Politics Michigan

MIRS news reports Governor Granholm has saying:

"If Congress is going to step into every personal situation like this, it ceases to be a policy-making body."--Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM, giving her take on the week's news surrounding the Terri SCHIAVO case.

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today announced the following appointment and reappointment to the Board of Ethics:

Milo “Mike” Pumford of Newaygo, former state representative and self-employed consultant with M&M Governmental Consultants. Mr. Pumford is appointed to represent Republicans for a term expiring February 7, 2009. He succeeds Leonard C. Wolfe whose term has expired.

John D. Pirich of East Lansing, partner with Honigman, Miller, Schwartz & Cohn law firm. Mr. Pirich is reappointed to represent Democrats for a term expiring February 7, 2009.

The board is authorized to receive citizens’ complaints concerning alleged unethical conduct by a public officer or employee and to inquire into the circumstances surrounding those allegations.

These appointments are subject to Article V, Section 6 of the Michigan State Constitution of 1963. They stand confirmed unless disapproved by the Senate within 60 days.

Detriot News' George Weeks reports on the fundraising success of 2008 hopefuls in Michigan:

In their recent Michigan visits, two potential 2008 presidential contenders helped raise about $1.5 million for state Republicans. Arizona Sen. John McCain was the draw at a March 14 gig for Attorney General Mike Cox that raised about $500,000 for Cox's re-election war chest. McCain raised lesser amounts for U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Holland, and Kent County Republicans.
A March 16 Romney event raised about $700,000 for the campaign committee of Republican state senators -- the committee's best ever fund-raiser. Romney's Commonwealth Political Action Committee, run by longtime Oakland County political operative Trent Wisecup, also gave $56,500 to Michigan Republican candidates, elected officials (including $2,500 to Cox) and party organizations last year. Romney said at his dinner speech in Livonia: "Sometimes I feel like the only red dot in America's bluest state. My legislature is 85 percent Democratic. ... Republicans make up only 13 percent of Massachusetts voters. Being a conservative Republican in Massachusetts is a bit like being a cattle rancher at a vegetarian convention."

Today's Detroit News reports:

Michigan's jobless rate for February jumped to 7.5 percent, equaling the state's highest level since 1992 and dampening hopes of an economic upswing after the rate dropped in January.

Gongwer reports:

303.3 M. BUDGET-BALANCING E.O. APPROVEDAn agreement to erase a $380 million shortfall in the current year was reached by Governor Jennifer Granholm and legislative leaders on Wednesday, leading to swift approval by Senate and House committees of $303.3 million in spending cuts and shifts.

AP reports the new head of BC/BS Michigan is Daniel Loepp, a former Democrat staff person as its new head:

Before his stint at Karoub Associates, Loepp was chief of staff for state House Speaker Curtis Hertel. Before that he was chief executive of the Service Station Dealers Association of Michigan. He also served as spokesman for state Attorney General Frank Kelley.

Governor Granholm Appoints Cynthia Ford to Michigan Education Trust Board of Directors

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm announced the appointment of Cynthia N. Ford to the Michigan Education Trust (MET) Board of Directors. Ford, of Grosse Pointe Farms, is chair of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation and president of the University Liggett School Board of Trustees. She also serves as the mayoral commissioner appointee at the Detroit Zoological Institute.

The MET Board of Directors provides an avenue for families to invest in their
children's future, enabling them to attend a Michigan institution of higher education. Ford is appointed to represent members with knowledge, skill and experience in the academic, business or financial field for a term expiring December 31, 2007.

This appointment is subject to Article V, Section 6 of the Michigan State Constitution of 1963. The appointment stands confirmed unless disapproved by the Senate within 60 days.

Michign capitol insider's publication GONGWER reports:

The Coalition for Tax Relief and Jobs took its case to cyberspace with www.stoptheshiftshaft.com, which argues that thousands of particularly small businesses would pay higher taxes under the proposal that focus the SBT formula on profits.

The Detroit News' George Weeks reports on a MRG survey that puts Michigan's junior U.S. Senator under 50% favorable rating. Week's explains this as:

Senators sometimes "disappear down the mist of the Potomac" in relation to governors, notes Publisher/Editor Bill Ballenger of Inside Michigan Politics (IMP), which commissioned a March 7-13 poll of 600 likely voters -- folks who presumably tune in at least occasionally to what's going on in Lansing and Washington.

But Week's doesn't predict an end for Senator Stabenow, he says:

Stabenow may have vulnerabilities but to beat her Republicans will need to come up with a well-credentialed and well-financed challenger. Stabenow is mighty good on the stump.

