| « | October 2008 | » | ||||
 |
||||||
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
We'll be online and plan a big update with some really neat stuff tonight, but the focus will be on the third and final Presidenial debate.Check back here after the debate!
Dear Friend,
Late last month, in my last update on Great Lakes issues, I mentioned an upcoming series of public meetings to be conducted by the Office of the Great Lakes (OGL). The OGL has confirmed the dates and locations for those meetings and they are as follows:
All the meetings are scheduled at 7 PM, and we are seeking your input on a draft action plan with specific recommendations for steps we can take to protect and preserve the Great Lakes in a way that enhances our economic prosperity. To obtain a copy of the draft plan, visit www.michigan.gov/deqgreatlakes and click on Protection and Restoration.
Michigan’s Great Lakes are critical to our quality of life and our economic transformation, and your participation is an essential element of our final action plan. I hope you can attend a meeting near you, but if you are unable to attend and still want to comment on the plan you can do so by emailing DEQ-GreatLakesRestoration@michigan.gov, or by mailing your written comments to the Office of the Great Lakes, DEQ, P.O. Box 30473-7973, Lansing, Michigan 48909.
All comments are due by November 26, 2008, and additional information is available by contacting the Office of the Great Lakes at 517-335-4056.
Thanks for helping protect our Great Lakes,
John Cherry
Sarah Palin starts us off with a finding that she abused her power as Governor for personal reasons.
You can read the actual report here.
And what does all of this this say about John McCain's judgement? What does it say when he wants to run the Country, but can't even control his own crowds.
Want to see how this election is trending? Click here.
Our club has endorsed Deb Kennedy for State Representative. She is a school board member, small business owner, and is active in her church. She would make an excellent State Representative.
Nobody is much talking about it, but Carl Levin is running for re-election. We heartily support him.
This would be a good time to talk about Lt. Governor John Cherry. Although he is not up for re-election this year, he is actively campaigning and supporting our Democratic slate.
As his Presidency fades into oblivion, President Bush says he still has a lot of work to do. Hasn't he screwed up enough already?
Write us a note at brownstowndems@lycos.com.
First of all, it's pretty clear that Obama won the debate tonight. We witnessed the death of "Straight Talk." Asked if he would prioritize Health Care, the Economy, or Earmark Reform, McCain answered "All Three." Panderer! Beyond that, Mccain spent the whole time clumsily attacking Obama, who parried his thrusts well.
Yesterday, we told you about the Keating Five scandal and John McCain's role in it. Today, we can talk about his involvement in Iran-Contra.
Listening post-debate, even the partisan Republican commentators don't think McCain won as he needed to do.
We'll post more later in the week.
The Obama campaigns reminds us about John McCain's membership in the Keating Five scandal. Without him it's the Keating Four.
The Supreme Court: another reason why this election is important.
An interesting idea to think about, why do we award all of the electoral votes in Michigan to one candidate or the other?
Want to know how Sarah Palin got through the debate? Here's a peek at her notes.
Please note that we will be posting as frequently as possible until Election Day. Expect a slowdown after that.
Most important development: McCain gives up in Michigan
What does Sarah Palin think about it.'
Remember the next debate on October 7!
What does Obama do next? We've got video from MSNBC!
McCain is getting more desparate.
Remember that Alaska probe of Palin wanting her ex-brother-in-law fired? Can you say stonewalling?
They're covering up at the White House, too, over the U.S. Attorney political firings.
Let's not overlook our own local elections in Brownstown. Here is our endorsed slate.
Ever want to see a list of John Dingell's many endorsements? Hey, how come the Brownstown Democratic Club's endorsement isn't listed?
Speaking of the Congressman, here is his thoughts about the Economic Bailout.
Did you know Joe Biden is also running for re-election as Senator? Neither did we.
How about that National Debt Clock? Turns out President Bush has broke it.
It may not be $700B for Wall Street, but why was it so hard for Washington to help our auto industry borrow money?
In what will surely become a regular feature, here is today's Republican Corruption Update.
Turns out John McCain is an Ohio State fan.
Catch the newest Obama commercial on the economy.
John McCain hurt by Bailout Failure.
Here is a link to Obama in Michigan.
A great local angle on the Obama campaign.
Dingell Update; Deregulation
September 25, 2008 - 5:13pm — Emily ThompsonThere has been considerable national debate in recent weeks about what the role of the federal government should be regarding the regulation of the U.S. economy. As your voice in Congress I would like to take a minute and share with you, the constituents of the 15th district, my stance.
In 1999 Congress passed a bill known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, one of the many helpful New Deal reforms my father supported. I myself voted against the deregulation of the financial services industry in 1999. I feared that by allowing mergers between commercial and investment banks we would inevitably witness severe repercussions which would necessitate a major financial bailout that will cost American tax payers hundreds of billions of dollars. Today, unfortunately, my fears have come to fruition.
