With all due respect to those who are running for office, we have a budget issue that needs to be addressed this year - and the sooner the better. If Lansing takes this to another crisis stage, every single incumbent out there will probably face the wrath at the polls, and no one from either party wants to see that happen. They have their jobs to think about, those that are term-limited have their legacy to think about. Who wants to leave this job as being part of the most dysfunctional legislature ever? Hopefully no one.
So, while Mike Bishop runs around and says "no, no, no" to any sort of compromise, it is very interesting to find that we have not one, but two, Senate Republicans from the west side indicating that an expansion of service taxes would get through the Senate, as long as they get that pound of flesh from the state employees on health care.
(Mark Jansen, R-Gaines Township) said proposals to expand sales taxes to services, the growing sector of the economy, must go hand-in-hand with reforms like he and Hildenbrand have proposed, such as mandating public employees contribute 15 percent to their health care costs.
"I can't do a sales tax on services until I know we are going to get these reforms, because I don't want to be back here in two years," Jansen said. "We have to fix structural problems like health care.
Rockford Superintendent Michael Shibler said the proposed legislation could send $1.3 million back into his district's classrooms, and pressed the panel about whether districts could expect passage this year.
"This has to happen now. We can't keep waiting," he told them.
Hardiman said he thought it would pass the Republican-dominated Senate. But Hildenbrand said he needs help from residents and other groups to push it out of the Democratic-majority House. The unions have opposed such a change.
Jansen is one of the most conservative members of the Senate. Bill Hardiman is not far behind him. If they are indicating that service taxes are a possibility, that is a good sign. Granholm has proposed an increase on health care contributions for new hires, while offering early retirement to those on the old pay/benefit scale. And don't forget the new state run plan that the governor has branded as voluntary - and that is probably where Dillon's idea comes in. There are a lot of moving parts to this plan that could crash and burn the whole thing, but the fact that "no" wasn't the instant answer from these Republicans is an excellent starting point.
Were they just trying to placate an angry mob that wants the schools funded? It's a possibility, sounding reasonable for the audience, only to get back to Lansing and continue with their obstruction tactics. Time will tell - but now we have them on record as being open to the idea of reforming the tax base. The next time Mike Bishop says that "he doesn't have the votes", we will know that is not true.
Granholm releases the budget plan on Thursday. Stay tuned.
For some reason I don't think this will do it, but give it a try. $78 million worth of something has to be better than nothing.
Plans include intermittent lock closures, which could begin by the end of April, and adding more crews to hunt down and destroy Asian carp before large numbers of them can make it into the Great Lakes.
The battery of techniques they plan to use includes sonar equipment, electro-shocking, netting, and expedited testing for carp DNA.
They'll spend $3 million to make the ugly, voracious fish attractive as fish fillets. They will also expand research on carp-specific poisons, sound barriers to deter the fish and methods to disrupt their spawning. A number of federal agencies issued a 46-page report with short and long-term plans for fighting carp as a White House summit with Great Lakes governors was under way.
Sound barriers? Going to play some Ozzy Osbourne to scare them away and stop them from spawning? And get those recipes ready too. Let's make them edible.
Governor Granholm no happy with this.
Although federal officials included intermittent lock closures-as much as three weeks per month-as a potential solution, that is not enough, said Granholm. "I think there's enough DNA evidence now to shut them down," said Granholm, who added that she does not support the idea of part-time lock closures.
Everyone and their brother is jumping on this as a campaign issue now, so expect to hear more about the carp throughout the year. It is good that they are working on other methods to combat them though, because if they are already here...
OK kids, ya talked me into it. I went downtown to hear what candidate Virg Bernero had to say as he announced his run for governor here in Grand Rapids.
First of all, it's obvious that this is going to be an "outsider" race, as Bernero took aim at the "empty suits" in the Capitol, and pledged to stop the business as usual, partisan politics that caters to special interests and holds the state (and now the nation) in gridlock. He's not happy with state government as it stands, and he made that very clear. I'm not sure how he intends to make all that stop - but, that is the promise. Best of luck on that one.
State pride was a theme, and that was nice to hear. He wants to return Michigan to its "great state" status, and he hit on the usual; good paying jobs, education, etc. Putting Michigan back to work was, of course, a frequent topic.
