Great Lakes Politics

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-12, Rochester Hills) failed to attend a scheduled meeting with Governor Jennifer M. Granholm (D, MI) and Speaker of the House Andy Dillion (D-17, Redford Township); a meeting that had been scheduled last week to resolve Michigan's budget crisis.  I would love to say that I'm suprised by this, but I'm not.

In my opinion, it is time for Ms. Granholm to invoke her authority under Article IV, Section 28 of Michigan's Constitution and compel the Legislature to produce a plan to solve Michigan's budget problems.

Posted by fnemecek at 11:19 AM | Permalink

Michigan Senator Tupac A. Hunter (D-5, Detroit) was named "Legislator of the Year" by the Michigan Credit Union League yesterday.

Mr. Hunter sponsored several initiatives to assist financial institutions, including establishment of Individual or Family Development Accounts, under which eligible individuals and families could establish special savings accounts to be used for education, first-time home purchases, or business capitalization.  He was also responsible for Public Act 192, which streamlines financial institution operations by repealing sections of statutes that required duplicate filings on suspicious activity. He was also cited for his tireless leadership on numerous consumer protection issues. 

Posted by fnemecek at 02:56 PM | Permalink

U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D, MI) made a speech on the floor of the United States Senate yesterday regarding the on-going war in Iraq.  It was a good speech and the full text of it can be found on-line.

However, the fact remains that Mr. Levin's speech will quickly be forgotten.   I firmly believe that the only speech that will be remembered for long by anyone 10 or 20 years from now is the one delivered by U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D, DE).

Mr. Biden's speech from yesterday is one that opponents of the war in Iraq have been waiting for years to hear.  Cynics might argue that it was an effort to revitalize his presidential campaign; they might even be right.  There can little doubt that he was passionate and articulate in his remarks.

His speech can be viewed on YouTube.com. 

Posted by fnemecek at 02:34 PM | Permalink

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm (D, MI) is continuing her efforts to bring new jobs to Michigan as she tours through Europe.  She has had some success to date and her web site provides all of the details.

I wish her the best of luck in Europe.  However, I can't help but feel that her time would be better spent back in Lansing - locked in a room room; negotiating a deal with legislative Republicans to solve Michigan's budget problems and find a replacement for Michigan's Single Business Tax.

Posted by fnemecek at 02:30 PM | Permalink

Michigan Senator Samuel Buzz Thomas (D-4, Detroit) recently became to first state senator in the Great Lakes State to launch his own video podcast as a way to reach out to his consitutents.

Mr. Thomas' video can be seen for free on YouTube.com.  He came across a little stiff in his delivery, but it looks like a promising endeavor for him.  If it goes well, I predict that many other members of the Michigan Legislature will start their own vodcasts in the near future.

Posted by fnemecek at 02:10 PM | Permalink

First, the editors of Time put Vice President Dick Cheney (R) on their cover, showing to be quite literally under a dark cloud.  This, of course, was followed by almost all of the Sunday morning talk shows commenting on to what extent, if any, Mr. Cheney was a political liablity to President George W. Bush (R).

One pundit after another has argued that Mr. Cheney should either resign or else be fired or impeached for his role in the Iraq War and the Valerie Plame affair.

Even the editors of GQ, which usually devote its pages to matters of fashion and style, have called for Mr. Cheney's impeachment in their March 2007 issue.  They even went so far as to include a draft of articles of impeachment, which the U.S. Congress could use if they decided to do so.

With all of this afoot, can their be any reason why Haliburton - the largest benefactor of Mr. Cheney's presence in the Bush Administration - has decided to the leave the United States?

Posted by fnemecek at 12:35 PM | Permalink

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm and D.K. Sprague, tribal chairman of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, known as the Gun Lake Tribe, have reached an agreement on a proposed Class III Gaming Compact.  The agreement is consistent with federal law and the process approved by the Michigan Supreme Court in Taxpayers of Michigan Against Casinos v State of Michigan.

The compact signed on Friday requires legislative approval.  The Michigan Legislature, quite frankly, would have to be insane not to approve of this compact.  Given the track record of some within the Michigan Senate, it's an unfortunate reality that wholesale stupidity may prevail on this issue.
 
In December 2002, each house of the Michigan Legislature passed a resolution endorsing a proposed gaming compact with the Gun Lake Tribe; that proposed 2002 compact was substantially identical to the compacts previously entered into with four other tribes in 1998.  Before leaving office, former Governor John Engler declined to sign the compact but strongly recommended that a compact be approved since under existing federal law, Gun Lake will almost certainly be allowed to open a commercial gaming operation after its lands are placed in federal trust.  He concluded that it is in the best interest of the state to enter into a compact with the tribe and thereby have at least some say in the nature and scope of the tribal gaming operation.
 
As compared to past tribal compacts in Michigan, the gaming compact signed today, if approved by the Legislature and the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, provides larger and more stable revenue sharing payments, restricts gaming to persons 21 years of age or older, and assures conformity with other state laws.

Posted by fnemecek at 07:55 AM | Permalink

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality announced this afternoon that it has withdrawn its proposed decision to approve a permit for the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company to conduct mining operations at the proposed Eagle Project Mine.  The decision was made after discovering that two reports on the structural integrity of the mine were not properly made part of the public record or given a comprehensive technical review.

As a result, there has been an insufficient opportunity for the entire mining team and DEQ management to review the additional technical reports and determine their significance from a technical, legal, and policy perspective.

Steven E. Chester, director of the department, also announced that the public hearings, scheduled for March 6-8 in Marquette and March 12 in Lansing, will be postponed and rescheduled at a later date.

In addition to a technical review of the reports, the department will be undertaking an extensive procedural review to determine how these documents were not immediately given the proper consideration and to ensure that there is a complete public record of information related to the mining proposal and its review.  During this review, affected staff will be reassigned to other projects.

The DEQ will share the findings of its review with the public as that information becomes available, and the technical reports will be posted on the DEQ's Web site at www.michigan.gov/deqogs, then click on Kennecott Eagle Project.

Posted by fnemecek at 04:41 PM | Permalink