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2010: The Year That Governing Was Stolen From the Michigan’s Voters
In the future, when historians look at America’s experiment with a representative democratic form of government that worked for over 200 years, they will wonder why the voters empowered corporations to take over and run the country. Although the federal government maintains a semblance of democratic representation, it and some states are controlled by special interest groups and corporations that influence legislators and write much of the legislation that becomes the law of the land.
In Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder (R) has officiated over a naked power grab in the form of House Bill 4214 that enables Snyder to appoint an emergency manager to govern over cities, school districts, or any public entity he deems necessary. If any American wondered what America’s demise might look like, they can look at Michigan to see how voters gave a dictator the authority to seize power from the people and install corporate rule. If the trend continues spreading from state to state, America will be controlled by a board of directors and a CEO; elections will be banned as unnecessary.
Snyder, a former corporate executive who at one point was partner-in-charge of mergers and acquisitions, took office on January 1, 2011 and wasted little time instituting corporate rule in Michigan. The emergency financial manager law Snyder signed gave him unrestricted power to appoint other corporate shills to take over any public entity Snyder deemed to be in a financial emergency. In Benton Harbor, the emergency manager disbanded the city and took all power from the elected officials. The order to disband follows:
WHEREAS, now, no City Board, Commission or Authority has authority or power to act on behalf of the City as provided in the Act.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS:
1. Absent prior express written authorization and approval by the Emergency Manager, no City Board, Commission or Authority shall take any action for or on behalf of the City whatsoever other than:
i) Call a meeting to order. ii) Approve of meeting minutes. iii) Adjourn a meeting.
2. That all prior resolutions, or acts of any kind of the City in conflict herewith are and the same shall be, to the extent of such conflict, rescinded.
3. This order shall be effective immediately.
The order above was the first power grab by Snyder’s henchmen and it effectively signals a dictatorship that removes governance from legally elected officials. Buried inside the emergency manager law are provisions that disallow any elected official from running for or serving in public office for ten years as punishment for being elected. One must wonder what the voters who elected the city officials are thinking, and if they believe in democracy any more. It is extremely generous of the manager to allow City authorities to call meetings to order and approve the minutes of a meeting. It is also astounding that the manager is allowed to rescind all laws that were previously passed by democratically elected officials, but dictators have unlimited powers.
In Detroit, an emergency manager sent layoff notices to every single teacher in the district because of declining enrollment and a budget shortfall. It is noteworthy that when the manager, Robert Bobb began overseeing the Detroit schools in 2009, the deficit was $200 million; it is currently $327 million. If Bobb is such a wonderful financial manager, why did he wait until the deficit grew by $127 million before taking action, and how did he grow the deficit in less than two years? Regardless of Bobb’s fiscal malfeasance, there is a more sinister aspect to the power grab and it has been in the works for years.
One of the adjustments Snyder has made to the emergency financial manager law is the ability to appoint a corporation to take over operations of a city, school district, or correctional facility. For the Detroit school system, Bobb intends to convert one-third of the schools to charter schools and already began taking bids from private corporations, but the bidding process will certainly be tainted, because in addition to his emergency manager salary of $280,000, Bobb receives $145,000 from the Broad and Kellogg Foundations. The Broad Foundation is a private corporation that advocates for reshaping America’s schools with leadership from education, business, the military, and nonprofit organizations (churches) with the goal of transforming the public school system in America into a private, for profit enterprise that is not beholden to any government entity. The school district, parents, or state authority will have no input whatsoever in education much like Benton Harbor where the city leaders were stripped of all power.
Corporate takeover of schools is just the beginning in Michigan because every entity faces seizure and privatization if Snyder declares an emergency. If the governor decides prisons are in a fiscal emergency, he can appoint a corporation to take over administration and staffing duties and lay off every correction department employee. Police and fire departments in cities like Benton Harbor will be replaced by private firms because the manager has rescinded all prior arrangements; the list is inexhaustible. It is not a stretch to imagine Snyder declaring a state-wide emergency and appointing a few of his cronies in the corporate world to take over running the state.
