can to direct as much money as we can." Neither voted for the bill." "Update [Michgan Republican Representative] Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) joins in, praising the stimulus' "generous" incentives for home buyers on his Twitter feed:" "petehoekstra If you know of someone thinking of buying first home, now may be the time.Stimulus incentive is very generous!Up to 8k!Check it out.""UpdateBlueJersey notes adds [New Jersey Republican Representative] Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) to the growing list. After insisting last Friday that the recovery bill "would have exploded our national debt without providing meaningful job growth," Lance toured construction sites in his district yesterday, touting funds that would come from the stimulus bill. "This is a classic example of a "shovel-ready' project," Lance said after the tour." -By Ali Frick -ThinkProgress.org 
Barack
Obama - Michael
Steele - Election
-  Technology
- Politics
- Michigan
"Republicans Prep the Portals of Online Organizing." ... "One of the key’s to [Democratic President] Obama’s victory, Republican strategist David All said, was the Web-based social network My BarackObama .com, which allowed supporters “to self-organize, track tasks, recruit friends and volunteers, train, connect, raise money, and turn out the vote on Election Day.”" ... "Added Michigan Republican Party Chairman, Saul Anuzis, “Obama did not create anything new, he took advantage of the latest technologies and integrated them into his campaign.”" ... "Anuzis, who is serving on [Republican Party Chairman Michael] Steele’s transition RNC [Republican National Committee] team and is a leading technology evangelist in the party, lamented that Republicans have failed to adopt these same techniques because it goes against their nature." ... "“We move slowly, we are methodical, we’re careful,” he said. “The idea of an open source, open to the public, open to the press technology summit . . . is unfathomable to many.”" (1, 2) -By Emily Cadei -CQPolitics.com 
 John
A Boehner
- Peter
Hoekstra - Secret
-  Trip
-  Lawmaker
-  Electronic
-  Communications
-  Military
-  Ohio
- Mich
- US
-  Iraq
"Congressman Twitters an Iraq Security Breach." ... "A congressional trip to Iraq this weekend was supposed to be a secret." ... "But the cat’s out of the bag now, thanks to a member of the House Intelligence Committee who broke an embargo via Twitter." ... "A delegation led by [Ohio Republican Representative and] House Minority Leader John A. Boehner , R[Republican]-Ohio, arrived in Iraq earlier today, and because of [Michigan Republican Representative] Rep. Peter Hoekstra , R-Mich. [Republican-Michigan], the entire world — or at least Twitter.com readers—now know they’re there." ... "“Just landed in Baghdad [Iraq's capital],” messaged Hoekstra, a former chairman of the Intelligence panel and now the ranking member, who is routinely entrusted to keep some of the nation’s most closely guarded secrets." ... "Before the delegation left Washington, they were advised to keep the trip to themselves for security reasons." ... "Not only did Hoekstra reveal the existence of the lawmakers’ trip, but included details about their itinerary in updates posted every few hours on his Twitter page, until he suddenly stopped, for some reason, on Friday morning. " -By John M. Donnelly -CQPolitics.com 
 Seniors
-  Health
-  Power
- Company
-  Weather
- Michigan
"Man freezes to death after city limits electricity." ... "A 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home [in Bay City, Michigan] just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills, officials said." ... "Marvin E. Schur died "a slow, painful death," said Kanu Virani, [Michigan's] Oakland County's deputy chief medical examiner, who performed the autopsy." -AP via -MSNBC 
 Auto
-  Manufacturing
- Business
-  History
- Michigan
- US
-  Japan
-  Global
"GM loses global sales crown after 77 years." ... "[United States] General Motors Corp reported an 11 percent drop in global sales in 2008, allowing rival [Japan] Toyota Motor Corp to surpass it as the world's largest automaker for the first time." ... "GM [General Motors], now struggling to restructure under a $13.4 billion U.S. [United States] government bailout, had held the title as the global auto industry leader for 77 years and used the line in marketing." ... "But for 2008, Detroit[ Michigan]-based GM said sales tumbled to 8.35 million vehicles, pressured by tightening credit and a slowdown that began in the United States and spread to emerging markets where GM has been stronger." ... "GM, which faces an end-March deadline to demonstrate to U.S. officials that it can be made viable, has a market capitalization of just under $2 billion." ... "Toyota has a market value of about $117 billion." (1, 2) -By Kevin Krolicki with contributions by Poornima Gupta, Soyoung Kim, Maureen Bavdek and Matthew Lewis -Reuters 
Auto
- Makers
- Michigan
"Chrysler to shut assembly lines for at least a month: Rival Ford takes similar steps, extending shutdown times at most plants." ... "Automakers typically close their factories for a couple of weeks over the two weeks during holidays and often, as in Ford's case, target specific plants for even longer idle periods to keep a lid on inventory during times of slack demand. Yet Chrysler's move to idle its entire operation for at least a month reflects just how dire the situation is in Detroit [Michigan]." ... ""This is definitely out of the ordinary," Edmunds.com analyst Jesse Toprak said. "I've never seen this kind of shutdown for this long, and if you read the language Chrysler used in the release, they're leaving the door open for another extension."" -By Shawn Langlois -MarketWatch 
 Jim
DeMint -  Bob
Corker -  Richard
Shelby -  Mitch
McConnell - Foreign
- Money
- Politics
- Construction
- Auto
- Makers
- Government
- Emergency
- Legislation
- Labor
- Michigan
- California
- South
Carolina -  Alabama
-  Tennessee
-  Kentucky
-  German
- Japanese
-  South
Korean
"Foreign Auto Makers Won Billions in Government Subsidies: Southern States Gave [Foreign] Auto Companies Tax-breaks and Cash for Training." ... "To hear Southern Republicans tell the story, the financial burdens facing Detroit’s automakers are self-made troubles to be settled by the laws of Adam-Smith capitalism." ... "“We don’t think it is the role of government to intervene,” [South Carolina Republican Senator] Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C. [Republican-South Carolina]) told the Fox Business Network last week. “We need to let the market and the laws work the way they are already in place.”" ... "Yet this argument — that the government has no business interfering in free markets — ignores an increasingly frequent tradition among Southern states, which have fronted billions in local taxpayer dollars in the past two decades to attract foreign auto plants. Those incentives, arriving in the form of tax breaks, training for new employees and even land, have enticed [German automaker Bayerische Motoren Werke] BMW to South Carolina, [German automaker] Mercedes to Alabama and [Japanese automaker] Nissan to Tennessee. The result of the government subsidies has been the steady emergence of the South as an auto-manufacturing powerhouse. Some are dubbing it the “New Detroit” – a region where real estate is cheap and the labor’s not unionized." ... "Not coincidentally, these Southern states are represented by the same coalition of GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] senators who led the fight against the recent Detroit [Michigan] bailout proposal. That legislation would have provided $14 billion in emergency bridge loans to General Motors and Chrysler, both of which say they lack the finances to survive the month. Rallying behind the animated opposition of GOP [Republican Senators] Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.[Tennessee]), Richard Shelby (Ala.[Alabama]), Mitch McConnell (Ky.