Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced Friday that she intends to resign from office at the end of the month, further fueling speculation that she will focus on a bid for the White House in 2012. The former GOP vice presidential candidate made the surprising announcement from her home in Wasilla on Friday morning, stating that she would step down effective July 26. Palin, however, did not elaborate on her plans.

In a statement released by her office, Palin said:

"Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose.

It is my duty to always protect our great state. With that in mind, my family and I determined that it is best to make a difference this summer, and I am willing to change things, so that this administration, with its positive agenda, its accomplishments, and its successful road to an incredible future, can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success."

Lt. Governor Sean Parnell will thus take over as the state's governor, and will be inaugurated at the governor's picnic in Fairbanks at the end of the month.

There had been rumblings for months that Cleveland area business man Tom Ganley, who has made a fortune with a number of auto lots around the area, would throw his hat in the ring to become a United States Senator. Ganley made the formal announcement that he is running early today declaring:

"I am a businessman, not someone who ever thought about being a professional politician," adding. "But maybe that's what's needed in Washington now -- someone who understands financial responsibility and what it takes for a business and a country to be competitive. Someone who has built a business from scratch. Someone who knows how to create jobs. Someone who has met a payroll and knows his employees are dependent on him."

Ganley is running as a Republican and will be facing Congressman Rob Portman in the primary. George Voinovich is currently occupying the seat which has also attracted a bid by Ohio Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher who is a Democrat.

Here is a clip from today's press conference held in Brecksville:

Having announced his plans to retire from acting in 2012, actor Alec Baldwin was recently approached by a local Ohio law firm that is keen to support a bid to make him the state's next Governor. While it seems completely out of left field, Baldwin has frequently spoken about his political aspirations.

Speaking with Playboy magazine, Baldwin said:

"A law firm in a liberal Democratic bastion in Ohio state politics sent me a binder with a cover letter that read: "Mr. Baldwin, here's who we represent, the kinds of cases we handle, our credentials in Ohio state politics. We want you to move to Ohio and run for Governor. We will launch your career.'"

As crazy at it might sound, it may actually not be a bad idea.

On Tuesday the Minnesota Supreme Court declared Al Franken, a Democrat, the winner of a U.S. Senate race over Republican Norm Colman. This victory should now give Democrats the coveted 60-seat majority that is needed to push through agenda as well as overcome procedural obstacles.

In published reports, Coleman had said that he would be unlikely to appeal the state court's decision to the federal courts. Under Minnesota law, the court's decision gives Franken the right to occupy the seat. The Senate seat in question has been up for grabs since last November's election, when the results were so tight that neither side would concede.

After the Nov. 4 election, Coleman was shown to have a slight lead. However such a slim margin triggered an automatic recount, which then put Franken ahead by 225 votes. Coleman contested the results of the recount, and a judicial panel agreed to add a few hundred previously rejected absentee ballots, which only expanded Franken's lead to 312 votes.

Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty has said that he will certify the election winner based on what the state court decides. In this case, he is expected to certify Franken the winner.

June 30 was supposed to be the day that Ohio legislators would finalize the state's biennium budget and determine the fate of Ohio's public libraries. Under Governor Ted Strickland's proposal, public libraries would see their funding slashed in half for the next two years. D-Day, however, has been delayed and Ohio libraries have been granted a brief stay of execution as the Senate is expected Monday to approve a seven-day interim budget that will fund state government operations into the new fiscal year.

The interim budget will be adopted as an amendment to the Industrial Commission's budget (HB 16), and will fund programs at 70% of actual fiscal year 2009 spending. Debt service will be fully funded, and the plan will also authorize Gov. Strickland to use money in the rainy day fund.

Democrats and Republicans have been clashing on a number of issues in the budget, including education funding and installing slot machines at the state's racetracks, as well as severe cuts to public libraries and various human services.

At this point it's not clear if the one-week delay will be favorable for libraries, who would face unprecedented budget, service, and staff cuts if Strickland's proposal were enacted, or if it is simply an agonizing delay of their death.

Key legislators in Ohio's budget discussions have been unable to reach any compromise this weekend, cancelling a planned meeting for Saturday to begin sorting through the nearly 600 areas of dispute while also contending with a $3.2 billion revenue shortfall. The situation is now beginning to spark speculation that Ohio lawmakers may pass a continuing reasolution to keep the state government afloat while negotiations continue on past the June 30 end of the fiscal year on Tuesday.

Such a situation has only occurred three times in the last 38 years, and in all three instances, it resulted in a tax hike. However, Gov. Ted Strickland as well as legislative leaders oppose a tax hike in these economic conditions.

If talks continue beyond Tuesday, the state would have to impose interim budgets with spending cuts that would last a week to 45 days. Tax collections continue to fall, so lawmakers cannot reasonably expect to save money in the meantime by simply freezing spending at current levels for the next month or so.

Gov. Strickland and legislative leaders, as well as their staff, have been meeting behind closed doors to hash out a compromise between the Senate and House passed versions of about a $54 billion budget.

Cleveland area Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) laid out the reasons he opposed and voted against H.R. 2454, The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. The vast majority of fellow Democrats voted in favor of the measure which passed the House and is on the way to the Senate for a vote. Kucinich stated in a press release:

“I oppose H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. The reason is simple. It won’t address the problem. In fact, it might make the problem worse.

“It sets targets that are too weak, especially in the short term, and sets about meeting those targets through Enron-style accounting methods. It gives new life to one of the primary sources of the problem that should be on its way out– coal – by giving it record subsidies. And it is rounded out with massive corporate giveaways at taxpayer expense. There is $60 billion for a single technology which may or may not work, but which enables coal power plants to keep warming the planet at least another 20 years.

Cindy Sheehan, an American anti-war activist whose son was killed during his service in the Iraq War, will be coming to Cleveland to speak next month. Sheehan will speak about "The Future of Anti-War and Peace Movements" on Thursday, July 9, 2009 from 7:00 to 9:00pm at St. Colman's Parish Hall*.

The event is free and open to the public. Special musical guest Charlie Mosbrook will also be in attendance, and donations are always welcome.

Sheehan's son was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004. She attracted both national and international media attention in August 2005 for her extended anti-war protest at a makeshift camp outside then-President George W. Bush's Texas ranch. This protest drew both passionate support, as well as angry criticism.

You definitely won't want to miss Sheehan's visit to Cleveland next month. For more information, please call Cleveland Peace Action at 216-736-4716.

Approving a resolution by voice vote on Wednesday, the U.S. Senate is now urging President Barack Obama to pardon Jack Jackson, the late black heavyweight champion who was went to prison almost one hundred years ago because of a romantic affair with a white woman.

Johnson was the first black heavyweight champion in 1908, and was convicted in 1913 of violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for immoral purposes.