McCain, Flake leading way

(PNI) Arizona's senators are leading. Arizona will benefit.

As part of the bipartisan group of eight who stood up for immigration reform, Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake began solving a problem that has hurt Arizona for years.

They are highly qualified to guide this effort, with a full history and understanding of the complexities.

Crafting specific legislation that embodies the principles outlined Monday will mean wrestling with the devils of detail. But the framework is there.

That's more than just a start. That's real progress.

McCain pointed out that this multipronged effort is not much different from the comprehensive package he helped craft with the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy in 2005.

The re-emergence of comprehensive immigration reform as a bipartisan goal is long overdue.

A lack of a guest-worker program to meet labor needs is the biggest reason illegal immigration increased after 1986 reforms that included President Ronald Reagan's amnesty program.

The nation needs a guest- worker program that is robust and responsive to market demands without disadvantaging or displacing American workers. This framework reflects that.

A reliable system for employers to check the immigration status of job applicants is also critical. The framework reflects that, too.

The most controversial part of the plan creates "a tough but fair path to citizenship" for millions of men, women and children living in this country without proper immigration documents.

"We cannot continue as a nation with 11 million people living in the shadows," McCain said.

Those who have long opposed comprehensive reform instantly screamed: Amnesty! This is the tired, old battle cry that has long been used to stall progress.

Political realities suggest it has lost its power. During the press conference to announce the framework for reform, McCain pointed to the high stakes. "The Republican Party is losing the support of our Hispanic citizens," he said.

Democrats also feel the push of politics. President Barack Obama, who benefitted greatly from the Latino vote, will offer his immigration proposals today. We hope they demonstrate a desire to foster cooperation and compromise.

Beyond politics, this is about the nation's need for immigration policies worthy of our commitment to human rights and dignity. As McCain reminded his party years ago, undocumented immigrants are God's children, too.

What's more, the nation's security is best served by knowing who is here.

The plan devotes a great deal of emphasis to border security, promising more resources for an effort that already has seen years of extensive expenditures on infrastructure, technology and Border Patrol agents.

We are intrigued by the idea of establishing a commission of border political and community leaders to monitor progress toward securing the border. The voices of those most closely affected should be heard. But this committee should not become an exercise in moving the goal posts or retreating to a security-first model.

Been there. Done that.

It's past time to move beyond the status quo. This bipartisan framework does that.

The support of Arizona's two senators gives comprehensive reform added credibility in Congress and puts Arizona at the forefront of fixing an immigration system that has enormous human, economic, environmental and social costs for our state.

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Leading Maryland and Virginia, With Stars on the Rise

Both Martin O’Malley, the Democrat who leads Maryland, and Bob McDonnell, his Republican counterpart in Virginia, are rising political stars. Each is chairman of his party’s national governors’ association, and each is a standard-bearer for his party’s presidential nominee. Each is also mentioned as a possible 2016 presidential candidate.

Some people say that much of the talk about a Maryland-Virginia face-off is overblown. As for the governors, each says that if there is in fact a rivalry, his state is winning it.

“I’m just trying to do what is right for Virginia, and I’m sure Governor O’Malley is trying to do the same, but we have different philosophies and different outcomes,” said Mr. McDonnell, a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates and a former state attorney general.

Much of that difference has to do with taxes. Mr. McDonnell, elected in 2009 and limited by law to one term, takes pride in his efforts to burnish Virginia’s reputation as a low-tax, business-friendly state. Sales tax is 5 percent in Virginia and 6 percent in Maryland. Top-bracket income-tax payers pay 5.75 percent in Virginia while those in Maryland pay 9 percent. Virginia’s corporate tax rate is 6 percent and Maryland’s is 8.25 percent. Virginia’s unemployment rate is 5.9 percent, compared with 7.1 percent in Maryland — both lower than the national average.

Working with Republican majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, Mr. McDonnell has been able to balance the state’s budget without raising taxes, though critics have derided some of his solutions as gimmicks, notably some approaches to financing future state pensions. And, like other Virginia governors from both parties, he has been chided for putting off long-term investments in highways and mass transit.

Mr. O’Malley, a former Baltimore mayor, has a reputation, for better or for worse, of raising taxes — more than 20 separate increases since becoming governor in 2008. It is a legacy that a Republican opponent might find an irresistible target if Mr. O’Malley ever runs for president.

Early in his first term he called a special session in the General Assembly that resulted in $1.4 billion in increases in taxes on sales, tobacco, personal income and corporations. He also levied a temporary tax on millionaires. More recently, with the state facing a $1 billion budget deficit in 2013, he signed a tax increase on Maryland’s top earners that ensured them one of the highest income tax rates in the country.

Mr. O’Malley argues that tax rates are just one measure of a state’s standing.

“On the other side of the river, especially under Governor McDonnell, they would have you believe that it all begins and ends with tax rate,” Mr. O’Malley said. “We all strive to be competitive on that score.” He added, “But there are other things that determine whether or not your state is well-equipped and whether your children are more likely to be winners or losers in a changing economy.”