[Kentucky) and South Carolina’s DeMint, Senate Republicans killed the legislation." ... "On Friday, the day following the Senate vote, Shelby told CNBC that if the Big Three had only managed their business operations as well as the foreign companies, known as transplants, they wouldn’t be scrambling now for a taxpayer-funded bailout." ... "“You look at the South,” Shelby said. “You take — not just Mercedes in my hometown — but BMW, Honda and all of them. These companies are flourishing with American workers made in America.”" ... "But the flourishing of the transplants didn’t come without significant taxpayer help. Shelby’s Alabama, for example, secured construction of a [German automaker] Mercedes-Benz plant in 1993 by offering $253 million in state and local tax breaks, worker training and land improvement. For [Japanese automaker] Honda, the state’s sweetener surrounding a 1999 deal to build a mini-van plant was $158 million in similar perks, adding $90 million in enticements when the company expanded the plant three years later. A 2001 deal with [Japanese automaker] Toyota left the company with $29 million in taxpayer gifts." ... "Alabama is hardly alone. Corker’s Tennessee recently lured [German automaker] Volkswagen to build a manufacturing plant in Chattanooga [Tennessee], offering the German automaker tax breaks, training and land preparation that could total $577 million. In 2005, the state inspired Nissan to relocate its headquarters from southern California by offering $197 million in incentives, including $20 million in utility savings." ... "In 1992, South Carolina snagged a BMW plant for $150 million in giveaways. In Mississippi in 2003, Nissan was lured with $363 million. In Georgia, a still-under-construction [South Korean automaker] Kia plant received breaks estimated to be $415 million. The list goes on." -By Mike Lillis -WashingtonIndependent.com
Mitch
McConnell - Bob
Corker - Richard
Shelby - Foreign
- Money
- Government
- Politics
- Auto
- Makers
- Working
-  People
- Kentucky
- Tennessee
- Alabama
- Michigan
- US
"Do Southern Senators Really Want to Start a New War Between the States?" ... "When my Southern pals used to say "The South is gonna rise again," I doubt this is what they had in mind: A cadre of Southern [Republican] Senators, heavily financed by foreign automakers and special interests, declaring war on the American Dream of good wages and decent benefits. When did they decide that hard-working people trying to make a better life for themselves are the enemy?" ... "These Senators may want to think twice. Southern states have been benefiting from Northern taxes for years. If they start another War Between the States, the Federal gravy train might suddenly stop at the Mason-Dixon line." ... "Studies by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation have consistently shown that these Senators' states receive far more from the Federal government than they pay back in taxes. That's an irony that could lead to some Blue State bitterness: They love to preach about fiscal responsibility and lower taxes, but they keep dipping their beak into the Federal trough." ... "I believe the applicable Southern phrase is "a handful of gimme and a mouthful of much obliged."" ... "The numbers in [PDF] the Foundation's most recent study (warning: pdf) speak for themselves: [Kentucky Republican Senator] Mitch McConnell's Kentucky took in $1.45 from the Feds for every dollar it paid in taxes. That's a 45 cent free ride. [Tennessee Republican Senator] Bob Corker's Tennessee received at 30-cent Federal giveaway. And [Alabama Republican Senator] Richard Shelby's Alabama extracted a whopping 71-cent subsidy from Northern taxpayers." ... "What about Michigan? They lost 31 cents for every dollar they paid. In other words, McConnell, Shelby, and Corker have been skimming a percentage off these autoworkers' taxes for years on behalf of their constituents. Now, when the same Michigan taxpayers need help, these Senators are telling them to get lost." -By RJ Eskow -HuffingtonPost.com 
Business
- Politics
- Election
- Auto
- Manufacturing
-Law
- California
- Mich
- Ohio
"Auto bailout's death seen as a Republican blow at unions: For some Senate Republicans, a vote against the [American auto manufacturing] bailout was a vote against the United Auto Workers, and against organized labor in general." ... ""Handing a defeat to labor and its Democratic allies in Congress was also seen as a preemptive strike in what is expected to be a major battle for the new Congress in January: the unions' bid for a so-called card check law that would make it easier for them to organize workers, potentially reversing decades of declining power. The measure is strongly opposed by business groups." ... ""This is the Democrats' first opportunity to pay off organized labor after the election," read an e-mail circulated Wednesday among Senate Republicans. "This is a precursor to card check and other items. Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor, instead of taking their first blow from it." ... "One major car dealer said conservatives let political ideology get in the way of protecting the country's interests." ... ""Being a Republican myself, I feel very betrayed by the Republican Party right now," said Beau Boeckmann, vice president of Galpin Motors Inc. in North Hills [California]. Galpin has the nation's largest Ford dealership as well as lots where it sells eight other foreign and domestic brands." ... "[Michigan Democratic Representative] Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.[ Democratic-Michigan]), a labor ally, said Friday that Republican senators who opposed the bailout might have "wanted to crush a longtime political rival, the United Auto Workers," without concern for the economic consequences." ... "[Ohio Democratic Senator] Sen. Sherrod Brown (D[Democratic]-Ohio) characterized the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] opposition as "class-warfare assault by the Republicans."" ... ""They never ask about banker salaries. . . . They never asked they give money back," he said." (1, 2) -By Jim Puzzanghera with contributions by Ken Bensinger -LAtimes
Bob
Corker - Richard
Shelby - Jim
DeMint - Mitch
McConnell - Foreign
- Money
- Politicians
- Auto
- Makers
- Michigan
- US
- Workers
- Emergency
- Law
- Tennessee
- Alabama
- Kentucky
- South
Carolina -  Georgia
- Japanese
- German
- South
Korean
"Meet the GOP's [Republican's] wrecking crew: Why did a small group of Southern Republicans turn the auto bailout into a demolition derby? Introducing the senators who hate unions and love foreign cars." ... "On July 15, [Tennessee Republican Senator] Bob Corker was a happy man." ... ""I cannot think of a more exciting day, even more so than Election Night, for me," the Republican senator from Tennessee said in a conference call that day. The reason for his elation was the announcement that [German automaker] Volkswagen, lured by up to $500 million worth of incentives from the state government, had agreed to build a $1 billion plant near Chattanooga, Tenn. [Tennessee.] That is, not just in his home state, but in the suburbs of the city he once served as mayor." ... "Add VW [Volkwagen] to [Japan automaker] Nissan, which already has two plants and its North American headquarters in Tennessee, and you begin to see why Corker was so aggressive this month about trying to block -- or at least dramatically rewrite -- a proposal to float billions of dollars in emergency loans to domestic automakers. Most of the focus during this debate has been on lawmakers who represent Michigan, the home of the Big Three -- Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. But Corker represents the other side of the coin: Tennessee and other Southern states have recently come to depend on foreign automakers and their non-union factories. If you're from those parts, what's good for American car companies may no longer be what's good for the country -- because your economy now depends on their foreign competitors instead." ... "Expect to hear more not just from the very vocal Bob Corker, but from the rest of a core group of Southern senators whose bread is buttered by the Japanese, Germans and Koreans. Here's a guide to the major players."
