Sunday, February 17, 2013
During Black History Month, we are reminded of how one person can, through character and conviction and strength, change the world.
On Feb. 4, I was honored to attend a pair of events celebrating the life and legacy of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks with the issue of a U.S. postage stamp on the 100th anniversary of her birth. It was especially appropriate that these events came at the beginning of Black History Month, and that one event was held at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, where visitors today can sit in the bus seat that Rosa Parks refused to give up, and in doing so, changed the world. I’m sure you know the story: On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks boarded a city bus in Montgomery, Ala., after a long day’s work, and took a seat. When all the seats filled up, the bus driver, following the city’s segregationist practice, demanded that Mrs. Parks give up her seat to…
Sunday, January 27, 2013
National debt and the fiscal cliff should be addressed by Congress in the coming weeks and months.
The U.S. Senate returned to the Capitol this month after a turbulent 2012. In the areas our citizens look to us to address – boosting economic growth and job creation, building a foundation for long-term competitiveness, protecting our environment and our national security – we overcame some major challenges and made some progress in 2012, but delayed many of the tough decisions until 2013. We ended the year with a debate over the “fiscal cliff,” and while we avoided the potential economic catastrophe of going over the cliff on Dec. 31, we only temporarily delayed draconian automatic spending cuts that will kick in early this year if we can’t reach another agreement to avoid them. One way we can bring down the deficit while avoiding those …
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Legislation would help preserve Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan.
In the waning days of the 112th Congress, the Senate approved a bill I’ve been fighting to pass to protect more than 35,000 acres of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The bill was introduced almost two years ago and made its way through a committee hearing and then a committee vote, and finally was considered by the full Senate. The House of Representatives failed to take up the bill, but Senate passage makes me optimistic we can push this important legislation across the finish line in the incoming Congress. Senate passage was the result of years of effort by concerned citizens and community groups, local officials, the business community and the National Park Service. I’ve introduced the bill along with Sen. Debbie Stabenow in the …
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Advanced battery technology is going to dominate the future of the automotive industry.
Michigan's economic future, and indeed the nation's, depends on winning a race against our economic competition around the world. That race is to find the technologies that will power homes, vehicles and businesses in the decades to come. Win that race, and we claim the economic high ground. That's why an announcement in November by the Department of Energy was so important to Michigan. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, a consortium of government, university and private-sector research labs aimed at revolutionizing battery technology. Fittingly, Michigan is playing a key role in the effort. The consortium, headquartered at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, will include research hubs …
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Since December 2011 nearly 5,000 consumers have received monetary relief from financial companies.
When Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act to reform Wall Street in the aftermath of the financial crisis, one of our most important steps was an attempt to help level the playing field for consumers in the complicated markets for mortgages, credit cards, consumer loans and other financial products by establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Just as federal agencies protect consumers from harmful food products or pharmaceuticals, the CFBP is designed to help protect consumers from abuses in financial markets. The agency is required twice a year to report to Congress on its activities, and in early September, Director Rob Cordray gave us a promising report card. As my Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has shown, …
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Olympic athletes are role models for overcoming tough adversity among Michigan youth.
There’s a little something for everybody in the Olympics: drama, competition, pageantry and spectacle, stories of victory and of triumph over adversity. For Michigan in the 2012 Games in London, there was all that and more. Our state was exceptionally well-represented at the just-completed games. Eleven athletes with Michigan ties won medals in London, including 10 Americans and one Canadian. But the Olympic games are about more than victory and gold. Michigan athletes gave us valuable lessons, not just about hard work and dedication on the field or in the pool, but about how to overcome tough circumstances and handle adversity with poise. Michigan cheered remarkable triumphs Swimmer Michael Phelps, who perfected his legendary training …
Fort Mackinac
12:22 pm on Sunday, September 16, 2012
This duplicative agency is more about giving politicians the "headlines" they desire to support their political aims than actually helping the consumer. The banking and finance industries are already some of the most heavily regulated businesses in America. The financial crises was created by bad regulation, like congress directing Fannie Mae to support and purchase subprime mortgages, not a lack… more ›