Republican leaders respond to Gov. Whitmer's State-of-State address with 'next day' press conference
LANSING (CCN) — Governor Gretchen Whitmer's initial State-of-the-State address Tuesday night didn't draw the traditional canned response immediately afterward by someone on behalf of the opposite party. But Republican leaders in the state legislature responded Wednesday morning with a press conference to respond to newly-elected Democrat Whitmer who delivered her message to a state-wide TV audience of viewers on several channels.
Doing away with the traditional TV response cost Republicans some viewers, but House Speaker Lee Chatfield and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey went to social media to deliver their message on behalf of Republicans who again won control of the State Senate and State House of Representatives in the 2018 election although losing the Governor's race and the races for Secretary of State and Attorney General.
House Speaker Chatfield of Levering praised the new governor for her pledge to reach across the aisle to work with Republicans but the third-term northern Michigan legislator complained that he heard lots of "campaign rhetoric" and said, "It is important to note that the campaign trail has ended, and now it’s time to govern.”
The governor laughed when both Chatfield and Shirkey rose from their seats during applause to her vow to work to lower vehicle insurance, noting that it took that topic to "finally get them out of their seats." Chatfield's response press conference on Wednesday noted: “I believe last night there were some missed opportunities to talk about several issues that we in the House and Senate have identified as large challenges that are facing our state. Chief among them is lowering the cost of car insurance as well as updating our criminal justice system.”
Clarklake Republican Shirkey stressed that Republicans "embrace the priorities" outlined during Whitmer's speech at the Capitol on Tuesday night, but added, "We have differences on how."
Shirkey served four years in the State House before being elected in 2018 to his second four-year term in the State Senate in Michigan's 16th district. Chatfield, who invited President Donald Trump to deliver his originally schedled State-of-the-Union speech from the Michigan House after Nancy Pelosi revoked his invitation to speak at the U.S. House of Representatives, represents the 107th House district that includes the counties of Cheboygan, Chippewa, Emmet and Mackinac counties.
Celtics send Pistons into All-Star break with 118-110 loss with dominating 2nd half performance
BOSTON (CCN) — The Detroit Pistons went to Boston holding down the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference with a three-game winning streak and a chance to make it four in a row going into the All-Star break. They led 29-28 after one quarter and were down only 57-52 at halftime, but Boston came out red-hot from 3-point land after halftime. They made 10-of-22 behind the 3-point arc in the second half in a dominant performance that led to a 118-110 victory that included holding off a furious late rally by the Pistons who were led by Blake Griffin's 32 points and Andre Drummon's double-double effort (21 points and 17 rebounds). The Pistons fell to 26-30 on the season while Boston improved to 37-21. The Celtics are second in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference where they're 5 1/2 games behind the Toronto Raptors. Detroit reached the All-Star weekend break one game ahead of the Miami Heat in the race for the final wild card spot in the NBA playoffs.
CNN instant poll shows 79% approved of President Trump's Tuesday night State-of-the-Union address
WASHINGTON D.C. (CCN) — An instant poll conducted by CNN after Tuesday's State-of-the-Union address revealed a staggering 79 percent of viewers approved of President Donald Trump's performance. CNN reported that 59% of its viewers had a very positive reaction to the speech and 17% more had a somewhat positive reaction. The poll showed only 23% had a negative reaction.
President Trump told Americans that the USA will never become a socialist country, saying, "We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom — and we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime, whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty and despair. Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. America was founded on liberty and independence — not government coercion, domination, and control. We are born free and we will stay free."
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