Deobfuscating Ballot Measures with Ballotpedia
Perhaps everything is on the up-and-up out where you are, but here in Michigan we once again have a confusing fistful of ballot measures that are lightly covered in the media, but energetically endorsed or opposed by PACs via direct-mail, online banner ads, and TV/YouTube vids. Much of this street-level lobbying is misleading, verging on fraudulent. Most notable in Michigan is Matty Moroun's ongoing campaign to keep his private near-monopoly on commercial trucking between the US and Canada via Detroit. (SHORT VERSION: Detroit-Windsor is one of the busiest trade corridors in the US; something like 60 or 70 percent of the region's commercial traffic passes through Detroit. The current bridge is a crazy bottleneck. Canada wants a new bridge so badly that *they are entirely picking up the tab.* Matty Moroun--who owns the one bridge from Detroit to Windsor [there is also a tunnel, but it cannot carry commercial traffic, just passenger vehicles] is dumping millions into running ads that say Canada *isn't* paying for the bridge. This claim is false.)
Moroun also wants to deeply fuck up the state's ability to levee taxes--which makes sense, as he's been actively antagonistic to the state, his nominal business partner, for years. Robbing us of the revenue we need to pursue him for breach of contract, civil contempt, and assorted other fuckery is sort of a rational choice, if you are a supervillain. Next thing you know he's gonna blow up the moon--or dump $4 million into amending our state constitution so that he has a monopoly on blowing up the moon, or who knows what.
Tangent aside, Ballotpedia has been a balm on my nerves, counteracting the gobsmacked rage I fly into each morning when the mail arrives with yet another glossy libel. It's a non-partisan project to elucidate state politics, with a special flair for all the "down ballot" initiates and candidates--the ones that don't get covered much in the media, but can have an enormous impact on your day-to-day life.
Live in Michigan? Here's a run-down of our 2012 ballot measures. The most contentious of these are Props 2, 5, and 6. *I* advise voting YES on 2, NO on 5 and 6--but that's just me.
More than anything, I advise doing a little reading--with Ballotpedia as your jumping-off point--and voting for what you think will most benefit the state and its citizens. Thanks!
