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McCain picks Alaska Gov. Palin as running mate
These United States • Sep 4, 2008 10:05 AM
Fact check: Analyzing attacks at GOP convention Posted by Jim Kuhnhenn | The Associated Press September 04, 2008 09:04AM ST. PAUL, Minn. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth. Some examples: PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere." THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere." RELATED CONTENT Palin's rousing speech revs up GOP Gallery: GOP convention Mich. delegates support Palin with jerseys Text of Palin's speech at GOP convention Demas: Palin's had her eye on the VP post PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform -- not even in the state senate." THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation. PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars." THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded. Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families. He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise. MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson. THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state -- by population. MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC. THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations. FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States." THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries. FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right -- change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington -- throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin." THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate. http://www.mlive.com/elections/index.ssf/2008/09/fact_check_analyzing_attacks_a.html The great thing about democracy is that it gives every voter a chance to do something stupid. - Art Spander
The Chief of Police position in Three Rivers
Three Rivers Area • Jan 11, 2008 6:21 PM
For crying out loud, obsess much? Does knowing mine or anyone else's personal information going to make your response to these posts any different? I think not. The great thing about democracy is that it gives every voter a chance to do something stupid. - Art Spander
The Chief of Police position in Three Rivers
Three Rivers Area • Jan 11, 2008 4:24 PM
I guess I'd need to put on the "I have a personal issue with TRPD/cops for some reason that I choose not to divulge" glasses to understand why this is such an issue with some of you. Most of the time when I see a police vehicle in town it's creeping around at a slower pace then the rest of traffic. The way some of you make it sound, it's as if they are driving around every day like it's the TR 500. Well, I'm sorry, I just don't see it. You know, if you have a problem with cops, just come right out and say it. Don't hide behind this petty, "they drive fast" complaint, that's just nitpicking and tiresome. The great thing about democracy is that it gives every voter a chance to do something stupid. - Art Spander
Michiganders Moving Out
These United States • Jan 11, 2008 10:16 AM
As a business person I can say the main obstacle that keeps us continuously struggling and preventing us from moving forward is insurance costs. Most increases in health insurance are passed on to employees, who of course are not receiving raises to coincide with the increased expense. But that's just health insurance, it seems across the board it's becoming an expense you can no longer afford without making cuts. Speaking of insurance, is anyone paying attention to what Blue Cross Blue Shield is up to? http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071221/OPINION02/712210308/1085/opinion The great thing about democracy is that it gives every voter a chance to do something stupid. - Art Spander
January Flood Warning
Three Rivers Area • Jan 11, 2008 9:49 AM
I found this to be quite contradictory to what we are experiencing down here. Obviously our snow didn't evaporate. Warm-winter cycles accelerating loss of Great Lakes water by Jeff Kart | The Bay City Times Thursday January 10, 2008, 8:30 AM Lake Huron is in a fog, part of a gloomy cycle that's pushing water levels to record lows, scientists say. Last week, a winter storm dropped more than a foot of snow over the Great Lakes. Over the weekend, warmer temperatures melted that snow, which evaporated into the air. The cycle has been playing out for the last 30 years in the Great Lakes, said Cynthia Sellinger, co-author of a paper to be published Saturday in Environmental Science & Technology, a scientific journal. Winters have been warmer. Snow doesn't build up, then seep into the ground and recharge the lakes in the spring. Instead, warmer winter temperatures melt the snow after it falls, leaving the ground frozen and allowing the snow to evaporate. "Since 1978, there's been a long-term decline in precipitation and a long-term increase in evaporation," said Sellinger, a hydrologist at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "It's very subtle, extremely subtle, but it's there." Lakes Huron and Michigan, which are connected by the Straits of Mackinac, are experiencing the lowest water levels in the Great Lakes this month. Lake Huron is within 2 inches of its all-time low for January, according to data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The lake is 14 inches lower than it was at this time last year. It's projected to dip another inch during the next month, as part of its seasonal decline. Sellinger said it's possible that Lake Huron will break its record low for January, set in 1965, later this month. The lake is expected to remain below its chart datum, or low-water benchmark, until June, Corps officials say. "What we have here is the ground is frozen, the water doesn't return," Sellinger said. "It puddles and evaporates and gets lost into the global system." Temperatures in the Bay City area were expected to reach 53 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, topping a record of 50 degrees from 1989, according to the National Weather Service. Since 1980, when NOAA temperature buoys were installed, the surface water temperature of Lakes Michigan and Huron has increased by about 4 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Jay Austin, a researcher at the Large Lakes Observatory, part of the University of Minnesota in Duluth. "It's larger compared to what we've seen in the atmosphere," or about twice the rise in global air temperatures attributed to global warming, Austin said. Lake Superior is only Great Lake seeing higher levels this January. It's 6 inches higher than at this time last year. The rest of the lakes are 11-16 lower than a year ago. Part of the reason for Lake Superior's rise is about 10.5 inches of rainfall the basin saw in September and October, right at the lake's low point, said Keith Kompoltowicz, a meteorologist for the Army Corps in Detroit. The next big question, Sellinger said, is whether the decline in lower lake levels is going to continue. The three-month forecast calls for above-average precipitation in the region, which could help increase water level in the other lakes, Kompoltowicz said. Researchers are looking at connections between the Great Lakes and the oceans to identify long-term trends. Forecasters say 2008 is a La Nina year for the Pacific Ocean, which can translate to drought in parts of the Great Lakes region, Sellinger said. The great thing about democracy is that it gives every voter a chance to do something stupid. - Art Spander