The state of government in Michigan is approaching a dictatorship, and Republicans praise Snyder as a courageous visionary who is saving the state from ruin. Republican governors in Wisconsin, Florida, and Ohio are looking for ways to follow suit and establish similar emergency situations in their respective states. Republicans in Congress are taking funding from programs for the poor and giving it to the oil industry and corporations, and Speaker of the House John Boehner is attempting to pass legislation to give vouchers for private religious schools in Washington D.C. as well as defunding regulatory agencies at the behest of corporations and conservative think tanks. Democracy in America is in a perilous state and will die without intervention from voters.
Do the voters in Michigan understand that the 2010 midterm elections were probably their last involvement in governing? Are they proud of the politicians they elected to destroy democracy? That is precisely what Republican voters have done, destroy democracy. Michigan Republicans who claim to value democracy and the Constitution elected people who have taken away their voice and installed corporations as the government. Hopefully, Michigan’s Republican voters are happy for what they have done and enjoy being ruled by cold, repressive corporate monsters. It is just shameful that their short-sightedness and conservative values are responsible for the end of democracy and that everyone gets to suffer with them.
Republicans are watching the results in Michigan with gleeful anticipation because it is their vision for all of America. However, most Americans are not Michigan voters and will not tolerate dictators or corporate rule. Republican legislators are learning that privatizing cherished programs to give tax cuts and breaks to corporations and the wealthy is very unpopular. They have misjudged Americans and the level of affection they have for democracy as well as the contempt they have for dictators. Hopefully the people of Michigan enjoy privatized schools, prisons, police and fire departments without any input in the decision-making process. America wishes Michigan luck with corporate rule, but if the people grow weary of serving dictators, we will gladly share democracy again. It has worked well for over 200 years.
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25 Responses to 2010: The Year That Governing Was Stolen From the Michigan’s Voters
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Phil Perspective
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 11:00 am
That’s a picture of Ohio’s Fox-ified Governor Kasich, not Rick Snyder. :-/ Not
Reynardine
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 11:04 am
I’d like to know if the elected city or county officials who were displaced by ukaz, or the voters who elected them in expectation of being governed by them, have applied to either state or federal courts for injunctive relief to prevent damage from this misrule while the matter is being litigated on the merits, which it surely should be.
Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 11:13 am
I had not thought this always through to the school system. And you are absolutely right, it makes sense and ties in with what the Republicans are doing in the Washington DC school system. This is not just the corporate takeover of government but a corporate takeover in your lives
Reynardine
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 12:22 pm
Unless Michigan lawfully amended its own constitution to allow this kind of government, there are grounds to apply for injunction before its own Supreme Court (I am saying this, because often the federal courts will abstain until they are sure that the state courts will not enforce their own laws constitutionally). If the Michigan constitution does not allow for this kind of takeover to occur without a case-by-case independent review (I am speaking of nonelective entities), then, at a minimum, it has fallen short of the safeguards required for eminent domain. Of course, disempowering elected governments is considerably more serious, and I can see possibilities for actions involving ultra vires acts, improper delegation of powers, infringement of the right to vote, denial of equal vote, and the writ of quo warranto. This is foreseeably a huge lawsuit, which is likely to draw in numerous amicus briefs and joined parties, and will probably end before the United States Supreme Court, no matter what. But for the simple issue of review, I suggest Joint Anti- Fascist Committee v. McGrath, 341 U.S. 123, a case with so many concurrences it is sure to spark creativity. It even raises issues of attainder outside the strictly legislative context, an issue I suspect is applicable here.
Anne
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
When is the earliest date that Snyder can be recalled, and what efforts if any are being made to recall some of his minions? Just when I think things can’t get any worse in that state, something else that’s catastrophic happens.
Annie
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
I am a Michigan democrat who fought tooth and nail working campaigns for good Democrats in the 2010 primaries and general election. Rick Snyder misled many unsuspecting voters, by presenting himself as a moderate, but “tough nerd”. The people top blame in the state of MI are the Democrats who sat this last election out, just to show Obama, people who KNEW better and still stayed home. They sure showed him.
“Do the voters in Michigan understand that the 2010 midterm elections were probably their last involvement in governing? Are they proud of the politicians they elected to destroy democracy? ”
No, we’re still fighting, not getting the attention that the WI protests are getting, but still fighting. It’s not over yet. While I appreciate this site and it’s coverage of the issues in MI, condemning the voters in MI as rubes is not entirely fair. I blame the so called progressive left for dividing us, laying the ground work for this to happen.
enemy2k
Apr. 26th, 2011 at 1:02 am
That is crap, liberals voted in the 2010 midterms. It was the young people who didn’t show up, black voters where turnout was DOWN by 40% and the independents who moved to the GOP. Stop this lie “liberals stayed home” meme because it isn’t true and is factually wrong.
