Are Our Politicians Bought and Paid For?

Almost everybody knows that it takes indecent amounts of money to run political campaigns nowadays. But what you might not know is that politicians often try to hide just how much is being spent – and more importantly, where it is coming from. But a too-little known nonprofit outfit called the Michigan Campaign Finance Network (MCFN.org) is out there trying to hold the campaigns accountable and bring the facts to you. Craig Mauger has been executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network for the last three years; he works full-time trying to get the truth about campaign spending, find out which representatives take the most money from lobbyists and let people know how much secret, “dark money” is being spent. Ellen Cogen Lipton is a scientist and a graduate of Harvard Law School who served in the state legislature and then had to spend more than a million dollars to try to compete in a Congressional primary last year – and still lost. She too is now dedicated to helping find out the facts and reform the system.