Bill McLaughlin, Michigan's longest-serving Republican State Chairman who died last week at age 79, was an extraordinary promoter on four fronts of public life, including as an ebullient drumbeater for the state and Detroit.
Beyond his early work in political trenches and as a top GOP party deputy during the reign of 1963-69 Gov. George Romney, and as 1969-79 party chairman for a decade during the administration of 1969-82 Gov. William G. Milliken, McLaughlin was notable as:
- Michigan's economic cheerleader as the Milliken-appointed 1979-81 director of the Michigan Department of Commerce. Among other things, he was Milliken's point man on an economic mission to China, where they met with Premier Deng Xiaoping in 1979, the year that U.S-China diplomatic relations were established.
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Op-Ed Columns
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George Weeks
George Weeks: McLaughlin was state booster
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Op-Ed: Put special interests on the bench
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George Weeks: Congressional campaigns, north and south
With one possible exception, the hottest action in this year's Michigan's congressional campaigns will be far downstate.
Continued ... -
Jack Lessenberry: Keeping the underdog streak alive
When the last census confirmed that Michigan would lose yet another seat in Congress — the fifth since 1980 — the Legislature went to work to make sure a Democrat would be the odd man out.
Continued ... -
George Weeks: Centrists fading factor in politics
The shrinking center in American politics is evident in both parties but is especially prominent of late in the increasingly ideologically divided GOP.
Continued ... -
Jack Lessenberry: Tax on poor hurts businesses
If you had to sum up the Republican Party's creed in a sentence, it might well be: Raising taxes is a bad idea, no matter what.
Continued ... - Sunday, May 13, 2012
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George Weeks: Light lacking in supreme court races
Michigan has no greater current blot on state government than anonymous campaign contributions that give big money interests too much influence with too little transparency in all three branches, especially of late on the Supreme Court.
Continued ... -
Jack Lessenberry: Joe Schwarz and Congress
You might say Joe Schwarz's decision not to run provides a perfect example of what's wrong with the way we elect congressmen today.
Continued ... - Thursday, May 10, 2012
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Op-Ed: Lansing is being self-destructive
Reality is out of sync with how the politicians are operating in Lansing, where petty political considerations all too often trump everything else.
Continued ... - Sunday, May 6, 2012
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George Weeks: Rep.'s headquarters in TC
President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney are already exchanging barbs as if the post-primary general election campaign has started.
Continued ... -
Jack Lessenberry: Past vs. future
Few may have noticed, but there was a skirmish in the Michigan Senate last week that was likely the opening volley in what promises to be a long war over the state's future.
Continued ... - Thursday, May 3, 2012
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Op-Ed: Investing in childhood programs
It is often smart to make a dispassionate, hard-headed cost-benefit assessment before one chooses between policy alternatives. Perhaps the best example of this approach: Home visitation programs aimed at infants and toddlers and schooling enrichments for pre-kindergartners.
Continued ... - Sunday, April 29, 2012
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George Weeks: Move enhances challenge
Northern Michigan tribal leader Derek Bailey has lowered his sights in seeking a House seat. Now it's a quest for the Michigan House, not Congress.
Continued ... -
Jack Lessenberry: Supreme Court reform
In recent years, when one party has gained control of the court, their justices have set about almost gleefully reversing decisions made by the earlier majority.
Continued ... - Sunday, April 22, 2012
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George Weeks: Multiple Romney campaigns
After the successful 1963-69 reign of Gov. George Romney, the family has had mixed electoral success — none at the federal level — and now awaits the outcome of son Mitt Romney's second presidential bid.
Continued ... -
Jack Lessenberry: Deregulation in Mich.
If there are two things Marie Donigan knows, they are Lansing and landscape architecture.
Continued ... - Thursday, April 19, 2012
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Op-Ed: Michigan must seize opportunity
The idea: Transform Michigan into the Midwest's premier inland port and transportation hub, uniquely linking air, sea, rail and road capabilities. Create a new industry, a Great Lakes Global Gateway, forged from our existing manufacturing and agricultural sectors.
Continued ... - Sunday, April 15, 2012
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George Weeks: 'Never worked a day in her life' feedback
Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting Mitt Romney, took a widely trumpeted shot last week from a Democratic consultant who said she "never worked a day in her life."
Continued ... -
Jack Lessenberry: Kevorkian and Wallace
The last time I saw Mike Wallace, I had a surreal experience that took me back to my Kennedy-era childhood. This was less than six years ago, when he was still working full-time; after all, he was then a mere 88 years old.
Continued ... - Thursday, April 12, 2012
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Op-Ed: Culture trumps common sense
Oddly, the first question the politicians asked after the Detroit City Council finally voted to approve the consent agreement with the State of Michigan was not "will it work" but ... "who won?" Short Answer No. 1: Too early to tell.
Continued ... - Sunday, April 8, 2012
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George Weeks: Detroit gets helping hands
On occasion, during Detroit's decades of decline, politicians and others from northern Michigan have extended helping hands.
Continued ... -
Jack Lessenberry: Beyond race issue
If you want to understand why so many Detroit politicians refuse to face economic reality, and refused to negotiate some kind of reasonable compromise to avoid a state takeover, don't start by studying what's happening now.
Continued ... - Thursday, April 5, 2012
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Op-Ed: Plotting for Detroit's future
Most of the sound and fury enveloping Detroit these past few weeks has all been about the near-bankrupt city's sheer financial survival. But suppose the city does manage to barely get through this crisis? Then what?
Continued ... - Sunday, April 1, 2012
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Jack Lessenberry: Is Snyder only adult in Detroit?
The mystifying question for many outside observers: Why doesn't Gov. Rick Snyder just stop the endless agony and appoint an emergency manager for Detroit?
Continued ... -
George Weeks: Levin, Camp lauded
Yet again, veteran members of the Michigan congressional delegation have been cited by the national media for committee leadership on Capitol Hill.
Continued ... - Thursday, March 29, 2012
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Op-Ed: Birthday letter to Gov. Milliken
You celebrated your 90th birthday Monday. I'm sure you and Helen did it in your usual low-key manner, enjoying the serene beauty of the Old Mission Peninsula near Traverse City.
Continued ...
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