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.
A couple of revealing tidbits about the kind of pressure being put on Rep. Bart Stupak by both sides of the Michigan congressional delegation during yesterday’s debate on the health care reform bill. At Politico, Stupak himself talks about the influence of his political mentor, Rep. John Dingell (D-Romulus).
The deal came about after a personal appeal from Stupak’s longtime ally, fellow Michigan Rep. John Dingell, the former chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee whose father first offered legislation creating universal health care back in 1943. Dingell helped broker negotiations between an angry Stupak and party leaders at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue when all looked lost.
“John Dingell had a piece of me yesterday for quite some time,” Stupak said. “He kept me well informed of what I should be doing.”
Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reports that Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-West Ottowa) was whipping up protesters of the bill on the Capitol Hill lawn, giving out Stupak’s phone number and telling them to call him to make him change his mind back again:
Pete Hoekstra, a Michigan Republican, said Stupak’s support “makes it really hard to beat” the bill. But Hoekstra read out the phone number to Stupak’s office for the crowd of protesters below.
“Call now,” Hoekstra said, “because he wants to hear from you.”
At this point, it’s not clear whether Stupak’s bold public stance and ultimate switch of position helped or hurt him. He seems to have angered both sides along the way, leaving great suspicion of him on both sides of the aisle. But for the moment, at least, he gets to be a hero for the Democrats for helping pass the bill.
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