Michigan: 17,000 state workers to take up to 10 furlough days
"LANSING – About 17,000 state employees will take up to 10 furlough days, as bargaining failed to produce $16 million in concessions.
The employees are represented by the UAW and work in administrative services and human services.
Mitchell said the union offered more in concessions than the state asked, but was rejected.
He said the union would not agree to a two-tier health benefit system, with reduced benefits for new hires such as higher deductibles and co-pays."
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Americans Traveling to Vancouver Olympics Warned of Possible Terror Threats
Americans Traveling to Vancouver Olympics Warned of Possible Terror Threats
"Americans traveling to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics are being warned by the U.S. State Department to stay vigilant about terrorist threats.
A recently issued fact sheet from the agency warns that al Qaeda's 'demonstrated capability to carry out sophisticated attacks against sizeable structures – such as ships, large office buildings, embassies, and hotels – makes it one of the greatest potential threats to the Olympics.'"
No worries, the Mounties will protect ya, you betcha.
"Americans traveling to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics are being warned by the U.S. State Department to stay vigilant about terrorist threats.
A recently issued fact sheet from the agency warns that al Qaeda's 'demonstrated capability to carry out sophisticated attacks against sizeable structures – such as ships, large office buildings, embassies, and hotels – makes it one of the greatest potential threats to the Olympics.'"
No worries, the Mounties will protect ya, you betcha.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Michigan leaders downplay state's Race to the Top chances as Obama announces $1.35 billion expansion of program
Michigan leaders downplay state's Race to the Top chances as Obama announces $1.35 billion expansion of program
"Michigan educators had their Race to the Top application in Washington by today’s deadline, and some state leaders and lawmakers are now downplaying the state’s chances at winning one of the initial grants.
The deadline comes as President Obama announces he’ll add $1.35 billion to next year’s budget to expand the reform program, even setting aside some of the money to allow districts to submit plans directly to the federal government.....
There has been speculation since last month that Michigan’s chances faded when the state cut education funding and then failed to land a planning grant from the Gates Foundation.
It also likely didn’t help that Michigan’s teachers unions withheld their support, though the New York Times reports they’re not alone, as labor groups in Minnesota and Florida also balked."
Anyone getting this "union" /"failure" connection?
"Michigan educators had their Race to the Top application in Washington by today’s deadline, and some state leaders and lawmakers are now downplaying the state’s chances at winning one of the initial grants.
The deadline comes as President Obama announces he’ll add $1.35 billion to next year’s budget to expand the reform program, even setting aside some of the money to allow districts to submit plans directly to the federal government.....
There has been speculation since last month that Michigan’s chances faded when the state cut education funding and then failed to land a planning grant from the Gates Foundation.
It also likely didn’t help that Michigan’s teachers unions withheld their support, though the New York Times reports they’re not alone, as labor groups in Minnesota and Florida also balked."
Anyone getting this "union" /"failure" connection?
More Details on Obama's Big Bribe to Big Labor
More Details on Obama's Big Bribe to Big Labor
"Back when he was taken seriously as a politician, John Edwards used to talk about there being two Americas.
Well it turns out, that's a good description of life under President Obama.
If you're part of one America, you have to pay a tax if you receive generous health benefits.
But if you're part of the other America that has contributed handily to Democratic campaigns and has access to the White House, you can receive those same benefits without paying a tax."
"Back when he was taken seriously as a politician, John Edwards used to talk about there being two Americas.
Well it turns out, that's a good description of life under President Obama.
If you're part of one America, you have to pay a tax if you receive generous health benefits.
But if you're part of the other America that has contributed handily to Democratic campaigns and has access to the White House, you can receive those same benefits without paying a tax."
To Help Haiti, End Foreign Aid
Bret Stephens: To Help Haiti, End Foreign Aid - WSJ.com
"For actual Haitians, however, just about every conceivable aid scheme beyond immediate humanitarian relief will lead to more poverty, more corruption and less institutional capacity.
It will benefit the well-connected at the expense of the truly needy, divert resources from where they are needed most, and crowd out local enterprise.
And it will foster the very culture of dependence the country so desperately needs to break.
How do I know this?
It helps to read a 2006 report from the National Academy of Public Administration, usefully titled 'Why Foreign Aid to Haiti Failed.'
The report summarizes a mass of documents from various aid agencies describing their lengthy records of non-accomplishment in the country.
