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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Michigan's disclosure laws led to $23M in unreported funds for 2010 political ads
1:23 PM, Jun. 13, 2011 | 3Comments
Chris Christoff, Detroit Free Press
LANSING – Donors of nearly $23 million for TV advertising to promote candidates for governor and other statewide offices in 2010 were kept hidden because of Michigan’s weak disclosure laws, a leading campaign watchdog reported today.
Since 2000, $70 million in unreported money has been spent on behalf of candidates, according to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network (MCFN) report which calls for reforms to make campaign spending more transparent.
Three candidates won statewide elections in 2010 without buying any TV ads on their own – Virg Bernero in the Democratic gubernatorial campaign, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson and Supreme Court Justice Mary Beth Kelly, according to the report, titled “$70 Million Hidden in Plain View.”
The TV “issue” ads on their behalf were clearly aimed at boosting their candidacies, but did not ask viewers specifically to “vote” for them, so their money sources do not have to be disclosed, said MCFN director Rich Robinson.
Read the full Michigan Campaign Finance Network report here.
A typical example is a donor who gives money to a political party or independent committee, which pays for TV or radio issue advertising promoting a candidate. Robinson refers to such ads as electioneering advertising.
The Michigan Republican Party reported sources of $650,000 of the $3.4 million it spend on TV ads supporting Kelly and fellow Supreme Court GOP nominee Robert Young, who is now the court’s chief justice.
Gov. Rick Snyder benefited from $3.6 million worth of TV ads whose donors were kept secret by the Republican Governors’ Association, which aired the ads promoting Snyder during the general election campaign
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“The gubernatorial general election was not a different kind of politics. It was the same old same old: Secret spenders, no accountability,” Robinson said in a news release for his report.
(Snyder won the Republican gubernatorial primary spending $12 million, half of it his own money and the rest disclosed.)
Robinson said it’s especially important to disclose campaign donors for Supreme Court candidates who are expected to be impartial on the high court. The report found that only half of the donors of $42.1 million spent on behalf of Michigan Supreme Court candidates were disclosed from 2000-10.
Of the $42.1 million spent, $20.8 million was for TV issue ads, the MCFN report says.
The report calls for new state laws that require public disclosure of all individual, corporate or campaign committee donations that pay for electronic media ads promoting candidates for state or local offices within 60 days of their elections. |
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Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:41 pm |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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| Scary isn't it. And the Supreme Court Ruled that Buying off politicians is FREE SPEECH. It's not just Michigan that's Screwed. |
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Tue Jun 21, 2011 2:00 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| Right. Only unions should have the right to buy democrat politicians. In fact, they own the whole democratic party. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Tue Jun 21, 2011 8:33 am |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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| iSN'T THAT WHY THE STATE IS TRYING TO BREAK THE uNIONS? |
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Wed Jun 22, 2011 12:31 am |
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John Wilson
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Ted Jankowski schreef:
Scary isn't it. And the Supreme Court Ruled that Buying off politicians is FREE SPEECH. It's not just Michigan that's Screwed.
It has been often said ( well, by me anyway) that Americans have the best politicians money can buy. This just makes that statement have more validity . Come on people, you know what to do ,don't vote the bastards back in! Exercise some risk taking and go beyond what we have currently. Or are you all happy with how things are now? And let's see how we can replace some of those Supreme Court Justices while we are at it. |
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Thu Jun 23, 2011 1:33 pm |
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