Oops

That would be the Oakland PD...

So, I'm trying to have a relaxing day, clear my head of everything, right? Supposed to rest up for the big week. Went to SF, saw some sights, generally tried not to think about much. I'm coming home, reading e-mails on the train, and I'm alerted to some trouble happening at Occupy. Something about tear gas and rubber bullets being used earlier in the day. Ogawa Plaza is filled when I get there - and no cops. Very odd, because usually they are all over the place.

Occupy decides they are going to try and take another vacant building, and they start to move. Completely shut down the intersection at Broadway and 14th - a major intersection in downtown Oakland. Start marching down Broadway. I tag along, even though the light is starting to leave the sky and I know I won't get much of anything in the way of pictures.

One lone motorcycle cop is set up at 17th Street to stop traffic from coming up Broadway - and then here come the white vans out of the side streets, filled with police. The march turns down 16th, and heads to San Pablo instead. It's about this time I decide to turn back and head home; I don't know where they are going, and I didn't feel like walking in the dark...

So I turn around, and there's the line of police, trailing the march. Not wanting to be arrested, I stayed with the crowd, which marched to a park on 19th. At the park, there is a plaza with statues and art at the head of a grassy area. Chain link fencing has been set-up on the grass section to either a) keep people out so they won't camp, or b) keep people out so they can plant more grass or something. Don't know, the ground is a mess. Anyhoo, the cops had smartly blocked all four streets leading into this park/plaza area - and the crowd was trapped at the plaza section. No way out. And they panic.

The police helicopter above starts lighting the area, which freaked people out even more. Tried to push down the fence, and the cops rushed towards them, rubber bullet guns drawn. Protesters retreat. Behind me, a couple of flash bang grenades go off, and the tear gas starts. Didn't even realize what was happening until my eyes and throat started burning. Nasty stuff. Got away from there and back to the fence, where a larger crowd was now pushing the thing down.

Run.

And I did.

They pushed a 2nd fence down at the other end of the park too, and the crowd was free, back on the street. Started marching down Telegraph. I slipped away and got the hell out of there.

No Pulitzer for me, but no zip-tie handcuffs either, and for that I am very grateful. They are arresting a lot of people tonight, and this has now made the national news. As I write this at nearly 10pm PST, the helicopters are still circling out there, and the Twitter feed says something is happening back at 14th and Broadway...

How was your day?

Update 5:00am: Leading the national news stories on some of my sites:

Here's a Reuters photo of the scene I described above.

Reuters: "Police fire tear gas at Oakland, 200 arrested"
New York Times "Occupy Protesters and Police Clash in Oakland
CBS News "300 arrested in Occupy Oakland protests"
USA Today (AP): "Oakland police arresting about 300 'Occupy' protesters"

Some jackass burned a flag, and of course that incident is making the stories, even though it was an isolated event - and there is the problem.

There are a few in this crowd that seem to want confrontation with the cops, but it's certainly not the majority. The police are responding by arresting everyone in sight, journalists included. Someone from Mother Jones and (I believe) the SF Chronicle got caught up in the melee according to the Twitter feed. I had heard of such things before, and that's why I stayed with the crowd when I saw that line of police behind me, blocking my escape.

Are there some jerks in this movement? Yes. Are the police over-reacting and using tactics that inflame the situation? Yes. The end result is escalation of tensions, leading to what you read above.

They are supposed to go at it again today. Stay tuned.



Crowd gathers at the Ogawa amphitheater.





Social concerns.





Directing traffic on 14th. Crowd is moving into the street at this point.





Intersection of 14th and Broadway, the heart of downtown Oakland, filled with people. Ogawa Plaza is behind and to the right.





Marching down San Pablo, which led to the first picture at the top of the page. At this point it's getting really dark, and I didn't get much after that. All the running and tear gas didn't help the situation either.

Moral of the story: What was planned to be a relaxing and restful day ended up with me getting tear-gassed. Just goes to show you, life is what happens when you're busy making other plans....

Elk Mountain

The things they miss when they fly over.

Also available in 1000 px.

Turbines in the Wyoming Sunrise

Wyoming was beautiful, desolation etched in snow. There were wind farms in a few places along I-80; this was one shot I caught as the sun was coming up behind me on New Year's Day.

Couple of Things to Note

Comcast e-mail address is shut down now, so start using the new one. If you need the new one, drop me a line in the comments, and I'll be in touch.

Happy 175th birthday today to the great state of Michigan! Check out Michigan Radio's roundup of links for some excellent info on that.

Stay warm everyone!

Home Run

You know when they hit a long home run to right at AT&T Park in SF and it splashes into the Bay?

This would be the place.



To the left are openings in the wall where you can stand there are watch the games. I guess they come around and clear people out after the third and sixth (?) innings so everyone gets a chance to see.

Very nice park, looking forward to catching a game there.

I'm testing out hooking up my TV as a monitor to process pictures, so bear with me if this changes/disappears...

Saturday Night at Occupy

Occupy Oakland, earlier in the day.



Getting ready for a march. The police are always around Ogawa Plaza, or wherever these folks congregate. Heavy presence in the city yesterday.



So later, I'm sitting in the apartment, the Pats finished up destroying the Broncos, the TV is nattering on in the background, I've got my eyes closed and am partially drifting off... and all of a sudden, motorcycles. Loud. I thought maybe they were just passing by, but it kept up.

And then the chants started.

By the time I got up, found the glasses, found the camera, they had marched by the window... and I caught them walking down MLK, followed by 9 vans filled with cops, regular OPD cars, and unmarked police cars too. It was quite the procession. Two helicopters started circling later. The police actually generated more noise than the protesters.



Half tempted to throw on a jacket and go join them, but I hate shooting in the dark, and I really have no desire to tangle with the Oakland PD. This hardcore group has been confrontational in the past; last night only two were arrested in what the press described as a "peaceful" protest. Or, put it this way, there were more people ticketed at the 49ers game, so this was pretty tame in comparison.

Right now I've got a bandwidth limit on the phone modem (thanks Verizon!) and I'm testing the limits of that, so I can't put up a lot of pictures at this point. Plus, I'm not going to have a lot of time for such things for the foreseeable future - but if they march in the day and I'm around, I'll be sure to go shoot.

And eventually, other pictures too, promise. :-)

Michigan RPS Ballot Proposal: 25% by 2025

Yes! So happy to see this. From my man Paul Egan:

A group wants to amend Michigan's constitution to more than double the existing requirement for how much of the state's electricity must come from renewable sources by 2025.

Proposed ballot language filed Wednesday for the Nov. 6 election would require the state's utilities to reach 25%, well beyond the current law passed in 2008, which requires 10% of Michigan's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2015.

Consumers and DTE are already grumbling about it, but too bad. The original should have been set higher, but of course the Republicans wouldn't allow it, so it's time for the people to take matters into their own hands.

30 states now have RPS goals, most are along this line, if not higher. West Virginia, Oregon, Nevada, Minnesota, Illinois and Delaware are all shooting for 25% by '25. Colorado wants 30% by 2020. California, 33% by 2020. The big winner is Hawaii at 40% by 2030. Most states are using a combination of methods and broadening the term "renewable" to include hydro or so-called "clean" natural gas, but the point is they are doing it, and they are creating jobs and attracting industry to their states because of it.

President Obama had proposed a national 25% by '25, but with Congress being Congress, we will have to settle for this patchwork approach from the states for now. Confusing, yes, but it needs to be done. Expect the Kochs to throw a bunch of money at misleading ads (think Detroit bridge), but I sure hope the people of Michigan know better, get this on the ballot, and vote it in.

Ogawa Plaza, Yesterday

In the darkness you could hear the people's microphone....



One of the tree-sitters, from last Saturday...

Happy "Blue" Year 2012!

If you would have told me a year ago that I would wake up on the first day of 2012 in Laramie, Wyoming, well... just goes to show, you never know what is going to happen.

Make it a great year everyone - will write more on my adventures when I am able.

