Senator Carl Levin promises to tackle "secret money" before leaving at the end of his term

Although I'm sad to hear that Senator Carl Levin (D - MI) will not be running again in 2014, I'm happy to know that one of his priorities during the next two years is doing something about the "secret dollars" flowing into political campaigns.  From Senator Levin's recent email:

A third item I want to tackle is a growing blight on our political system that I believe I can help address: the use of secret money to fund political campaigns. Our tax laws are supposed to prevent secret contributions to tax exempt organizations for political purposes. My Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations needs to look into the failure of the IRS to enforce our tax laws and stem the flood of hundreds of millions of secret dollars flowing into our elections, eroding public confidence in our democracy.

In my opinion, "secret money" as well as big, but not-so-secret money is the main reason the Republicans in Congress are refusing to consider increasing revenue through closing tax loopholes that are essentially welfare for the wealthy and corporations.  As a result, average citizens have to bear cuts like these:  32 of the most damaging Sequester cuts.

Many of the biggest donors to Republicans, for example, the Koch brothers oil & gas barons,  do not like government and have an "I've got mine, to heck with the rest of you" attitude.  Their political agenda includes issues like these:

Repealing health care reform
Dismantling collective bargaining rights*
Fighting Wall Street reform
Keeping corporate money in elections

* Michigan becomes a "Right to Work" state later this month in large part because big money from the Kochs and Michigan's own Dick DeVos was used to bludgeon the Republicans with threats of funding "righter" candidates to run against them.

As Involved Voters, we need to get the message out about what happens when we let our government go up for sale to the highest bidder.  One dollar, one vote is the opposite of democracy and is counter to our Constitution.

Wealthy-fare: THE Republican Priority

There's a perfect storm brewing for Michigan's middle and low income folks.  The components are the Republican's changes in the Michigan Tax Code and the plans that Congressional Republican's have for protecting tax breaks for the wealthiest among us.

Read about the Michigan situation here:
http://www.freep.com/article/20130216/NEWS06/130216005

And for information about what Republicans in Congress have in mind, check out this article and accompanying graphic:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/budget/news/2013/02/15/53606/infographic-60s-retro-budget-plan-by-republicans-unfit-for-today-2013-update/

Let your representatives at the State and Federal level know how the changes are affecting you.

How to Separate the Electoral College Even More from the Popular Vote

Plans are afoot in Michigan (and elsewhere) to change how the State awards its electoral votes in presidential elections by dropping the winner-take-all system for one based on the winner of each of the state's congressional districts.

According to the plan, for the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, Michigan would award 14 of its 16 electoral votes according to the U.S. House district lines drawn by Republicans in 2011 to favor Republican candidates. (As evidenced by the fact that almost twice as many Michigan citizens voted for Democratic candidates as for Republicans, but the Republicans won more of the races.)

Governor Rick Snyder has signaled he is willing to consider this major change in how electoral votes are allocated in Presidential elections.  He told The Associated Press for a story looking at Republican efforts to drop the winner-take-all system in states that have reliably gone for the Democratic presidential nominee in recent elections that he "could go either way."

Here's an example of what the change could mean: According to an analysis by Daily Kos, in 2012, Republican Mitt Romney would have won nine of the districts and President Barack Obama the other five, so Mr. Romney would have pulled nine electoral votes to seven for Mr. Obama, who won the state by 9.5 percentage points.

So, it's clear that the proposal to allot electoral votes by congressional district would run counter to the popular vote in a significant way.

If Synder hopes to be a Governor for ALL the people of Michigan, he'll quash this blatantly Republican-serving plan to do away with the winner-take-all system.  But, unless he hears strong protests from Involved Voters, I think he's likely to go with the flow and support the plan of fellow Republicans.

Update: For a satirical look at this topic, watch Stephen Colbert here: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/423114/january-22-2013/the-word---win--lose--or-redraw

Voting IS The Best Revenge...

...revenge for having to endure the flood of lies and misinformation from Republican slime-machines like Crossroads GPS.  According to the Sunlight Foundation, 81% of the "dark money" polluting the 2012 election, is being used by groups supporting Republicans.

So, get your revenge for those TV and radio ads, robo-calls and mailers by voting!  Michigan voters can check their registration status, find their polling places and see a sample ballot at the Michigan Secretary of State's web site.

52nd Michigan House Seat - Driskell vs. Ouimet - Analysis

This Involved Voter is tired of the claims made in robo-calls and on mailers with unflattering photos.  So, I'm sharing some analysis I recently found via the e-newsletter Bridge: News & Analysis from The Center for Michigan.  (Exact quotes are shown indented; emphasis added.)

In my opinion, the Republican Party is trying to distract us from Mark Ouimet's voting record with these robo-calls and mailers.  And with good reason - his record is out of sync with the wishes of his constituents and right in line with those in control in Lansing.

Republican freshman Rep. Mark Ouimet of Scio Township in Washtenaw County is seeking re-election in the 52nd House District, where he is opposed by Democrat Gretchen Driskell, who is mayor of the city of Saline (and has been for 14 years).

