E.D. Kain at Forbes has an important post about the new midwestern governor that is slipping under the radar, Rick Snyder. Look at what he’s proposing:
Snyder’s law gives the state government the power not only to break up unions, but to dissolve entire local governments and place appointed “Emergency Managers” in their stead. But that’s not all – whole cities could be eliminated if Emergency Managers and the governor choose to do so. And Snyder can fire elected officials unilaterally, without any input from voters. It doesn’t get much more anti-Democratic than that.
Except it does. The governor simply has to declare a financial emergency to invoke these powers – or he can hire a private company to declare financial emergency and take over oversight of the city. That’s right, a private corporation can declare your city in a state of financial emergency and send in its Emergency Manager, fire your elected officials, and reap the benefits of the ensuing state contracts.
Holy crap! Is that kind of law even constitutional in Michigan? There’s been some huge protests in Michigan over the last few weeks, and protesters took over the state capital last night.