Onward to victory!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Yet Another Festivus Miracle

Cave.

House Republicans have reversed course and agreed to pass the payroll tax cut extension for two more months, reports National Journal, citing "Republican and Democratic sources." It comes after first Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and then President Obama reiterated that the House ought to pass the temporary compromise before starting to negotiate on a full-year extension of the 2 percent cut. House Speaker John Boehner originally rejected McConnell's request, saying he'd prefer to work out a deal on the full-year extension now.

Now watch these children act all magnanimous about it in 3... 2... 1....

Happy Festivus everybody. This is great news for all that were counting on unemployment checks to pay the bills and keep a roof over their heads - it will help make the season a little less stressful.

So, cheers to them, and may Santa check his naughty and nice list and act appropriately on the others. Going to be a big run on lumps of coal...

Seems to Me...

... you don't want to talk about it... seems to me... you just turn your pretty head and walk away...

Watch the House Republicans walk away from the American people, not even allowing a vote on the compromise that they asked for in the first place. Pretty hard to have "negotiations" if you close down the chamber and leave for vacation.

Fade to black...

Harry Says No

... to the latest Republican attempt to take the American people hostage.

But if Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is pinning his hopes for an 11th hour payroll tax cut deal on a conference committee, he is basically alone. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will not appoint conferees, his office stressed again to The Huffington Post on Tuesday morning.

"[There will be] no negotiations until Boehner follows through and passes the compromise that Senators Reid and McConnell negotiated at his request, and which received 90 percent support in the Senate," said a Senate Democratic leadership aide. "It's shameful that he won't even give it an up or down vote. Hopefully fellow Republicans can prevail upon their wayward colleagues in the House."

Asked specifically if that means Reid wouldn't appoint conferees, the aide said Reid would not.

The House shot down the Senate bill this morning, but from what I read they did it in a way that it could be taken back up again. If not, they get the blame for raising taxes on the middle class and cutting people off of unemployment.

Meanwhile, President Obama is enjoying a sudden rise in the polls on who is better equipped to deal with the problems of the middle class and taxes...

More: President says "no" as well.

Now, let’s be clear: Right now, the bipartisan compromise that was reached on Saturday is the only viable way to prevent a tax hike on January 1st. It’s the only one.

That's it. All on the House now.

Maybe It's Time to Shoot Some Hostages

Re: House Republicans will kill tax cut/unemployment insurance extension bill that was agreed to just last week.

Had enough yet?

Timothy Noah at the New Republic correctly identifies the problem with the "both sides do it" argument the generally comes from the majority of the media, explaining how the Republicans did this very same thing with the super committee, and then comes to the conclusion that America itself is slowly but surely realizing (emphasis mine)...

Pearlstein believes the solution is to refuse to give political contributions to either side until Democrats and Republicans learn to cooperate. But as the foregoing demonstrates, even capitulation by Democrats does not achieve agreement. The problem isn't Democrat vs. Republican. It's Republican opposition to Democrats, to other Republicans, and ultimately to anything that runs the slightest risk of being labelled a "compromise." The public seems to understand this. A recent Pew poll shows that the public blames Republicans in Congress specifically for intransigence. Independents blame Republicans in Congress specifically for intransigence. Even Republicans blame Republicans in Congress specifically for intransigence.

What we need is a game-theory model that demonstrates how to get the Washington press corps and third-way goo-goos to accept what everybody but them seems to know. The Republican party is at war with Democrats, with reality, and ultimately with itself. It has gone insane. The only strategy I can think of is to watch the GOP self-destruct and hope the result benefits Democrats in November.

If there is any time to hang the bad behavior around their necks, this is it. They had an agreement with the Senate. Senate passes bill on an overwhelming bipartisan vote. The House GOP then blows it up. A GOP source admits to CNN that R members are concerned about the "political benefit the White House could gain in the national dialogue over taxes." They are playing political games with people's lives for political purposes only.

It doesn't get any more clear-cut than this stunt they are pulling right now.

Again, capitulation does not work.

Knowing that, this may be the time for a showdown.

Update: Reid says no.

“Senator McConnell and I negotiated a compromise at Speaker Boehner’s request. I will not re-open negotiations until the House follows through and passes this agreement that was negotiated by Republican leaders, and supported by 90 percent of the Senate," Reid said in a statement.

Get the flack out flacking about this. Any D Senators left in town that can make the circuit?

TIME Person(s) of the Year: The Protester

The Michigan Capitol last March. One of the most amazing sights I ever saw.

Excellent choice from TIME Magazine:

"Massive and effective street protest" was a global oxymoron until — suddenly, shockingly — starting exactly a year ago, it became the defining trope of our times. And the protester once again became a maker of history.

Haven't had time to read the whole thing yet - but they are right, and it has been a global phenomenon.


(On a personal note - very busy right now, posting is going to be very sporadic to non-existent for the time being. I want to thank everyone who has been reading, hope to be back again someday on a limited basis, maybe with some lovely new photos for you... until then, have a great holiday season, and all the best on the New Year!)

Mascoma Ethanol Plant in Kinross to Open in 2013

This hasn't been reported in Michigan yet that I've seen. The wood-to-ethanol plant in Kinross has been planned for over three years, recession and delays with the DOE holding up progress until now. Apparently all the funding issues have cleared up, and it's back on track again.

Valero Energy Corp., an independent U.S. oil refiner that owns ten corn-based ethanol plants, agreed to provide the majority of financing for a Mascoma Corp. plant in Michigan that will convert wood to ethanol.

Mascoma expects construction on the the $232 million plant to begin within six months and to be complete by the end of 2013, the Lebanon, New Hampshire-based biofuel company said today in a statement.

Wonder if Snyder will show up to take the credit. Anyone want to place a bet?

Newt Gingrich, Creator of the 1%

Since Newt boasts that he made Mitt Romney the wealthy man that he is today, let's give credit where credit is due: Newt helped to create the 1%.

Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich stumbled upon a new campaign line Tuesday during an appearance on CNBC. The former House speaker came to the conclusion that policies he shepherded through the House of Representatives led to GOP rival Mitt Romney's personal wealth.

"I was part of (the late Rep.) Jack Kemp's little cabal of supply-siders who, largely by helping convince (President Ronald) Reagan and then working with Reagan, profoundly changed the entire trajectory of the American economy in the nineteen-eighties," Gingrich said. "You could make the argument that I helped Mitt Romney get rich because I helped pass the legislation."

CNBC host Larry Kudlow asked if Gingrich had ever made that argument before, prompting the White House hopeful to say: "I am as of right this minute, it just occurred to me."

And that's why "a huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent", and we have the charts to prove it.

Thanks for clearing that up!

Newtmentum!

The other day I tweeted that someone should poll Michigan to see if we had been infected yet. The answer is yes. See what happens when you don't take your shots?

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has pulled slightly ahead of favorite son Mitt Romney among voters likely to participate in Michigan's Feb. 28 presidential primary election, according to a poll released today.

Gingrich was the choice of 30.75 percent of likely voters, passing Romney, the choice of 28.74 percent, according to the survey of Michigan voters likely to participate in the open primary, said John Yob, CEO of Strategic National, a Grand Rapids political consulting firm.

Fickle, fickle, fickle, these Republicans are. How could you ever trust them when they change candidates so often?

More polls: MIRS released a poll last night that shows Romney up 48-33, and third place went to Bachmann at 11. Here's the stupid thing though - they didn't include Paul, Huntsman, or Santorum in the poll, so how can it be credible?

Waiting on an EPIC...

Drift Away

One of my all-time favorite songs, RIP Dobie Gray. This is live at the BBC in 1974.

Another rememberance goes out today to Detroit-born, Muskegon-raised Harry Bratsburg, later known as Harry Morgan, of "Dragnet" and "M*A*S*H" fame. Morgan passed away at the age of 96 in Los Angeles.

Thank you gentlemen for the memories.

