George Weeks: Several ways to use 'humble'

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Weeks

November 7, 2010

By GEORGE WEEKS Syndicated Columnist The Record Eagle Sun Nov 07, 2010, 06:14 AM EST

There are several ways for politicians to use "humble" — including to be unpretentious about success, and to acknowledge a setback.

It was interesting within a few hours last week to hear 1st District U.S. Rep.-elect Dan Benishek, a longtime Iron Mountain surgeon, to say he was "so proud, so humbled" to be one of the resurgent Republicans who gave President Barack Obama the historic congressional drubbing that Obama, in his post-election press conference, later admitted was a humbling "shellacking."

When I asked Benishek, in his post-election teleconference with 15-plus Washington and Michigan based reporters, about which committee assignments he will seek, he cited those dealing with veterans, budgets, health care and governmental oversight.

Retiring Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, who chairs the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, congratulated Benishek "on winning a hard-fought campaign" and offered him help in the transition.

Benishek said Team Benishek will work with Team Stupak on any pending "case work" issues with constituents in the sprawling 31-county district.

Stupak said: "We face many great challenges in the State of Michigan and across the country. From an economy that has been slow to create jobs to our military commitments abroad, the next Congress will confront many substantive issues and play a major role in shaping the future of our nation. I urge Congressman-elect Benishek and every member of the next Congress to foster a constructive environment in Washington that will lead to real solutions for the American people as we continue down the path of recovery."

So it goes in transitions. Each party has a spin.

Snyder's transition troika

Gov.-elect Rick Snyder has tapped a talented trio from the Engler era to help lead Snyder's transition from the Granholm era. Each, like Snyder, is a business leader. They are:

n Running the team is Doug Rothwell, Engler's state economic development chief and current President and CEO of Business Leaders for Michigan, which endorsed Snyder.

n Rothwell's wife, Sharon Rothwell, who was Engler's chief of staff and now is a vice president at Masco Corp in Taylor.

n Mark Murray, Engler's budget director and then treasurer; the 2001-06 president of Grand Valley State University; and now president of Grand Rapids-based Meijer Inc. (Meijer in 2009 was fined $190,000 by Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land for how it sought to influence local officials in Grand Traverse County on disputed location of a superstore. A related case on the issue is pending in the Michigan Supreme Court.)

Murray's father, John, was speechwriter and a key figure in the 1949-60 administration of six-term Gov. G. Mennen Williams, who noted, "Each and every one of us stands on the shoulders of our predecessors."

Democrats and anti-Engler Republican moderates may see Snyder's transition trio as an indication of Engler influencing the incoming administration. I don't. I see Snyder enlisting three very sharp pros who can help him understand and use the levers available in his quest to "reinvent" a troubled government.

On Monday, Snyder plans to start announcing who will fill cabinet-level positions in his administration.

Camp's clout

What clout Michigan has had on Capitol Hill pretty much has come from downstate lawmakers, most notably 27-term Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, longest-serving member of Congress and former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Congressman Stupak, as chairman of the committee's Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, has been prominent on many issues.

Past notables from northern Michigan include 1966-79 Sen. Robert Griffin, R-Traverse City, sponsor of landmark legislation and key figure in the resignation of President Richard Nixon after Watergate, and 1953-64 Rep. Victor Knox, R-Sault Ste, a former state House speaker who was a longtime member of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee.

U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, whose district includes several counties in the northern Lower Peninsula, has been ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which is instrumental in hiking and cutting taxes.

Now, with Republican control of the House, he's in line to replace Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak, as chairman of the committee.

On Friday, Camp said:

"The number one job of Congress must be getting this economy back on track, and that begins with preventing a massive tax increase on January 1. Americans cannot wait any longer and Congress should act immediately to extend the 2001 and 2003 rates and provide families and employers with the certainty needed to create economic growth and jobs."

While Sander Levin loses his chairmanship when Republicans take House control, with continued Democratic control of the upper chamber, his brother, Sen. Carl Levin, Michigan's longest-serving senator, remains as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

George Weeks, a member of the Michigan Journalism Hall of fame, for 22 years was the political columnist for The Detroit News, and previously with UPI as Lansing Bureau Chief and foreign editor in Washington. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.