This is somewhat good news:
http://www.mlive.com/...
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's controversial NERD Fund is closing down, but calls for transparency have continued.
Snyder spokesperson Sara Wurfel confirmed Monday that an independent board is in the process of dissolving the New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify Fund, a tax-exempt nonprofit allowed to receive unlimited and anonymous contributions.
The fund had "simply become an unnecessary distraction," Wurfel said, expressing confidence that the board followed all applicable state and federal laws, none of which require the disclosure of donors.
Snyder, asked about the NERD Fund during a public appearance in Owosso, told reporters it was "appropriate to wind it down" but suggested it would be inappropriate to reveal the names of donors who had contributed with the expectation of anonymity.
Dissolution appeared likely last week after Snyder moved "transformation manager" Rich Baird onto the state payroll. Baird, a top aide who works out of the state's executive suite in Lansing, had been paid through the NERD Fund since the governor took office in 2011.
That unusual arrangement prompted increasingly loud calls for the Republican governor to disclose the names of donors to the fund. Democrats and government watchdog groups have argued that the public deserves to know who was paying the salary of someone so closely involved in state affairs. - MLive, 10/21/13
Here's a little more info:
http://www.freep.com/...
The fund raised about $368,000 in 2012, down from about $1.3 million in 2011, according to reports filed with the IRS.
The fund has been controversial because it can accept unlimited corporate donations from anonymous donors. The fund has been used to offset housing and travel expenses for Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. It had also been paying $100,000 a year to Snyder aide Richard Baird, who was a contractor, but the governor’s office said last week that Baird was joining the state payroll as a Snyder appointee and will hold the title “transformation manager” with a $140,000 annual salary.
Snyder said the fund was intended to lessen the financial burdens of government for taxpayers, but critics, such as Rich Robinson of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, said it kept the public from knowing what special interests are giving Snyder financial support.
Wurfel said the purpose of the new fund will be “continued reinvention efforts, saving taxpayer dollars, and helping ensure responsive, accessible government.”
The NERD Fund can’t be officially closed until after its required IRS report for the 2013 calendar year is filed, Wurfel said. - Detroit Free Press, 10/21/13
Politically speaking, it's a good call to close down the NERD Fund but Snyder's refusal to reveal his donors doesn't really help him. Then again, Snyder did say he doesn't know who is donating to his own fund a little while ago:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/...
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, testified under oath Wednesday that he doesn't know who donates to a controversial nonprofit he created.
But the Center for Public Integrity has identified at least one corporate powerhouse that has lent financial support to the group: retail pharmaceutical giant CVS Caremark Corp.
In March 2012, CVS donated $1,000 to Snyder’s New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify Fund, a company document shows. The voluntary disclosure offers a rare, if small, glimpse into the flow of corporate money into politically active nonprofit organizations.
The NERD Fund — the acronym is a nod to Snyder’s “one tough nerd” campaign slogan — has to date rebuffed calls to identify its funders. Snyder has indicated he may be open to releasing their names, although he's offered no timeline for doing so.
The organization raised $368,000 in 2012, according to tax records posted online by the Detroit Free Press. That's down from the $1.3 million it raised in 2011, the first year of its existence.
Last month, the Free Press revealed that Snyder’s NERD fund was footing the bill for Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr’s $4,200-a-month condominium, as well as some of his travel expenses. The NERD Fund additionally covers the $100,000-a-year salary of Snyder aide Rich Baird, who helped recruit Orr to serve as emergency manager. Snyder appointed Orr to the position in March. - The Center For Public Integrity, 10/10/13
Who knows how big of a role the NERD Fund will play in the upcoming election but former Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer (D. MI) says the economy will be a key issue next year:
http://www.pressandguide.com/...
Schauer has been making the round since he formally entered the race May 28, visiting 44 of the state's 83 counties, so far.
In his swing through Oakland County Tuesday, he announced the support of Oakland County Democrats on the county commission.
Schauer says the key issue of next year's election will be the state's economy.
"The economy is the central issue," he said in an interview with The Oakland Press.
"Is Rick Snyder's economy working for you?" asks Schauer in what will likely be the theme of his campaign. - Press & Guide, 10/17/13
Snyder knows this, that's why he's been going on the offense early:
http://www.mlive.com/...
Gov. Rick Snyder is not a Democrat, although some far-righties are convinced he is. But that didn’t stop him from swiping a strategy that Democrat Barack Obama effectively used against Mitt Romney.
The incumbent president broke the mold on running TV commercials. Normally a candidate, especially the person in office, waits to run those spots, but the Obama team dumped millions of dollars into a summer barrage aimed at defining Mitt Romney before he could spend the money to define himself.
So if you are searching for the reason statewide TV ads boasting Governor Rick Snyder’s record are on the air now, a full 14 months before this goes to the voters, read the second paragraph again.
The Snyder campaign whiz-kids had seen a steady stream of incoming fire from his likely Democratic opponent Mark Schauer. “There were too many unanswered accusations. It was time to create our own spin” and put a more positive image in the mind of voters, a source reveals.
Note that the governor does not counterattack in his ads. He ignores the constant Democratic criticism that he slapped a pension tax on some seniors, “swiped” money from education to fund a hefty business tax, and signed Right to Work. - MLive, 9/29/13
By the way, Schauer has been raking in some big endorsements:
ttp://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131001/POLITICS02/310010036/Schauer-endorsed-by-Michigan-s-largest-teachers-union-governor-race?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cp
The state’s largest teachers union threw its support and political muscle Tuesdaybehind Mark Schauer’s campaign for governor.
The Michigan Education Association’s backing of Schauer marks the first major labor union endorsement the Battle Creek Democrat has picked up in his race to defeat incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Snyder next year.
“We see him as somebody who will stand up not only for public education but the people who provide public education in a way that Gov. Snyder never has and probably never will,” MEA President Steve Cook said Monday in an interview.
Schauer announced the endorsement Tuesday afternoon at an event with union leaders at a Lansing elementary school.
The MEA, a 150,000-member labor union closely aligned with the Democratic Party, was widely expected to endorse the likely Democratic gubernatorial candidate because of Snyder’s signature of laws reining in union power in the classroom and cuts to K-12 per-pupil funding implemented during his first year in office. - The Detroit News, 10/1/13
If you would like to donate or get involved with Schauer's campaign, you can do so here:
http://markschauer.com/