"As mayor of Chattanooga, he [Corker] reportedly conceived the idea for the site that will soon become home to the [German automaker] Volkswagen plant, and was instrumental in its development. He organized efforts to lure [Japanese automaker] Toyota to the area, and when that failed, he had VW execs [executives] and other top state politicians over to his house for dinner." ... "Georgia's two Republican senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isaakson, both voted against the plan as well. Their state has a big [South Korean automaker] Kia factory coming in soon." (1, 2) -By Alex Koppelman and Mike Madden with contributions by Vincent Rossmeier and Gabriel Winant -Salon 
Bob
Corker - Richard
Shelby - Foreign
- Money
- Auto
- Makers
- Michigan
- Workers
- US
- Japan
- Germany
- Alabama
- Tennessee
"Anger Grips Auto Workers: Critic of a Rescue, [Tennessee Republican Senator] Sen. Corker Faces Backlash at Home." ... "As the workers and residents of this small town [Spring Hill, Tennessee] that launched the Saturn automobile see it, there are several villains in the collapse of the automakers' rescue plan." ... "But what stuns many in this place defined by the General Motors auto plant and its 4,200 workers is that no person played a larger role in the demise of autoworker hopes than their own Sen. Bob Corker (R[Republican]), who is now regarded by some here with the kind of disdain reserved for traitors." ... "Corker emerged as one of the leading critics of the rescue plan passed by the House. He lashed into the carmaker chief executives when they came to Washington looking for help. And it was Corker's alternative proposal, which was a plan that would have been tougher on union workers, that ultimately failed." ... "In a dozen interviews with workers here, many suspected that he only feigned interest in rescuing Detroit's Big Three. Instead, they say, he wants to crush GM [General Motors] and its union to benefit foreign automakers, such [Japan's] Nissan and [Germany's] Volkswagen, who have opened or are opening nonunionized plants in the state." ... ""We're deeply disappointed in Senator Corker -- that's the official statement," said Mike Herron, union chief at the GM plant here. "But actually my members want to choke him."" ... "The anger of the workers and the harshness of their words reflect the larger tension between the old [Michigan] Detroit-based domestic auto industry, with its unionized workforce, and the new [foreign] transplant industry in the nonunion South. Emotions were stoked by the fact that GM, citing the economic downturn, had just announced that it will halt production at the plant for January and the first week of February." ... "Corker "has somehow ignored the fact that there's a major GM plant in his own state," said Ben McFarlane, who retired from the plant this summer and opened a local bar where many workers go. "And if this plant goes, then my business goes, this whole town goes, and the effects cascade across the country."" ... "At a news conference and in interviews yesterday, Corker, a millionaire real estate developer, took pains to depict himself as sympathetic to workers and responsive to his state's interests." ... "But Herron, like many here, pressed the idea that the foreign automakers had been involved in stalling the plan." ... ""It's in their best interest to see us not succeed," Herron said. "Who were the two biggest critics of the rescue? [Republican] Senator Shelby from Alabama and Corker -- and both preside over states that have given hundreds of millions to have foreign automakers to open shop here."" (1, 2) -By Peter Whoriskey with contributions by Julie Tate and Lucy Shackelford -WashingtonPost
Auto
- Makers
- Legislation
- Workers
- Emergency
- Government
- Politics
- Economy
- History
-  Cheney
- Michigan
"Senate Republicans kill auto bailout bill." ... "Republican opposition killed a $14-billion auto industry bailout plan in the Senate on Thursday night, putting the future of [United States] U.S. automakers in doubt and threatening to deliver another blow to the economy." ... "The measure died after a last-ditch effort by Senate Democratic leaders to strike a compromise that would have lured enough support to save the legislation, which was crafted in consultation with the [Republican President Bush] White House." ... "The bill's failure raises the possibility of bankruptcy by one or more of [Michigan state's] Detroit's Big Three and puts new pressure on [Republican] President Bush to authorize emergency loans for the automakers from the $700-billion Wall Street rescue fund, a step he has adamantly refused to take." ... "The collapse of General Motors, Chrysler or Ford -- along with many of their suppliers and dealers -- could throw hundreds of thousands more workers onto the growing unemployment rolls and further cloud the closing days of the [Republican President] Bush administration." ... ""If we don't do this, we will be known as the party of [Republican President] Herbert Hoover forever," [Republican Vice President] Cheney told them, according to a Senate Republican aide, evoking the president whose inaction is widely blamed for helping trigger the Great Depression in the early 1930s." (1, 2) -By Jim Puzzanghera with contributions by Ken Bensinger -LAtimes
Auto
- Industry
- Legislation
-  Sports
- History
- Michigan
- Ky
"Ky. Sen. Bunning, ex-Tiger, snubbed for autos vote: Ky. Sen. [Kentucky Republican Senator Jim] Bunning, ex-Tigers [baseball] pitching great, gets booted from Detroit[ Michigan]-area fair for autos vote." ... "Bunning was kicked off the schedule after he helped derail an auto-industry loan package in the Senate Thursday night." ... "Bunning is a Hall of Famer who pitched in Detroit from 1955 to 1963." -AP via -CNN
Bob
Corker -  David
Vitter - Richard
Shelby - Foreign
- Money
- Auto
- Makers
-Michigan
- Working
- People
- US
- Military
- Japan
-Tenn
-  La
- Germany
- Korea
- Ala
"Anger grows in Michigan over Southern opposition to auto loans." ... "Mark Dobias, a small-town lawyer from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, hasn't always been the domestic auto industry's biggest fan. But when it became clear that a few senators from places like Alabama and Louisiana were determined to do anything to block any aid to General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford, it got to him." ... ""This is regional economic warfare. Pure and simple. The wounded Rustbelt being bayoneted in the throat by economic interests in the East and Sunbelt with aid from their political toadies," he wrote me. He's normally a laid-back guy with a puckish sense of humor, but the hypocrisy was, he said, a bit much." ... ""Michigan is a great state. It has good people - hard-working people who make things. The nation has gained from its natural resources and industrial capacity. And now … we will remember this in the same way that Georgia remembers William Tecumseh Sherman," the union general whose armies laid the Southern state waste." ... "What was highly unusual, in Michigan's quarrelling political culture, was the unanimity with which the state's various factions united in support of trying to help the automakers - and disdain for the senators who would prevent that effort." ... "The thoroughly Republican Detroit News normally denounces any government aid program. But not this time. In a highly rare front-page editorial, it pleaded "we urge the Senate, please give Detroit a chance to make things right … we appeal to Senate Republicans to act not in support of the domestic auto makers, but in the interest of the national economy and national security - we still need an arsenal of democracy."" ... "True, the News did publish a piece by freshman [Tennessee Republican