From Republican Party mailers (and robo-calls of unknown origin):

Questionable statement: “While serving as mayor of Saline, Gretchen Driskell voted to increase her salary eight times.” 

According to City Clerk Dianne Hill, the mayor’s salary has increased five times since Driskell took office in 1999. Driskell said the votes were always unanimous and that she also voted against raises several times. The pay rates are set by a local officers compensation commission, and the council, including the mayor, can either accept it or reject it. Three of the five raises were $100. Driskell’s salary as mayor grew from $3,200 in 1998 to $4,000 in 2009, and she hasn’t had a raise since.

Questionable statement: “She received over $35,000 in taxpayer-funded travel reimbursements for her junkets across America.”
The mailer cites “City of Saline Expense Vouchers and Credit Card statements.”
The Driskell campaign did not dispute the figure when contacted by Truth Squad.
Driskell acknowledges traveling to conferences of the Michigan Municipal League and the National League of Cities, where she has had leadership roles. She is a former vice president and board member of the MML and is vice chair of the Advisory Council for the League of Cities. Last year, the City Council approved her trip to Phoenix for a League of Cities conference, despite objections raised by a city resident. Driskell said that she paid her own expenses in travels to Germany and Wales to establish sister cities with Saline.

Questionable statement: “According to a Saline City Council member, Gretchen took questionable votes related to her employer, including permit fee waivers.”

While serving as mayor in the early 2000s, Driskell also worked part-time as a leasing coordinator for the Phoenix Corp., which owns business rental property in Saline and does other business with the city. According to the Ann Arbor News, she abstained on several votes involving Phoenix, but she did vote for a building permit fee waiver. Councilwoman Mary Hess raised questions about whether it was a conflict of interest.

A city attorney’s report found that Driskell had not taken inappropriate action. “I have been unable to find any Council action on any matter which might be directly, or even indirectly, related to your employment relationship with Phoenix where you failed to abstain from voting,” the attorney’s memo reportedly said. Hess was unsatisfied with the report, saying it lacked objectivity,” according to the newspaper.

From Michigan Democratic Party mailers:

Questionable statement: “An independent audit showed Ouimet took nearly $15,000 in reimbursements he wasn’t eligible for as county commissioner, and as state representative, he’s billed taxpayers more than $17,000 in expenses.”

Ouimet served as a Washtenaw County commissioner before he was elected to the state House in 2010. During his campaign, Democrats accused him of bilking the public by inappropriately claiming reimbursement for a variety of activities.

Under county rules, commissioners were eligible for $25 per diems for attending meetings of the Board of Commissioners and its committees, as well as other authorized county-related and where boards and committees on which commissioners serve. After the allegations were made, the Ann Arbor News review(ed) the records and found that Ouimet had claimed reimbursements of a wide range of other meetings and events, including an interview with the Ann Arbor News editorial board, meetings with the County administrator, and attendance at an annual memorial service for fallen police officers.

An audit followed and found that Ouimet had received inappropriate reimbursements totaling $14,386. Nine other commissioners were found to have received inappropriate reimbursements of much smaller amounts. He then paid the money back to the county.

It is true that Ouimet has received more than $17,000 for expenses since becoming a state representative in 2011. Legislators receive a $71,685 salary and $10,800 for expenses — those are set by the State Officers Compensation Commission. All legislators receive the payment for expenses as part of their compensation package. The “more than $17,000″ is the total of all of 2011 and part of 2012. They are also entitled to mileage for a round trip to the Capitol each week and mileage for legislative-related travel in the district. 

I'll leave it to you to decide which are the more blatant distortions of the candidates' records when it comes to how taxpayers' money was spent.

I'm convinced that Gretchen Driskell is the candidate who will best serve our interests as 52nd District Representative.  She has my vote.

Local Candidate Driskell - Hard to Smear, but Her Opponent Will Try

If you are in the 52nd State House District or are interested in seeing Saline Mayor Gretchen Driskell defeat Republican MarkOuimet and regain that historically-Democratic seat for the Democrats and retake the House, you'll want of read this interview by Chris Savage at Eclectablog.

http://eclectablog.com/2012/08/interview-gretchen-driskell-successful-democratic-mayor-takes-on-the-republic-smear-machine.html

Please consider sharing it with others. We need to defeat Mark Ouimet and help switch the State House back to a Democratic majority.

Michigan Primary, Tuesday August 8

Prepping for the August 7 primary: get a copy of your ballot at michigan.gov/vote.

Check out the candidates in contested races: http://www.lenconnect.com/news/x814445365/Walberg-opponent-Marquez-speaks-at-forum-in-Adrian and

http://annarborchronicle.com/tag/washtenaw-county-water-resources-commissioner/ and

http://www.annarbor.com/news/circuit-judge-candidates-to-square-off-at-july-31-forum-at-washtenaw-community-college/

Now you're ready.  Vote!