The one thing that grabbed me was that he put a dollar figure on the amount of money that the Legislature has left laying on the ground due to the fact that they won't raise the revenue to meet federal matching funds. This is something I have blogged about before - the road money, Medicaid money - Bernero put the figure at $2.4 billion, and called it unacceptable that we are walking away from it. Cheers to that - it IS unacceptable, especially when you tie in the thousands of jobs that come from those federal dollars. When asked if he would raise gas taxes to get those federal road funds, Bernero indicated that he will be releasing his plan within the next few weeks, and we will hear the details then.
Bernero wouldn't name names when it came to some of his, shall we say, "colorful" descriptions of the current politicians or those running for the office Even when prodded by a reporter, he refused to get personal at this point, saying the he would let the people figure it out. He pointed to his record in Lansing as mayor, balanced budgets without any layoffs, and his desire to take that fight "across the street" and work for the people of the state.
He strikes me as very sincere - not the angry guy of FOX fame, but a guy that should bring some fire to the race, as he will speak his mind about what he believes. That's good.
Following my earlier analysis of the 2009 Compliance Statements from the Michigan State House, the State Senate is also worth examining. It is important to remember how wide open the Senate is for turnover in 2010, as there are 30 of 38 State Senate seats open. In the past decade, only one state senate incumbent has lost to a challenger (Laura Toy to Glenn Anderson in 2006), underscoring how much easier open seats are to capture.
Figure 1 is a chart displaying the expected competitiveness for Michigan State Senate races. Using the underlying baseline vote from the Michigan Board of Education races over the past four elections (2002-2008), I have also noted the number of times each party has challenged a seat. For example, in Senate District 34, the Democrats have invested party resources in the seat one time, while the GOP has invested in it twice. It quickly becomes apparent that rarely spends money defending or challenging seats in their Safe or Strong category or that of the opposing party.
Brian Rooney reports today that he has been endorsed by Dominos Pizza founder Tom Monaghan.
"I am proud to announce my support for Brian Rooney for the United States Congress. I believe his principled and unwavering convictions and new perspective promise to better serve Michigan's interests and help return responsible leadership to Washington, D.C.," said 7th District resident Monaghan.
Not surprising since Rooney is an employee of Monaghan's at the conservative, Christian-oriented Thomas More Law Center. His backing of Rooney can't hurt in the money department either.
Yesterday, February 6, three Democratic candidates for statewide office appeared on a panel to discuss their candidacy and to answer questions from the audience. The event was sponsored by People of Diversity United for Equality (PODUE) and was held at the Brown Chapel AME in Ypsilanti. In attendance were Alma Wheeler-Smith -- candidate for governor, Jocelyn Benson -- candidate for Secretary of State, and Richard Bernstein -- candidate for Attorney General. The forum was moderated by Rep. Rebekah Warren -- with opening and closing remarks by House Speaker Pro Tempore Pam Byrnes, both candidates for State Senate.
From L-R, Rebekah Warren, Alma Wheeler-Smith, Jocelyn Benson, Richard Bernstein, Pam Byrnes, Pastor Jerry Hatter
On October 6 2008 Governor Granholm signed into law a bipartisan law mandating that 10% of Michigan's power come from renewable sources by 2015.
The three-bill package signed by Granholm at two different events today includes a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that mandates 10 percent of the state's energy come from renewable sources by 2015
The good news is, we have lots more coming by 2012. Wind power is by far the more mature market for renewable energy resources, other than hydro power, which is fairly limited.
Over the next couple of years we're going to be seeing wind farms popping up all over the state as Consumer's Power works in a mad dash to meet State laws for alternative energy.
But to meet those goals, we're going to have to start taking seriously the concept of putting wind power in the Great Lakes. Especially if the Federal government increases the requirements for alternative energy.
Now...you may or may not know that there's some big flap over a wind farm being explored for off the coast of Oceana and Mason counties. A 1000 MW wind farm.
There are many folks opposed to it, and many folks, including me, who want the company to at least have the opportunity to do its environmental and economic impact studies.
Even if they get a lease, they won't be able to even consider starting construction for over three years, until after three years of extensive environmental and economic impact studies...
...and then they'll have to jump through a series of bureaucratic hoops, getting the approval of the State, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Coast Guard...pushing the construction off even further.
In reality, the earliest large scale Great Lakes wind construction is at least five to ten years off.
Even if we allow this company to do its three years of study, ground won't break for nearly half a decade. Probably longer.
But whether one agrees with the company's proposal or not...