Senator] Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn. [Republican-Tennessee]) that called on Congress to impose much harsher conditions on the companies and their workers as a precondition for any aid. He also called for more involvement by Congress in actually running these companies. But the newspaper shot back, that "like most of Washington, Corker is ill-informed of the forces roiling the domestic auto industry."" ... "There was bitterness, too, in Detroit [Michigan] at the men blocking the bailout. Some cattily noted that when [Louisiana Republican Senator] Sen. David Vitter (R., La. [Republican-Louisiana]) vowed a filibuster, it was the first time he had gotten national press attention since being linked to a Washington prostitution scandal." ... "Sens. [Alabama Republican Senator] Richard Shelby (R., Ala. [Republican-Alabama]) and Corker both represent states where foreign, nonunion automakers have significant operations. Mr. Corker, a freshman who won a narrow victory in 2006, is insisting that the United Auto Workers accept wage cuts so that workers make no more than nonunion workers in the South, such as the [Japan's] Nissan employees in his state." ... "Alabama, a right-to-work state, has granted vast concessions to win [auot manufacturing] plants operated by [Japan's] Toyota, [Germany's] Mercedes-Benz, [Japan's] Honda, and [South Korea's] Hyundai." -By Jack Lessenberry -ToledoBlade.com |
Mich News |
Michigan News Sources: (Inclusion is NOT necessarily a recommendation.) Allegan, MI Alpena, MI Ann Arbor, MI Bad Axe, MI Battle Creek, MI Bellaire, MI Benton Harbor, MI Brooklyn, MI Cadillac, MI Charlevoix, MI Cheboygan, MI Coldwater, MI Dearborn, MI Detroit, MI Michigan News |
Search Michigan News: News Search <Michigan> in: <Michigan News>in: <Michigan State News> in: <Michigan State> in: <MI News> in:
|
Torture
- Prisons
-War
Crimes - Secret
- Military
- Government
- 
Intelligence
- Law
- 
Investigation
- Human
Rights - Politics
- History
- 
McCain
- 
Ariz
- Mich
- US
- Guantanamo
- 
Cuba
- Iraq
- 
Afghanistan
- 
China
- 
Korea
Auto
- Makers
- Emergency
- Money
- Politics
- Workers
- 
Environmental
- Laws
- Fuel
- Technology
- 
Emissions
- Government
- Michigan
- California
Auto
- Industry
- Government
- Legislation
- Manufacturing
- Jobs
- Michigan
Jeff
Sessions - Bob
Corker - 
George
Voinovich - Corporate
- Government
- Law
- Auto- Workers
- 
Thanksgiving
- Manufacturer
- Michigan
- Tenn
- Ala
- Ohio
- 
2010
Election - US
-Japan
- South
Korea
Electric
- Cars
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Technology
- 
Transportation
- Infrastructure
- Jobs
- Consumer
- Military
- Historic
- San
Francisco - Sacramento
- California
- Michigan
- 
Oregon
- 
Washington
- US
- Global
-
Planet
- Climate
- Emissions
"• an economic meltdown of historic proportions""Yesterday, joined by San Jose [California] Mayor Chuck Reed and Oakland [California] Mayor Ron Dellums I [San Francisco, California's mayor Gavin Newsom] announced a nine-step policy plan for transforming the Bay Area into the "Electric Vehicle (EV) Capital of the U.S. [United States]" In support of this initiative Better Place, a global electric transportation company announced that it would enter the U.S. market with California as its first state, beginning in the Bay Area." ... "Commercial availability of electric cars is targeted to begin in 2012, and Better Place estimates its network investment in the Bay Area will total $1 billion when the system is fully deployed. I welcomed Better Place's announcement and anticipate many other EV companies will focus on the Bay Area as a top-priority market." ... "Electric vehicles represent an overarching, game-changing solution that allows us to transform, and recharge the American transportation sector for the 21st century. By accelerating the conversion of the car industry from its oil dependent past, to a new electric century, we can jump start the car industry, eliminate our dependence on oil, reduce our required presence in the middle east, create millions of jobs, and eliminate a significant portion of our CO2 emissions." ... "This plan ties together a triangle of influence that can get our nation back on track: Detroit [Michigan] car makers who know how to scale production, working in concert with San Francisco's culture of innovation, aided by Sacramento [California's capital] and Washington DC [America's capital] policy-making. The goal is to create a sustainable strategic advantage for the US instead of a series of bailouts." ... "As California prepares to launch this electric recharge infrastructure project, it can also serve as a blueprint for a more widely integrated solution." ... "California can generate upwards of $2.5B in new investment in jobs and the economy for the infrastructure effort, with billions more in cars and battery sales to consumers. The nation as a whole can trigger tens of billions in infrastructure, manufacturing and innovation investment. At the same time, this conversion reduces the cost to the consumer and nation per mile we drive. California, followed by the western US states of Oregon and Washington are ready to drive this effort." -By Gavin Newsom -HuffingtonPost.com
"• a car industry crashing, because of a lack of innovation and growth"
"• oil dependence transferring our wealth abroad"
"• an extended military presence in the Middle East"
"• and climate change, which threatens the health of our planet"
Jeff
Sessions - Auto
- Makers
- Workers
- Health
Care -Pension
- Politics
- Federal
- Economy
- 2010
Election - Michigan
- Ohio
- US
- Foreign
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Japan
- South
Korea
Political
- Corporate
- 
Television
- 
Media
- Michigan
- 
Massachusetts
- 
New
York - Arizona
- Georgia
- Louisiana
- Alabama
"Here is something progressives really need to address. On Sunday morning political shows, three Democrats are confirmed as guests: [Michigan Democratic Senator] Carl Levin, [Massachusetts Democratic Representative] Barney Frank, and [New York Democratic Representative] Charlie Rangel. It's as if Democrats didn't just win huge electoral advances in the Presidential, House, and Senate elections. So we get the same thing we've had the past 8 years--republican hegemony on Sunday. [Arizona Republican Senator Jon] Kyl? Check. [former Georgia Republican Representative Newt] Gingrich? Check. [Republican Michael] Steele? Check. [Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby] Jindal and [Alabama Republican Senator Richard] Shelby? Check and check? Just look at The Page for the whole list. When is the "liberal media" going to give some of the oxygen to Democrats?""This is unquestionably true. The bookers and producers of the Sunday shows are committed to the continuing dominance of conservative/Republican marquee guests. No question about it. And this is going to be one part of the rewiring of Washington that will take longer and face more resistance than possibly any other. The big interests and institutions that go to Washington to buy influence are quickly reacting to the changing political complexion of the city. The TV bookers and opinion act like nothing's happened." -By Josh Marshall .TalkingPointsMemo
Don
E Siegelman - 
Karl
Rove - 
Michael
Mukasey - 
Leura
G Canary - 
Bob
Riley - Criminal
- US
Attorney - Politics
- Federal
- Law
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Michigan
Auto
- Makers
- Federal
- Politics
- Unemployment
- Michigan
- Ohio
- 
Indiana
Barack
Obama - 2008
Election - Race
- 
Terrorism
- Politics
- New
Jersey - New
York - Michigan
- 
Pennsylvania
- Calif
- 
North
Carolina - 
Maine
Halloween
-Politics
- John
McCain - Barack
Obama - 2008
Election - Michigan
- Kids
WATCH:
"Michigan McCain-Palin supporter says no treats for Obama kids on Halloween."
