With all the box seats are sold out, Michigan taxpayers are all in the peanut gallery.

For each of the 148 State Senators, and State Representatives in Michigan, lobbyists spend about a quarter Million bucks each year.

According to Craig Mauger at the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, this year they are on track to keep it going.

Over the first seven months of 2016, January through July, lobbyists reported $21.7 million in spending, according to disclosures filed with the state at the end of August. That total, $21.7 million, is the most spent on lobbying over the first seven months of a year in Michigan’s history.

Its all innocent ..of course.

But please remember, your guy is in Lansing, and is outnumbered by trained agenda wielding operatives by a factor of 20 to 1.

Not only is there more money trying to influence Michigan’s elected officials, there are more lobbyists as well. There were 2,998 lobbyists and lobbyist agents registered in Michigan in 2015, up from the previous record of 2,959 in 2012.

And that means “20 to 1” is just the average.

But rest assured, all that money is only spent on positive outcomes, AM I RIGHT?