Michigan Populists’ Top 5 Threats to Democracy in 2013

Posted on January 2, 2013 by chadphillips

2013 Ranking (2012 Ranking)
1. (not listed) Governor Richard Snyder- It is one thing to be eccentric (call it a nerd if you want).  It is quite another to completely disregard this crucial fact; government is not a business.  States are democratic institutions.  Businesses are not.  Businesses have one goal, to make a profit.  Government has many goals, and making a profit is not one of them.  Our CEO turned Governor seems to struggle with the difference between the two.  When the President of the United States, both of Michigan’s U.S. Senators, several of Michigan U.S. Representatives, and 13,000 protesters urged Snyder not to sign right-to-work legislation, he did it anyway.  When the voters rejected the Emergency Manager bill via referendum, he replaced it with a similar bill and had the nerve to say he “heard” the voters.  Snyder’s inability to listen to almost anyone outside his small circle has even turned off some of his previous supporters.  Snyder talks a lot about “positive action.”  In the end, those actions prove Snyder is just another right-wing extremist whose policies will have little positive impact on everyday folks.

2. (1) The Republican STUPORmajority- Perhaps the biggest waste of money in Michigan is paying the salary of Democrats in the House and Senate.  The Dems were akin to fans in the front row of a Lions game at Ford Field.  They had a close up view of the train wreck, and despite their yelling and screaming, they had no ability to prevent the carnage.    Republicans passed around 800 laws, including 282 in the lame duck session.   The pace was so fast that even the legislators didn’t know fully what was happening.  The passage of a bill that would allow guns to be carried in schools and churches is a great example of the incompetency of this group.  The Cadillac News reported that Senator Darwin Booher said he was “under the impression” that schools could opt out of allowing guns on campus.  He was wrong.  Representative Phil Potvin said he only voted for it because it was going to pass anyway, and he encouraged the Governor not to sign the bill he voted for.  Snyder did not sign the bill most likely because the Connecticut school shooting happened about the same time the bill landed on his desk.  Booher, Potvin, and their Republican brethren came out looking like idiots.  However, they are idiots with their NRA ratings intact.   It is bonehead moves like these that put the “stupor” in stupormajority.

3. (2) ALEC – The American Legislative Exchange Council is like a brothel that pairs Republican lawmakers with big business to draft “model legislation.”  What is outrageous is that this group is able to register as a non-profit rather than as a lobbying organization.  ALEC did take some hits in 2012 when some of its corporate members bowed out because of all the bad publicity.   However, ALEC managed to get a lot of legislation passed around the country by its corporate whores, I mean legislators.  ALEC’s successes include Michigan’s new right-to-work law.

4. (3) The Right-Wing 1%’s- In Michigan we now have a government of the 1% (Rick Snyder) for the 1% (The Devos Family).  The influence of big money in Michigan was very evident in this year’s election.  In fact, it wasn’t just the regular right-wing-extremist like the Devos Family that bought influence in Lansing.  This year’s election also had big money from outside donors including a two million dollar donation by Las Vegas billionaires Sheldon & Miriam Adelson.  It is no big surprise that the poor will be hard hit by tax increases in Michigan in 2013 while the 1% won’t feel it much at all.

5. (NR) Lack of Transparency In Government- The legislature found time to pass some 800 bills, but very few had anything to do with fixing Michigan’s shady government.  Michigan was rated as having the 44th worse protections against government corruption, and not much appears to be changing.  While Governor Snyder has mentioned a need for transparency, he also set up a secretive fund to circumvent Michigan’s campaign finance laws.  It is hard to say how much corruption there is in Michigan’s government.  We do have two indicators though.  First, former Detroit Mayer Kwame Kilpatrick was one of the country’s biggest political crooks and he used a fund like Snyder’s to pull off some of his shenanigans.  We also know that State House speaker Jase Bolger was involved in one of the most unethical campaign maneuvers in Michigan history, but he remains the leader of the House Republicans.  Michigan’s Government is corrupt, from the top down.  We just don’t know how bad it is.  Evidently, that is the way Republicans intend to keep things.