...one thing is for certain...
We're definitely going to have to have offshore wind farms in Michigan. That's why the Great Lakes Wind Council is drafting legislation as we speak for processes and regulations for offshore wind...the legislation will be passed into law years before anybody, even Scandia/Havgul, even starts to think about construction. Again...it's half a decade away.
The shift to alternative energy in the United States has begun.
Last October, according to the Energy Information Agency, renewables generated more American energy than nukes.
It's been happening for years. States like Iowa and Minnesota and Texas have been putting up wind power consistently for years, more and more. They're reaching targets. Putting the wind farms where the wind blows, because that's where the clean, renewable power is.
One problem is that wind doesn't blow on the land here as much as places like Iowa and Texas. Our wind is in the lakes. That's where our vast open spaces are.
My wife is from Iowa. She loves the vast, open spaces, the huge sky, unobstructed by trees. Huge fields of corn and soy. The folks in Iowa love their sky as much as we love our view over the lake. And yet, farmers in the field have taken in, even welcomed the arrival of wind power.
In Michigan, we need to start doing the same. We can't keep burning coal like we have been, and we don't have the wind on the land like Iowa and Texas.
We're going to be getting lake based wind power, and we're going to see the turbines off on the horizon in some places. It's something we're going to have to come to terms with as a State. We can still dominate this emerging industry, selling power and generating jobs. But we need to want it or, once again, lag behind.
For the past weeks, I've been traveling across Michigan exploring a possible run for Governor. I've thought it over. And I've made a decision. I'll be announcing my decision on Monday, February 8th.
After meeting people across Michigan, I can sense that people in this state are fed-up and frustrated, anxious and angry - and so am I.
The state I love is on the ropes. People feel the walls closing in around them. Job loss, home foreclosure, rising health care costs, jacked up credit card rates and rising tuition are crushing too many Michigan families. People are hurting.
The clueless leadership at the State Capitol doesn't get it. The so-called leaders in the Washington bubble don't get it either. And the Wall Street wizards who helped put us here definitely don't get it.
Michigan needs a Governor who will get up every day ready to fight for workers and families. We need a new vision and a different kind of leadership to get Michigan back on track.
We have the best workforce in America right here but we need leadership as strong as our backs and as innovative as our minds.
If you are one of my friends from across the country, please show your support by visiting my website www.votevirg.com and considering making a donation.
If you are one of my friends in Michigan, please join me on Monday, February 8th at one of the following locations:
· Detroit at 10 AM at Detroit Chassis, 6501 Lynch St, Detroit, MI 48234.
· Grand Rapids at 3 PM at LaGrave Avenue Fire Station, 38 LaGrave Ave SE, Grand
Rapids, MI 49503.
· Lansing at 5:30 PM at the Lansing Center at 333 E Michigan Ave, Lansing, MI 48933.
When we first blogged about the Dow Powerhouse solar shingle back in October, Dow was still weighing offers from other states as to where they would manufacture the final product. One of the nice surprises in the State of the State Address Wednesday was that Dow decided to stick close to home, thanks to the work from MEDC at putting together a nice incentive package. As much as the Republicans want to attack these incentives (How do you know when something is a success? Michigan Republicans will be sure and attack it), with 46 states all bending over backwards to get these jobs, it's something we must do. And we did. And we will see up to 1,200 jobs coming to the Midland area in the next few years because of it.
There will be 1,200 jobs that will be possible at the new facility by 2014, and if you add in other announced Dow projects, several thousand jobs are on the way to the Great Lakes Bay Region.
"There was tremendous interest from a lot of other states in having this program in their state," said Dow Solar Solutions General Manager Jane Palmiere.
But in the end Dow Chemical decided to manufacture the POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle at Dow's Michigan Operations, close to its research and development and marketing facilities.
"Michigan was outstanding in terms of putting together a very aggressive, very attractive incentive package for us," Palmiere said.
And as WJRT crows, this will add to the jobs already here, and the thousands in the pipeline...
About 800 jobs have been created for Dow Kokam's battery plant venture, 1,200 jobs in a proposed Dow-Tata Consultancy business center, and nearby, solar company Suniva has proposed 500 jobs in Saginaw County.
In addition, GlobalWatt is bringing 500 jobs to Saginaw in the next five years. It is a total of more than 4,200 jobs.
