Cheney Book Tour Stops in Grand Rapids on Wednesday
Former Vice President Dick Cheney will be in Grand Rapids on Wednesday as part of his book tour.
The former VP, who justifies torture and other war crimes in his new book In My Time, will be at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel on Wednesday at 5:00PM. At this event Cheney’s daughter Liz will interview him about his book and his life as a politician.
There is no information yet as to whether the event will be open to the public or if it is a ticketed event, but you can count on lots of security.
Cheney has been confronted by anti-war activists during his book tour, especially those with the group Code Pink. In fact, Code Pink has lots of ideas about what to do with Cheney and his book.
The feminist anti-war group has a nice bookmark that you can download and stick inside Cheney’s book. The bookmark provides some good information on Cheney’s record of war crimes during his time as Vice President.
Code Pink is also encouraging people to go to their local bookstores and move Cheney’s book to the Crime Section of the store so that it is accurately categorized. Code Pink activist Medea Benjamin has a concise list of 10 reasons why his book should be moved to the Crime Section.
The anti-war group even put together a short “how to put Cheney’s book in the Crime Section” video. Something to consider the next time you’re at a book store.
Michigan House votes to overturn domestic partner benefits
Yesterday, the Michigan House voted 64 to 44 in favor of eliminating domestic partner benefits for Michigan’s public employees.
The vote is a blow to the LGBTQ community and to its allies. Michigan Messenger cites Emily Dievendorf, policy director of Equality Michigan in response to the vote.
“This session’s rash of hate-fueled legislation is broad and punishing. The extremists in the House are a tank rolling down Main Street, leaving no vulnerable community unthreatened. Their efforts, while clearly inspired by animosity toward the gay and transgender community, are expressed through such a blinding and irrational rage that it has no limits.”
House Bills 4770 & 4771 were introduced by West Michigan legislator Dave Agema. Agema not only has promoted anti-gay legislation, but legislation against workers, immigrants and racial minorities.
The recession is over – for lobbyists in Michigan
(This article is re-posted from the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.)
It appears that the recession has ended, at least for Lansing lobbyists. They reported spending $19,664,879 in the first seven months of 2011. That figure is up by 11.6 percent compared to the first seven months of 2010, and it exceeds the spending pace of 2008, the record year for lobbying in Lansing, when reported spending totaled $19,599,000 in the January-through-July reporting period.
StudentsFirst, a California and D.C.-based ‘education reform’ organization, accounted for nearly half the spending increase and led all lobbyists’ spending at $951,000. Its spending included a $900,000 advertising campaign.
StudentsFirst recently made headlines in Michigan by hiring Rep. Tim Melton as a lobbyist. Melton is prohibited from lobbying his former legislative colleagues until December 31, 2012, when his Michigan House term would have expired.
Familiar names of multi-client lobbying firms occupy the next four spots on the spending list: Governmental Consultant Services, Inc (GCSI): $774,814; Kelley Cawthorne: $709,897; Karoub Associates: $460,454; and Wiener Associates: $326,644.
The Michigan Education Association, $324,197, and the Michigan Health and Hospital Association, $266,788, were the top spenders among individual Michigan-based interest groups.
Conspicuously absent from lobbying reports was any filing from the Detroit International Bridge Company. The DIBC has sponsored a seven-figure television advertising campaign of grassroots lobbying in opposition to the proposed New International Trade Crossing.
The Michigan Campaign Finance Network will report on the Detroit International Bridge Company’s campaign later this month.
Wining and Dining
Lobbyists reported spending $526,753 for food and beverages for lobbyable officials in the first seven months of 2011. Leading providers of consumable hospitality were: Kelley Cawthorne: $86,372; AT&T of Michigan, reporting under the name of Michigan Bell Telephone: $51,736; GCSI: $25,823; Michigan Licensed Beverage Association: $24,222; and Public Affairs Associates: $20,492.
Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville was the top beneficiary of the food and beverage hospitality, enjoying $2,985 worth of food and libations. That is more than $47 per day when the Senate was in session.
The leading member of the Free Lunch Club in the House was freshman Rep. Frank Foster of Pellston at $2,814. Nine more legislators enjoyed at least $1,000 in complimentary repast: Sen. Joe Hune: $1,903; Sen. Rebekah Warren: $1,801; Sen. Tory Rocca: $1,585; Rep. Harold Haugh: $1,562; former Rep. Tim Melton: $1,419; Rep. Aric Nesbitt: $1,280; Sen Mike Kowall: $1,099; Rep. Matt Huuki: $1,095; and Sen. Steve Bieda: $1,013.
It should be noted that lobbyists’ spending on food and drink doesn’t have to be reported unless it exceeds $55 in a month for a lobbyable official, or accumulates to more than $350 for the reporting period. Thus, there was certainly more food and drink consumed that did not have to be reported.
Travel and lodging provided by lobbyists does not have to be reported unless it exceeds $725. Financial transactions between lobbyists and lobbyable officials don’t have to be reported unless they exceed $1,100 in value.
“Lobbying disclosure in Michigan is pathetically weak,” said Rich Robinson of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network. “A lobbyable official could sell a lobbyist a pencil for $1,000, and the State doesn’t even want to know about it.”
“Given the hardships the citizens of this state are enduring, I don’t think it’s too much to ask that they should know about every perquisite given to their elected representatives.”
All data cited in this report are from lobbying reports filed with the Michigan Department of State.
Who are the biggest political donors in Grand Rapids?
Radical Historian Howard Zinn used to say in America you either have organized people or organized money. It is debatable as to whether or not we have organized people in this area, but we certainly have organized money.
Organized money was given an edge on organized people when the US Supreme Court passed Citizen’s United vs the FEC, which granted unlimited campaign contributions. Corporations and other entities are breaking records of what they are donating and the Center for Responsible Politics is estimating that President Obama might raise more than a billion dollars in his re-election bid.
The Center for Responsible Politics also provides research tools so you can see who the biggest political donors are in your area. You can search by state, Congressional district or by zip code. Here is what we found out about who the major donors are in the Grand Rapids area.
In the 49503 zip code we find that the largest donors in the 2012 election cycle so far are: Peter Seechia $30,800; Helen DeVos $30,400, Richard DeVos $30,400, Dan DeVos $10,000 and Pam DeVos $10,000. The largest recipients of this money from the 49503 zip code are: the Republican National Committee $91,600, Justin Amash $36,000, the Republican Party of Michigan $20,000 and Randall Heckman $14,500.
From the 49504 zip code area the two largest donors are Susan and Michael Jandernoa, both who have contributed $30,800. Jandernoa is the CEO of the Perrigo Company. Their money has primarily gone to the Republican National Committee, $62,100.
In the 49506 zip code area the largest donors are: JC Huizenga $5,000, Pat Miles Jr. $5,000, Bill Lewis $2,500, Margaret & Paul Potter $2,500 each, Scott Brew $2,500, David and Nancy Kammeraad $2,500 each and James Nicholas $2,000. The largest recipients of money from the 49503 zip code are Justin Amash $13,100 and Barack Obama $10,950.
From the 49546 zip code area (East Grand Rapids) the largest donors are: Calvin College President Gaylen Byker $61,600, Kate Pew Walters $5,000, Attallah Amash $5,000, Marie Amash $5,000, Eric Larsen $5,000 and Marcy Larsen $2,500. The largest recipients from the 49546 zip code area are: National Republican Committee $63,100 and Justin Amash $26,970.
The largest donors from the 49512 zip code area are: John Kennedy (Autocam CEO) $43,300, Nancy Kennedy $15,000, JC Huizenga $12,000 and Keith Klopcic $5,000. The top recipient of money coming from the 49512 zip code are: Republican National Committee $30,800 and the Republican Party of Michigan $30,000.
There is data for money from the other zip codes in the Grand Rapids area, but the donation numbers are small in comparison to the zip codes already listed. However, this data should give you an idea of who the organized money is coming from and who it is going to from Grand Rapids.
Urban Foraging Workshop
Urban Foraging Workshop
10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 17
Garfield Park, Madison & Burton SE
Look for the Farmers’ Market Tents!
Our Kitchen Table and The Bloom Collective are sponsoring an Urban Foraging Workshop from 10 a.m. to noon this coming Saturday, Sept. 17, during the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market at Garfield Park. Just like the grocery stores have helped us forget that food comes from farms, cultivation of domestic crops has helped us forget that many of the native species we see around us (and label as weeds) once were a prize source of both food and medicine.
The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market has already held two presentations with two area master gardeners who shared which common plants growing in our yards, parkways and abandoned lots can be used as food. One of these presenters, OKT’s Yvonne Woodard, who is also the market master for this farmers’ market, will share again this Saturday. In addition, anyone who comes to the workshop with knowledge of foraging will be invited to share their skills with the rest of those attending.
The economic climate continues to push working class people into poverty. In addition, Gov. Snyder’s so-called “austerity” measures like the 48-month cap on welfare eligibility will push many of our neighbors who are already poor to the point of starvation. Did you know that on October 1, an estimated 40,000 Michigan residents will be cut from the welfare rolls by this measure? In addition, on average, each of these people support two children in thier households. In other words, an additional 80,00o Michigan children may soon be going hungry.
While organizations like Our Kitchen Table continue the good fight for food justice and food security in our urban neighborhoods, the fight will not be won in time. So, let’s learn how to grow and share our own food and take advantage of the free foods growing all around us.
The Michigan ACLU and Equality Michigan both sent out action alerts to people across the state to ask them to contact their State Legislators on House Bills HB 4770 and 4771.
Equality Michigan writes:
Anti-gay Republicans like Representative Dave Agema (Grandville) and Attorney General Bill Schuette have been trying to strip away health care benefits for gay and lesbian couples since February. The move would put more working families at risk, destroy the ability of our public service unions to bargain for health benefits, weaken Michigan’s public sector, and make our state even more hostile to gay citizens.
The Michigan ACLU believes “House Bills 4770 and 4771 would bar public employers from doing what they think is best for their employees — providing domestic partner healthcare benefits. In a brazen attack on collective bargaining agreements, the bills would also make these benefits a forbidden subject in all negotiations.”
The ACLU is also providing an online mechanism to allow people to contact their state legislators and ask them to vote NO on HB 4770 and 4771.
Staged Town Hall event with Snyder just a show
Last night WOOD TV 8 hosted a one-hour live broadcast with Michigan Governor Rick Snyder.
There was an invited audience that the TV station said represented a cross section of the viewing audience of the NBC affiliate. WOOD TV described the selection process online, where people were asked to submit questions ahead of time for pre-approval.
These kinds of forums seem to be the rule of the day, where politicians and commercial media outlets don’t want unscripted and uncensored possibilities. The hour-long broadcast is posted online, so you can see for yourself how it looked and the process they followed.
WOOD TV’s political reporter Rick Albin moderated the event and he began by introducing elected officials that were in the audience. Albin then turned over the floor to Snyder to make some opening remarks before people asked questions. Snyder said he was there to listen and figure out ways to best serve the public, which he referred to ask customers. He also said the public “hired” him and that the future is all about us and we.
There were a total of 16 questions asked, 3 by Rick Albin, 3 via some form of social media and the other 10 by people in the TV studio.
The questions followed themes, such as jobs, education, taxes, health care and immigration. The first question was asked by an unemployed worker from Lowell who wanted to know what the Governor was going to do to get laid off and older people back to work. Snyder said that Michigan needed to create more demand to get our economy going, which didn’t really answer the man’s question. He then said that we need to innovative and look at ways to create jobs. He mentioned that there are some hospitals in the Michigan, which outsource their laundry to other states.