Just Missed the Cut: The Michigan Chamber of Commerce & The Mackinac Center for Public Policy

Click here for the 2012 edition.

 

Posted in ALEC, Chamber of Commerce, Darwin Booher, DeVos Family, Government Reform, Mackinac Center, Phil Potvin, Richard Snyder, Right-to-Work | Leave a comment

Drumroll Please . . . After Two Years of “Reinvention” We are Still the 47th Best State to do Business in!

Posted on December 16, 2012 by chadphillips
English: 1948 version of the M-47 state highwa...

For the third year in a row, Michigan was ranked 47th in Forbes’ Best States for Business and Careers list.  The people at Forbes were nice enough to let Governor Snyder write an op-ed to offer excuses for why his policies aren’t working.  In the article that posted less than 24 hours after right-to-work became law, Snyder predicted that the law will improve Michigan’s business climate.  He said it would allow business to make “higher potential profits.”  The Governor also bragged about the 83% reduction in business taxes and the elimination of over 800 regulations, even though those moves failed to move the state up the Forbes’ list.

Last year, based on the Forbes ranking, I predicted that the Republicans’ next move would be to reduce labor costs.   I thought they would do it by lowering the minimum wage.  However, lowering the minimum wage .15 cents an hour to match the federal level wouldn’t boost corporate profits as much as weakening unions will.  After all, employees in right-to-work states, where there are fewer and weaker unions, are paid $1,500 less on average.  Republicans may reduce the minimum wage in the next session.  After all, now that they have passed 665 laws in two years, they will need to find something to do.

I still believe what I said last year, these rankings should be put in the circular file (garbage).  After all, there is no research to support that they have any degree of  validity.  However, I am a bit delighted that this report cannot be used to justify past policy decisions of the Snyder administration.  It may even be able to show that they have been ineffective.  In the end, the policy of the Snyder regime will only serve to make the rich richer and the middle class smaller.  What else would you expect from an aloof millionaire CEO?

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Posted in Business, Richard Snyder | 1 Comment

How The Winners and Losers Nearly Clashed At The Capitol Tuesday

Posted on December 13, 2012 by chadphillips

When Governor Snyder set out to “reform” Michigan’s tax structure, he repeatedly said “let’s stop picking winners and losers, let’s start being fair.”   Snyder’s fairness did not extend to right-to-work legislation though.  Police and firefighters are exempt from the new law (Act 349 of 2012) and still must “share fairly in the financial support of (their) labor organization.”  Needless to say, when one group is the declared the loser, they aren’t real happy.  That unhappiness was on display at the Capitol Tuesday as 13,000 people showed up to express their displeasure with the right-to-work law.

View from the Capitol Steps

View from the Capitol Steps.  The Romney Building is on the right.

The protest was relatively uneventful thanks to the self-control of protesters and the police alike.  There was one instance that nearly changed all that though.  In the early afternoon, protesters began to flank the front and side of the Romney Building where Governor Snyder works.  In response to the crowd gathering in that area, the Lansing City Police began to flank the building to protect the occupants.

Lansing Police Move to Flank the Romney Building.

Around the same time four mounted Ingham County Sheriff”s Officers began clearing Capitol Avenue, the street that runs between the State Capitol and the Romney Building.

Mounted Police

Ingham County Mounted Officers prepare to clear Capitol Ave.

Capitol Avenue was already closed to traffic to accommodate protesters and pedestrians.  Clearing the road effectively caused some people to be pushed closer to the Romney Building while others were pushed to the sidewalk opposite the building.  The move agitated people who were assembling peacefully on the road.   What happened next was clearly a major tactical mistake by someone in a leadership position at the Michigan State Police.  State Police Troopers lined up at the end of the road and began marching down the road shoulder to shoulder in a single line reminiscent of a Civil War battle formation.  The Troopers, with riot gear on, pulsated their billy clubs back and forth.  As the the State Troopers moved forward, protesters simply walked behind them as they passed.  In a few moments, the Troopers were half way down the road and found themselves surrounded by angry protesters on all sides.  At this point, the troopers were in no position to protect themselves, let alone the Romney Building.  Protesters chanted “shame on you, your union too” while others yelled “you’re next.”  Some protesters tried to calm people by explaining that the Troopers were just doing their jobs and had no say in the legislation that exempted them from the right-to-work laws.  A Sargent looking on was unwilling to say who ordered such a tactical move, only specifying “someone above me.”  After a few tense minutes, the troopers moved to help flank the Romney Building.  Only one person was arrested on the road during that particular incident.  An ugly, and perhaps deadly, situation was thankfully avoided.

The State Police are Surrounded.

While picking winners and losers may be a risky proposition when it comes to tax breaks, it could be a deadly proposition when it pits groups of people against each other.  It was disheartening to see honest hard working Michiganders with so much in common put in such a confrontational position.  Tuesday was a sad day, not only labor relations, but for human relations.  It was just the beginning of the turmoil that right-to-work will create in Michigan for years to come.

The sign says it all.

 

Posted in Right-to-Work | Leave a comment

Ten Telling Quotes from the Right-To-Work Blitzkrieg

Posted on December 8, 2012 by chadphillips

From the State House:
1. Democratic Representative Brandon Dillon of Grand Rapids spoke up in opposition of the legislation that Republicans are trying to rename “Freedom to Work.”  He called the legislation “Freedom to Freeload” and expounded by saying “with this bill, allowing people to benefit from the hard work that others do, without personally having to sacrifice one penny, is the very epitome of freeloading.”  He then criticized House Republicans who did not allow the usual committee meetings, amendments, or citizen input prior to voting.  He told them they “don’t have the guts to talk about this in front of people in this state.  That’s shameful.  That’s not Democracy.  This is where Democracy goes to die today.”  The Youtube video of the fiery speech had over 18,000 hits within 48 hours.

2. Sterling Heights Republican Representative Tory Roca when, explaining his no vote, said “people weren’t allowed to see what the language was going to be … until it was given to us literally minutes before we started voting. I couldn’t bring myself to justify making a change like this.”

3. Republican Representative Mike Shirkey from Clarklake said in his speech on the House floor “Yes, Freedom to Work is Pro Union.”  Shirkey’s statement was  probably the most outrageous thing said by either side.  Such a statement either means Shirkey is borderline insane, or he is a very bad at lying.

From the State Senate:
4. Republican Senator Mike Nofs of Battle Creek said “There already is a choice for workers.   They have a choice when they walk in (to apply for a job).”  He said the voters should decide if right-to-work should move forward in Michigan.

5. Senator Burt Johnson spoke for almost an hour leading people to wonder if he was attempting a filibuster.  In the closing minutes of his speech he said “The legacy we leave behind if we pass right to work will be one of kowtowing to billionaires instead of working on behalf of our constituents.  Mr. President, I need you to hear this. It will be one of selling out for an idealogical attack on hard working men and women instead of protecting their interest as they try to make a decent living and make it in America.”

From the Executive Branch:
6. Governor Snyder has said countless times that right-to-work is “not on my agenda.”  During his candidacy he said right-to-work “is a divisive, polarizing issue that will drive people apart when we need everyone at the table working to reinvent Michigan.”  Now the Governor says he will sign right-to-work legislation.  Snyder now says “The goal isn’t to divide Michigan. It is to bring Michigan together.” To summarize, right-to-work is a divisive, polarizing issue that will bring people together.

From Special Interest:
7. Chamber of Commerce President Rich Studley was on the program Flashpoint October 14th to discuss Proposal 2 (the ballot initiative that would have guaranteed collective bargaining rights in the Michigan Constitution).  At the 11:50 mark he said “The Governor doesn’t support right-to-work, at the Michigan Chamber we don’t support right-to-work” attempting to convince voters that Michiganders don’t need constitutional protection of collective bargaining.  Then on December 3rd he said “now is the time for bold and decisive leadership to pass comprehensive Freedom to Work legislation that applies to both the public and private sectors. ”  Apparently, a lot has changed in seven weeks.