On Pearl Harbor Day

The ghosts of WWII still sail the Great Lakes. This is the Lee A. Tregurtha, loading up at the Marquette dock in 2010...



And that's just the nose. Check the 1000 px version to get an idea of how big this ship really is.

We were on our way up to Big Bay, and stopped at the Presque Isle Park in Marquette for a bit to rest. I snapped a couple shots and marveled at the length of the dock, not realizing that I was looking at a decorated WWII veteran until I got home and looked up the name of the ship months later.

The history behind this tanker is a long and astounding one. Commissioned by the Navy in 1942 under the name USS Chiwawa, she served in the Atlantic Fleet providing fuel to destroyers and merchant ships, and won two Battle Stars during the years of 1943-44. In 1945 after a refit, she was transferred to the Pacific Fleet, arriving in Pearl Harbor in August. From there she ran convoys to Okinawa, earning the Navy Occupation Service Medal before being decommissioned in 1946 and transferred to the National Defense Reserve Fleet. The totals of her war service:

To summarize the USS Chiwawa's World War II service from her commissioning to September 1, 1945, the oiler journeyed approximately 164,000 miles (263,925 k) or the equivalent of close to 6.5 times around the world. Her largest monthly mileage achieved was in July, 1945 with 9,229 miles (14,852 k). She carried about 2.8 million barrels (445,860 m3) of gasoline, kerosene, diesel oil and fuel oil of which 417,000 barrels (66,401 m3) were transferred at sea to vessels of all sizes.

Sold to private interests in 1947, eventually she ended up with the Cleveland-Cliffs Steamship Co. by 1960, and was retro-fitted for Great Lakes sailing. After various names and ownership changes, including a brief stint as the "William Clay Ford" under ownership of the Ford Motor Co., she became the Lee A. Tregurtha in 1989, named after the wife of Paul R. Tregurtha, an owner of Interlake Steamship Co. As far as I know, she is still sailing out there right now, at nearly 70 years old.

A salute goes out to all the veterans of WWII today. Whether we realize it or not, we are still living the results of that battle, the rise and fall of American manufacturing over these last seventy years starting with the need created during that time. It's something to keep in mind when you see these relics of the past, still in service in our lives today.

More of This, Please

More of this guy. Please please please.



Hat tip to Think Progress. And listen to the applause at "it doesn't work". Here's the transcript:

"Now, just as there was in Teddy Roosevelt’s time, there’s been a certain crowd in Washington for the last few decades who respond to this economic challenge with the same old tune. “The market will take care of everything,” they tell us. If only we cut more regulations and cut more taxes – especially for the wealthy – our economy will grow stronger. Sure, there will be winners and losers. But if the winners do really well, jobs and prosperity will eventually trickle down to everyone else. And even if prosperity doesn’t trickle down, they argue, that’s the price of liberty.

It’s a simple theory – one that speaks to our rugged individualism and healthy skepticism of too much government. And that theory fits well on a bumper sticker. Here’s the problem: It doesn’t work. It has never worked. It didn’t work when it was tried in the decade before the Great Depression. It’s not what led to the incredible post-war boom of the 50s and 60s. And it didn’t work when we tried it during the last decade."

Please keep that up. Step one is making people aware that trickle-down is a lie, it's always been a lie, and if you remove that from the national psyche, you can defeat the Republican economic agenda every time. Now, it's been a part of conventional wisdom for thirty years, so it may take a while, but we have to start somewhere.

Tax cuts for the wealthy, primarily those passed by Republicans in 2001 and 2003, lowered rates for the richest Americans to historically low levels — but those cuts were followed by massive deficits and weak job growth, not the economic boom conservatives promised. Anti-regulatory policies helped lead to a predatory financial system that busted the housing market, nearly collapsed the financial industry, and threw America into a recession that largely spared — and even enriched — the nation’s wealthiest. At the same time, millions of lower- and middle-class Americans lost jobs, retirement funds, and any hope of economic prosperity in their lifetime. Under 30 years of trickle down policies, wage growth has stagnated even as CEO pay has boomed.

Not only that, but we've let our infrastructure deteriorate to the point of crumbling. The cost of higher education and health care has skyrocketed. We've stopped doing "big things", like the space program. It's not all gloom and doom, there has been progress - but we could have done so much more.

Keep it up, Mr. President. And drag your party members with you. There's a few that could stand to learn the lesson as well.

The Michigan Republican Power Grab Continues

Not one, not two, but three stories this morning on last minute legislation that will continue to consolidate power for the Republicans.

First off, they want to make it harder to register to vote...

Sponsoring voter registration drives in Michigan would become more difficult under a proposed change in state law.

How difficult is a matter of debate.

A spokesman from the Fair Election Legal Network, a Washington D.C.-based organization, calls the proposed law “onerous,” and the League of Women Voters of Michigan also has declared its opposition.

The two groups are among those also opposed to a second bill that would require photo identification for in-person registration and absentee voting.

The Senate is expected to vote on Senate Bills 751 and 754 this week.

The proposed changes “create unnecessary barriers to voting while doing little to improve Michigan’s election system,” said a mass email sent Monday by the League of Women Voters, in which they urged people to contact their legislators to oppose Senate bills 751 and 754. “The bills create unnecessary barriers for people who want to vote and make voting requirements more confusing.”

Follow the link for details on the bills. At first glance, yes, they are raising more barriers to registration, especially for those hard-to-reach (read: poor, elderly, minority) individuals that voter drives tend to target. GOP-led voter suppression is happening all across the country, surprised it took our legislators this long to act.

Next up, back to the favorite flavor of the year, more punishment for the unions! You didn't think they were done, did you?

Public employers would no longer be allowed to use payroll deduction to collect contributions to political action committees, a move backers say separates government operations from politics but opponents say is aimed at keeping unions from helping Democrats.

The state House Redistricting and Elections Committee this morning voted 6-2 along party lines to approve a pair of bills preventing public bodies such as state agencies and municipalities from working with political action committees to collect political contributions.

Knew that was coming. Another swipe at the MEA.

And last but certainly not least, more bureaucracy and government oversight for any city or school district under the emergency manager provision. How much will we have to pay a "transition team" anyway? And how long would they stay in "transition"? Until the unions are totally gone?

Treasurer Andy Dillon was on WJR-AM on Tuesday talking about the state's preliminary financial review of Detroit. He said that the administration wants legislation aimed at helping communities coming out of an EM situation transition back.

SB 0865 outlines broad powers for the transition team. The board would have veto power over the municipality or school district's budget and could review monthly cash flow projections and compliance with the debt elimination plan. The board also could require a consensus revenue estimating conference. And the board would have approval over collective bargaining agreements.

Bust 'em up, hold 'em down, and then keep 'em down, eh? Whew. That's a whole lotta government for a party that proclaims we need "less government", don't you think?

The rush is on to throw as much odious legislation at the wall that they possibly can before they take their six weeks off for Xmas break, hopes are that you will forget all about it by the time they come back - and that's usually what happens.

Maybe someone is keeping a list...

When You Elect People That Hate the Government...

... don't be surprised when government stops working.

Congress is close to wrapping up one of its least productive sessions in recent memory, as the House and Senate have passed a scant number of bills compared with other non-election years, and President Obama has signed the fewest measures into law in at least two decades.

...

Through Nov. 30, the House had passed 326 bills, the fewest in at least 10 non-election years, according to annual tallies in the Congressional Record. The Senate had approved 368 measures, the fewest since 1995.

By comparison, the House approved 970 bills in 2009 and 1,127 in 2007. The Senate totals for those years were 478 and 621, respectively. (Both chambers are expected to pass more bills before adjourning this month, but probably not enough to change the overall picture.)

And the White House need not fear an ink shortage — Obama had signed only 62 bills into law through November. The last time there was a new Republican majority in the House and a Democrat in the White House, 1995, President Bill Clinton signed 88 measures.