John
McCain - 
Nathan
Sproul - Money
- Politics
- Investigation
- Law
- California
- 
Nevada
- Oregon
- Minnesota
- Pennsylvania
- 
West
Virginia - 
Vermont
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- 
Libraries
- 2004
Election - 2008
Election
"Canvassers were told to act as if they were nonpartisan, to hide that they were working for the RNC, especially if approached by the media... In letters the firm sent to the libraries, Sproul misrepresented itself as America Votes -- a left-leaning national voter registration group not affiliated with Sproul -- but said that it was interested in registering "all those who wish to register to vote." Shortly after Sproul canvassers began working the libraries, though, patrons began complaining that the canvassers were being especially inquisitive about their political leanings, and some were pushing people to register as Republicans.""Sens. [Vermont Democratic Senator] Patrick Leahy and [Massachusetts Democratic Senator] Ted Kennedy sent a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2004 asking that the Justice Department "launch an immediate investigation into the activities of Mr. Sproul and his firm." Three years later, members of Congress still weren't satisfied. Rep. [Michigan Democratic Representative John] Conyers complained in an Oct. 2007 letter that the Justice Department was not closely scrutinizing Sproul's efforts. "The alleged misconduct described by many witnesses," he wrote, "clearly suppress[es] votes and violate[s] the law."" -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com
Barack
Obama - 2008
Election - Federal
- Law
- Politics
- Investigation
- 
Colorado
- Indiana
- Ohio
- Michigan
- Nevada
- North
Carolina - 
New
Hampshire
Wisconsin
John
McCain - Cindy
McCain - Barack
Obama - Auto
- Workers
- Homes
- Michigan
- 2008
Election
Michigan
- Economic
- History
- Auto- Manufacturing
Michigan
- Economy
Homes
- Nevada
- Florida
- Phoenix
- Arizona
- Los
Angeles - San
Diego - San
Francisco - California
- Florida
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- 
Illinois
- Ohio
- Georgia
- New
York - Seattle
- Washington
- Massachusetts
- Portland
- Oregon
- Colorado
- 
Texas
- North
Carolina
Hillary
Clinton -
Accounting
- Politics
- Florida
- Michigan
- 
Iowa
- 
Puerto
Rico - Nevada
- Washington
- Maine
- Barack
Obama - 2008
Election - "Hillary:
Peddling pop vote canards to the end." ... "The facts,
which must be repeated:" ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate]
Hillary [Clinton] does not lead in the popular vote by any measure other
than her own idiosyncratic belief that Florida should count even though
it didn't and hundreds of thousands of Floridians didn't vote because they
were told it wouldn't; that Puerto Rico should count even though Puerto
Ricans can't vote in the general election ("lead us to victory in November"???);
that Michigan should also count even though it didn't and thousands of
Michiganders didn't vote because they were told it wouldn't and she was
the only person on the ballot; that Obama should get zero votes -- Zero!!!
-- from Michigan ["Uncommited" received 238,168 votes, Clinton received
328,309 votes]; and that Obama also should get no votes from four states
that he won [Iowa, Nevada, Washington, and Maine], because they held caucuses
and didn't count the popular vote." -By John Riley
-Newsday.com
John
Edwards - Barack
Obama - 2008
Election - North
Carolina - Illinois
- Michigan
- Clinton
- "Edwards
Endorses Obama." ... "John Edwards, the former senator
from North Carolina who bowed out of the [2008 Election] presidential race
in January, endorsed
[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois] Senator
Barack Obama at a rally here tonight." ... "“The reason I am here tonight
is because the Democratic voters in America have made their choice, and
so have I,” Mr.
Edwards said. " ... [WATCH:
John Edwards: "There is one man who knows and understands that this is
the time for bold leadership. There is one man that knows how to create
the change, the lasting change, that you have to build from the ground
up. There is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to create one
America, not two, and that man is Barack Obama."]
WATCH
full video: "John Edwards Endorses Barack Obama."
Corporate
- Environmental
- Health
- Politics
- Investigation
- Manufacturing- 
Water
- Michigan
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Minnesota
- Ohio
- Wisconsin
- "U.S.
Senators Probe Departure of EPA Midwest Administrator."
... "The circumstances surrounding the resignation of Mary Gade, formerly
the U.S. [United States] EPA's [Environmental Protection Agency's]
regional administrator for the Midwest, are under investigation by an environmental
committee of the U.S. Senate." ... "On May 2, the "Chicago Tribune" reported
that two top aides to Johnson demanded that Gade resign or be fired by
June 1, 2008. She has since submitted her resignation and is currently
on administrative leave." ... "According to the Tribune's story, Gade believed
her forced resignation was due to her efforts to push Dow Chemical Company
to clean up dioxin contamination in Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron stemming
from its Midland, Michigan chemical manufacturing plant. Dioxin is a known
carcinogen." ... "The paper also reported that officials from Dow Chemical
had met with EPA officials in Washington in January 2008 because they were
unhappy with Gade's approach, and that Gade's handling of this issue became
the subject of criticism from her superiors in Washington." ... "On January
4, 2008, Gade terminated negotiations with Dow Chemical aimed at a settlement
to conduct a study and interim cleanup actions for dioxin contamination
along the Tittabawassee River system, the Saginaw River and the Saginaw
Bay. The negotiations under the Superfund Act began in October 2007 with
the participation of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality."
... ""I am extremely disappointed with this outcome," said Gade on January
4. "EPA approached negotiations with high hopes and realistic expectations.
Our team put in many long hours of good faith efforts that came to an unfortunate
end today. EPA is now reviewing its options for ensuring that dioxin contamination
in the river system and the Midland area can be fully addressed."" ...
"An environmental attorney, Gade was appointed regional administrator of
EPA Region 5 in October 2006 to oversee federal environmental programs
in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin."
-ENS
Stephen
Johnson - Corporate
- Government
- Politics
- Fetal
- Human
- Health
- Science
- Environmental- 
Safety
- Enforcement
- Emergency
- 
Wildlife
- Soil
- Water
- Law
- Manufacturing
- History
- Michigan
- Illinois
- "EPA's
top Midwest regulator forced out: Mary Gade, based
in Chicago [Illinois], says [Republican President] Bush administration
made her quit over Dow Chemical case." ... "The Bush administration forced
its top environmental regulator in the Midwest to quit Thursday after months
of internal bickering about dioxin contamination downstream from Dow Chemical's
world headquarters in Michigan." ... "In an interview with the [Chicago]
Tribune, Mary Gade said two top officials at the U.S. [United States] Environmental
Protection Agency headquarters in Washington stripped her of her powers
as regional administrator and told her to quit or be fired by June 1."
