Michigan gov. has a petition to lower gas prices..

[raroZ28]

http://www.michigan.gov/som/0,1607,7...1415--,00.html

I wonder how many other states are doing this?

[Jeff_in_Atl]

What an idiot the gov is. Does he think we are a socialist state?

[Dave-S]

The Governor is a she.....Jennifer Granholm.

The petion is worded in too simple a manner for such a complex problem and is not a good way to get changes in gas prices. In fact Bushes comments from part of this article are more in tune with my feelings.....

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/...ces/index.html

"My attitude is that the oil companies need to be mindful that the American people expect them to reinvest their cash flows in such a way that it enhances our energy security," Bush said.

Such investment projects could include new pipelines, expansion of refineries, and more exploration and investment in renewable sources of energy, he said.

[fastTa]

What an idiot the gov is. Does he think we are a socialist state?

No joke.

it’s time for President Bush and leaders in Washington to stop watching and start protecting us from the skyrocketing cost of gasoline!

That governor ain't too bright. Then again......that seems to be the trend amongst Bush Bashers.

[Joshu]

Then again......that seems to be the trend amongst Bush Bashers.

Hey now, watch yourself. I tend not to favor Bush and I am certainly educated. However, I don't blame him for the gas fiasco.

[Roger in Kensington]

Why doesn't she start a petition drive to lower the state's gasoline taxes? She and the state legislature have some control over that.

Or hasn't that occurred to her?

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

Petition for lower gas prices???

That's crazy!! Why didn't she start a petition for free gas? I mean...what better way to help out residents and the state economy! I think I'll start one right now...who wants to sign?

[fastTa]

Hey now, watch yourself. I tend not to favor Bush and I am certainly educated. However, I don't blame him for the gas fiasco.

Why do you "not favor Bush?"

[Jay 02 TA ws6]

To me, there is something extremely inappropriate about a state government's website reading like a liberal internet web blog speaking out against the President.

Very troubling. It makes me sick.

[Jay 02 TA ws6]

Perhaps the funniest thing is the thought that this will actually do something.

Hahahaha... I can see it now...

"Mr. Oil Company CEO, I collected 580,000 signatures from citizens of the state of Michigan who think you should lower your prices... so... you better! Or... or else!"

"Or else what?"

"Or else... we'll... collect more signatures!!!!"

I believe it was Jeff who said it in another thread... You want to lower gas prices? Either lessen demand, or increase supply. Anything else is just pissing and moaning - and a huge waste of everyone's time and energy.

[Joshu]

Why do you "not favor Bush?"

Granted, he's got balls and confidence but that only takes you so far. At last check his approval ratings were around 32%. The No Child Left Behind Act is the biggest reason because school districts are having students practice standardized testing for huge amounts of time a day since most of the school's funding depends on it. Several states have legislation pending to exclude themselves from this act.

The second thing is I don't see anything good coming out of these eight years. All his presidency is about are: Gays, abortion, war, appionting two justices (the biggest positive thing he has done), security (how many bombs were reporters able to sneak in?) and oil. All of these scandals certainly don't help his image, even if he isn't involved. What ever happened to reforming social security Mr. Bush? Oh and Katrina?

And probably the thing that kills me the most is his public speaking. My president should be a better public speaker than kids giving graduation speeches. Everyone gets tounge tied, but this guy makes me laugh.

I respect everyone's views, and hope you will do the same.

[fastTa]

Granted, he's got balls and confidence but that only takes you so far. At last check his approval ratings were around 32%.

At last check, those approval ratings that you have succumb to are vastly generated by the lefty-wackos who would love nothing more than to shove their unfounded and iniquitous sensationalism down people's throats such as yourself......but in a politically correct way of course.

United States Media 101: If the topic is in anyway negative or condescending towards the Bush Administration, publish the hell out of it. If it would somehow reveal a shred of truth about a great Presidential Administration, bury it by all means.

BTW, the testicular tools that you so aptly refer to , ARE fortunately a source of courage and pride for this President which has lead to many more successes in his Presidency than you appear to be aware of. I'll go into much more detail later.

The No Child Left Behind Act is the biggest reason because school districts are having students practice standardized testing for huge amounts of time a day since most of the school's funding depends on it. Several states have legislation pending to exclude themselves from this act.

You profess to be educated. That's fine; let's discuss the facts and have an educated friendly discussion. Everything you just spoke of ironically contained nothing but opinion.

You are greatly misinformed about the No Child Left Behind Act to negatively suggest that the increase in standardized testing is somehow paramount to the public school system getting their paycheck.

