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By RightMichigan.com Posted in Barack Obama | Breaking News | Carl Levin | Hillary Clinton | jennifer granholm | Michigan — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Cross-posted on Right Michigan at www.RightMichigan.com.

There was some discussion late last week in Lansing insider publication MIRS about the continuing possibility of a vote to raise the gas tax this year.  The report quoted a Republican lawmaker who wanted to assure folks that as far as the GOP was concerned the idea of raising the gas tax wasn't just dead, it was buried too.  But it also quoted an official with the road construction lobby who was equally certain that a vote would come... in November.  

The assurance of a tax hike vote echoed the statements of House Speaker Andy Dillon who earlier this year told the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association that a lame duck vote to raise the gas tax was probable.

If you fueled up yesterday or drove by a service station you might have asked the same question that popped to my mind... are they crazy?!

There's never a good time to raise taxes but there are worse times than others.  Take the current gas prices, add another summer season with it's traditional jump at the pump and then go ahead and add three, six, nine more cents to each gallon in the way of a tax hike to help feed Lansing's never ending budget hunger.  Not a pretty picture.  The Detroit News reports:

Monday's average price in Metro Detroit was up a hefty 14 cents in just a week, reflecting a surge in oil prices that started in mid-February. Nationally, Monday's average of $3.22 for a gallon of regular unleaded was a half-cent from the record high of $3.277, according to AAA.

And no letup is in sight, with the price of oil spiraling to $108 a barrel Monday before closing at a record $107.90.

"We're definitely inching closer to that $4-a-gallon mark than ever before," said Jim Rink of AAA Michigan, which on Monday reported a statewide average of $3.28 for regular unleaded and a Metro Detroit average of $3.23.

In other words, perfect timing for Lansing to gorge itself on what little we've got left in our wallets.  We can cancel the cable TV and we certainly don't need to take a family vacation next year or buy silly little things like groceries.  Not when Lansing has a budget monster to feed.  

Interesting, too, that those lobbyists still seem to think that a vote is coming after the November general elections.  And after all of the hand wringing that the Democrats would neeeeever do anything like that.  But hey, it makes sense.  The only thing worse than another tax hike right now would be the sheer political and personal cowardice of a lame duck vote on another tax hike.

And that's saying something because there are a lot of bad ideas floating around these days.  Take the continuing discussions about Michigan and Florida's Democrat Presidential Primary delegates.  Former candidate and current Barckstar groupie Chris Dodd has his own bright idea on how to resolve the conflict.  The Associated Press reports he'd like to just take the delegates and split them down the middle.  Convenient since his guy lost both elections.  

Democrats are still familiar with the concept of elections, right?  You have these polling places, people show up, they mark this little card and slide it into a machine... whoever gets the most votes wins?  Coming back to you yet?  We had one of them on January 15th?  Obama and Clinton both decided they didn't want to ask for our votes?  Remember?

Some in the party have proposed having major Democratic donors pay for the do-over primaries instead of taxpayers. Dodd rejected that approach.

"The idea that a bunch of fat cats are gonna finance it, I don't like that idea at all," Dodd said.

Dodd said he had not talked with Obama or any party officials about the idea of evenly splitting the Florida and Michigan delegates.

There also have been proposals floated for mail-in primaries to give Florida and Michigan Democrats a voice in electing a candidate for president. Cost and security issues, however have been raised.

Security issues?  What could possibly go wrong with an election held entirely through the mail?  Certainly there aren't any Democrats who'd intimidate voters into marking their ballot one direction or the other, are there?

Fair question to ask because it's looking more and more that when you don't do precisely what certain Democrats in Michigan want you to do very bad things could happen to you.  

In a scandal that's expanding faster than the known universe Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is being asked questions, again, about the unsolved shooting death of Tamara Greene, an entertainer who, it turns out, may have had a violent run in with Hizzoner's wife before her death.  The FREEP reports that a retired DPD file clerk has come forward claiming to have seen an official police report about the incident  A report that no one can seem to find.

"According to the report, the mayor's wife walked into a room and witnessed Ms. Greene touching Mayor Kilpatrick in a manner that upset the mayor's wife," Rogers, 65, said in the affidavit. "The report further states that the mayor's wife witnessed this, left the room and returned with a wooden object in her hand and began assaulting Ms. Greene."

The report indicated Greene was taken to the hospital because she was injured, Rogers said. "It was clear to me as a clerk working in records that Ms. Greene wanted to press charges against Carlita Kilpatrick," Rogers said in the affidavit.

Of course she never got the chance.  Someone shut her up for good.  

As much as I think we'd all like to speculate, and we could form conspiracy theories all day based on the last two days worth of news out of the D, it'd probably be slightly more than irresponsible to get too carried away.  But two things are certain... the Mayor has a lot on his mind as he prepares to deliver the State of the City address and the city would be better off if the speech turned into a resignation.