The CEO from an Executive search firm in Kalamazoo then asked about how the Governor was going to match talent pool with companies. Snyder said he was all about talent pools, not workforce development. He wants government to create incentives to match people with jobs based on their talent.
A man from Jackson asked what the Governor thought about Obama’s jobs proposal. Snyder said there were some good elements in the speech, because Michigan is doing some of the things the President mentioned. Snyder then went on to talk about Relentless Positive Action, which he says can make Michigan be a role model for the rest of the nation.
A Hudsonville student and a Northview School District Superintendent asked questions about education funding. Snyder said the problem is we are focusing on adults & money and not on kids. “Changing the tax structure is how we solve the education funding problem,” said Snyder. He also said we need to create best practices and reward incentives for schools. However, it seemed that both of these answers did not address either of the education questions.
The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce President told Snyder he was doing a good job. Snyder said thanks and then says the role of the government is not to create jobs, but provide a climate for businesses to create jobs. What about the function of government protecting the rights of citizens, particularly the most vulnerable in society?
There were people who also asked about job cuts, such as a Battle Creek police officer and a UAW member. In response to the police officer Snyder said. “we need to create demand, grow the private sector, which will allow us to get more funds to hire more public safety officers.”
When questioned about the film incentive program, Snyder said that is was a bad investment and was too costly. In contrast, the Governor said that the Pure Michigan campaign generates funds for the state.
Two different people from the studio audience asked about Snyder’s position on Right to Work, but in both cases Snyder said it was too divisive an issue and it was not on his agenda.
Rick Albin asked Snyder to address the issue of immigration, which Albin framed as controversial. Snyder said it is an issue the federal government must solve. Carlos Snachez, with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was concerned about an Arizona-style legislation in Michigan. Snyder said he didn’t support the proposed legislation.
At the very end of the show Rick Albin thanked the audience for their patience and at one point said, “I didn’t know what the questions were going to be.” This seems to contradict their own process, which said that everyone had to submit questions ahead of time fore approval.
Snyder agreed with Albin and said, “too often we get filtered information.” On the contrary, there was a great deal of filtering, but more importantly, the forum did not allow for any serious dialogue or for people to ask follow up questions. In many ways it seemed like nothing more than a show.
Covering the protest
WOOD TV, did come out after the forum to do a short story on those protesting, but only cited one person. WXMI 17 covered the channel 8 event, but did not mention the protest outside the event and the Grand Rapids Press only devoted on sentence to those demonstrating Snyder’s job cut proposal.
Protestors say “shame on you Snyder” for cutting jobs
Last night, about 40 people gathered outside of WOOD TV 8 to protest Michigan Governor Snyder who was attending a “town hall” meeting inside.
Most of those protesting were members of Council 25 AFSCME Local 261, all of which worked at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. Their particular grievance was the proposal by Snyder to further privatize the care giving jobs at places like the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.
According to Ronnie Skorupski with Local 261, 170 care-giver jobs at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans are at risk because of the privatizing proposal. He said they are not just trying to protect their own jobs at the veteran’s facility, they want to “protect quality care for those who served in the military.”
“Snyder wants to privatize and offer the jobs to the cheapest bidder, even if it means people are coming from Pizza Hut jobs,” said Skorupski. Other care-givers at the protest said that some of the privatization has already begun, which has meant that there are now more staff who have no prior experience working with people who have the needs that veterans do. Another woman said, “we have a long term relationship with our patients, which would end if the privatization proposal goes through.”
Another worker from the veteran’s home said that a member from their staff was initially going to be part of the “town hall” meeting, but earlier in the day they received a call saying, “they were no longer needed.”
We also spoke with Norm Tope, a Vietnam Veteran, who was also at the protest. Tope said that he is concerned about the quality of care that will diminish if the privatization plan goes through. “We’ve already seen new people come in with no qualification and no knowledge of those of us in the vets facility.”
The Vietnam Veteran, who has been at the Grand Rapids facility for 2 years, also said, “how could Snyder possible know what our reality is like and what it means to live with diminished quality care. I have yet to see him or any other politicians come to our facility to see first hand what we are talking about.”
