I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
He sat in silence for 165 minutes, waiting patiently for the chance to question oil industry executives during a Tuesday hearing of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
But Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak (D) never got the opportunity. That’s because the committee’s top Republican, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (Wis.) objected when Chairman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) asked the committee for “unanimous consent” to allow Stupak to ask a few questions at the end of the hearing. Stupak is not a member of the committee, and Sensenbrenner invoked a House rule dictating that non-members can attend hearings but can’t participate.
Markey pointed out that the purpose of the unanimous consent vote was to waive the non-participation rule.
“Under House custom, any rule can be waived by UC,” Markey pleaded.
But Sensenbrenner was having none of it, contending a waiver can come only from the full House, through the Rules Committee.
For Markey, there was nothing left to do but apologize to an angry Stupak.
“No apology necessary,” Stupak replied. “What goes around comes around.”
Mike Lillis is a Fellow with affiliate site Washington Independent.
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