Ah the cold hand of fate is reaching out to Governor Rick Snyder (R. MI):
http://www.mlive.com/...
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's tax-exempt nonprofit, which has been the subject of significant public scrutiny in recent months, saw contributions drop sharply in 2012.
The New Energy To Reinvent and Diversify Fund, a 501(c)4 "social welfare" organization, received $368,000 in contributions and grants in 2012, according to an IRS filing obtained by MLive Media Group.
The fund reported spending roughly $546,000 last year and ended with a balance of close to $230,000.
Those figures were down significantly from 2011, when the nonprofit pulled in $1.3 million in contributions, spent more than $633,000 and ended with $452,000 on hand. - MLive, 8/15/13
Here's a little more background info:
http://www.wxyz.com/...
The fund, which stands for New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify, took in $368,000 last year. In 2011, it raised $1,318,100.
7 Action News was first to report on the fund last year. It is controversial because, unlike money given to Snyder's campaign fund, donors are kept secret from the public. It was set up to "[promote] the common good and general welfare of…the state of Michigan."
Expenses are listed only in broad categories and almost no detail is given. In 2012, the fund reported spending $173,630 on travel, $101,225 on office expenses and $67,369 on “other.” All told, it spent $590,453. - WXYV ABC 7 News, 8/15/13
Snyder should be worried because he needs that campaign cash because the AFL-CIO is going to spend big to get rid of the "Right To Work" Governor:
http://www.mlive.com/...
AFL-CIO Political Director Michael Podhorzer said Tuesday that the labor organization plans to focus its 2014 election efforts on defeating a group of Republican governors, including Michigan's Rick Snyder.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the AFL-CIO's other political targets include Scott Walker of Wisconsin, John Kasich of Ohio, Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, Rick Scott of Florida and Paul LePage of Maine.
"Our focus is really going to be at the state level because that's where we think that our constituents – working-class families, middle-class families – are going to have the most at stake," said Podhorzer.
Snyder has not yet announced his re-election plans, but it's not surprising that the AFL-CIO is already gearing up for an attempt to take him down. The first-term Republican frustrated unions late last year when he signed controversial right-to-work legislation into law.
The new law, which took effect in March, prohibits labor contracts that require workers to pay unions dues or agency fees as a condition of employment. It was seen as a major blow to organized labor in a state known as a traditional union stronghold.
Former U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, the only Democrat who has announced a candidacy for governor, joined protests leading up to passage of the right-to-work law and is expected to win labor endorsements in the general election. - MLive, 8/13/13
Glad to hear because Republican Governors like Snyder or helping pushing the Koch Brothers and ALEC's middle-class killing, union-busting agenda. Snyder and the Republican state legislature's approvals plummeted when they passed the "right to work" legislation so Mark Schauer (D) is going to be hammering Snyder for that. Making "right to work" a top campaign issue could be the nail in Snyder's coffin so I'm glad to see the AFL-CIO get ready to help take down Snyder. Plus the AFL-CIO and Snyder's opponent, former Congressman Mark Schauer (D. MI), need to not only nail Snyder on "right to work" but also attach him to the Republican controlled legislature which is even more unpopular than he is:
http://www.freep.com/...
Local government leaders in Michigan are generally upbeat about Gov. Rick Snyder but down on the Republican-controlled Legislature, much as they were a year ago, according to a University of Michigan survey to be released today.
There’s been a slight uptick in the view that Michigan is heading in the right direction, the survey conducted by U-M’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy found.
The survey found 51% of local officials rated Snyder’s performance as either good or excellent, up slightly from 49% a year ago.
But only 26% of local officials gave high marks to the Legislature, compared with 27% last year.
The survey found that 54% of local leaders feel the state is moving in the right direction, up from 50%.
The numbers haven’t changed much in the last year. But that in itself is significant given the contentious lame-duck session in December that was capped by the hurried passage of right-to-work legislation, which sent Snyder’s polling numbers into a nose dive.
“Some of the policy developments this year in Lansing were so far-reaching, I might have expected to see a little more movement than what we’ve seen,” Tom Ivacko, program manager and administrator at the Ford School’s Center for Local, State and Urban Policy, said Wednesday.
The Ford School sends surveys to all 1,856 local governments in Michigan, and in the most recent survey received responses from 1,350. The survey was conducted between early April and early June and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points.
The survey is consistent with at least one recent poll that showed Snyder’s approval ratings have improved again recently, partly over his handling of the Detroit financial crisis.
The political affiliation of local leaders is the single greatest variable in how they view Snyder, the Legislature and the outlook for Michigan, Ivacko said.
Though two-thirds of Republican local leaders say they feel Snyder is doing a good or excellent job, only 43% of independents and 19% of Democrats say they feel that way.
While 37% of Republican leaders say they feel the Legislature is doing a good or excellent job, only 16% of independents and 6% of Democrats share that view. - Detroit Free Press, 8/15/13
Looks like the only Democrat that likes Snyder enough to work in his administration is in a little bit of trouble:
http://www.mlive.com/...
It's another case of "Do as I say, not as I do" for a member of Gov. Rick Snyder's inner circle.