Annie
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 12:43 pm
@ Anne, a Recall is in the works. In MI the governor can be recalled 6 months into his term for any reason. I believe we need 25% of the vote that got him elected to sign the recall petition and we’d have 90 days to do it.
Then since we gave both state houses to the GOP we’ll need to go on and recall enough of them and the Lt. Gov. We have a long road ahead of us, but the low turnout in 2010 responsible for this may very well make it easier to get the signatures needed to get him out.
@Reynardine, I believe our State’s Supreme Court is also GOP controlled.
Reynardine
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 3:06 pm
That is when you have recourse to the federal courts, because once it is evident the state courts will not uphold either the state or the federal constitution, the federal courts do not have to abstain.
Mark Bousquet
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 1:17 pm
“…Republicans praise Snyder as a courageous visionary who is saving the state from ruin.”
I remember the Germans saying that about Adolf Hitler.
sherriww
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
That has been EXACTLY my point,in trying to get folks,be they Dems or Repubs,to sit up and take notice,before its too late! For people who do not know the history of what happened in Germany,with Hitler,they REALLY need to understand it very fast.A lot of folks dont know that the people were actually fooled into ELECTING Hitler to office,and then he went on to do these horrible things!I have said that everyone needs to watch the episode from the Rachel Maddow show,last week,and see the Police in Michigan,under orders,MANHANDLING young high school girsl,two of which were PREGNANT,AND also being ordered to Run their Sirens SO THE GIRLS COULD NOT BE HEARD! How much closer to Hitler do we want it to get? and,Where Is The Federal Govt!?WHY is there not an immediate Federal Investigation into Why Voters RIGHTS have been taken away!?Michigan towns are now under as close to MILITARY RULE as you ever want anyplace in this country to get,and Several other states run by these new Teapublican govenors,are watching to see if Michigan gets away with it,so those states CAN DO THE SAME! Never mind your state people-CALL WASH.D.C.-the Whitehouse and COMPLAIN LOUDLY NOW!I happen to fully believe that Pres.Obama is the ONLY one who can protect us all right now,and for the next few years,BUT THE PRESIDENT NEEDS TO KNOW FOR SURE EXACTLY WHAT IS GOING ON IN THESE PLACES AND IT IS UP TO US TO TELL HIM I am sorry,but when folks dont vote,or are tricked into voting against themselves(remember Hitler!),they cannot expect that they can then sit back and the President is going to be able to know every single thing that goes on across the country,without folks TELLING him! As Pres.Obama said when he first got in office-”I can do this,and make things better,but I cant do it ALONE!” Get busy people,before half our states are under some type of complete control,and we have then lost the ability to fight back.Do you want to wait to fix it,until the day(or night)some govenor decides to send his”troops”calling on YOUR home and family because you have said or done something he does not like?Anyone thinking it cant happen better take a closer look at what is ALREADY happening in Michigan;and actually in Wisconsin too,and that” criminal”they elected gov.in Florida is already planning how HE can do it too! As well as several other states not far behind now.Lets put the STOPS on these Fascists now.
Mark Jacobs
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
How is this different from the German Enabling Act of 1933?
Reynardine
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
Not by much.
sherriww
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 7:48 pm
I sent you one comment already about this, and maybe it will come up yet.My little machine is pretty nutty acting sometimes when I post.I did try a laptop but could not afford the sevice if I wanted to use a reasonable amount each month,so I took it back.Anyway,I did not want you to think I was being mean or smart,or anything like that with you.I am not that way.In case other post doesnt show up,I just said that I did not figure most people were going to go read all those books on Hitler,that would scare them to death anyway,so I found it easier to explain that Hitler DID gain the peoples trust,before he got into power and did all those horrible things.It is so close to what has gone on,as I expect you know,that got folks to vote for these REALLY SCARY people we have in as Teapub govenors and so on.I pray we can all work together to help folks understand the horrible place this is going,for them,their families,and all of us,and get folks to see we must get these people out.
