Peters: Keep an open mind on Northwest-Delta merger
Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said she was keeping an open mind about the proposed merger between Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
"We need to keep an open mind to it," Peters told The Detroit News during a three-hour session at the Transportation Department. "This is a time of a lot of stress in the aviation industry."
Peters and other high level officials met with reporters for 15-minute sessions that was reminiscent of speed dating, or an annual event at the White House with radio hosts.
House votes tomorrow on extending unemployment benefits
In a huge issue for Michigan, the U.S. House is expected to vote tomorrow on whether to extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks. States with unemployment rates above 6 percent would get an additional 13 weeks.
"Every week I hear from more and more people in my district that have lost their jobs through no fault of their own and are struggling to avoid foreclosure and afford rising food, health care and fuel costs," said Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak.
Levin's office said about 226,000 Michigan workers would be elegible for benefits under the extension.
The vote will be part of the Irar war funding bill. The Senate is expected to take the same approach. President Bush opposes extending jobless benefits and wants the war bill not to be loaded up with other items.
2 senators seek answers in EPA official's departure
Two Democratic senators sent a letter today demanding to know whether the Environmental Protection Agency's regional administrator for the Midwest was forced out because of her assertive efforts to get Dow Chemical to clean up dioxin contamination in Michigan waterways.
The EPA official, Mary Gade, recently charged that she was told to resign or face firing over her handling of the Midland company's cleanup of the contamination from a 52-mile stretch of waterway that dumps into Saginaw Bay.
Dioxin has been shown to cause cancer in some laboratory animals.
Sens. Barbara Boxer of California and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island asked EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson to provide Gade's most recent performance evaluation, answer whether the White House or Dow played any role in departure, and detail why she left.
"Congress and the American people expect EPA to enforce vigorously our public health protections -- and to preserve the integrity of the enforcement program by excluding politics from such activities," the senators wrote. "We are troubled by reports suggesting there was a link between (Gade's) efforts to assure an aggressive cleanup by Dow and her allegedly forced departure..."
Boxer chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and Whitehouse sits on it.
Dow Chemical denies it asked for Gade's ouster, and the EPA, while saying it wouldn't comment on personnel matters, said Dow has "fully complied" with the agency's requests. Spokespersons at Dow and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality say Gade's departure won't affect the timing of cleanup of the contamination, some of which dates back to chemical processes used prior to World War I.
No free rides for Michigan incumbents
Well, it's official: No Michigan congressional incumbent will get a free election ride.
Here are the last-day updates on the House races:
Democrat Edward Kriewall, 66, will run against three-term Rep. Thad McCotter, R-Livonia. Kriewall served as Novi's city manager from 1974 to 2000. His issues include getting U.S. troops out of Iraq. Battling Kriewall in the Democratic primary will be Livonia attorney Joseph Larkin.
Seven-term Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, will face Democrat Henry Sanchez of Saranac.
Fourth-grade teacher Matt Sawicki of Bangor Township will try to oust 16-term Dale Kildee, D-Flint.
Organic farmer Sharon Renier announced she'll try for another chance to be the south-central 7th Congressional District's member of Congress. Renier, a Democrat, faces a huge obstacle: the well-financed, political veteran Mark Schauer, a Democratic state senator from Battle Creek. Renier ran for the seat in 2004 and then again in 2006, when she held Republican winner Tim Walberg to an unimpressive 50-46 percent victory.
Meanwhile, both of Detroit's members of Congress will face primary challengers.
Rep. John Conyers, the Detroit Democrat who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, will face Democrat Horace Sheffield, who is the pastor of New Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, the president of the Michigan chapter of the National Action Network (Al Sharpton's group), and a supporter of embattled Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
In addition to two previously announced Democratic challengers, six-term Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick of Detroit also has a Republican challenger: Edward Gubics.
Michigan judicial nominees still waiting ....
The Senate Judiciary Committee meets Thursday to vote on nominees, and, according to its calendar, the controversial Michigan package of federal nominees won't see action.
Last week's hearing on the three Michigan judicial nominees was positively explosive. Republicans were angry that the nominees had been leap-frogged over others who've been waiting, that the hearing was held before the American Bar Association submitted its ratings of the candidates, and, based on their tough questions, they were dubious about the qualifications of long-pending nominee Helene White.
