Sen. Carl Levin and his wife share in the food, fellowship and discussion

This doesn’t have a lot to do with Mike McGonegal’s campaign or Chris Ward’s missteps in the state House – other than we were both there, but some 80 dedicated activists got the privilege of hearing one of the most respected and longest-serving U.S. Senators speak, enjoy a tasty potluck dinner and share the company of the growing number of Democratic activists in Livingston County Wednesday at the spacious offices of the Livingston County Democratic Party.
After some 26 years in the Senate and the ranking Democrat on the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Carl Levin has seen a lot, and he shared his thoughts on everything from the attempt by Dick DeVos to buy the governor's seat and President Bush’s disaster in Iraq.
As most of you are aware, DeVos has spent, to date, more than 30 times the salary of the governor on his folly, and he has spent more money on this campaign than has ever been spent on any campaign in Michigan in history. He is essentially trying to blame the slow economy on Gov. Granholm, despite the fact the Republicans have controlled everything in Michigan and at the federal level since at least 2000 and Bush’s failed economic policies have lost more than 3 million manufacturing jobs.
Bush’s policies are the cause of the loss of the high-paying jobs that are being replaced by low paying service sector jobs. In addition to these low-paying jobs that are being created, not enough of these jobs are being created to keep up with population growth.
Sen. Levin said he had just come from a meeting with the governor, Sen. Stabenow and alternative full experts at Michigan State University. The goal is to create jobs and make Michigan a leader in attentive fuels and energy research to fuel jobs, ensure the cars we make in Michigan and the U.S. are clean and fuel efficient and keep manufacturing jobs in Michigan and reduce and eliminate our dependency on foreign oil. With the price of gas going overt $3 a gallon this week and rising you have to wonder why this is not a priority of the Bush Administration?
Levin said the real research is centered around making “cellulosic biomass" – from such things as trees and grasses – efficient. He said it would require around $1 billon over five years to invest in the research needed to accomplish this. When we are spending $6 billon a month – a month I said - in Iraq it seems insane that we can’t fund research that will save our economy, secure our national security and save our environment.
He also spoke about the recent Levin-Reed Amendment on U.S. Policy on Iraq he introduced that would urge “the President to press the Iraqis to take greater responsibility for their own security and future and calls for the beginning of a phased redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of the year.” Despite the Commander on the ground in Iraq urging the same thing, it was defeated along party lines.
Apparently, “staying the course” is an accepted strategy, but it’s really one of incompetence.