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Yo, Michigan Correntians!

BDBlue's picture
Submitted by BDBlue on Thu, 03/10/2011 - 7:15am
Thread: 
Corporatism
Fascism Rising
Emergent Conspiracy
Dem on Dem Violence
Economic Apocalypse

Know anything about this:

NAOMI KLEIN: Well, I just found out about this last night, and like I said, there’s so much going on that these extraordinary measures are just getting lost in the shuffle. But in Michigan, there is a bill that’s already passed the House. It’s on the verge of passing the Senate. And I’ll just read you some excerpts from it. It says that in the case of an economic crisis, that the governor has the authority to authorize the emergency manager—this is somebody who would be appointed—to reject, modify or terminate the terms of an existing contract or collective bargaining agreement, authorize the emergency manager for a municipal government—OK, so we’re not—we’re talking about towns, municipalities across the state—to disincorporate. So, an appointed official with the ability to dissolve an elected body, when they want to.

AMY GOODMAN: A municipal government.

NAOMI KLEIN: A municipal government. And it says specifically, "or dissolve the municipal government." So we’ve seen this happening with school boards, saying, "OK, this is a failing school board. We’re taking over. We’re dissolving it. We’re canceling the contracts." You know, what this reminds me of is New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, when the teachers were fired en masse and then it became a laboratory for charter schools. You know, people in New Orleans—and you know this, Amy—warned us. They said, "What’s happening to us is going to happen to you." And I included in the book a quote saying, "Every city has their Lower Ninth Ward." And what we’re seeing with the pretext of the flood is going to be used with the pretext of an economic crisis. And this is precisely what’s happening. So it starts with the school boards, and then it’s whole towns, whole cities, that could be subject to just being dissolved because there’s an economic crisis breaking collective bargaining agreements. It also specifies that—this bill specifies that an emergency manager can be an individual or a firm. Or a firm. So, the person who would be put in charge of this so-called failing town or municipality could actually be a corporation.

AMY GOODMAN: Whose government they dissolve, a company takes over.

NAOMI KLEIN: A company takes over. So, they have created, if this passes, the possibility for privatization of a whole town by fiat. And this is actually a trend in the contracting out of public services, where you do now have whole towns, like Sandy Springs in Georgia, run by private companies. It’s very lucrative. Why not? You start with just the water contract or the electricity contract, but eventually, why not privatize the whole town? So—

AMY GOODMAN: And what happens then? Where does democracy fit into that picture?

NAOMI KLEIN: Well, this is an assault on democracy. It’s a frontal assault on democracy. It’s a kind of a corporate coup d’état at the municipal level.

Also, that entire interview with Naomi Klein is worth a look or listen.

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Submitted by JuliaWilliams on

state house in Lansing. But, the general torpor and malaise in this state is baffling...this is without a doubt the worst piece of state legislation produced so far, and besides some unions, mostly firefighters and some autoworkers, the response has been only hundreds rather than the many thousands in WI. The origin is absolutely ALEC:
http://www.alec.org/AM/Template.cfm?Sect...
http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/xchg/just...
and the R Council of Governors. It's remarkable the amount of similar legislation that is being introduced nation-wide in almost every state that still has unions, and BTW, the WI law just passed has the same provision, but not quite as drastic, mostly designed to fire strikers rather than whole municipal governments,:

"230.34 (1) (ax) 1. Notwithstanding pars. (a), (am), and (ar), during a state of emergency declared by the governor under s. 323.10, an appointing authority may discharge any employee who does any of the following:
b. Participates in a strike, work stoppage, sit?down, stay?in, slowdown, or other concerted activities to interrupt the operations or services of state government, including specifically participation in purported mass resignations or sick calls."

it's my understanding. I'm just appalled that the Greens, both nationally and in individual states are so invisble on these issues. In addition the messaging by the protestors has been weak, I only found out about a protest after it happened the other day, and of course, the MCM is only covering it with the Faux-news "balancing act", if at all. The RW noise machine and their paid shills are also going into overdrive online and elsewhere here. I'm hoping the WI spark meets some tinder here.....

rapier's picture
Submitted by rapier on

This is aimed at Detroit, Hamtrammic, Flint and the other failed cities.

The new guv is an ex Gateway guy who smiles a lot.

Down in the weeds of Michigan. In 94 Michigan passed Proposition A which replaced property taxes as the primary school funding source, thus reducing property taxes, and replacing it with state money, funded by new sales taxes. It worked OK I suppose but it was inevitable that the state would slash school funding eventually. Last year they did and this year it isn't a cut, it is decimation.

I believe they are counting on teacher strikes next year to dissolve the unions and slash pay. Which will be a lot cleaner and simpler if the state takes charge and not leave it to hundreds of separate school boards.

Submitted by jawbone on

and WI. Today's video is up, but no write up or transcripts yet for Dem Now!.

This bill, per Naomi Klein and Moore, permits the governor to declare a fiscal emergency and then, after all elected officials are removed by fiat, private corporations can be installed to run the "government."

Corporate powers + political powers = fascism. To me at least.

The declaration of fiscal emergency also permits the dissolution of contractual obligations to workers. Again, I don't know if that also applies to private contracts, as with, oh, vendors. Or even these private governing corporations!

Sounds like a can worms legally.

cal1942's picture
Submitted by cal1942 on

is going into the bag to help the GOP realize its hope and change the nation into a feudal society.

Snyder's election here was the triumph of huge money in a political campaign and the public's mistaken idea that a business man is fit to govern. In Snyder's case people ignored his record as the worst kind of CEO.

But the opening in Michigan and other industrial states in the north was provided by the Obama administration at every turn.

I'm not sure why we're so docile here. I do know that people are sitting in their homes grumbling. Polling here demonstrates strong opposition to Snyder's budget.

I think many people don't understand the implications of the Emergency Manager's bill that passed the Senate yesterday. Local broadcast media's portrayal of the EM bill has been abysmal.

rapier's picture
Submitted by rapier on

The Emergency Manager will be used on cities and school districts where icky black people are the majority and are the officials.

That is if it can possibly pass muster in the courts. However unless there is an injunction immedieately I believe they will strike right away. Once the authority is stripped away from the locals it can't be put together again.

In a power grab it is easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission. So if down the line a court says 'you can't do that' the powers that be will say, 'sorry'.

cal1942's picture
Submitted by cal1942 on

allows the Governor to act before a 'problem' becomes "serious."

Setting up local governments to have fiscal problems is the Snyder budget that cuts statutory state funding to local governments.

To make sure that state revenues are inadequate and cuts necessary the Snyder budget cuts business taxes by $1.8 billion and cuts the State's flat rate income tax by one tenth of one point.

Notice also that the bill allows the Emergency Manager (probably a corporation) to cancel any and all contracts. Union contracts and any existing vendor contracts.