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.
John McCain has tried throughout his political career to earn the title Enemy of Earmarks — brave opponent of pork-barrel spending that sent federal money to fund some project that allowed politicians to tell their followers that they were bringing home the bacon to their districts. And when he introduced Sarah Palin as his running mate, she tried to present herself as a “reformer” who refused federal money in the name of do-it-yourself rugged individualism:
And I championed reform to end the abuses of earmark-spending by Congress. In fact, I told Congress — I told Congress, “Thanks, but no thanks,” on that bridge to nowhere. If our state wanted a bridge, I said we’d build it ourselves.
But as The Washington Post reports, this is a highly dishonest pose. When she was elected mayor of Wasilla in 1996, that town had received no federal money for any projects for several years. So what did this intrepid fighter against wasteful spending do?
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog group.
Of course, those were really rugged, staunchly individualist and independent earmarks. And that lobbying firm is yet another tie between Palin and Sen. Ted Stevens, currently under indictment on seven felony counts of corruption:
As mayor of Wasilla, however, Palin oversaw the hiring of Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh, an Anchorage-based law firm with close ties to Alaska’s most senior Republicans: Rep. Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens, who was indicted in July on charges of accepting illegal gifts. The Wasilla account was handled by the former chief of staff to Stevens, Steven W. Silver, who is a partner in the firm.
Does that sound like someone who “stood up to the old politics-as-usual, to the special interests, to the lobbyists”? I didn’t think so.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter