Gov. Rick Snyder talks about transparency in politics as if he thinks it's a good thing.
But most indications are, he's not a big fan of transparency. That's pretty transparent.
He had the NERD Fund and refused to make the names of donors public. The non-profit fund, New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify Fund" was set up to help improve government. Snyder got grief for not disclosing the donors and recently announced he would shut down the fund.
Now, Tim Skubik writes for Fox2 that the governor can't really say where he stands when it comes to requiring disclosure of big donors "who flush millions of smackers into "'issue ads'."
Skubick writes that some of Snyder's friends want full disclosure for these issue ads, and other friends don't.
Skubick astutely writes:
And the governor is with his friends, which is to say he is on the fence.
Skubick writes that GOP Secretary of State Ruth Johnson is in favor of transparency but has bumped up against opposition from Republicans, who claim it's a free-speech issue.
Skubick quotes the governor as saying:
"Transparency is always important. The question is how do you balance that with some of the free speech requirements." Hence he wants to take two or three weeks to review all this "and look at the balance of those two."
Let's face it, this governor is not about transparency.
Skubick notes when Snyder appeared before the bankruptcy hearing, his poor memory, "his lack of knowledge, and his attorney- client privilege testimony, left some wondering how much into transparency he really is."