Here, for example, is the World Bank—now about to throw another $100 million at Haiti—on what it achieved in the country between 1986 and 2002: 'The outcome of World Bank assistance programs is rated unsatisfactory (if not highly so), the institutional development impact, negligible, and the sustainability of the few benefits that have accrued, unlikely.'"
"For actual Haitians, however, just about every conceivable aid scheme beyond immediate humanitarian relief will lead to more poverty, more corruption and less institutional capacity.
It will benefit the well-connected at the expense of the truly needy, divert resources from where they are needed most, and crowd out local enterprise.
And it will foster the very culture of dependence the country so desperately needs to break.
How do I know this?
It helps to read a 2006 report from the National Academy of Public Administration, usefully titled 'Why Foreign Aid to Haiti Failed.'
The report summarizes a mass of documents from various aid agencies describing their lengthy records of non-accomplishment in the country.
Here, for example, is the World Bank—now about to throw another $100 million at Haiti—on what it achieved in the country between 1986 and 2002: 'The outcome of World Bank assistance programs is rated unsatisfactory (if not highly so), the institutional development impact, negligible, and the sustainability of the few benefits that have accrued, unlikely.'"
Friday, January 22, 2010
Task force says Lansing-Detroit rail line needs more study
Task force says Lansing-Detroit rail line needs more study
"A proposed high-speed rail line between Detroit and Lansing needs further study, said a legislative task force that has studied the idea since the summer.
....... The construction would cost roughly $10 million per mile of construction.
The rail would run off solar-powered hydrogen and use magnetic levitation technology to propel rail cars about 200 miles per hour.
A combination of 40-seat passenger cars, private cars, car ferries, freight and even medical triage cars could run along the line."
A combination of billions of American tax dollars and millions of Michigan borrowed tax dollars will be sucked into this replica of Detroit's People Mover.
Stop this disaster NOW!
"A proposed high-speed rail line between Detroit and Lansing needs further study, said a legislative task force that has studied the idea since the summer.
....... The construction would cost roughly $10 million per mile of construction.
The rail would run off solar-powered hydrogen and use magnetic levitation technology to propel rail cars about 200 miles per hour.
A combination of 40-seat passenger cars, private cars, car ferries, freight and even medical triage cars could run along the line."
A combination of billions of American tax dollars and millions of Michigan borrowed tax dollars will be sucked into this replica of Detroit's People Mover.
Stop this disaster NOW!
Copenhagen Accord on Climate Change Collapsing?
Copenhagen Accord on Climate Change Collapsing? - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine
"The nonbinding Copenhagen Accord was hastily cobbled together at President Barack Obama's insistence as the United Nations' Copenhagen climate change conference whimpered to its end in December.
Under the Accord, countries are supposed to make their commitments to cut greenhouse gases official by January 31.
It now appears that most countries will miss that deadline."
"The nonbinding Copenhagen Accord was hastily cobbled together at President Barack Obama's insistence as the United Nations' Copenhagen climate change conference whimpered to its end in December.
Under the Accord, countries are supposed to make their commitments to cut greenhouse gases official by January 31.
It now appears that most countries will miss that deadline."
Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice...
RightMichigan.com Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice...:
State Senator Wayne Kuipers recently announced that he is the first candidate in the race for the 2nd Congressional District to sign Club for Growth's 'Repeal it!' pledge to repeal Obamacare should it become law.
What's better than being first, of course, is being credible.
The Repeal It! pledge states:
'I, Wayne Kuipers, hereby pledge to the people of my district (MI-02) upon my election to the U.S. House of Representatives, to sponsor and support legislation to repeal any federal health care takeover passed in 2010, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government.'
But this is not the first pledge Wayne Kuipers has made to the tax payers of Michigan.
Several years ago, Wayne Kuipers signed Americans for Tax Reform's, 'Taxpayer Protection Pledge', in which he pledged to the taxpayers of his district 'and all the people of this state that I [Kuipers] will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes.'
Sen. Kuipers is listed as a signatory to ATR's Taxpayer Protection Pledge on the ATR website.
Unfortunately, in 2004 Kuipers either forgot his pledge, or hoped that the taxpayers would.
He voted to raise taxes three different times, and earned himself inclusion into ATR's Taxpayers' 'Hall of Shame'."
State Senator Wayne Kuipers recently announced that he is the first candidate in the race for the 2nd Congressional District to sign Club for Growth's 'Repeal it!' pledge to repeal Obamacare should it become law.