Those are just a few of the names that we have lured to Michigan to create thousands of jobs in a whole new solar industry - and this isn't even counting the spin-off jobs that will come to the area to service these workers and companies as they grow. This is proof positive that these incentives are working. And again, 46 states will be happy to take the business if we don't provide incentives such as these. It's a fact of life in these here Untied States today; everyone wants new jobs, and they will give you the world to locate in their state.
Yesterday, Pete Hoekstra, in what has to be one of the tackiest, ungrateful moves ever, decided to piggy-back on Governor Granholm's visit to Energetx Composites in Holland. They are building industrial-size wind turbine blades, and they plan to add 1,000 jobs within the next few years. They are receiving some money from the Recovery Act, but the bulk of the tax credits they are getting come from the state, and they will only come after they create the jobs.
David Slikkers, CEO of parent company S-2 Yachts (ed note: which diversified into wind energy as the yachting business slowed down), noted the company can't take advantage of the tax credits unless it delivers the new jobs.
"If we don't perform, then there is no money," said Slikkers. "It isn't like we are getting that without performance. I think there has to be accountability, not only for us, but for the government.
"We know some states simply give it away and there is no accountability. I think that is one of the safeguards we have in the state of Michigan to really protect the money that the state has."
Twitter Pete showed up to both take credit for and protest these jobs at the same time. Or something. Totally rude. Can't draw a crowd on your own, Pete?
U.S. Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Peter Hoekstra, R-Holland -- who Slikkers credited with helping land new business for the company -- reiterated his opposition to Granholm's approach to supporting industries with tax credits. He had his own press conference at Energetx, in which reporters gathered around to hear his side of the issue after Granholm's talk.
"We have 15 percent unemployment (in the state). We have to put tens of thousands of people back to work. Not a thousand," Hoekstra said. "Government can't go in and provide massive incentives to each single project because then we'll start driving some other people out."
Who are we "driving out"? And how so? This is just another one of those nebulous Republican claims that can't really be proven, and there doesn't seem to be any follow up when they make grand statements such as this. Who, exactly, is leaving because of this? Matter of fact, you can prove the opposite - more businesses will come in to support and supply these companies, more businesses will be kept afloat by the workers spending money in local establishments. No brainer.
And if we don't do it, someone else surely will. While it would be nice to live in a world where major tax credits aren't necessary, bending over for business is a game that the Republicans created in the first place - and now they want to cry when it's a success, but only when it's a success for Democrats, right?
Right. Tell that to the thousands of workers who will be getting jobs in our new green economy, and be thankful that those jobs aren't located in some other state. If Pete had his way, these jobs wouldn't have been created in Michigan. Something to keep in mind as the year rolls on - it may come in handy later.
President Obama pledges help for small business in this week's address. $30 billion From TARP for small business loans, cutting the capital gains tax, providing tax credit for new hires.
The White House said Obama's plan would temporarily increase the cap on SBA Express loans from the current maximum of $350,000 to $1 million. Obama's plan would also expand the SBA's program to support refinancing for owner-occupied commercial real-estate loans.
To be eligible, business owners must have first mortgages and be current on all loan payments for the previous year. The White House said the proposal would help refinance up to $18.7 billion each year in commercial real estate that might otherwise be foreclosed and liquidated.
The move, however, requires Congress to act -- something of an open question, given that Democrats lost their supermajority when Massachusetts Republican Sen. Scott Brown took office.
Every story I read contains that caveat. It is now assumed that the Republicans are going to block every. single. piece. of legislation, and every nomination that the President makes from here on out.
Pure obstruction for political gain, the GOP doesn't care one whit about the function of government, or the well-being of the American people and the economy. It's all just a game to them, trying to undermine our leadership so they can take back power.
Interesting. Both the U.S. House and Senate voted to raise the national debt limit by $1.9T yesterday.
The entire Michigan House delegation voted against it, including all Democrats. The measure snuck by on a 217-212 vote. Senators Levin and Stabenow voted for it.
This old Lear/GM plant will house Hangar 42 Film Studios
During the SotS Address Wednesday night, the governor rattled off a bunch of cities and companies that are creating jobs for the new Michigan economy. Renewable energy, automotive, life sciences, movie studios, other big name projects, all in the works or already creating jobs, with thousands to follow in the next few years. This stuff doesn't happen overnight, you know. When she said, "In Grand Rapids, Hangar 42 Film Studios", it was a moment of confusion for me. I'm usually on top of these things, I had no idea what in the world she was talking about.