... "Gade said she had told the agency she would resign her position, based
in Chicago [Illinois]." ... "For the past year, Gade has been locked in
a heated dispute with Dow about long-delayed plans to clean up dioxin-saturated
soil and sediment that extends 50 miles beyond its Midland, Mich. [Michigan],
plant into Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron." ... "Gade, a former corporate attorney
appointed by Bush in September 2006, invoked emergency powers last year
to force Dow to clean up four hot spots of dioxin, including the largest
amount of the cancer-causing chemical ever recorded in the United States."
... "In January, Dow urged officials at the EPA's [Environmental Protection
Agency's] headquarters to intervene after Gade broke off negotiations intended
to renew the terms for a more comprehensive cleanup. Neither side would
reveal details, citing confidentiality agreements, but Gade said Dow resisted
taking steps needed to protect human health and wildlife." ... "Though
regional EPA administrators typically have wide latitude to enforce environmental
laws, Gade drew fire from officials in Washington last month after she
sent contractors to test soil in a Saginaw [Michigan] neighborhood where
Dow had found high dioxin levels." ... "She said top lieutenants to Stephen
Johnson, the national EPA administrator, repeatedly questioned her aggressive
action against Dow, which long ago acknowledged it is responsible for the
dioxin contamination but has resisted federal and state involvement in
cleanup plans." ... "Dow dumped dioxin-contaminated waste into the waterways
for most of the last century. The chemical, which is so toxic that it is
measured in trillionths of a gram, was a manufacturing byproduct of the
Vietnam-era herbicide Agent Orange and other chlorinated herbicides." ...
"Company documents show Dow knew by the mid-1960s that it could make people
sick or even kill them." ... "Citing years of independent studies, the
EPA says dioxin can cause cancer, disrupt the immune system and alter fetal
development." ... ""We have a responsibility to make sure people are living
in a healthy and safe environment," Gade said. "This problem has been out
there for more than 30 years, and it's unconscionable that action hasn't
been taken."" (1, 2)
-By Michael Hawthorne
-ChicagoTribune
Don
Young - 
Connie
Mack - Money
- Politics
- Law
- Alaska
- Michigan
- Florida
- Road
- Real
Estate - "Young
blasts Mack over Coconut Rd.." ... "[Alaska Republican
Representative] Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) on Wednesday defended changes
his staffers made to the notorious Coconut Road [in Florida] earmark, the
third time in a year he took to the House floor in an attempt to justify
one of his suspect pet projects." ... "Young also accused his GOP [GOP=Grand
Old Party=Republican] colleague, [Florida Republican Representative] Rep.
Connie Mack (Fla.[Florida]), of first supporting the earmark in 2005, and
then distancing himself from it once watchdogs and the media began raising
concerns." ... "Ethics watchdogs have raised red flags over the Lee County,
Fla., road project, the language of which was changed after that measure
passed the House and the Senate but before it reached the president’s desk.
Such a change may have violated House rules, which prohibit substantive
alterations to bills during the enrollment process, the formal procedure
in which a measure is recorded before it moves on to be signed by the president."
... "The earmark has been tainted by controversy. Lobbyist Rick Alcalde
represented both FGSU [Florida Gulf State University] as well as the company
owned by Daniel Aronoff, a real estate developer who owned 4,000 acres
along Coconut Road and helped organize a fundraiser for Young during one
of his visits to the area in 2005. Both entities requested the Coconut
Road earmark." ... "Young flew to FGSU for a town hall meeting in 2005
on a chartered plane owned by a Michigan company; the owner told the Naples
Daily News that the Aronoffs were among his biggest clients." ... "After
the town hall, Young went directly to a fundraiser at the Hyatt Coconut
Point, which Aronoff helped organize." ... "Young said Mack invited him
to the town hall meeting." ... "Young also posted documents and photos
on his website in an effort to demonstrate that Mack was deeply involved
in the earmark. In one letter in March 2006 to FGSU’s president, Mack supported
it." -By Susan Crabtree
-TheHill.com
Consumer
- Opinion
- History
- Fuel
- Employment
- Houses
- Cars
- Michigan
- "U.S.
Economy: Sentiment Weakens More Than Anticipated (Update3)."
... "U.S. [United States] consumer confidence
fell more than forecast in April to a 26-year low as record fuel prices
and rising unemployment threatened to reduce spending." ... "The Reuters/University
of Michigan sentiment index decreased to 62.6, from 69.5 the previous month.
The measure was down from a preliminary estimate of 63.2 issued on April
11." ... "Consumers are growing increasingly anxious because the economy
has lost almost a quarter million jobs so far this year, gasoline is up
17 percent and property
values have fallen. Sales of houses and cars have declined as a result,
contributing to a slowdown that may bring an end to the six-year expansion."
... "The index of consumer expectations
for six months from now, which more closely projects the direction of consumer
spending, dropped to 53.3 from 60.1 last month." ... "The economy lost
80,000 jobs in March, the most in five years, following a 76,000 drop in
payrolls in each of the prior two months, according to figures from the
Labor Department." ... "The average price of regular unleaded gasoline
rose to a record $3.58 a gallon yesterday, according to data from AAA [American
Automobile Association]." ... "Cars and light trucks sold at an average
15.2 million annual pace in the first three months of the year, the fewest
since the third quarter of 1998." -By Bob Willis
-Bloomberg
US
- Iraq
- Oil
- Accounting
- Politics
- Reconstruction
- Military
- Michigan
- "Blitzer:
Iraqis playing U.S. taxpayers for 'suckers'?" ...
"Just before and immediately after the U.S. [United States] launched its
invasion of Iraq, [Republican President] Bush administration officials
optimistically predicted that Iraqi oil exports would soon finance the
reconstruction of the country. That didn’t happen. U.S. taxpayers were
stuck with the literally tens of billions of dollars in bills." ... "Now,
five years later and with the price of oil reaching more than $100 a barrel,
Iraqi oil exports are generating huge sums — $56.4 billion this year alone,
according to the Government Accountability Office. [Michigan Democratic]
Senator Carl Levin, the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, says
Iraq now has tens of billions of dollars in surplus funds in their banks
and in other accounts around the world, including about $30 billion in
U.S. banks right now." ... "But Levin notes that the Iraqis by and large
are still not using their money to build new roads, bridges, schools and
hospitals. Why should they? Uncle Sam is still doing that for them." ...
"“The result is that far from financing its own reconstruction, as the
administration promised five years ago, the Iraqi government has left the
U.S. to make most of the capital expenditures needed to provide essential
services and improve the quality of life of the Iraqi citizens,” Levin
said in his opening remarks before the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus
and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. “As of last Thursday,” Levin added, “the United
States is paying the salaries of almost 100,000 Iraqis who are working
on reconstruction.”" -By Wolf Blitzer
-CNN
US
- Iraq
- Politics
- Lawmakers
- Michigan
- "Petraeus
Says Iraq Too `Fragile' for Removing Troops (Update3)."