There were also a few folks with Recall Snyder signs and clipboards for people to sign their petition.
During the time before and during the “town hall” meeting at WOOD TV 8 there were security people standing at the road entrance to the TV station making sure that only those on a list could get in. There were also security personnel located by the front door. In addition, there were several Grand Rapids police officers patrolling the area and checking in with the security personnel working with WOOD TV 8.
Snyder’s claim to accept no PAC money now in question
A few days ago the Detroit News posted a story questioning Governor Snyder’s claim that he won’t be beholden to “special interests.” According to the story, Snyder “has set up three new funds that can accept unlimited corporate donations.”
“One of the funds, called the Governor’s Club, was set up under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code to pay certain expenses Snyder incurs as a result of being governor, records obtained by The News show.
A second, called the New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify Fund, is a “civic action and social welfare” fund set up under the same section of the code as the Kilpatrick Civic Fund created by former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Unlike donors to the Governor’s Club, those who give to the NERD Fund don’t have to publicly disclose their identities or how much they give.
Snyder’s third new fund, the Foundation to Reinvent Michigan, is a charity set up to pay for repair and maintenance to the governor’s official residences. Donors to that fund also don’t have to be publicly disclosed.”
The article also states:
“Money donated to the Governor’s Club will be used to pay for job-related expenses that are more political. Examples include travel to meetings of the Republican Governors Association, the Republican National Convention and the Michigan Republican Leadership Conference on Mackinac Island.
The Governor’s Club, formed in March, disclosed $117,500 in receipts in its first report to the IRS on Aug. 1. Donations included $25,000 each from AT&T of Michigan; the Michigan Health and Hospital Association; former U-M athletic director Bill Martin; and Credit Bureau of Ypsilanti President Peter Fletcher; and $10,000 from the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers. Paid expenses included $25,000 to De Witt Communications, an East Lansing consulting firm headed by Chris De Witt.”
It would appear that Snyder is beholden to special interests with the limited information we have, since there is limited transparency on which entities are contributing to the Governor’s three new funds.
War Costs Campaign kicks off with new video
Brave New Films just announced a new campaign to target the Defense Industry, which is lobbying to make sure that there will be no cuts in military spending.
This new campaign, War Costs, just finished a new video that looks at the efforts of the war profiting industry to lobby the new deficit commission. The war profiting industry has even created a new PAC called Second to None, which has spent millions already lobbying Congress.
According to the War Costs campaign:
“War spending costs us jobs compared to other ways of spending the money. For every billion dollars we spend on war instead of education, renewable energy technology, or even simple tax cuts for consumption, we give lose between 3,200 and 11,700 jobs, at least. War spending is terrible at job creation, period.
Now, keep that several-thousand-jobs cost per billion dollars in mind when you look at the following list. It’s the amount in revenues that each of the top five military contractors made in 2010 strictly through doing business with the U.S. government, according to their annual reports:
- Lockheed Martin: $38.4 billion (84 percent of total 2010 revenues)
- Northrop Grummon: $32.1 billion (92 percent of total 2010 revenues)
- Boeing: $27.7 billion (43 percent of total 2010 revenues)
- General Dynamics: $23.3 billion (72 percent of 2010 revenues)
- Raytheon: $22.3 billion (88 percent of total 2010 revenues)
These companies have proven track records of doing or saying anything to protect profits. Every one of these corporations was cited for misconduct in 2010. The committee members should remember that when these guys come calling on Tuesday with talking points in hand, especially since one of the instances of corruption for which these jokers were cited last year was a violation of the False Claims Act in an attempt to grab more taxpayer money. The truth is no obstacle for these companies when profit is on the line.”
The War Costs campaign is asking people to call the co-chairs of the deficit committee and tell them that the defense industry doesn’t need more government hand out.
Call:
Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.): (202) 224-2621
U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas): (202) 225-3484
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 