Turns out that I actually did know what she was referring to, it just didn't have a name yet. And it was going to be a blog post of mine. After seeing a story in the AP in mid-January about how cities were struggling to find uses for the old, sprawling, automotive manufacturing facilities across the country, I immediately thought of the old GM/Lear plant in Walker (Walker borders Grand Rapids). Built in 1942 for production of WWII airplanes, its last tenant was Lear, building seating parts for the auto industry. They packed up and left for Mexico some time ago, and the place appeared abandoned for some time, weeds growing in the parking lot, just another remnant of our industrial past. Slowly though, it started coming back, when developers took interest in dividing it up and turning into an industrial park. A couple of spaces are taken - one of those being GR Spring & Stamping, which is currently on overdrive manufacturing the fix for Toyota's accelerator problem. Another is Haviland Enterprises, which makes chemical solvents, amongst other things.
So, two pieces of the building are occupied and refurbished, but for the most part, there was that big 'ol brick building sitting there, empty. A hint of the future came when "The Genesis Code" shot some footage there last year, and just recently, 50 Cent came back to town and blew up a cop car in the building. That happened about the same time the AP story came out, and bingo, blog post, right? Well, it was one of those things I had tucked away, and now the governor beat me to it - but it turns out they have been planning this for over a year, and they have been keeping it a secret until they were sure they were good to go.
The Hangar 42 announcement came on Wednesday, and this is expected to bring up to 1000 jobs to the location within the next three years. Movie makers from across the world are already inquiring about the studio, which will house the world's largest single room sound stage. The Michigan Film Office expects to see some blockbusters filmed here.
A facility like this also gives Michigan the opportunity to compete for really big movies. The state's tax incentives aren't really set up to lure star-driven blockbusters, because the state doesn't pay out as much as other places for salaries that are in the millions of dollars.
But Ken Droz of the Michigan film office says a place like Hangar42 could draw the blockbusters in anyway.
"If they want to make an Indiana Jones movie, or a James Bond, or Batman and they need miles of square footage, they pretty much have that there," he says.
Perhaps more importantly, though, this space also makes it possible for a full time movie infrastructure. Indoor shoots don't have to worry about the Michigan winters. And Hangar42 is also much more than just a big room. There will be lots of office space, a huge cafeteria to feed crews, a theater to review footage before moving on to the next scene.
Not only that, surrounding businesses will see the benefit of the work there. Alpine Ave. is home to mom-and-pop stores and restaurants, and every large national chain you can think of, right down the street. All should see increased traffic with something this large coming to the area.
The best line about this story? A promise is fulfilled. I just had to laugh when I read this:
And it's a big step to take for a town that still doesn't even have direct flight service to LA. All those Hollywood big-shots have to endure layovers to even get to Grand Rapids.
But Buchanan says he's had a few of them out to tour this place.
"They came in a little bit like, this is Grand Rapids, I'll see it when I believe it," he says. "And they frankly were blown away by everything the area had to offer."
Happy birthday, Governor. You were right all along. Thank you for bringing this industry to our state. If there is one area of the economy that can weather a recession, it's entertainment - and it sure looks like we have the start of something really big. And I couldn't be more thrilled that it is happening in Grand Rapids.
Now we just have to keep Cassis and other Republicans from ruining it, and we will be just fine.
MI-07 Rep. Mark Schauer is questioning whether or not rules were broken during the apprehension of the so-called Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Flight 253 inbound to Detroit. Via the Detroit Free Press:
Was protocol violated when Flight 253 -- after a failed attempt to set off a bomb on the Christmas Day flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit -- proceeded to a gate at Metro Airport after the plane landed?
That's the question U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, a Battle Creek Democrat, pressed Thursday at a hearing before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Aviation Subcommittee.
The flight crew of Flight 253 was unaware that an attempted bombing had transpired in the cabin behind them. Because of this, "controllers in the tower didn't know either".
Schauer is pursuing this "information gap" to determine if protocols were violated that allowed the plane to continue to the gate.
I hate to give Brian Rooney more attention than he deserves because the only thing that would be worse than Tim Walberg regaining his seat in MI-07 would be if Brian Rooney were to succeed in defeating Mark Schauer. But his latest "press release" screams to be addressed.
It is a nauseating example of exploiting one's children, in this case a child with a serious medical condition, for personal political advancement.