Deja vu all over again. We've seen this movie before here in Michigan in the run-up to 2010, but don't forget that it was happening in other states as well (ask Rendell). One can only hope that we are not a leading indicator in this regard, but if we are, here is basically how it's going to go:

Republicans obstruct the government when the Democrats hold any branch of power, refusing to compromise on any and all legislation. They then turn around and proclaim that government just doesn't work and needs to "get out of the way", people get discouraged at the constant bickering and lack of progress and don't show up at the polls, Republicans then take back power, and suddenly the government IS the answer to all our problems, and it will be used to further the right-wing agenda only.

Republicans are making the most of their majority in Michigan's state government, approving an above-average number of new laws in the first 11 months of the state Legislature's 2011-12 session.

Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley have combined to sign 231 new public acts since taking office in January. The bills were sent their way by a Legislature that has Republican majorities in both the House and Senate.

The new laws affect a broad range of topics from the state budget to schools to how financially struggling local governments are managed. About 95 percent of the new laws come from legislation whose primary sponsor was Republican.

Will the voters recognize this pattern? They might. Krugman seems to think that 2012 will be "a year of Republican triumph", but I think he underestimates how deeply unhappy people are with Republican governance out in (some of) the states.

The mood here in Michigan has definitely soured. Wisconsin seems to be on the verge of a rare gubernatorial recall. Kasich in Ohio is suddenly backing down off his previous arrogant bluster. Scott in Florida has poll numbers that are in the dumps, I'm guessing LePage is still down there as well, and on and on... if all these states continue to push an unpopular Republican agenda, perhaps we can hope to see a backlash in the next election.

If not, well, we can't say we weren't warned. You can bet that if the Republicans gain control in DC you will see the same thing happen, and a government that serves their agenda only will be a wonderful working thing indeed. For their friends, anyway.

For you, not so much.

There's Just No Pleasing You People

So. You were grumpy with the cool progressive visionary governor. Now you don't like the authoritarian business guy governor. Just what is it that will make you people happy, huh? From the MSU State of the State Fall Survey:

Gov. Rick Snyder's favorable rating plummeted again, and has fallen consistently since taking office.

Only 19.3 percent of Michigan residents rated Snyder's job performance as "excellent" or "good," down from 31.5 percent in the spring survey and 44.5 percent when he came into office.

MLive (and survey director MSU's Charles Ballard) goes on to say that Snyder is now below Granholm's numbers - as compared to when she left office. Why they don't compare them to her numbers at the same time in the term, which would have been Fall 2003, I really don't know. I can't get the damn MSU .pdf to open, but I believe her approval was still in the 50's on a timeline comparison, so, really, there is no comparison. Rick has driven his happy bus right over the cliff.

You thought you wanted to "run the state like a business" and you were WRONG. Now you're unhappy. And lookee there, it's his own people who are a big part of the problem.

Snyder's falling numbers are due in large part to a growing lack of support from Republicans, Ballard said. Nearly 66 percent of Republicans rated Snyder's job performance favorably in the spring survey.

Now, support from the GOP is down to 32.3 percent.

But... but... but... you picked him! And he's got a Republican legislature, so don't be looking in that direction! This is all on you, Republicans. All of it.

If this is the way you're going to be, I don't see how we trust you with this presidential primary stuff. You'll just screw that up too. Maybe the Michigan Republican Party needs an Emergency Manager to pick your winner, because you obviously can't handle the "tough choices" necessary here.

Geez.

But have some faith, because there is one group of people that we all are really disappointed with...

Less than 1 percent of survey respondents gave Congress an "excellent" or "good" mark, a harsher assessment than what's been reported in national surveys, Ballard said.

Those polls typically find about 9 to 14 percent of the county approving of Congress' job.

Less than one. And Obama is coming in at 40.5, so he's the big winner here in Unhappy Land this time around.

Good for him.

Although, maybe we're not much of a prize...

Made in America by a Japanese Company for South Korean Customers

Got a laugh out of this one.

Toyota will begin exporting Kentucky-made Camrys to South Korea beginning in January at an annual rate of about 6,000.

This will be the second model Toyota exports to South Korea. The Japanese automaker began shipping its Sienna minivan, assembled in Princeton, Ind., to South Korea last month.

“The export of thousands of Camry vehicles to South Korea is an important development that builds on the work of our talkented U.S. team members as well as our extensive investments across North America,” said Yoshimi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor North America, in a statement.

The Camry, built at Toyota’s 7,000-worker assembly plant in Georgetown, Ky., and at the Subaru of Indiana plant in Lafayette, has been the best-selling car in America for 13 of the past 14 years. This is the first time Camrys built in the U.S. have been shipped outside of North America.

Well, OK, I guess. Got that free trade deal signed, might as well take advantage of that cheap American labor.

Ahem.

This is your new global economy. If assembling the cars here is where we fit in, so be it.

Justice After All

Santo leads the crowd in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in 2008

Sometimes the wrongs are made right.

A year too late for him to enjoy it, 30 years past the day he should’ve been selected, the Baseball Hall of Fame Veterans’ Committee has finally elected the most deserving candidate not in Cooperstown, Ron Santo.

For those who doubt, here is my statistical analysis of the five leading playing candidates:

The simplest tool for judging a player against his contemporaries is, I think, the most overlooked one – exact comparisons, from a guy’s debut season through his final year.

Awards are useful, especially as an indicator of greatness – in Ron Santo’s case, the five straight NL Gold Gloves 1964-68 pretty much confirm his defensive prowess – consider the one from 1964, when Cardinals’ third baseman and defensive hero Ken Boyer was MVP, but Santo still won the Glove.

The hardware is nice. But statistics are better.

In short, in his era, from when he came up with the Cubs in 1960 through his last year with the White Sox in 1964, Ron Santo was one of the top ten hitters in all of baseball.

Santo was fifth in RBI in his era.

Santo was ninth in Runs in his era.

Santo was tenth in Homers in his era.

Santo was tenth in Hits in his era.

There are 17 players besides Santo on these four lists of the top ten offensive producers of the 1960’s. Only four men on all four lists: Aaron, Frank Robinson, Billy Williams – and Santo. Even the three men who are only on three lists, compared to Santo’s four, are all in Cooperstown already.

Keith Olbermann has more on the stats, but check out the Wiki for the full story of Ron's life and career. It was quite remarkable. I'm too young to remember Ron as a player, but I sure loved him as an announcer - and I miss him dearly.

Maybe there is some justice in this world after all...

More: Al Yellon at Bleed Cubbie Blue has a nice write-up on this story, and ends with this:

Congratulations, Ron, for an honor long deserved, and better received now, than not at all. Don't be sad on this day because he's not here. He wouldn't have wanted that; last year, in eulogizing him, Pat Hughes reminded all of us to remember Ron with a smile. Do that on this happy day, and also, let's turn this into the biggest celebration the Hall of Fame has ever seen.

Amen.

Nobody Makes It Better Than Michigan

Look what we can do.



Dowding Industries first appeared on my radar way back in 2007 when the push for the RPS started in earnest; since then, they rode through the turmoil of the Great Recession, forced to lay off people but eventually hiring them all back and adding more, and they came out the other side with flying colors.

"It matters where things are made, and nobody makes it better than Michigan," Senator Debbie Stabenow, (D-MI.) said.

As of Monday, nobody casts hubs and other components for wind turbines faster than Dowding Industries Astraeus Wind in Eaton Rapids.

"It's the fastest in the world," Jeff Metts, president of Dowding Industries Astraeus Wind, said.

Senator Stabenow, joined by leaders in business and labor, announced a machine that produces the space needed to connect parts of a wind turbine. This machine is not a new idea, but the speed in which it works is record-setting.

"So we developed a machine that could take the process time from 30 hours down to four and a half," Metts said.

The facility where the machine is housed, when at full capacity, could bring in roughly 200 new jobs to Eaton Rapids.

