Tag: Debbie Stabenow (page 4)

Michigan Democrats said Monday they want to continue specifically targeted tax incentives for advanced battery manufacturers, putting them at odds with Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and GOP lawmakers who control the Legislature.

The industry-specific tax credits are among those scheduled to be phased out under tax policy changes Snyder has signed into law. It's part of a strategy to lower overall business taxes and leave more flexibility for economic development incentives beginning with the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

Democrats say that's a mistake when it comes to the advanced vehicle battery business, which has begun growing in Michigan with the help of federal grants and state incentives. The Democratic plan also would include tax credits for buying electric vehicles and charging stations.

This is at odds with Governor Snyder?  I doubt it with him sitting at 10.9% unemployment and a dwindling labor force that his bassackward 'reinvention' scheme of 'too divisive' Willy Milquetoast leadership has yielded.  Besides, Snyder and his cronies from Ann Arbor SPARK are going on a junket to commie China for a reason.

Solar energy products manufacturer Energy Conversion Devices Inc. -- the firm that invented the battery technology used in most hybrid vehicles on the road -- said Tuesday it plans to sell its profitable battery subsidiary.

But of course, all smart, successful corporations deep-six the profitable side of their business.  Nah, it couldn't have anything to do with a realization of Chevy Volt sales or the death of a Ponzi scheme in Salinas, California.

In May, the company announced plans to lay off 300 workers, including 115 in Michigan, after posting a $243 million quarterly loss and suffering the effects of cutbacks in government incentives overseas. The company primarily makes, sells and installs thin-film flexible solar products and systems to the building and rooftop markets and now has about 1,300 employees.

Solar.  Ya, that side of ECD, Inc. leeching $37 million out of taxpayers pockets belongs to Debbie's friend Jenny.

The remaining 15 minutes here.

This video is part one of 30 minutes total.  It will give you a pretty good idea about the man who would like to unseat Debbie Stabenow in 2012.  To face her he will have to first defeat those on the list of the ever growing field of Republican primary contenders.  Given his message, it could be doable.

Not a note card on his person.  Speech straight out.

Still with no clear-cut GOP challenger, Sen. Debbie Stabenow's bid for a third term got a roughly $1.5 million boost in the second quarter of this year, bringing her campaign cash war chest to nearly $4.1 million.

More troubling is the National response.  Go below the fold, but, put your coffee down first.

Despite having cap and trade legislation rejected by elected officials and the American public last year, the recalcitrant Obama administration is going ahead with similar measures through blunt regulatory decree. The current Republican Policy Committee has now warned that the proposed rules are "more costly than (cap and trade) legislation."

So what does that mean for our state?

By 2030, Michigan jobs will decrease by about 66,000, economic output will deteriorate by an alarming $12.1 billion, and our 5,178 schools and universities and 187 hospitals could see a 28.2% to 42.0% increase in energy costs, which will likely be passed to taxpayers and patients. Luckily, SOME of our elected officials are trying to wake the Obama Administration before they impose this regulatory nightmare on the nation.

But whom?  For Michigan's future, it seems we have to rely on help from a little further South.

The Lansing Democrat unveiled the Charging America Forward Act -- a bill that would authorize the U.S. Energy Department to award another $2 billion in grants "for the manufacturing of advanced batteries and components, and provide facility funding awards" for vehicle batteries, hybrid electrical systems and components.

The bill would include a provision to make it easier for electric vehicle owners to quickly use a government tax incentive.

What?

Oh pardon me.  Let me reel that back in just a wee bit before I embarrass myself with a remarkable lack of knowledge about what is happening around here.  Well, you know what I mean.  I mean 'knowledge', as in 'open eyes,' and even the slightest observation skills.  Senses to be sure!  By golly I need to FEEL what is going on don't I?  I mean, really FEEL what is going on in a way that leave no question how I should talk about it, report on it, or perhaps ACT on it.  In fact, maybe in the way that our junior Senator does:

"..the lack of global warming has left desperate politicians looking like fools.

"I feel global warming when I fly," says Senator Debbie Stabenow.  .."

Looking?

Oh my.  Those nice boys at the Michigan view certainly are gracious. Undoubtedly, polite to the end.