... "Army General David Petraeus told lawmakers today that progress in
Iraq is too ``fragile and reversible'' to allow U.S. troop levels to fall
below about 140,000 earlier than September." ... "Petraeus, testifying
before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, recommended a
45-day evaluation after the final brigade from last year's ``surge'' of
troop reinforcements into Iraq is withdrawn in July. Only after that period
can officials begin to consider further withdrawals, he said." ... "[Michigan
Democratic Senator] Democrat Carl Levin, the Armed Services Committee's
chairman, immediately criticized Petraeus's proposal, calling it a ``a
plan which has no end.'' Levin, a senator from Michigan, said Iraqis had
failed to use the drop in violence attributed to the surge to push toward
political unity and away from dependence on American forces and on U.S.
reconstruction funding." ... "The U.S. [United States] currently has more
than 150,000 troops in Iraq. As of today, 4,017 U.S. personnel have died
in Iraq since the conflict began in March 2003, and 29,676 Americans have
been wounded, according to the Defense Department." -By
Nicholas Johnston and Ken Fireman -Bloomberg
Home-Prices
- History
- Seattle
- Washington
- Portland
- Ore- Nevada
- Florida
- Phoenix
- Arizona
- San
Diego - California
- Michigan
- NC
- "U.S.
home prices fall 10.7% in January, Seattle's drop 1.3%."
... "U.S. [United States] home prices fell 10.7 percent in January from
the same month last year, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller
home-price index of 20 cities, which saw the steepest decline in the two-decade
history of the index." ... "Seattle[Washington]-area home prices were among
the decliners, although the annual drop was a slight 1.3 percent. Only
Portland, Ore. [Oregon], posted a smaller annual decline, 0.5 percent."
... "Worst hit were Las Vegas [Nevada] and Miami [Florida], both reporting
19.3 percent drops, as the regions are still paying the price for rampant
speculation and overbuilding during the boom years. Those cities and 14
others — including Phoenix [Arizona], San Diego [California] and Detroit
[Michigan] — posted record lows." ... "Only Charlotte, N.C. [North Carolina],
squeaked by as a gainer in the Case-Shiller index, with a 1.8 percent increase
in January compared with a year earlier." -By Vinnee
Tong with contributions by Dan Caterinicchia
-AP via -SeattleTimes
2008
Election - Florida
- Michigan
- Colorado
- "Choice
of Democratic nominee may rest with panel: Convention's
Credentials Commitee could have to decide on Fla., Mich. delegates." ...
"There are 186 people in this country who ultimately could select the Democratic
presidential nominee." ... "Most of them do not know they'll soon wield
such power. They will be picked by their state parties or by the party's
national chairman to be on the Credentials Committee to the Democratic
National Convention. It's normally a political reward, but this year the
job could seem more like punishment." ... "If the dispute over what to
do about Florida and Michigan — whose Democratic primary results have not
been recognized by the party — is not settled by the time Democrats gather
in August in Denver [Colorado], the Credentials Committee will probably
make the call on what to do about delegates from the rogue states, which
defied the party by moving up their primary dates." ... "The committee
could decide whether those delegates are seated at the convention, and
to which candidate they are pledged." ... "The ultimate winner of the nomination
could ride on the outcome." ... "The 186 Democrats that will form the committee
will be chosen during the next several months. DNC Chairman Howard Dean
appoints 25 of them, which he has already done." ... "The others are elected
by the state parties, based on population." -By Aaron
Gould Sheinin -AJC
Joshua
B Bolten
- 
Harriet
E Miers
- 
Michael
B Mukasey
- US
Attorneys - Politics
- Investigation
- Lawsuit
- Federal
- Texas
- Mich
- Calif
- "House
Panel Sues to Force Bush Aides to Table: Bolten and
Miers Ignored Subpoenas In Prosecutor Probe." ... "The House Judiciary
Committee filed a lawsuit yesterday to enforce subpoenas against [Republican]
President Bush's chief of staff and his former counsel in a probe of suspected
White House involvement in the 2006 firings of nine federal prosecutors."
... "The panel filed the federal court suit against Joshua B. Bolten, White
House chief of staff since April 2006, and Harriet E. Miers, a close associate
of Bush's from Texas who resigned as White House counsel in January 2007
after a little more than two years on the job." ... "The lawsuit charges
that Bolten and Miers, who were cited by the House for contempt of Congress
last month, defied committee subpoenas by refusing to testify or provide
documents demanded by the panel." ... "But Attorney General Michael B.
Mukasey said White House aides involved in the case cannot be prosecuted
because they were following legal advice from the Justice Department. He
refused to refer the contempt citation to a grand jury." ... "The refusal
of Bolten and Miers to comply with the subpoenas "did not constitute a
crime," Mukasey said in a Feb. 29 letter to [California Democratic Representative
and] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)." ... "[Michigan Democratic
Representative] Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), the Judiciary Committee
chairman, described Mukasey's refusal as "contrary to federal law" and
said the panel filed the civil lawsuit to enforce the subpoenas." ... "According
to the lawsuit, the committee launched its investigation in part to "examine
allegations of malfeasance, abuse of authority and violations of existing
laws by Executive Branch personnel."" ... "It says the year-long investigation
"has uncovered substantial evidence" that the Bush administration and Justice
Department "injected partisan considerations into the forced resignations
or retention of U.S. attorneys."" ... "It cites "credible evidence" that
U.S. attorneys who "failed to return desired indictments or failed to bring
voter fraud prosecutions that were considered politically useful to the
administration were forced to resign," as were those who "prosecuted officeholders
allied with the administration."" -By William Branigin
-WashingtonPost
Water
- 
Drugs
- Human
- Health
- Environmental
- Science
- Investigation
- Industry
- Consumer
- Safety
- Federal
- Law
- Earth
- Wildlife
- California
- New
Jersey - Michigan
- Ky
- "Sex
Hormones, Mood Stabilizers Found In Drinking Water Of 41 M Americans."
... "A vast array of pharmaceuticals _ including antibiotics, anti-convulsants,
mood stabilizers and sex hormones _ have been found in the drinking water
supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated
Press investigation shows." ... "To be sure, the concentrations of
these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion
or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist
their water is safe." ... "But the presence of so many prescription drugs
_ and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen _ in
so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of
long-term consequences to human health." ... "In the course of a five-month
inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking
water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas _ from Southern California
to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit [Michigan] to Louisville, Ky. [Kentucky.]"
... "How do the drugs get into the water?" ... "People take pills. Their
bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through
and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is
discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is
cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers.
But most treatments do not remove all drug residue." ... "And while researchers
do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure
to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies
_ which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public _ have found
alarming effects on human cells and wildlife." ... "The federal government
doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water."
... "The AP's investigation also indicates that watersheds, the natural
sources of most of the nation's water supply, also are contaminated." ...
"Even users of bottled water and home filtration systems don't necessarily
avoid exposure. Bottlers, some of which simply repackage tap water, do
not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals, according to the industry's
main trade group. The same goes for the makers of home filtration systems."
