I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
The American Future Fund, the shadowy conservative group that is spending $25 million to influence the outcome of many House races around the country, including more than a half million dollars on behalf of Republican Tim Walberg in his campaign against Rep. Mark Schauer, is the target of a complaint filed by two watchdog groups with the Federal Election Commission.
The complaint alleges that the AFF has violated the law by not registering as a political committee, filing organizational reports required of a political committee and not disclosing its donors, as political committees must do.
AFF is registered as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, which means that they can engage in direct advocacy for or against candidates — but not if doing so is their “primary” purpose. The complaint argues that such advocacy is, in fact, the organization’s primary purpose.
The courts have ruled that if it is found that the primary purpose of a 501(c)(4) organization’s activity is to influence political campaigns, the organization must register as a political committee — and therefore must comply with FEC regulations requiring them to disclose the identity of those who funded the group’s activities.
The complaint argues that since AFF has apparently devoted more than 50 percent of its ad spending on express advocacy ads for or against candidates, that shows that the group’s primary purpose is to influence the outcome of elections. The complaint cites reporting by our sister site the Iowa Independent as evidence.
Here is the full text of the complaint:
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