8. The ultra-conservative Koch brothers group called Americans for Prosperity was in Lansing pushing for the amendment on the day it was introduced and passed.  Their Michigan director Scott Hagerstrom said “Michigan passage of right-to-work legislation will be the shot heard around the  world.”  Clearly, the reference to a “shot” also implies the desire by the far right to kill unions in Michigan and anywhere that there is a labor movement.  Without the organizational and financial power of unions, there would be no check for the likes of big business and wealthy CEOs like the Kochs.

From Union Leaders:
9. Steve Cook, the President of the Michigan Education Association told Fox News “The individuals who voted for this, the Governor who voted for this and is going to sign it, will not have a moments peace for the next two years.”

10. Bob King, United Auto Workers President said “Right-to-work is wrong for Michigan. Every right-to-work state has lower wages, lower benefits, less security for workers and more income inequality.”  He went on to say “today is a victory for Dick DeVos and the radical right wing.  Long term, there will be a victory for working families in Michigan.”

Posted in Chamber of Commerce, Richard Snyder, Right-to-Work | 1 Comment

Michigan Populist’s Recommendations for Ballot Initiative Voting

Posted on November 4, 2012 by chadphillips

GI voting in GuantanamoProposal 1– A Referendum on the Emergency Manager Law (PA 4 of 2011)- If the President declared that Michigan was being mismanaged and he was going to suspend the power of our elected officials and appoint someone to run the state, we would literally be up in arms. No other state, to my knowledge, has implemented dictatorial powers such as those given under PA 4. Volunteers gathered signatures for this initiative and fought off legal attempts to prevent the people from having a say on the matter. Don’t suspend democracy because it is a convenient solution. Vote NO on Proposal 1!

Proposal 2– Guarantee Collective Bargaining in the Michigan Constitution- It is too bad that in Michigan, of all places, we would need to guarantee collective bargaining in the Constitution.  However, our elected officials are more interested in pleasing corporate campaign contributors than they are protecting the values of a state built on the hard work and ingenuity of the automotive industry and its workers.  The current “conservative” regime has passed over 650 laws, a number of which are aimed at limiting collective bargaining.  Volunteers gathered more than twice the number of signatures needed to put this issue on the ballot.   We need to restore collective bargaining rights in order to strengthen the middle class.  Vote YES on Proposal 2!

Proposal 3– Mandate That 25% of Our Energy Come from Renewable Resources By 2025-  Getting to 100% renewable energy as soon as possible is a great goal.  However, there seems to be a lot of unknowns regarding renewable energy technology and writing it into the constitution may be an unnecessary risk.  A law passed in 2008 mandated that we get to 10% renewable energy by 2015.  We are only at 3.9% now, and we should achieve that goal before setting another.   The strongest reason to vote no on this issue though is that it is not an initiative lead by Michiganders.  The top 10 contributors to the Michigan Energy Michigan Jobs fund are groups from outside of Michigan.  We should lead our own initiatives and set our own goals.  Vote No on Proposal 3!

Proposal 4– Allow Home Health Care Workers Limited Collective Bargaining Rights-  It appears that family members providing home health care may be against the proposal while people who are providing home health care as a profession may be for it.  The group supporting Proposal 4 is called the Citizens for Quality Home Health Care.  They list a business called Home Health Care, Inc. as their main contributor.  There seems to be little information available on who is funding Home Health Care, Inc.  So while collective bargaining is good, hiding your donors by running money through another organization is bad.  It is easy to justify voting either way on this proposal.  The benefits of giving people a voice in their working conditions is the tie breaker on this one.  Vote Yes on Proposal 4!

Proposal 5– Require a 2/3rds Legislative Majority to Raise Taxes- When Governor Rick Snyder and Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero agree, you know something has bipartisan support.  Requiring a 2/3rds majority gives too much power to a small number of people who can then use that power to hijack the legislative process to get special deals written into a bill.  The U.S. Senate is a good case study in the inefficiency of requiring a super-majority to pass legislation.  Don’t spend too much time thinking this one over.   Vote No on Proposal 5!

Proposal 6– Require Voter Approval to Build any New Bridge or Tunnel from Michigan to Canada- This is a can of worms if there ever was one.  Should you side with the Governor who is bypassing the legislative process or the billionaire Matty Moroun who is trying to protect his revenue stream?  This is not a voter initiated fight.  This is a pissing match between two rich and powerful people who have never been told no.  The bottom line is that two wrongs don’t make a right.  Vote No on Proposal 6!

