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.
Last April when Rep. Pete Hoekstra announced his candidacy for governor on Tim Skubick’s PBS show Off the Record, Skubick questioned him repeatedly about how he would be able to run for governor in the state of Michigan and still be an effective representative for the state in Washington, D.C.
Hoekstra said it would not be a problem:
“While you’re running for governor, who’s gonna be congressman from your district?” Skubick asked.
Hoekstra apparently misunderstood the question, saying: “Well there’s a lot of people that are taking a look at that….” Skubick interrupted him: “No, no, no, while you’re running for governor right now?”
Hoekstra then replied: “I will be. Absolutely. This is our two-week recess just like the state legislature, I’d normally be on vacation but I’m criss-crossing the state these two weeks. I’ll be in Washington, I’m in my district, I’m doing the work that needs to be done.”
Skubick continued to press the issue: “Well when you go back to Washington you can’t be here running for governor, so one of these things has to suffer,” he said.
“I think as you talked about earlier in your program,” Hoekstra replied. “I can multi-task. I’ve done it in the past, I can do it here.”
But the Detroit News reports that Hoekstra has been missing huge numbers of votes in Congress as he runs for governor back here in Michigan:
Rep. Pete Hoekstra has missed quite a few votes as he juggles his congressional job with his campaign to be the state’s next governor.
This month, Hoekstra, R-Holland, has missed 71 percent of votes, or 86 of the 121 votes held.
This is unusual for Hoekstra, who has long had one of the best records in the House on attendance and votes taken. But clearly he can’t continue that record while running for governor. As the race heats up over the next few months, that record will likely only get worse.
For all practical purposes, Michigan’s 2nd congressional district has very little representation until his successor is seated in January.
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