A source on the Senate Judiciary Committee says the vote on the Michigan nominees isn't expected until the ABA ratings come in. That is likely before the end of the month.
Carl Tobias, an expert on the judicial nominating process at the University of Richmond, said last week's hearing really left the fate of the Michigan nominees up in the air. "For the Democrats, I believe confirmation of Judge White is indispensable to confirmation of either (Raymond) Kethledge or (Stephen) Murphy. If the Republican senators remain as opposed to her as they seemed at last Wednesday's hearing, no one may be confirmed," the law professor said.
Challengers step forward to Reps. Dingell, Rogers
Four-term Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, will face Democrat Bob Alexander, who plans to officially file tomorrow.
Alexander, a consultant and former teacher, was trounced by Rogers in 2004, 61-37 percent.
Alexander managed Ingham and Clinton counties in Jim Marcinkowski's challenge to Rogers in 2006 (Marcinkowski lost 55-43 percent), and was the Michigan Co-Chair of the Draft Al Gore for President campaign, a news release said in announcing his candidacy.
Meanwhile, Rep. John Dingell, the Dearborn Democrat who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, will be challenged by Republican John Lynch of Ypsilanti.
Reps. Miller, Upton get challengers
After looking like they might not even have races this year, Reps. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township, and Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, now have challengers.
Miller, a three-termer who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee, will be challenged by Robert Denison of Shelby Township. She beat Denison, a former lobbyist and longtime union advocate, in 2006, 66-to-31 percent.
Upton, up for his 12th term, will be challenged by Democrat Don Cooney, a six-term Kalamazoo city commissioner.
The filing deadline is tomorrow.
Lineup for Michigan congressional races nearly complete
The filing deadline in Michigan to run for Congress is tomorrow, and all 15 of the state's House members have either filed or signaled they will in addition to Sen. Carl Levin, who is also up.
Here's a quick rundown on what's ahead:
Potential barnburners: freshman Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, and eight-term Rep. Joe Knollenberg, a senior Republican on the House Appropriations Committee from Bloomfield Hills, drew formidable challengers.
State Sen. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, is mounting such a strong challenge against Walberg that the non-partisan Cook Political Report is already rating the race as a toss-up.
In announcing his bid for re-election today, Walberg said, "job creation, health care affordability, lower gas prices, expanding Ameirca's energy supply, and increasing educational opportunities are my top priorities to bring hope and opportunity to Michigan families."
Meanwhile, former Michigan lottery commissioner Gary Peters, a Democrat, hopes to unseat Knollenberg. Both reside in Bloomfield Hills. The Cook Political Report ranks that race as leaning Republican.
In addition, Jack Kevorkian, the controversial assisted suicide doctor dubbed "Dr. Death," has said he is running as an independent. As an independent, he has until July 17 to file.
His attorney, Mayer Morganroth, said Kevorkian is gathering signatures to be on the ballot. "He's running. Ane he'll have well over the number of signatures he needs."
Primary battle: Only one Michigan incumbent has, at least as of today, drawn a primary challenger, or in this case, two primary challengers.
Six-term Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Detroit, whose son, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, is fighting perjury charges related to his text-messaging scandal, will face state Sen. Martha Scott of Highland Park and former state Rep. Mary Waters of Detroit.
Yet to catch fire: There was plenty of expectation that state Rep. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, would give eight-term Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, a real fight. But so far, Casperson has had real trouble raising money.
Casperson, who plans to file in the morning, has had trouble raising money, but thinks Stupak is vulnerable in the 1st Congressional District, which includes all of the Upper Peninsula and 16 northern counties below.
"It's not Bart personally, it's Washington in general," Casperson says. "The Democrats have taken over but nothing has changed. The folks who've been around a long are probably on the hot seat."
To get a shot at Stupak, Casperson will need to win the Aug. 5 primary. That will put him up against Linda Goldthorpe, a lawyer from Luce County, and Iron Mountain trucker Don Hooper, who has been trounced by Stupak in the past three elections.
Other challengers: Sen. Levin, the Detroit Democrat who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, is running for his 6th term. He's being challenged by Republican state Rep. Jack Hoogendyk of Texas Township (House District 61).
