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.
Following up on Wednesday’s story about Congressman Pete Hoekstra’s ties to the Republican Study Committee, Hoekstra has told the Grand Rapids Press that the feds should have filed suit against British Petroleum to secure the $20 billion escrow.
“There’s really no legislation setting this up,” he said. “The federal government could’ve filed suit against BP.
“They could have had the court negotiate an interim step so that the $20 billion could be (set up by the court). That’s the process that should be used.”
The irony here is that Hoekstra has defended the telecom industry saying it should not face lawsuits for participating in national security investigations. Hoekstra has also voted to exempt oil and gas interests from clean water and other environmental laws, and has voted to prevent oil companies from being sued for price gouging.
Of course the other issue with relying on a lawsuit is time. The Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska took 19 years to resolve in the courts, and only after the intervention of the U.S. Supreme Court. And even there, the high court struck down a ruling for punitive damages as excessive, and forced the lower courts to recalculate the damages.
The escrow was announced last week by President Barack Obama and will be used to pay for economic recovery efforts in the Gulf. But it has been a source of contention with Republicans. Last week, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) apologized to a BP executive during a hearing on Capitol Hill. And the Republican Study Committee issued a press statement calling the escrow “a Chicago style political shakedown.”
Hoekstra, who is seeking the GOP nomination for governor, is part of the Republican Study Committee.
Hoekstra is vying for the nomination of his party against Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder, Attorney General Mike Cox, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard and State Sen. Tom George. On the Democratic side, Speaker of the Michigan House Andy Dillon is squaring off with Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero.
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