Curtis L. Norris died Saturday in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds he received when an improvised explosive device went off near his vehicle, the Defense Department said.Norris was part of the 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), based at Fort Drum, N.Y.
---from the AP
RIP Sgt. Norris
They died Dec. 23 in Salman Pak, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle during combat operations.They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry, out of Big Rapids.
Killed were:
Pfc. Wilson A. Algrim, 21, of Howell.
Spc. Chad J. Vollmer, 24, of Grand Rapids.
Pvt. Bobby Mejia II, Saginaw.
-- From the Lansing State Journal
Pfc. Andrew H. Nelson, 19, and the others died of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle during combat operations Dec. 25 in Baghdad, Iraq. They were assigned to the 9th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany.
But locally he was known as a four-year letter winner on the swimming and diving team. He graduated from St. Johns High School in 2005.
Nelson made the State Journal all-area team as a senior in 2004-05, when he qualified individually for the Division 2 state meet in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly.
“He was very competitive, very driven,” said swim coach Kim Brewbaker. “The kind of kid that wouldn’t back down from anything..."
Nelson’s family could not immediately be reached for comment. Information on funeral arrangements was not yet available.
~Your Neighbors at Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood
The fallen soldier's family is remembering him as a heroic, strong, patriotic and brave young man who was into bodybuilding and loved to travel.
-snip-
Andrew Daul, who was in his second tour of duty in Iraq when he died, was with the 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, based in Friedberg, Germany.
-snip-
This year's Christmas will be extra somber for those who knew Andrew Daul.
"I don't think there will be much of a Christmas this year," Kathy Daul said. "We'll honor Jesus Christ, we'll go to our midnight mass, but as far as truly getting into the commercial aspect of all of that, that probably very definitely will be put aside and the next couple weeks will be strictly in honor of Andrew."
...the credit card companies are the driving force behind this legislation. Some in the Senate recognize this.
The bill is more than 500 pages long, all in highly technical language. But the overall thrust is pretty clear:
• Make debtors pay more to creditors, both in bankruptcy and after bankruptcy, so that a bankruptcy filing will leave a family with more credit card debt, higher car loans, more owed to their banks and to payday lenders.
• Make it more expensive to file for bankruptcy by driving up lawyers’ fees with new paperwork, new affidavits, and new liability for lawyers, so that the people in the most trouble can’t afford to file.
• Make more hurdles and traps, with deadlines that a judge cannot waive even if someone has a heart attack or an ex-husband who won’t give up a copy of the tax returns, so that more people will get pushed out of bankruptcy with no discharge.
• Make it harder to repay debts in Chapter 13 by increasing the payments necessary to confirm in a repayment plan, so that more people will be pushed out of bankruptcy without ever getting a discharge of debt.
There are people who abuse the system, but this bill lets them off. Millionaires will still be welcome to use the unlimited homestead exemption. And if they don’t want to buy a home there, they can just tuck their millions of dollars into a trust, a “millionaire’s loophole” that lets them keep everything—if they can afford a smart, high-priced lawyer.
More than a year after provisions of the Bankruptcy Reform Act took effect in October 2005, debtors are finding it more expensive and time-consuming to file for bankruptcy protection, said John Pottow, U-M Law professor. The act, however, has not solved consumer financial distress.
"Reform, as it was styled, focused on reducing the number of bankruptcies but paid no attention to their cause," said Pottow, a bankruptcy expert. "The data we see suggest the underlying cause is getting worse: a growing number of Americans still cannot pay their debts."
Debts are likely to increase during the holidays. Consumers rely heavily on credit cards to buy gifts, decorations and other related items, then get debt-induced hangovers in January when they go to their mailboxes to find much higher than expected credit card bills.
If debtors consider filing for bankruptcy protection, they can expect higher costs. Pottow said reports suggest attorneys fees have jumped by 50 to 100 percent in response to the complexity of the new law.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the official campaign arm of the Democrats in the House. The DCCC is the only political committee in the country whose principal mission is to support Democratic House candidates every step of the way through this critical election year.
Mr . ROGERS of Michigan . Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Alticor Incorporated, on being honored with the 2005 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. This is an honor bestowed to employers who have gone above and beyond in supporting their National Guard and Reserve employees.
Alticor's communication with its military employees when in action, covering pay differential during deployments and their Military Leave Program are just a few of the many ways the company has demonstrated support for the Guard and Reserves. Alticor has also donated numerous products which have been distributed to deployed units worldwide.
I commend Alticor's contribution to military families. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I respectfully ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to Alticor Incorporated, for being honored with the 2005 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.
Mr . ROGERS of Michigan . Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the accomplishments of Richard DeVos, a Michigan citizen who exemplifies the American spirit of entrepreneurship and community leadership.
As Richard DeVos celebrates his 80th birthday, we reflect on his many achievements as the co-founder of Amway Corp. with his lifelong friend and business partner, the late Jay Van Andel, as well as his many selfless contributions to his state, community, and fellow citizens.