The Lansing State Journal ran a nice profile on Jeff Metts, telling the story of how this company almost went to Iowa until Michigan made the business case to keep them here, how they didn't receive the MEGA credit that was lined up because the recession kept them from creating the jobs needed to reach that incentive - but now they have bounced back, with sales up 37% and expected to hit around $50 million this year. Dowding employs 200 people with plans to hire more - but trouble looms on the horizon again, this time in the form of willful opposition on the part of some in Congress to creating jobs in America.

Republicans are trying to turn the country against green manufacturing and clean energy, as you know. Metts had the unfortunate experience of having to deal with do-nothing Tim Walberg when he went to Washington to urge that Congress extend the Production Tax Credit, a crucial component for competing with other countries that are heavily subsidizing their manufacturing for this industry. Walberg, as you could have predicted, said "no" to jobs for Michigan.

Metts said he was disappointed when he visited Washington recently to meet with legislators, including Rep. Tim Walberg, a Republican from Tipton, about extending the tax credit.

"I told (Walberg) the wind industry needs to be developed and be supported so it makes products and a profit," Metts said. "He listened and seems to understand but talked about how (the federal government) can't continue to subsidize us. I said you have been subsidizing oil and gas for 40 years, and they don't need it anymore. We just need it for another five years."

Fossil subsidies far outweigh those for renewable energy, $409 billion to $66 billion in 2010. 23 governors and 369 organizations have joined the effort to urge Congress to renew the production credit for four years before it expires at the end of 2012. Big names are behind it too - people like National Association of Manufacturers, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Western Governors’ Association, the United Steelworkers, and many others.

If they don't do it, we may lose the jobs that are already here. It's that simple. Metts has indicated as such, and there are other manufacturers in Michigan saying the same thing.

Along with Michigan's renewable energy standards, the federal production tax credit, which originally was approved in 1992 and extended four times, is largely responsible for the growth of the wind industry in Michigan, said Peter Gibson, vice president of sales with Danotek Motion Technologies, a Canton Township-based wind turbine component maker that produces an advanced permanent magnet generator.

"There is a big effort to extend the tax credit because the companies that develop the wind farms need to have some certainty about the financials of the commitment of their projects before Jan. 1, 2013," Gibson said. "If the credit is not extended in the next few months, there is a risk of those developers delaying purchase of turbines and services, which could result in a significant slowdown in orders and business," Gibson said.

During the past 19 years, the tax credit has been allowed to expire three times, resulting in boom and bust cycles in the wind industry where installation orders dropped by as much as 75 percent, said Jeff Bocan, managing director with Farmington Hills-based venture capital and private equity firm Beringea.

This is unacceptable. One wind farm slated for Indiana has already canceled its plans due to this uncertainty; they also cite Indiana's lack of a mandatory RPS as a reason as well. How many others are out there? How many jobs are we losing? How many orders won't be coming Dowding's way, due to representatives like Walberg that are dragging their feet for partisan purposes only?

If the Dems were smart, they would round up a list of these projects and start advertising that House Republicans are "job killers" - because they are. Americans are still in favor of green jobs despite the Republican (Koch) effort to paint renewables in a bad light. It's a winning issue, as long as Democrats don't run away from it - and start fighting back.

So, cheers to Dowding for sticking with the plan through the tough times, and cheers to Senator Stabenow and Co. for highlighting this Michigan innovation and the jobs it can create. And here's to hoping that her colleagues get on board and continue to push to develop America's clean energy efforts. They will be pleasantly surprised by the reaction of the voters if they do.

Dillon Calls for State Review of Detroit's Finances

Boom, there it is.

Michigan Treasurer Andy Dillon today ordered a review of the finances of the city of Detroit, a preliminary step in what could lead to appointment of an emergency manager.

The anticipated move comes amid public opposition from Mayor Dave Bing and members of the Detroit City Council.

“While we have long hoped the mayor and city council would agree on a viable recovery plan, given the mayor’s description of the city’s financial condition and the prospect the city may run out of cash in mere months, it has become clear that a preliminary financial review is not only warranted but necessary,” Dillon said in a news release. “We must begin the review process, in the event the city does not develop a workable plan. The longer we wait to address Detroit’s financial problems, the more painful the eventual solutions become."

Per Paul Egan, here is what happens next:

• Takes up to 30 days and requires written notice

• Can be triggered in several ways. The law includes a catchall reason for ordering a financial review if the state treasurer detects "facts or circumstances ... indicative of municipal financial stress."

• Local elected and appointed officials must provide requested information.

WHAT'S NEXT
If the financial review identifies "probable financial stress," the governor appoints a financial review team that has up to 60 days to perform a more in-depth study.

Follow the link for the rest. Here is the .pdf of the formal request, with Dillon's reasoning for ordering the review.

I'm guessing "financial stress" is a given, it's what they are going to do about it that is the real question. Long time Lansing veteran and former state Treasurer Bob Kleine doesn't think an EM could fix the problem anyway, due to lack of tax base and cuts to revenue sharing.

Good luck Detroit.

(Per Gongwer, add Inkster to the pile today too, but I'm guessing that won't get a lot of press)

Consumers Energy Cancels Coal Plant in Bay County

It had been on hold. Apparently they have changed their plans altogether.

Consumers Energy will not build a new $2.3 billion coal-fired power plant on the shores of Saginaw Bay in Hampton Township, Township Supervisor Terry Spegel said Friday.

A Consumers spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment but Spegel said he was told of the news by the company.

Update: Here is the explanation from Consumers:

David Mengebier, senior vice president of governmental affairs, said a surplus generating capacity in the Midwest market, along with some of the lowest natural gas prices the market has seen in years played into the decision.

"It would have been great if we could have built the $2 billion-plus coal plant in Bay County but the market conditions right now tell us that doesn't make sense," Mengebier said. "It's much less economically attractive."

Consumers on Friday also announced tentative plans to suspend operations of seven smaller coal-fired units on Jan. 1, 2015, including two units at Karn Weadock in Hampton Township. Other Consumers operations that are set to be suspended in 2015 include three units at J.R. Whiting Generating Complex near Luna Pier, and two at the B.C. Cobb Generating Plant in Muskegon.

Total Recall

Now that the people were successful in removing a state lawmaker, it must be time to change the law.

Less than a month after the rare recall of a state lawmaker, Republican leaders in the Michigan Senate proposed a constitutional amendment on Thursday to limit the reasons for which an elected public official can be recalled.

Michigan law now allows a recall to be attempted for just about any reason, including an elected official’s policies and votes. The proposed amendment would limit a recall to reasons such as certain criminal convictions, official misconduct or misuse of public resources. An elected official could not be recalled for the “discretionary performance of a lawful act or of a prescribed duty.”

The proposal comes less than a month after voters in Genesee County narrowly recalled state Republican state Rep. Paul Scott from office for his education policy and budget votes.

Hmmm. Don't seem to remember the Republicans being so hot to move on this when out-of-state anti-tax groups were funneling money to Leon Drolet in the attempt to recall Democratic lawmakers who voted to raise taxes in 2007. But now that we are living in the age of the Big Power Grab, might as well take away this right from the citizens too, eh?

Only nineteen states have the power of recall over state officials, and in eight of those, you need specific reasons like the ones listed above. Michigan is a rarity in this regard - but so are successful recall attempts. It's virtually impossible to recall a governor, incredibly difficult to recall a representative or senator, a bit easier at the local level, where petty differences have led to some abuse in certain areas of the state.

So be it. Yes, they can be annoying. Yes, they can be frivolous. But ultimately, the decision to remove an elected official is still in the hands of the voters, and that's where it needs to stay, now more than ever. Since we are also living in the age where campaigns for elected office are intentionally deceptive and/or vague on the details of how an elected official would govern once in power, it's a very important right to keep intact.

