Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the Senate on April 22, 2008, commemorating May 1, 2008, as Michigan's Day of Prayer

Click here to view bill details.

prayed over you and layed hands on you for the whole world to see on you tube. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, sister. You are the laughing stock of the world young enough to hit the internet. Michigan is done with you. GOP can't pick 'em. Dick Dateline DeVos, Sister Sarah with her soul saved by the African Witch Doctor. Frickin' fodder for SNL. Can't wait. OMFG. Lol lol lol, snort, snort! She's so vulnerable to comedy attack they are extending SNL hours to weekdays. Sarah's a hit, just NOT in a GOOD way. They're not laughing WITH you, sweetie, they're laughing AT YOU.

Posted on Monday, October 6, 2008 email | print | tool nameclose tool goes here Government has till 2010 to designate polar bear habitat More on this Story Story | Alaska's Palin misrepresented state's polar bear findings Story | Alaska greets polar bear designation with anger, angst Story | Alaska seeks to show polar bears aren't threatened Story | Polar bear to be listed as a threatened species Story | Interior secretary skips hearing to explain polar bear delay Story | Senate panel seeks explanation for delay on polar bear listing Story | Endangered status might not help polar bears, official says Story | Bush administration defends oil leases in polar bear habitat By Renee Schoof | McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — Environmental groups and the Bush administration reached a partial court settlement on Monday that requires the Department of Interior to designate critical habitat for polar bears by June 30, 2010. The Department of Interior in May listed the polar bear as threatened by global warming, but didn't designate any critical habitat protection. The Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a lawsuit in an attempt to force the government to do more for the bears' long-term survival under the Endangered Species Act. "This agreement will provide an additional layer of protection," said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity. Siegel was the lead author of an earlier petition that called on the government to list polar bears for protection under the law. When the Department of Interior announced the listing in May, Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said that government scientists predicted that the sea ice the bears need would continue to melt at an alarming rate. That was the first such designation for an animal that's losing habitat because of global warming. At that time, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said the listing disappointed her and she was concerned that federal actions would "threaten the viable, productive and environmentally responsible oil and gas industry along Alaska's North Slope." In August, Alaska sued Kempthorne in an attempt to reverse his decision on polar bears. Palin said that scientists' predictions about summer sea ice decline were unreliable. Industry groups also have filed suits seeking to overturn the polar bear protections. When the government designates critical habitat, federal agencies are prohibited from doing anything that would harm the habitat enough to interfere with the recovery of the species. The agreement on Monday in a case before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California set the 2010 deadline for a final rule designating polar bear habitat. A proposed rule will be issued next year, and then there will be a period of public comment and hearings. "We are committed to meeting the requirements of important conservation statutes such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act," said Department of Interior press secretary Shane Wolfe. "We appreciate that we were able to reach an agreement on these particular issues." Siegel said it also was important to remove other threats to polar bears' habitat that occur along with global warming. "It's essential that we protect the areas where polar bears live, not open them up for oil development." The May listing of polar bears as a threatened species provides some habitat protection, but not as much as a critical habitat designation, Siegel said. The partial settlement agreement also sets a deadline of March 31, 2010, for the Interior Department to issue guidelines about non-lethal ways to deal with bears that threaten public safety, as required by the Marine Mammals Protection Act. However, it didn't settle other suits the Center for Biological Diversity and other conservation groups have filed. Those groups want the government to list polar bears as endangered, rather than threatened, because that designation would give the bears more legal protections. The Department of Interior also claimed that the listing didn't mean that greenhouse gas emissions would be regulated when federal agencies figure how to protect polar bear habitat.

Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 email | print | tool nameclose tool goes here Even in Alaska, Palin's popularity is taking a tumble Retired schoolteacher Ron Zandman-Zeman (right) had come to respect Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin during her time in office, but doesn't think she is ready to be vice president. He turned out for an anti-Palin rally in Anchorage. (Audio and photo by Chris Adams) More on this Story Story | Palin's AG yields, state workers to testify on 'troopergate' Story | Ipsos/McClatchy: Obama opens lead over McCain Story | Is Palin up to the job? VP debate may be her last chance to show it Story | Palin meets the press, and the reviews aren't good Story | Hiaasen: Ifill better be nice to poor Palin during debate Story | Commentary: Palin's tenure gets mixed reviews Story | Hundreds of Alaskans rally to protest Palin on 'troopergate' Story | Palin won't have to reveal finances until after Biden debate Story | Why do people like Palin biography? For one, it's short Story | Is Palin a fiscal conservative? In Alaska, it's hard to say Graphic | Palin popularity in Alaska On the Web | Complete McClatchy election coverage By Chris Adams | McClatchy Newspapers ANCHORAGE — Ask a governor if she'd be happy with a 68 percent approval rating and she'd probably laugh at the question. It usually doesn't get much better than that. For Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, though, that represents a hefty drop. Since John McCain tapped the first-term governor to be his vice-presidential running mate, Palin's sky-high home-state approval ratings have come down to Earth. Above 80 percent approval for parts of her term — she was at 82 percent in a key local poll twice this year — Palin's popularity has swooned as new information about the local abuse-of-power investigation known as troopergate has trickled out, and as national and local media pick over her track record as a governor and small-town mayor. Palin still has overwhelming support among Alaska Republicans. But many Democrats and independents, who gave her positive marks just a month ago, have changed their view. "My problem is not with Sarah Palin the governor," said Ron Zandman-Zeman, 60, a recently retired schoolteacher from Anchorage. "She was doing the job she was elected to do. I don't think she can do the job she wants to be elected to do. And that's why I'm here." "Here" was a rally in a downtown Anchorage park this past weekend, where several hundred demonstrators gathered under a brilliant blue sky to protest Palin and her attorney general, mostly for their handling of the troopergate controversy. Until this summer, there were plenty of Alaskans who'd supported or been neutral toward their governor. Palin built a reservoir of goodwill over a handful of key issues, including prodding the state's oil industry to cough up more of its profits, which fund the vast majority of state operations. After McCain shocked the political world by picking Palin, the rest of the country experienced a flash of infatuation with the charming, gutsy governor. But some Alaskans turned against what they saw as her newly aggressive, mean-spirited demeanor. At the studio of KENI in Anchorage, Andrew Halcro has become a focal point for anti-Palin advocates. Halcro is a former state legislator who was beaten by Palin in the 2006 gubernatorial election. (Running as an independent, Halcro finished third behind Palin and former Gov. Tony Knowles, a Democrat). But he's also a Republican. He has been disillusioned with Palin for, among other things, her handling of the troopergate issue. For the past month, he's been hosting a daily talk radio show. At first, callers were defensive on Palin's and Alaska's behalf — particularly as the national media and left-wing blogs published information about the governor's family and questioned her record in office. "It was uncomfortable to even talk about a story in the morning paper," he said. "People would say, 'You need to move on.'" Palin had done a good job of governing from the center, he said. But her recent mocking of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, for example, is a surprise to many Alaskans. "I see a real change in the callers," he said. "People are seeing Gov. Palin in a different light." Zandman-Zeman, for example, said he had respected McCain in the past, until the Republican presidential nominee changed his approach to appease more conservative elements of his party. Zandman-Zeman also had come around on Palin during her time as governor (he supported somebody else in the 2006 election), and he might've supported her for re-election in Alaska. But he still considers her out of her league on the national scene. On Saturday, he held a sign near a street corner as cars whizzed by, drivers honking in support of the demonstrators. His sign read: "Palin — A Good Gov in Way Over Her Head." While many demonstrators objected to Palin on partisan or ideological grounds, two issues that clearly rankled Alaskans had nothing to do with party loyalty: openness and independence. Ivan Moore, a local pollster who works with both Democrats and Republicans, recently found that Palin's support had slipped to 68 percent. The poll was conducted from Sept. 20 to 22 among 500 likely Alaska voters and has a margin of error of 4.4 percent. Inside those numbers was a dramatic drop in support from Democrats and independents, although support from Republicans remained strong at 93 percent. Among Democrats, her approval rating dropped from 60 percent to 36 percent, a 24-point drop. Among independents, it fell from 82 percent to 64 percent, an 18-point drop. Moore said those numbers were likely driven by the harsher tone Palin has adopted on the national campaign trail, as well as the fallout from troopergate. Palin's lost many supporters because she's worked to thwart a bipartisan inquiry into troopergate after saying she'd cooperate. (Troopergate involves the firing of the state's public safety commissioner, who'd refused to fire a state trooper who'd been involved in a messy divorce with Palin's sister). In addition, fiercely independent Alaskans resent moves by the McCain campaign to control what they see as purely state matters. Sondra Tompkins, a reliably Republican voter, found herself speaking out at the rally — upset, she said, because of Palin's handling of the trooper issue and the example it sets for children in the state. "They're listening, they're watching, and they're asking questions," Tompkins called out to the crowd. "Do we tell them it's OK not to tell the truth? Do we tell them it's OK to bend the truth? Do we tell them it's OK to distort the truth if you have a gaggle of lawyers to defend you? "It's not OK, and I think Alaskans have had enough."

are sure quick to throw one of your own under the bus just because she doesn't parrot all your beliefs. Is killing babies that important to you nutbags? Maddy allbright said "there's a place in hell for women that don't support other women"

U have one vote, and I have one vote. And trust me on this, I wouldn't vote for the commie O'bumma if he were the only one on the ballot. Yah voted for moleface, didn't cha? How'ed that work out for you??? I moved out of state and it was the BEST move ever. But if you think you can push MI commie crap to the rest of the Nation, well then good luck to you ......commie, pinko, idiot!!!

Dillweed, MI now only has 17 EC votes. FL has 27. Sorry about your luck. And trust me, McCain will win FL.......U loser!

Excellent Post

BS - oh, oh I see. That GRANDMOLE is a REAL Princess!!! NOT! Do the nation a favor and go play in the street!