No surprise here: The

The Detroit Free Press reports that the national fundraising group EMILYS List is either lying or got its facts messed up attempting to raise money purportedly to retain Michigan's junior U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow:

Last week, President Ellen Malcolm asked her network of donors to support Stabenow right away to help scare off strong, potential Republican opponents like "Dick DeVos, heir to the Amway billion-dollar empire," and Jane Abraham, wife of former GOP Sen. Spencer, who Stabenow beat in 2000.
One problem. DeVos' potential is scant. He's thinking seriously about running in 2006. But not for U.S. Senate versus Stabenow. DeVos wants to take on Granholm.

Michigan's senior U.S. Senator Carl Levin was on Sunday's Late Edition on CNN. The transcript follows:

It's a very, very puzzling and complicated debate, a very emotional debate that is unfolding. And the president of the United States heading back from his ranch in Texas to Washington to be ready to sign legislation into law if it comes down to that. Joining us now on "Late Edition," two U.S. senators to discuss this, as well as the second anniversary of the war in Iraq. In his home state of Michigan, Senator

Carl Levin: He is joining us. And in his home state, Republican Senator John Sununu. Both influential members of the Congress. Senator Levin, first to you: Will you vote to reinsert, reconnect that feeding tube for Terri Schiavo which was disconnected on Friday?

LEVIN: I think it's unwise for Congress to intervene in a very deeply personal matter such as this. There are many, many such individual cases that exist around the country that are in the courts. This one has been in the courts for 12 years, so I don't think it's wise as a general matter for Congress to intervene in these specific cases. However, Wolf, if Congress is going to intervene, it is critically important hat we not try to prejudge the outcome, that we not try to restrict the discretion of a federal judge and that we make it clear, as this bill now does, as a result of some modifications, that the federal judge would determine whether or not there is an existing constitutional or federal statutory right which has been violated here or which can be invoked in order to protect her. So if there is going to be this kind of an intervention and I think it's a mistake, at least it should be carefully constructed so, again, it does not restrict discretion on part of the federal judge or require -- for instance -- he issue a stay. At one point the Senate bill and the House bill required that the federal court issue a stay. We have now decided not to put that explicit language in there and allow the court to exercise the type of discretion on that matter that it ordinarily would under existing federal rules.

BLITZER: All right. What about you, Senator Sununu? Where do you stand on this very emotional, sensitive issue?

SUNUNU: I think Senator Levin has made the fair point that Congress isn't going to decide the case. But given the circumstances of the complex nature, the fact that this is life and death, and we have a mother and siblings who have been clear in their willingness to care for Terri Schiavo, we ought to allow them to have the ircumstances in their case reviewed in federal court before Terri Schiavo is left to die. And I think that's why you see the extraordinary effort being made to make sure that this legislation is dealt with. We passed it in the Senate before we went out. I think the House will pass a very similar measure today or late tonight and send it on to the president.

BLITZER: There was a GOP memo that's been published, widely circulated, Senator Sununu, that seems to suggest that some Republicans want to score political points by bringing this issue to the floor. Among other things, it says this is an important moral issue, and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue. And it goes on to say this is a great political issue because Senator Nelson of Florida has already refused to become a co-sponsor. He's a Democrat. And this is a tough issue for Democrats. Is this appropriate to use
this issue now as political fodder to try to score political points?

SUNUNU: I certainly don't think it's necessary. I think on any issue you'll find people at either extreme who look for an opportunity to advance a political position. This is a case of life and death. It's as dramatic and emotional an issue as Congress has to deal with. The measure that passed the Senate last week did so on a voice vote. I think it was generally considered quite bipartisan. I think whatever comes out of the House will similarly be supported by people on both sides of the aisle. There will be concerns or objections that might be raised. But at the end of the day, I think giving a hearing in federal court in this specific case is the least that we can do.

BLITZER: Senator Levin, the parents say, the brother of Terri Schiavo, they say she can communicate. She smiles. She seems to be responding to what they're aying. They insist, and despite some strong opinions from other doctors that she's in what they call persistent vegetative state, they believe she is very, very much alive. What's wrong with giving her this opportunity to go ahead, if the parents ant to deal with her, take care of her, what's wrong with that?

LEVIN: Well, that's what courts are here for: to make those kind of very difficult determinations. There's obviously a different point of view that they have to resolve. The state courts, where this type of matter usually resides, the state court in Florida has had this matter for 12 years. The Supreme Court has decided not to intervene. And it seems to me that this belongs in the courts. It has been in the courts. And now there will be an opportunity for a federal court to review this matter and decide whether or notthe courts previously in the state were wrong and whether or not there's a violation of a constitutional right or a federal statutory right here, which would take place if in fact she were removed from life support. But if there is a federal constitutional right or a federal statutory right which would be violated by removing the tube, then it seems to me a federal court should act, but I don't know that such a right exists. That's what we have courts
for.