Consider this: Does anyone think that Rick Snyder would have been elected had he come out and said, "Yes, I'm going to make deeps cuts to funding for your schools and cities, raise taxes on seniors, take away your middle-class tax deductions, cut unemployment benefits, throw people off of food assistance, sign a law that would allow for the complete takeover of your city, and to top it off, I'm going to give more tax cuts to business owners?" It's doubtful. And even after all of that, we still couldn't get a recall on the ballot, although that can probably be chalked up to lack of money and time to collect enough signatures. They came up with nearly a half a million, which is an astounding number for a group that didn't have the backing of the party or professional organization.

Political campaigns have always carried a certain amount of deception to be sure, but lately it's been turned into an art form. Any sense of shame and decency has been thrown right out the window. The Romney campaign flat-out lied in an ad recently, and then bragged about it later. That's where we are at, laughing at the lie, and happy to get away with it. And now that we are also in the age of unlimited, secret donations to campaigns to purchase this type of false advertising, citizens need to retain the right to remove those that have intentionally deceived the public, if the public is that unhappy with how the official has chosen to govern once in office. In the case of four-year terms, if you have to wait for the next election, it may be too late.

Changing Michigan's law would take a constitutional amendment, and that's no easy feat to pull off, either. It will take 2/3rds in the House and Senate before it would go to the voters, and it may look like an attempt by lawmakers to protect their own jobs. That probably won't go over well with the majority of voters at this point. But who knows. People may be sick of the squabbling too, and voluntarily give up their right to recall. Hard to believe, but stranger things have happened. For now, let's hope it doesn't come to that.

We may be very sorry someday if it does.

One

In honor of World AIDS Day.

"You say
Love is a temple
Love a higher law
Love is a temple
Love the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on
To what you got
When all you got is hurt

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other

One..."

A Righteous Veto

Snyder tells arrogant Legislature to stuff it. Back story here.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed his first piece of legislation today after 11 months in office.

Snyder vetoed a bill passed by the Republican Legislature that would prohibit state agencies from enacting regulations with standards that exceed federal regulations.

In his veto message, Snyder said he strongly supports the bill’s goal of reducing burdensome regulations but is concerned the legislation “would inhibit the state’s ability to work with businesses and citizens to ensure that our regulatory structure fits Michigan’s unique profile.”

Critics have said that Michigan has unique characteristics that sometimes call for unique regulations. For example, as the Great Lakes state it might need clean water regulations more stringent than federal rules.

The way Adler put it, the bills would have allowed for stricter regulations, but only if approved by the Legislature, and not at the discretion of the governor or the agencies that actually have to deal with the issues.

Bzzzt. Bad idea. Congrats to Governor Snyder for displaying some sense here, and for showing these yahoos who is ultimately the boss.

Ha.

Bing to Present "United Front" Against State Intervention

Wait, what? We are all over the board at this point. The DNews keeps changing their story copy too. Here is the latest:

A state review of the city's finances could come as early as Friday, but Mayor Dave Bing won't be the one asking for it, his spokesman said today.

State officials have repeatedly said they want the city to initiate the review process as it works to bail itself out of a financial crisis. But Bing has refused, saying he wants the city to fix its budget without state intervention.

City spokesman Dan Lijana said Gov. Rick Snyder is moving toward a review of the city's finances, but "Mayor Bing will not be requesting it."

Bing will join city council members, union leaders, ministers and businesspeople at a 5 p.m. press conference at City Hall to address the looming financial review and present a united front against state intervention in Detroit's affairs.

Representatives for the governor and state treasurer said today the financial review is under consideration but would not say when it might happen.

More to be revealed at the news conference...

Update: The news conference basically featured Bing and the Council and labor leaders telling Lansing no, we are running this city, we don't want an EM, and by the way, where's our money. Snyder looks like he may appoint a review anyway.

Are we headed for a showdown here? Or is all this a bluff to bring everyone together to avoid an EM? Stay tuned...

One Emergency Manager for Detroit, Coming Up

As predicted, say goodbye to Detroit as you knew it.

Gov. Rick Snyder is expected as early as Friday to begin the process to appoint an emergency manager for the city of Detroit, the Free Press has learned.

Snyder is expected to call for a financial review, the first step in state intervention. Both Mayor Dave Bing and Detroit City Council have refused to initiate such a review.

Bing and Snyder had a conversation Wednesday, and Snyder informed the mayor he intended to start the emergency manager process.

Snyder also has been involved in conversations with the council and the faith-based community to gather support for state intervention, according to a source close to the situation.

I've seen too many editorials from locals like Riley and Lessenberry, too many nods from leadership that this is the way they prefer to go. Bing didn't want a consent decree because it couldn't extract major concessions from the unions, and that is the main goal here. Now it's going to happen, and it has to happen before that petition to repeal PA 4 hits the system.

But when you have rhetoric like this...

Anger and calls for unity set the tone for a Detroit City Council meeting this morning designed to solicit cost-savings ideas from labor unions to avoid insolvency and the appointment of an emergency manager.

Detroiters and some council members likened an emergency manager to a dictator and slave owner.

"We as a community and as a people can agree to disagree but at the end of the day we have to decide what our destiny is going to be before someone comes in as a master, as someone to control the plantation," Councilman Kwame Kenyatta said.

"We don't need someone else's consent to do the business that the people put us in charge of."

... you just have to pray for the city.

Seriously.

Not to mention that this has got to be shaking the Democratic political structure right to the core, too. Flint, Detroit, centers of public employee union power and money that will be very angry and/or discouraged, their numbers and influence slowly being whittled away. The MEA is under constant attack from the Legislature and fighting for their survival. The UAW is still standing and strong, but certainly not as numerous as they used to be.

The Republicans mean to break these working people - and along with them break the very base of their political opponent's power - and it sure looks like they are going to succeed.

Or, will this be enough to finally rally everyone to stand up together? Unknown at this point.

In the end, this may force the Democrats to break out of their cocoon and start reaching out to other constituentcies instead of being so insulated all the time, and ultimately that may be a very good thing, but it might be a very rough road from here to there.

Out of the ashes...

More: The Freep is adding to this story as it develops. Snyder's office is already back-pedaling on the idea:

“A preliminary review absolutely does not equate to an emergency manager,” Wurfel said today. “The governor is hopeful we can avoid an emergency manager for the city.”

Then perhaps this is just a threat to leverage those concessions? Sure. But anyone that looks at the books will probably come to the conclusion that expenditures cannot be sustained as they are, which is the conclusion that Bing and the Council have already made. Take it from there.

Even more: The DNews has Snyder as "undecided", but read between the lines:

"The governor has talked with the mayor …and basically what he was hoping, and was still urging, was that the mayor and the City Council can come together and come up with a shared viable solution to the fiscal crisis," spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said. A financial review would be the first step toward state intervention in Detroit's finances, whether through a consent agreement or appointment of an emergency manager.

Snyder told The Detroit News editorial board today that he has no immediate plans to pursue a consent agreement or emergency manager, although he is keeping close tabs on the situation.

Do it, or we will do it for you.

MEDC Grant Keeps Focus: HOPE Training Programs Running

This is some really good news.

A week after Focus: HOPE said it would shut down its work training programs because of federal funding cuts, the organization has announced new grant funding will keep some of those programs alive.

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. has awarded a one-time, $1 million grant that will allow Focus: HOPE to "continue a modest level of programs and services while it reorganizes and applies for a new level of federal funding," according to a news release.

"This is terrific news," said William F. Jones Jr., Focus: HOPE's chief executive officer. "It gives us the ability to finish classes that students were just weeks away from completing. As we leverage this money to obtain additional funding, we are simultaneously planning our future programming."

For those outside of Detroit who don't know what Focus: HOPE is, you can read about its history and meaning to the citizens of Detroit here. And if the feds don't come through, perhaps the state can step up again... it's a nice thought, isn't it?

Awaiting the List of Demands

For some reason I don't trust this. Call it... oh, I don't know... years of experience.

Republicans in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday threw their support behind a payroll tax cut extension, trying to blunt charges ahead of 2012 elections of favoring wealthy Americans over middle-class workers.