Nine-term Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, will be challenged by Saginaw attorney Andrew Concannon.
Three-term Thad McCotter, R-Livonia, will face Livonia Democrat and attorney Joe Larkin.
Iraq War veteran and pastor Bert Copple of Warren is running as a Republican trying to unseat 13-term Sandy Levin, D-Royal Oak.
Eight-term Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, will be challenged by Democrat Fred Johnson of Holland, an associate professor of American History at Hope College and former Marine captain.
Free ride: As of Monday, no challengers had filed against seven incumbents: Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids; Dale Kildee, D-Flint; Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph; Mike Rogers, R-Brighton; Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township; John Conyers, the Detroit Democrat who chairs the House Judiciary Committee; and John Dingell, the Dearborn Democrat who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Reps. Knollenberg and Walberg races rated more competitive
The non-partisan Cook Political Report has changed its ratings of what are expected to be Michigan's two hottest congressional races.
The battle between freshman Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, and state Sen. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, has moved from "lean Republican" to "tossup." That fight is for the 7th Congressional District, which is in the south-central part of the state.
Meanwhile, Joe Knollenberg, the eight-term Oakland-area congressman who is a senior Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, has been moved from "likely Republican" to "lean Republican." He's being challenged in the 9th Congressional District by former Michigan lottery commissioner Gary Peters.
"(The Knollenberg seat) appears to be one of Democrats' better opportunities to knock off a veteran incumbent," said House analyst David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report.
"Democrats have held the mind-set that this year some of their top opportunities to gain seats will be in districts where they really did not give an incumbent a serious run for their money in 2006.... They have a stronger candidate in Gary Peters."
Wasserman cited Peters' strong fund-raising, and also that the 9th district tracks similarly to how the country voted in the 2000 and 2004 presidential races.
In the Walberg-Schauer race, Wasserman cited the fact that Walberg is trailing his rival in cash-on-hand in the middle of the year. "That's a big problem," Wasserman said, "especially for a freshman as fragile in a political position as Walberg. He is to the right of the district, there's very little question about that."
Wasserman said the district is only about 1 point more Republican than the national average for the 2000 and 2004 presidential races. "Walberg has a voting record that is towards the conservative pole of the House," the analyst said.
Wasserman also noted the huge gap in money the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has in comparison to the National Republican Campaign Committee (the two groups that try to boost their respective party's membership in the House). In the last federal filings, the DCCC had $44 million in cash-on-hand, while the NRCC had $7 million, he noted.
"I don't think the NRCC will necessarily have the money to dig (walberg) out of the hole, which is another cause for concern here," he said. "I think it's safe to say that the DCCC will spend lavishly to defeat Walberg, and that national Republicans will not have the similar luxury."
Meanwhile, the Rothenberg Political Report, which recently re-ranked some races, left both races at lean Republican. Political editor Nathan Gonzales said he expects both the Walberg-Schauer and Knollenberg-Peters races to be "very competitive" but that the incumbents have the advantage.
Trouble with your mortgage?
The House moved today to help homeowners avoid foreclosure and communities to fix up and buy foreclosed properties. The problem is huge in Michigan, where unemployment has left many homeowners struggling to keep their homes.
All six Michigan Democrats voted for the $300 billion program to help homeowners refinance their mortgages. Republicans split: Voting against it were Pete Hoekstra of Holland, Dave Camp of Midland, Tim Walberg of Tipton and Candice Miller of Harrison Township; for it were Joe Knollenberg of Bloomfield Hills, Thad McCotter of Livonia, Fred Upton of St. Joseph, Vern Ehlers of Grand Rapids, and Mike Rogers of Brighton.
"Michigan taxpayers cannot afford to pay for the irresponsibility and blatant recklessness of mortgage servicers and speculators, and this legislation forces hard-working families to back up $300 billion in risky mortgage securities," said Walberg. "the best way out of the current housing crisis is to create more good-paying jobs, which will help all Americans purchase homes."
But Rep. John Dingell, who supported the $300 billion program, said, "this is no bailout. Lenders who participate will have to take a loss, but their losses under this program will be far less than if these properties go into foreclosure. Borrowers who realize a profit when they sell their home must return some of that profit to the government."
