They want your rights. And they've already taken them.
First the Republicans in the state legislature used their very temporary conservative majority to pass (against the majority of the public's will, mind you) controversial "right to work" legislation that strips unions of much of their power. Now, you may think that stripping unions of their power isn't such a bad thing; I know a few conservatives who believe precisely that. I'm not going to argue that here. My point is that they did it against the public's will. That's important; the people who voted the staunch Conservatives out of power have had to suffer a last-minute power grab by the staunch conservatives, who have passed a raft of legislation that the newly elected legislature, who will have a mandate to govern, will be powerless to act against. So much for mandates.
The "right to work" thing was bad enough, but the bastards didn't stop there. Read what I wrote about all this yesterday (I seem to be drifting a bit... 12-13-2012). I spoke of "...backward fools with outdated opinions (who) still hold much, perhaps even most, of the power." I then went on:
"You cannot have failed to notice that there is an actual crisis of democracy going on there (in Lansing), where the Republicans have pushed through, at lightning speed, a series of anti-union measures and are poised to do the same with anti-abortion and anti-gay measures; a legislative bulldozing of civil liberties that they're undertaking now because they can now. In a couple of weeks, when the new more Democratic legislature sits, they won't have the votes for unpopular causes near and dear to the Conservative heart."
And it still wasn't enough for the Conservatives.
There's an unpopular law in Michigan, a law which allows the Governor to actually override the will of the people, to dissolve local elected governmental bodies and replace public officials, including mayors, with a Governor-appointed "Emergency Manager" who has full power to cancel contracts, sell off public property, and alter any agreements with police and fire departments (even to dismantle them). This "Emergency Manager," not being an elected official, is not answerable in any way to the people he/she has power over. In short, a virtual dictator answerable only to the Governor. Democracy be damned.
You may have thought that was all settled; you may remember that we voted on whether we wanted to keep the Emergency Manager law, and we the people clearly said "No!" You may remember it that way...and indeed that's the way it happened.
But the governor and the Conservative wing of the Republican Party like this law, and don't like that we voted to scrap it. So they've brought it back. Today they've passed a bill restoring the hated Emergency Manager's tyrannical powers. They did this absolutely against the public will. They did this against out expressed wishes. They have taken our democratic right to have a legislative say away from us. And they have used legislative chicanery to make it impossible for the new legislature to change this new law, impossible for the people to act against it.
(What I mean is this, and it's important to remember: These new laws have been "fast-tracked" through the legislative process, with no opportunity for public hearings; that could be the basis of future legal challenges to these bills. Also, a provision in these bills prevents any possibility of a challenge through a voter referendum; remember, it was just such a referendum that did for the old Emergency Manager law.)
But I have to be honest; the bill provides several options for cash-strapped communities other than the dreaded Emergency Manager. Once a "financial emergency" is declared (by the Governor) such communities (or schools) can:
1. Sign a consent agreement, where they consent to have the state tell them how to conduct their local affairs.
2. Enter into mediation, and that part seems to be a bit undefined.
3. Go into Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
4. Accept an Emergency Manager who will have much the same dictatorial power as he/she would under the old, rejected law.
Doesn't seem like much of a choice to me.
You may have thought that you voted on this, that you said that these "Emercency Managers" had to go, and you'd be right...but it doesn't matter now. Your rights have been taken away from you. What I cannot abide is that the very people charged with preserving, protecting, and enacting the principles of Democracy have instead worked to negate them.
If I sound like I'm as mad as hell about this, it's probably because I'm as mad as hell about this. But I'm just a voter...apparently, I don't matter in Michigan.
The Blues Viking
The opinions here expressed are mine and if you don’t like them you can get your own damn blog.
Despite Protests, Michigan Is A Right-To-Work State (NPR, 12-12-2012)
Amid protests, Michigan legislature passes 'right-to-work' bills (Los Angeles Times, 12-11-2012)
What's a consent agreement? Do you really want to know? (Michigan Radio, WUOM Ann Arbor/Detroit)
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