Time to Pull the Plug on Johnson's Free Air Time

When Richard Austin was Michigan's secretary of state, Republicans like Candice Miller lambasted him for having his name on the outside of offices where Michigan residents went to renew their driver's licenses and conduct other business. Campaigning on the taxpayer's dime, they insisted.

The current Republican holding the office, however, has found a way to campaign on the taxpayers' dime that goes far beyond putting the name of the Secretary of State on the Secretary of State buildings.

Ruth Johnson has put herself on television, for free, inside the buildings where Michigan residents are forced to watch her over and over while they wait to renew their licenses.

Johnson cut commercials urging people to sign up to become organ donors. The commercialsl play on television monitors arranged in front of the seating areas in Secretary of State offices.

Increasing organ donor sign-ups is an admirable goal, but Johnson's commercials are not particularly effective. Johnson is in no position to appeal to a person's altruisim. A far better appeal could have been made by someone who received an organ as a result of someone signing up to be a donor, someone living a
better life than they otherwise would be without the gift of an organ.

That leads me to suspect that the goal of these commercials is not so much to increase organ donation sign-ups, as it is to put Johnson's mug in front of voters over and over so that they remember her name come election time.

Johnson should pull the plug on her taxpayer-paid commercials. Let the facts of organ donation speak for themselves without the subliminal political message.

Former Livingston County GOP Chair Makes News

The former chair of the Livingston County Republican Party is making headlines, but not in a good way.

Allan Filip, who was chair of the local party during the 2008 election, was hired as director of external affairs by Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson last December. But now the Michigan Democratic Party says Filip was caught on taxpayer time hiring people to collect signatures to recall Democratic lawmakers. MDP Chair Mark Brewer has filed a complaint over the matter.

Filip says he left the Secretary of State's Office before coordinating the recall signature effort.

Even if that's true, shouldn't there be some sort of "cooling off period" between the time someone leaves the Secretary of State's office, which oversees Michigan elections, and the time the ex-employee takes a partisan job? This situation seems as bad as the revolving door between government and lobbyists. It just doesn't look right.

Another Government Job for a Government Hater

There's nothing like having the best of both worlds, especially if you're Allan Filip.

Filip was chair of the Livingston County Republican Party a few years back -- you know, the party that hates government and wants to drown it in a bathtub.

But the ink on the 2010 election results was barely dry before Filip landed a new job -- working for state government. Filip will be director of "external affairs" for Secretary of State Ruth Johnson.

So now Filip, who worked for a party that hates government, has got a job in government.

"I'm happy to receive the appointment," the Livingston Press and Argus quoted Filip as saying.

Of course he is. Most professional government-haters can't wait to land a job feeding at the public trough.