“Alright, let’s cue the Michigan tape…”

The Rachel Maddow Show takes on Michigan’s Emergency Financial Manager situation again: “THE most radical Republican experiment in the 21st Century. Why this is not a bigger national story still blows my mind.”

Video after the jump.

How do you build a city up armed only with implements of destruction?

This afternoon, Governor Rick Snyder announced that he will appoint an Emergency Financial Manager for Detroit calling it a “sad day” that he wished “had never happened in the history of Detroit”. As I have already detailed in a post that has been cited by MSNBC and Huffington Post among others, this will result in 49% of the African Americans in Michigan being without a democratically-elected government.

Click through for more.

Helping ensure the rest of the country is paying attention

In my seemingly endless coverage of Michigan’s anti-democratic, repealed-and-then-risen-from-the-dead Emergency Manager Law, one post seemed to get more attention than all the others. That was the one a bit over a year ago that showed that, if Detroit and Inkster were put under the control of Emergency Managers, over half of the African Americans in the United States of America with be without locally-elected, democratic government but, rather, would be ruled by a single, state-appointed ruler.

This past week, with Detroit on the precipice of receiving an Emergency Manager due to the failure of its consent agreement with the State of Michigan, I updated the original post to include more recent census data. That post is HERE. On Friday, it was featured on The Rachel Maddow Show.

Video and more after the jump.

I read this stuff so you don’t have to

A mere 37 days after voters repealed Public Act 4, Michigan’s notorious and anti-democratic Emergency Manager Law, Republican legislators passed a new version to replace it. It was signed into law as Public Act 436 thirteen days later. This defiant thumb-in-the-eye to the will of the voters was even more egregious since it contains two appropriations, one to pay Emergency Managers and another to hire consultants, lawyers, “work-out experts”, and others to implement the law. These appropriations ensure voters won’t have a chance to interfere with the business of our Very Serious GOP legislators on this matter again.

So, what, exactly, is in this new law? Well, for starters, let’s have a look at the title:

“THE LOCAL FINANCIAL STABILITY AND CHOICE ACT”

I’m not kidding. That’s what they call it. It’s surprising they didn’t figure out a way to include the words “FREEDOM” and “INDEPENDENCE” while they were at it. You can read the law HERE (pdf).

All the gory details of this new law after the jump.

Some truth-telling from the judicial branch

Back in December, Pontiac Emergency Manager Lou Schimmel unilaterally decided to change the composition of the city’s pension board from 11 to 5 members. He thought they were wasting time and money and felt his role as the EM gave him the ability to simply do what he wished.

Yesterday, Oakland County Judge Rae Lee Chabot upheld a preliminary injunction filed by the pension board and reversed Schimmel’s action. In her smack-down of Schimmel’s move, she said “That’s what it looks like — it looks like a dictatorship where the (emergency financial manager) said, ‘look, I’m going to turn over the board so there is no opposition.'”

More after the jump.

This will be interesting

As he himself predicted last summer, Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris has been booted. In his place will be Tony Saunders II, a marketing guy from WYLD Marketing Group.

Details after the jump.

Look out, Detroit! It’s coming right for ya!

The Detroit Free Press is reporting this afternoon that an Emergency Financial Manager is being called “inevitable” for Detroit. If that happens, over half of the African Americans in Michigan will be under the rule of an Emergency Financial Manager, with little to no say in the operation of their local government.

Details and commentary after the jump.

Aw, shucks

You may recall that last week, Anne and I and a bunch of other folks did a little video toast and thank you to Laura Conaway and Rachel Maddow for their help in amplifying our message about Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law. In addition to the card signed by a bunch of Ann Arbor folks, we sent them the makings of an Emergency Manager, a new drink Anne and I invented.

Thankfully they got the package in one piece and, well, see for yourself (video after the jump.)

They love you until you’re born

It’s getting pretty tough for Michigan Republicans to surprise me anymore but, dammit, they went ahead and did it anyway. This week, they introduced legislation that establishes a tax credit for unborn fetuses.

I’m not kidding.

This is why we need to be thinking about the 2014 midterm election

Back in August, I wrote about how the repeal of Public Act 4 — Michigan’s anti-democratic Emergency Manager Law — would, by law, leave Michigan without any law creating Emergency Managers or Emergency Financial Managers. I showed pretty clearly how the law prevents PA 72, the predecessor to PA 4, from coming back.

This week, the Michigan Court of Appeals chose to completely disregard the Michigan constitution and, in essence, allow the resurrection of Zombie Law PA 72 anyway.

This one is easy

Third in a series on the ballot proposals on Michigan’s November 6, 2012 ballot. Read them all HERE.

Regular readers of this website know very well that I abhor Public Act 4 — Michigan’s so-called Emergency Manager Law. It is the most outrageous government overreach in my lifetime, put in place by hypocritical Republicans who claim that they are for “smaller government”. The fact is, there is no larger government intrusion into the lives of Michiganders than PA 4. Period.
Click through to read why you should VOTE NO ON PROPOSAL 1.