He mentioned that Maryland is first in median income, while Virginia is eighth, and that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranks Maryland first in innovation and entrepreneurship, while  Virginia again ranks eighth. He also noted that Maryland had the fourth-highest percentage of workers in “green jobs,” in 2010, compared with Virginia at 20th, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Green Goods and Services Survey released in March.

Mr. O’Malley noted that Education Week ranks his state as No. 1 in K-12 public education. He also argued that he has been more committed to investing in public education than has Mr. McDonnell. For the 2012-13 school year, Virginia’s financing for K-12 education decreased by 10 percent compared with 2008 levels, while Maryland’s investment increased 7.4 percent.

Mr. O’Malley says he has invested in human capital to urge Maryland toward “building an economy for the future that will last,” through maximizing educational attainment, developing worker skills and focusing on emerging sectors including life sciences and biotechnology.

The roles of Mr. O’Malley and Mr. McDonnell as leaders of their governors’ associations put them on a national stage as stewards of their parties’ message and approach to governance. There are now 29 states with Republican governors, 20 headed by Democrats and one with an independent. Eleven states have governors’ elections this year.

“Yeah, I want to win as many governors’ races as I can,” Mr. McDonnell said. “But not because I’m in competition with Governor O’Malley, but because I really do believe the 29 Republican governors are doing some unique things in reforming government in their states and giving new birth to federalism. Because they focus on fiscal responsibility and low taxes and limited government they are getting better results for their people.”

He added, “I say this not just about Virginia and Maryland, but I could say it about Wisconsin and Illinois or other Republican governors.”

Mr. O’Malley, of course, is not so upbeat about the impact of Republican governors.

“Some of these newly elected governors who were elected in 2010 or even 2009 promised they would restore the economy,” Mr. O’Malley said. “Instead when they got in, they governed by rolling back individual rights — rolling back women’s rights, rolling back voters’ rights, rolling back workers’ rights. The people in a lot of the states — Ohio, Florida and others — are scratching their heads and feeling a bit of buyer’s remorse for putting in people with such a narrow right-wing ideology.”

Despite their differences, Mr. O’Malley, 49, and Mr. O’Donnell, 58, are friendly on the regional level and have more in common than just their Irish-Catholic backgrounds and rising fame. They have worked together on regional issues, including the cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay, public safety in the capital region and transportation issues. By most accounts, the men and their staffs have a good working relationship with each other.

Both men said they would be open to a different type of partnership: “I understand he is a pretty good guitar player,” Mr. McDonnell said of Mr. O’Malley, who plays and sings in an Irish rock band. “We ought to get together; I play the drums, although I don’t play them well.”

Mr. O’Malley sounded intrigued by the prospect.

“Does he have a practice tape or anything he can send us?” he asked. “I’d love to jam with him, it’d be fun. I’m totally open — music is nonpartisan.”

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Poll shows Romney leading Obama in Michigan (AP)

LANSING, Mich. – A poll of likely Michigan voters shows Mitt Romney beating President Barack Obama in a hypothetical matchup but two other leading Republicans losing to the president.

The poll released Sunday shows the Michigan-born ex-Massachusetts governor getting 46 percent compared to 41 percent for Obama. The difference is just beyond the poll's 4 percent sampling error. Thirteen percent are undecided.

The poll showed Obama with an apparent lead over Newt Gingrich 45 percent to 40 percent, with 15 percent undecided. And it showed Obama leading Herman Cain 50 percent to 36 percent, with 14 percent undecided.

Obama carried Michigan in 2008.

The results of the poll by EPIC-MRA were reported in the Detroit Free Press (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_el_pr/storytext/us_president_michigan_poll/43666523/SIG=10sq84n7h/*http://on.freep.com/rDwjJU ), which sponsored the poll along with television stations WXYZ, WOOD and WJRT.

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Gallup: Perry leading nationally, Romney second, Paul third (The Ticket)

Less than two weeks into his official campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Rick Perry has a 12-point lead over Mitt Romney, according to a nationwide Gallup poll of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents released Wednesday. Perry, the Texas governor, received the support of 29 percent of the poll's respondents.

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who was in first place in the previous three Gallup surveys this year,  slipped to 17 percent in the poll, just four points ahead of Texas Rep. Ron Paul, with 13 percent.

The poll's margin of error is 4 percent.

A closer look at the numbers shows that, similar to recent polls taken in Iowa, Perry's base of support lies with the most conservative voters. Thirty-three percent of self-identifying conservatives said they were most likely to vote for Perry, while 16 percent of those voters backed Romney. Among those who attend church regularly, Perry leads Romney by eight points.

Romney does have a slight edge on Perry among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents on the east coast, and Paul dominates among younger voters, carrying nearly 30 percent of the voters between 18 and 29.

Gallup poll

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