A roundup of recent Michigan newspaper editorials

The Detroit News. August 7, 2018

Shine light on ‘dark money’

With the Michigan primary election fresh on people’s minds, it’s a good time to consider some of the disturbing trends that emerged the past few months. Transparency should be the goal in political spending. Especially when “dark money” crosses the line into unsanctioned activity, alarms should sound.

And there are some glaring examples this election season that point to abuses by shadow organizations on both sides of the political spectrum. While we believe in the free speech of individuals and businesses to contribute to political causes they believe in (protected by our First Amendment), the groups carrying out the political messaging must follow both federal and state law.

Specifically, there are a few groups in Michigan that have claimed 501(c)4 status, arguing they are social welfare organizations, and consequently tax exempt. The IRS mandates such groups aren’t allowed to make political activism and lobbying their primary effort.

Yet that’s exactly what some appear to be doing, while keeping that tax exempt status. That goes against federal law and state campaign finance law.

“It’s a bona fide violation of the law,” says Patrick Anderson, principal and CEO of the Anderson Economic Group.

Anderson recently filed a complaint with the IRS, highlighting alleged abuse by a group called Citizens for Energizing Michigan’s Economy. In the complaint letter, he writes: “The corporation is operating in direct violation of its claimed purpose to ‘receive and administer funds for social welfare purposes.’ In particular, there is no evidence of any activities intended to improve social welfare of the people in the state of Michigan.”

But there is plenty of evidence of the group spending thousands of dollars on political advertising for and against specific candidates in several of the contested primaries.

Anderson details how in the past three months, CEME appears to have spent over $1 million in campaign advertising in a handful of legislative races.

“Unless one considers expenditures in favour or against a specific candidate for an impending election to be ‘social welfare’ expenses — and ignores the many other requirements and restrictions on expenditures involving such express campaign advocacy — there is no salvaging these advertisements under the clear meaning of both state and federal laws,” Anderson writes.

Similar spending from other “social welfare” organizations has also raised eyebrows. As The Detroit News has reported, United for Progress had run attack ads against Democratic 13th district congressional candidate Rashida Tlaib. Last month, Tlaib claimed the group hadn’t filed paperwork with the federal government, hiding where the funding originated. Social welfare groups don’t have to disclose donors but are required to report explicit campaign spending to the Federal Election Commission.

In addition, hundreds of thousands of dollars from other social welfare organizations have been spent in the gubernatorial primary races.

As long as the political portion totals less than half of a 501(c)4’s total spending, the group is in the clear.

But given how some of these groups seem to be taking advantage of existing laws, officials at both the state and federal level should take a closer look — especially with a high-stakes general election just months away.

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Lansing State Journal. August 9, 2018

Voter turnout sets records, shows cause for optimism across Greater Lansing

It’s not ‘only’ a primary, we said. Editorials leading up to this week declared that any election is an opportunity to exercise democracy, and everyone eligible should make the time to vote.

Ahead of Tuesday’s primary election, the LSJ Editorial Board called on Greater Lansing residents to show up and exercise their rights – urging them not to repeat the dismal voter turnout of past elections.

Voters did not disappoint.

Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum estimates over 32% voter turnout for county voters. It’s unofficial until certified, but that’s the highest voter turnout the county has seen in an August primary in over a decade according to Byrum.

Similarly, unofficial tallies from Eaton and Clinton counties both show over 31% turnout. Especially of note are Delta Township, Grand Ledge and DeWitt – each with several precincts falling between 40% and 46% turnout.

And across the state, more than 2 million voters showed up to cast their votes, causing some precincts to run out of ballots. That’s nearly 28% of registered voters statewide – numbers that have not been seen since 1978.

Read more: Ingham County sees high primary turnout

Read more: Voter turnout shatters recent records statewide

Read more: 2018 primary election results for Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties

This is a cause for optimism, both across the state and here locally. Voters being engaged with their government at all levels leads to prosperous and vibrant communities.

However there’s still work to be done.

In Lansing for example, where some precincts exceeded 50% turnout, there were still pockets with some of the lowest voter numbers in the state – 17% in one case.

With disparity like this in the region’s largest city, it’s clear there’s work to do. There need to be even more efforts to register eligible voters in underrepresented areas and convince them to go the polls.

Voter turnout Tuesday is a clear cause for optimism. Let’s break even more records this November.

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Times Herald (Port Huron). August 9, 2018

Harbour study a coup for Lexington.

Lexington’s harbour has already had its ups and downs. That’s why being added to the Sustainable Small Harbors project is so important to the village.