... "Pharmaceuticals also permeate aquifers deep underground, source of
40 percent of the nation's water supply." -By Jeff
Donn, Martha Mendoza, and Justin Pritchard
-AssociatedPress via -HuffingtonPost.com
Drug
- Safety
- US
- China
- Manufacturers
- Corporate
- Government
- Database
- Politics
- Michigan
- "FDA
Says It Approved The Wrong Drug Plant: Heparin Probe
Sends Inspectors to China." ... "The Chinese facility that supplies the
active ingredient of the widely used blood thinner heparin was never inspected
by the [Republican President Bush's] Food and Drug Administration because
the agency confused its name with another just like it, agency officials
said yesterday." ... "More than 350 adverse reactions to the drug have
been reported to the FDA since the end of 2007, including a dangerous lowering
of blood pressure, breathing difficulties and vomiting. Four patients who
took the drug died. One of its two manufacturers, Baxter International,
stopped selling its multiple-dose vials of heparin earlier this month,
and yesterday the FDA advised doctors to prescribe alternatives." ... "Millions
of people each year are given the drug during dialysis or to prevent complications
from surgery, but the FDA has never checked the Chinese plant where the
active ingredient is made." ... "[Michigan Democratic Representative John]
Dingell noted that the agency seems uncertain even of the number of foreign
drugmakers, with one database saying there are 7,000 while another counts
3,000." -By Marc Kaufman
-WashingtonPost
Corporate
- Government
- Drug
- Manufacturing
- Safety
- Politics
- Investigation
- Wisconsin
- Michigan
- US- China
- "F.D.A.
Broke Its Rules by Not Inspecting Chinese Plant With Problem Drug."
... "The Food and Drug Administration [overseen by Republican President
Bush] violated its own policies when it approved for sale a crucial blood-thinning
drug without first inspecting a Chinese plant which, along with a plant
in Wisconsin, made the drug’s active pharmaceutical ingredient." ... "“It
was obviously a glitch” that the drug, heparin, produced and sold by Baxter
International, was approved for sale without a plant inspection, said Karen
Riley, an F.D.A. spokeswoman." ... "[Michigan Democratic] Representative
Bart Stupak, Democrat of Michigan and chairman of a House investigative
subcommittee, said that no matter what happened with the heparin inquiry,
the F.D.A.’s inability to provide basic information about the Chinese manufacturing
plant weeks after concerns were first raised was deeply troubling." ...
"“They can’t tell us if they’ve inspected this plant, what other problems
might have been identified at this plant, or what other U.S. firms might
be getting supplies from this plant,” he said." ... "Over the past year,
a wave of tainted goods from China, including deadly pet food ingredients
and tainted fish, has prompted concern about whether [F.D.A.] regulators
are adequately monitoring imports’ safety." -By
Gardiner
Harris and Walt
Bogdanich with
contributions by Andrew W. Lehren -NYTimes
Josh
Bolten
- Harriet
Miers
- US
Attorneys - Politics
- Investigation
- California
- Michigan
- "House
finds Bolten, Miers in contempt of Congress." ...
"The House voted Thursday to hold [Republican President Bush's] White House
Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers
in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before a panel investigating
the firing of several United States attorneys." ... "The matter will now
be referred to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia." ... "If
the fight comes to a head without a compromise having been reached, it
could pit Congress’s power to hold White officials in contempt against
the president’s right to assert executive privilege." ... "[California
Democratic Representative and Speaker of the House Nancy] Pelosi, who stated
that she “had hoped that this day would never have come,” added that, if
White House officials instruct Department of Justice attorneys not to prosecute
the contempt citations, “we will have power to go to federal court and
seek civil enforcement of our subpoenas.”" ... "[Michigan Democratic Representative
and Judiciary Committee Chairman John] Conyers said he had already discovered
“plenty of evidence of wrongdoing at the Department of Justice. He said
officials made the decision to fire attorneys on the basis of whether they
had pursued public corruption charges against Democratic government officials.
He also said that Justice officials made misleading statements to investigators
minimizing the apparent involvement of White House personnel in the firings."
-By Alexander Bolton and Klaus Marre
-TheHill.com
US
- Iraq
- 
Blackwater
- Government
- Politics
- Human
Rights - Law
- Michigan
- "Blackwater
USA steps up lobbying efforts." ... "Private-security
contractor Blackwater Worldwide, which protects U.S. [United States] government
officials in Iraq and faces scrutiny over its role in the shooting deaths
of Iraqi civilians, has ramped up its lobbying representation on Capitol
Hill." ... "Law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice was tapped by
the company, whose chairman is Erik Prince, a Holland [Michigan] native.
They've been hired to lobby the government on contracting and other issues,
according to the form posted online Tuesday by the Senate's public records
office." ... "The company has attracted considerable congressional scrutiny
and criticism from the Iraqi government and human rights groups for its
involvement in several dozen shooting incidents." ... "Prince, a former
Navy SEAL, is a Holland native whose family fortune was made in the auto
parts industry. His sister, Betsy DeVos, a former chairwoman of the Michigan
GOP [Grand Old Party=Republican], is married to Dick DeVos, a Republican
and Amway Corp. heir who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2006."
-AP via -MLive.com
Auto
- Makers
- History
- Japan
- US
- Michigan
- "Fewest
vehicles sold in 9 years: Ford takes 12% hit; Toyota
rises to No. 2." ... "Auto sales last year fell to their lowest level since
1998, with domestic automakers bearing the brunt of the decline. And the
industry is bracing for a grim first half of 2008 because of the uncertain
economy and ailing housing market." ... "Ford Motor Co., which began reducing
inventories in August 2006 through production cuts, ended the year with
533,000 vehicles in stock, 37,000 fewer than 2006 and 200,000 less than
in 2005." ... "Ford, however, also took the biggest hit among major manufacturers
in 2007 sales, sliding 12 percent, to 2.56 million. That enabled Toyota
Motor Corp. to pass it and take second place in the U.S. Toyota's sales
rose 2.7 percent for the year, to 2.62 million, its 12th consecutive year
of record sales." ... "General Motors Corp's sales fell 6 percent in 2007,
to 3.82 million, but GM ended the year with 900,000 vehicles in stock,
147,000 fewer than a year earlier and its lowest year-end inventory in
13 years." ... "Chrysler LLC, whose sales were off 3 percent last year,
to 2.08 million, also ended the year with lean inventory, 438,000 vehicles.
That was the lowest since 1994 and down from 538,000 last year, when Chrysler
was twisting dealers' arms to take more vehicles than they expected to
sell." ... "Industrywide, new-vehicle sales fell 3 percent in December,
to 1.39 million, and were off 2.5 percent, to 16.15 million, for the year.
That's 407,000 fewer than in 2006 and 1.25 million below the record 17.4
million sold in 2000." ... "While the Detroit [Michigan's] Big Three struggled
last year, the major Japanese manufacturers continued to make gains. Besides
Toyota's record, sales at American Honda grew 2.7 percent, to 1.55 million,
and Nissan North America was up 4.8 percent, to 1.07 million." -By
Rick Popely -ChicagoTribune
