Michigan's Republican governor is going to cancel democracy, overthrow local gov

[firerain]

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110310/POLITICS02/103100375/1022/local/Financial-manager-bill-passes-Michigan-Senate

Lansing— Legislation that would allow emergency financial managers to throw out union contracts and overrule elected officials in financially distressed municipalities and school districts was approved Wednesday by the state Senate. Similar legislation passed in the House in February, and the two chambers are working on a final version to send to Gov. Rick Snyder. Snyder has called for more authority for emergency financial managers and is expected to sign the legislation into law.
The legislation outlines a detailed process to help communities and school districts right their finances.
But labor unions and local officials object to provisions that would allow emergency financial managers to ignore union contracts, undo local ordinances and dissolve city councils and school boards.
Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, called the legislation an "unfair and unjustified power grab."
"This bill represents bigger government, more bureaucrats (and) less accountability and less transparency," Whitmer said, sending up a cheer from opponents outside the chamber that could be heard on the Senate floor. "Where the heck is the tea party now?"
The chambers are in agreement on the key components of the legislation, which would grant emergency financial managers nearly absolute power to control purse strings.
The legislation also grants school district emergency financial managers total authority over academics and curriculum.
"I wish we didn't have to put a bill like this forward, but fiscal responsibility is one of the reasons I was elected in office," said Republican Sen. Patrick Colbeck of Canton.
The House and Senate versions provide a long list of triggers — such as missed vendor payments or failing to make payroll — that could lead to a examination of a community's or school district's finances by a state review team.
The review team would be able to negotiate a consent agreement with the school district or local government that would detail steps they must take to avoid going into receivership and having a financial manager appointed.
If the governor and treasurer, with the state school superintendent if it's a school district, decide a financial emergency exists, they could put a recovery plan in place, or the treasurer could appoint of an emergency financial manager.
A Democratic amendment defeated by Republicans on Wednesday would have limited the salary of financial managers to that of the governor, which is set at $177,000.
But Snyder has said he will accept only a dollar in pay this year.
The vote tied, and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley cast the deciding vote against the amendment.
Republican Sen. Phil Pavlov of St. Clair Township, the legislation's sponsor, said limiting the salary "would eliminate a lot of people" who might otherwise take an emergency financial manager position.

Video Source:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUpO1QFMDtM[/yt]


To summarize, the governor is giving himself the power to put whoever he wants in power in any Michigan town regardless of who people voted for in the municipal election. Effectively, governor Snyder is going to cancel democracy on the municipal level and there is absolutely nothing that voters of that town can do about it.

Republicunts.

[CartoonFan]

He is a terrorist, plain and simple. I mean, he's using fear to justify seizing more power than he has any right to. This goes against everything American, and this cannot possibly be legal under the Constitution. Is it?

[Acolyte]

I don't think terrorism is really the correct word here. Certainly unconstitutional though.

[Grafikal]

rofl, terrorism.

[CartoonFan]

I consider anybody out to harm our Constitutional freedom to be a "terrorist". Just because he didn't blow up a building doesn't mean he's not sinister.

[Acolyte]

ter·ror·ism/?ter??riz?m/
Noun: The use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.

Unless he's threatening or beating up people to get what he wants, he's not really a terrorist.

[CartoonFan]

Fine. Whatever. He's not a "terrorist" if you want to get technical. I admit I was wrong. I hope your quality of life has significantly improved now that I've acknowledged the official definition of a word. Look, I don't want to steal the spotlight here. Can we please just stay focused on Firerain's post? This is kind of a big deal y'know. It's a dirty, underhanded way to seize power, under the guise of helping the people. Not that such an action surprises me when it's done by a Republican politician. The only "people" this is going to help are those who already have more money than any reasonable person can spend in three lifetimes. From the way Rachel Maddow explained it, Rick sounds like a sort of reverse Robin Hood.

[ForeverZero]

This is merely yet another step in the same direction that government has been going in the last few years. I would suggest that anybody who finds this appalling read the book "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. It places the perspectives in contrasting black and white, with no gray in between, and you can see some scary parallels with our own modern government.

[modern algebra]

It doesn't sound like the governor can do anything unless and until the municipality fails on some objective "triggers — such as missed vendor payments or failing to make payroll." I don't know how weak those triggers are or how rigorous the consent agreement process described is, but it's not really cancelling democracy. Besides, while I don't know about the States, in Canada at least municipalities are not constitutionally mandated to exist at all. They exist only because they are created by the provincial legislature. The provincial legislature is always accountable for the actions of municipalities and it wouldn't be unconstitutional for them to be eliminated altogether, let alone taking some of their powers away in a financial emergency.

Emergency legislation is always pretty draconian in any case and if any state is in a financial crisis, it's Michigan. Even in Canada, there are tons of laws which permit the various levels of governments to do tons of crap to you during wartime or during a public health emergency or whatnot.

IDK of course, I didn't read the legislation, but just from the face of that article it doesn't seem like the end of democracy in Michigan. I'd bet there is far worse already on the books they just haven't had occasion to use recently.

And I'm not saying it's a good thing either, just that it seems constitutional. Or it would be if it were in Canada at least - I don't know much about America's constitution.

[Holkeye]

Fuck Ayn Rand.

[ForeverZero]

It always humors me to see people's reaction of the mention of Ayn Rand. I've found that it tells a great deal about that person's ideals, and without exception, someone always JUST HAS to make a negative comment about her with no real reason, but just to do it.

It makes me laugh. Thank you.

[Holkeye]

My reason is that she's an insane person that was somehow able to write a few "books".

[EvilM00s]

Fuck Ayn Rand. Her ideas and politics are bass ackwards relative to the needs of the society. If you really did read Atlas Shrugged, it ought to be right there in black and white, straightforward english. I totally have Holk's back on this, for what it's worth. However, I do agree that there are some scary parrallels, ones which I believe Ms. Rand would be pleased as punch to see. She was ahead of her time; she could have been a founding member of the Tea Party.

But back to the subject at hand, this is wholesale totalitarianism, plain and simple. Republicans have historically been in favor of smaller government, and I was rather surprised to hear this untill I heard that the bill also screws the old and the poor- incidentally, these groups tend to overlap like crazy. But wait, there's more! Now all it takes is a gubernatorial act without the consent of the constituency to place a corporation in charge of your town or school district. Wubfwuhwuat? You have got to be kidding me! I would hope that it gets struck down as unconstitutional, but it probably won't. And if it doesn't, Michigan needs to stage a coup. This is rediculous...

[firerain]

I'll take the incompetence of the Democrats over the pure malice of the Republicans any day.

[EvilM00s]

THE TWO PARTY SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A Short play by EvilM00s

Feel free to add to the dialogue as seen fit. This is community property, because I am a Socialist.

DEMOCRAT: I have a bad idea!

REPUBLICAN: I bet I can make it worse!

THIRD PARTY: (speaks too quietly to be heard)

CURTAIN

Edited for proper play procedure per post post

[Holkeye]

You forgot *CURTAIN.

[EvilM00s]

Fixed it.