BLITZER: All right. Senator Levin, Senator Sununu, please stand by. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll talk about this second anniversary of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Their assessments: Was it worth it? And is there an exit strategy for some 150,000 U.S. troops still in Iraq.A quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)BLITZER: Welcome back to LATE EDITION. We're live in Kuwait City on this the second anniversary of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.Senator Sununu, looking at the exit strategy right now, doyou see an exit strategy in Iraq? The U.S. military clearly deeply, deeply, deeply involved in what's happening here in Kuwait, the staging point for almost all the U.S. troops in Iraq.How much longer do you think U.S. troops are going to have to remain in Iraq?

SUNUNU: I don't think you can predict a precise date. And let's remember: An exit date is not an exit strategy. We have an exit strategy, and it consists of establishing a transitional government, investing in reconstruction activities, in training an Iraqi security force that will be prepared to take responsibility in that country, conducting elections, which hasbeen done successfully, and allowing that elected representational body to craft a permanent constitution and a permanent law.At that point, when we have a stable government and Iraqi security forces that have been trained to take over those security responsibilities, we can and will begin withdrawing U.S. troops. That's a strategy. Now, that's what we have in place right now. And critics canargue that things need to be modified or changed or we're not emphasizing the right set of priorities, but it is a clear strategy. And with the success of the elections, I think it continues to move along apace.

BLITZER: How much longer do you believe, Senator Levin, U.S. troops are going to be engaged in warfare in Iraq?

LEVIN: I wonder, Wolf, if I could just take 10 seconds to answer the question you did not ask me about that GOP memo to simply say that, if in fact that memo which said that the Schiavo matter should be made a political matter, is in fact a real memo, it will backfire on the person that wrote that memo, or on the Republicans, if they embrace it. The people do not want that issue to be politicized. And I want to leave it, if I could, at that and move on to your question about how long we will be here in Iraq.Hopefully the Iraqis will take over the responsibility quicker rather than later, because it is their country. And they must be as invested in their country as we are, they must be willing to bleed for their country. We can open the door, which we have for them, but they must walk through that door. And to me it is critical that the new Iraqi government, as one of their first actions, when this new government is put in place -- and that will hopefully be within the next few weeks -- that one of their first actions will be to invite the international community, including the United States and including Muslim nations, to have forces in their country, because the identification of us by our opponents and by the enemy as an occupying power, a Western occupier of a Muslim country, is hurting, it is playing right into the propaganda hands of the terrorists. And in order to change that characterization from an occupier to an ally, that new Iraqi government should invite us expressly to be there along with other Muslim countries. And hopefully then some Muslim countries will respond to that nvitation.

BLITZER: We're going to have to leave it right there.Senator Levin, thanks for joining us.Senator Sununu, thanks to you as well. Always a good discussion with both of you.We'll take another quick break.

George Weeks in today's Detroit News reflects further on the clash between Michigan's Congressional Members and Governor Granholm. The spat became public when Congresswoman Kilpatrick discussed it with the press.

Week's also reports on some new poll numbers due out this week in Inside Michigan Politics:

This week, Ballenger's newsletter publishes a March 7-13 poll of 600 likely voters conducted for it by Lansing-based Marketing Resource Group that shows Granholm with a favorability rating of 56 percent and a job approval rating of 55 percent. (Margin of error is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points). Not bad.

She has a 47-32 percent edge in a match-up with businessman Dick DeVos, who is among her possible 2006 challengers.

The battle over Governor Granholm's SBT plan has been joined by dueling polls. One firm (from the Democrats), shows the public favoring the proposal at 52%; the other firtm (from the Republicans) shows 60% oppose the plan. The polls were conducted within 2 days of each other.

Details at MIRS.

Hmm...

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today announced the following recent appointments to the State Fire Safety Board:

Beverly Hannah-Jones of Pontiac, CEO, owner, and architect for Hannah & Associates, Inc./Hannah Murano architect firm. Ms. Hannah-Jones is appointed to represent registered architects for a term expiring July 15, 2007. She succeeds Mr. John Z. Ballew whose term has expired.

Earl C. Howard of Detroit, senior associate structural engineer for the City of Detroit Department of Public Works. Mr. Howard is appointed to represent registered professional engineers for a term expiring July 15, 2007. He succeeds Mr. Vladimir Boldyreff whose term has expired.

Zehnder Keller of Frankenmuth, president and owner of Bavarian Inn Lodge. Ms. Zehnder Keller is appointed to represent persons who own a place of public assemblage for a term expiring July 15, 2007.

Ronald R. Farr of Otsego, fire chief for the Kalamazoo Township Fire Department. Mr. Farr is designated as chairperson of the State Fire Safety Board, to serve as chairperson