Politics & Government

Republican congressman Mike Rogers says more than a thousand major corporations,unions and other groups have obtained waivers to the new national health care law, so they will not be immediately mandated to carry health insurance or pay a fee instead.    He says they shouldn't be the only ones with that option. 

Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard  is making plans to take over the policing duties in Pontiac.  The city of Pontiac is shutting down its police department as the city deals with severe budget problems. 

The city’s rank and file police officers voted to dissolve their union contract this week.    Other public safety unions must also do the same before the Sheriff’s department takes over.  Sheriff Bouchard says policing Pontiac will pose some public safety challenges to his office. 

The head of a Detroit-area civil rights organization says hearings by the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee unfairly target Muslims.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., is investigating what he calls the radicalization of the U.S. Muslim community.

Dawud Walid is director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Southfield.

He says the scope of the hearings is too narrow, and ignores what he considers the biggest threats to national security.

Nobody in Lansing was neutral yesterday when the Michigan senate completed passage of new, tougher Emergency Financial Manager legislation on a straight, party line vote.

State Senator Phil Pavlov said this is needed to maintain “vital services, such as public safety and education,” when a city or a school district is in desperate financial straits.

This reform, he said, is necessary to allow steps to be taken “to protect public interests and the public’s money and strengthen local control and accountability.” His fellow Republicans all agreed.

But if you talked to any of the Democrats, they sounded like this was the equivalent of Mussolini seizing power.  “An unfair and unjustified power grab,“ Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer called it. One of her colleagues said it went way too far, “and was going to damage our communities and our schools.”

Well, you could say that it is nice to see that our time-honored tradition of bitter partisan divisions is alive and well, but I think the opposite. We’ve had four sterile years of that in Lansing. I think we’d all be better off if this could have been a bipartisan bill.

The Committee on Homeland Security is holding a hearing entitled “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response.”

ABC News reports:

Today’s House hearing on “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and That Community’s Response” has created a firestorm of criticism by civil rights groups and Democrats who say that Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., is intentionally isolating Muslims.

Democrats and rights groups say he’s guilty of “modern-day McCarthyism,” and is using religion to divide Americans.

You can watch the hearing now on C-SPAN.

Here's King responding to critics of the hearing on a CBS affiliate:

State Senate Passes EFM bill

The Michigan Senate passed legislation yesterday that gives state-appointed emergency financial managers more control over cities, townships, and school districts. Those opposed to the legislation say the bills make it easy to eliminate collective bargaining rights and dissolve union contracts. Some 1,000 union members protested against the bill at the state Capitol earlier this week. A similar bill was passed in the state House last month. The two Republican-controlled chambers must now agree on a final version of the bill.

Funding for 'Pure Michigan'

Governor Rick Snyder is expected to sign a bill today that would extend the life of the popular ‘Pure Michigan’ advertising campaign. The measure, passed by both the state House and state Senate, gives an additional $10 million to the campaign. This will be the third bill signed by the Governor.

January Unemployment Rate Declines

The state’s jobless rate continued in decline in January to 10.7 percent. That's the lowest it's been in more than two years. And, it's three percentage points lower than the same time last year: the jobless rate in January 2010 was 13.7 percent.

Judge Continues Library Gun Ban

An Ingham County judge has continued a ban on openly carrying guns into Lansing-area libraries until June. Rina Miller reports:

A temporary restraining order was issued against the Michigan Open Carry group last month. Now an Ingham County Circuit Court judge has granted a preliminary injunction forbidding anyone – except law enforcement – from entering a Capital Area District Library openly wearing a gun. The case will be heard in June.