CM-Life endorses Jennifer Granholm for re-election!

CMU's student paper, Central Michigan Life, gets it right:

It’s easy to point a finger at our current leader, Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

But the reality is it’s not Granholm’s fault.

Michigan’s dependence on the dwindling automotive industry has crippled the state’s economy.

Plants have shut down; thousands have lost work.

In response, Granholm has created a Jobs Fund initiative which will pour more than $2 billion into new sectors including alternative energy and the life sciences.

Granholm also inherited a state with a $4 billion deficit and has had to work during her first term to pull ahead.

Starting over is not what our state needs. Voters will be investing in the future of Michigan by voting to re-elect Granholm.

What about education and health care?

Under Granholm, K-12 education funding is at an all-time high of $7,085 per student. The governor also has proposed a New Merit Award scholarship, giving each Michigan high school student $4,000 for higher education.

Granholm is investing in the state’s future by keeping education a priority.

Granholm also has a plan to make health care available to all of Michigan’s residents.

The governor’s Michigan First Health Care Plan would make private health care available to more than 500,000 uninsured Michiganders.

And as for the other guy?

DeVos simply is a former CEO who had the means to run for governor.

According to campaign finance reports filed Friday, and as reported in The Detroit News on Saturday, DeVos has spent $34.6 million of his own money during his campaign.

A large checkbook cannot buy the governor’s office.

While DeVos’ success and exorbitant bank account may be a flashy beacon for frustrated Michiganders, the fact remains this family businessman is not equipped to lead our state.

They conclude by praisinbg the incumbent, and offering important advice to her:

Granholm already has the tools necessary to lead Michigan; not only does she have a mastery of the law, she’s familiar with the territory.

...

She must actively work to create an environment in Michigan that fosters growth.

...

If Granholm is to take Michigan out of its slump, she needs to pull out all the stops. She needs to foster a strong working environment with Republicans and Democrats alike.

Pulling the governor from office now, halfway between a $4 billion deficit and a struggling economy, will only create more problems by setting someone new on that tough road — someone who hasn’t already walked it.

This isn’t the time to bring in someone new.

Vote Granholm.

Nice way to start the week.

How I spent my 19th birthday: October 21, 2006

Today was my 19th birthday. I came home from CMU to spend the big day with my family, and to help our esteemed Governor and the entire Democratic ticket win the upcoming election.

I got up around 10 and then made my way to the Kent County Democratic Campaign Office to help out with whatever they needed. So when I got there, they asked if I could help assemble literature for lit drops. I put together several dozen sets of lit for Jenny, Debbie, Carmella, Amos, Congressional candidate Jim Rinck, county Drain Commissioner candidate Brian McKay, and state House candidate Robert Dean. While I was there, Haley (the field coordinator) treated me to lunch at the Cherry Deli (named after Cherry Street) for my birthday.

Then I came back home, visited my grandma. Then I was off to a volunteer appreciation dinner at my church. Good times.

As for gifts?

A dress watch;
A Tigers shirt (my first since the 1990s);
A few books
Money, money, money!

My 2006 General Election Voting Story

At approximately 12:50 AM on Friday the 13th (let it not be a bad omen), I, Scott Urbanowski, patriotic American and proud Democrat, filled out my absentee ballot for my first General election, seven hours after picking it up in the mail. (Okay, I could've voted last year, but there were literally no contested races in Kentwood.)

It took six minutes and twenty seconds for me to fill out 33 bubbles, 28 for candidates and 5 on ballot proposals.

As I voted for Jenny, I thought of a few of the people from all over the state who will join me in supporting our Governor: My parents; Lieutenant Governor John Cherry; Amos Williams; Dan Mulhern; John and many others from the ICDP; Andy and all the College Dems; Dan, Lonnie, and Mike (and a few others) from SGA; Haley and Sue from the Kent County Party; David LaGrand; Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow; John Conyers... and even a few Republicans. The list goes on and on.

And then Vietnam vet, former Detroit cop, and respected attorney Amos Williams for Attorney General. And Macomb County Clerk Carmella Sabaugh for Secretary of State.

Then I voted for Debbie. Sure, I don't agree with everything she has done, but she did oppose Roberts's and Alito's confirmations to the Supreme Court, as well as the Iraq War. Not to mention the fact that thanks to her, Canadian garbage will not be coming to Michigan for much longer. We are fortunate that Debbie and Carl are our US Senators. May we have many more years with them!

Then to US House. Vern Ehlers is pretty popular, but he voted for CAFTA and cut student financial aid. While I expect Ehlers to win by another landslide, I voted for Jim Rinck. On paper, Rinck is probably the most qualified Democrat to run against Ehlers in the 13 years Ehlers has been there, having been on the Grand Rapids school board.

