If you want to get an idea of what Republican revenge for President Obama’s victory in 2012 looks like, look no further than Michigan.
By now I’m sure you’ve heard that our beloved Gov. Rick Snyder, after swearing up and down for months that he had no plans whatsoever to introduce anti-union Right to Work legislation and saying everything but cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die I ain’t gonna do it, decided on Thursday to change his mind and gave his fellow Republican legislators the green light to move ahead. But not only did Snyder get behind the Right to Work legislation, he gave his blessing as the bill was shoved through without allowing for any committee hearings or public comment. The hell with public input, and the hell with democracy. Call in the Koch brothers and let’s get busy screwing the people.
From The Nation:
After Republican leaders announced Thursday morning that they intended to enact so-called “right to work” legislation—which is always better described as “no rights at work” legislation—the Michigan state House voted Thursday afternoon to eliminate basic union organizing and workplace protections that generations of American workers fought to establish. Several hours later, the Michigan state Senate did the same thing, as part of a bold anti-labor initiative launched in coordination with a Koch Brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity project to “pave the way for right to work in states across our nation.”
And in that spirit, Snyder is also moving ahead with legislation to replace Public Act 4, otherwise known as the Emergency Manager law, which was overturned by the voters on Nov. 6. Normally, the will of the voters would be respected and the Emergency Managers would be seeking a more honorable line of work, but King Snyder is not one to let a petty annoyance such as the will of the voters get in his way. If the people are so stupid that they cannot see his way is best, then Snyder believes his only option is to grind the voters beneath his heel as he sticks his middle finger in the eye of democracy and shoves his plan into place. Snyder wanted the Emergency Manager law which he got passed with the help of his solidly Republican legislature in 2011 because it gave him the power to enforce his will over the people without having to be bothered with what the people actually wanted. When that law was overturned (thanks largely to Detroit voters) Snyder decided right then and there that he was not going to sit still for such insubordination. No indeedy. Time to make a new law, and what better time than during the lame duck session when he can just ram it through?
Gov. Snyder has no interest in negotiating – or cooperating in any way – with anyone who does not share his views. He has a vision of how Michigan should be, and he is determined to create that Michigan whether the people of Michigan embrace his vision or not. This is what can happen when you have a former business executive elected to be leader of a government where, in theory at least, you are occasionally required to negotiate and consult with those who may have different views from your own. The government of Michigan is not a corporation, after all. It is not a business. It cannot be run like a business. Businesses do not give their employees the opportunity to elect their CEOs (although in some cases perhaps that might not be such a bad thing) and democracies do not give their leaders unfettered power to rule over the electorate however they wish.
I believe Gov. Snyder may finally be realizing that he is no longer a corporate CEO, and the limitations of being a publicly elected governor are causing him to climb the walls in frustration. So what does a frustrated ex-CEO do when he can’t just commandeer the power he believes he deserves to implement his will over and above all others?
Welcome to the Kingdom of Michigan.
PoliticusUSA
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Regularguy
Dec. 7th, 2012 at 6:12 pm
And in a couple years Michigan people will be making the same wages they pay here in North Carolina. “Oh you have experience sewing fabric? We’ll start you off at minimum wage. No worries, you’ll be up to 12 in 5 years or so, that is if we don’t lay you off after you retrain a temp to do the same thing.”
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Thinking Clearly
Dec. 7th, 2012 at 6:26 pm
I bet its a cold day in hell before another Republican gets an easy nod in Michigan when time is up for a vote. I am no Democrat, but these guys are really out of touch.
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Churchlady
Dec. 7th, 2012 at 6:29 pm
Hey – this is boffo for a whole new riff on “freedom”. OK – you want people to be free of unions? Fine. They can work wherever they want however they want not paying a penny to the union that has the contract.
But unions then have the right to refuse to permit what is gained in bargaining agreements to automatically impact the NON member. Since Citizens United declared corporations including unions to be “people” then nope – no coerced representation for YOU, non-member.
You want to be free, nothing automatically pertains to YOU. You have to negotiate your own wages, pension, benefits, hours, conditions with your supervisor. You get no training, security, promotion, seniority from the union – go to your manager.
It is time for a right to not represent bill, too – unions do not, must not, cannot represent those who decline to be involved. You want total “freedom”? Well then – you’re on your own. See how you like THAT, hyper individualists.
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Beaglemom
Dec. 7th, 2012 at 6:33 pm
Yes, indeedy-deedy. On election day, we besmirched the member of every early union member who fought so hard back in the early days for workers and benefits. One of the sham approaches was to argue that “right to work” laws should not be part of the Constitution. Well, people got taken in and now we have have joined the “right to work” states. People who tried to protest the action on the legislature floor were teargassed and arrested. And soon we’ll join the other states that are passing anti-women legislation. If your state is controlled by the GOP, it is controlled by the Koch Brothers and their puppets, the teabaggers. My great worry is what all of this is leading to. If the Koch Brothers can dictate to governors (like Christie in New Jersey) how to react to the Affordable Healthcare Law in their states, how long will it be before they dictate every other decision made by governors or by legislatures?
