Category: ‘Activism and Issues’

Michigan Politics: Taking a Look at the Money in Campaigns

February 11, 2010 Posted by Lary Holland

The National Institute on Money In State Politics tracks how the flow of money plays in state politics throughout the United States. More specifically, their mission is:

The National Institute on Money in State Politics is the only nonpartisan, nonprofit organization revealing the influence of campaign money on state-level elections and public policy in all 50 states. Our comprehensive and verifiable campaign-finance database and relevant issue analysis are available for free through our Web site FollowTheMoney.org. We encourage transparency and promote independent investigation of state-level campaign contributions by journalists, academic researchers, public-interest groups, government agencies, policymakers, students and the public at large.

Taking a look at the Michigan Elections from 2008, obtained from FollowTheMoney.Org we can see that the total dollars contributed to candidates: $22,582,236 based on 98% of reports for candidates that were collected. (FollowTheMoney.Org; February 11, 2010)

Contributor Total % of Total Sector
MICHIGAN BEER & WINE WHOLESALERS ASSOCIATION $451,223 2.00% General Business
MICHIGAN HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CMTE $444,376 1.97% Party
MICHIGAN AUTO WORKERS REGION V $369,300 1.64% Labor
MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS $306,825 1.36% Finance, Insurance & Real Estate
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MICHIGAN $282,615 1.25% Finance, Insurance & Real Estate
MICHIGAN FARM BUREAU $274,300 1.21% Agriculture
MICHIGAN AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION $259,050 1.15% Transportation
MICHIGAN EDUCATION ASSOCIATION $246,515 1.09% Labor
MICHIGAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE $232,999 1.03% General Business
DTE ENERGY $188,025 0.83% Energy & Natural Resources
MICHIGAN TRIAL LAWYERS ASSOCIATION $186,450 0.83% Lawyers & Lobbyists
MICHIGAN HEALTH & HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION $183,850 0.81% Health
MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY $178,202 0.79% Party
MICHIGAN HOUSE DEMOCRATIC FUND $171,527 0.76% Party
MICHIGAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION $154,460 0.68% Finance, Insurance & Real Estate
DILLON LEADERSHIP FUND $139,634 0.62% Party
OPERATING ENGINEERS LOCAL 324 $137,935 0.61% Labor
MICHIGAN REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS $119,260 0.53% Labor
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS $117,180 0.52% Labor
HUGHES, HOLLY $105,773 0.47% Party

The above report demonstrates the actual contributor, total amount donated to various candidates, percentage of the total amount donated and the sector they are associated with. The below report demonstrates the top 20 industries and their total amounts of campaign money that was shifted towards candidates.

Top Industries Total
Candidate Self-finance $1,585,381
Lawyers & Lobbyists $1,306,240
Party Committees $1,117,595
Leadership PACs $912,717
General Trade Unions $652,049
Insurance $616,024
Real Estate $534,337
Transportation Unions $534,091
Health Professionals $503,959
Public Sector Unions $486,552
Beer, Wine & Liquor $477,950
Automotive $467,811
Electric Utilities $377,703
Business Associations $373,548
Commercial Banks $323,325

A significant amount of data is collected on a state to state basis with automated ways to reorganize the data to connect individuals, candidates, and organizations to issues and campaign financing related matters through the tools made available by The National Institute on Money In State Politics. I certainly thank them for making it freely available and hope that others find it useful as well.

Fairtax Movement Launched: Volunteers Needed

December 28, 2009 Posted by Lary Holland

The FairTax Movement platform was something that I wanted to do for awhile, it is a real simple and expandable idea to help immediately educate and inform the public about FairTax proposals past and present all over the nation. The site includes references from both state and federal FairTax projects, but volunteers are needed to help contribute content from their local jurisdictions. I think that tax reform is something that any politician can agree with, whether it is the side that wants more money or the side that tries to convince you that they want less.

The FairTax Movement is a site dedicated to encouraging an alternative tax reform structure that reduces government bureaucracy, invasive government practices, and increases government transparency.

The government is invasive, needs to be more transparent, and should consider alternative tax reform policies. In order for the government to consider those proposals the public must demand it. This site is provided free to the FairTax Community and we are proud to support individual and group efforts for tax reform.

If you would like to volunteer and contribute to the FairTax Movement project, simply send an email to info@fairtaxmovement.com.

*We will be consolidating this site with another project between February 2, 2009 and February 5, 2009 and the site may be unavailable during this three day period.

Don’t worry, My Original Blog still exists!

September 5, 2009 Posted by Lary Holland

Political Discussions abound… Don’t worry friends, the search engines are still actively tracking some of my historical articles on the family court system, political infrastructure, and related issues that were written years and years ago. The old material details are at http://www.laryholland.com/serendipity, including the popular entries about “Family Court is Deadly Business” to help keep the system honest. Many people are affected by these issues including the elderly, fixed-income, impoverished, and just about every concerned parent in the United States.

Also, original podcast material for Get Your Justice Live continues at http://www.getyourjusticelive.com. Keep a watch on Get Your Justice Live for more great information on how you can become more involved in your communities.

Even though personally the family court and government in general has really upset millions in this country I intend on doing most of my political side-discussions on Get Your Justice Live site as well as my occasional sarcastic spin on my personal blog. Most of my political interests are vented by speaking to politicians and decision-makers. Needless to say, I stay real busy with work and personal interests.

The rest of this site is used to test out certain applications as this is a dedicated server platform that is mostly my personal development playground. Social Networking, Word Press Development, Drupal Testing and Development, as well as Joomla Testing and Development. I don’t much mind when I take my own site and server and keep the production dedicated servers right where they belong… in tip top shape!

I am personal active in broadband wireless, network infrastructure development, infrastructure planning and administration, as well as heading up a major technology company. Send inquiries about your needs to me via email at laryholland@sbcglobal.net