The author of three books, ``Believe!,'' ``Compassionate Capitalism,'' and ``Hope From My Heart: Ten Lessons for Life,'' Richard also is a public speaker with an international following. After receiving a heart transplant in 1997, he took on the additional responsibility of serving as chairman for the Speakers Bureau for United Network for Organ Sharing.
Richard has owned several professional sports franchises, including the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association.
Richard and his wife, Helen, support many hospitals, colleges and universities, arts organizations and Christian causes in their hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and also numerous organizations in their adopted community in Central Florida.A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Richard and his wife Helen have raised four children and have 16 grandchildren.
Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Richard DeVos as, on his 80th birthday, we acknowledge his life-long vision, compassion, and commitment to the American people and his home state of Michigan. Richard DeVos is truly deserving of our respect and admiration.
A series of positive benchmarks -- with definite time frames for their achievement -- could prod the Iraqi government to improve its performance and the security situation in the country, he said.
Hmmm... Congressional candidate Jim Marcinkowski thought a benchmarked withdrawal was a sound policy approach as far back as April, but Mike Rogers felt that sort of talk was defeatist. How many more U.S. servicemembers need to be killed or wounded before Mike can admit that he was wrong?
NYT columnist Bob Herbert pointed out that Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) voted for the war, and was honest enough to admit that his support had been a mistake:
“I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal. I cannot support that anymore.”
If the U.S. is ultimately going to retreat in Iraq, he said, “I would rather do it sooner than later. I am looking for answers, but the current course is unacceptable to this senator.”
Here at home, as U.S. troops and Iraqi citizens continue to die, Rogers is still looking for a "unified position" that everyone can "get behind."
"I think we've got to find a unified position... we will do more to solve the problem if we do it with one voice."Let's review: 63% of Americans think the war is a mistake. That's a higher percentage than Bush received in 2000, or 2004. In fact, that's a higher percentage than Mike Rogers received last month. Sounds pretty unified to me...
"To really play a large role, a lot of these things are going to have to become less venomous," he said.Mr. Filip is certainly entitled to his opinion, but the people of the neighborhood are by no means looking to be "venomous" towards Mike Rogers – our goal is to simply inform constituents living in the 8th Congressional district about his record. If Chairman Filip feels we won't be "changing people's hearts and minds," then he has nothing to worry about.
Generally speaking, Filip said, political blogs play to the extreme fringes of their particular parties.
"I don't think necessarily it's anything that's changing people's hearts and minds," he said.
The Disabled American Veterans rated Rogers a zero in 2004 and 2005. The The Retired Enlisted Association rated him 33% in 2004.-- No to $13.5 billion over 5 years for the VA (HCR 95, Vote #149, 4/28/05)
-- No to a $53 million boost to veterans’ health care and benefits, including funding for medical and prosthetic research, combat-related trauma care, and support for spouses and children of service members who died during the War on Terror (HCR 2528, Vote #224, 5/26/05)
-- No to extending TRICARE health care benefits to National Guard and Reserve members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their families (HR 1815, Vote #221, 5/25/05)
-- No to full retirement and disability benefits for veterans (HR 1588, Vote #616, 11/7/03)
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), Blunt's deputy whip, said he meets regularly with the lobbying community and, as different bills come up, "we go over lists to see who knows this member, how can we get that person feeling more comfortable, can we get him more information." These drives are conducted "on bills that are big -- tax, energy, bankruptcy, class action, tort reform. The whole world swoops in," Rogers said. For each bill, a steering committee is created that "hands out assignments, coordinates activities."
"I use the Pontecchio Bridges system to administer more than thirty campaign PAC's for our clients. It does everything I need and yet it really is the service and support we get from the Pontecchio staff that sets them apart from other vendors I have worked with. We're quite pleased." Barbara W. Bonfiglio - Williams & Jensen”.Mark Valente a Republican fundraiser and lobbyist was treasurer for up to 15 Republican Leadership PACs including the MIKE R fund. As a result of ties to “Culture Club” leaders like Tom Delay, and Jack Abramoff, the era of lobbyist as PAC Treasurer has diminished dramatically. Mark Valente stepped down in July and was replaced by Robert Carlin as treasurer. Barbara Bonfiglio stepped down as a principle for Williams & Jensen, and is out of the PAC business altogether.
“Mr. Speaker, on the legislative day of May 19, 2006 the House voted on a procedural motion to H.R. 5385, the Fiscal 2007 Military Construction-VA Appropriations Act. On House rollcall vote No. 173, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''
Bills like the “National Uniformity for Food Act”, won’t get out of committee without substantial changes.
Mike R has developed through his votes quite a record. It will be interesting to compare his previous votes and positions with his statements in the next two years. The word “flip-flop” comes to mind. Mr. Rogers positions are evolving and the new congress hasn’t convened yet.
Looking Forward:
On the bright side for Mike R, a number of things are still in place:
But we will be watching Mike R, and that’s a good thing.
There are only 695 days until the next General Election.
Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, gaveled the House to a close for the last time about 3:15 a.m.; the Senate limped to a close about 4:40 a.m.
