Michigan Set To Enact Sweeping 'Financial Martial Law' Bill

Source: Huffington Post

snip

There's been a lot of recent media attention focused on a similar disregard for the public will in Wisconsin, but what's happening in Michigan really makes Scott Walker look like an amateur.

The Michigan Messenger has more:

According to the law, which has already been approved in the House, the governor will be able to declare "financial emergency" in towns or school districts and appoint someone to fire local elected officials, break contracts, seize and sell assets, and eliminate services.
Under the law whole cities or school districts could be eliminated without any public participation or oversight, and amendments designed to provide minimal safeguards and public involvement were voted down.


That's right! In case you were wondering, the law has been specifically engineered to obliterate any minimal form of public accountability:

An amendment to require Emergency Managers to hold monthly public meetings to let people know how they are governing was rejected by Senate Republicans, along with proposals to cap Emergency Manager compensation and require that those appointed to run school districts have some background in education.
A decade ago, folks like William Greider and Bill Moyers were doing critical, underreported work on the vagaries of international trade agreements which had similar anti-democratic ramifications. This Michigan power grab seems to be a homegrown varietal, of which the only precedent I can think of is the "Control Board" era of local governance here in Washington, D.C.

Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.) says that the bill "raises serious constitutional concerns":

Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution explicitly prohibits any State from impairing a contract, which is exactly what this legislation does. As the Supreme Court has held in Home Building & Loan Association v. Blaisdell (1934), the sanctity of contracts cannot be impaired by a state law "which renders them invalid, or releases or extinguishes them ... Not only are existing laws read into contracts in order to fix obligations as between the parties, but the reservation of essential attributes of sovereign power is also read into contracts as a postulate of the legal order."

Further, the bill empowers this financial czar with the Governor's approval to force a municipality into bankruptcy, a power that will surely be used to extract further concessions from hardworking public sector workers. And, by making the risk of bankruptcy a reality, the bill will make it more not less expensive for municipalities to obtain financing given this risk, which will make the financial circumstances of municipalities even worse.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/14/michigan-set-to-enact-sweeping-financial-martial-law_n_835526.html

...I spoke of this when I had the "peoples mic" Saturday in Madison. Many (most?) in the crowd were aware and supportive.

Does it have to be enacted and acted upon before one can claim legal standing?

This despot must be stopped. Dayam - so many fires and they are all RAGING!

Now RAM IT THRU.

The more draconian it is, the less people will even believe it could be possibly happening.

God, I love the smell of nepalmed democracy in the morning.

:sarcasm:

I doubt it.

are measures which provide that the Governor can
declare an Emergency and put in a person he chooses
to run the place and supposedly do what is necessary
to straighten out the Finances. You might wish to
check out all the recently elected Republican Governors
Plans. There seems to be a coordinated effort hidden
from public view. You might check the Local News.

return to small and local government? Letting a Governor takeover a town unilaterally is nothing but an intrusion.

do you want to get? One person appointed by the gov gets to handle all local issues. This would normally be called a dictator, but since it's a repub doing it, it's democracy in action.

Office, and he isn't the janitor.

That PBS guy couldn't say it without having the proverbial roof fall in on him.

But I CAN. Because it happens to be true! That's the ONLY thing that really got their engines running. The opportunistic infections on the wrong-wing just harnessed it because there was a lot of it that suddenly came out of the closet and appeared useful.

All these governors all at the same time.... and especially with Michigan's governor who NEVER held an elected position, no previous public service...and he comes up with this sneaky legislation???

Koch Bros. gave something like $40 mil to repug governors' association to elect toadies like Rick Snyder. Snyder can sell off municipal holdings (owned by citizens) at pennies on the dollar to the highest bidder (cough, Koch Bros.) This is paving the way for complete privatization of our cities and states. These things are happening in lockstep all over the country where teabaggers have elected new repug governors. It's not a coincidence.

what a clever idea.

That lying sack of shit Synder NEVER campaigned on this piece of sick facist legislation.

Everything held in Common by We the People will soon be owned by private corporations.

but it won't be taken back by timid "centrists". It'll have to be TAKEN back by pols who don't mind getting their hands dirty with *metaphorical* capitalist blood. And it won't be easy, so it's better not to sell them off in the first place.

flunkies are celebrating their pyrrhic victory in DC.

Sorry I'm not tech savvy +cant link.

This is a 1,000+plate fundraiser sponsored by various lobbyists,they are preparing to throw

even more money into this.I hope they:puke: on it

Grateful for the internet-A good way for everyone to see the whole picture,m$m is pretty worthless.

They cant be allowed to pull this crap.This is pure evil

The link to story was on another post on this board,thanking the other poster of that story.:dilemma: :blush:

Injunctions will be filed. Lawsuits will be filed. Trust me on that - The Rethuglicans overreached, and they are making their own states a little playground of the rich. Well, the people won't stand for it. Does Michigan have a recall provision so we remove those scumbags that are being exposed and replaced with real progressives? Then impeach the useless crap out of his own job, and his career.

Appealing this through legal channels is not a good idea.

That will prevent the Michigan governor from using that illegal law for his own benefits.

I think Anonymous is about ready to release a new batch of stuff that will make the Thugs look like a fucking fool when their plans are revealed.

I think you might be overlooking the level at which this corruption reaches.

then we need to get rid of him. If they are just stupid and silent we need to get rid of them. Exactly why is our Government allowing this to happen when it is apparent it is riddled with violations of our Constitution and Rights.

S**^)&% I am so mad I cannot type!

Prollee. Disgusting bunch we are!

St. Louis from Madison yesterday (and by the way, why does St. Louis have more snow today than Madison?)

I am hoping that even more folks show up and stand up to this crap. If we don't now, "they" win. They take a little bit here and a little bit there. It has gone too far.

I have no answers (well, I am just an unemployed middle aged woman, no one listens to me). So I will send more vibes and hopes for strength in the people. People power can take down the money grubbers. We have to, they are destroying all of our systems and the planet.

I am no expert on the Michigan Constitution, but this is beyond absurd. How can appointing an unelected dictator to "administer" (read gut and destroy) a city or a school district be permissible? This combines the methodology of Uncle Joe Stalin and the ideology of the little corporal with the Chaplin moustache.

from the law being imposed, and order the arrest of the scumbags involved in enacting the law for RICO act (yes, it is racketeering).

And they _WILL_ be found guilty and sentenced to life without parole in a permanent solitary confinement with minimal guard contact. 24/7. No rec either.

you think that matters to the Repukes?

concerns" um, yeah. Can Dems get on message FOR ONCE and strongly DENOUNCE these tin pot dictators?? The corporate Right is running roughshod over our entire system of government. It's a bloodless coup and the most forceful response is "This bill raises serious constitutional concerns"???!!

When the tanks finally roll down the streets, we will be watching it on TV and saying, "One of these days they're going to go too far"

And then they'll talk about more bipartisanship.

:-(

It's his state that is being fucked up by the a-hole governor.

It won't even pass Constitutional muster at all. Any competent judge will see through the fluff and grant a permanent injunction enjoining Snyder the Spider from using that law.