By GEORGE WEEKS
Michigan's two northernmost congressmen, Reps. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, and Dave Camp, R-Midland, represent more than half of Michigan's 83 counties. They also have a big share of the hot-issues spotlight on Capitol Hill.
Michigan is well served by both. Stupak, a champion of Great Lakes issues, does not hesitate to buck his party leaders. Camp is working with Democrats on a number of issues.
Nine-term Stupak, whose 1st District includes 30 counties and part of another, is a key player on the health care issue as point man among House members who oppose the Senate-passed version because it lacks a specific provision prohibiting federal funds to pay for abortions.
Last week, he held a town meeting on the issue in Tawas City (his ninth town meeting in seven months) and then flew back to Washington, where he was promptly featured on national TV.
CNN's Rick Sanchez included him among those "topping the list of embroiled politicians." Before interviewing Stupak on her Fox News show, Greta Van Susteren said he was "showing increasing frustration dealing with Democratic leadership" -- and then he expressed his frustration on camera.
In a timely Associated Press profile, writer John Flesher recalled that shortly after entering Congress in 1993, Stupak voted against President Bill Clinton's free-trade legislation and has been "at odds with fellow Democrats many times since." Stupak now is co-sponsor of legislation to repeal the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he contends "was not in the best interest of Michigan workers." Stupak's latest prominent role as chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has been conducting hearings on the Toyota recalls.
(Stupak faces a long shot primary challenge from ex-Charlevoix County commissioner Connie Saltonstall, who is critical of his role on the health care debate. Filmmaker Michael Moore, who lives in Stupak's district, appeared on MSNBC last week and told host Rachel Maddow that he is personally trying to recruit yet another candidate to challenge Stupak in the primary. Moore called Stupak's abortion fight within the context of health care reform "unconscionable.")
Ten-term Camp, whose 4th District includes 12 counties and parts of two others, has a less high-visibility and controversial role in the health care issue than Stupak.
But, as ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, he has been among a handful of leading GOP spokesmen on health care. He engaged in two exchanges with President Barack Obama at the recent bipartisan summit on the issue.
On Friday, Camp was selected by House Minority Leader John Boehner to serve as one of three House Republicans on the President's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.
Camp wisely said, "There may be no greater or graver task we face than getting our fiscal house in order. We simply cannot sustain the deficit spending going on in Washington, nor can families and employers sustain the higher taxes many in Washington believe are the solution to that crisis. I look forward to working with the other members of the commission to tackle our spending problems and shoring up vital programs like Medicare and Social Security." What strikes me about Camp this year is how he has teamed with Democrats on Great Lakes and other issues.
He paired with Sen. Debbie Stabenow on sponsorship of legislation to block advance of Asian carp into Lake Michigan and on the Solar Manufacturing Jobs Credit, which has bipartisan support in the House. Democratic Reps. Dale Kildee of Flint and Gary Peters of Bloomfield Township are co-sponsors of Camp's carp bill.
Last week, Camp and Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak, whose recent assumption of chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee drew praise from Camp, joined in introducing legislation to allow individuals who make charitable contributions before April 15 to victims of the earthquake in Chile to claim an itemized charitable deduction on their 2009 tax return.
That's hardly a tough call but is an example of the working relationship between the top two members of the powerful committee.
An Independent governor?
Former state Sen. and U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz, R-Battle Creek, plans to file paperwork late this week to run for governor as an independent.
"I'm going to do it," Schwarz, a medical doctor and former mayor, told me Friday. "I see no reason not to." Schwarz, who made an unsuccessful 2002 bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, said if ever there is an opportunity for an independent to be elected governor of Michigan, "this may be the year." The moderate Schwarz said "Republicans have gone way to the right," and among Democrats, "there is a huge space in the middle." He said, "There's not much of a question that I can get" the 30,000 signatures by July 15 required to run as an independent.
Schwarz, 72, was elected to Congress in 2004 and then was defeated in the 2006 Republican primary by conservative Tim Walberg, with help of the national anti-tax organization Club for Growth. Walberg was easily elected to the seat.
Walberg was defeated in 2008 by Democratic state Sen. Mark Schauer, who had the support of Schwarz--a critic of the Club for Growth's involvement in the race. Schauer was easily elected and is now in a high-profile race for re-election.
George Weeks retired in 2006 after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.