But Republicans dumped an unfinished budget on the Democrats about to take power, with the Senate barely meeting a midnight deadline to pass a stopgap spending bill putting the government on autopilot until February 15.
The failure to pass budget bills for domestic agencies, said Rep. David Obey, D-Wisconsin, amounted to "a blatant admission of abject failure by the most useless Congress in modern times."
The House, also working late into the night, acted first, easily passing the tax and Medicare provisions -- along with a plan to open 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling. The vote was 367-45. It passed the trade legislation by a narrower 212-184...
All told, the tax cuts would cost $38 billion over five years.
On the rest of the budget, work remained unfinished on nine of 11 spending bills, requiring the stopgap funding bill to put 13 Cabinet departments on autopilot through February 15 frozen at or slightly below current levels.
Democrats now face difficult choices and weeks of work on the leftover budget, which totals $463 billion and must be passed at Bush's strict budget limits.
"They are leaving us with a tremendous mess," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, told reporters. "We have alternatives, none of which are very good."
In the House, Republican leaders gave its anti-abortion base one final shot at abortion legislation before Democrats take over control of the agenda.
The House rejected a proposal that would have required abortion providers to inform women at least 20 weeks pregnant that abortions cause pain to the fetus. The vote was 250-162, short of the two-thirds majority needed under a procedure that limited debate.
The bill defined a 20-week-old fetus as a "pain-capable unborn child." That's a controversial threshold among scientists, who don't agree on whether a fetus at that stage of development feels pain or reflectively draws back from stimuli. Abortion has been legal in the United States since a 1973 Supreme Court ruling.
U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers hopes the Iraq study group’s recommendation for a gradual withdrawal from Iraq will serve as a catalyst to unify the U.S. on the issue.
“That’s one of the things that has been hurting us overseas,” the Republican congressman from Brighton said today.
Rogers said he hadn’t had time to read the entire 200-page report but had looked at the executive summary. He applauded the recommendation to begin dialogues with Iran and Syria, and said a gradual pullout made sense.
“An immediate withdrawal would absolutely cause chaos in the entire region,” he said.
But Rogers hasn't been completely above the political fray — in June on the floor of the House, he said that politicians calling for a withdrawal from Iraq share an agenda with the terrorist insurgents there. He said his comments were in reaction to statements by Democratic lawmakers, which Rogers characterized as "defeatism."
"Like any armed conflict, some things go your way, and some don't."
This seat will "be in play"? See, this is why I'm so happy that the MI-GOP kept Saul Anuzis around after his disastrous performance as party chairman this year. The guy couldn't beat Debbie Stabenow after her first term -- when a Senator is usually at their weakest -- and he thinks he can beat Carl Levin, the longest-serving Senator in Michigan's history? Puh-lease.Levin’s popularity and Michigan’s Democratic lean — Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Sen. Debbie Stabenow were easily re-elected last month — make him a formidable opponent. Already the longest-serving senator in Michigan history, Levin has dominated recent elections and won a fifth term in 2002 with 61
percent of the vote.
Rep. Mike Rogers, Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and state Attorney General Mike Cox have been mentioned as potential Senate candidates.
Paul Abramson, a political scientist at Michigan State University, said the most logical GOP opponent would be Rogers, who was first elected to his Lansing-centered 8th District in 2000.
“Rogers has an extremely safe House seat and the question is whether he’d be willing to put that at risk to take an outside chance of winning,” Abramson told CQPolitics.com.
But, Abramson added, outside of health concerns, “I think some real fates would have to intervene before [Levin] would be the underdog in the election.”
Michigan Republicans, meanwhile, argued that the timing of Levin’s announcement indicated he was concerned about winning re-election.
“A re-election announcement this early, before most people have closed their books on the last campaign, signals loud and clear to Michigan Republicans that this seat will be in play in 2008 and we are ready for the challenge,” state GOP chairman Saul Anuzis said in a statement.
We were sentenced to two more years of uber-conservative tyranny by Mike Rogers. The forecast called for a discriminating and foreboding time, accompanied by votes bought and paid for by the most corrupt of special interests. It was a moment of shameful defeat.
Today the tide has changed and the forecast looks a bit more optimistic.
In fact, today is truly A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.
Today marks the day when the good people of Michigan's 8th Congressional District start to take it back. Today we pull off our warm fuzzy yellow sweaters, set down our mugs of cocoa, and roll up our sleeves. Today we take back the Neighborhood.
Thanks in part to bloggers, readers, and lurkers of this and other progressive Michigan blogs, and inspired by creators and contributors of the Walberg Watch, we've formed our own Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.
We're going to be
Just like every good Michigan neighborhood, everyone's welcome, everyone's represented, and everyone's appreciated. We hope you'll stop by The Neighborhood, say hello to some familiar faces, meet some new ones, and most of all, get educated. This is much more than just a block party, it's the Town Hall for everyone in the 8th to gather together and work for what we believe in, making sure that our representatives are working for us.
The foundation's been laid, the walls are going up, and folks are starting to move in. Be sure to drop in often as we work harder than any congressional district has ever worked. Just because we're Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood now, doesn't mean we have to stay his neighborhood forever.