From the US Dept of Education's own website:

As evidenced by the diversity among the approved state accountability plans and state-consolidated applications, states have great flexibility in the design of their systems and implementation of particular No Child Left Behind (NCLB) provisions. Presented as a checklist of items, states considered many issues when designing accountability systems, providing options for parents and defining highly qualified teachers. The following list represents almost 40 separate issues under the control and responsibility of state and local education agencies.

The majority of the most touted educated countries in the World teach to the test. It not only provides an excellent foundation for a student's studying skills and application, it also provides the public school systems a much better and efficient way to manage a student's academic progression.

Since the implementation of the NCLB act, it has been made possible for most school districts to transfer up to 50 percent of the federal formula grant funds they receive under the Improving Teacher Quality State Grants, Educational Technology, Innovative Programs, and Safe and D Schools programs to any one of these programs, or to their Title I program, without separate approval. This allows districts to use funds for their particular needs, such as hiring new teachers, increasing teacher pay, and improving teacher training and professional development.

The NCLB act also has PROVEN to serve the less fortunate children who posses a mental disability. The NCLB act has given the education system several alternatives to achievement standards for students with significant cognitive disabilities. It has also given the education system much more funding and the flexibilty to utilize that very funding to assist in the very best possible care for our Nation's "cognitively challenged."

The second thing is I don't see anything good coming out of these eight years. All his presidency is about are: Gays, abortion, war, appionting two justices (the biggest positive thing he has done), security (how many bombs were reporters able to sneak in?) and oil. All of these scandals certainly don't help his image, even if he isn't involved. What ever happened to reforming social security Mr. Bush? Oh and Katrina?

The U.S. economy has added nearly 4.8 million new jobs in the last 2 1/2 years.

Unemployment rate is 5 percent, lower than the average for the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

Since the implementation of Bush’s Tax Relief plan in 2003, our country has added more than 4.7 million new jobs. 4.7 MILLION!!

Productivity has increased at a 3% annual rate.

Home ownership has reached and is still reaching all-time highs.

Contrary to the popularly perpetuated artificial reality that a significant number of Americans have succumb to, the US Economy is thriving. Consumer spending is at an all time high, commercial and residential construction is at an all time high, and even the businesses that rely heavily on petroleum to keep their businesses running, they have reported record incomes the last several quarters.

Do not ever forget that Social Security did not exist on a national level until 1935, when FDR kindly passed the Social Security Act as an integral part of his New Deal program. His Social Security Act was essentially a two part program. There was the unemployment compensation controlled by a Federal-State legislation, and then there was the Federally managed "retirement insurance" which largely catered to then those of a "senior citizen" age.

Today’s Social Security issues are extremely complex and are going to require a great deal of analytical and problem-solving resources to make better. In 1950, there were 16 workers to support every one beneficiary of Social Security. Today, there are only 3.3 workers supporting every Social Security beneficiary. People are also retiring earlier and they are living longer. It is the way of Society as Americans know it......a trend not easily influenced by one man's Presidential Administration.

The unfortunate yet ever present immoral characteristics of Mankind over the years is responsible for today's Social Security issues; not one single Presidential administration. Don't forget that the Social Security Administration also houses such programs as disability, Medicare, Vocational Rehabilitation, and SSI; all of which have been significantly abused over the last decades. So if you require yourself to apply blame to someone for the problems with Social Security, then look to your peers and ask them why, not Mr. Bush.

Don't even get me started on the gay, abortion, and Katrina stuff. Once again, sensationalism at it's finest hour.

And probably the thing that kills me the most is his public speaking. My president should be a better public speaker than kids giving graduation speeches. Everyone gets tounge tied, but this guy makes me laugh.

What does this say about your integrity and character to judge someone simply by the means in which they articulate a few syllables?

Do the principles of integrity, conviction, courage, patriotism, goodness, unwavering steadfastness, and wholeheartedness ever come to mind whenever you inexpressibly judge someone?

I respect everyone's views, and hope you will do the same.

From your great President.... whom you should learn to develop a great deal more respect for:

"The ideals that have inspired our history - freedom, democracy, and human dignity - are increasingly inspiring individuals and nations throughout the world. ... We choose leadership over isolationism, and the pursuit of free trade and open markets over protectionism. We choose to deal with challenges now rather than leaving them for future generations. We fight our enemies abroad instead of for them to arrive in our country. We seek to shape the world, not merely be shaped by it; to influence events for the better instead of being at their mercy."

