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Governor Synder’s Martial Law Prompts Michigan Recall Law Questions

By: Sarah JonesMar. 10th, 2011more from Sarah Jones

Snyder's Michigan Corporation

Governor Synder’s Martial Law Prompts Michigan Recall Law Questions

So, let’s say you elected a new governor based on his moderate campaign ads and the fact that he was “pro business,” only you thought he meant he’d grow business and therefore jobs but what he really meant was that he was going to take Mussolini’s quote to heart about fascism being the merger of corporations with government. Oopsie.

Two months into his term, you know you’ve been had. What to do, what to do. Well, each state has its own recall procedure. For the sake of this article, we’ll just use Governor Rick Marital Law Snyder of Michigan as an example of your options, just on the off chance that you aren’t looking forward to Snyder selling your town to the Koch brothers and removing your elected officials at will. I mean, supposing you cared about democracy or something.

The good news is that your Michigan governor can be recalled, with a scant 25% of total votes cast for his position at the last election. So, in 2010, only 3,162,154 voted in the gubernatorial race and I say only because this is how super bad things like Martial Law come to you – see, in 2008, 5,017,066 voted in the Presidential 2008 campaign, which means that a lot of people stayed home. And by people, I mean Democrats. I think that goes without saying, at this point. So all you corporate logos can stop reading now.

This means that turn out was down by 2,000,000. Ouch. Ok, enough of the how we got here horror. Synder won by 587,514 votes. Oh, sorry, I thought we were done with the why did I stay home that day portion of our show. Lest you think I am blaming you, I’m not. I blame the endless and irrational complaining of liberals from 2009-2010 and the failure of Democrats to own their platform. In other words, morale was low and when morale sucks, people get complacent. And gosh, the fascists love it when the people get complacent.

Believe me, every time a liberal snarked it up about the President not doing enough for green coffee turds on Mars, the fascists rubbed their hands in glee. Liberals never understand how to use messaging, but it’s kind of cute, because this failure stems from their love of freedom and belief in free dialogue. I love that they are still unaware that we are living in perilous times, where we have already been corporatized and the corporate branding of your party captures the nations’ heart rather than those mucky ideas liberals are so hot about. Mustn’t think, y’all, it’s bad for business! But still, we can overcome these inherent flaws with our own will, and we must, lest we end up with a Koch brothers stamp on our rears.

Anyhoo, you will need 25% of the persons who voted in the last election, which comes out to around 790,538 registered voters’ signatures for recall and you have 90 days to get them. No specific grounds are required, but I’m thinkin’ you have plenty of grounds like, oh say, your rights, if you so choose to stake out the most egregious loss. Or you can go with general teabaggery. It’s up to you.

Your rights are detailed here, in Const. Art. 2, §8; Mich. Election Law §168.951 – 168.975.

You don’t need grounds, but you do need a reason. I’d go with, “You lied,” but that’s just me, because after I read his budget bill, I can see that he isn’t planning on balancing anything but the pocketbooks of his friends, since the entire thing is a massive spitball to transparency, as Snyder tries to hide where money will be going by saying he thinks it will be more “efficient” if he leaves “specifics” off of the budget. You’ll have to submit your “you lie” reason for a “clarity determination” before the recall petition is placed in circulation.

Think about it, people. Or don’t be surprised when that tanker rolls through your town with “Snyder Inc” on the side of it. And remember, he’s taxing the people more while he reduces taxes to business – you know, lowering revenue like all good fiscal conservatives while he hands his buddies a huge gift. So what if seniors can’t pay their mortgage or taxes anymore – that’s what happens to “lazy freeloaders” and “we all have to make sacrifices.” All except, of course, the corporations who got us in to this mess. They get off scot free, because Republicans are in bed with them. Somehow they’ve sold this travesty of justice as “conservatism” but any real conservative knows a fiscal failure when they see it, and that fiscal failure, my friends, is branded with a big ole R, aka W.

Can’t run a state without revenue – but then, they know that. That’s why when the state runs out of money, Snyder set it up so he can hand it over power to a corporation. ‘Cuz you know, corporations know how to manage a bottom line. Maybe he’ll give it to one of those clever Wall Street fellas who ran their businesses so well that we all had to bail them out, eh?

The next time you get an urge to vote for someone who says he or she is good for business, check your back for knives and remember how we got here: We got here after 8 disastrous Bush years of massive deregulation. Yes, we had the Clinton love for business deregulation spree and Glass-Steagall repeal (introduced by two Republicans – the ever infamous Phil Gramm of Texas, “You’re whining, there is no recession” financial adviser to John McCain and Jim Leach of Iowa and passed by a Republican majority, and split down party lines in Senate – do remember this when the trolls come a-callin’), but Clinton left us a surplus. Then came the W dry drunk and the reckless skidding between sectors and here we are.

And two years later, they offer themselves up, unrepentant, as your savior. And some of you believed them. That’s ok, having a good heart doesn’t mean this is your fault, but how many times are you going to bang your head into that R brick wall before you realize the R stands for robber?

We should note that John McCain and Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell joined in 2009 to propose re-enactment of Glass-Steagall, but Bank of America was none too pleased and so that fell by the way side, as did President Obama’s attempts to similar legislation until he got sweeping Wall Street reform passed in July of 2010.

However, I will never trust Wall Street again, or for that matter, Bank of America. Just like I won’t trust someone who runs as a “pro business” Republican. To wit, I note the stock market has gone up since Wall Street reform, but these guys are still out on every street corner whining about the costs of unionized employees and the evils of regulation, even as they make record profits again. Cry me a river. Why don’t they want anyone else to eat bread, as they gorge themselves on caviar we paid for?

It’s Groundhog day, people. They never change. At the very least, wait until one of them has the guts to admit we need revenue and that regulations aren’t the evil of business, because as we can all see, a little regulation would have saved you and me a lot of money. Didn’t hurt those Bangsters, though, did it?

Now they’re gonna own your towns. So glad we bailed them out. Happy recalls.

Governor Synder’s Martial Law Prompts Michigan Recall Law Questions was written by Sarah Jones for PoliticusUSA.
© PoliticusUSA, Mar. 10th, 2011. All Rights Reserved

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