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 […]

There are few who will argue that the Citizens United Supreme Court decision has radically altered the political landscape. Most people recoil at the amount of money now being spent on behalf of candidates by millionaires and billionaires and by corporations that stand to benefit from having a politician or two on their payroll. And then there are people like […]

Shameless This afternoon, at the invitation of Michigan Republicans, the Koch brothers-funded corporatist front group Americans for Prosperity debuted a new attack ad aimed at Senate candidate Gary Peters. Portrayed as an anti-Affordable Care Act “issue ad”, it clearly targets only one candidate, Democrat Gary Peters and represents another example of the corrosive grip corporate “dark money” has on our […]

If money is speech, democracy is compromised because some voices speak louder than others Move to Amend is a national group with a single focus: to pass a constitutional amendment that ends corporate personhood and the legal rights that it gives to corporations and to end the idea that money is speech to stop the nearly endless amount of money […]

“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.

There’s more than just a battle for the Chair on Saturday

This Saturday, February 23 at the Michigan Democratic Party statewide convention at Cobo Hall, the Justice Caucus is presenting a terrific panel titled “Citizens United v. FEC – The Invisible ‘Person’ in Michigan Elections”.

The program will include a short film “THE Story of Citizens United v. FEC” followed by an all-star panel that you won’t want to miss. Click through for details.

David Cobb, a former Green Party candidate for president and current spokesperson for the Move to Amend initiative, will be speaking in Grand Rapids on January 12. I have no affiliation with Mr. Cobb or his group but their effort to revoke the treatment of corporations as persons (“corporate personhood”) with rights like “freedom of speech” and the ability to […]

Two years ago the Flying Dog Brewery released a Belgian-style IPA called Raging Bitch with the following ‘artist’s statement’, if you will, on the label: “Two inflammatory words … one wild drink. Nectar imprisoned in a bottle. Let it out. It is cruel to keep a wild animal locked up. Uncap it. Release it … stand back!! Wallow in its […]