Primary Colors: As Red & Blue Candidates Square Off on August 8th, the Issues Assume Many Shades of Grey

On Tuesday, August 8

Republicans and Democrats will be voting on which candidate within their respective party is best suited to represent the interests of Saginaw, Bay, and Midland Counties in several key races. Additionally, in Saginaw County, there is a very significant 'No Boundaries' Public Safety Millage on the ballot.

Over the past few issues The Review has presented various Candidate Forums on what we feel are the most critical primary contests. With this Pre-Primary edition, I would like to frame the election season in terms of key issues, unpleasant truths, and stark realities that each candidate, regardless of party, will be forced to cope with, should they become elected.

But mainly, as the stakes escalate and Michigan's problems accelerate, I wish to concentrate upon facts and realities that the 'mainstream' media conveniently avoid.

But the reality is that both our State and Country need defending this year. This is a great country and angry people in government, unwilling to work together, did not make it that way.

The status of our political landscape in a nutshell is this: all the candidates in each and every race are running on a platform of predicament. Wild swine crowd around the public trough, more eager to feed the public pension system that bankrupts our coffers and makes our streets unsafe than they are to provide meaningful solutions to public problems.

While 43.6 million Americans are without health insurance, elected officials enjoy Cadillac health plans well past retirement.

Ironies abound in the harsh light of reality, where pocket lining is conducted on a massive scale and paid lobbyists sit in committee rooms to write legislation alleviating the suffering of billionaires.

The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the few is the death knell of democracy. Currently there are 365 well-heeled individuals that make more money each year than the entire population of the United States combined. No republic in the history of humanity has survived this, and the mid-term elections of 2006 will say a lot about what happens to ours.

Having said this, let's look at the realities behind the key issues Republicans & Democrats are debating:

Money Management. This year's deficit will be the biggest in our nation's history. By 2008 the current national debt will be $6.84 quadrillion dollars. Meanwhile, the national debt increases an average of $1.58 billion each day. The average amount of each U.S. citizen's share of the national debt is $23,396. Who will pay for this and how? An important question to ask of each potential candidate.

The Environment. 58 million acres of public lands have been opened by Congress for logging & drilling (the majority of the mineral rights given away to large corporations at a fraction of their value to the American public. Hmm? Could recouping this value be one way to reduce our national debt?

In our own backyard, a dredging project on the Saginaw River project threatens to open Saginaw taxpayers to liability for the adverse health effects of the site. In the past week after seeking assurance that this project was for navigational purposes only, it's clear that no agency or government body will commit that this dredge site will not be used by a third party. With the DEQ's blessing construction is proceeding absent a construction plan or an operational management plan, proving politics trumps science and planning every time. Yet another significant question to ask of your potential candidate.

Gas Prices & Energy Payoffs. The Institute on Money in State Politics, a consumer oriented non-profit investigative research group, recently completed a study for the election year that shows the energy industry has put more than $134.7 million into state-level candidates and party committees in the past decade.

Almost 70 percent of that money was given to winning & incumbent candidates who decided public-policy issues in legislative sessions that followed the elections.

During debate on the recent Energy Bill passed by Congress, an amendment was presented to suspend deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the price of oil falls below $40 per barrel for 2 consecutive weeks. With prices per barrel doubling in recent weeks, the suspension of oil delivery to the SPR would put additional barrels of oil into the market to stabilize the world's oil supply and provide relief at the pump to consumers. However, this stipulation was not included in the final version of the bill.

Profits for refineries went up 250% between September 2004 and 2005 and 75% of the multi-billion-oil futures industry is completely unregulated. This is ENRON all over again. What does your potential candidate intend to do about it?

Michigan Jobs & Salaries. Both Republicans & Democrats have ideas about putting Michigan back to work, but why don't we start with the notion that we need to reinforce the Michigan infrastructure with innovative technologies and plain old common horse sense.

A little told episode in the major media is something that happened last July when Congress approved an Export/Import Loan that in essence gave $5 billion to a state-subsidized British utility (Westinghouse) to build up the infrastructure of China, undeniably our biggest trade competitor, while also sharing advanced nuclear technology along the way with a Chinese conglomerate that had, in the past, shared nuclear know-how with Iran and Pakistan. Yes, you heard me right. So much for the 'War on Terror'.

Meanwhile, can we get both political parties to agree that it is not in the best interest of Michigan to outsource jobs at $2.00 per hour to China, India, and Mexico?

The Ugly Side of Race Politics. As a member of the City of Saginaw Charter Commission, recently we passed a unanimous resolution that city elections, both August primaries, and November General Elections should be held in even numbered years.

By doing this our beleaguered city would save $64,000 every two years for election costs, because the way things are currently done, odd year elections involve only city officers. Moreover, by holding the primary in August and general in November, the voter participation would be increased 2.3 times the current odd year election year average.

Unfortunately, PA116 of 1954, as amended, currently prohibits the City of Saginaw from changing the current odd year elections. Consequently, the Charter Commission asked certain members of the Michigan Legislature, including Democrat Carl Williams and Republican Roger Kahn (both running for State Senate this year) to amend this public act to allow for 'even numbered year' elections.

Recently The Review learned that one of the reasons this Amendment has not been forthcoming is because the NAACP is lobbying vigorously against it. Why should our representatives be so hesitant to enact a measure that would not only save the City of Saginaw money, but also engender greater voter turnout is a question voters should definitely be asking all the candidates this election season.