Dingell gets endorsement of conservative Detroit News

The endorsements continue to pile up for the Dean of the U.S. House, Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, this one from the conservative Detroit News.

The endorsement of Dingell – and one other endorsement - is the only part of the editorial I agree with that is also a cheap attack on Democrats and liberals. I do agree with this one sentence, “we feel he should remain in Congress,” “because he fought for the domestic automobile industry.”

That alone is a great reason for voting for Dingell, but the good news is there are plenty more reasons to vote for him.

All of the other endorsements are for the most out of touch, right-wingers possible, with the exception of Dingell and Sen. Hansen Clarke, D-Detroit, the candidate for the 13th Congressional District. Even the rightwing editor Nolan Finley couldn’t go as far as endorsing Dingell and Clarke’s opponents, but it must have pained him to do so.

There is no doubt that Dingell is the best choice for voters in the 15th District, but it’s sad they used it to take a backhand slap at President Obama and the Democratic leadership.

The fact that the conservative editorial board endorsed the extremist opponents of U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Hills; U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek; State Rep. Gary McDowell, D-Pickford; and Democrat Pat Miles, a Grand Rapids attorney, speaks volumes for the Dingell endorsement.

He had to overcome a lot for the editorial board not to endorse his extremist opponent.

The bill that will allow local municipalities to enact a workplace smoking ban is a smokescreen

The move to pass House Bill 5077 in the Michigan Legislature that will allow local municipalities to enact a workplace smoking ban, including bars and restaurants, is a huge waste of time and a smokescreen because it will not stand up in court.

Rep. Gary McDonnell, D-Rudyard, introduced the bill on June 10.The House Regulatory Reform Committee was supposed to take up the bill this week, but it was taken off the agenda.

A few years ago some local communities got tired of the Michigan Legislature not doing its job and pass something that has overwhelming support from Michigan residents, and they passed local ordinances that banned smoking. They were taken to court, and the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that a local ordinance cannot be more stringent than state law. So, even if this made it through the Senate, it will be struck down.

The Senate is already sitting on HB 4377; passed by the House with bipartisan support in May that bans smoking with the exception of casinos, and Senate Bill 114 that has no exceptions.

But, we know for sure even if the bill passed and was not struck down, Livingston County residents will not be protected from deadly secondhand smoke. The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus did a story on it, and every elected official quoted in the article said each business should make the choice.

But the simple fact is that this is not a choice issue, this is a public health issue, and the government has a duty to protect the public health. Secondhand smoke kills 3,000 Michigan residents a year and results in $2.65 billion in annual health care costs in Michigan. Secondhand smoke causes heart disease, stroke, dementia, cancer, breast cancer and non-fatal diseases, such as asthma, inner ear infections, major depression and other afflictions in non-smokers.

Not a single sentence in the story mentioned either the court issue or the public health damage secondhand smoke causes to the almost 80 percent of Michigan residents who do not smoke.