Michigan Politics & Elections

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ST. PAUL, Minn. - A Minnesota board on Monday certified results showing Democrat Al Franken winning the state's U.S. Senate recount over Republican Norm Coleman, whose lawyer promised a legal challenge that probably will keep the race in limbo for months.

AP PhotoPresident-elect Barack Obama meets with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. in her office on Capitol Hill in Washington on Monday.

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama plunged into rare pre-inaugural crisis talks with congressional leaders Monday, declaring the national economy was "bad and getting worse" and embracing tax cuts now expected to reach $300 billion. He predicted lawmakers would approve a mammoth revitalization package within two weeks of his taking office.

If the two-year plan is enacted, workers would see larger paychecks almost immediately because taxes withheld by the government would drop. The break would be retroactive to Jan. 1, and couples receiving a $1,000 tax cut would begin receiving an extra $40 in twice-monthly paychecks as the government tries to spark more consumer spending.

LANSING - There's talk that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's withdrawal as Commerce secretary nominee could be an opening for Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama, commencing face-to-face consultations with congressional leaders Monday, is embracing an unexpectedly large tax cut of up to $300 billion. Obama said the country faces an "extraordinary economic challenge."

Obama was meeting with a broad array of House and Senate Democratic leaders and with a bipartisan group of key lawmakers.

Jeffrey LaMonde | Times PhotoBay County Commissioner Don Tilley and his wife, Brandy, were able to snag a pair of tickets for President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony. Tilley said he plans to document the experience for his social studies students at Bay City Central High School.

Don Tilley will have quite a story to tell his students when he goes back to work later this month.

Tilley, a social studies teacher at Bay City Central High School, will be in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20 when President-elect Barack Obama takes the oath of office.

"I'm giddy," said Tilley, who is also a Bay County commissioner. "It's just the chance of a lifetime."

LANSING — The 110-member Michigan House will have 46 new lawmakers when it reconvenes for a new session this month. Forty-four of the seats were open in last year's election because the incumbents were term-limited.

Michigan's term limits law restricts House members to three terms of two years, or six years total.

The 38 members of the Michigan Senate are limited to two terms of four years, or eight years total. Senate seats were not up for election last year. Both the House and Senate will be up for election in 2010.

Barack Obama will lay out his vision for a massive economic stimulus plan in meetings with congressional leaders Monday. Perhaps more important, he'll be taking a major step toward rebuilding the broken relationship between the executive branch and the legislative branch.

Doing so will be critical to the success of his agenda. Continue reading "Obama to detail stimulus vision" »

AP PhotoIn this Nov. 4, 2008 file photo, Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken shakes hands with supporters after speaking at the Democratic election night party in St. Paul, Minn.

MINNEAPOLIS — The state Canvassing Board was posed to certify the results of the recount in Minnesota's grueling Senate election in Al Franken's favor -- but that doesn't mean the race is definitely over.

The board was to meet Monday and was expected to declare which candidate received the most overall votes from nearly 3 million ballots cast. The latest numbers showed Franken, a Democrat, with a 225-vote lead over Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

But after the announcement, there will be a seven-day waiting period before an election certificate is completed. If any lawsuits are filed during that waiting period, certification is conditional until the issue is settled in court.

DETROIT — One hundred people will attend President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, courtesy of U.S. Rep. John Conyers.

The Detroit Democrat tells WDIV-TV that he gave away the tickets Sunday during a lottery set up after about 2,500 people requested nearly 8,000 tickets. Conyers received a total allotment of 190 tickets.

AP PhotoRoland Burris, right, speaks at a news conference accompanied by U.S. Congressman Bobby Rush, D- Ill., center, and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, left, at the New Covenant Baptist Church in Chicago on Sunday.

CHICAGO -- Just days before a high-stakes showdown in the nation's capital, the man selected to take President-elect Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat sought spiritual and political support on Sunday at a South Side Chicago church.

Warm words of support and prayers for Roland Burris contrasted with the frigid reactions from Senate leaders, many of whom say his appointment by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is so badly stained that Burris shouldn't be seated when the new Congress convenes this week.

AP PhotoPresident-elect Barack Obama speaks during a news conference in Chicago. After consulting with economists Obama's advisers are contemplating an economic recovery plan that could cost as much as $1 trillion over two years.

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama received a rude welcome to Washington on Sunday as congressional Democrats dashed his hopes for a speedy response to the worst economic crisis in decades.

Even before Obama's plane landed, House and Senate Democratic leaders put him on notice that he won't have a broad economic stimulus plan ready for his signature at soon as he takes office Jan. 20, as he had hoped.

AP File PhotoPresident-elect Barack Obama, right, listens as Commerce Secretary designate New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, speaks during a news conference in Chicago on Dec. 3.

WASHINGTON -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson abandoned his bid to become commerce secretary under pressure of a grand jury investigation about political favoritism -- an investigation that threatened to embarrass President-elect Barack Obama.

Richardson insisted he would be cleared in the probe, and Obama stood by the governor as an "outstanding public servant." But both men said it has become clear that a grand jury probe would not be finished in time for Richardson's confirmation hearings and could keep him from filling the post in a timely matter.

Manuel Balce Ceneta | AP PhotoPresident George W. Bush waves to the press as he and First Lady Laura Bush return to the White House from Texas on Thursday.

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush will be judged on what he did. He will also be remembered for what he's like: a fast-moving, phrase-mangling Texan who stays upbeat even though his country is not.

For eight years, the nation has been led by a guy who relaxes by clearing brush in scorching heat and taking breakneck bike rides through the woods. He dishes out nicknames to world leaders, and even gave the German chancellor an impromptu, perhaps unwelcome, neck rub. He's annoyed when kept waiting and sticks relentlessly to routine. He stays optimistic in even the most dire circumstances, but readily tears up in public. He has little use for looking within himself, and only lately has done much looking back.

AP File PhotoPresident-elect Barack Obama arrived in Washington over the weekend, joining his family at a hotel while awaiting his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Two wars. Debt in the trillions. The auto industry on life support. Diminished respect abroad. A crisis of confidence at home. And an equally mountainous set of expectations that President-elect Barack Obama can wave his "Yes we can" wand and make things right again.

Is it too much to ask? Six West Michigan residents say they hope Obama can at least make a start, whether it's restoring U.S. standing in the world, enacting fair trade policy or inspiring a nation of different races and competing views to work together.

Watch the president-elect's weekly address on his economic plan.

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama's transition team is putting the finishing touches on an economic recovery plan that could run from $675 billion to $775 billion.

Briefings for top congressional Democratic officials are likely this weekend or on Monday, a senior transition official said Friday.