The Mackinac Policy Conference is designed to promote the interests of the Capitalist Class, which is why politicians attend

Every year at the beginning of the summer, the Detroit Chamber of Commerce holds their annual Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island.

According to the Detroit Chamber, the four-day conference is to discuss key issues facing the state. However, for anyone who has attended this annual event or taken a close look at the conference website you can see that what is really being discussed are concerns for the business community and members of the Capitalist Class.

First, let’s look at the sponsors of the four-day conference. Sponsors include Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Ford, GR, DTE, Consumer Energy, Enbridge, Amazon, Rocket Mortgage, Bank of America, Trinity Health, Comcast, Airbnb and Meta, just to name a few. These are all businesses that put profits over people.

Second, those who are part of the Capitalist Class always use the Mackinac Conference as a platform to make announcements about how they want to influence public policy. Here are just a few examples:

• The DeVos family announces that they will spend millions in the 2026 Election to solidify Michigan as a Republican stronghold.
• At the end of the conference former Gov. Rick Snyder is working on what he hopes will be a $20-$30 million campaign to make 2026 the education election. There were no hard specifics, but Snyder did allude to possibly doing a ballot initiative.

Third, you can look at the conference agenda to get a good idea of what was discussed and who was invited. For example, on the first day there was a session of the State of Housing, which featured only politicians and business people, like Josh Lunger, who is the Political Affairs person at the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. Lunger crafted the GR Chamber’s proposal to criminalize the unhoused and then championed the version that the City of Grand Rapids adopted.

Another example was from May 29th, where one could have attended a session entitled, Michigan’s Role in America’s Defense. This panel feature military industry reps, plus Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin. Senator Slotkin was on the panel, not only because of her being a former CIA staffer, but because she announced a new Military plan for Michigan, which is to say she wants to channel more taxpayers money to the Michigan Military Industry. You can read her plans for more militarism at this link.

Fourth, there were numerous candidate debates being held during the Mackinac Policy Conference, specifically for Detroit Mayor, the Michigan Senate Race and the Michigan Gubernatorial race, all of which will happen in 2026. So, you have candidates running for significant seats in Michigan and these candidate were speaking primarily to members of the business community and the Capitalist Class. Any candidate with a real conscience would have boycotted the Mackinac Policy Conference. 

The Mackinac Policy Conference is an event put on by the business class, in order to cater to the Capitalist Class, while inviting the political class to make sure they do what those with economic power really want to see happen in Michigan.