Until Tuesday, Republicans had been lukewarm on extending President Barack Obama's payroll tax cut for workers, indicating they were open to negotiating it but never explicitly backing a measure, which the White House says will boost the country's sputtering economic recovery.

The move by Republicans could help avert an end-of-year battle with Democrats after months of bitter budget battles that brought the country to the edge of default in August and cost it its coveted AAA rating from Standard & Poor's.

Lukewarm?

Though he no longer has to worry about his re-election, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) isn't moderating his views. The Arizona Republican, who is retiring from office in 2012, said on Sunday that he would oppose an extension of the payroll tax cut, which is set to expire at the end of this year.

"The payroll tax holiday has not stimulated job creation. We do not think that is a great way to do it," Kyl said on "Fox News Sunday."

We?

"In all likelihood we will agree to continue the current payroll tax relief for another year," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said after a closed-door meeting of his colleagues.

McConnell said there was now "a majority sentiment" among Republicans for continuing the temporary tax cut.

Ooookay.

Indeed in the Senate, where the fight over the payroll tax break began this week, Republican support for the extension is growing, as long as it is paid for in a way that passes muster with the party. Democrats introduced legislation that would pay for the extension — which would also lower the portion of the tax paid by employers, at a cost of roughly $115 billion — with a 3.25 percent surtax on income over $1 million, an idea Republicans have already rejected. Democrats openly acknowledge it is little more than a stunt to emphasize the vast policy divisions between the parties.

Oh really.

Senator Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas, said his party’s plan could involve a small increase in taxes for some high-income people who meet certain criteria.

Alrighty then, get back to us when you figure it out. It's nice to see the Republicans squirm a bit, but this could easily flip back to them making unreasonable demands and then proclaiming that it's the Democrats who are blocking progress.

Unemployment benefits are being mentioned in these stories as well - without an extension of both of these items, the economy takes a hit of anywhere from 1-1.5% of GDP and an estimated 500,000 jobs lost.

And right on cue, here comes the plan... freeze federal employee pay for an extended two years (which was already frozen for the next two years starting last January 1st), and means test Social Security and Medicare for those making over $1 million a year. Like Digby said:

So we have some typically cynical kabuki going on in DC over the extension of the payroll tax cut.(I personally wish we would just send out government checks instead of enacting payroll tax cut because inevitably people are going to start complaining that SS is draining the treasury and has to be cut. But then, they're already doing that so I guess we've lost that battle.)

Anyway, here's the latest from dday. He says that for all the happy talk from McConnell about passing it, it appears the plan is to demand something odious in return to pay for it and then blame the Democrats for raising taxes when they refuse. (Sound familiar? It should, it worked beautifully last December. Look for them to hold up the Unemployment extension too, just for kicks. It's Christmas. They deserve a little fun.)

'Tis the season for cynicism. Watch them take this to the last second to see how much they can get from the Dems.

GOP's War on the Poor Continues: Legislature Moves to End State Low Income Heating Assistance Program

You may remember this story from last August:

Thousands of Michigan households are likely to have more trouble paying their heating bills this winter because of a recent court decision that outlawed a $90 million state assistance fund, used primarily to provide energy assistance to the state’s low income.

Ruling July 21 in a suit filed by major utility customers and former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, the state Court of Appeals said the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC), which regulates utilities, no longer has authority to maintain the fund and disburse money from it to agencies that assist the needy, such as The Salvation Army and the state LIHEAP office.

Since 2002, the PSC has paid out more than $500 million through the Low Income and Energy Efficiency Fund (LIEEF), most of it to help people pay heating bills, but also some for weatherizing homes and energy-saving projects for all customer classes.

The language to authorize the fund was left out of the sweeping 2008 energy legislation, even though further legislation passed in 2009 indicated that the Legislature intended for the fund to continue to exist. There was an easy fix to the problem:

PSC officials say the LIEEF program could be salvaged by legislation that specifically reauthorizes it, or through an appeal to the state Supreme Court.

The money was still being collected and held in escrow. Months go by, the Legisalture ignored the issue. Now it's December, and the Republicans declared today that they "have a plan". First, they are going to take leftover funding from all those families that they recently cut-off from cash assistance (TANF is welfare funding)...

Horn said a bill by Rep. Amanda Price (R-Holland) will be a supplemental appropriations bills to take $62 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funding that had been carried over and transfer into the state's Emergency Relief Fund.

Then, they are going to move to end the state program altogether, and insist that the money held in escrow be returned.

The plan also would formalize the end of the collection of a utility charge that ratepayers have been assessed.

...

"It's a budgetary and statutory fix that protects families, prioritizes spending and keeps costs down for Michigan's ratepayers," said House Speaker Bolger of Marshall.

Actually, all the unpaid bills that utilities will surely see over the winter will be added to your bill in the end anyway - but Bolger must have forgotten to remind the "ratepayers" about that. You can probably add the cost of recovery efforts (read: lawyers and court fees) to your bill too.

The lawmakers responsible, Rep. Amanda Price (R-Holland) and Rep. Ken Horn (R-Frankenmuth), say they are going to work on a "permanent solution" for heating assistance in January, but don't hold your breath. They had a simple fix in front of them. They chose to steal money that was designated for poor families instead, and end a successful program that was already in place.

Does anyone honestly think that they are going to take the initiative to come up with a new program that will help ordinary people? Of course not. This will be forgotten over the holidays, and more will be forced to live, and maybe even die, in the cold Michigan winter.

The next morning: WOOD TV is reading straight from the AP version of this story, which was short on detail and seems to have simply copied the House Republican press release. They are ignoring the line where they are ending collections that fund the program.

Playing Savvy With the Savvy

Please tell me that this is a sign that the Democrats have finally learned how to use the media machine to their advantage.

The DNC’s hard-hitting new spot hits Romney where it hurts, and borrows a popular GOP advertising concept to do it: the fake movie preview. From Tim Pawlenty to Rick Perry to Herman Cain, the presidential field has been lousy (and we do mean lousy) with movie trailer-style campaign ads.

The new DNC TV spot, which casts Romney as a man with two identities battling with himself, masters the form. It’s running in several swing states and ties into a larger web-based campaign that pushes an even longer version of the anti-Romney movie trailer.

The ad’s arrival was heralded as a Big Deal, signaling the Democrats are digging in on Romney and ignoring the rest of the field. That’s not really new — the DNC has been dinging Romney for weeks while paying far less attention to the other Republicans running for the nomination against him. But the specter of the DNC taking the attacks to a national TV ad had pundits aflutter.

“Will any of Romney’s Republican opponents criticize him as intensely this week as the Democratic National Committee does in its new ad?” asked one Politico hotsheet.

Then a little air came out of the balloon a little. A source told NBC News that the DNC was spending just $14,000 on airtime for its new multi-state ad. That’s enough to get your ad on TV so you can say you have a TV ad (and get the requisite press coverage that goes with it) but it’s not enough for your TV ad to have much impact.

Depends on who your real target is, and right now that target is the media. If you can get them to carry your message (and they certainly have), it's so much free air time. Why pay millions when you are still in the primary season? Save the money, set the tone, and then watch them run with it.

The long version of the ad has 141,000 views as of this morning, not a huge number for something that has been trumpeted with this much national fanfare. But, not only did you get the political chattering class wagging their tongues, you had a coordinated announcement with the Democratic Party apparatus in swing states, too. They sent out their e-mails, alerted the base, maybe picked up a bit of local coverage. It's not a huge splash, but just enough to wet the appetite.

And that's OK. Why? Because you got Mitt to take the bait.

Responding to the Democratic National Committee's airing of anti-Mitt Romney commercials in six different states, the Romney campaign on Monday had surrogates from 12 different states - including onetime GOP rival Tim Pawlenty -- hold conference calls attacking President Obama and defending Romney.

The DNC's ad, "Mitt vs. Mitt", depicts Romney making claims both supporting and opposing abortion rights, and also shows him saying he's "glad to hear" the president talking up the health care policy he helped enact in Massachusetts when he was governor there.