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Sally
Dec. 7th, 2012 at 6:52 pm
I am a sick Michigander today. Yes, we got suckered. We voted against changing the Constitution, not realizing that Snyder already had a plan in place to destroy the remaining unions. And even when we DID vote down his EMs, he just gave us the finger and said “I know better. We are going to do this no matter what the voters said.” Wonder how he plans to run for re-election? The Devil made me do it? There is a long commentary in our Midland (Dave Camp, MI AG (Romney MI chair) Bill Schuette, House Majority leader “hate women” Stamas, and Rep. John Moolenar all love here) rag about how wonderful Right to Work states are and how many jobs they have and how the economies are so great. I guess, if you think people can live on minimum wage.
I took a job with the once-great Midland Public Schools, who are still paying substitutes the same $10 an hour they were 25 years ago (only NOW, we have outsourced the payroll, and you are only paid for classroom time, not planning hours, so you can work at the HS from 7:30 until 3:30 and earn a whopping $50!) And woe to the travelling sub..no mileage, even less face time with students, so even less money. I took a parapro position, and am making minimum wage working with handicapped students. Swell huh? 25 years ago as a para I made close to $9, and started at $7.75. This is what the great Governor has wrought: swell tax breaks for companies that are already not paying taxes, and fewer jobs that can support a family. He took $10,000 away from every teacher two years ago..because he robbed their pension fund for tax breaks for businesses…you know, the people who bought him his job. Then he whined that the ‘public employees’ had no right to the money they had put in and earned through their work. Disgusting, immoral, heartless…the GOP is attempting a coup the likes of which we cannot even fathom. They make Hitler look like a Christian.
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A Walkaway
Dec. 7th, 2012 at 8:55 pm
Uh… Hitler WAS a Christian.
Fact.
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A Walkaway
Dec. 8th, 2012 at 12:25 pm
It’s a fact I can’t say out loud in this area… it sets “Good Christians” to screaming in anger, and we’ve suffered enough at their hands already.
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Kim
Dec. 8th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
Hitler’s father was a Jew who left his mother when he was young. The Holocaust was his revenge against his father.
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wavingcrosser/Lynn
Dec. 7th, 2012 at 7:38 pm
I remember an article you wrote suggesting that Governor Snyder was more moderate than Scott Walker and other rustbelt governors & would not take us down the RTW path. I commented at the time and cited indicators of his performance that didn’t support your position. Just as I tried to relay my conviction to anyone that would listen, that if Prop 2 went down, previously written legislation on right to work would be introduced in this session. To add to the “new & improved” emergency manager bill, yesterday brought more “war on women” legislation barring abortion coverage in private ins. plans and in any plans offered by state exchanges under Obamacare. The potential for the larger anti-abortion bill may follow. As if that is not enough, the state’s educators are protesting the proposed EAA education reforms that Snyder & buddies have introduced that will lead to privatization of public ed.in MI. DeVos & Koch (Americans for Prosperity)are fueling these efforts. We will need strong candidates and a network of progressives acting in a team effort to organize and educate electorate heading into 2014.
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Black Liberal Boomer
Dec. 8th, 2012 at 12:28 am
You were right and I was wrong. Plain and simple. I hate to admit I was that stupid, but I am admitting it right here and in public. Hopefully I will never make that mistake again. My apologies.
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wavingcrosser/Lynn
Dec. 8th, 2012 at 1:36 am
We both want what is best for our communities and the state. The pols will try to use a “divide and conquer” strategy, pitting union members against each other as was evident in WI, by excluding the fire & police unions. We need to focus our attention on the politicians who have sold out to big money and special interests and channel our energies into defeating them. I believe the radical legislation will backfire, strong democratic candidates will emerge and the base will be galvanized to defeat the GOP in 2014. Let’s make it happen!
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Duane7
Dec. 7th, 2012 at 9:19 pm
So how long has this man been suicidal? He is ready to put his life on the line to gain his power. He really isn’t very wise. He doesn’t have very good security and walking the streets he’s an open target. Does he have a bunker to go hide in? Something tells me he’ll need before long.
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Beaglemom
Dec. 8th, 2012 at 8:34 am
As soon as Snyder was elected governor (he’s a businessman multi-millionaire by the way) he announced that he planned to serve only one term. So he’s free to do his mayhem now that the latest round of elections is over. These days having a Republican governor and a Republican legislature in your state means that the Koch Brothers are in charge. It is not a good thing for any living creature.
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Inez
Dec. 8th, 2012 at 10:25 pm
I wonder how many of Snyder’s supporters were Republicans who now are feeling his misguided wrath? The next Democratic Governor will have a shoo in.. The Legislators are not blameless, vote the bums out!