February 1 marks a big day for Michigan political junkies, a day when candidates and officeholders who have filed a candidacy committee to run for office on the state level must file an annual compliance statement (CS). Candidates who have filed for a financial waiver (meaning that they are not going to spend or raise more than $1,000 on their campaign, and will most assuredly lose in their bid for elected office) are not required to file a CS, nor are candidates who have filed after January 1 of the current year. Hence, any candidates who have filed to run for office after January 1, 2010 do not need to file a CS.
After my diary about the epic Frank Luntz fail got so much attention here and at Daily Kos yesterday, I emailed Countdown with Keith to bring it to their attention. It seemed to fit in nicely with their segment about Luntz from the day before.
Sure enough, they picked it up and it was the subject of Keith's only "Short Comment" last night. The video can be seen in bfealk's diary.
It was a fun day. We've had our laugh at Mssr. Luntz. But now it's time to move forward. The fact is he doesn't give a damn if we're laughing at his mistake. He will continue to help the GOPosaurs eat the Dems' lunch if they don't get our messaging act together.
We all saw that Frank Luntz used a picture of Congressman Mark Schauer in his memo to the Republicans on how to defeat financial reform. Keith Olbermann did his comment on it tonight.
Hello from Lansing. Coming to you live from a darkened room inside the Capitol - this place is pretty much empty right now. A few school groups are touring, but other than that, it's nice and quiet. The legiscritters are out doing other things today, the media isn't here yet... very peaceful. Gives me time to shoot this beautiful building, and think about where we have been, and where we are going next.
This is a hard day for me. Happy and sad at the same time. From those late days in 2005, where I said to myself, "Hey, I like our governor a lot. I think I'll blog about the election", to being here now, and all the things that have happened in-between... wow. It's kind of overwhelming to think about. So I try not to. I'm going into photog mode and I don't want to think... I just want to do.
A lot of articles are out there about what the governor will say tonight, what the governor should say tonight, what the governor has done over the past seven years, what the governor hasn't done over the past seven years... I can't really add to all of that now except to say: I'm damn glad she was our governor. She busted her you-know-what day in and day out, from crisis to crisis, and still kept her optimism. That's amazing to me. When we get some distance down the road from the here and now, we are going to look back and see the enormity of what has happened to this state in the past ten years, and well, I believe that she has done the best job that she possibly could with the circumstances - and some of the things she has started, they will live on. There is legacy here. If you live long enough, you will see, and you will remember. I know I will.
For now though, here are a couple of good articles to chew on from today:
Mark Hornbeck at the DNews probably has the best, short, retrospective write up here.
The AP takes a look at protesters and the issue of taxes and the budget. The AP also takes a look back at the speech from 2009 - and notices that some things actually got done last year!
The Freep's website is giving me grief right now, but they will have a live stream of the speech - if it clears up I will embed the player when I can. The LSJ will also stream the speech. As will MGTV.
You can follow the tweeters at the #misots hashtag, or just follow @govgranholm for highlights.
I've always felt that teabagger candidates and protesters were out of touch with mainstream Americans, but now we have a poll showing just how far off the cliff they've fallen. Or, as this HuffPo article put it, this DKos/Research 2000 poll of more than 2,000 self-identified Republican voters illustrates the incredible paranoia enveloping the party. Some results:
39 percent of Republicans believe Obama should be impeached, 29 percent are not sure, 32 percent said he should not be voted out of office.
36 percent of Republicans believe Obama was not born in the United States, 22 percent are not sure, 42 percent think he is a natural citizen.
31 percent of Republicans believe Obama is a "Racist who hates White people" -- the description once adopted by Fox News's Glenn Beck. 33 percent were not sure, and 36 percent said he was not a racist.
24 percent of Republicans believe Obama wants "the terrorists to win," 33 percent aren't sure, 43 percent said he did not want the terrorist to win.
23 percent of Republicans believe that their state should secede from the United States, 19 percent aren't sure, 58 percent said no.
53 percent of Republicans said they believe Sarah Palin is more qualified to be president than Obama.
Talk about being disconnected from reality. The media really needs to start getting tough with this group and their enablers. When high profile Republicans are quoted in newspapers saying they don't know "whether President Obama is a citizen of the United States or not," and candidates for office devote their time speaking to tea party crowds, they validate this kind of irrational, paranoid thinking, and by extension make themselves look irrational too.