 

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Posted in 2012 Election | Leave a comment

Attorney General Bill Schutte Sides With Billionaire Vegas Casino Magnate Over Michigan Workers.

Posted on October 31, 2012 by chadphillips

English: Sheldon and Miriam Adelson recieve Wo...I couldn’t watch the World Series, the local news, or even show my two-year-old daughter the Gummy Bear Song on YouTube without seeing Attorney General Bill Schutte’s face.  Schutte is the front man in an advertisement that urges us to vote no on Proposal 2, the ballot initiative that would guarantee collective bargaining rights in the Michigan Constitution.  Schutte says that “proposal 2 is about big special interest.”  The advertisements are being paid for by Protecting Michigan Taxpayers (PMT).  PMT, which  calls themselves a “grassroots organization,” had previously managed to skirt election law by showing only debt and no income on their campaign finance report.  Their latest campaign finance report actually identifies some of their donors.  In part, we found out what we expected.  The DeVos family has contributed at least 1.75 million dollars and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce has contributed over 7 million dollars to PMT.  What was a little surprising though was that that billionaire Las Vegas casino magnates Sheldon & Miriam Adelson contributed 2 million dollars to the cause.  PMT also managed to keep some of its big donors secret by taking 3.5 million from a group called MI Alliance for Business Growth.  This group only exists to funnel secret money to PMT, or it is the first organization that has managed to fool Google.  Lets get back to Bill Schutte though.  Schutte is Michigan’s chief law enforcement officer, and we should take caution if he tells us to be weary of special interest.  However, the  advertisement he appears in is being paid for by big special interest (Chamber of Commerce), secretive special interest (MI Alliance for Business Growth), and what I would call “affluent interests” (Adelson and DeVos families).  The power of such a combination may very well put the passage of Proposal 2 in jeopardy.   Also in serous jeopardy is any chance that citizens of Michigan should see Bill Schutte as someone who is honest, ethical, or represents the voice of the majority of actual Michigan taxpayers.

Side Note: The President of PMT, Jared Rodriguez, donated $5.00 to the cause.  Rodriguez also appears to be the registered agent of MI Alliance for Business Growth.

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Posted in Chamber of Commerce, Collective Bargaining, DeVos Family | 2 Comments

How Do You Define Irony? The Detroit Free Press Supports Law It Calls “Undemocratic.”

Posted on October 21, 2012 by chadphillips

The Detroit Free Press (DFP) released its recommendations for voting on the statewide ballot proposals.  They say voters should “keep one, discard five.”  However, their rationale can best be described as a joke.   Here is why.

On Proposal 1,  the DFP suggests a yes vote to keep in place the Emergency Manager Law (PA4) even though they say the law is “undemocratic.”  How can a newspaper that calls itself the “Free Press,” and operates under the protection of the 1st Amendment, support something they themselves believe is undemocratic?  That defies logic on many levels.    Also troubling is that the DFP says the proposal was “largely paid for by the public sector labor union AFSCME.”  The petitions were gathered by volunteers lead by the group Stand Up For Democracy.  This was a grass roots campaign that picked up many supporters along the way.  The DFP’s inclusion of this tidbit is misleading to say the least.

The DFP suggests a no vote on Proposals 2-6.  Proposal 2 would guarantee collective bargaining rights in the state Constitution.  Their lack of support for the initiative isn’t a cause for concern (they are an employer), it is why they do not support the proposal that is troubling.  It appears that they lifted their reasoning directly from misleading commercials being run by the shadow group that opposes Proposal 2.  Their suggestions that passing of Proposal 2 would lead to keeping teachers who are criminals or cops who are drug addicts is just plain ludicrous.  Clearly they did not do their homework on this one, and proponents of Proposal 2 state that the Free Press refused to discuss the issue with them prior to making this recommendation. The Free Press points out that collective bargaining is guaranteed by federal and state law.  They fail to mention that the items to be bargained over continue to be reduced by state lawmakers.  Like PA4 leaves in place voting rights but takes away the power of elected officials,  legislators have left in place collective bargaining but have taken away many of the topics over which can be bargained.  It is like having a car without an engine.  You can push the gas pedal all you want, but you won’t go anywhere.  But hey, they left you the car right?

