I previously disclosed in the Elberta Alert that I’m a member of DSA, so let’s put that particular bias up top, front and … left. What this means is that I don’t trust individual for-profit businesses and the so-called “free” market to manage big social problems and programs; I think regular people (the working class) should solve social problems together democratically through collective decision-making, in which everyone has an equal say. I think certain fundamentals of life (food, shelter, healthcare, education) should not be controlled by those with a profit motive. And I think wealth inequality has gotten way the eff out of hand. I'm keen to follow the money when it comes to political candidates, especially when those candidates make explicit claims about their funding.

I’m not alone. In the past couple of years, three ballot proposals in Michigan have sought to directly or indirectly fight the influence of corporations, utility companies, wealthy donors, and even foreign governments over our politics, as well as the rapid transfer of wealth upward in our state: the MOP Up Michigan campaign, Invest in MI Kids, and the RankMIVote ranked-choice voting initiative.

National and state candidates have said they’d like to overturn the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision—Kyle Blomquist (for whose campaign I volunteer), Mallory McMorrow, Garlin Gilchrist, Abdul El-Sayed, to name a few. Since 2010, this campaign finance decision (infamously declaring “corporations are people”) has allowed a flood of moneyed interests to take over all branches of our government, including our judiciary. If they haven’t made it integral to their campaigns, candidates have at least made squeaky noises to the effect that they’re not bought by big business, because they know it plays well with us, the great unwashed masses.

So what is Callie Barr, Democratic candidate for Michigan’s 1st congressional district, doing claiming that she doesn’t take corporate money, when a huge portion of her funding comes from political action committees funded by corporations?

According to Callie Barr’s FEC filings, these are just some of the political action committees (PACs) she takes money from: Motor City PAC (Sen. Gary Peters’s leadership PAC, funded by DTE, GM, Microsoft, BlackRock, Toyota, FedEx, Verizon, and others), Mitten PAC (Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s leadership PAC, funded by JPMorgan’s CEO’s wife Judith Dimon, the Murdochs, and other billionaires), Fight Like Hell PAC (Gretchen Whitmer’s PAC, funded by Simon Property Group, Jon Stryker, other billionaires), PURPOSE, SUMMITT, Midwest Values, Democracy Summer 2026, and others. These PACs are run by or associated with established politicians, several of whom have made the Track AIPAC Hall of Shame list, and they serve as a middle step so she can claim she doesn’t accept corporate money. But when you look at the PACs’ funding sources, it’s many of the very same corporations who are feeding Jack Bergman, the Republican she vilifies and hopes to defeat on November 3.

A friend of mine attended Ms. Barr’s town hall at Frankfort-Elberta High School on July 17 and asked her specifically about her corporate funding claims. This is what she had to say.

In the video you can hear my friend mention that the Pleasant Peninsula PAC has a donation from Consumers Energy’s corporate PAC. Barr insists again that she doesn’t take corporate PAC money. Here’s her rationale:

“Debbie Stabenow has the Great Lakes PAC. That’s her leadership PAC. That’s her money that she has. Gary Peters has the Motor City PAC. Folks who are in office have their own PACs where they have raised money … They have donated to me from their PAC. I’m not beholden to anyone. … Kind of like, if you were working at McDonald’s and then you donate money to me. I’m not beholden to McDonald’s because you gave me money, right? But you got your money from a giant corporation, right? … With Jack Bergman you can go through his filings and you can see money from defense corporations. That’s not good. I do not take corporate PAC money. I take money from labor unions. Some of our electeds in office … Whether or not somebody gave money to Stabenow at some point, I have no idea."

Leaving aside the irritating equivalence Barr draws between a donation from someone working at McDonald’s and a donation from Debbie Stabenow’s political action committee: If it’s true Barr doesn’t know who's given money to Stabenow or another politician's PAC, and thus is not “beholden” to those large corporations, are we good with that?

Except she does know. Of course she knows. WE know. It’s easy to find out. And Callie is an attorney. And a teacher, for goodness’ sake. Does she not read? Well, maybe she’s too busy to find out who is funding her PACs because she is holding fundraisers with donors associated with these same corporations.

Senator Stabenow was a special guest at two events for Callie Barr this spring, in March and May. And in 2025–26 Barr received $10,000 from Stabenow’s Great Lakes PAC. It's not a coincidence that Debbie Stabenow was at the top of Callie Barr’s mind when she was asked about corporate funding at her high school appearance. Two days before that visit, Barr was at an invitation-only fundraiser in Frankfort at the home of some relatives of the Ford family, where guests were asked to donate $500 to $3,500. What corporations donate to Stabenow’s Great Lakes PAC? Well, there are many, but here’s a list of donations from the Ford Motor Company. I think Callie Barr knows exactly which side her burger’s buttered on.

The Fords and Stabenows of the world are allowed to give money to whomever they like. They are probably good people who mean well. (Let’s hope so!) They can’t help it if their lives are inextricably tied up with vast networks of wealth and power that give them undue influence. It’s just a nice evening with friends for them. And maybe they get a couple of hours alone with someone who is going to have their hands on some major purse strings in a year or so. No biggie.

The problem is the b.s.: It’s strongly implying that you’re a change candidate when you’re in league with establishment corporate Dems. It’s working for three years as an associate for a law firm (Jones Day) at the same time that firm was litigating on behalf of landlords evicting people during the pandemic and challenging the results of the 2020 Election. It’s showing up for the "fake town hall" for MIA Jack Bergman in March 2025 and then being a no-show for candidate forums and open Q&As in this year’s race. It’s realizing that (a) Medicare for All and “Universal Health Care” poll well but (b) your donors* don’t want that, so you toss up some word salad, adding a thing on your website saying Medicare should be an option for everyone from birth, as if you’re handing out golden tickets. Well, Callie, it already is. It’s an option if you’re lucky enough to make it to 65.

Perhaps you’ve saved up your McDonald’s paychecks and decided to donate to Callie Barr’s campaign. Congratulations! You can join the ranks of her 330 disclosed individual donors, 83% of whom are actually in Michigan. That’s right! Per Callie’s 2nd quarter filings, she raised about $435,000. A whopping 80% of those donations were in chunks bigger than $1,000 and 62% were above $2,000. She’s a real “grassroots” candidate, that Callie. As she says, "It’s time for change!"

Go ahead and root around in your couch.