What's better than being first, of course, is being credible.
The Repeal It! pledge states:
'I, Wayne Kuipers, hereby pledge to the people of my district (MI-02) upon my election to the U.S. House of Representatives, to sponsor and support legislation to repeal any federal health care takeover passed in 2010, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government.'
But this is not the first pledge Wayne Kuipers has made to the tax payers of Michigan.
Several years ago, Wayne Kuipers signed Americans for Tax Reform's, 'Taxpayer Protection Pledge', in which he pledged to the taxpayers of his district 'and all the people of this state that I [Kuipers] will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes.'
Sen. Kuipers is listed as a signatory to ATR's Taxpayer Protection Pledge on the ATR website.
Unfortunately, in 2004 Kuipers either forgot his pledge, or hoped that the taxpayers would.
He voted to raise taxes three different times, and earned himself inclusion into ATR's Taxpayers' 'Hall of Shame'."
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Supreme Court Vindicates Political Speech, Pulverizes McCain-Feingold
Supreme Court Vindicates Political Speech, Pulverizes McCain-Feingold
"In a landmark 5-to-4 ruling, the Supreme Court today in Citizens United v. FEC struck down major portions of the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law. The Court left in place the disclosure requirement for corporations and the disclaimer requirement that identifies whether an ad is not paid for by the campaign. But little else remains. The Court overruled the highly controversial 1990 decision in Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which upheld restrictions on corporate spending to support or oppose political candidates. As this report notes:
The majority, invoking the Constitution’s free-speech clause, said the government lacks a legitimate basis to restrict independent campaign expenditures by companies. . .“The government may regulate corporate political speech through disclaimer and disclosure requirements, but it may not suppress that speech altogether,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority. Companies, which had been barred since 1947 from spending money in support or opposition to a candidate, potentially now will pump millions of dollars into campaigns. Companies, and possibly labor unions as well, will be able to use their general-treasury dollars to punish or reward lawmakers for their votes on legislation.
This is a vindication of the First Amendment and a victory for the protection of political speech, which is at the heart of our political system. It will certainly increase the amount of speech."
"In a landmark 5-to-4 ruling, the Supreme Court today in Citizens United v. FEC struck down major portions of the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law. The Court left in place the disclosure requirement for corporations and the disclaimer requirement that identifies whether an ad is not paid for by the campaign. But little else remains. The Court overruled the highly controversial 1990 decision in Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which upheld restrictions on corporate spending to support or oppose political candidates. As this report notes:
The majority, invoking the Constitution’s free-speech clause, said the government lacks a legitimate basis to restrict independent campaign expenditures by companies. . .“The government may regulate corporate political speech through disclaimer and disclosure requirements, but it may not suppress that speech altogether,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority. Companies, which had been barred since 1947 from spending money in support or opposition to a candidate, potentially now will pump millions of dollars into campaigns. Companies, and possibly labor unions as well, will be able to use their general-treasury dollars to punish or reward lawmakers for their votes on legislation.
This is a vindication of the First Amendment and a victory for the protection of political speech, which is at the heart of our political system. It will certainly increase the amount of speech."
Local gal on Salon.com part 2 Cultivating Failure - The Atlantic (January/February 2010)
Cultivating Failure - The Atlantic (January/February 2010)
"Imagine that as a young and desperately poor Mexican man, you had made the dangerous and illegal journey to California to work in the fields with other migrants.
There, you performed stoop labor, picking lettuce and bell peppers and table grapes; what made such an existence bearable was the dream of a better life."
"Imagine that as a young and desperately poor Mexican man, you had made the dangerous and illegal journey to California to work in the fields with other migrants.
There, you performed stoop labor, picking lettuce and bell peppers and table grapes; what made such an existence bearable was the dream of a better life."
Local gal on Salon.com
Education - Salon.com
"Last month, Alissa Novoselick wrote a wonderful story for Salon about starting a school garden in rural Camp Verde, Ariz.
So when Caitlin Flanagan wrote her sneering attack on Alice Waters, the Edible Schoolyard, and school gardening in general, Alissa chose to respond.
Also read Andrew Leonard's response here."
"Last month, Alissa Novoselick wrote a wonderful story for Salon about starting a school garden in rural Camp Verde, Ariz.
So when Caitlin Flanagan wrote her sneering attack on Alice Waters, the Edible Schoolyard, and school gardening in general, Alissa chose to respond.
Also read Andrew Leonard's response here."
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