State Treasurer Andy Dillon -- the token Democrat and designated whipping boy of the guv's administration who helps select emergency managers throughout the state -- apparently can't keep his own finances straight.
Dillon, as you might remember, unspectacularly ran for governor in 2010. He was trounced by Virg Bernero, who appointed himself "America's Angriest Mayor," in the primary by almost 20 points.
This weekend, the Detroit Free Press uncovered that three of Dillon's old campaign accounts are "in disarray," with "unexplained accounting errors" of about $105,000 and $8,900 in two of them. Dillon filed two past due reports for a third account -- after the Freep contacted him -- and was slapped with $775 in fines.
I guess it's some comfort that "no one has alleged improper activity," but those are some pretty big discrepancies. Especially for a guy who built his political career around the idea that he's a financial whiz and business turnaround expert.
If that wasn't embarrassing enough, Dillon's personal finances also appear to be a mess, as a judge in July found he hasn't paid child support and alimony, which he's fighting. The judge also issued a one-year restraining order on Dillon and his ex-wife. - MLive, 8/13/13
But hey, it hasn't been all bad news for Snyder. He picked up an endorsement from this guy:
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/...
Three days after being cleared of any wrongdoing, House Speaker Jase Bolger stood by a public apology he issued last year — and what investigators found in his role in a controversial party-switch scandal.
“I’m certainly relieved to see that, once again, a review has found that I followed the rules,” the Republican from Marshall said while in downtown Battle Creek Monday. “However, that is not to say that I didn’t make a mistake. Roy Schmidt switching parties was not a mistake. I would do that again. We took it one step too far in worrying about his opponent.”
He added, “I certainly think it was a mistake to focus on winning and to focus on defeating your competition. This isn’t a game; I grew up a football player, but this is not a game. This is very real and serious work.”
In a joint interview with the Enquirer, WMUK Radio’s Gordon Evans and the Kalamazoo Gazette’s Alex Mitchell, Bolger said the investigations into the scandal have been a learning process that has steered him to focus on delivering results “instead of the infatuation with the negative.”
Bolger also made clear his choice for Michigan’s next governor, praising Gov. Rick Snyder’s first-term performance for tackling the challenges “that were left behind from our last lost decade.” - Lansing State Journal, 8/13/13
Eh, never mind. Meanwhile, Schauer is out campaigning and helping the voters get to know him better:
http://articles.petoskeynews.com/...
Schauer, a former U.S. congressman who represented the Battle Creek area, is touring Northern Michigan trying to meet with grassroots Democrats. He is expected to be uncontested in the 2014 August primary, which has refocused his campaign toward generating energy in Michigan Democrats -- who had a poor voter turnout in 2010.
"I need the people of Michigan to know me," he said. "I was in the Battle Creek area for about 12 years representing the people in the state and then in Congress. So, people downstate know me, but now I have an 83 county district to cover in the race I am running now."
Schauer sees the race as a single question.
"What this campaign is ultimately about is whether people think the direction (Gov.) Rick Snyder has taken our state is the right one," Schauer said. "I'm running for governor because I don't think it is."
About 40 Petoskey Democrats turned out to hear the candidate at a home near Petoskey's waterfront. Schauer had similar stops throughout the area Tuesday.
The small audience was receptive to messages on re-funding education and repealing pension taxes.
"I'm disappointed that in Snyder's first year he cut a $1 billion for education and $500 million from higher education, raised taxes on seniors and the working poor and gave all that money to give a $1.8 billion tax cut to corporations that wasn't tied to job creation and isn't creating jobs," Schauer said.
Schauer says the plan was the same "tired trickle down economics" that does not work.
The pension tax, what the candidate refers to as a tax raise on seniors, is an income tax placed on any person drawing a pension greater than $45,000. Schauer says it is something he would repeal. - Petoskey News, 8/14/13
By the way, keep your ears open because Schauer will be announcing who he'd like to have as his Lt. Governor nominee and it could be a big name that could really help his chances:
http://www.mlive.com/...
Mark Schauer has heard all the speculation about who he should pick as his running mate for the 2014 gubernatorial campaign. And in an unusual move, the Democrat said his choice could come as early as this year.
When I interviewed Schauer this week in Lansing, he was more interested in discussing policy -- specifically Detroit, gay rights, early-childhood education and poverty.
But he was aware of the recent flap over Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, who has been mentioned as a lieutenant governor pick. Byrum, a former state lawmaker silenced during "Vaginagate," was asked by a publication if her kids "wouldn't want Mom at home?"
Schauer was matter-of-fact in blasting that outmoded idea.
"Well, it's a double standard and it's a sexist question," he said. "If it were her husband who were a candidate for lieutenant governor, I doubt he would have been asked that question. So I think we need to get beyond that."
For Mark Schauer, who's always had a strong base of support from female voters and groups, this isn't just idle talk. Back in 2008, there were no bigger Hillary Clinton supporters than he and his wife, Christine Schauer. - MLive, 8/9/13
It'll be interesting to see who he picks. If you want to donate or get involved with Schauer's campaign, you can do so here:
http://www.markschauer.com/