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mathazar
Dec. 7th, 2012 at 10:32 pm
We had a similar situation here in Australia a few years ago. The Liberals and little Johnny Howard (also known as Bush’s lap-dog), tried an over-reach, called “work choices”. Promoted as a great benefit to the workforce, it actually destroyed our collective bargaining ability. Within days of implementation, an abattoir sacked all their workers, and then offered them their jobs back at
2$ less per hour. Needless to say, in the election that followed, little Johnny was trounced so bad, he not only lost the PM, but his seat in Parliament as well(only the second time in Aussie history).
One of the first things the Labour party did was repeal ‘work choices’.
No matter what part of the world you’re in, you just don’t screw the workforce.
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A Walkaway
Dec. 8th, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Cut their wages by $2 an hour. Yep, that happens even here.
When I was a graduate assistant, my school tried to trick us into taking a big cut in pay, plus having to pay full price for our tuition AND loose any benefits we had (sick leave, flexible hours so we could attend classes, etc.).
We caught them in a big lie (negotiating in bad faith) and that cost the school partial coverage of medical care for their 1/4 time graduate assistants (full coverage for 1/2 time). We also didn’t loose any benefits at all, and all we have to do is remind them of the incident to back them down.
While they were trying to do that to us (the lowest wage people in the school and who do much, if not most of the research work), the president of the school was given a nice big raise and increase in benefits. Her husband had money set aside so that if he wanted to travel with her he could – and it was more than a dozen of us together made in a year.
(I might mention that they’re trying to get the schools in Florida changed over to a “Business-driven” model.)
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Jesse salisbury
Dec. 8th, 2012 at 10:27 am
Empower yourselves with knowledge, excersize your rights and recall this asshat. Show these koch brothers puppets the door and put the rest of these sell outs on notice. It can be done! Its the right thing to do. Its not an easy task but it is certainly doable
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Bob Doyle
Dec. 8th, 2012 at 11:13 am
Michiganders have RICO Snyder, Floridans have RICO Scott..We as a nation of people equal in every way, unless we have been dumbing down our own rules of law. “Duuuhhh, we didn’t vote ’cause we _________.”
Wake Up & ACT to move forward toward goals, let the regressives self deport in 2013.
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Anne
Dec. 8th, 2012 at 11:19 am
What’s happening in Michigan provides an example of how important it is not to trust these Republicans who profess to be moderates and run on it. Rick Snyder ran as one and also as a “tough nerd” during a year in which the national recovery was proceeding too slowly for many people. Now, the state has become Exhibit A for what can happen when people elect a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Politicians who scream the loudest about “states’ rights” are the ones most likely to use them as an excuse to work toward undermining the rights of their constituents, as exemplified in that state. I can only hope that he will be overruled by the Michigan Supreme Court and if not that, the US Supreme Court. Snyder and his minions need to be held accountable in a way that will serve as a deterrent to other governors considering such drastic actions.
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A Walkaway
Dec. 8th, 2012 at 12:37 pm
The one thing that is most lacking in this country is justice. I wish that those people would start facing it, instead of always getting away with harming people and committing crimes.
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robyn ryan
Dec. 8th, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Smells like Bobby Jindal with testosterone.
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Kay Dennison
Dec. 8th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
For some reason, I’m channeling Janis Joplin:
“Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.” and it sure looks like Rick Snyder is making sure she was right. What he’s doing is unconscionable. Why y’all haven’t kicked him out up there astounds me!! I’m already signed on to help kick Kasich out of the Governor’s mansion in Ohio.
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rue2u
Dec. 8th, 2012 at 7:58 pm
2014 is just around the corner and I for one ill ork to see that every evil repub is voted out fo congress on the federal end and I will do all I can to vote out the repubs in gov office especially here in fl and all repubs in the state congress and I hope and pray all states will be doing the same~~
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me
Dec. 9th, 2012 at 4:18 am
I feel like I was lied to. I thought he was a moderate; a happy Bloomberg type. First he lied about the Film Credits cap- he made it seem like he would cap the incentives at $100 million. But he pretty much abolished that and did away with an en entire industry that was in its infancy. Then something small, like the Pricing and Scanning law. So now I go to the grocery store and I have no idea what price something is because it’s not on the damn box any more. Whatever.. RELENTLESS POSITIVE ACTION! He did stand up to Matty Maroun and his bridge nonsense… but that’s about it. He’s starved cities so much that he gets to declare an Emergency Manager. There was a referendum on the Emergency Manager law- Michiganders said “No thanks.” Now this nonsense. He lied. He had said he didn’t want to see Right To Work on his desk. Now he’s like, oh yay! He says it’s because Indiana passed a Right to Work law. I personally feel that he’s just a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Moderate my ass. He’s a dickbag.
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