President George W. Bush
Letter Introducing The National Security Strategy
March 16, 2006

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Granted, he's got balls and confidence but that only takes you so far. At last check his approval ratings were around 32%. The No Child Left Behind Act is the biggest reason because school districts are having students practice standardized testing for huge amounts of time a day since most of the school's funding depends on it. Several states have legislation pending to exclude themselves from this act.

The reason our school system is not doing to well is because they are required to NOT profile. Therefore they mix these Hispanic kids who can't speak English in with all of the kids who can. A class moves at the speed of the slowest student and if a kid does not understand what the teacher is saying it does not move at all. It has nothing to do with no child left behind. It has everything to do with illegal immigration.

In Georgia they have implemented way tougher standards than the federal government mandates. Gwinnett county went further than the state. The standard that the federal government mandates for testing of high school graduates is about a 9th grade level. It's really a joke it so low. The no child left behind was more for politics than for education.

The second thing is I don't see anything good coming out of these eight years. All his presidency is about are: Gays, abortion, war, appionting two justices (the biggest positive thing he has done), security (how many bombs were reporters able to sneak in?) and oil. All of these scandals certainly don't help his image, even if he isn't involved. What ever happened to reforming social security Mr. Bush? Oh and Katrina?

Well it sounds like you might have forgotten about a small thing that happened back in 2001. We were attacked and had over 3000 people killed. That was mostly caused by the previous president ignoring the warning signs and not taking care of the problem when it was a lot smaller. When things are allowed to grow they are harder to take care of. Just imagine how big the problem would have been in another 10 years if allowed to continue growing.

9/11 caused investors to be unsure about our economy along with the dot com busy which had already started to take effect. The result was a very large market slow down and a drop in stock prices. The lead us into a recession. The president saw this and ordered a tax cut to stop the recession. Guess what, it worked. Do you hear the media touting that Bush did something good. No. The media only reports what is bad. Good is not sensational and is boring. People watch NASCAR for the wrecks. Same thing.

As for the bombs that could happen under any presidency. I never saw any reporters try to do that under Clinton. Why didn't they? I don't know how you inspect the boat loads of containers that come into the ports every day. If anyone has a cost effective answer you should send to the president.

The oil problem isn't the presidents problem. It is the stupidity of the American people that think the president can do something about controlling the prices of a product that is produced by a company or corporation. This is not a socialist country.

The social security reforms got held up in the senate because senate rules require a vote of 60% to end discussion to bring a bill to a vote. The minority party in the senate banded together and would not allow enough votes to end discussion to allow a vote on the bill. You are blaming the president for something that was the democrats in the senate fault.

"Oh and Katrina". You are again blaming the president for something that was not his fault. That was the fault of the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana fault. Both who happen to incompetent as well as democrats. Once again the president can not order any federal anything into a state without the permission of the state. It is against the law to do that. Bush called the governor of Louisiana the day before the hurricane hit and ask for permission to send aid. The governor refused. He called 2 days after it hit. The governor again refused. What do you want him to do, break the law? Oh the media would have had a field day with that.

And probably the thing that kills me the most is his public speaking. My president should be a better public speaker than kids giving graduation speeches. Everyone gets tounge tied, but this guy makes me laugh.

I respect everyone's views, and hope you will do the same.

FYI if you are a citizen of the United States George Bush IS your president. Like it or not. Just like Bill Clinton and all that came before him. He is our president and he deserves your respect. One of the things that used to make this country great was how we could have our difference but in the end everyone supported our president.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Unemployment rate is 5 percent, lower than the average for the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

I heard 4.6% a couple of weeks ago. That may be the lowest it has ever been. That is considered full employment by "the experts" (whoever that is ). There are a lot of those 4.6% people that are incapable of working or just plain won't work.

[Joshu]

That's fine; let's discuss the facts and have an educated friendly discussion. Everything you just spoke of ironically contained nothing but opinion

You did ask for my opinion.

Have you even read the NCLB?

"Oh and Katrina". You are again blaming the president for something that was not his fault.

Do you remember he took the blame for that?

It not only provides an excellent foundation for a student's studying skills and application, it also provides the public school systems a much better and efficient way to manage a student's academic progression.

Far from the truth. I deal with the NCLB every day when I write a lesson plan. No one else here is a teacher who can relate to working with this act. What do you know about "managing a student's academic progression?" A standardized test should not be the way to manage progress. The best way to measure learning is through process-oriented goals, product-oriented results leave more room for measurable error.