Corporate money wasn't enough to save Scott

By David Holtz/Progress Michigan

When voters in Genesee County’s 51st state House District fired Paul Scott Tuesday for cutting education funding and other political crimes they defeated a huge right-wing money machine intent on grinding down public schools.  Into the maw of the education shredder was fed more than $100,000 in support of Scott —maybe lots more when the final tally comes in.  

Conservative education diva Michelle Rhee and the thoroughly rejected DeVos clan rightly saw Scott as their champion in the Legislature and spared no expense in their failed effort to save him from voters’ wrath.  Eclectablog detailed their big bucks handiwork on Election Day.

I wanted to dig a little more into the recall money story, particularly the role the 1% played.  Since Scott’s defeat Tuesday, Republican talking points indicate that the election was bought by teachers, or “special interests” in their message frame.  The corporate media hasn’t been much better, at least in the run-up to the election.  The Free Press mentioned Scott being supported by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.  But the chamber has to get the campaign cash from somewhere. So who were the corporations behind the chamber’s spending on behalf of Scott?  Again, Eclectablog has details on many of them, but one in particular received less notice and stands out: Meijer.  

Meijer inc. pumped $25,000 into a Michigan Chamber of Commerce political action committee and another $25,000 into a front group for the DeVos clan’s right-wing education privatization crusade, the Great Lakes Education Project.   Both the chamber and GLEP PACs then spent money in support of Scott. Meijer isn’t alone among corporate interests whose money found their way into the Scott recall election, but they are the biggest corporate financial backers I’ve discovered by far. 

Other corporate money linked to the recall election in support of Scott include:  Jackson National Life Insurance ($10,000), Two Men & A Truck ($5,000), Amway Global ($5,000), Honigman, Miller, Schwartz & Cohn law firm ($2,500), First National Bank in Kalamazoo ($1,000), Kar’s Nuts ($1,000),  Granger Construction Company ($1,000) and West Shore Bank ($1,000).  All gave to the chamber’s political action committee. Moreover, the Realtors PAC ($10,250), Blue Cross Blue Shield ($2,500), Michigan Beer and Wine wholesalers ($2,750) and AT&T ($1,000) all gave money directly to Scott’s campaign.   

All told, more than $150,000 from corporations, corporate PACs, CEOs or their families ended up funding, directly or indirectly, the failed campaign to save Scott.  And, of course, the CEO in Chief—Gov. Rick Snyder—put his political capital and political cash on the line.  Besides campaigning for Scott, the One Tough Nerd PAC gave the Scott campaign $2,124. 

So why would the 1% spend so heavily to keep one politician from being fired by voters?   I think it’s about greed and fear.   These CEOs got a $1.8 billion tax cut from the likes of Paul Scott.   The fear:  recalling Scott could mean that corporate greed is no longer good with voters--especially if it means their kids end up with schools that suck because of budget cuts.

Rep. Paul Scott concedes to recall

by NBC25 Newsroom

GRAND BLANC -- Rep. Paul Scott conceded to a recall Tuesday night before results had completely been reported.

NBC25

Rep. Scott told NBC25 on Tuesday night, “We’re taking on a monster. The defenders of the status quo aren’t going to go away easily.  We almost took them down tonight, but that fight will continue tomorrow.”

The Associated Press reports Rep. Scott lost by 232 votes, and that while a recount has not been ruled out, the Grand Blanc representative is accepting the loss.

We spoke with Scott on Wednesday, and he still seems determined to make a difference in Michigan.

"I was definitely a leader in the legislature on a lot of these issues. I'm very outspoken about the need to reign in government," said Scott, who has not ruled out running for the same position next year.

The Citizens Against Government Overreach, a group that helped spearhead the recall efforts, says Rep. Scott needed to be ousted because of his support of the education cuts and pension taxes. 

Rep. Scott will remain in office until election results are certified.  The AP reports those results should be totaled by the end of this week.

Are you surprised that Rep. Paul Scott conceded in this recall? Vote on our poll below and leave us your comments.

It’s all about the politics for Rick Snyder

Christine/Blogging for Michigan

It’s not that I’m surprised that Rick Snyder is a hack. I just never get used to how easy it is to point it out.

Friday’s Gongwer (10/28/11) reports that Rick Snyder is out campaigning for Paul Scott, trying to prevent the little anti-education, anti-worker, lying sack-o-crap from losing his seat in the upcoming recall election.

Mr. Snyder said the focus for now should be keeping Mr. Scott (R-Grand Blanc) in office. Then the Legislature should take up recall reform. … he said he has concerns about how lawmakers might react should voters oust Mr. Scott.”

In short, Rick Snyder wants to “send the message that this isn’t a good exercise.”

It’s nice to see Rick Snyder expressing his opinion on something, isn’t it? It just doesn’t happen often enough. For example, when he was asked his position on auto insurance reform, he refused to answer. “I want to respect the legislative process.” (Gongwer, 10/18/11)

It’s nice to see that he “respects” the legislative process. He surely doesn’t respect the election process or the will of the voters. “Mr. Scott” might lose his seat, and the legislators might react to that.

Oh, and don’t forget that Snyder tried to interfere with the State Supreme Court decision on this recall too. So it looks like Snyder doesn’t respect our legal system either.

‘StudentsFirst’ Spending $70,000 To Support MI GOP Rep. Who Backed Huge Education Cuts

By Zaid Jilani/Think Progress




Earlier this week, Michigan’s Flint Journal reported that Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst has been supporting Michigan GOP Rep. Paul Scott against a potential recall election. Altogether, StudentsFirst has spent and owed $70,000 of political spending on behalf of Scott.

This came as a shock to many, who viewed Rhee’s StudentsFirst as primarily a nonpartisan group dedicated to education reform. By spending tens of thousands of dollars defending Scott, StudentsFirst is drawing a decidedly political line. What’s more, Scott has been a vocal defender of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s (R) economic and education policies, which have lead to significant reductions in the state’s K-12 school aid.

Included among the budget that Snyder signed earlier this year was a whopping $300 million aid reduction to schools statewide. Additionally, there was a $100 million cut to aid to cities, which also serves to negatively impact schools.

It seems odd that an organization that says its goal is to “build a national movement to defend the interests of children in public education and pursue transformative reform, so that America has the best education system in the world” would spend so much money to defend a right-wing Republican who loyally helped his right-wing Republican governor take an axe to the statewide school budet.