foolmenot.comThe young media types love to talk about political fundraising. They use [almost] scary sounding words and phrases with the intention of making us stand up and say; “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take this anymore!” Enough already; it’s the way of things… It cost money to beat your opponent; duh!
There are even “watchdog” groups who make a living watching this stuff. Who’s funding them? What’s their angle? If you just let politicians raise money in an obvious fashion you wouldn’t need “watchdogs”!
Instead, the only thing these types of articles ever accomplish is to instigate another tactic for a politician to use to raise even more money, in a different way… Empty one pot with silly complaints and they create two more with nice sounding intentions. Ask John McCain!
Democrats have evolved through all this with some clever tactics. For instance in 2005, the Wall Street Journal documented $65 million of NEA member dues going to Democratic voting “groups” such as “Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Amnesty International, AIDS Walk Washington and dozens of other such advocacy groups”… Of course the $65 million is for the entire U.S.- Michigan teachers probably weren’t billed for more than a million dollars or so...
I think those “watchdogs” ought to snoop a little deeper… Where are those nasty Republicans getting all their money?
Full article follows…
Political action committees on pace to set fundraising record
State watchdog group says top donators are raising 23 percent more than in the 2003-04 cycle
Monday, January 02, 2006
Kathy Barks Hoffman / Associated Press
LANSING -- The special interest groups that donate to politicians and political candidates are well on their way to setting a new fundraising record for the 2005-06 election cycle, new figures show.
The Michigan Campaign Finance Network, a nonpartisan watchdog group in Lansing, reports that the top 150 political action committees this year already have raised 23 percent more through October than the top 150 had raised at this point in the 2003-04 election cycle: $13.6 million, compared with $11.1 million.
"It looks to me that it's an accelerating trend," said Rich Robinson, the network's executive director. Citizens "would do well to pay attention," he added. "Money is power."
If the trend continues, the top 150 PACs could raise millions more than the $33.4 million they raised in 2003 and 2004, a cycle that didn't include races for governor, secretary of state or attorney general.
With Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Attorney General Mike Cox, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land up for re-election in 2006 and all 148 legislative seats up as well, Robinson said special interest groups will be eager to help politicians who have been friendly in the past year or who will be in influential spots in the year ahead.
That includes giving to PACs controlled by legislative leaders. Republicans hope to pump money into races so they can hold on to majorities in the House and Senate, while Democrats hope to fund challengers and win more seats so they can wrest away control of at least one chamber.
The three biggest war chests among PACs from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31 are those of the House Republican Campaign Committee, which has raised $1.2 million; the Senate Republican Campaign Committee, which has taken in $938,240; and the MI House Democratic Fund, which has raised $810,852. The Senate Democratic Fund is ranked fifth, with $493,739 collected so far, according to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.
Lawmakers who hope to take over leadership positions in the House and Senate also are raising a lot of cash.
With Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema not eligible to run for re-election in 2006 because of term limits, GOP senators such as Wayne Kuipers of Holland and Jason Allen of Traverse City each have raised around $100,000 in a bid to contribute money to GOP Senate races and earn enough support to become the next Senate leader.
Even presidential candidates are getting in on the act. Although the next presidential election isn't until 2008, the political action committee of Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has Michigan roots, has raised $93,250 so far through The Commonwealth PAC.
Craig Ruff of Public Sector Consultants, a Lansing think tank, said PACs tend to be less ideological than groups in the past and are often focused on just one or two issues.
"They are interested in blocking one thing, and that's their agenda. Or they're interested in passing one thing," he said. "If they have been unsuccessful, their rationale is they just haven't spent enough on enough people."
Ruff said the trend of increased giving among Michigan PACs reflects what's happening in other states and nationally, where races are getting increasingly expensive and candidates are looking to PACs for hefty donations.
"It is a bit of a snowball. And politics definitely does attract money in ever-increasing numbers," he said.
House Speaker Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, who controls the House Republican Campaign Committee, said the higher amounts collected are needed to cover higher campaign costs on everything from ads to fliers to campaign staff. The House Republican Campaign Committee raised $3.1 million in the last election cycle and is nearly halfway to that amount already.
The House and Senate Republican and Democratic PACs cannot receive more than $20,000 from any one source, but other PACs in Michigan don't have those restrictions. They do have to list their donors and expenditures, as do 527 funds, a way of collecting donations from corporations and other donors that can be used for just about anything.
Robinson isn't happy that more money is flowing into politics, but he's less worried about campaign committees, PACs and 527s than about groups that don't have to disclose who's funding them or how they're spending their money.
That's the case with nonprofit corporations some politicians have set up.
"In my mind, constituents should be asking (politicians), 'Why do you have these things and how are you using that money?'" he said.