As Republicans in the U.S. Senate are considering their last ditch, hail Mary attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, there’s one aspect of it that should be truly concerning to everyone and that’s the concept of giving healthcare dollars to the states in the form of block grants to spend largely as they wish. Here in Michigan, our Republican-controlled […]

Ka-CHING! In the fourth quarter of 2015, Michigan Republicans received a whopping 50% of their campaign contributions from members of the DeVos family. Four vulnerable Republican House members, Holly Hughes, Brandt Iden, Tom Barrett, and John Bizon all received $9,000 each for a total of $36,000 which is nearly the median income for Michigan residents according to analysis done by […]

Nobody likes to lose elections and when you’ve put has much heart and soul and time and effort into it as I and many of my friends have, it’s particularly depressing. I started working with a team of people in Washtenaw County to organize at the local level in February of 2013. From that moment until 8:00 p.m. last night, […]

There’s little doubt that Republicans love mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money in our political process and elections. And it’s no wonder. They benefit more from the increased limits on political donations more than Democrats. Considerably more. What they especially love is money where the donors can be kept secret. That way, the donors don’t have to answer to anyone […]

Oh, the Koch brothers are spending millions to propagate lies? REALLY?! What ARE the odds???!!! A couple of weeks ago, the Koch brothers, through their astroturfing corporatist front group Americans for Prosperity, attempted to roll out their latest attack ad on Gary Peters in the state Capitol Building. They literally planned to use the resources of the Michigan state government […]

The best politicians, laws and elections money can buy Mother Jones’ Andrew Kroll has an incredible piece out this week showing the growing and pervasive influence of the DeVos family in Michigan and national politics. Although much of what he reveals in his piece has been long suspected, he brings to light details about how the passage of Michigan’s right […]

More like “Didn’t say it, did it anyway” or “Said it, did the opposite” Eclectameme by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog Discussing possible campaign slogans during his non-announcement of his candidacy last fall, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said, “One that I really do appreciate, that I’ve used in my life is, ‘Said it. Did it.’”. In other words, according to […]

Only in Republicanland is this a good idea This is week in a somewhat surprising move, Republican Secretary of State Ruth Johnson proposed a rule to require transparency in the funding of so-called “issue ads” that don’t promote specific candidates. Millions and millions of dollars are spent every election cycle on these ads which are, more often than not, nothing […]

As I wrote about last month, the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, Michigan Center for Election Law, and Common Cause Michigan held a conference on election and campaign finance reform in Traverse City last Friday. Although I was unable to attend, my good friend and blogging pal Amy Kerr Hardin was there and put together a comprehensive report. At the request […]

A conference for anyone who is interested in fair government. The corrosive impact of money in our elections, particularly here in Michigan, is clearly evident to anyone who pays the slightest bit of attention. Even the elections for our state Supreme Court justices are fueled by money from corporate interests and wealthy individuals. Unfortunately, due to the permissive laws of […]

“Citizens United v. FEC is one of the most destructive Supreme Court decisions in the history of this country”

In August of last year Dean of the House Congressman John Dingell introduced the Restoring Confidence in our Democracy Act. This legislation sought to undo the democracy-crushing impact of the now-infamous Citizens United Supreme Court decision that has allowed huge sums of money to be spent by wealthy individuals and corporations to pervert our elections and subvert our democracy.

Congressman Dingell will be reintroducing this bill during the current legislative session and tomorrow at 6 p.m. in Ann Arbor he will hold a public forum and panel discussion to discuss it.

Click through for details.