Newspapers should report the news, not attempt to sway voters by supporting candidates or taking sides on voter initiatives.  We should question the validity of any newspaper that use of the words “free” and “press” if they fail to support democracy or provide accurate information.  We get plenty of misleading propoganda for free in the mailbox and via TV commercials.  We don’t need to pay for it by purchasing a “newspaper.”

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Representative Potvin’s Business Buried “Hazardous Waste” Near City’s Well Field

Posted on October 7, 2012 by chadphillips

Representative Phil Potvin, like many Republican politicians, likes to highlight his business experience when running for office.  Potvin’s father James co-founded Western Concrete in 1946.  James Potvin ran Western Concrete until the mid-1980’s when Phil took over.  Under Phil’s leadership at Western Concrete the company effectively went out of business.
SignPotvin’s official bio states that he “continues as a consultant to the company for property management in Big Rapids and Cadillac.”  According to a sign at the Cadillac location, the property is currently for sale.  The problem isn’t that Potvin may have ran his father’s business into the ground.  The problem is what his business buried in the ground while Potvin was the CEO.

 In May of 1997 an anonymous message was received, and an investigation launched, by the  Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).  Recently, documents from that investigation have surfaced.  According to the report, chemicals were disposed of in a below ground elevator shaft at Western Concrete’s Cadillac facility in 1986.  The shaft was then covered with dirt and concrete.

Upon questioning in 1998, Potvin admitted to the dumping and said that the shaft contained “a mixture of drums and pails of various materials.” One witnesses estimated that there may have been “a couple hundred gallons” of toxic chemicals buried there. Many of the drums contained unknown contents because “the labels were missing.”

DEQ’s picture of toxic waste at Western Concrete.

Two different witnesses said much of the dumping took place over a weekend sometime in 1996. The employees left work on Saturday afternoon and returned on Monday morning to find chemicals dumped in the pit. It is likely that the dumping occurred by someone in management. Interestingly, Potvin himself was working at the site of the dumping on a Sunday afternoon on the day of this blog posting (10/7/12).

Potvin’s car at site of dumping on 10/7/2012.

One witness said he doubted many Western Concrete Employees would want to give the DEQ information on the dumping because “Phil would make their life miserable. They’d have to quit their job.” He said Phil is a “vindictive . . . little prick.” The witness believed that the dumping occurred to save $30,000 in disposal fees.

If you think it cannot get worse than that, it does.  The chemicals were dumped about half a mile from the city’s well field.  The well field distributes water to over 10,000 Cadillac residents.
According to the DEQ report, the walls of the elevator shaft were “cracked” and posed a threat to the drinking water.  The DEQ report identified the chemicals as “hazardous waste.”  They said Western Concrete “knowingly” violated over 20 parts of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act.  Documents indicate that Western Concrete had to pay for the cleanup of the site plus $162,500 dollars in fines.  However, the company worked off about half of that amount by helping create the walking path known as the Clam River Greenway.  It is unclear how much Western Concrete ended up paying between site cleanup costs, fines, and by their work on the Clam River Greenway.

Almost 15 years have passed since Potvin admitted that his company dumped chemicals near the city’s well field.  To this day no story on the dumping has appeared in the Cadillac News.   In fact, only recently has any newspaper ran a story on the dumping, that being the Ferris State Torch.  It appears that the DEQ does not have a policy mandating the release of such information.

How can we trust that Phil Potvin will make decisions that protect the citizens of the 102nd District after his company put their very lives in danger by dumping toxic chemicals near their water supply?  Representative Potvin should resign immediately.  A law should be passed that requires the DEQ to regularly release the location of sites being investigated for pollution.  The public deserves to know immediatley when their safety is being threatened.  They also deserve responsible leadership in Lansing.

