Brian Dickerson of the Detroit Free Press has an illuminating column today. In it, he notes that Michigan gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos has put about $35 million of his own money into the race, making it one of the most expensive political races in the country. Why, Dickerson asks?
If you look at DeVos' web site, he's running primarily on economic issues. Dickerson isn't convinced, however, that this explains why DeVos has thrown so much money at this race.
But plenty of elected officials in Michigan subscribe to DeVos' conventionally Republican vision of lower taxes and decreased government regulation[...] I doubt that he considers himself uniquely qualified to set Michigan on a different economic course.
Dickerson wisely suggests that if you want to know what DeVos really cares about, just follow the money: besides his candidacy, where has he committed his substantial fortune?
What is unique (or at least unusual) about DeVos is his combination of business acumen and religious zeal[...]For more than a decade, DeVos and his wife and the tax-exempt foundation they control have funneled millions of dollars to conservative Christian groups that seek to promote school prayer, public assistance for religious education, the criminalization of abortion and the prohibition of embryonic stem cell research, among other causes.
A careful examination of DeVos' past giving shows this to be true. His foundation is a major donor to a wide range of right-wing organizations, including Focus on the Family, the politically influential group headed by Dr. James Dobson. Focus on the Family's mission statement declares that government is an institution "ordained by God" and that it "exists to maintain cultural equilibrium and to provide a framework for social order." What this means, in practice, is fervent opposition to gay rights, reproductive freedom and church-state separation.
Other DeVos-linked political organizations include the Free Congress Foundation whose "main focus is on the Culture War," and the Traditional Values Coalition, who insist that "the anti-God Left has been using America’s courts to impose an anti-religion, anti-family agenda on America."
DeVos may be masking himself as primarily concerned about economic issues, but when you follow the money, you find he's always supporting the religious right's agenda of blurring the line between church and state.
You can find more information about DeVos' radical religious-right agenda here. You can also see NJDC's Voter Guide on Michigan's statewide races here.
Speaking of DeVos and religious extremism, Rolling Stone did a great article on the Dominionists, the group to whose beliefs DeVos subscribes and donates millions. As the article says, "Meet the Dominionists -- biblical literalists who believe God has called them to take over the U.S. government. As the far-right wing of the evangelical movement, Dominionists are pressing an agenda that makes Newt Gingrich's Contract With America look like the Communist Manifesto." DeVos and his beliefs have no place in Michigan or US politics and he needs to be stopped now, so get out the vote and get to the polls on Tuesday!
You can find the entire Rolling Stone article here: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7235393/the_crusaders/
Posted by: Caufield | October 30, 2006 at 04:12 PM