Reynardine
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 4:10 pm
Hitler was never elected in a free election. The Nazi percentage of the vote was actually shrinking when Schleiker (appropriately enough) brokered a deal with the industrialists and Hindenburg to be appointed chancellor. The Reichstag fire, the Enabling Act, and Hindenburg’s death all followed. In general, we all know what happened next. On the Knight of the Long Knives, though, Schleiker was assassinated. Hindenburg’s assent, by the way, was attained in part through the blackmailing of his son. For a full account of these events, I recommend Konrad Heiden’s “Der Fuehrer”, William Shirer’s “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”, and John Toland’s “Adolf Hitler”, among others. For an account of both the heroism and the fate of those who knew what was happening and tried to prevent it, I direct you to Ron Rosenbaum’s “Explaining Hitler,” particularly the chapter, “The Poison Kitchen.”
sherriww
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 6:25 pm
So you want Hitler running our country,free election,or not!? Hitler convinced the people he was”a good guy” before they found out WHAT HE WAS! too late then and it will be too late for some of these states,starting with Michigan,if people FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE do not put a stop to it now,whatever you want to call it,simple as that.
sherriww
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
Just so you know,I was not being crabby with you,about you giving that info out,not at all.Its just that I,like you,I expect,know that most folks are not going to go read all the books pertaining to all the things that would have them running for the hills,from these Teapubs,so its just easier to put in in easy,layman speak_as in that Hitler won those peoples trust before he did all the horrible things to them!Just as several of these guys like Rick Synder,Scott Walker,Rick Scott,to name just a very few,gained the trust of those that voted for them,and now they,like Hitler,are doing their REAL agenda!But nothing meant against you at all.Just scared and frustrated that this country is actually in Real Danger,and I pray we can get folks to see it before these very Bad Guys get any further!
Realist
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 8:05 pm
Schleicher miscalculated badly about Hitler when he agreed to put Hitler into the government as an attempt to put reins on him and his followers. Hitler did imply that he would do as his nominators expected, only to revert to form once he had the power.
What we don’t currently know, but can likely suspect: Hitler had the loyalty of the German Army to help him push his agenda upon Germany, as well as the economic and political support of the German business community. What loyalty from the military and commercial sector do the state governors have to help them push their agenda?
Reynardine
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 8:52 pm
In fact, the German military thought he was going to restore them to a place of honor, but he picked off the old generals one by one, replacing them with the likes of Lackeitel. As for corporate backers, the Koch brothers, as well as the likes of Bechtel and Halliburton will do nicely as a substitute for the Krupps and Thiessens. Military… perhaps, but I’m betting on Blackwater and Wackenhut.
Thanks for correcting my spelliing of “Schleicher”; the vernacular spelling applies to what he was. I knew it didn’t look right.
Garth Spruiell
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Follow the money. The republicans see a chunk of money and they want to have corporations make a profit. If they can privatize Medicare, Social Security, jails, schools or any public function, someone can make a profit. It is just a way to shave off money that was originally between a government and the people. Why not have private judges, police, prosecutors, fire and all the rest, including rulers?
Reynardine
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
I’d say that nobody should ever vote for anyone who has either Rick or Scott for any part of his name. Other than that, my point is that a majority vote or popular support is not necessary to a dictator’s gaining total control. Backroom deals and secret alliances, as well as stealth candidates, are an important part of it. Since you like to cite the Hitler era as an example, I thought you’d like more background on it.
Reynardine
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 8:08 pm
The above post was for Sherriww
Teacher in Cheeseland
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 10:15 pm
Great explanation of an almost unfathomable situation. And you’re right–it is the blueprint for the takeover of America. Fight the power, people–no Republicans in office anymore. Ever.
Teacher in Cheeseland
Apr. 25th, 2011 at 11:24 pm
Even if the Republicans put up Lincoln again…
Tina
Apr. 26th, 2011 at 6:33 am
Where is the outrage?Besides on this site.If President Obama was initiating these power grabs,all we’d hear from the baggers would be
lynch him now.Keep government out of our lives and states,etc.
I am appalled at what is going on in this once great nation.The R’s put us in this mess and then they go and get elected back in.Well,like they say,you get the government in vote in.Are you happy yet?