Posted in Phil Potvin | 2 Comments

Anti-Collective Bargaining Group Defies Spirit of Campaign Finance Laws

Posted on October 1, 2012 by chadphillips

Stop Prop 2The anti-collective bargaining group Protecting Michigan Taxpayers (PMT) has sent out some outlandish information regarding Proposal 2.  Proposal 2 would guarantee collective bargaining rights in the Michigan Constitution should voters approve it in November.  PMT’s advertisements falsely claim that collective bargaining rights could “prohibit schools from firing employees with criminal records” and “eliminate the law requiring safety rules for school bus drivers.”  Using lies to confuse voters is nothing new in politics.  However, PMT takes their unethical behavior to another level by skirting the spirit of Michigan’s campaign finance laws.

PMT has been able to purchase 1.7 million dollars worth of advertisements without yet disclosing a cent of where that money has come from.  Their first campaign finance report showed no contributions and a debt of $140,000.  That money apparently was spent for the development of advertisements by out of state companies.  I have to wonder how a brand new organization such as PMT could get $140,000 worth of credit from companies in Virginia and Washington D.C.  PMT will have to disclose their donors in their next report.  However, the second report isn’t due until October 30th, just days before the election and after some have already voted via absentee ballot.  We do know that PMT’s president is a guy named Jared Rodriguez.  Rodriguez is one of the four officers of the West Michigan Policy Forum (WMPF).  The WMPF lists as one of it’s goals the implementation of a “freedom-to-work status” which appears to be another way of saying we should make Michigan a “right-to-work” state.  One of the other officers of WMPF is Doug DeVos.  The DeVos family has spent over a million dollars funding an anti-public education group called The Great Lakes Education Project.  It would be hard to believe that the DeVos fortune isn’t also the driving force behind Protect Michigan Taxpayers.  The only thing being protected by the work of PMT is the identity and wealth of its contributors.  I’m willing to bet that most of the contributors to PMT are multi-millionaires.  We will find out all the details on October 30th, which fittingly is Devil’s Night.

Posted in Collective Bargaining, DeVos Family | 4 Comments

What is Wrong with Lansing? Meet Senator Darwin Booher

Posted on August 3, 2012 by chadphillips

Booherr's BMWSenator Darwin Booher is one of the most out of touch politicians in Michigan.  I’m not saying Booher is out of touch just because he chose to ride in a BMW at the Lake City 4th of July parade.  Sure, these cars start at about 48,000, or as much as the median household income of the residents in the Lake City area. These BMW’s (Z4) were once made in the U.S. and now they are being made in Germany.  Booher could have shown a great commitment to Michigan workers by driving anyone of these Michigan made vehicles.

I’m not saying Darwin Booher is out of touch just because he used tax payer dollars for his membership to the extreme right wing organization the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).  Sure, ALEC pairs corporate executives with politicians to write “model legislation” that stacks the deck for corporate America.  Meanwhile, Booher represents a rural area where most of the businesses are small “mom and pop” type operations.

I’m not saying Darwin Booher is out of touch just because he INTRODUCED the ALEC backed voter I.D./voter oppression bill (Senate Bill 803).  Even Governor Snyder thought the bill was too extreme and vetoed it.  Booher was brazen enough to reintroduce nearly the same bill (Senate Bill 1219) despite little proof that voter fraud is a real problem in Michigan.

I’m not saying Senator Booher is out of touch because he was a co-sponsor of the union busting Senate Bill 120.  Sure, this bill would allow your local officials to create a “right to work zone” and put Michigan unions on the endangered list.  The last thing Michigan needs is to give local politicians, many of them business owners, the right to bust unions in their community.

I am saying Booher is out of touch because he has done all of these things and continues to do little that would help the average constituent of the 35th district.  Booher must know that people are getting a little irritated with his total disregard of anyone except the most powerful Lansing lobbyists.  After all, he co-sponsored a bill  (Senate Bill 943) that would make it a crime, punishable by a year in jail, if you “directly or indirectly” “impede, intimidate, or interfere” with a public official or a member of his or her family. Too bad his constituents cannot introduce a bill making it a crime to impede, intimidate, or interfere with a person’s right to have their voice heard in Lansing.  Booher would easily be found guilty.

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