Letters to the Editor,
The Saginaw News
203 South Washington
Saginaw, MI

I would like to applaud Andrew Tierman’s letter to the editor of October 19, 2006, to borrow some of his language, and to extend his concern to the current governor’s race. He is right to say that “millions of lower middle-class, economically struggling American [voters]” would vote differently if they realized that their interests are not being served by the agenda of the very conservative GOP candidate, Dick DeVos. It is stunning the way that right-wing conservative thinking has hijacked the mainstream Republican Party and platform.

A close examination of the support given by Dick DeVos and his family will reveal where his interests really lie. While he states that he is not and would not be influenced by lobbyists or special interest groups, his philanthropic choices indicate the opposite. Everyone in Michigan knows the Amway legacy—which Forbes estimates at 3.4 billion dollars, and large chunks of those billions are directed to private foundations with very special interests:

• Of the 3.2 million dollars given by the Dick and Betsy Devos Foundation in 2004, a huge percentage went to overtly Christian Groups.
• Big money was given to groups and organizations known to be “hard right”: The Heritage Foundation, The Federalist Society, American Enterprise Institute, and the Council for National Policy.
• More locally, big donations went to the Action Institute, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, and the Traditional Values Committee.
• Donations were also directed to religious Right organizations such as Right to Life of Michigan Educational Foundation.
• Focus on the Family, James Dobson’s Conservative Christian group, has also benefited from DeVos dollars ($570,000 between 1996 and 2004).
• The group behind the current ballot initiative, Proposal 2, or the “Michigan Civil Rights Initiative,” Center for Individual Rights (CIR) received $35,000 from the DeVos Foundation in 2001.

But beyond where the money goes, DeVos has been known to support vouchers in the public schools, to suggest that “intelligent design” would be a “very viable alternative theory,” and to advocate a “radical laissez-faire capitalism,” one that would hurt workers and Michigan itself in very basic ways. Mr. DeVos is no friend to unions, that is certain.

And there is evidence that the DeVos interests are in turn supported by big business: The Action Institute in Grand Rapids, of which Betsy DeVos is treasurer, was awarded $200,000 in grants from the ExxonMobil Foundation between 2001 to 2005.

To read about these issues in greater detail, please see the recent article in the Detroit MetroTimes online. http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/printstory.asp?id=9712

Vote intelligently; vote for Jennifer Granholm.

Sincerely,

Janice M. Wolff