And then LaGrand for State Senate. If you were to ask me six months ago if LaGrand could beat Bill Hardiman, I would've said, 'nope, Hardiman's a shoe-in.' Then I saw the crowd of supporters for LaGrand in the Kentwood Fourth of July Parade. Then he won MichiganLiberal's very first Michigan First! endorsement. Then I met David personally. Yes, LaGrand can win, and I am proud to support him!

Then on to state boards. Law professor and Army major Kathy White; Gore 's Michigan campaign manager Debbie Dingell; former American Bar President Reginald Turner; and former Michigan Bar President Julia Darlow are just a few of the fine folks who got my vote for state and university boards.

I suppoorted Brian McKay for Kent County Drain Commissioner. Having worked for the City of Grand Rapids in a similar job, he is more qualified than Republican nominee Bill Byl (though I expect Byl to win easily; Other than GR, Kent County is about as Democratic as Ted Kennedy is Republican).

Supreme Court Justice Michael Cavanagh received my support for another eight-year term. I also voted for Jane Beckering, listed in 'The Best Lawyers in America.'

As for the ballot proposals: I joined the Grand Rapids Press; both DeVos and Granholm; SGA; and many others in saying HELL NO to Proposal 2. I also opposed Proposals 1 (sounds good, but unnecessary and would place too many funding restrictions in the state Constitution), 3 (I'm unconvinced that we must kill mourning doves in order to move forward in this state), and 5 (would force the state to spoend more money that it doesn't have; more on Prop 5 in a few days). I did support Proposal 4, which would restrict government's ability to seize property by eminent domain. For more on the ballot proposals, check out http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Statewide_Bal_Prop_Status_145801_7.pdf .

Having applied 63 cents postage (a regular stamp plus a postcard stamp) and sealed and signed my return envelope, I slowly placed my envelope, ballot inside, in the mailbox in the Towers lobby.

Want more info regarding the election? Ask me, or check out www.michigan.gov/vote . Also, click here to print up an absentee request form and send it to your city clerk. (Never voted before? You must request an absentee ballot IN PERSON at your clerk's office, unless you registered to vote in person at your clerk's office.)

PLEASE do yourself a favor and VOTE! The current governor of Washington was elected by 133 votes. Bush won Florida by 537 votes in 2000. In the '80s, a congressman won re-election by four - FOUR - votes.

If you don't vote, you have no one to blame but yourself. So go vote. It's easy and quick... and the job you save may be your own.

THE TIGERS WIN THE PENNANT!!!!!

THE TIGERS WIN THE PENNANT!!!!!
THE TIGERS WIN THE PENNANT!!!!!
THE TIGERS WIN THE PENNANT!!!!!
THE TIGERS WIN THE PENNANT!!!!!
THE TIGERS WIN THE PENNANT!!!!!
THE TIGERS WIN THE PENNANT!!!!!
THE TIGERS WIN THE PENNANT!!!!!
THE TIGERS WIN THE PENNANT!!!!!
THE TIGERS WIN THE PENNANT!!!!!
THE TIGERS WIN THE PENNANT!!!!!

Oh great… Craig DeRoche will be grand marshal of CMU Homecoming
From the CMU Newsroom:

The Central Michigan University campus will be filled with school spirit as Homecoming is celebrated Oct. 13 and 14, and a politically prominent alumnus will preside over the festivities.

“Politically prominent alumnus?” Whom could that be?

Serving as grand marshal of CMU's 2006 Homecoming celebration will be Craig DeRoche, Michigan's Speaker of the House. DeRoche, a 1991 CMU graduate, was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2002. When he was re-elected in 2004, his colleagues selected him to serve as Speaker of the House.

DeRoche says he is looking forward to being back on campus and serving as grand marshal.

"This is one of the neatest things that has been offered to me," he said. "It's a chance for me to come home. I hope to build as much support among alumni as possible and encourage record attendance. We hope to see a lot of friendly faces."

This wouldn’t be all that bad... except that this is an ELECTION YEAR, and (as far as I know) they're not bringing in a Dem to balance things!

Oh, and not to mention DeRoche’s disdain for working people, especially disabled people and college students. Here’s what DeRoche had to say about disabled people making the minimum wage:

It might be a physical or a mental disability that they have, it might be a capacity that, that inhibits them from the productivity where they would be employed at a higher wage and we concern, we have concerns about the effects of sending those people home and, and make them not employable because the wages are set by the government are too high for them to find a job."

Hmmmmmmm. Right-wing Republican as grand marshal 24 days before the election. One of the higher-ups at CMU can expect to hear from me soon.

Oh well. At least Dick DeVos probably won't come to CMU and curse the football team like he did at MSU.