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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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?

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.

The National Association of Manufacturers had previously refered to the Simpson bill as "threatening Michigan jobs with extinction."  MichBio was also very critical of this proposal; again arguing that it would hurt Michigan's economy.

I have to say that NAM  and MichBio were right about this one.  If this bill eventually becomes law, every single one of the new jobs that were created in the Great Lakes State as a result of it will certainly be lost.  Michigan residents will also likely lose the huge discounts in drug prices that happened as a result of Merck and others saving billions of dollars in settlement claims.

Oh, wait!  I forgot.

There weren't any new jobs created in Michigan when we have the drug companies this kind of immunity and our medicines didn't get any cheaper.

Of course, it is always a possiblity that the pharmaceutical industry could relocate a large number of their jobs outside of Michigan.  You know, to one of those other states that doesn't give immunity from litigation or cash to help them grow their business.

• Establish Presumptions to Combat Offshore Secrecy by allowing U.S. tax and securities law enforcement to presume that non-publicly traded, offshore corporations and trusts are controlled by the U.S. taxpayers who formed them or sent them assets, unless the taxpayer proves otherwise;
• Impose Tougher Rquirements on U.S. Taxpayers Using Offshore Secrecy Jurisdictions by listing 34 jurisdictions which have already been named in IRS court filings as probable locations for U.S. tax evasion;
• Authorize Special Measures to Stop Offshore Tax Abuses by giving Treasury authority to take special measures against foreign jurisdictions and financial institutions that impede U.S. tax enforcement;
• Strengthen Detection of Offshore Activities by requiring U.S. financial institutions that open accounts for foreign entities controlled by U.S. clients, open accounts in offshore secrecy jurisdictions for U.S. clients, or establish entities in offshore secrecy jurisdictions for U.S. clients, to report such actions to the IRS;
• Close Offshore Trust Loopholes by taxing offshore trust income used to buy real estate, artwork and jewelry for U.S. persons, and treating as trust beneficiaries those persons who actually receive offshore trust assets;
• Strenthen Penalties on tax shelter promoters by increasing the maximum fine to 150% of their ill-gotten gains, and on corporate insiders who hide offshore stock holdings by increasing the maximum fine on them to $1 million per violation of U.S. securities laws;
• Stop Tax Shelter Patents by prohibiting the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from issuing patents for “inventions designed to minimize, avoid, defer, or otherwise affect liability for Federal, State, local, or foreign tax”; and
• Require Hedge Funds and Company Formation Agents to Know Their Offshore Clients by requiring them to establish anti-money laundering programs like other U.S. financial institutions, under regulations to be issued by the Treasury Department.

Ms. Granholm has signed Executive Order 2007-2 establishing the Executive Clemency Advisory Council to assist the state Parole Board in reviewing clemency applications before they are submitted to the governor for final determination.  Granholm's reform calls for the release of nonviolent offenders from the state's prisons, starting with medically frail prisoners, non-violent elderly inmates, and foreign nationals who will be immediately deported upon their release.

The Executive Clemency Advisory Council will assist the Parole Board with an initial review of applications for reprieve, commutation, or pardon for the limited purpose of recommending to the board whether an individual application has merit.  The Parole Board is required by law to make a merit determination for every clemency request.  Only applications with merit receive comprehensive investigations by the Parole Board.  The initial merit review process requires the Parole Board to dedicate significant resources to each case within a limited time period.  The council will alleviate some of the Parole Board's resource constraints, and will ensure that all clemency requests continue to receive a fair, thorough, and efficient examination.

After the Parole Board reviews each clemency request, it is legally required to recommend that Ms. Granholm grant or reject the application.  Michigan's constitution gives the Governor exclusive authority to decide all clemency requests.  

The Executive Clemency Advisory Council will consist of seven members appointed by the governor, and will include representatives from law enforcement, crime victims or their families, and the general public.  Members of the council will serve at the pleasure of the governor.

The following individuals have been appointed as members of the Executive Clemency Advisory Council:

Dr. Charles G. Adams of Detroit, pastor of Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, appointed to represent the general public.

Gloria L. Baker of Roseville, accountant with Urban Science Options, appointed to represent crime victims or their families.

Joyce M. Braithwaite-Brickley of Traverse City, retired, appointed to represent the general public.

Mary Beth Kur of Petoskey, former Charlevoix County prosecutor now in private practice, appointed to represent law enforcement.

Rabbi David A. Nelson of Southfield, rabbi of Congregation Beth Shalom, appointed to represent the general public.

Janette L. Price of Eaton Rapids, former warden for the Michigan Department of Corrections, now retired, appointed to represent the general public.

Judge Rudolph A. Serra of Detroit, former judge of the 36th District Court, now in private practice, appointed to represent law enforcement and designated chair of the council for a term expiring at the pleasure of the governor.

The full text of Ms. Granholm's executive order is available on-line.

I can't say that I am surprised by today's development in the Michigan Senate.  Republicans in Lansing have long used the strategy of stone-walling the work of others, rather than try to put forward their own agenda.

The question of the day is:  how will Ms. Granholm respond?

During last year's gubernatorial campaign, she said that she would be more willing to play hard ball with Republicans in the Michigan Legislature.  This is something that she has been extremely reluctant to do in the past.  Will she start doing it now is ultimately the question for her to answer.

I would go so far as to argue that today's move to block Executive Order 2007-1 was nothing more than a test, served up by Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-12, Rochester Hills), to see if she is truly serious about moving her legislative agenda forward.  If Ms. Granholm fails this test, we can expect to see an endless series of moves like the one today for the next two years.

The proverbial ball is in the Governor's court.

Does she start by canceling a few road projects in Republican districts or another hard ball move?  Or does she resort to taking her case to the people of Michigan in hopes that it will persuade legislative Republicans to change their minds?

The ball is in Ms. Granholm's court.  We will soon know for certain.  She has up to 30 days in which to issue a replacement for Executive Order 2007-1.

The 2006 trade deficit represents a 6.5% increase over the 2005 record. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD), House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Sander Levin (D-12, Roseville) joined key House Ways and Means Members in sending a letter to the President.  This letter called for the Bush Administration to be much more assertive when it comes to enforcing trade agreements around the world and, in particular, more agressive in dealing with violations of those agreements by America's trading partners.

The full-text of this letter is available on Mr. Levin's web site.  There is no early indications as to how Mr. Bush will respond to either this letter or the nation's growing trade deficit.  However, given the Bush Administration's track record, I expect this news to be met with an almost deafening silence.

Ms. Land has proposed a dual-purpose driver’s license/personal identification card that would combine the convenience and familiarity of a license with the secure technology of a passport. Such a document would harmonize the requirements of Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) and the REAL ID Act in one identification card.

WHTI will require individuals from the United States, Canada, and Mexico to present a passport or other document proving citizenship before entering the United States. Some border states have expressed concerns that this requirement could hurt cross-border commerce and tourism and delay traffic at border crossings.