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.
While most governors of both parties have been lobbying hard to get Congress to pass the state aid bill being voted on this afternoon by the U.S. House of Representatives, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is objecting to the bill, claiming that it “hijacks” state budgets and that it will do more harm than good. The Hill reports:
“The Bill as passed the Senate will force Mississippi to rewrite its current year (FY11) budget,” Barbour lamented in a statement.
The Mississippi Republican also said the state will have to re-direct funds to education in order to qualify for the aid.
Barbour estimated that that his state will have to transfer $50-100 million to education, “funds that must be taken away from public safety, human services, mental health and other state priorities and given to education,” to qualify for the aid package.
“There is no justification for the federal government hijacking state budgets, but that is exactly what Congress has done,” Barbour said.
In most states, however, the additional aid will help balance the budget and prevent further cuts to crucial programs. That is certainly the case here in Michigan, where more than $300 million in aid will eliminate the need for even deeper cuts in Medicaid programs that have already been slashed in recent years — at a time when a record 1.8 million Michigan residents rely on it for their health care.
He does have the option of turning down the aid, of course. But I bet he won’t.
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