Reported final total of the ad buy? $22k - including a late $8k cable buy in the DC area, which may be more for the benefit of the press there than the electorate.

Putting the Romney campaign on defense to the point where they have to refute that he's a flip-flopper, which only serves to reinforce the message? That's priceless. It's called "playing offense", and if you can keep the Republicans in a reactive instead of a proactive stance, it means everything. Ask Karl Rove.

Now if only we could learn to do this on policy as well...

Barney

I am really going to miss this guy. Thank you for your service sir, and all the best on whatever your future holds. Hope to see you on the talk circuit with some commentary on the political scene; something tells me that it would be quite entertaining indeed...

Mitt vs. Mitt

The DNC is running this ad in Virginia, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pittsburgh and Wisconsin. Must be they aren't too concerned with Newtmentum.



It is pretty good. And it's true. Mittens is a master flip-flopper.

Extended version here, if you can take 4 minutes of Mitt arguing with himself. They've got it all on tape, and it's quite amazing the number of issues that he has played from both sides of the fence. Watch and see.

How Deep the Rabbit Hole Goes

Let's set the stage. After a week of hearings that featured Republican members of Congress browbeating the leaders of the auto industry over petty things like riding in company planes, fighting with all their might to find any excuse not to lend the money to save manufacturing in America and 2-3 million middle-class jobs, this was going on in secret:

The Federal Reserve and the big banks fought for more than two years to keep details of the largest bailout in U.S. history a secret. Now, the rest of the world can see what it was missing.

The Fed didn’t tell anyone which banks were in trouble so deep they required a combined $1.2 trillion on Dec. 5, 2008, their single neediest day. Bankers didn’t mention that they took tens of billions of dollars in emergency loans at the same time they were assuring investors their firms were healthy. And no one calculated until now that banks reaped an estimated $13 billion of income by taking advantage of the Fed’s below-market rates, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its January issue.

Saved by the bailout, bankers lobbied against government regulations, a job made easier by the Fed, which never disclosed the details of the rescue to lawmakers even as Congress doled out more money and debated new rules aimed at preventing the next collapse.

A fresh narrative of the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 emerges from 29,000 pages of Fed documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and central bank records of more than 21,000 transactions. While Fed officials say that almost all of the loans were repaid and there have been no losses, details suggest taxpayers paid a price beyond dollars as the secret funding helped preserve a broken status quo and enabled the biggest banks to grow even bigger.

Dec. 5th, 2008, was the day the Bush administration and Democrats in the House came to an agreement to give the automakers $14-17 billion to get them through until the Obama administration took over. Republicans in the Senate shot down that proposal the following week though, forcing the Bush administration to turn to $17 billion from TARP on Dec. 19th.

Remember that time? Remember how fun that was for all of us? $17 billion. Peanuts.

The amount of money the central bank parceled out was surprising even to Gary H. Stern, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis from 1985 to 2009, who says he “wasn’t aware of the magnitude.” It dwarfed the Treasury Department’s better-known $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Add up guarantees and lending limits, and the Fed had committed $7.77 trillion as of March 2009 to rescuing the financial system, more than half the value of everything produced in the U.S. that year.

And remember how they demanded that those middle-class union workers make concessions on wages and benefits? And how the wagging fingers pontificated on how those automakers better show some progress on shaping up their business practices, blah, blah, blah, or they would be cut-off at the knees and millions would lose their jobs anyway?

“TARP at least had some strings attached,” says Brad Miller, a North Carolina Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, referring to the program’s executive-pay ceiling. “With the Fed programs, there was nothing.”

Bankers didn’t disclose the extent of their borrowing. On Nov. 26, 2008, then-Bank of America (BAC) Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth D. Lewis wrote to shareholders that he headed “one of the strongest and most stable major banks in the world.” He didn’t say that his Charlotte, North Carolina-based firm owed the central bank $86 billion that day.

It's easy to believe that Congress didn't know about this, and, given the dog-and-pony show they put on over the automakers, in hindsight that might have been for the best, odd as that may sound. Think about that time, the change in power that was coming and the Republican egos that were threatened by that - all during this crisis that threatened to tip us right over the edge. Would you have trusted those guys to make things right?

Time for some bluster after the fact though.

(Former Democratic Senator Ted) Kaufman says some banks are so big that their failure could trigger a chain reaction in the financial system. The cost of borrowing for so-called too-big-to-fail banks is lower than that of smaller firms because lenders believe the government won’t let them go under. The perceived safety net creates what economists call moral hazard -- the belief that bankers will take greater risks because they’ll enjoy any profits while shifting losses to taxpayers.

If Congress had been aware of the extent of the Fed rescue, Kaufman says, he would have been able to line up more support for breaking up the biggest banks.

Byron L. Dorgan, a former Democratic senator from North Dakota, says the knowledge might have helped pass legislation to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, which for most of the last century separated customer deposits from the riskier practices of investment banking.

“Had people known about the hundreds of billions in loans to the biggest financial institutions, they would have demanded Congress take much more courageous actions to stop the practices that caused this near financial collapse,” says Dorgan, who retired in January.

You know what, Byron? We should still do that now, because nothing has changed. The big banks have gotten even bigger - and we've got Europe teetering on the edge of a financial disaster that might put us in the position of having to bail out the banks again.

Meanwhile, Kaufman says, “we’re absolutely, totally, 100 percent not prepared for another financial crisis.”

Well, sure glad that in 2010 we finally elected some responsible people who wouldn't obstruct progress on the hopes that a bad economy would put their party back in power or anything silly like that.

Oh wait...

Better pray that Europe holds, or we might find ourselves in some mighty deep water very soon.

U of M Economist: Hard to See Tax Cuts "Creating Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs"

Well good, we can kill that talking point now. The standard Republican ideology of "low taxes = jobs" should be a dead issue, and from now on will be laughed at by intelligent people everywhere, including the media reporting on those kind of statements when they are used as an explanation when pushing for more tax cuts.

Right? I mean, you guys are going to start dispelling this notion every time it's mentioned, aren't you?

No?

Michigan likely will finish 2011 with 64,200 new jobs. Growth slows to 32,000 jobs during 2012 and picks up to 45,000 jobs during 2013, according to the U-M forecast.

...

(U-M economist Don) Grimes said he thinks the tax cuts will have a positive impact on jobs in the long run, but it will be difficult to measure. “Statistically, it’s hard to prove,” Grimes said.

Business taxes are “still a pretty small share of total costs."

“There’s no question in my mind that it’s a positive thing,” he said. “But it’s hard to see it creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.”

Oh. So. Now that we have shrunk the state government revenue to roughly half its previous size and still expect it to support around the same 10 million people...

The inflation-adjusted purchasing power of state general fund revenue will be 48 percent less in 2013 than in 2000, according to the U-M forecast.

... turns out we aren't guaranteed all those jobs the Republicans promised. Huh. Imagine that. And to really drive the point home (that's a Michigan pun!), it appears that we are once again relying on the auto industry for the majority of the job growth that we do see.

Tell me, um, how is this "reinventing" Michigan again? Anyone?

The state’s recovery is once again being led by the resurgent auto industry, which over the years has tossed Michigan around like a Jeep bouncing over a bumpy off-road trail.

Twenty-seven percent of all new jobs in the state over the next two years will be in manufacturing, according to the U-M forecast.

A third of those are “directly attributable to the auto industry, and many of the rest derive from auto-related industries,” Fulton said.

And, fearless prediction here, the next time a recession rolls around, and the auto and "related industries" tank our employment picture once again, you should fully expect everyone to question why we didn't continue to diversify our economy. When they do, remember this.

For now though, we are just going to ignore all the above, and push for even more business tax cuts that won't guarantee jobs, but will guarantee reduced education opportunities and other critical quality of life services.

Yeah. Like that.

Congratulations, Michigan, you've elected the Republicans. And you can't say you weren't warned.