To expand upon my position on the current economic crisis, I have included a copy of my full statement from the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act debate from 1999 below.
With every good wish,
John D. Dingell
*************************************
CONFERENCE REPORT ON S. 900, GRAMM-LEACH-BLILEY ACT
House of Representatives - November 04, 1999
Page: H11542
Mr. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the remaining time for purposes of closing.
Madam Speaker and my colleagues, I think we ought to look at what we are doing here tonight. We are passing a bill which is going to have very little consideration, written in the dark of night, without any real awareness on the part of most of what it contains.
I just want to remind my colleagues about what happened the last time the Committee on Banking brought a bill on the floor which deregulated the savings and loans. It wound up imposing upon the taxpayers of this Nation about a $500 billion liability. That is what it cost to clean up that mess.
Now, at the same time, the banks by engaging in questionable practices wound up in a situation where the Fed and the Treasury Department had to bail them out also at the taxpayers' expense. But it did not show.
Having said that, what we are creating now is a group of institutions which are too big to fail.
Not only are they going to be big banks, but they are going to be big everything, because they are going to be in securities and insurance, in issuance of stocks and bonds and underwriting, and they are also going to be in banks. And under this legislation, the whole of the regulatory structure is so obfuscated and so confused that liability in one area is going to fall over into liability in the next. Taxpayers are going to be called upon to cure the failures we are creating tonight, and it is going to cost a lot of money, and it is coming. Just be prepared for those events.
You are going to find that they are too big to fail, so the Fed is going to be in and other Federal agencies are going to be in to bail them out. Just expect that.
With regard to the privacy, let us take a look at it. We are told about all the protections for privacy that you have here. If you want to have a good laugh, laugh at it, because here is the joke: The only thing the banks are going to be required to say with regard to what they are going to do with regard to your privacy, and this is everything, from your health to your financial situation, to everything else, is “we are going to stick it to you” The privacy that you are going to have under this legislation is absolutely nothing. And what is going to drive that is going to be a simple fact, and that is that the banks are all going to be competing with the most diligence, and the result will be that those protections are going to be manifested in a race to the bottom.
Consumers, investors and the American public will have no protection to their privacy whatsoever under this bill. The only thing the banks have to say and the other institutions have to say is “we are going to stick it to you.”
Vote against the conference report.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Contact: Elizabeth Kerr |
09/22/2008 | 517-371-5410 |
LANSING—John McCain will say anything to win the election, even spread misleading information about what cars he owns, according to the recent report by Newsweek that McCain owns a 13-car fleet that includes three foreign cars. Standing in front of a fleet of 13 American cars, the fleet McCain could own, Mark Brewer, Chair of the Michigam Democratic Party asked if we could expect to hear “straight talk” from McCain tomorrow when he visits Michigan or if he would continue to pander to his daily audience.
“If John McCain isn’t going to be straight with us about what kind of car he owns, how can we trust anything he says?” asked Mark Brewer, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. “McCain’s positions on everything from Social Security to the economy and Iraq have been flip-flopping throughout this entire election, but this pandering to Michigan workers is simply insulting.”
In an interview with WXYZ Television earlier this month, McCain claimed “I have bought American literally all my life.” He made those comments defending his purchase of foreign hybrid vehicle - a purchase he denied making despite having bragged about it in South Carolina last year. In addition to the foreign hybrid he bragged about last year, Newsweek reports that McCain's fleet of 13 vehicles includes a Lexus, a 2005 Volkswagen convertible, and a 2001 Honda sedan.
McCain’s political motivation know no bounds. In addition to his pandering about the types of vehicles he buys, McCain has changed his positions, when poltically populat, on Social Security and the financial crisis. In 2000 when McCain was campaigning for the Republican nomination for President, he said at an event in Nashua, New Hampshire that he “was not for quote privatizing Social Security.” But that didn’t stop him from becoming Bush’s right hand man in the effort to push through the privatization of Social Security in 2004. McCain said, “Without privatization, I don’t see how you can possibly, over time, make sure young Americans are able to receive Social Security benefits.” In the mid-1990s, McCain supported a bill to ban all new government regulation. But now— amidst the current financial crisis he has changed his tune—telling voters that the markets collapsed as a result of deregulation.
In a conference call yesterday, Ron Gettelfinger, President of the United Auto Workers said, “‘Buy American’ can’t just be a slogan that John McCain rolls out when he is in Michigan. It's insulting to our members. We need a president who's committed to rebuilding the auto industry here in America, not a President who buys foreign cars and then lies about when he thinks autoworkers are watching.”
McCain and Gambling Lobbyists video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGq6UCIKEkM