“It’s obviously crucial to the village. It’s huge. I don’t know how you would measure the importance of it. It’s the centre of what we do in Lexington as far as tourism,” Kristen Kaatz, Lexington village council president, told Times Herald reporter Bob Gross.

“It’s the heart of everything that goes on there.”

Along with the other towns on lower Lake Huron, Lexington suffered through the crash of the Lake Huron salmon fishery a decade ago. When the alewives disappeared, so did much of the Chinook and Coho salmon. The salmon fishing dried up, and so did the charter businesses that used the harbour, the sport anglers who bought fuel and supplies in Lexington and the visitors who booked nights in the village’s bed-and-breakfasts.

The salmon didn’t adjust to the changing food web very well, although they do seem to be making a comeback. Other fish species adapted, though, and learned to thrive on different prey species, including ones formerly considered pests. Anglers adjusted too, and Lexington is no longer just a salmon port. The fishing boats are back, too, but looking for walleye, lake trout and other catches.

That’s just one example of how local harbours rise and fall on the effects of factors beyond local control. The sustainability project aims to make those towns and villages that rely on harbours more resilient so that evolving long-term trends, or even a single bad season, does not leave them reeling.

It’s important to more than just Lexington and the businesses lining Huron Avenue and Main Street.

Boating — and that’s not just fishing but also pleasure boating in its various forms — and the things that go with it are a vitally important $2.4 billion part of Michigan’s economy. On and off the water, the boating industry is worth more than $16 billion to the economies of the Great Lakes states. A third of the recreational watercraft in the United States are registered on the Great Lakes.

It’s important that they continue to have reason to keep coming home to a place like Lexington.

That is what the sustainability project aims to accomplish. Lexington is in the game early, as part of the project’s second wave. Michigan has another 70 or so harbours on the list.

The work in Lexington begins next spring, when researchers will meet with village officials, residents and interested parties to brainstorm ways to polish the lakefront gem at the foot of Huron Avenue to, as Mark Breederland of Michigan Sea Grant said, to add value to what is already priceless.

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The Mining Journal. August 10, 2018

87th FIS reunion highlighted Sawyer’s history, importance.

On the website for the K.I. Sawyer Museum, there is a patch for sale that serves as an important reminder to our area. It reads: K.I. Sawyer AFB Michigan, Gone But Not Forgotten.

It has been more than two decades since the base closed in 1995 and of course, it’s still an active, living community, but many older folks from the area recall the facility when it was an Air Force facility.

And some Air Force personnel return to keep that memory active, as was the case last weekend when members of the United States Air Force 87th Fighter Interceptor Squadron returned to K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base for a reunion as well as to celebrate the squadron’s 101st year.

From all parts of the country, members of the squadron made the trip to spend time with other former Air Force personnel. But the weekend was about more than the memories of the past.

Four T-38 jets carrying the 87th Flying Training Squadron from Texas flew up for a visit and both groups then gathered at the K.I. Sawyer Heritage Museum to share memories at a dinner and to hear a presentation on the first 100 years of the squadron from Lt. Col. Thomas Allen of the 87th Flying Training Squadron.

In a story by Mining Journal Staff Writer Trinity Carey, some of the participants shared about the gathering.

“It was wonderful,” said Elmer Klein, member of the 87th FIS from 1971 to 1985. “Seeing the people who have been here for all this time and it’s not just while I was here, there were people that came before me, people that left after me, and it was fun to see that and hear the stories and also the continuation of stories from the pilot training squad that came in from Texas.”

The 87th Fighter Interceptor Squadron has a storied history that began in August 1917, making it one of the oldest Air Force squadrons, though it has been deactivated and reactivated multiple times.

During the Cold War, the squadron was reactivated and was stationed at Sawyer from 1971 to 1985.

“When we were stationed here in Sawyer our main objective was a fighter interceptor squad,” Klein said. “Anything that would trigger an alert through the North American Air Defence Command, they would scramble jets depending on where you were. Then those jets would go up and intercept the targets they were designated for.”

For many alive now, the Cold War is part of the history books but for the 130 or so people who attended the reunion, it was a key memory.

We thank reunion organizer Byron Sherman for his work putting the gathering together. Sherman brought up a critical matter: the importance of the K.I. Sawyer Heritage Air Museum, not only for the reunion, but because it preserves memories of the squadron and all other units that were stationed at Sawyer throughout the years.

“The air museum is a wonderful thing to have at Sawyer, but they need help. They need members, donations from (the) public, from people who used to live here, to keep their doors open,” Sherman said. “It’s important not only for the Air Force, but for the heritage of the area. There’s a whole set of people who don’t know what it was like.”

Absolutely correct and we hope people look into helping out. To find out more about donating, visit the group’s website at www.kishamuseum.org.