The Money Involved In Michigan Politics Is Worse Than I Thought
Someone once said, "Timing is everything."
I have had several instances lately of wonderful timing. The morning after the Michigan primary election, the realization hit me that no matter which of the 5 Republicans won, my real opponent in this election is a family that lives in the 86th District and has spent more money influencing elections and policies than any other family in Michigan. Ever since Dick DeVos lost his bid for governor in 2006, he and his wife Betsy have basically opened the flood gates on their fortune to buy the Michigan Legislature.
I will not bore you with a laundry list of the hundreds of thousands of influence dollars they have spent.
Go ahead and look up "DeVos political contributions" or something and you will get an eyeful.
I will just give you one example below.
Anyway, I quickly did a Press Release about realizing my true opponent and posted it on my Facebook page. I cited what I thought were some big dollar figures.
Then a friend shot me a link to the latest news. Their spending was way more than I could have even imagined - the article had been written about 36 hours before my "revelation". Timing.
Here is the promised example - In the 56 days leading up to the latest Michigan PRIMARY (yes, just a primary election) they spent just short of 1.5 million dollars or $26,785 per day!!!
Their desire to have Michigan as their own Mitten Shaped Fiefdom is so important to them, that they spend what for many is an annual salary every day just to buy a PRIMARY election. With all due respect to the philanthropic efforts of the family, THERE IS NO WAY ONE FAMILY SHOULD HAVE THAT KIND OF INFLUENCE AND POWER IN MICHIGAN.
As stated in my attempt at a political meme above, my job as a representative of the 86th District is NOT to carry out the social and political agenda of one wealthy household. The Michigan Constitution BEGINS with these words:
"All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their equal benefit, security and protection." Article 1, Section 1
When I take office in Lansing, I will put the interests of all
32,090 households in the 86th District as my top priority.
32,090 households in the 86th District as my top priority.
Comments